by Doug Powell, President
Alliance on Aging and Vision Loss (AAVL)
As I write this in March, things are changing daily. We have every reason to be concerned about many of these changes, and I urge you to contact your governmental representatives to express how the changes might affect you and others in your communities.
Having said that, looked at from a slightly different perspective, things haven't changed a whole lot. Most people still don't have the faintest idea of what it takes to navigate life as a blind or low vision individual successfully. Many governmental and non-governmental agencies overlook the kinds of accessibility features that would make interactions with people who are blind or low vision meaningful. Most of the oversights are through ignorance, but some are through cheapness. So, when looked at from this angle, our jobs haven't changed a bit. We need to continue to educate, demonstrate, and collaborate on efforts to make our communities as friendly to people who are blind or have low vision as possible.
My assertions above apply to all age groups, but since I'm the president of AAVL, and since this is Older Americans Month, I'm going to speak to what we have been doing since last year at this time, and what we are planning to do this coming year.
Up to Now
This last year has been a busy and frustrating one for me. The Older Americans Act (OAA) went through both a rule-making and a reauthorization process. We worked hard with our friends at the Aging and Vision Loss National Coalition (AVLNC) and VisionServe Alliance (VSA) to advocate for inclusion of "blind and low vision" as a targeted disability to heighten people's awareness of our needs. We used some excellent data from the Big Data Project, sponsored by the AVLNC, to expose our health and social needs. And all the way through, we tried to emphasize that we were not only advocating for us, but also for the vast majority of people who are aging, losing vision, and don't know what programs and services are available for them to use to maintain as independent and fulfilling lives in their communities outside institutions as possible. That Congressional session ended without official reauthorization and without new language that would bring more attention to the specific needs of the people we represent, but I have to believe that we made a good case, and more people are aware of the kinds of things people with low or no vision need than before we started.
Another promising governmental initiative came from the Administration on Community Living (ACL). They gathered an Interagency Coordinating Council (ICC) to develop a Strategic Framework for a National Plan on Aging. Originally, this ICC had over ten agencies represented, but none that represented people who are blind or low vision. They requested comments on the Framework document and AAVL submitted comments. Fortunately, a week before the comments were due, ACL invited the head of the Independent Living Program for Older People Who are Blind (OIB) from the RSA to join the ICC, so, rather than having to focus on including the perspective of older people who are losing or have no vision, we could focus on areas of accessibility that should be included that would help the OIB representative on the ICC broaden the perspective of the other agencies involved. I was excited that, for once, we would be at the table while the Framework was being formulated. This initiative faltered at the end of last year, and has not yet been revived this year.
Over the last year, we have become more knowledgeable about non-governmental organizations who were serving older Americans who might be able to improve their service delivery with some expert help from us, both approaching older people who are blind or low vision appropriately, and empowering staff and volunteers to refer folks to appropriate agencies for rehabilitation. So far, we have met with leaders at the National Council on Aging (NCOA), and the AARP Foundation. We'll keep you informed of progress at the national level with these and other organizations.
Moving Forward
Looking at the writing on the wall from the first weeks of the new Administration and Congress, we will continue to advocate at the federal level and hope for the best. But, for a while, we have been saying that even if our wildest dreams came true legislatively, we would still have much work to do. The money appropriated at the federal level for the programs and services older people who are blind or low vision need are sent to the states, matched in some proportion with state funds, and funneled into local agencies who decide what programs and services need funding in their communities. This process is happening now, and without our insistence and guidance, won't help the people who are blind or low vision who need them. So, we are asking AAVL and ACB members to help us broaden our advocacy on these issues in your communities.
Under our vice president and chair of our advocacy committee, Anisio Correia, and board member Larry Johnson, we have developed a program to support you in improving relationships with local Area Agencies on Aging (AAA). It involves inviting AAA staff to chapter meetings to inform your membership of the services that are currently available, and for that person to be introduced to people who are blind and low vision who are living their lives as independently as they can. Our people would also suggest meetings with AAA staff and volunteers to offer suggestions on accessibility and meaningful referrals to those who are not yet being served. And most importantly, our members would offer to serve on the AAA Advisory body to foster an ongoing dialogue about accessible program and service planning and delivery. I met with the head of Virginia's Department of Aging Resources, and he told me that there were positions open on every advisory council in the Commonwealth. I suspect that the same is true in most states.
In talking about this AAVL initiative, I have been focusing on AAAs. But there are several different agencies in communities under different management structures that may be more important to you in your community; agencies such as Senior Centers, Independent Living Centers, and Aging and Disability Resource Centers to name a few.
If you are interested in improving services in your community and would like to take advantage of the support offered by this initiative, please contact Anisio immediately to be included at [email protected].
If you want more information about AAVL, you can start with our website at https://www.aavl-blind-seniors.org/, or contact me directly at [email protected] or call (571) 438-7750.
Happy Older Americans Month!