Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind the source for blindness news and information since 1907

The Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, California has built a program around 20 inmates transcribing books into Braille for blind and disabled students across the nation. The inmates transcribe regular books into Braille as well as math and science books. The program has been in existence at Ironwood since 2008 and has been run by the San Bernardino Community College District. Previously, the center was at Ventura College.

The inmates are paid through a grant that the production center received. Depending on their expertise, the inmates are paid between 55 cents to $1.35 an hour. The prisoners are happy to participate in the five year program because it gives them a skill in which to leave prison with.

“It seems like everybody is struggling out there and it’s really hard, so for me to be able to leave here and actually take away something from all of this–it’s huge,” said Tuley, serving time for assault with a deadly weapon. “This is the only program I’ve ever heard of where you can actually get something out of it and use out there.”

The Alternate Text Production Center where Braille production is done is located in a row of bungalows at Ironwood near the main prison yard.

During the five year program, inmates can eventually become certified by the Library of Congress to transcribe material into Braille. Seven inmates have been certified in literary Braille so far. In addition, 13 Braille books have been produced along with 148 electronic books. These materials go to Community Colleges across the state and to institutions across the country. If the inmates in the program are paroled or their prison terms are finished, they will receive hardware and software and be able to work as independent contractors.

Inmates who have a good prison record must take a test to gain admittance into the program. Many prisoners have said that this program has transformed their lives and has given them a skill to use when they are placed back in the community. This is important because the average person looks down at ex-cons.

Earl Pride, Ironwood’s Braille Coordinator said that the program can help in the rehabilitation process and can mean a job when their sentence is complete. Pride also said that the program is a beacon of light in a storm. It has given the prisoners hope. It also gives the prisoners confidence and shows that they can make it out there in the working world in spite of the rough economy.

The Braille Transcriber Program is a great program because it puts educational materials in to the hands of the blind and visually impaired. The program is also an excellent program because prisoners can give back to society and gain a skill that will continue to help the visually impaired community for years to come.

Source: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/dec/21/prison-inmates-create-braille-materials-for/#ixzz1jjqqKBF5

The Oregon Commission for the Blind has been facing audits since 1995. These audits revolve around long standing issues not always associated with the misuse of money.

One of these issues involves the Business Enterprise Program, a program that gives blind people preference in regards to vending machines. They also get preference in regards to food service in other buildings as well. Activists who have been involved with the Business Enterprise Program and have been at odds with the Commission for years are calling for change.

Many people involved with this issue feel that the Commission Administrator Linda Mock should step down. Among these people that feel she should go is Art Stevenson–President of The National Federation of the Blind and a Manager in the Business Enterprise Program. “I do not feel that she should be the administrator of the Oregon Commission for the Blind,” Stevenson said.

The audit which was done this past October involved poor record keeping and poor accounting practices. This audit was similar to the ones done in 1995, 2000, 2001, and 2009. In addition, the Commission for the Blind didn’t have copies of contracts, didn’t have any records of blind vending machine businesses, and didn’t keep records of where the money was spent.

One main issue that the Commission for the Blind has is that the Vending Stand Program is used as a dumping ground. In other words, if blind people can’t get jobs anywhere else, they are placed in the Vending Stand Program. In addition, there was no tracking system for employees who leave.

Yet another issue which had to be dealt with involved automobiles belonging to the state ending up at employee’s homes–a violation of state policy and a practice has been discontinued. Now, only home-based employees who need state vehicles for transporting clients have motor vehicles. Auditors also found was state vehicles were used very little each month. Mock said that these vehicles are used for mobility purposes and are used for short distance trips. She also said that clients can’t ride in employee’s cars because of liability and insurance.

They also found that there were cell phones with monthly plans not getting any use while others were used in excess of their plans, creating steep cell phone bills. Mock said that in the past, cell phone bills were just paid because the bills were hard to read. Now, Mock said that cell phone bills are paid by each department and that some phones have been eliminated. She also said that other phone plans have been adjusted to avoid charges and overuse.

There’s always one person who gets blamed and everybody feels they should be let go–such is the case with Linda Mock. However, there were other people at The Oregon Commission for the Blind who had something to do with the audit. Maybe they should be penalized as well.

Let’s hear your thoughts in the Readers Forum.

Source: http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Publications/bm/bm12/bm1201/bm120102.htm

Bill McCann was a successful programmer at Sun Microsystems and was being promoted on a regular basis. But the former Philadelphia native had a dream. He wanted to develop Music Translation Software that would allow people to create their own music compositions and arrangements and create hard copy music scores that blind and sighted people could read. This software idea kept on coming up in McCann’s mind.

In 1991, with two children on the way, he decided to leave his programming job and accept a severance package that Sun Microsystems offered.

For the next year, McCann made plans to start up his own music company along with generating some income. In other words, he was a part-time musician playing the trumpet–which he started playing when he was 9 years old–a part-time assistive technology trainer and also went to school to learn the C Programming language. He also was an entrepreneur working on setting up his music business for both the blind and sighted alike. He came up with a business plan with the help of a school in Pennsylvania. This new company would become Dancing Dots.

He then started working on the Braille Translation Program which would later become the GOODFEEL music-translation software, which came out in 1997. The program was a dos-based program. Many Windows versions have come out since, and it does work on Windows 7 64 bit operating systems. He acquired start up money from a program that funded new businesses involving technology. His former school, St. Lucy’s, provided office space for his business. Another event happened at a family gathering which would change McCann’s life forever. He met the boyfriend of his wife’s sister. His name was Albert Milani. They both started talking about what each of them did for work. When McCann found out that he was an electrical engineer and Wiz Programmer, he knew that he was the missing link to his business plan.

“What I had before I met Albert,” McCann recalled, “was a prototype. Albert turned it into a product.” Milani became a full time employee of Dancing Dots in 1994 and he is now their Chief Technical Officer. He was hired with the help of a grant through the federal government. Dancing Dots has 5 programmers working on the GOODFEEL program.

He also had something to do with making CakeTalking, another music software program accessible to screen readers. Dancing Dots is also making a musical program for partially sighted people called Limelighter.

Dancing Dots has received calls from celebrities such as Ronnie Millsap, Stevie Wonder, and Ray Charles.

McCann’s dream of starting his own music company has finally been realized and is incredibly successful. His drive to make digital music accessible is a testament to the type of person he is and blind musicians everywhere can now compose music easier than ever. He truly is a role model in the blind community.

Sources: http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw090203
http://www.freedomscientific.com/FSCast/default.asp
http://dancingdots.com/main/index.htm

On January 4, 1809, Louis Braille was born. After becoming blind at a young age, he invented a 6 dot system known as Braille. This 6 dot system, which is read by touch by the blind, has been a primary means of reading and writing for the blind ever since and puts the blind on the same reading level as their sighted peers. Braille is similar to print for a sighted person according to a consultant from the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (RNZFB). But for the blind Braille is even better than print because shorthand is used, making it easy to take notes. Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (RNZFB) Braille Awareness Consultant, Lisette Wesseling also feels that Braille is vital because blind people can get a job, acquire an education, and be independent. Eighty percent of blind people around the world who use braille are employed.

David Allen, an adaptive communications instructor and uses braille on a daily basis. “I use a special piece of equipment called a Braille Sense Plus – a small computer which can display braille. It allows me to read Microsoft Word, text and braille documents, surf the web, do my emails and check Facebook – all using braille.” However, using notetakers such as The Braille Sense Plus or the Pac Mate involves a learning curve. In other words, you have to learn all about these pieces of equipment, such as learning the keyboard and the various menus within the notetaker. In addition, you also have to learn how to use the Braille Display.

To honor Louis Braille, the American Foundation for the Blind set up a website to celebrate the bicentennial of his birth. The museum also focusses on his life in France and his invention of Braille. The link to the museum is http://www.afb.org/LouisBrailleMuseum/

Helen Keller put it best when she emphasized how thankful we should be for Louis Braille and what life would be like without him. She said, “We the blind are as indebted to Louis Braille as mankind is to Gutenberg [...] Without a dot system what a chaotic, inadequate affair our education would be!”

Braille is an important language to the blind. Without it, the doors to education and employment would be closed. Reading would be exceedingly difficult, and in essence, we would be illiterate. Thank God for Louis Braille and his invention.

Source: http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/happy-birthday-louis-braille/5/111731

The National Federation of the Blind Recently started a new free program for blind children ages infancy to seven years old called The Early Explorers Program. The objective of the program is to introduce blind children to the white cane so that they will be confident travelers. In addition, the blind child will gain confidence playing with their peers and feel at ease.

Participants of the program will receive a quarterly newsletter called Travel Tales. This newsletter, which is geared towards parents of blind children, will discuss issues such as fostering movement for age appropriate blind children using the white cane. Parents will also receive a DVD as well as a child-size white cane. Parents will also receive another newsletter called Future Reflections. This quarterly newsletter will have articles in it discussing education issues. Parents will also be able to tap in to resources geared towards parents of blind children.

The Early Explorers Program has a variety of goals for both parents and children. For one, the program’s mission is to introduce children and parents to the long white cane. This will help both children and parents feel comfortable with the cane when they are out in public. Another goal of the program is to teach parents a variety of ways to teach their children cane travel. This will help both parents and children because these methods will be reinforced by the mobility teacher. Another goal of the program is to make parents aware of resources so their blind child will be successful in the future. A final goal of the program is to reinforce the idea of a love of travel with the long white cane.

In order to be eligible for the program, you must first register online at http://testnfb.org/Early-Explorers-Registration. Once you have registered, you will soon receive a child’s size long white cane, a packet of materials and a DVD. This DVD has information about the program. You can read the quarterly newsletter which is geared towards parents. The newsletter discusses travel tips that you can use with your child. In addition, you can also encourage your child to take the white cane wherever he or she goes and explore their environment.

For more information about the NFB Early Explorers Program, email Meleah Jensen at Earlyexplorers@nfb.org or write to her at 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place, Baltimore, MD 21230. You can also call her at (410) 659-9314, Extension 2418.

The Early Explorers Program is a great program because it makes both the parent and the blind child aware of the white cane. It is also beneficial because it reinforces skills taught by both the parent and the teacher. The program also makes the parent aware of the educational resources in the community. This all helps the child reach their goals and head toward adulthood being able to freely deal with the white cane without any worries.

Many New Year’s Resolutions are made with good intent in January but forgotten in February. One of the reasons why these resolutions are forgotten so quickly is because they are not acted upon with a series of steps or an action plan. For instance, if your goal is to lose weight or quit smoking after the holidays, you can stay on track for meeting these goals by following a series of steps or an action plan.

First, choose the right resolution for the right reasons. For instance, why do you want to lose weight or quit smoking? Is the reason to quit smoking or loose weight to improve your health, to live longer, or to improve your appearance or to improve self-esteem? You have to know why you want to either lose weight or quit smoking etc.

Next, decide how difficult your resolution should be. In addition, make your goal reasonable and aim high. Aiming high will make you try harder. For instance, I want to lose 15 pounds or reduce the number of cigarettes smoked by February 15. The loss of 15 pounds by February 15 or the reduced amount of cigarettes smoked by this date assists you in making the resolution official. Once the goal is official, get support from family and friends to help you complete this goal. You can also investigate telephone hotlines in your area to assist in reaching your goal. You can also write your goal on paper or state it when you are looking into a mirror out loud.

Next, develop a plan. With a plan, you will make progress towards accomplishing your goal. Without a plan, you are very unlikely to succeed. The best way to develop a plan is to come up with a list of steps and the due dates of when you will accomplish these steps. If you’re having problems coming up with steps for your plan, either consult a Personal Trainer or go to a website that specializes in this topic.

Make sure you stay on track with your plan. A Daily Planner can be a great help for some people who like to check off items on their to-do lists. However, if you have trouble staying on top of details and staying motivated, you may want to obtain the help of a personal trainer or go on to a website that specializes in goal setting.

The next step is to keep on going and be flexible. This is true especially if the goals change in the middle of the plan. You also have to be flexible if circumstances beyond your control alter the plan.

By following these steps, you will have a better chance of keeping your New Year’s resolutions. Good luck to those of you who set goals for yourself in the coming year.

Let’s find out how you reached your New Year’s Resolutions in The Readers Forum.

Source: http://www.mygoals.com/content/goal-setting-article-002.html

It’s that time of year when gift giving is brought into the spotlight. Hopefully, the following gift giving ideas will assist you in obtaining gifts for that hard to get person.

For that blind cook on your list, you might want to get Braille Measuring Cups and Braille Measuring spoons. These can be purchased from Specialty Adaptations. The cups cost $17.99 and the measuring spoons cost $12.99.

The Orbit iBill Reader, which can be purchased from Independent Living Aids for $99, can read all denominations of U.S. Bills. In addition, you get free shipping on this item.

Blind Bargains is another good site where you might find a bargain. Just go to www.blindbargains.com and either look around or subscribe to the blind bargains email list. For instance, I found a Pac Mate and Braille Display for a very reasonable price.

If you’re looking for a Digital Voice Recorder without all the bells and whistles, you may want to get the one manufactured by The American Printing House for the Blind. The Wilson Digital Voice Recorder, Version 3 cost $34.95 and is an easy to use digital voice recorder. The device can record up to 12 hours of voice messages. In addition, you can download your messages to your computer using the included USB cable.

The National Braille Press has some great gift ideas as far as books are concerned. For instance, they have a book called George Foreman’s Indoor Grilling Made Easy for $19.95. They also have a book called “Getting Started with the iPhone An Introduction for Blind Users” in various formats for $18. In addition, they also have books for children as well as a book For the Month Club for children. You can browse their bookstore for more information at http://www.nbp.org/

NBP also has other great gift ideas besides books. They have a Dr. Seuss Wall Calendar for $13.99. This Print/Braille calendar has quotes from Dr. Seuss’s books. It also has the dates and days in Print/braille. This calendar always sells out, so purchase it soon. For other gift ideas from NBP, you can download their catalog on their web site at the website mentioned above.

If you own an Apple device and are blind or know someone who is blind that owns one, a tactile screen protector may be just what Santa could order. These Protectors enhance the accessibility of Apple Devices. These make the on screen keyboard accessible. These devices can be purchased from either AT Guys or Solona. Solona also offers iPad Protectors with full Braille labeling for the on screen keyboard.

These are just a few gift ideas that can be purchased for either yourself or another blind person. In coming up with these ideas, the goal was to keep the price down so that the average person could purchase these products.

Santa Claus is once again teaming up with The National Federation of the Blind to promote Braille Literacy for both boys and girls. The program has been in existence for a couple of years.

In order to participate in the program, parents can go on line between November 16th and December 20th at www.nfb.org and fill out a Santa Braille letter request form. This form can also be printed and faxed to (410) 659-6893. The Braille letter will be accompanied by a print letter so that parents can also read it. The letter will also be in either contracted Braille or uncontracted Braille.

The NFB needs to know the following information in order to process your individual letter. The information includes the child’s name, birthday, gender, mailing address and telephone number as well as an email address in case Santa’s helpers have questions.

Dr. Marc Maurer thinks it’s great that Santa has the National Federation in his thoughts. He said, “Santa approached the National Federation of the Blind a couple of years ago and asked us to be his helpers. I’m quite fond of the fellow and was delighted that we could assist him in his work. Braille literacy is the key to success and opportunity for the blind, but unfortunately too few blind children are learning it today. This program will not only be jolly good fun but will also serve an important educational purpose, as blind children will be able to practice reading Braille as they enjoy their letter from Saint Nicholas.”

The Braille Letters from Santa Program is part of the National Federation of the Blind’s Braille Literacy campaign. This campaign is the largest in the nation ever undertaken by a blindness organization.

It’s great that The National Federation of the Blind has the Braille Letters to Santa Program because it gives children the opportunity to promote Braille Literacy and sharpen their braille skills. It also helps sighted teachers of the Visually Impaired and public school teachers in general know that Braille is not obsolete. As a matter of fact, braille is more alive than ever because of Notetakers for the blind and braille embossers and braille displays.

Not to mention that it’s always fun for kids to correspond with Santa himself.

Source: http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=507

Freedom Scientific is lowering their prices on the Pac Mate and the Braille displays that go with them. However, are these prices low enough so that the average person can afford them? Freedom Scientific says that more people will be able to afford these devices. Will you be one of them? Read on and see.

On October 27, Freedom Scientific announced a $500 and $1,005 reduction on their Pac Mate notetakers and the Braille displays that go with them. The Pac Mate Omni with speech now only costs $995. It previously cost $1,495. The Pac Mate Omni with twenty cells of braille costs (Don’t have a heart attack now) $2,390. This was formerly $2,895. The Pac Mate Omni with 40 cells of Braille costs $3,690. It was formerly $4,695.

The Braille Display prices are lower but still out of reach for the average person as well as the notetakers. Freedom scientific claims that a speech-only Pac Mate is less than half the price that competitors charge. Freedom Scientific is charging 40 percent less for a 40 cell braille display than what their competitors charge for a 32 cell braille display.

The Pac Mate is based on The Microsoft Windows mobile operating system and runs the Microsoft suite of products. This includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook. Because this notetaker runs products from Microsoft, the blind person can share their work with their sighted peers. “A notetaker is a huge productivity tool for a blind person – one that is critical in leveling the playing field for educational and employment opportunities,” states Dr. Lee Hamilton, President and CEO of Freedom Scientific. “Unfortunately, notetakers and Braille displays have always been expensive, which has meant that not everyone could get one. Freedom Scientific wants to provide opportunity to as many blind people as possible by making this key assistive technology more widely available.” However, their attempts in making these products widely available has failed because most blind people don’t have that kind of money. In addition, many of them are not working. For those who have the Pac Mate and braille display, it can make learning braille and using it easier. The Pac Mate also has a Braille tutor which speaks when the user runs in to an unfamiliar symbol. You also put hundreds of books on to a memory card or thumb drive as well. Freedom Scientific also claims that their Braille displays are the most reliable in the industry.

The Braille displays and notetakers that Freedom Scientific manufactures are still out of the reach of most blind people. The only way that they may obtain these devices might be through Rehab. Other than that, most blind people won’t be able to afford these devices. It’s certainly an improvement, but I’m not sure it goes far enough. What do you think?
Source: http://www.freedomscientific.com/news/pressroom/2011/PACMate-price-reduction.asp

One day while at the store, Joshua Goldenberg was looking for batteries. However, he couldn’t find the ones he wanted. The clever 7 year old boy looked up at his mother and asked why Braille can’t be put on the store shelves.

“I went online and started [Google searching] how blind people grocery shop,” said Christie Goldenberg, Joshua’s mother. “Of all the things I had thought of having a child that never dawned on me once. Here I am ready to send him off to college and everything else, but I never thought of the simple things.”

Joshua and his family went to the Newtonville Whole Foods Store one recent Friday to help launch the Braille Independence Initiative. The Newtonville Market is the first store on the East Coast to have Braille labels on its product shelves.

“This is the first step of a strategic plan,” National Braille Press President Brian MacDonald told Patch last week. “This is a great start and a great opportunity.”

The National Braille Press, along with The Carroll Centre for the Blind and Perkins School for the Blind, teamed up with Whole Foods and the Goldenbergs to launch the initiative.

It all started when Christie Goldenberg started writing letters, making phone calls, and arranging meetings with her local Whole Foods to address these types of problems.

“When I saw there were stories of [visually-impaired] people going into stores and waiting 20 minutes [for an assistant], I thought, Josh is so fiercely independent, he’ll never go for that,” Christie said. “So, I thought, there has to be a better way. And [Josh] said, ‘Mommy, just make them put Braille on the labels.’”

She initially thought her son’s idea would be brushed aside, but the reaction was quite the opposite–Whole Foods embraced the idea. Soon after, Joshua was making Braille labels for the Thousand Oaks, CA store.

Christie says that Josh likes to run the show when his family goes shopping for groceries. He also has plans for labels with braille on them as well as coupons with braille on them at his local library. “People say to me, ‘oh it’s so great you thought of that,’ but you know, I really can’t take any credit,” Christie said. “We’re simply a vehicle for this kid who drives us.”

The National Braille Press found out about his Whole Foods project and flew him and his family to the East Coast for a NBP’s Hands On! Award at the NBP annual gala.

But the trip was not just about an award. The trip was about the Braille Independence Initiative. The Goldenberg Family wanted to bring the Braille Independence Initiative to a Massachusetts store and the Newtonville Whole Foods location.

“Because of our proximity to Perkins and Carroll, we were the logical choice,” said Terri Petrunyak, a marketing and community relations representative for the Newtonville Whole Foods.

Aisle by aisle and department to department, they plan to have braille labels throughout the store in order to serve the blind and visually impaired community in the area. The store started with the produce department and will move on to the frozen food and bakery, said Petrunyak.

“This is really a demo project where we’re doing a section at a time, evaluating what works and then we’re going to determine how to better improve the next section,” Petrunyak said.

MacDonald said that braille labels are just the beginning of independence for blind and visually impaired customers. He also said that technologies incorporated with smart phones, such as bar code scanners and text scanners, will make shopping easier for blind customers as well.

During Friday’s event, Josh helped label a few of the items in the store such as some papaya, fruit bowls, and watermelon. Students from Perkins and The Carroll Centre walked through the fruit and vegetable aisle and were able to identify the produce on their own.

This new initiative is a great sign that companies are taking the problems facing the blind and visually impaired community seriously and are involving members of that community in the processes necessary to fix those problems.

Source: http://newton.patch.com/articles/seven-year-old-brings-braille-to-shelves-of-newtonville-whole-foods#video-8141891