Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Future Reflections Winter 1987, Vol. 6 No. 1
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Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
Blind Girl Champion Speller
Last Spring Terra Syslo, a 12 year-old
blind girl from Fulbarton, Nebraska
properly spelled "anachronous" and then
"chalkography" to win the Midwest Spelling
Bee Championship sponsored by the
Omaha World-Herald. Terra beat out 88
other contestants for the title and
earned a tr-ip to the national contest in
D.C. At the national contest, the Associated
Press reported that she was one
of 115 winners to clear the first three
rounds and win a place in the finals.
Terra, they reported, has been blind
from birth and studies her words in
Braille.
Terra also has another claim to fame.
She was the subject of an interview
(conducted by editor Barbara Cheadle
with her mother Carol Syslo) for the
Janurary /February 1983 issue of Future Reflections That interview, "To
Be The Best Person She Can Be" became
one of our most popular articles and was
later reprinted in the Braille Monitor When Terra's mother sent me a copy of
the Omaha World-Herald's article about
Terra's achievement, she added a note of
her own. She said, "Maybe it will show
parents of young children what those
children can accomplish with a little
support and encouragement and a lot of
love and patience!"
Terra is indeed well on the way to
becoming, "The Best Person She Can Be".
Slate-Mates
Do you have a blind son or daughter
who loves to read Braille, and is always
disappointed because they never get
Braille letters? Do you have a blind
student who needs encouragement and
motLvatiDn to improve their Braille
skills? Or do you have a Braille
reading child or student who would
really like to have a friend to talk to
about the sort of things that only
another blind person could understand?
If you do, then Slate-Mates may be
just what you are looking for. Slate
Mates is a Braille pen-pal matching
service for blind school-age children.
The service is sponsored by the NFB
Parents of Blind Children Division and
the New Mexico affiliate of the National
Federation of the Blind.
Here is how it works. You write a
note saying you have a child or student
who is interested in being a Slate-Mate
(Braille pen-pal). You then receive a
Profile to fill out and return. Once
the Profue is returned, it is matched
up with another child's profile. You
and your child (or student) are notified
about the new Slate-Mate, and the rest is up to the kids.
If you are interested in the service,
or would like more information, write:
SLATE-MATES
Attention: Susan Benbo
National Federation of the Blind
of New Mexico
616 CentralSE, Suite 230
Albuquerque, N.M. 87102
Outstanding Young American
Curtis Chong, a blind Systems Programming
Specialist with IDS Financial Services
in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was
honored this past year by the U.S. Jaycees
as one of Ten Outstanding Young
Americans.
Blind from birth, Curtis is also very
active in the National Federation of the
Blind. He is the President of the National
Federation of the Blind in Computer
Science and Vice President of the
National Federation of the Blind of
Minnesota. The Braille Monitor: in an
article about Curtis and his achievements,
stated that, "Too often awards
are given to blind persons who regard
themselves as 'exceptional' or
'amazing'. They accept the award as
recognition of their personal accomplishments,
never giving credit to other
blind individuals or any organization
that may have helped make it possible.
Not so with Curtis. He proudly acknowledges
the role of the National Federation
of the Blind in making his life the
success it is. He also accepts responsibility
for trying to help improve the
quality of life for other blind people."
The caption of a newspaper picture of
Curtis at his computer on the job at IDS
Financial Services reads:
BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS OF
BLINDNESS--
For his vision of making computers more
accessible to the blind, Curtis Chong
has been selected to be among the Ten
Out-Standing Young Americans for 1986.
Recording For The Blind, Inc.
The following information is excerpted
from the Recording For The Blind, Inc.
"Information and 3nstructions For Bar
rowers" bulletin.
Recording far the Blind, Inc. is a
national, non-profit, voluntary service
organization which provides recorded
educational books free-on-loan to individuals
who cannot read standard printed
material because of visual, physical, or
perceptual handicaps.
RFB's Master Tape Library contains
approximately 60,000 titles. There is
no comparable repository of recorded
academic texts in the world. New books
are recorded by RFB at the rate of approximately
3,500 peryear.
RFB records only complete, published
and copyrighted texts. We do not do
partial recordings, individual chapters
or sections, articles, leaflets, pamphlets,
periodicals, magazines, journals,
manuscripts, atlases, dictionaries or
other reference materials for our Master
Tape T library.
For more infomation about RFB services,
and how to register for these
services, contact:
Recordings For The Blind, Inc., 20
Roszel Road, Princeton, N-J. 08540;
telephone (609) 452-0606.
New Vision Screening Test
Here is some information about a new
vision-screening test we nave been asked
to share with our readers. The Snellen
E is now obsolete, stated a TV commentator
reporting on the Modified E /Blackbird
Preschool Vision Screening System.
99% of the 1100 preschoolers in the
Sacramento City Unified School District
are being screened each year with the
Blackbird kit which includes a story of
an errant bird for directional teaching,
6 test cards, instructions, diagram of
screening site, referral criteria
duties of personnel, detection of amblyopia,
and 50 pairs of disposable
cardboard eyeglasses. Designed by a
preschool nurse who has screened over
7,500 children,... it is approved by the
California State Department of Education
for vision screening non-verbal, non
literate and/or non-english speaking
children. The Blackbird System received
the top award of $2,000 from the RN
Foundation for excellence in nursing in
'84. For more information contact: Kiyo
Sato-Viacrucis, PHN, P.O. Box 7424,
Sacramento, CA 95826, (916)366-6608.
R Is for Reading
This information comes from a news
release from the National library for
the Blind and Physically Handicapped
(NLS).
R Is for Reading is a provocative collection
of interviews about the reading
needs of blind and physically handicapped
children. Published by the Library
of Congress, the new book helps assess
the usefulness of the national library
program for children and the important
people in their lives by presenting
interviews with blind and physically
handicapped children and their mothers
and with special education teachers,
child counselors, reading specialists,
and librarians.
Since 1952, the Library of Congress
and its cooperating lihria-ripe; throughout
the country have served children
with Braille, print-Braille, and recorded
books and magazines as part of
the overall National Library Service for
adults and children.
To get a free copy of R Is for Reading or to find out more about the library
service for visually or physically handicapped
children and adults, contact
your Regional Library far the Blind, or
contact: National Library Service for
the Blind, 1291 Taylor Street NW, Washington,
D.C. 20542; telephone (202) 2875100.
Ziegler Magazine for the Blind
We have been asked by Michael Mellor,
editor of the Ziegler MagaTn'ne for the
Blind, to print the following announcement:
I am sure that many of your readers
would be interested in our magazine if
only they knew about it. The Ziegler
Magazine far the Blind offers those who
cannot see to read print the same variety
of entertainment and information
that is available to those who can read
with their eyes. It features lively and
engrossing articles reprinted from a
broad range of periodicals, it has fiction, poetry and humor. lbs lively
"Readers Forum" enables readers to
"sound off", and other columns give news
and information of special interest to
those with vision problems.
Established in 1907 and named far its
founder, Mrs. William Ziegler, the Zieqler Mag^ne is maintained by her
endowment for free distribution to blind
and visually impaired persons anywhere.
It is published 10 times a year in two
editions: Grade 2 Braille and flexible
disc (playable only on a Library of
Congress talking book player).
Any of your readers who would like a
free lifetime subscription should write
or telephone us at 20 West 17th Street,
New York, N.Y. 10011; (212) 242-0263.
Free Braille Book
This announcement comes from the Braille Institute.
Expectations/ the annual Braille anthology
of current children's literature
published by Braille Institute, is now
available free of charge to all English
speaking blind children in grades three
through six.
This 36th edition is a celebration of
life in America. It contains both fiction
and non-fiction books, including
the story of the Statue of Liberty.
There are stories about immigrants, the
dreams of slaves and customs that have
come from other countries.
Published annually since 1948 by the
Braille Institute Press, Expectations is
made possible by publishers and authors
who have granted reprint rights, and by
generous donors whose contributions defray
the $10 production cost of each
volume.
Schools, libraries, and organizations
serving blind children who wish to receive
this 38th volume of Expectations should write to Jody Avery, Braille
Institute, 741 North Vermont Avenue, Los
Angeles, California 90029.
To Plug or Not to Plug
A reminder to those parents whose
children are users of the National library
Services for the Blind and Physically
handicapped (NLS) and have a NLS
cassette machine. NLS recommends that
readers should use the machine in the
battery mode until the battery is discharged
completely and then plug the
machine into a wall outlet for recharging.
The cassette machine may be used
during the recharging period which takes
about twelve hours. A fully charged
battery should operate about six hours.
Regular and frequent discharging and
charging of the battery greatly extends
the machine's life expectency according
to NLS.
PL 94-142 Amendments
This information is taken from the
publication, Zero to Three,
The Education of the Handicapped
Amendments of 1986 (PL 99-457) were
signed into law on October 8. The Act
creates a new discretionary program with
funds for states to address the needs of
disabled and at-risk infants, toddlers
and their families; it also provides
incentives to states to serve an estimated additional 10,000 handicapped
children ages 3 through 5.
A 9 9-page report of the House Committee
on Education and Labor describes the
background and need for the legislation
and rationale underlying various provisions;
it also provides a section-bysectiDn
analysis of the Act. Single
copies of Report 99-860, the Education
of the Handicapped Act Amendments of
1986, are available free of charge from
the Senate Document Room, Hart Senate
Office Building, Room B04, Washington
D.C. 20510-7106. Requests should be
accompanied by self-addressed gummed
labels.
At the federal level, development of
regulations for PL 99-457 is proceeding
at the Department of Education. Preliminary
regulations will be published in
the Federal Register, and a 60-day comment
period wOl follow. Meanwhile, in
the states, governors will be deciding
whether to apply for available funds to
provide early intervention services far
infants, toddlers and their families.
To receive a grant for the first two
years, a governor must designate or
establish a lead agency or entity as a
single line of authority for overall
adniinistration of the program. The
governor must also establish an Interagency
Coordinating Council which by the
third year must include relevant agencies,
consumers and providers. Because
circumstances differ from state to
state, ... readers may wish to contact
their governor's office to express their
interest in the new legislation and to
learn how to participate in planning for
their state.
1987 CALENDAR
The Membership Committee of the PARENTS OF BLIND CHILDREN, Division of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), put together this calendar of events for the benefit of parents and educators of blind children. Most of the events listed are NFB sponsored seminars for parents of blind children. However, we have also listed some other events, such as NFB state conventions and workshops for blind students. This is not a complete listing. There will be many other NFB-sponsored events in 1987 which would be of interest to parents. For more information, contact:
Denise Mackenstadt, Chairwoman
POBC/NFB Membership Committee
16224 122nd Ave, N.E.
Bothell, WA 98011
(206) 488-0628
CALIFORNIA
NFB/CA State Convention
April 9-12, Burbank, CA
Contact: NFB/CA (916) 424-2226
--Mary Willows, President NFB/CA
Parents and Educators of Blind
Children Division--
COLORADO
New Members Seminar
April; Boulder, CO
Contact: Marci Carpenter
(303) 492-7961
ILLINOIS
NFB/IL Convention
Sept. 4-6, Chicago, IL
Contact: Steve Benson, President
NFB/IL. (312) 236-8569
KENTUCKY
NFB/KY Convention and
Special Parents Workshop
Sept. 11-13, Louisville, KY
Contact: Denise Franklin
(502) 459-8630

LOUISIANA
Seminar for Blind Students
(High School, College)
March 13-15, Baton Rouge, LA
***
NFB/LA Convention...Annual
Meeting of NFB/LA Parents of
Blind Children Division...
Parents Workshop....
April 10-12, Baton Rouge, LA
* * *
Parents Seminar
September, 1987
Date and Location to be
Determined
* * *
Contact: Joanne Fernandes,
President NFB/LA
(318) 251-2891
--Barbara Meadors, President
NFB/LA Parents of Blind
Children--
MARYLAND
Parent Seminar
Co-sponsored: NFB/MD Parents
of Blind Children and
NFB of Virginia
May 2, Wheaton, MD
Contact: Maureen Short,
NFB/MD Parents of Blind
Children, (301) 424-4458,
or Contact: National Office
of the NFB, (301) 659-9314
* * *
NFB/MD Convention and Annual
Meeting of NFB/MD Parents of
Blind Children
Oct 2-4, Frostburg, MD
Contact: Sharon Maneki, President
NFB/MD (301) 992-9608
MASSACHUSETTS
Parent Seminar
Oct. 17, Location to
be Determined.
Contact: Priscilla Ferris,
President, NFB/MA
(617) 673-0218
--Michael McDermot, President
NFB/MA Parents And Educators of
Blind Children Division--
MICHIGAN
Parents Seminar
April, 1987
Travers City, MI
* *
Parents Seminar
May, 1987
Marquette, MI
Contact: Mary Myers, President
NFB/MI Parents of Blind Children
(517) 323-4075
MINNESOTA
Parents Seminar
May 2, Minnesota State Academy for
the Blind, Faribault, RUN
Contact: NFB/MN office
(612) 332-5414
--Susan Baumgardner, President
NFB/MN Parents of Blind Children--
MISSOURI
Parents Seminar/ Childrens Workshop
"Focus On Success"
May 2, St. Louis, MO
Co-Sponsored by NFB/MO and NFB/IL
Contact: Annette Grove
(314) 647-7453
NEW MEXICO
Parents Seminar
March 28, Albuquerque, NM
Contact: Kitty Smith, President
NFB/NM Parents of Blind
Children (505)256-0403
OHIO
Parents Seminar
Fall (possibly Sept. 19)
Cinncinati, OH
Contact: Bernadette Dressell,
President NFB/OH Parents of
Blind Children (513) 481-7662
OREGON....WASHINGTON
Parents Seminar
February 28, Portland, OR
Oregon....
Contact: Debbie Hamm, President
NFB Northwest Parents of Blind
Children Division (503) 673-5510
Washington....
Contact: NFB/WA (residents
only) 1-800-654-4717.
SOUTH CAROLINA
NFB/SC Convention and
Annual Meeting of NFB/SC
Parents of Blind Children
Aug. 14-16. Greenville, SC
Contact: Gail Coppel, President
Parents of Blind Children
(803) 796-8662
SOUTH DAKOTA
Parent Seminar
May 4, Huron, SD
(This will follow the NFB/SD
state convention which is
May 2-3 and also in Huron.)
Contact: NFB/SD office
(Karen Mayry, President
NFB/SD) (605) 348-8418
TEXAS
NFB/TX Convention
March 20-22, Austin, TX
Contact: Cheryl FinleyMcCaslin
Chairman, NFB/TX Committee on
Parents and Educators of Blind
Children (214) 528-4818
VIRGINIA
NFB/VA Convention
April 3-5, Winchester, VA
Contact: Charlie Brown, President NFB/VA (202) 523-8088
WASHINGTON
See Oregon
WISCONSIN
Parents Seminar
April 2, Madison, WI
Contact: Sue Micich, President
NFB/WI (414) 233-5022