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Inspirations For EverythingBlind
WELCOME TO Inspirations FOR EVERYTHINGBLIND
Your monthly newsletter from EverythingBlind.com
July 2010
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Table of Contents
And now July's issue! Enjoy!
Here with Inspirations we would like to give something to everyone. We want it to be a work of the readers, so remember to keep an
open mind and jump in with your own submissions to Inspirations.
Often we can get turned off because someone has a different view or faith or even outlook on life. We can tend to quickly judge a person's opinion or belief as invalid. and when we do this, we can also tend to overlook their great achievements in life.
It is important to remember that in order to live a good and just life, we should try to treat others as we would like to be treated. The golden rule applies in all faiths, religions and walks of life.
although we do not have to believe what others say, we must at least listen and take into consideration that their beliefs are valid to them. Who knows, we may even learn something of value to ourselves!
I ask that you keep an open mind, as many of the Inspirations featured here in our publication may not resonate with you right away nor ever. Please tune in each and every month and you may find someone to inspire you to greatness! The blind community contains all sorts of people, beliefs, and religions and we can all come together to inspire each other.
I as the editor of Inspirations will never present only one viewpoint or religious denomination. I only wish to remain neutral and present to you the stories of people who have inspired others.
Take some time and find an inspiration , today!
Then share who you’ve found with the rest of our readers.
http://blind-students.suite101.com/article.cfm/future-reflections-raising-successful-blind-children
Visit our Blind Inspirations page at: Blind Inspirations of EverythingBlind www.everythingblind.com/personal-growth.html
And go on your own personal journey to find your gifts and strengths. There are many inspirational people and teachers introduced and you should be able to find something that resonates with you.
What You Can Expect
Each month we will share with you stories, and information on the individuals that have set their sights on inspiring!
the people just like us, who have lost their physical sight, but, not their vision. that keep us going and growing as not only blind and visually impaired individuals,
but also as able and active individuals.
Please send information on these individuals that you know of, so we can share them here or tell us about yourself and why you are such an inspiration!
FEATURED INSPIRATIONS
The following article was originally printed at: http://blind-students.suite101.com/article.cfm/future-reflections-raising-successful-blind-children
and was reprinted here with permission from the author
Future Reflections: Raising Successful Blind Children
Jun 14, 2010
By Donna Hill
For parents and teachers of blind children, Future Reflections is more than a magazine. Editor Deborah Stein discusses the NFB's can-do philosophy.
Bret Boyer (30) is a program-production director at KZBR 97.1 FM (Alamosa Colorado). He's fine now, but Bret went blind before he was a year old. In 1991
his family was struggling and unsure what would be possible for him. That changed when they found the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
(NOPBC) and Future Reflections magazine. Boyer and Future Reflections' editor Deborah Kent Stein spoke with Suite 101.
Future Reflections
Many people doubt that blind kids can be successful. The statistics are troubling; 70 percent of blind adults are unemployed. This is not due to blindness,
however. Blind people are lawyers, engineers, mechanics, chemists, journalists, chefs and succeed in many other fields. Visually impaired children are limited by low expectations and the lack of non-visual skills.
"The key," says Stein (61, Chicago), "is giving them complete access to the world around them,on a par with their sighted peers."
From tips on enabling blind babies to explore their surroundings to advice about college, Future Reflections helps parents and teachers establish environments in which blind and visually impaired children can grow into independent, productive and happy adults.
Published quarterly by NOPBC, a division of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, Future Reflections
is free within the U.S. It is published in print, 4-track cassette, e-mail, and most issues have been archived online.
Growing Up Blind in the NFB
Blindness is a low incidence disability, and finding successful role models can be difficult. NOPBC and Future Reflections help in several ways. The magazine
features articles by successful blind adults. In addition, local meetings along with state and national conventions provide opportunities for families to learn from others with similar challenges.
Boyer, who attended his first New Jersey chapter meeting in 1991 and his first national convention later that year, credits NOPBC with changing his life.
He appreciates knowing people who have "gone through it and come out okay." He points to the value his mother found in connecting with other parents.
"Not to mention," Boyer quips, "my many years exploring hotels and surrounding areas with my blind friends and no one telling us to 'sit down' or 'don't
touch that.'
In the summers of 1995-96, Boyer attended the Colorado Center for the Blind, an NFB training facility. As a public speaker for NOPBC, he has helped other
families. He was also a counselor at the Colorado Center for three summers.
"I needed to learn about advocacy and being resourceful, not relying on others, Boyer states, "These lessons are especially important for blind kids."
Writer Becomes Editor
Barbara Cheadle was Future Reflections' editor from 1981 to 2009. When she retired, Deborah Kent Stein took over. Under Cheadle's tenure, print subscriptions
grew from 375 to 15,000, not including online readers.
"Barbara did an Astonishing job of guiding the magazine," Stein says, "building it into an extraordinary resource worldwide. I am forever in her debt and
only hope I can maintain those standards."
Stein holds a B.A. in English from Oberlin College and an M.S.W. from Smith. She worked in community mental health in NYC for several years. While in a
writers' colony in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, she published Belonging (1978), her first of many novels for young people. Stein also established a school
there for blind children.
"Debbie Stein demonstrates the NFB's commitment to our next generation in a myriad of ways," Patti Gregory-Chang, (President of the
NFB of Illinois),
told Suite 101, "Of course she edits Future Reflections but she also serves as co chair of our Parents of Blind Children Committee in Illinois and is definitely
the go-to person for IEP [Individual Education Plan] advocacy and parent seminar planning. Deb spends hours on the phone with parents discussing all sorts
of issues. This is her passion and it shows."
Blindness and Braille
Stein's qualifications go beyond her credentials. Like Boyer, she is blind. Growing up, she had an advantage denied to most blind kids. She learned Braille
in kindergarten. Studies show that, although over 80 % of the blind people who are employed read Braille, only 10% of America's blind kids are taught to
read it.
Low vision students, even those with degenerative conditions that lead to blindness, are often expected to read print well beyond the point at which they
can no longer keep up. Many suffer with headaches and have to sacrifice extracurricular activities and social experiences only to find that they are still
falling behind.
"One of the biggest gaps in preparing visually impaired individuals for successful, independent and happy lives," Stein explains, "is a failure to teach
basic non-visual skills to Low vision kids."
An Editor's Discovery
Stein says her biggest surprise as editor has been "how much I enjoy working with writers and people who aren't experienced writers." She loves encouraging
them to find their form. "Being Future Reflection's' editor has pulled together a couple of big pieces of my life."
note:The copyright of the article Future Reflections: Raising Successful Blind Children in
Special Needs Education
is owned by
Donna W. Hill
. Permission to republish Future Reflections: Raising Successful Blind Children in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
This Month'sBELLY LAUGH
providing some humor to lighten your day! Be sure to pass it along, as everyone is helped with a smile.
Pet Story
A man goes into a pet shop that advertises "unusual pets" and tells the owner that he wants to buy a pet that can do everything.
The owner says, "How about Phil, the dog?" The man replies, "Come on, a dog can't do everything."
The owner says, "How about Miriam, the cat?" The man
replies, "No way! A cat certainly can't do everything. I want a pet that can do everything!"
The owner thinks for a minute. Then says, "I've got it! ... Charlie, the centipede! HE can do everything. But it will cost you."
The man says, "Charlie, the centipede? ... I can't
imagine a centipede doing everything but ... okay, if you guarantee he can do everything ... I'll try a centipede."
He gets the centipede home and says, "Charlie, clean the kitchen." Thirty minutes later, he walks into the kitchen and it's immaculate. All the dishes and silverware
have been washed, dried, and put away. The countertops cleaned. The appliances sparkling. The floor waxed. He's absolutely amazed.
He says to the centipede, "Charlie, go clean the living room." Twenty minutes later, he walks into the living room. The carpet has been vacuumed. The
furniture cleaned and dusted. The pillows on the sofa plumped. Plants watered. The man thinks to himself, "This is the most amazing thing I've ever
seen. This is a pet that really can do everything."
He sits down to watch a little TV, turns to the centipede and says, "Charlie, run down
to the corner and get me a newspaper, please." The centipede leaves. 10 minutes later ... no Charlie. 20 minutes later ... no Charlie. 30 minutes
later ... no Charlie. The man is wondering what's going on. The darn centipede should have been back in a couple of minutes. 45 minutes later
... still no Charlie! The man can't imagine what could have happened. Did the centipede run away? Did it get run over by a car? Where is Charlie?
He goes to the front door, opens it ... and there's Charlie sitting right outside the door. The man says, "Hey!!! I sent you out 45 minutes
ago to run down to the corner and get me a newspaper. What's the story?!" The centipede says, angrily, "Hey, man, cut me some slack here, will ya? I'm still putting on my shoes!"
INSPIRATIONS ARCHIVES
Archives of Inspirations For EverythingBlind can be viewed at: Inspirations For EverythingBlind Archives http://www.EverythingBlind.com/Inspirations_For_EverythingBlind_Archives.html
FROM THE EDITOR
Hello everyone!,
As promised, here's the latest
Thank you all for your continued support of Inspirations and EverythingBlind. You must be forwarding on Inspirations, as I got quite a fair number of new subscribers this month, increasing the total to 762. Keep on spreading the word so we can keep inspiring!
Again, remember that Inspirations is a work of the readers and I urge you to send your suggestions and feedback.
We wish many more of you to send in your contributions so EverythingBlind and Inspirations can be a real place to Connect with what you want and need.
Also remember to send your links of the sites you most visit so they can be added to EverythingBlind.com and Inspirations.
Heidi@everythingblind.com
Thanks so much for all of your warm wishes and your blessings and continued support.
Stay Inspired!,
Heidi Hockman
Chief Editor
EVERYTHING NEW AT EVERYTHINGBLIND
Following is information and the new links that have been added to www.EverythingBlind.com
Screen Readers for cell phones
* Code Factory: Making mobile phones and PDAs accessible to the blind
Code Factory
Code Factory’s screen readers consist of software applications installed on a mobile phone, which allow you to use the device even if you cannot read the
screen visually.
Mobile Speak 4.0
Mobile Speak 4: http://www.codefactory.es/en/products.asp?id=316
Oratio for BlackBerry Smartphones
Oratio for BlackBerry Smartphones: http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/products/blindness/oratio_for_blackberry_smartphones/_details/id_131/oratio_for_blackberry_smartphones.html
Vodafone Speak
Vodafone Speak: http://www.codefactory.es/en/products.asp?id=329
Check it out at: Inspirations For EverythingBlind new links http://www.EverythingBlind.com/computers.html
and find the heading for Affordable and/or Accessible Cell Phones
A T Guys, Your Assistive Technology Experts
All of your assistive technology needs found in one place
Assistive Technology http://www.atguys.com
Check it out at: Inspirations For EverythingBlind new links http://www.EverythingBlind.com/computers.html
and find the heading for General Assistive Technology
the Cisco Academy of the Vision Impaired can be found at
www.ciscovision.org
The courses currently offered to students of the Cisco Academy of the Vision Impaired are as follows:
CCNA Discovery 1 and 2 (Cisco Certified Network Associate)
and IT Essentials 1 and 2, the latter of which is being updated.
The program is presented over a twelve month period and provides the participants with skills to:
- Install, configure, and operate computer networks,
- Resolve networking issues;
- Build a computer and install different versions of industry standard operating systems
CAVI provides accredited Cisco Academy courses and employment opportunities for people who are totally or partially blind
Check it out at: Inspirations For EverythingBlind new links http://www.EverythingBlind.com/education.html
and find the heading for Computer Education
EverythingBlind.com www.EverythingBlind.com
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announcing a free seminar for writers, The Music of Writing, in 5 sessions of 90 minutes each via telephone conference call.
Generally, the calendar for each 5-session seminar is set according to the schedules of the participants.
To sign up, call Rebecca Hein at 1-888-921-9595.
Or send an email to:
rhein@vcn.com
and put The Music of Writing in the subject line. If you email, please follow up with a phone call because emails can occasionally get lost.
Testimonials from previous Seminar participants are available on request.
Class size is limited to 5 participants, and will be filled on a first come, first-served basis. Enrollment for the current section closes on July 31, 2010.
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES
Please visit: http://www.inspirational-quotes.info/dreams.html
Where we found these Inspirational quotes:
"Trust the dreams for hidden in them is the gate to eternity."
Kahlil Gibran
"I have spread my dreams beneath your feet. Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."
W.B. Yeats
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David Thoreau
Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
Pamela Vaull Starr
Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.
Henry David Thoreau
So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key.
Lyrics from Already Gone, peformed by the Eagles for their 1974 On the Border album
How You Can Help
Please forward this to all of your friends and colleagues.
We are bringing the blind community closer together.
Heidi
Experience Personal Growth
One of our goals is to take each of you who are willing and ready to grab a hold of a dream and help you to run with it.
OK, so you may be blind, but who cares. Find what it is that makes you passionate and live it.
Please, visit our Blind Inspirations page at www.everythingblind.com/personal-growth.html
to find some ways to help you do this
Looking For ...
In this section we will post your requests, for free, of something you need that you have not been able to easily find.
This may range from a product or service that you require, or a resource or just to make new friends to correspond with.
Send your submissions to this category,
every 3 months, with looking for ... in the subject line.
Visit a website for the blind!
We have put together a site where all VIPs their friends, family, and anyone else that wants to find something pertaining to vision or
vision loss, can come to interact and learn.
Check it out!
EverythingBlind.com www.EverythingBlind.com
How Can I Get Inspirations?
To get your free subscription to Inspirations For EverythingBlind, send a blank email to:
subscribe@everythingblind.com
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