ODDS AND ENDS

ODDS AND ENDS

Future Reflections Fall 2014
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Odds and Ends
NFB HISTORY
2014 NFB Library Card
Contact: Norm Gardner, [email protected]
This SD card holds a trove of NFB history and philosophy, and it will work with any computer or digital audio player. It includes recordings of all of the convention banquet speeches delivered by NFB presidents Jacobus tenBroek, Kenneth Jernigan, and Marc Maurer; thirty books in the Kernel Books series; and a large collection of key speeches and articles by NFB leaders.
BOOKS
Bookshare
<www.bookshare.org>
Bookshare is an online library of digital books available for download in DAISY, BRF, and other digital formats. With nearly 300,000 titles, ranging from stories by Dr. Seuss to textbooks on neuroscience, Bookshare is an invaluable resource to students at all grade levels. Any student with a print disability such as visual impairment or dyslexia is entitled to a free Bookshare subscription, thanks to a generous grant from the US Department of Education. Bookshare provides a variety of webinars and podcasts to help parents use its ever-growing collection.
Dads of Disability: Stories for, by, and about Fathers of Children Who Experience Disability (and the Women Who Love Them)
by Gary Dietz
ISBN: 0615971865
This book addresses the scarcity of stories from the perspective of fathers of children with disabilities. The forty-one essays and poems illustrate fathers' experiences as they parent a child with a disability. The collection uses storytelling to illuminate the emotional lives of fathers.
Changing Social Attitudes toward Disability: Perspectives from Historical, Cultural, and Educational Studies
Edited by David Bolt
Routledge, 2014
ISBN: 0415732492
Written by a selection of established and emerging scholars, this book aims to break down some of the unhelpful boundaries between disciplines so that disability is recognized as an issue for all of us across all aspects of society. It encourages readers to recognize disability in all its forms and within all its contexts. This multidimensional approach to changing social attitudes will be important reading for students and researchers of disability from education, cultural, and disability studies, and all those interested in the questions surrounding attitudes toward disability.
MAGAZINE
Pen Pal Magazine
Contact: Adrijana Prokopenko
mailto:[email protected]
Pen Pal Magazine is intended to help blind people and others build new friendships through international correspondence.
TECHNOLOGY
Tech Vision
<yourtechvision.com>
Tech Vision is a company that strives to ensure that children and adults with visual impairments or other reading challenges can learn the technology and skills that will help them succeed at school and in life. The site offers lessons on the use of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Mac-iTools, and more. Other links on the site lead to information on using Siri on the iPhone, learning the new Unified English Braille Code (UEBC), mastering Skype commands with speech software, and doing math problems in Word. Tech Vision's e-newsletter can help subscribers keep up-to-date on the latest offerings.
Talking Infrared Thermometer
Brooks Technology
<http://www.brooks-technology.com>
Contact: Phil Brooks, (408) 781-4577
The Talking Infrared Thermometer (Model IRT-1) can measure the temperature of a wide variety of objects without contact. It has a special scan function to help a blind person quickly locate hot items, such as a burner on a flat cook top stove, or to ensure that a pot or pan is centered over a burner. The device has only three buttons and has a built-in talking tutorial. It can be set to speak in English, Spanish, or French, and to say the temperature in Fahrenheit or Centigrade.
SCIENCE
Bio-Rad DNA Model Kit
<http://www.amazon.com/Bio-Rad-Educational-Science-Kits-Model/dp/B00G3J4…;
As common as DNA is, it can be a tough topic to understand. This soft foam DNA model can be of help. When assembled, the model measures two feet tall and six inches wide. Just as in nature, the pieces of the model fit together in only one way--adenine (a) fits only into Thymine (t), and Guanine (g) fits only into Cytosine (c). The print letters on the pieces are indented and are accessible by touch. Attach and assemble the ATCG base pairs along the sugar-phosphate backbone and then twist to transform the model into the double helix shape.
MUSIC
National Resource Center for Blind Musicians
<www.blindmusicstudent.org>
Neighborhood Studios of Fairfield County, Inc.
391 E. Washington Ave.
Bridgeport, CT 06608
Contact: David Goldstein, (203) 366-3300
[email protected]
The resource center provides information and referral services for blind and visually impaired students of all ages as well as their parents and teachers. It also offers learning opportunities for blind music students headed to college, and it maintains a network of blind/visually impaired musicians willing to share their coping strategies and their knowledge of Braille music and technology.
TOYS
O-Rings
<http://incrementstudios.com>
The O-Rings are a set of stackable rings that differ in size, weight, density, texture, and color. They can be used for seating, building, and exploration to address sensory stimulation, gross motor activities, scale distinction, and spatial reasoning. In addition to ordering instructions, the website provides videos on how the O-Rings can be used.
Bilibo
<www.amazon.com/Moluk-0004-Bilibo-Blue/dp/B000UEQI1G>
Developed in Switzerland, the Bilibo is a shell-shaped sensory toy made of molded hard plastic. Seated in the Bilibo, a child can control its movements by touching the floor with his/her hands and feet. The toy can help enhance spatial awareness, gross motor skills, and balance, as well as imaginative play.
2014 Toys-R-Us Toy Guide for Differently-Abled Kids
<toysrus.com/DifferentlyAbled>
In its twentieth year of supporting the special-needs community, the Toys-R-Us Toy Guide for Differently-Abled Kids will once again provide a resource for purchasing safe toys tailored to children's physical, cognitive, or developmental disabilities. Shoppers can choose toys according to the skills and needs of the child for whom they are shopping. The Toy Selection Index is divided into separate skill-building categories. The guide aims to help spread the joy of play to families of children of all abilities. The 2014 Guide will be available at all "R" Us stores and online on August 11.
FASHION
Fashioneyesta
<http://fashioneyesta.com>
Fashioneyesta is an online fashion and lifestyle resource for blind and visually impaired people. It is the creation of Emily Davison, a blind student at Goldsmith University in London. The website includes articles, interviews, videos, and more, tailored to meet the fashion needs of both women and men.
TRAVEL
New York Beyond Sight
<www.nybeyondsight.org>
From the Staten Island Ferry to the Empire State Building, from historic homes to monumental sculptures, this site provides short verbal descriptions of nearly one hundred New York City attractions in MP3 format. The files can be downloaded to a portable device such as a Victor Stream for listening on a family trip.

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