Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Future Reflections Jan/ Feb/March 1985, Vol. 4 No. 1
(back) (contents)
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
NFB EDUCATION OF THE BLIND SEMINAR
Parents, teachers, blind students and adults -- mark
your calendars and start making plans to attend the NFB
National Seminar on the Education of the Blind, Saturday,
June 29th at the Gait House Motel, Louisville, KY.
* Is the educational system for the blind in this
country really doing what needs to be done? If not,
why not, and what can, or should we be doing
about it?
* What do parents need to know to get the most and
best out of the system for their blind child?
* What do blind college or post-secondary education
students need and how can they get it?
* What are the future teachers of blind children
learning about blind people? What should a teacher
of blind children know?
Those questions and others will be addressed by
speakers (many nationally known) who represent a
variety of perspectives. Members of the organized blind,
parents, teachers and representatives of local and national
educational institutions for the blind will be on the
agenda.
The seminar is jointly sponsored by the National
Federation of the Blind Students Division, Parents of
Blind Children Division, Educator's Division, Parental
Concerns Committee and FUTURE REFLECTIONS. The date, June 29th, is on the weekend preceeding the
NFB 1985 National Convention (see article on first page
of this issue for more details about room rates and the
convention).
MUSIC AND LEARNING TAPES
We have been asked to announce the following:
"Music is one of the strongest methods of teaching.
Do you want to open a whole new world for your child
with some of the most delightful music you have ever
hears? Do you want to teach the metric system? Do you
want to teach your child the rules of safety, moral values
and nature? Write me for a brochure.
Happy Music
Betty Heward
1963 Beacon Light
Eagle, ID 83616
NFB STATE PARENT SEMINARS
State affiliates of the NFB continue to show their
commitment to blind children by sponsoring special
seminars for their parents. Here are five that will be held
late winter or early spring of 1985. There are certainly
others being planned as well, so if your area is not
mentioned and you want to know if one will be held in or
near your state, please call your local NFB chapter or
write to the editor of FUTURE REFLECTIONS, P.O. Box
1947, Boise, ID 83701. (208) 322-7658.
* On February 9,1985, the National Federation of the
Blind of Washington and the NFB of Oregon are
holding a seminar for parents of blind children.
Issues concerning the education of blind and
visually handicapped children as well as the
parenting of a blind child will be discussed. The
seminar will be held at the Mark 205 Motor Inn in
Vancouver, Washington. Registration will begin at
8:30 a.m. For further information write NFB of
Washington, P.O. Box 2516, Seattle, WA 98111 or
call (206) 488-0628.
* The National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota
is pleased to announce its second annual seminar
for parents and educators of blind children. In
addition to our seminar for you, the parent or
teacher, we will be holding a seminar for your blind
children. Schedule March 24,1985, on your calendar
so that you and your family can be in Minneapolis.
For more information write or call: NFB of
Minnesota, Suite 715, Chamber of Commerce
Bldg., 15 S. 5th Street, Minneapolis, RUN 55402.
(612)332-5414.
* Karen Mayre, President of the NFB of South
Dakota, announces a parent seminar to be held
Friday, May 3rd at the SD State Library in Pierre,
SD. Guest speakers will include Ruth Van Ettinger
(see the Sept/Oct/Nov 1984 FUTURE REFLECTIONS issue) and blind civil rights attorney, Marc
Mauer. The South Dakota.NFB convention follows
the seminar on Saturday, May 4th. Parents are
encouraged to come for the seminar and stay for
the convention, too. For more information, contact
Karen Mayre, Box 346 Pine Tree Drive, Rapid City,
SD 57702. (605) 342-3885 or (605) 384-8418.
* March 30th is the date for the NFB of Massachusettes
Parent Seminar. Registration will begin
at 8:15 a.m. at the Framingham State College,
Framingham, MA. For more information contact:
Priscilla Ferris, 55 Delaware Ave., Sumerset, MA
02726. (617)673-0218.
* In addition to the enormous task of hosting the
NFB 1985 National Convention in July, the NFB
Kentucky affiliate is also sponsoring a Parent
Seminar on Saturday, April 20th. The seminar is
not planned as a substitute or alternative to the July
NFB Seminar and Convention in Louisville. Rather, it is an introduction to the NFB and to the kinds of
information and insights parents can expect more
of at the July meetings. For more information,
contact Betty Nicely, 3618 Dayton Ave., Louisville,
KY 40207. (502) 897-2632.
VISION RESOURCE LIST
VISION Foundation has asked us to make the following
announcement.
VISION Foundation, Inc. announces publication of
the eighth edition of its popular VISION Resource List.
More than 150 items, most of them free, gathered
nationwide, are listed. There are 17 items new to the list
since its last revision in 1984. Resources include brochures,
sample magazines, catalogs, cookbooks, and
other materials in print, large print, braille, disc and
cassette. Not every item is available in all media.
The VISION Resource List is available, free in single
copies, in large print and on cassette.
Order from: VISION Foundation, Inc., 2 Mt. Auburn
Street, Watertown, MA 02172. Tel: (617) 926-4232; Mass.
Toll-free: 1-800-852-3029. Please specify large print or
cassette.
ART IS FOR EVERYONE
Here is part of a letter we recently received from
Louisiana:
I am the sponsor of a very unique club at the Louisiana
School for the Visually Impaired. It's not the YTeens,
Boy Scouts or the Future Homemakers of America. It's
an art club.
Our art club is affiliated with the Louisiana Association
of the Youth Art Council of America -- YACA -- an
organization which has its beginnings in Louisiana and
is constantly growing. Chapters are now springing up in
Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama.
The LSVI Chapter of YACA is, sofar,theonly"special"
school involved in the organization. The members
participate in all of the state and district wide activities
the same as members from the public schools.
Each chapter has its own calendar of events and
projects which are recorded in a chapter scrapbook. Our
chapter, it was decided, could not benefit, totally, from a
collection of photographs thus after each activity the
students write reports on what they saw, felt and
learned. Scrapbook reports also allow each member to
contribute to the scrapbook -- something that is usually
done only by the club's reporter or secretary. Art work
and poems are included in the scrapbook. All scrapbook
materials are brailled over large print so that all members
can enjoy it at their leisure. Scrapbooks are displayed at
the annual YACA State Convention. The LSVI Chapter
has received 1st place honors awards for its scrapbook
for two years in a row at State Convention.
Enclosed with this letter is a calendar of our chapter's
activities for the school year which will give you some
idea of what YACA at LSVI is all about. We hope to
encourage other blind students, educators and parents
of the blind to feel as we feel -- that art is for EVERYBODY!
-- that art for the blind is not assembling parts
from a prepackaged kit to make key chains or basket
weavings. It's a total experience! It's feeling, experimenting,
expressing, DOING!
For more information abut the Youth Art Council of
America and YACA at LSVI contact:
Ms. Kathy Nichols-Lee, Art Teacher
(YACA Sponsor)
Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired
P.O. Box 4328 *
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821-4328
Telephone: (504) 342-4756
GREETING CARDS
The following announcement comes from Harry A.
Fribush of New York.
Feel and Read, See and Read Easter Greeting Cards.
Secular only, $3.50 per box of 14 cards. Add 70<P for
name in print.
This new price of combination braille and print greeting
cards will begin January 1985. Sets of 14-$3.50. Add
700 for name printed on each set. Birthday, Get Well,
Sympathy, All Occassion. Orders for 8 cards are discontinued
because of high costs in handling and
wrapping.
Envelopes - Size 61/2x91/2 are 100 for $4.00. Same size
with metal clips are 100 for $6.00.100 long white#10are
$2.25.
Post paid. Please include correct payment with order
and send to:
Harry A. Fribush
400 Hudson Ave. Apt. 104
Albany, New York 12203
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS AVAILABLE
Insight In Sight, the Fifth Canadian Interdisciplinary
Conference on the Visually Impaired Child, was held in
Vancouver, Canada on October 18-20, and was a resounding
success. Presentations were given on a wide
variety of topics, including the gifted blind child, the
effect of additional handicaps on the development of the
visually impaired child, recent developments in opthalmic
genetic disorders, and teaching skills of daily living,
to name a few.
The proceedings of the Conference are being published
at cost, and should be available in January. To
purchase a copy, send your name, address and $12.00 in
Canadian funds to:
INSIGHT IN SIGHT
c/o CNIB, 350 East 36 Avenue Vancouver, B.C.
V5W1C6 Canada
SURVEY RESULTS
Last year sometime we printed a list of survey questions
from North Carolina. The state was concerned
about the education of its blind children, so a committee
was formed to do a survey.
The committee made seven recommendations as a
result of that survey. In one of the recommendations, FUTURE REFLECTIONS was specifically mentioned as
a good resource for parents and teachers. We were
pleased about this, of course. But beyond that two of the
recommendations could very well be applied to just
about any state or educational program for blind children
in this country. Here they are along with our thanks
to Byron Sykes of North Carolina for sharing them with
us.
*An urgent need exists to improve the attitudes of
parents and teachers of such courses as math,
science and physical education toward the abilities
of the blind in these areas. Appropriate staff of the
Division should be used to show creative approaches
to teach blind children. These, of course,
need not disturb the classroom activities nor be
particularly expensive to the schools. All steps
necessary should be taken to see that books for
these courses are ordered WELL in advance.
*Attitude toward blindness seems to be in the negative
in areas of extracurricular activities. This would
probably be caused by the low expectations
of those around these children. This needs improvement.
The Child Development Specialists
should encourage parental involvement and
should work with leaders in these areas. Parents
should be encouraged to work with other parents
of blind children. An excellent resource might be
the newsletter FUTURE REFLECTIONS. Anyone
interested can subscribe by writing to: Mrs.
Barbara Cheadle, P.O. Box 1947, Boise, ID 83701.
BLIND AND MULTI-HANDICAPPED
Reprinted from the NFB of New Mexico, March, 1984
Newsletter i Que pasa!
MEMORIAL
by Susan Steele
Julie Meyers was an inspiration to everyone who knew
her. She was most admired for her courage. Although
she suffered from the complications of diabetes, including
blindness, kidney failure and loss of circulation
in her feet, hands, and legs, she saw these limitations as
mere inconveniences and refused to let them interfere
with her joy of living each moment to the fullest. One
day, when she and her mother were driving to Albuquerque
from Socorro for her dialysis treatment, her mother's
car broke down. With heavy braces on her legs, Julie
stood on the freeway and thumbed a ride to Albuquerque
in time for her treatment.
Julie loved knowledge and was committed to learning
as much as she could. In the Fall semester of 1983, she
received a scholarship from the National Federation of
the Blind of New Mexico. During that semester she
became ill and spent two months in the hospital,
delirious with fever. Few people expected Julie to even
survive. She not only recovered, but successfully completed
her classes that semester.
Julie will also be remembered for her generosity and
her love for people. Her mother said that Julie lived
inside her heart. She gave of her time and herself. At
dialysis, she was forever surprising us with little gifts --
sand dollars from California, books, cards, candy, fruit. I
too am blind, so Julie brought gifts that I could hear,
taste and touch. When I was in the hospital, she brought
me beans and chili, stuffed animals and wind chimes to
tie above my hospital bed. She even had one of her
friends visit me.
Most of all, Julie cared about and really listened to
people. She shared who she was and how she felt. A
hospital volunteer said, "When I visited Julie, I thought I
was helping her, but she was really helping me. She
listened to me." When Julie had to stay in the hospital on
Thanksgiving day, she invited that volunteer to share
Thanksgiving dinner with her. Later he said, "I was so
proud that she invited me to dinner. I was proud just to
know her."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Julie Meyers was an individual
worthy of the respect and admiration of us all. Susan
Steele is only one of many people whose lives were
touched and enriched by knowing her. In her memory
Susan Steel has contributed to the National Federation
of the Blind of New Mexico's scholarship program
believing that Julie Meyers would wish to encourage
other blind people seeking lives of dignity and
independence.
RECORDED DICTIONARY
Reprinted from the March 1984 NCHRTM Memo.
Soon to be added to the collection of books employing
voice indexing is the prodigious project entitled First
Recorded Dictionary for the Blind Using New Technology. Voice indexing, the imposition of normally
pitched index words on the screech of a tape run at high
speed, enabled the listener to locate the place at which
he/she wishes to play the tape at normal speed. The
recording of the Concise Heritage Dictionary contains
over 55,000 entries. Available on loan to NLS borrowers
through the network of cooperating libraries, it will also
be available for purchase from the American Printing
House for the Blind, P.O. Box 6985, Louisville, KY 40206.
The catalog number is C-1080; the price is $82.50.
(back) (contents)