Wednesday, October 23, 2019

A whopdoleger of a Blind CO Blog!

National Federation of the Blind of Colorado logo including the words live the life you want

Writer, aggregator Kevan Worley. Contributing editor Dan Burke.Here is what you need to know



Howdy partner. Live the life you want. Play the character you want. Silly, sublime, or scary. We kickoff next week’s convention with the Boot Scoot Boogie Halloween Western Ball.

Learn line dancing. Do the two-step. Enjoy some BBQ vittles. And dress for the West. All for only $5! Thursday evening, October 31st from 6 p.m. til 10 p.m. Fort Collins Hilton, 425 West Prospect Road.

I reckon Marshall Dylan is coming, the ghost of Chick TenBroeck, look out for the zombie cowboy. 

Say howdy to Lorretta and Dollene the bar queen.
 
Who is this fella Rooster Jinx? Billy the Kid? And the guy in the tennis shoes, Hawaiian shirt, and cowboy hat? We don’t know what that’s about. 

I heard tell, someone was comin’ as a cactus. That can’t be good for your Braille readin’ fingers.

Don’t have $5? Pay with your NFB membership coin. Check your weapons at the door boys. Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses. Note, the real sheriff of Larimer County is Justin E. Smith. We thought you ought to know.

NFBCO Convention agenda is out now!

You can find it on NFB Newsline®. You can get it emailed to you. You can get it from NFBCO.org. Read the agenda for our 65th State Convention and plan to attend your favorite activities. As Dr. Kenneth Jernigan would have said, “this will be a whopdoleger of a convention.” He also would have said, “don’t forget to register.”

Outreach to Steamboat Springs community October 25th.

We received this note from Mountains and Plains chapter President, ReNae Anderson:

October is blindness awareness month!
Karen Anderson, a representative from the National Federation of the Blind, will be coming to Steamboat to discuss resources with the low vision community: October 25th, 1pm. This meeting will be held over lunch at Rex's (3190 South Lincoln Ave), at no cost to attendees.
Please pass this info along to blind or low vision people who could benefit from this opportunity.
RSVP with Collette at 970-620-1195 or collette@nwcci.org.

Saturday, November 9, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. come and shop for yourself or get your holiday shopping started early!!!

Shop small businesses and local crafters with items like essential oils, homemade soaps, Color Street Nails, 31, Mary Kay and much more!! While you’re shopping don’t forget to grab something yummy to eat with us!!

The location is The Colorado Center for the Blind 2233 West Shepperd ave. in Littleton.

NFBCO receives great press coverage for accessible vote by mail initiative.

Youtube of CBS 4 Story on Accessible Voting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zf0dM3nB4o

Historic election around the corner for Colorado voters who are visually impaired | FOX31 Denver: https://kdvr.com/2019/10/20/historic-election-around-the-corner-for-colorado-voters-who-are-visually-impaired/

Resolutions deadline October 25, by Dan Burke.

In the past week you've read about Colorado's online accessible voting option for voters with disabilities, or maybe you caught the CBS Denver story on it Tuesday night. How did something so great come to pass? Well, it started with an idea of something that would benefit us all as blind Coloradans, something that, in this case, would give us more equal access to voting privately and independently.

That idea turned into a resolution, and we passed that resolution less than a year ago. Today, that idea is reality for blind voters in Colorado because the NFB of Colorado took that resolution and turned it into action, finding a sponsor for a bill in the legislature, negotiations, hearings, votes, and the Governor's signature.

And there was a lot of work that followed that signing, but that's a general outline. Now, not every resolution turns into what we want so quickly, most take longer, some we're still working on. But to get things rolling you need to take up your keyboard, slate & stylus, etc., and write a resolution. Send that resolution to Brent Batron or me, and do it by next Friday, October 25.

If you have an idea, but find the format of the resolutions, with all those whereases and therefores and Romeo where art thous confusing, Brent and I will be happy to work with you. Just call us at the Center at 303-778-1130.

Please let us know who will serve on the committee from your chapter or division. Resolutions is an open meeting and begins at 8:30 Friday morning at the convention.

Resolvedly yours,
Dan

Intersectionality, Diversity, Inclusion, and the making of a real Federationist.

Join Darian Smith, Founder NFB in Community Service; and ReNae Anderson, President Mountains and Plains Chapter, for a special break out session at State Convention Saturday afternoon. This appears to be a thought provoking seminar. NFBCO president Scott LaBarre will discuss our NFB Code of Conduct. National Board Member Norma Crosby will share her perspective on “who is a federationist.”

Cambiando Vidas en la Frontera de Tejas, by Norma Crosby, Daniel Martinez, Raul Gallegos, and Hilda Hernandez.

Prepare for State Convention. Enjoy this read from this month’s Braille Monitor. Read the October Monitor, and, remember, the Braille Monitor is available on NFB Newsline®.

Norma Crosby will deliver the keynote address at our upcoming State Convention Banquet. She will also address Saturday afternoon’s inclusion and diversity seminar.

The article is a transcript of a presentation delivered at our NFB National Convention last July.

Mark Riccobono introduced this exciting presentation with these words: “Here to lead us in this panel is a woman who does not need much introduction because she has been a mentor to many in this movement. Her leadership is invaluable in our organization, and I’m always inspired by what she’s trying to do to build connections within our organization. In her state she’s been empowering others to explore ways to bring and build connections to people in the state of Texas who need our philosophy but who have not always been well-connected to us. So I’m really thankful this morning that we have her and the other team of presenters to talk about bringing hope, opportunity, and the family of the National Federation of the Blind to so many, and I hope that it’s an example of what we can do in all of our affiliates. As you know, what we do often bubbles up, is tested, and refined on the local level. Here to talk to us about changing lives on the Texas border is Norma Crosby.”

 

Meet the sighted month.

From our Facebook Federation family: We saw this the other day and thought it was Blind CO Blog worthy. We hope you do too. Post a comment and let us know what you think. This comes from one of our Federation leaders in California.

Angela Fowler is a totally blind woman living with her 13-year-old son, her dog, and her cat. Aside from a wicked sense of humor, she has a talent for making beef jerky, which she sells on a small scale and plans to sell commercially in the very near future, Gliding Eagle Jerky. (Note, your aggregator has tasted this amazing jerky.) Here is what Angela posted:

October is meet the sighted month. Throughout the month, sighted people will hold events where we can mix and mingle and learn about the special equipment and techniques they use to cope with the presence of eyesight. Also, many sighted people will post invitations on Facebook encouraging us to ask them questions, any questions we want, about their sightedness. To kick off meet the sighted month, I have put together this list of things to keep in mind when interacting with the sighted.

1. Sighted people are often incapable of traveling, cooking, or doing much of anything without the aid of light. While we use our other senses to enable us to function perfectly well in the dark, sighted people have great difficulty developing these skills. When you welcome the sighted into your home, don't forget to turn on the lights.

2. Sighted people often cannot understand synthesized speech, and the text on a Braille display is almost always unreadable to them. They must depend on special equipment such as computer monitors and phone and tablet screens to use their electronic devices. If you let a sighted person use your phone or computer and forget to turn the screen on, they will be very confused.

3. Sighted people have difficulty learning from textual and verbal explanations or tactile models. They often must be presented with pictures. A good rule of thumb, when writing instructions for the sighted, is to include a picture with each step.

4. Sighted people have great difficulty distinguishing auditory cues in their environment. While we can tell when to cross a street by the sound of traffic or where an entrance is by the sounds of people entering and exiting, sighted people often must rely on visual information alone.

5. Sighted people rely heavily on an inaudible code called color. They use color to safely navigate by car and perform countless other tasks we can perform using auditory and tactile cues. Also, they are often quick to judge us based on what colors we present to the world. It is important to gain at least a working knowledge of color, so they don’t think we’re weird.

And 6. Sighted people often communicate displeasure using a secret signal called a dirty look. I’ll admit, I’m not exactly sure what this entails, except that it sometimes causes sighted people to behave in ways which seem inappropriate to the situation I.E. telling someone off for no apparent reason. As blind people immune to the effects of the dirty look, we can only try to teach the sighted to use their words when communicating displeasure with us.

So, there you have it. Keep these points in mind, and your next encounter with a sighted person should be as smooth as a brand new NFB cane tip.

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