Blind
Coloradoan Blog
May
16, 2022
Writer,
Aggregator: Kevan Worley.
Contributors: Dan Burke & Erin Daley. With assistance from Lisa Bonderson.
National Federation Of The Blind Of Colorado,
President, Jessica Beecham. Email, jbbeecham@gmail.com
Dear Reader,
We are a little late for mothers day. But I would
suggest that mothers deserve the whole month of May. We honor the mothers of
our movement. We also reflect on our work to ensure that mothers have the legal
right to raise their children.
So much is happening in the land of the federation and
the community. So let's get started.
We invite members and nonmembers to listen to the
presidential release live or recorded with so much happening. We also urge the
reading of our national publication, The Braille Monitor. If you are getting
ready for the national convention in person or through the virtual convention
experience, you will want to read The Monitor, check all of our social media
and listen to the presidential release.
https://nfb.org/presidential-release-516-may-2022
https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/braille-monitor
Special Note!
People who
are blind, low vision, and families in the Poudre Valley are warmly invited to
the Red Robin at 701 E Harmony Rd, Tuesday evening, May 24 at 5:30 pm. Come
break bread and share ideas with NFBCO. For info, call 303-929-2369. If you
know blind people, teachers of the visually impaired, or parents of blind
children, pass it along.
NFBCO
Colorado springs chapter would like to recognize the great work of Arise Beyond
Barriers! Working with people with disabilities is what drives their social and
recreational program for this community. The N Circle building is a hub of
activity, including the NFB Springs Chapter meeting held on the 2nd
Saturday morning of the month. Except for September 10, the chapter and many
Arise Beyond Barriers folks will participate in the NFB 6 dot dash. Arise
Beyond Barriers even has interns from Colorado School For The Deaf and The
Blind working on their website. Congratulations!
Super cool
tactile bulletin board captures a student's attention in the School for the
Blind. Tina, the CSDB Braillist, creates this art. Thanks to Robin Teuting for
the Photo.
[Photo:
student explores a tactile bulletin board with gigantic multi-colored and
multi-shaped flowers.]
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY! May Learning Box
When: May 22,
2022 (2:00 to 3:00)
Where:
Virtual, A Zoom link will be provided upon registration
How can you
tell what your money is when you can't see it? You sure don't want to put a
twenty-dollar bill into the soda machine! Coins are easy to identify tactually.
Paper money, not so much. So, let's learn how to identify paper currency. We
can fold it in certain ways. But how do we know for sure what bill is what when
a clerk at a store hands us change for $8?
Some apps can
be used on an iPhone to identify paper money. There is also an I bill, a
pocket-sized device that can be used to identify paper currency. The U.S.
Treasury distributes the IBill free to blind Americans for purposes of
accessibility. The Colorado Talking Book Library distributes them, and for this
Learning Box, you can get your free device! So, during this month's activity,
students will learn how to use the IBill device to identify your cash!.
Register here
for this month's Learning Box on identifying and organizing money.
The registration
deadline is Sunday, May 15. To receive your free IBill from the Colorado
Talking Book Library, we will contact you to gather the information they
require for you to qualify. Understandably everyone can get just one free
IBill.
This
educational activity is developed and presented by The National Federation of
the Blind of Colorado, the Colorado Center for the Blind, and the American
Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults. It is free of charge for all participants,
but please visit our donation page if you would like to donate.
If you have
any questions, please feel free to contact:
Anahit
LaBarre alabarre@cocenter.org
Michelle
Chacon blindedcolo@gmail.com
Being a Call Center Agent
By Julia Zanon
How many of us cringe when we think about
call centers or telemarketing? Indeed, in the past, it seemed to be the job
blind people were steered into without considering other options, interests, or
skills. However, especially with so many business services being provided
remotely, there is a need for well-trained and professional customer service
agents. Perhaps we could take a fresh look at virtual services as an attractive
career.
Kat Hanks, a millennial who lives in Denver,
places a high value on making sure the donors who call her are treated with
respect and courtesy. Kat works for ARC Thrift Store call center part-time and
arranges for the pickup of large items donated to the thrift store. She
described her job as making sure the donor understands what the organization
can accept as a donation, how to label and place the item for easy pickup, and
schedules a pickup date. She said it feels good to provide clear information
and successfully arrange for the donation. Kat has been working as a Call
Center Agent for 5-1/2 years. She and seven other agents take incoming calls
from donors, and she likes her job.
Before she got this job, she had been a
silverware roller for a cafeteria, but that job was eliminated, so she needed
to find a new job. With Help from her DVR vocational counselor, Kat learned how
to work in a call center customer service environment and found that she was
very good at this job. Team EEI provided the training she needed to do this
work. She learned how to listen to her computer Jaws screen reading software
through one side of her headset, listen to her customer on the other side of
the headset, and speak clearly through a microphone. It requires computer
skills and good listening concentration to do this job successfully. She
explained that it could get very challenging when donors call her when there is
a lot of background noise, such as construction or other noises, but she
handles these challenges with grace and works hard to ensure a successful call.
Her goal for this job is to be able to work full-time.
When I asked Kat about what she had wanted to
do when she was in high school, she laughed and said that she was not thinking
about work at that time. She was unsure what she wanted to do and chose to
attend the Independence training program
at the Colorado Center for the Blind. Kat graduated from the CCB and proudly
rang her graduation bell for me during the interview. She was so proud of this
accomplishment that she even took the bell to work with her.
Being a seriously committed chocolate lover,
Kat said that her dream job would be to work in a chocolate factory. She lives
on her own and hopes someday to adopt a cat, specifically a Maine Coon breed.
Of course, the cat would be named "Chocolate."
And finally, Kat wanted to express her appreciation
for the great quality and variety of helpful information she has learned as a
member of the NFBCO Aurora Chapter. She said that the Aurora Chapter promotes
independence, and the members are so family-oriented and really care about each
other.
Is there life for the Business Enterprise Program for
the Blind of Colorado
By Kevan Worley
Most readers know that the Business
Enterprise Program offers training, placement, and support for people who are
blind wanting to become licensed entrepreneurs. These businesses are typically
on state and federal properties and focus principally on service contracts such
as food service, micro-markets, vending machine operations, and potentially
other enterprises. Over the years, Colorado has proudly boasted one of the most
successful programs of its type in the nation. It is a complex program that
attempts to marry rehabilitation, free enterprise, and social program. For this
program to thrive, an authentic culture of entrepreneurship, innovation, and
respectful communication between all parties is a must. Our March and April
blogs carried stories about this program's struggles over the last two years.
NFBCO
passed a significate and wide-ranging resolution at our 2020 state convention
addressing a number of the challenges plaguing the program and calling for
specific action. The affiliate acted upon the resolution in several ways. One
of which was to bring our concerns and suggested solutions to the director of
the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, CDLE, Joe Borella. Those
meetings brought about little change.
Going into the spring of 2020 and beyond, the
Business Enterprise Program became even more mired in conflict between licensed
operators and program management.
Recognizing that all of us faced extraordinary
and difficult times during the pandemic. Still, the program became paralyzed
and directionless. The long-time program manager left the program under a
cloud. Active participation between operators and agency, a cornerstone of this
federal/state program, lacked vigor, energy, and commitment. Real active
participation was "advisory" at best and little more than lip service
at its worst.
Although some progress toward developing new
BEP locations occurred, that progress continued work that had begun in earnest
by the agency and operators before 2020.
Over the last two years, the program has lost
4, four respected frontline employees. When exiting the program, these highly
qualified, caring staff members told us that they could not do their jobs in a
regime of oppressive top-down management and the inflammatory and never-ending
confrontation between agency management and operators. Note: One of these staff
members resigned in the last few weeks. She is the only blind staff member any
of us can recall working at the BEP. She is the only trainer in recent memory
who has had a 100% success rate.
The operators worked closely with the
Division Of Vocational Rehabilitation, CDLE staff, and others to fix what was
quickly becoming a broken program. This past summer, operators and state
licensing agencies engaged in a mediation effort. It was clear that some did
not participate in a good faith effort.
On Tuesday, May 3, we received an email of
resignation from Mr. Troy Larson expressing his displeasure in a 2-page email
diatribe faulting the operators and applauding his actions over the past 16
months. We took no joy in program manager Larson's resignation. That said, it's
clear that we have now gone through one of the most painful and unproductive
periods in the history of our program. It seems clear to this observer that the
program leaders, operators, and management are ready to declare a new day. It
is a time to reset expectations, behaviors, and consequences.
The program has been suffering the fallout of
the past two years as we work under the burden of limited staffing, recruit and
hire staff, develop the budget for the
next fiscal year, and work together to find our next qualified Business
Enterprise Program Manager. Operators have called upon the agency to avoid the mistake
made in 2020, not allowing their elected committee to play a significate role
in the hiring process. Operators have called upon the agency to conduct a
nationwide search for a new program manager rather than limiting the pool of
applicants to Colorado only. We know that there are fewer people seeking
employment. We understand that the agency has the flexibility to open the
position nationwide. We know that finding a candidate who possesses the range
of skills, experience, and understanding of this complicated program will very
likely require a national search. The manager must understand blindness,
business, state agency process, and fiscal control and have genuine respect for
the capacity of blind people. This new manager must not come to the job with
preconceived notions and a limited understanding of accessible technologies and
frontline operators' demanding hours and tasks.
We know that the current stance of the
state's human resources people is not to recruit out of state if they can find
applicants who meet the minimum qualifications. We hope that the agency will
have learned that trying to fill a position without a national search and with
only limited active participation from the operators has not worked. The job is
far too complex for someone who barely meets the minimum qualifications. We
think that operators and the agency will find an appropriate manager, and the
program can get back to the business of finally acting to implement HB 16-1048.
It is time to promulgate a new set of state regulations that recognize the
modern era. The current regs are from 2008.
We should mention the extraordinary work
being done by our staff who have remained. There seems to be a fresh air of
possibilities blowing through the program. The jury is out, but we must have
hope for a program too long in controversy and disrepair.
Scripttalk
From the aggregator: we have been asked to carry the
following announcement. Many of us have found this product to be beneficial.
Ironically, last week I spoke with a member who had recently spent time in the
hospital because he got his blood pressure meds mixed up. He told me he needed
a different system for safety. I suggested scripttalk. Here is the
announcement.
Many
pharmacies today provide some type of accessible prescription label. Unfortunately,
not many people are using them. En-Vision America needs to hear from you! Even
if your pharmacy does NOT offer ScripTalk, they will help you get set up with
the option your pharmacy provides.
1. Reach out to En-Vision America by
calling 800-890-1180 or emailing customerservice@envisionamerica.com
2. Tell them what pharmacy you use
3. Let them do the rest! They will help
you get set up with the option that is provided OR they will contact your
pharmacy to see if they will provide ScripTalk to you.
4. ALL of these options are FREE to you
It is common
that your pharmacy staff will not be aware of the options available. En-Vision
America will take the frustration out of getting set up!
Resignation of super intendent
From the aggregator: We received the following
announcement from Diane Taylor, Manager of Community Relations, Colorado School
for the Deaf and the Blind.
Dear CSDB
Staff, Families, and Community,
We are
reaching out to share some information regarding the Colorado School for the
Deaf and the Blind leadership. After 2 ½ years as superintendent of the
Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind, Dr. Nancy E. Benham has announced
her immediate resignation. On behalf of the Board, we wish Dr. Benham the best
in her new endeavors, and we are committed to the future at CSDB.
The Board of
Trustees unanimously approved Tera Wilkins as the CSDB interim superintendent.
Tera currently serves as the Director of CSDB Curriculum, Instruction, and
Assessment. The Board's decision to name Tera as interim was an easy one. As
Director of CSDB Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, Tera has demonstrated
strong leadership with good instincts. She is strategic, empathetic, and
collaborative - all skills will serve CSDB well in this next chapter.
We look
forward to working with you in these next steps.
Braille French Quarter Guide
From the aggregator: Are you ready for The Big Easy?
Pre-registration for NFB national convention in New Orleans ends on May 31. To
learn about the possibility of financial assistance sources for the convention,
visit your chapter or division president. Make those hotel reservations today
and join us for the party and the possibilities found at the world's largest
gathering of blind people July 6-10. I am sure you will want to enjoy all the
meetings, spirited discussions, exhibits, a banquet address from President
Riccobono, and all of the fun New Orleans offers. Especially the food!
Maria
Morais has compiled a street guide and a list of historic landmarks,
restaurants, and jazz clubs in the French Quarter. This Braille or print
collection is available for $5 bucks. The entire amount goes towards blind kids'
literacy programs. For more information or to place an order, email sdi71270@gmail.com. Please help spread
the word!
Free Webinar! Tips and Tricks for a More Enjoyable OCR
Experience
We received the following from the genius. Thank you,
Curtis Chong.
Below please find an announcement from
Freedom Scientific about a free webinar on May 26 at 10:00 am. Mountain Time.
Users of the JAWS screen reading program for Windows may not know that JAWS is
a powerful print-reading program in its own right compared to products such as
Kurzweil 1000 or OpenBook. Anyone interested is free to register for the below
event.
When: May 26
at 12:00 pm Eastern (U.S. and Canada)
Vispero
Presenters: Mike Wood and Michelle Williams
If you currently own an OCR (optical character
recognition) product or are in the market for one, this session is for you.
Join Mike and Michelle as they share helpful tips from experienced users and
show them in action with our scanning products. Hear how material management
and specific features can contribute to a more accurate, enjoyable OCR
experience.
Objectives
• Identifying when a combo
(magnifier/OCR) product vs. OCR only product is preferable
• Managing print materials for accurate
scanning
• Using product features for better
results
Register on
Zoom
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vL1JSjtgQ5iOPU7bgg52oA?utm_campaign=LV_Webinars&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=212053608&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8ofCF_zOnZrskDF_imLLGQaB9CeNMmO5jWfXVF0YWZUSuMSGZ5PSnMERkj8pIDRSUNYbt57bdrI4jch2ei7vHwcC3Q6g&utm_content=212054125&utm_source=hs_email
The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Moms
Reflections After Mother's Day
by Jo Elizabeth Pinto
Human beings have a long history of valuing
their moms. One of the earliest known annual tributes to motherhood occurred in
ancient Greece, where people held spring festivals in honor of Rhea, the
goddess of fertility and generation. Today, Mother's Day is celebrated around
the world throughout the year. Besides the United States, Great Britain,
Canada, Costa Rica, Samoa, Georgia, Australia, and Thailand have set aside
official holidays to show respect for the mothers in their nations.
In the United States, Mother's Day began
after the Civil War with a peacemaker named Ann Jarvis. Eager to foster
community between mothers who had suffered incredible losses on both sides of
the war, Ann Jarvis helped to establish "Mother's Friendship Day" in
1868. Her daughter, Anna Reeves Jarvis, built on the legacy by creating the
official holiday. The first modern American Mother's Day was celebrated in
1908. President Woodrow Wilson placed the holiday on the second Sunday in May
and signed it into law in 1914.
A century later, Mother's Day has become a
tremendous commercial event, an outcome Anna Reeves Jarvis fought hard against
when she set up the original holiday. Around 122 million phone calls are made
on Mother's Day, more than on any other day of the year. The holiday ranks
third in flower sales after Christmas and Hanukkah. About one-fourth of the
plants and flowers purchased in the United States annually are bought for
Mother's Day. According to the National Restaurant Association, about 87
million adults dined out on the second Sunday in May of 2018, and roughly 4.4 billion
dollars were spent on lunches and dinners. Another 4.6 billion dollars were
spent on jewelry. On average, shoppers spend $180 on Mother's Day gifts. The
most popular gifts are greeting cards. Every Mother's Day, approximately 152
million cards are mailed.
With so much commercial hype and social
pressure surrounding the holiday, Mother's Day can often lead to resentment and
disappointment. Some moms are missing children who have left the nest or passed
away. Some are estranged from their children. Some women long to be mothers but
haven't been blessed with that chance, and some are grieving the loss of their
own mothers. Many moms are deep in the trenches, worn out by crayons and
carpools, and wanting a day off more than they want a dinner out or a bouquet
of flowers.
As I scrolled through my Facebook feed on
Mother's Day, I could identify with the women's feelings who posted. Some
rejoiced, mourned, raged, and others simply prayed for bedtime. As a woman who
has battled infertility, as a daughter who had her share of conflict with her
own mother and who now grieves the resolutions death has forever stolen, and as
a mom who has spent eleven challenging and wonderful years raising a child, I
could relate to all of their raw and rightful emotions.
I began thinking about how dealing with
Mother's Day and life, in general, has a lot to do with letting go of preset
expectations.
I had to do exactly that on Mother's Day and
the day after. My daughter had asked her dad to help her fix a holiday brunch
for me. We'd bought bacon and eggs and fresh raspberries and strawberries at
the store Saturday night. But by Sunday morning, our little girl had a fever, a
sore throat, a headache, and an upset tummy. We went out to dinner once she felt
better, which made her a little sad, but it suited me fine. Plans change.
Monday came, and my daughter still felt
slightly weak and feverish. At lunchtime, she asked me to make the bacon and
scrambled eggs for her that was supposed to be on the menu for my Mother's Day
brunch. I didn't mind cooking bacon and eggs. But I was starting to feel
exasperated--no, downright hacked off--because, although my kid wasn't quite
over the bug that had zapped her on Mother's Day, she was definitely playing up
her delicate condition, so I would wait on her. I'd been fetching and carrying
cold drinks, headache and tummy medicine, and pillows all morning. The crowning
moment came as I washed the lunch dishes, and she called for yet another glass
of ice water. Annoyed, I asked her if I were her mom or the maid.
"I just fixed you my Mother's Day
brunch," I reminded her.
"But it's not Mother's Day
anymore," she snipped in that tone that makes moms of tweens go from zero
to livid in less than a nanosecond.
Biting my tongue, I went back to washing
dishes. Then I started putting things in perspective. The brunch didn't really
matter. What matters is that I have a thriving child who, although she hasn't
always learned to be empathetic, is kind and caring most of the time. I spent
many a Mother's Day grieving my empty arms, which are now blessedly full.
Conflicts come and go, but I have much to rejoice about.
My daughter eventually revived her brunch
plans. She peeled herself off the couch in the middle of the afternoon and
shooed me out of the kitchen. From the sounds I heard as she got busy making my
snack, I guessed the feast would consist of a strawberry Poptart®, some fresh
berries, and a strip of packaged fruit leather. Not exactly bacon and eggs, but
who cared? She told me the scrambled eggs I had fixed for her were delicious.
MEOW WOLF OFFERS "HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CONVERGENCE"
AUDIO DESCRIPTION TOURS FOR BLIND AND LOW VISION
TRAVELERS
From the aggregator: I heard so much
buzz about the Meow Wolf exhibit. I don't know what it is, but we are always
happy to read about accessible exhibits. We would love to have one of our
readers provide their commentary after attending this. We know that much work
goes into making the dream of accessibility a reality.
We look forward to a time when
accessibility will be the standard and always available, but these folks seem
to be making a wonderful start.
The second Saturday of every month at 10 am @
Convergence Station
● Tours offer expert guides describing key
visuals
● Designed to enhance touch exploration and
interactive play elements of
Convergence Station
● No additional cost beyond exhibition
tickets
Denver, CO (May 3, 2022) - Meow Wolf Denver
has created a groundbreaking two-hour Audio Description Tour, Highlights of the
Convergence. Travelers who want or need a guided experience can explore the
Convergence through the descriptive narration of expert guides, detailing key
visual elements and actions that someone with limited vision might not observe.
This complimentary Audio Description Tour is designed specifically for audience
members who are blind or have low vision, allowing for a more inclusive
experience of the exhibition by means of description, storytelling, touch
exploration, and play.
Led by the Meow Wolf QDOT Tour Team, the
Audio Description tours feature a guide describing the visuals of the exhibit,
invited touch exploration of select pieces, guidance with interactive elements
like the Rocket Car and Snurtle, and a light introduction to the citizens, lore,
and narrative of the Converged Worlds.
"It just had so much to offer, like the
tactile feeling of the floor, the wheel, being able to touch the organ, and
just all the exploration," said Melissa F., one of the tour participants. "We
all have different levels of sight here…there was just so much to immerse yourself
in, for all different levels of vision. It was just very interactive."
The projects are intended for all visitors to
enjoy through cross-ability play and exploration. To help develop the best
experience possible for all guests, Meow Wolf partnered with Artful Access, a
Denver-based organization with over 60 combined years of experience bringing
direct knowledge, skills, and advocacy in the areas of arts and accessibility.
Meow Wolf offers a variety of supportive services and accessibility options when
you visit Denver's Convergence Station, including sensory kits at the coat
check desk for travelers with light and noise sensitivity.
About Meow Wolf
Recognized in Fast Company's World's 50 Most
Innovative Companies (2022 and 2020), Meow Wolf is a Santa Fe-based arts and
entertainment company that creates immersive, interactive experiences to
transport audiences of all ages into fantastic realms of story and exploration.
The company's first location in Santa Fe opened in 2016. It showcased the award-winning
international sensation, House Of Eternal Return, where two million visitors
have now discovered a multidimensional mystery house with secret passages,
portals to magical worlds, and surreal, maximalist, and mesmerizing art
exhibits. In 2019, Meow Wolf expanded beyond Santa Fe and opened Kaleidoscape,
the world's first artist-driven ride at Elitch Gardens in Denver. Meow Wolf
opened their second permanent installation, Omega Mart, at AREA15 in Las Vegas,
and their third permanent installation in Denver opened in September 2021,
Convergence Station. Meow Wolf is proud to be the only certified B-Corporation
in the themed entertainment industry, with a team dedicated to social impact
and building a more inclusive and sustainable economy.
Press Contact
Erin Barnes
Public Relations Manager, Meow Wolf
Ebarnes@MeowWolf.com | 720-369-4305 (cell)
https://meowwolf.com/visit/denver/audio-description-tour?fbclid=IwAR3FxJtiwmjM73Bd6On98QpUE07l2Rkg5d_Oq36FEiT3ir6sozLwwKAVnGg
Forward,
always forward!