American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Convention 2018 ANNOUNCEMENTS AND MORE
Odds and Ends
CONFERENCE
2018 NOPBC Conference
nopbc.org/handouts
Maybe you weren't able to attend all of the workshops that interested you at the 2018 conference of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC). Perhaps you couldn't attend the conference at all this year. You can still gather some of the valuable information you missed. Several of the conference presenters have made their workshop handouts available online. Here are just a few examples: "Integrating Braille for Dual Media Learners," "Hands-on Math: Explore the Tools that Will Help Your Child Learn at All Levels," "IEP 101," and "Structured Discovery."
STUDENT RESOURCE
National Association of Blind Students (NABS)
410-417-8360
The leadership of the National Association of Blind Students (NABS) wants to provide an outlet where blind students can voice concerns, seek advice, and learn about resources. NABS has launched its very own phone number. A NABS leader is on call to speak with blind students across the country about blindness-related issues.
BRAILLE BOOKS
Books from National Braille Press
http://www.nbp.org
88 St. Stephen St.
Boston, MA 02115
800-548-7323
Hands-on Science Activities: for Pre-school to Second Grade
by Dr. Lillian A. Rankel and Marilyn Winograd
In large print/Braille format
Want to make Gummi Bears, slippery slime, yummy slushies, puffy paint, bird seed gardens, musical instruments, and more? Science teacher Dr. Lillian Rankel and Marilyn Winograd, a teacher of the blind, have written thirty-four step-by-step experiments for blind youngsters to do at home with family and friends. Don't wait for chemistry or biology class to explore the sciences—get some experience under your belt while you're still young! Each experiment has been successfully conducted by real blind scientists.
The Big Book of Braille Puzzles: Fifty Searches, Anagrams, and Ladders to Help You Master Braille
by Eileen Curran
Available in Braille and large print
Take your Braille skills to the next level by challenging yourself with some fun—and sometimes tricky—Braille puzzles! These fifty word-search puzzles, anagrams, and word ladders will help you master common Braille contractions; strengthen your overall Braille reading skill; practice for Braille competitions; and provide you with hours of fun. Answer keys are provided at the end of the book.
Super Short Stories in Uncontracted Braille
National Braille Press (NBP) has assembled a collection of ten super-short stories for adults and teens who are learning Braille. NBP states, "These stories deal frankly with adult subjects, though the language is pretty clean." The stories are reprinted from SmokeLong Quarterly and Every Day Fiction, two online platforms dedicated to publishing "flash fiction," a genre of extremely short stories. NBP hopes to provide material interesting enough for adults to want to read through to the end.
New Books from Seedlings
Seedlings Braille Books for Children
www.seedlings.org
734-427-8552, extension 301
Seedlings Braille Books for Children has added ten more titles to its list of books available in Unified English Braille for ages six and up, bringing the total to 135. Amina's Voice by Hena Khan is a brand-new title. The others are books converted from the old Braille code: Fudge-a-Mania; Wild Cats; Awesome Animals; Buster's Dino Dilemma; The Tale of Despereau; Cam Jansen and the Triceratops Pops Mystery; A to Z Mysteries: The Talking T Rex; If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution; and Blackout! Animals that Live in the Dark. Keep checking the website, as new titles are added regularly.
Braille Tales Print/Braille Book Program
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
https://www.aph.org/dolly-partons-imagination-library
The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) and the Dollywood Foundation have an exciting partnership that expands Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (DPIL) to provide young children who are blind and visually impaired with accessible books in print/Braille and audio formats. Selected Imagination Library books are available free of charge in print/Braille format. Participating families in the Braille Tales Program receive six free print/Braille books free each year until the child turns six. To be eligible, the parent or child must meet the definition of legal blindness. Enrollment is on a first come, first served basis.
BRAILLER REPAIR
Brailler Repair Resource List
https://nfb.org/braillewriter-repair-resource-list
Listed by state, this resource provides basic information about more than a dozen services that repair Perkins Braillewriters and other Braillers. The following list is a small selection.
Foundation for Blind Children, Media Center
www.seeitourway.org
1234 E. Northern Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85020
800-322-4870
[email protected]
Midwest Braillewriter Repair
2733 E. Tracy Ct
Columbus, IN 47201
317-616-4040
[email protected]
The Braillery/The Brailler Workshop
www.thebraillery.com
5 Cumberland Circle
El Paso, TX 79903
915-307-7733
[email protected]
ACCESSIBILITY
Level Access
http://www.levelaccess.com
800-889-9659
[email protected]
All too often blind and low-vision students face challenges due to technology barriers in the classroom. For example, the computers in the school's media center may not allow accessories to be plugged in, preventing a blind student from connecting a Braille keypad. Since 1997 Level Access has worked with schools and companies to eliminate access barriers for people with disabilities. Level Access is a diverse team of engineers, programmers, and consultants, many of whom have disabilities themselves. The company's ultimate goal is to create a world where digital technology becomes an empowering force in the lives of people with disabilities.
RESOURCE GUIDES
Insightful Publications
http://www.in-sightful.com
Contact: 808-747-1006
[email protected]
Insightful Publications has compiled a series of electronic resource guides on organizations and agencies pertaining to the blind. Guides are now available for forty-one states. Visit the website for a complete listing.
Media Share
