October 2004

President's Message - Fall 2004

Summer will soon be a distant memory as we ease firmly through fall, which means of course, winter will be upon us before we know it. And since this is the last newsletter of the year, I thought I would recap what can only be described as one heck of a busy year for ACBM!

When I began my term as your President a year and a half ago and resurrected our motto, "Leaping into the future. Remembering lessons of the past" I really had no idea just how much "leaping" we would be doing. But a year of leaping is pretty darn close to describing our busy year!

This October, "ACBM Info Express," our telephone news and information hotline at 651-642-5003, celebrates its first anniversary! "ACBM Info Express" actually launched service on October 22, 2003. The service began with a main menu and a couple of voice box options and in a matter of months grew to its current configuration of the main menu and 4 voice box options. During its humble beginnings "ACBM Info Express" received an average of 200 calls per month. Today the service routinely receives over 1,000 calls per month.

The idea to sell advertisement "space," In the form of a business or individual becoming an official "sponsor" for the month, spurred on the development of an entire "Partner Sponsorship Program," whereby business or individuals could "sponsor" various programs of ACBM on a monthly or event basis. The idea being a "win-win" opportunity for both ACBM and the individual business sponsor as the fee paid for the sponsorship helps ACBM to defray the cost of the program and the business that becomes the sponsor gets to advertise their product or service directly to our community.

A brochure was developed and printed, outlining each ACBM program, service and event, and mailed to various local area businesses and organizations. The brochure contained a listing and description of each major ACBM program, along with the dollar amount to sponsor each individual event. The "Partner Sponsorship Program" also contains 3 very special categories of sponsorship options called "ACBM Patrons." Of the 3 special "ACBM Patrons," There are Silver, Gold and Platinum Patron levels. Any business or individual who elects to donate $1,000 becomes a Silver Patron, $2,500 to become a Gold Patron and $5,000 to become a Platinum Patron. The donations are completely tax deductible and help ACBM continue the great work it provides to the visually impaired community. As of this writing, I am proud to announce we have 1 Silver Patron and 1 Gold Patron, although our Gold Patron is practically a Platinum Patron!

Our Silver Patron, at $1,000 donation: CaptionMax - With offices in Minneapolis, New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, CaptionMax is a one-stop shop for Closed Captioning, Subtitling, Web cast Captioning, Audio Description, and much more. CaptionMax is a one-stop service, helping make programs and media fully accessible to all viewers!

Our Gold Patron, almost our Platinum Patron with donations of $1,800.00 and $3,000.00, making their total yearly donation $4,800: The St. Paul Midway Lions Club The world's largest service club organization, Lions Clubs International has 1.4 million members in more than 44,500 clubs and 185 countries and service areas. Lions Clubs International Foundation is the charitable arm of Lions Clubs International. The St. Paul Midway Lions Club has approximately 80 members and is active in community service initiatives throughout St. Paul. The Lions Club motto is: "We Serve." The St. Paul Midway Lions Club was instrumental in re-building the Blind Lion BeepBall team, which played a Celebrity game in July before a Saints game at Midway Stadium this summer. They purchased equipment and uniforms and coordinated the "Celebrity Beepball Game" which netted ACBM $1,800.00. Also, as part of the "Celebrity" team, which was made up of St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelley, and 4 St. Paul business leaders from St. Paul, Tom Edelstein of Burnet Realty, Randy Gonzalez of Horizon Financial Mortgage, Greyton Becker of Pinehurst Bank, and Glen Sorenson of R. F. Moeller Jewelers. The remainder of the "Celebrity" team was made up of Lions Club members.

The St. Paul Midway Lions Club kicked off our major fundraising to purchase our Braille embosser. As a matter of fact, the St. Paul Midway Lions Club not only lead off our drive, they pushed us over the top of our drive to raise the needed $7,000.00 needed by recently approving an additional $3,000.00 to help us reach our goal!! This means ACBM should be the proud owners of our own Braille embosser very soon and those members who would prefer to receive materials in Braille will soon be able to!

If you know a business or individual who could become our next "Partner Sponsor," either sponsoring "ACBM Info Express for a month or becoming one of our PATRON sponsors, Silver is $1,000; Gold is $2,500;and,Platinum is $5,000,please pass their contact information on to me and I will follow up with them.

January also brought new programs and events to members of ACBM, like: "Club ACBM," a program of workshop presentations covering a variety of topics of general personal and professional interest that are held during some non-quarterly membership meeting months. Events have been held in various community centers throughout the city and offer light refreshments and a great atmosphere for socializing with old friends and for meeting new ones. Events are advertised widely and open to the general public. Although the events feature lots of socializing, there is an educational component weaved throughout the evening.

Mostly Monthly Outings," a series of "outings" and held "most" months! Either a restaurant or Theater event is the focus for the month and will give members, friends and families an opportunity to experience different restaurants and/or events throughout the city! We all sit together, enjoy each other's company and be an important visible image to the public and demonstrate how important our independence is to us!

There is more to share with you but space is limited here so I will wrap up by telling you one great important fact about our membership. It's growing! Yes, our membership is continuing to grow! Some have been the product of members bringing guests to ACBM events and some have been listening to "ACBM Info Express" and decided to join. It doesn't matter where they come from, new members are the lifeblood of any organization and our growing membership means people like what ACBM is doing in and around the community!

Yes we have been busy this year and much more is in the works for the coming year. The number one way you can be sure as to not miss any great ACBM program or event is to listen to "ACBM Info Express" each week! As we all know, things change fast these days and staying on top of what is happening, when it is happening could be the key to you being a part of it or being left out. Don't be left out! Stay tuned to "ACBM Info Express @ 651-642-5003" for the most up-to-date news and information, for and about ACBM and our entire community.

Heck, before we know it, and God willing, another winter will be over and we will have made it through "one more Minnesota winter!" Until then, bundle up and stay warm! Ken Rodgers, President

A Message from Chuk Hamilton

Greetings ACB Members!
From: Chuk Hamilton, Director, Minnesota State services for the Blind

I would like to bring you up-to-date on a matter here at SSB. Before I was hired, I made it clear to everyone that the training of SSB staff was very important to me. Specifically, I was concerned about staff training in blindness.

Therefore, after being appointed in December 2003, staff training has been one of many projects we have been working on. You will recall that earlier this year I circulated a draft Staff Training Plan Regarding Blindness and Visual Impairment, consisting of two parts. The first part was intended to provide fundamental information about blindness, deaf blindness and visual impairment to all new SSB staff. Part two was intended to provide certain staff more in-depth training under the blindfold to learn more about the emotional adjustment to blindness, and the alternative techniques available to address vision loss.

Comment was received from staff, consumer groups (including members of ACBM), and the State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind. The comments were considered seriously and some changes occurred. Most, but not all the comments were supportive of the direction we were going. At the June, 2004 meeting of the Council, the amended draft received their unanimous support.

We worked on the preparations for the Phase 1 training all summer, resulting in our presentation on October 13-14. While only a handful of staff was required to attend, all staff was invited in that I felt they could provide us considerable feedback on the content. Over 80 staff did attend! In addition, members of the Council and consumer groups were invited to attend. ACBM President Ken Rodgers and Vice-President Rebecca Kragnes did attend and I understand that there may be another article in this publication in that regard. I publicly thanked them for attending and providing us important feedback.

I do want to share with you the portions that I presented regarding Cultural Perspectives on Blindness and Disability, Common Barriers to Personal and Vocational Independence, and SSB's Philosophy of Blindness.

I reviewed with the attendees (for about 20 minutes!) the several thousand year history of how blindness has been viewed by society, and the important events that have occurred over the last several centuries to improve the lives of blind people. Three reference books were used, including your own People of Vision; A History of the American Council of the Blind.

The sum of that material led to several conclusions:

• Blind people have accessed a broad spectrum of education, vocational training and leisure time opportunities in their move toward first class citizenship.
• Blind people have not only participated, but achieved in almost every vocational field imaginable.
• Despite many positive changes for the blind in the 20th Century, some things haven't changed as we enter the 21st Century.
• Blindness as a social liability, blindness as punishment for sin, and "blindness equaling uselessness" continue to influence modern attitudes.
• In the popular mind, the concept of blindness simultaneously presents two contradictory (and wrong!) notions-that sight loss dooms most of its victims to lifelong dependence, but that it also rewards a few of them with superhuman powers!
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• Blindness today slices across every stratum of society. It encompasses the same proportions of the wise and the foolish, the gifted and the less talented, the efficient and the slow, the aggressive and the passive, as any other random sample of the population.
• In summary, the major barriers for blind people are not the physical causes or condition of blindness. Rather, it is the FEAR of blindness, and what we (the sighted and the blind) believe about blindness.

This lead to the section on what seemed to be the barriers caused by blindness:

• FEAR of blindness, and what we believe about blindness. (A "can't do" attitude)
• Discrimination
• Mobility
• Access to and use of written information
• Personal management
• Self-determination

I also used an interactive video (web based) called "Focus on Ability", a product developed by the Department of Employment and Economic Development that consisted of blind and other persons with a disability talking about their wants, needs, and barriers.

I then introduced my final section, SSB's Philosophy of Blindness. What is a philosophy?

One meaning is "a particular system of principles for the conduct of life" (Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, 2001). In our case it is what we believe about blindness and blind people, and it guides our work.

Why have an agency philosophy of blindness? Because we are an agency serving the blind; we all have beliefs about blindness and blind people whether they have been written down or not; and we want everyone at SSB to be on the same page.

So, what are these beliefs?

• Blindness is a natural part of the human experience, a characteristic, like the hundreds of others which, taken together, mold each of us into a unique human being.
• People who are blind are a cross-section of society as a whole, mirroring society in every way with the same hopes, interests and desires, the same dreams, abilities and potential as everyone else.
• Most all the physical limitations associated with blindness can be overcome by learning and using alternative techniques for doing without sight what you would do with sight.
• With appropriate education, training and opportunity, persons who are blind can achieve in the world of work, can be independent in their home and community, can have and take care of a family, can be a tax paying and participating citizen and can be in every way a contributing member of society who can compete equally with his or her sighted neighbors.
• Everyone has different dreams and expectations, attitudes and aptitudes, potential and possibilities-so an important ingredient to our programs is customer choice.
• Our job is to encourage high expectations and independence and provide the services needed to achieve customer goals while respecting customer choice. Success depends greatly on the effort and commitment by the customer.

What I have just briefly shared with you took nearly two hours to present. The whole training took two full days. We are starting to review the feedback, and one message has come through loud and clear-everyone thought the training was necessary, important and well done. Certainly there are some things that need to be changed, both in content as well as in presentation, in that we would normally be presenting the informational material to one or two employees at a time.

I appreciate the opportunity to share this information with you, and work with ACBM to improve services for blind and visually impaired Minnesotans.

ACBM Presents to Minnesota State Services for the Blind

By Ken Rodgers

On October 13 and 14, 2004 Minnesota State Services for the Blind held its newly created curriculum "Adjustment to Blindness - Phase 1" program to staff and councilors at Luther Seminary, St. Paul. Staff and counselors from all over the state, along with a number of State Rehabilitation Council members and a couple of interested non-employee community members like myself, converged for a very full two days of education, presentations and break-out groups, on a variety of subject areas, but all having to do with or about blindness.

This Phase 1 training is the culmination of many months of research and re-works by the new Director of SSB, Chuk Hamilton, and has been designed to provide new employees to the agency with a basic introduction and foundation on the subject of blindness. Phase 1 is designed for all employees from administrative assistants to high-level management types, with a more in-depth "Phase 2" for vocational rehabilitation councilors and staff that work directly with clients of the agency.

Since this was the first time the program was presented, it was offered to all employees statewide and approximately 85 individuals participated from all over the state of Minnesota.

One component of the program was presentations by each of the four community consumer groups, which included Minnesota Deaf blind Association, American Council of the Blind of Minnesota, National Federation of the Blind Minnesota and United Blind.

What follows, is the basic presentation I made to the training participants, many of them being introduced to ACBM for the first time.

Good Afternoon everyone, my name is Ken Rodgers. I am the current President of the American Council of the Blind of Minnesota and on behalf of our entire membership; I'd like to express our gratitude for the opportunity to speak to you today.

I'd like to let you know that I will begin by sharing with you our Mission Statement, then share our core values and describe our vision and some of our goals, and then end with sharing a little about the programs we are currently involved with. I'll wrap it all up with an opportunity for you to ask me some questions, should you have any.

Before I begin to talk about ACBM, I'd like to start by letting you know I am currently finishing up my first term of office as the President of ACBM. There are 3 other officers and 5 directors, each elected by the membership on a rotation basis. We currently have about 110 members

and meet on a quarterly basis at venues around Minneapolis and St. Paul. Although the bulk of our membership live in and around the Twin Cities we do have members located throughout the entire state. I do have to tell you though, it is extremely difficult tic build, maintain and continue to grow a large membership when we have no specific "home" to be able to call our own. Not even having a small office to gather informally at, or our own "place" to call "home" presents its own set of challenges. Nonetheless, I am happy to share with you that our membership is on the rise and we manage to build community through our many and varied programs.

The Mission of ACBM is to Develop and implement programs, services and events, Focusing on the abilities, issues, rights and responsibilities of individuals who have been affected by a vision loss, while emphasizing our underlying belief That it is through educating ourselves, We become empowered to Realize The full potentiality and Capability Of living full and productive lives.

I'm happy to say that the Board of Directors recently adopted our Mission statement. As a matter of fact, it was on September 24, 2004, which was an evolution that began at our Leadership Retreat last June.

I know that mission statement contains some very nice sounding and pretty fancy words and concepts. But what my hope is, is that by the end of my presentation, you will have a much clearer idea of what our mission statement is actually talking about. Our Purpose.

We believe our purpose, as an organization, is to work toward independence, security, equality of opportunity, and improved quality of life for all blind and visually impaired Minnesotans.

Again, more fancy words that all sound very nice, but as I continue, it will become clear as to the practice that I am talking about.

As members of ACBM, we believe in 4 core principle values. And it is these core principle values that are reflected in everything we do as ACBM. The principles are democracy, dignity, self-determination and advocacy.

Through our first core value of democracy, we believe that ACBM must be governed, first and foremost, by democratic principles. It is by and through the democratic principles and the democratic process that guarantee each and every member of ACBM the opportunity for the free expression of divergent views.

Our second core principle is dignity. We believe in accepting people, AS THEY ARE and WHERE THEY ARE! Therefore, membership is not restricted in any way. And, in fact, we WELCOME diversity! Further, we believe it is through dignity, that we encourage and value every blind and visually impaired person to be his or her own individual! One size does not fit all in ACBM.

Our third core principle is Self Determination. We are guided by the conviction that people, who are blind and visually impaired, given the appropriate information, tools and opportunity, are fully capable of representing and determining their own situations, needs and directions.

Advocacy is our fourth core principle. We believe the primary task of ACBM is to represent the needs of our blind and visually impaired members and their families, of all ages, and advocate for the timely and satisfactory resolution of any problem situation that interferes with the person's ability to live a fully independent life.

While we prefer negotiating, persuasion, and consensus- building to resolve problems, we are not above participating in demonstrations, marches, and other public acts when this kind of response is appropriate to attract attention to an issue, which requires additional explanation, clarification or resolution.

A great example of ACBM putting this value of advocacy in action was last summer during the Metro transit bus strike. ACBM was an active participant at a major rally and demonstration in front of the Minneapolis Government Center and participated as a speaker to call for an end to the strike. I will not soon forget the thrill it was to speak to an audience of what one newspaper reported to be twenty thousand people, all clapping and yelling at first, then as quiet as they could be to hear me describe how the strike was affecting our members... I then ended my part with leading the crowd with the "end the strike now" chant. Then I handed off the microphone to Mayor RT Ryback!

No, ACBM is not afraid to participate in demonstrations. As a matter of fact, coming up this Saturday October 16, you are all invited to march with our members as we gather at the Uptown Transit Station to draw attention to a very dangerous traffic signal that connects the two transit stations together. There is no cross traffic as this signal is in the middle of the street and as such, very dangerous! No, we are not afraid to advocate when we need to!

We also uphold our core values in the following ways:

• We have open elections at regular intervals. All offices and officers have term limits, which allows for a natural progression and exposure to different leadership styles.
• We value and partner with diverse associations and groups.
We try to always have partnering opportunities in most of our activities and programs because we believe it is through these partnerships we add diversity of ideas and widen our scope and vision. A great example of putting this value into action is our recent partnering with the Minnesota Senior Federation. We are also proud members of the Minnesota Council for Nonprofits and the Management Assistance Project located in St. Paul. We also are proud of our relationships with various Lion Club Chapters around the Twin Cities. We also have entered into a partnership with a business corporation called CaptionMax recently. We believe strongly in partnering and adding to each other's resources.

We also put our values into action by being guided with a "living and growing" constitution and governance structure. This means the membership determines our directions. At will, the membership can make changes by voting to change our guiding constitution and Bylaws. The will of the membership guides the complete direction of our organization.

As an organization, we can be a valuable resource to you as SSB employees who might be seeking information on programs and services in the blindness field. We can also be a valuable resource regarding laws affecting blind persons. ACBM believes that a consumer-driven organization can effectively advocate on all aspects of service, accessibility issues and concerns of daily living for people who are blind or visually impaired. We believe we can be effective alone, but we are much more effective when we work together with other blindness-related organizations.

We respect the fact that each blindness organization has its own place and advances its own set of beliefs and activities for its members. We believe one of our greatest values is our belief in, and support for every member as an individual. Each person is able to be a valuable contributor to the well being of all blind Minnesotans.

As a unique and individual organization, we do have a national connection. We are a chapter of the national American Council of the Blind. Besides individual state chapters of ACB, many state chapters of ACB also have multiple chapters within many states. Additionally, there are about 45 "special interest" groups, such as blind attorneys to guide dog users, incorporated. There are blind government workers to Randolf-Shepherd vendor association, and everything in-between.

Our national organization holds an annual legislative seminar in Washington D.C., to educate and train members on various pending key legislative issues, and prepares members with the tools necessary To speak knowledgeably during visits to Capitol Hill.

The national office also sponsors a monthly news magazine program, "ACB Reports," heard over more than one hundred local radio reading services across the United States.

The "Washington Connection, which is a telephone service is available evenings and weekends by calling 800- 232-5463. This service gives the latest legislative updates and lets callers know the status of important and pending legislation.

ACB sponsors an annual Convention. The convention and membership are the ultimate authority in policy-making for ACB.

Because of its diverse membership and democratic style of government, people involved in ACB can expect to hear from all sides of an issue facing blind people today. Elections take place through a spirited convention process and people are elected based on their strengths for the organization and the diversity they represent rather than on their strict adherence to a philosophical principle.

On the national level, term limits ensure that a variety of people will be able to serve and most special interest affiliates also meet during the convention. There's also a large exhibit component at convention and last year there were just over 1hundred vendors displaying everything from clothing items to Braille embossers. Various schools offer exhibits and there is everything from jewelry to talking a t m's.

Many more resources can be found at the national Website: www.acb.org

I finished the presentation by talking about some of the ACBM programs, such as: "ACBM Info Express 651-642-5003", Club B ACBM, Mostly Monthly Theater and Restaurant Outings and ended by answering a couple of general questions. I also mentioned that although our Website is currently undergoing construction and major renovations, we could be found at: www.acb.org/minnesota

Many individual SSB staff approached me later in the day to tell me they appreciated my presentation, very much. There were a couple of staffers who told me they had never heard a formal presentation about ACBM and found it very valuable and worthwhile. There was even one counselor, no names here, who asked for contact information as he had some clients who would be interested in our organization. I told him they would be most welcome at ACBM, anytime!

Adjustment to Blindness Training Phase I: My Adjustment to State Services for the Blind

By Rebecca Kragnes

Many of you know that I have been ACB-M's representative on the Rehabilitation Council for the Blind (RCB) at State Services for the Blind (SSB). Before I was on the council, I attended council meetings in the audience. Years before attending any council meetings, I was a customer at State Services for the Blind during Dick Davis's directorship, and at times, it was a humiliating experience. Here are two brief examples. My guide dog was called "livestock" by staff, and my counselor went along with a job specialist outside of the agency in suggesting I wear sunglasses to accommodate a potential employer under "reasonable accommodation." Therefore, whether in the audience or at the council table, I approached these meetings with trepidation. I felt that, because SSB's philosophy of blindness contained some tenants of that of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), asking for sighted assistance was taboo. When blind people came together for things at SSB, I had been ridiculed in the past by Federation members for asking simple questions, and that ridicule made me feel terrible and intimidated. At these meetings, I tried my best not to call attention to myself or my needs by asking for assistance. SSB was the only place where I felt I had to downplay and even hide the use of my dog guide, because of how shamed I felt.

On Wednesday and Thursday, October 13 and 14, 2004, I got a different perspective on SSB through attending SSB's Adjustment to Blindness Phase I as a member of the RCB and a guest. Though I still disagree vehemently with how some of the NFB's philosophy is put into practice by them, I also learned that yes, NFB members can be cordial and ask for assistance too. In this article, I intend to review the two days' activities and then to discuss how interactions outside of the structured classes changed my opinion about how I will view SSB in the future.

Like the council meetings, I approached this training with a great deal of anxiety. I called a trusted SSB staff person two days before the training to ensure that someone would help me if and when I needed it. From the agenda, I knew we would be changing buildings, and the week before, we received an Email that a buffet style lunch would be available for $6.

Each day, I took cabs back and forth between my home and Luther Seminary, the training Center. I got to the building early to be able to find a seat simply and gracefully. On the first day, a staff person John Hamilton volunteered to give me a little orientation, and I was given a name tag and two wonderfully Brailled books that had a lot of the material from the training in them plus evaluation sheets. My first volume also had a letter B for blue, and that was the color of a dot on my nametag. We were randomly divided into color groups of purple, yellow, blue, and green.

We were welcomed by SSB Director Chuk Hamilton, and a special welcomed was extended to guests like me who were not employees of SSB. We guests were asked to stand and received applause for simply being there. Chuk explained the color groups and the order in which we would go through the breakout sessions later that afternoon and the next morning. Chuk went through the new SSB Adjustment to Blindness Policy and explained its purpose. He gave a short history of blindness, we watched parts of the "Focus on Disability" module, and then Chuk read and explained SSB's philosophy of blindness. Much of it was based on Federation wording and beliefs. But to Chuk's credit, he took material from the histories of both NFB and ACB and reprinted chapters out of the books. He also gave us part of a book called "the Unseen Minority: A Social History of Blindness in the United States" by Frances A. Koestler. Which portion of the three books do you suppose was the biggest in bulk? It was the part taken from the ACB's history.

I agreed with most of the philosophy, although the word "characteristic" to describe blindness wasn't my favorite. Perhaps the word "quality" could be substituted in its place. I heard Joyce Scanlan use that word in NFB's presentation, and I might be able to go along with that. I also wanted to see a phrase about it being ok to ask for assistance. Independence was accentuated, but there are those situations were assistance makes things easier. This is true for the sighted as well as the blind.

After a break, we heard from Steve Oglesbee about the Minnesota Deaf Blind Association (MDBA). He outlined the group's history and talked about their 25th anniversary Thanksgiving dinner next month. This was the first of four presentations by members of consumer groups. All Speakers talked about their organization's history, beliefs, mission, goals, activities, and programs. Three out of the four talked about their organization's governing structure and funding sources. I took notes, because Steve didn't have materials.

Ken Rodgers from our organization passed out materials for his presentation about ACB-M after lunch. In addition to the things I sighted earlier, he touched on ACB-M's core values. One of my favorite things Ken highlighted is that we are a diverse group and accept people as and where they are. He also acknowledged that he respects the need for other organizations for and of the blind. I thought it was a classy thing to say. Ken's material included two pieces available in both print and Braille. One piece was our brochure and membership form, and a second outlined recent ACB-M programs in detail.

Then it was time for the break out sessions. Because I was in the blue group, I was part of the lucky group that got to go across the street to the other building, come back to the original building, and then go back over to the other one for our final session of the day. In a session titled "Services", Richard Strong annotated a list of web sites related to SSB, Employment, Minnesota Community Rehabilitation Programs for the Blind, nationwide training programs for the blind, aids and devices, recreational options, guide dog schools, and advocacy and consumer organizations. We were asked for additional web site suggestions to add to this list. My only critique is that once in a while he'd verbalize NFB things and skip over the ACB equivalents listed in the book.

In a session called "Key Points About the Americans with Disabilities Act" (ADA), Pam Brown showed a video that went over the contents of each title and/or section of the ADA. Afterwards, more specific questions about the ADA were asked, discussed and answered. I don't remember what I wrote on my evaluation, except that perhaps covering specifics related to blindness and other access laws might be helpful.

David Andrews session on "An Overview of Assistive Technology" was engaging and informative. Technology was put into categories, and he talked about the purposes and/or uses, strengths and weaknesses, the price ranges, other requirements and/or peripherals, and finally gave a list of specific products with web sites as references. Under computer access technology, he covered synthesized speech, enlarged print, and Braille displays. He also discussed Close Circuit TV's (CCTV's), scanners, scanning software, reading machines, Braille Printers, Braille translation software, Note Takers, digital talking book players, portable file readers, Global Positioning System (GPS) Units, and lower tech devices such as digital cassette recorders, Braille Writers, Slates and Styluses, and talking calculators. David demonstrated screen Reader Software, scanning software, and a notetaker. A little CCTV, a portable file reader, and a digital Talking Book player were passed around. At the end, he extended an invitation for Staff and customers to find out more by talking to him or his staff in SSB's Computer Resource Center for the Blind. He covered an incredible amount of material in a very short time, but he was thorough! David definitely had favorites among the technologies, but who wouldn't? My only critique is that he might want to reference earlier versions of products, because customers may not have the latest and greatest.

I participated in Lyle Lundquist's session "Low Vision and Alternative Techniques" the next morning. He spent quite a bit of time explaining visual acuity, field of vision, how they are measured, and legal blindness. Lyle said that sometimes people with low vision are referred to low vision clinics by their SSB counselors. Low vision aids fall in two categories, optical and nonoptical. Optical aids are all different kinds of magnifiers. Non-optical aids are things like bold-line paper, anything in large print, large-faced watches, and glare-control glasses. A couple of magnifiers were passed around.

Lyle then talked about how the counselors are involved in low vision. SSB Counselors are responsible for assessing what low vision aids might help a customer, what and how much training is needed, and describing the benefits of using these devices.

In addition, counselors are responsible for assessing when low vision techniques may not be as useful as alternative techniques, also called blindness techniques. Alternative techniques are often taught under blindfold and sometimes taught with remaining vision. The counselor can train the customer on some things, but sometimes Community Rehabilitation Programs train the customers at their centers or in the customer's home. Some customers choose a full time training program, while others train part time.

Situations where alternative techniques are used were listed such as reading and writing, meal preparation, household cleaning and maintenance, telling time, using the telephone, leisure activities, and travel. Sighted guide was demonstrated, and the long white cane and guide dogs were touched on.

My critique was that low vision techniques and alternative techniques really need their own separate sessions, this way, more alternative techniques can be demonstrated, and the finer points of something like sighted guide can be covered in more depth. This may also be the appropriate place for a cane user to come in and speak.

Before the final break out session on Thursday morning, Joyce Scanlan from the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota (NFBM) spoke about their organization. To her credit, Joyce was charismatic and kept our attention. She gave a brief history, and outlined the beliefs, mission and goals of the federation on the national and state levels and then talked about her life before and after joining the Federation. She attended a school for the blind where people with more vision were at the top of the social ladder but also given much more responsibility than the "totals". She was mistreated by rehab professionals who wanted to pigeonhole her into one profession. In fact, she got kicked out of one rehab center. Before the Federation, she hid from blindness, and afterward, she embraced it and the Federation. Finally, she encouraged counselors to turn to the NFB for assistance. I thought it was ironic that given how strongly NFB feels about Braille, there was much more print information than Braille information available from the NFBM. There was one comprehensive Braille handout explaining who they were, what they believed, program information, and meeting and contact information for each state chapter. By the way, governing structure and funding sources were not covered in the presentation and on a very limited basis in the handout.

After the final break out session and Break, we all came together to discuss etiquette and guide dogs. I loved the video and materials provided on etiquette for interaction with blind people. Both gave some dos and don'ts that serve us all well. Asking before assisting a blind person was appropriately accented here. In the note book there was also a tongue in cheek piece included about so-called "sighted etiquette."

A school-specific video including some pretty universal no-nos in guide dog etiquette was shown next. It gave the emotional component a lot of stress, and I think that's important. However, I do think that having a person with a dog guide come in and speak might work better. Instead of informing people about dog guides, I felt this was more of an advertising piece and too sappy and sweet. I did e-mail Richard Strong some material about pros and cons of using guide dogs and using canes. He utilized a lot of it, but it might be more effective coming from both a person preferring the cane and a person with a dog guide. A couple of cane users were fairly upset at the "favoritism" here, and as I said in my evaluation sheet, I have no objections to a person preferring a cane to speak to the group as well.

The only piece in the book directly related to dog guides was a recent law regarding restitution for the owners of service animals being attacked by other dogs. Perhaps access and other dog guide related laws should be included as well.

We had two more sessions and the final consumer group after lunch. The first was about deafblindness. We had a chance to learn about all sorts of ways to interact with deafblind people and -- as much as possible in a lecture setting -- what it's like being deafblind. Lynette Boyer who is deafblind spoke to us for a while through an interpreter, and that was enlightening. We also learned about hearing aids and assistive listening devices from representatives from a clinic called Associated Hearing. The only thing that bothered me was when these representatives said that they don't recommend devices with chords to blind people, because they might forget, trip over the chord, and break them. Sighted people could forget and trip too.

There was also a quick comment in the final session by a doctor who described the structure of the eye and eye diseases. I know that eye doctors' outlooks are going to be different, because they want to fix the vision problem. But the doctor made a comment about blind people not being able to thread a needle because they couldn't see it. I am not the best at it, but I have done it with a needle threader. I didn't want new employees hearing these comments and making judgments as a result, so I made sure to point these things out on the evaluations. Otherwise, the doctor's session was informative and went along at a nice clip.

Between the two final sessions, Ruth Lunquist, past President of United Blind gave a talk about their organization. She talked about how they didn't have a prescribed method of beliefs and the members voted on what they wanted. Ruth even said that their beliefs were a lot closer to the ACB than to NFB.

She highlighted their advocacy program for issues relating to blindness and (with a slight reminder from me) their phone line. The phone number was not given, and no materials were dispensed.

After the final session, Chuk thanked some people for their parts in the training, and let us go home a little early.

Despite all of the information imparted in the sessions, I learned a lot more by interacting with people. I can think of only one awkward moment in the two days of training. A counselor was asking me about my occupation, and when I mentioned I was a pianist, he said that the NFB was looking for someone to play for their convention in St. Cloud. He said I should get in touch with someone from NFB. I froze. There were NFB people sitting at the table, and I wasn't sure how to respond. I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings or appear to be rude. Someone got me involved in a conversation long enough for another person to inform him that I was part of ACB.

Otherwise, things went smoothly. SSB staff was interested in learning more about me, my methods of doing things, and my dog. Often, I felt like I taught them something about blindness. I didn't think I had anything to offer about being blind that staff didn't already know. I had no trouble following people or asking for a little extra assistance when needed. People were happy to help me through the buffet, carry my plate and find a seat. A couple of people courteously asked if I wanted anything thrown away. I had one moment of panic when I tried to rip out an evaluation sheet, and my whole note book's binding fell apart. I asked for help putting it back together. I was afraid someone would instead try to show me how to do it myself as a so-called "empowerment exercise", and I would fail dismally. It had nothing to do with blindness. I knew I just didn't do that kind of stuff well, and I was under a time deadline. To my surprise, someone was happy to assist me. SSB brought Braille Writers for those like me who didn't want to use a slate and stylus. It was thoughtful to consider that people might prefer Brailling in another fashion.

Furthermore, I saw others that I would never dream would utilize assistance getting help for many of the same things I did. Speaking of those others, I had several wonderful conversations with NFB people. We agreed on our preference for who should be our country's next President and talked enthusiastically about the politics involved. We even discussed our various methods of accomplishing things as blind people without getting controversial. I found that it was perfectly ok for me to express my own preferences and that no one ridiculed my personal choices. I waited for the final cab ride home with an NFB member who was also waiting for a cab. I assumed she surely would take the offered van back to SSB and take a bus on principle.

It seems I made a lot of unwarranted assumptions based on past experiences and people's affiliation rather than seeing the commonalties we had. I believe that many of my nerves will decrease at upcoming council meetings and other SSB events because I attended this training.

Calling Committee Volunteer

By Michael Malver

For the past half-year or so, I have been chair of the calling committee. As you know from the article in the last quarterly memo, members should now know who on the committee will be calling them for events. This same person can be your contact if you wish to call in reservations for events, or if you have suggestions or comments you wish to make.

Once in a while, one or another of the committee members has obligations that prevent them from making calls during planned events. To cover this eventuality, I would like to find two people who would be willing to be calling committee alternates. Your job would be to fill in if one of the regular members had an obligation that would prevent them from doing calling. Below are some questions and answers which I hope will both help you become familiar with what being on the calling committee as a deligate is all about.


Q: What kind of skills does one need to call people for an event??
A: The ability to ask questions, and accurately record the answers for each person you call, an openness and willingness to work with the chair of the calling committee, and an enjoyment of talking on the phone to other members to gather information?
Q: how much time does it take?
A: Before I answer that question, let me again emphasize that your help would only be needed if one of the five could not do calling, therefore, you would not need to do calling for every acbm event. Three attempts are made to contact each member, and there are approximately 20 people for each committee person to call. Whenever possible, two weeks are allotted for the calling committee to do their work. My personal experience is that it takes three hours the first time you call members, perhaps an hour half to go back and call those you didn't reach the first time, and around a half-hour to catch the final people who you couldn't reach, or who didn't call you hback after the second call.
Q: It sounds interesting, but I've never done anything like this before, and am worried I could screw up.
A: As chair of the committee, I will work with you to make the process of calling people, and getting me the information as easy as it can be. We have a number of members, and not every one does the job identically. I will work with you to figure out what techniques will work best to get the job done.


I hope you will consider joining the calling committee. If you do, you will not only make life easier for the committee by allowing us to have people to relie on in times of need, but the membership will appreciate it because it will allow members to have consistency in who calls them each month.

Please call me, Michael Malver, at 612-673-0664 or send me e-mail at mmalver@visi.com if you are interested in this volunteer opportunity.

Expense-Paid Camp For Disabled

By Jonathan Wiesel

If you're a disabled athlete, disabled wannabe athlete, or know someone who fits either category, there's an opportunity to attend an adaptive ski camp in Sun Valley, Idaho.

For the past three years, Sun Valley Adaptive Sports has organized and run a XC recruitment camp, assisted by the US. Disabled Cross-Country Ski Team. Goals are to promote XC skiing within the disabled community and general population, and to create a pool of athletes who can compete for spots on the Team.

In the last three years, Sun Valley Adaptive Sports has placed two people on the Team and currently has two more serious contenders. It's helpful to have basic XC skills. Disabilities include amputees, paraplegics, and people who are visually impaired.

The five-day programs takes place in January; camps are limited to six athletes. Expenses, including travel, ground transportation, tickets, equipment, coaching, and some meals, are covered. For details, contact Joan Scheingraber at (208) 788-1808 (jazzsch@aol.com).

COST-OF-LIVING Increase for Social Security recipients

The 2004 Cost-of-living increase for Social Security recipients will be 2.7%. This increase also applies to SSI payments.

This increase will be received on the Social Security checks for December 2004 that is paid in January 2005. The SSI increase is effective with the check payable on December 30, 2004.

For blind individuals receiving Social Security disability Insurance benefits (SSDI) the substantial gainful work activity-earning limit will increase from $1,350.00 per month to $1,380.00 per month effective January 2005.

The amount needed to acquire on Social Security quarter of coverage is $920.00 beginning with January 2005.

The Part B Medicare premiums will increase from $66.60 per month to $78.00 per month beginning with the December Social Security checks payable in January 2005.

Seven Wonders of the World!

A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present "Seven Wonders of the World." Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes:

1. Egypt's Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter's Basilica
7. China's Great Wall


While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student had not finished her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the 'Seven Wonders of the World' are:
1. To See
2. To Hear
3. To Touch
4. To Taste
5. To Feel
6. To Laugh
7. And to Love."


The room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. The things we overlook as simple and ordinary and that we take for granted are truly wondrous! A gentle reminder -- that the most precious things in life cannot be built by hand or bought by man.

Dues for 2005

It's that time again to think about ACBM dues for 2005. Dues can be sent to the PO box, given to any board member, or paid at the Quarterly Membership Meeting in January 2005. Dues are $10.00 per person.

ACB-M Board of Directors

Ken Rodgers, President
3941 12th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55407 Ph: (612) 825-0248 E-mail: kgr@isd.net

Stephanie Hall, Vice-President
433 7TH ST S #2227
Minneapolis, MN 55415 Ph: (612) 332-7837 E-mail: stephanieh@vlrw.org

Janet Dickelman, Secretary
2086 Highland Parkway,
St. Paul, MN. 55116 Ph: (651) 698-5059, E-mail: janet.dickelman@comcast.net

Bob Lockwood, Treasurer
3625 Cardinal Rd
Minnetonka, MN 55345 Ph: (952) 932-7269 E-mail: peggy_bob@msn.com

Juliette Silvers, Director
3244 Colfax Ave. South,
Minneapolis, MN. 55408 Ph: (612) 824-2131, E-mail: jsilvers@mn.rr.com

Jane Lund, Director
8848 Nicollet Avenue South #206
Bloomington, MN 55420 Ph: (952) 888-4397 E-mail: jane.v.lund@healthpartners.com

Marilynn Highland, Director
3532 Bryant Avenue South #316
Minneapolis, MN 55408 Ph: (612) 824-9492 E-mail: mari@mninter.net

Linda Oliva, Director
4001 Blasedell Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55409 Ph: (612) 827-1033 E-mail:Linda.Oliva@allina.com

Michael Malver, Director
1225 LaSalle Ave. #302
Minneapolis, MN 55403 Ph: (612) 673-0664 E-mail: mmalver@visi.com