Future Reflections Special Issue: Sports, Fitness, and Blindness
by Eileen B. Hogan
Sponsored Technology Outreach Manager, NFB
Editor�s Note: Erica Costa is about to graduate from the Perkins School in Massachusetts and is headed to Bridgewater State College to study social work. She is planning to attend the NFB Youth Slam in Baltimore this summer.
�I don�t use Newsline too much for school work,� Erica Costa freely admits. � I use it more for pleasure.� As an avid Red Sox fan, she catches up with her team by reading about them in the Boston Globe. Her busy schedule doesn�t allow Erica much time to watch or listen to the baseball games, so she counts on NFB-NEWSLINE® to closely follow her hometown teams the Boston Red Sox and the Patriots during football season. While Erica doesn�t play baseball or football herself, she does play goalball, is on a wrestling team, and takes part in a lot of track and field events at the Perkins School.
Erica credits her vision teacher of nine years as her source of inspiration while she was gradually losing her sight. Erica�s motto is �follow your dreams and don�t let anything stop you.� Her teacher was a strong advocate and made sure that Erica learned Braille, the necessary technology skills, and introduced her to NFB-NEWSLINE® about six years ago. Erica really likes using NFB-NEWSLINE® because she is independent, and �I don�t need to find someone to read to me, I just use the service at night when it is most convenient for me.�
The National Federation of the Blind maintains and operates the NFB-NEWSLINE® service, the largest accessible newspaper service for the blind in the United States. The service delivers over 250 newspapers to over 57,000 subscribers from across the country. NFB-NEWSLINE® keeps the blind up-to-date on the news happening in their communities and the world around them. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post and USA Today are among the many national and local newspapers offered. NFB-NEWSLINE® also offers magazines including The Economist, the New Yorker, all three AARP publications, Diabetes Self-Management, and four newspapers in Spanish. Subscribers have access twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, through a local or toll-free telephone number.
Some newer features on the system include electronic newspaper delivery to your personal e-mail address, the United Press International Service, Associated Press updates on the hour for national and international news and state by state, and of course our most recent and most popular addition--TV listings. The TV listings are highly interactive, allowing users to get to the desired information quickly. You can choose your favorites and also move through channels, dates, and times. Set up is as easy as providing your zip code, source of television, and your time zone.
For more information, visit the Web site at <www.nfbnewsline.org>
or call NFB-NEWSLINE® at (866) 504-7300.