Writer, aggregator Kevan Worley.
Contributing editor Dan Burke.
Here is what you need to know
Remembering Those Who Have Sacrificed for Us, This Memorial Day
Dear Federation family,
friends, and allies of the Federation,
This could be called
the Memorial Day issue of the
Blind Coloradan. As I assembled this material. It struck me that none of the
work we are doing to enhance our rights and make it possible for people who are
blind to participate on equal terms would not be possible without the courageous
men and women who sacrificed their very lives for this nation. As we share our
accomplishments and take the actions to build opportunity and meet the
challenges ahead let us please take a moment to ponder, to pray, to reflect,
and to appreciate millions of American heroes. The National Federation of the Blind
of Colorado wishes each and every one of you a safe, secure, happy Memorial Day
of family and remembrance. ~KW
This Just in!
NFBCO State President
Scott LaBarre is asking for our help!
Hey
everyone!!
If
you have or know of a blind person who has had trouble accessing Colorado state
web sites, please let me know. In particular, if folks have had trouble
filling out the application for unemployment benefits or had trouble accessing
COVID19 related information, we would really like to hear from you. slabarre@labarrelaw.com,
office phone: 303-504-5979.
Editor’s note: One of
the most informative and joyful Mountain Time at 5 sessions took place on
Monday, May 18. Scott LaBarre shared a little bit of his life story with us. He
also took great questions and provided us some wonderful anecdotes about some
of his legal cases and some of his work and play over his 35 years as a member and
leader of our organization. Find it on YouTube. Visit the National Federation
of the Blind of Colorado YouTube channel for many of our Mountain Time at 5
gatherings.
National Federation of the Blind of Colorado Announces 6 Dot Dash!!Really?!?
Really! Details
coming soon for the October 17th virtual 6 Dot Dash. There will be
exciting ways to participate. T-shirts, finishing medals, special recognitions,
fundraising opportunities galore! Dets coming soon!
From One Crescent Moon to the Next During the 9th Month of the Islamic Year
We send our Federation spirit and love to our
Muslim friends and colleagues during Ramadan. Wishing our Muslim brothers and
sisters a blessed Eid Al-Fitr, translated to Feast of Feasting, this weekend as Ramadan comes to a close.
Self-Advocacy. A View from Anahit LaBarre
From the aggregator:
Most of our dear readers, know Anahit LaBarre. She is the mother of 2 wonderful
teenagers. She is the First Lady of NFBCO. She facilitates and teaches in our
CCB Seniors program. And, if that is not enough, she has returned to school. Here
is what Anahit relates about the skills and attitudes necessary for
self-advocacy. It is a word often used. But, as Anahit reveals, it is different
for each one of us. And, it is also necessarily situational.
According
to Oxford dictionary, self-advocacy is defined as “the action of representing
oneself or one’s views or interests”. A seemingly simple task to do: figure out
your thoughts, opinions and values and take action to represent them. Not so
fast! Learning to be your own advocate is a life-long process. Being a part of
a large organization, such as the National Federation of the Blind, gives us
all the support necessary to feel confident about sharing our viewpoints.
Through the NFB and affiliated programs, we can obtain the skills we need and the
philosophy to support our confidence. And, theoretically, this should be a transferable skill. However, it does not always work this way.
Being
a strong advocate for yourself does not necessarily mean only considering your
own interests and values. It is a fine dance between knowing what you stand
for, the values of those around you, how your viewpoints differ and how to
bring it all together by letting your voice to be heard. I am a person in my
late forties who had the courage to move across the world, to a place where I
knew absolutely no one. I was 28 at the time. I knew where I stood, what I
wanted and the life I did not wish to live. I found ways to advocate for myself
with the support of my family. Finding the NFB and the Colorado Center for the
Blind was what made a lot of it possible. Starting a life of my own,
finding a very supportive network of friends and family in Colorado was no
little task. And, here I am, almost twenty years later.
As
you can see, I am not new to self-advocacy. But I found myself puzzled and not
knowing what to do within the past few months. In the life outside the NFB
circle, I came across an environment where respect and mutual understanding
were not the norm. And, for the first time in years, I did not know how to react,
how to be myself. I discovered that when you advocate for yourself in ways that
you are comfortable and familiar, the process is much easier. How do we
transfer the skills? How do we take many viewpoints into consideration and
weigh pros and cons of speaking up? What principals do we let go of, and which
ones do we stand for firmly? I am working on figuring all this out. My NFB
philosophy and family taught me so much about respect, and self-reliance. I
know I can figure all this out with time. And I would love to share the message
that we all struggle at times, no matter how confident we appear. Finding the
strength and value anchor inside myself is what helps me, in addition to having
a strong family to lean on.
I
think, Oxford dictionary does not do the word self-advocacy justice. We define
it within ourselves, in a different way at different times. Yet, we know we
have the support of our organization and each other. Together we can!
Building Connections During the Time of Pandemic
Greetings
colleagues and friends,
As
you may know, The National Federation of the Blind of Colorado, NFBCO, has been
holding a number of sessions blind people and their families can join over the
zoom platform by phone, app, or website. These calls focus on topics which the
blind of Colorado and the nation have found to be helpful during these
challenging times. These Mountain Time at 5 calls occur at 5:00 Monday through
Friday. You are cordially invited. Discussions range from yoga practice,
exercise, nutrition, audible traffic signals, how to travel effectively in the
time of pandemic, and much more. These calls have allowed us to meet some
dynamic blind leaders, professionals, and contributors to society from around
the nation. We cordially invite you to join one of these calls. The more the merrier! Spread the
word!
Zoom
information below.
Meeting ID: 595
506 6474
Password: 015571
Password: 015571
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,5955066474#
Special
note: No Mountain Time at 5 call on Monday, May 25, Memorial Day.
Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind Leading, Thriving, Learning, During Pandemic
Following CSDB
social media will bring parents and families from around the state updates about
the fun and exciting learning activities happening online. CSDB families and
staff have been fully engaged nurturing these young caterpillars into smart,
fun, funny, engaged butterflies. Hey, I tried. Best metaphor I could come up with
in view of this great CSDB Facebook post. Congratulations to the parents and
teachers for your innovative caring persistence.
Elementary
students, in the School for the Blind, are reading “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”
while making their own butterfly life cycles with supplies, at home. A family
member of a staff member, who lives in Florida, also shared a video of their
live caterpillars, hanging in chrysalises, in their backyard. Pictured are
examples of what some of the students submitted to their teachers, on
ClassDojo.
Critical Actions: College Board AP Tests
Last week, five
blind high school students and the NFB filed a complaint against the College
Board with the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights
and Department of Justice on behalf of themselves and all other blind and
deafblind students who are registered to take the May 2020 advanced placement
(AP) tests from the College Board. Read the press release and complaint at https://www.nfb.org/programs-services/legal-program/rulings-filings-and-letters#highstakes.
If you are a blind
high school student or the parent of a blind high school student who is
scheduled to take a College Board AP test this spring and requires
accommodations, including but not limited to Braille and tactile graphics,
please contact our legal coordinator, Valerie Yingling, as soon as possible at vyingling@nfb.org.
Stability, Flexibility, and Accountability. Keys for Maintaining Business Success for Blind Entrepreneurs Under Pandemic Shutdowns.
Business
Enterprise Program of Colorado takes united action to protect the most
successful employment program for the blind. Blind operators of a variety of
businesses on state and federal property have been impacted by the shutdowns we
have all had to endure this Spring. As folks work at home and buildings are
closed, most blind entrepreneurs are out of work. Fortunately, Program staff and
blind entrepreneurs have enjoyed a level of unprecedented active participation
and significant support from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment in
recent years. This is brought about a measure of stability. Through the
extraordinary sacrifice and dedication of operators and staff, Elected Operator
Committee Chairperson Brad Basta says, “we will get through this. We will get
through this by working and sacrificing together.” This was the attitude
expressed by Program Manager Dan Whalen and all who attended the annual all
operator meeting, virtually of course, on Saturday May 16.
Open Mic Night With the Wild West
The NFBCO Wild
West Chapter invites you to join us,
May 23, 6:30-8:30
p.m.,
for an evening of
music, comedy, poetry and more, at our very first virtual Open-mic night!
Bring your talent
and show us your best 3-5 minute family-friendly act.
Everyone
(including children) is welcome!
You'll have to
bring your own refreshments, but admission is free.
Show-spots are
limited,
For more
information or to RSVP; call, text, or email Nate Hecker: 605-610-7959 or
heckerhead@gmail.com and we'll be happy to assist you.
We can't wait to
see you there!
Blind Parents: Attend Upcoming Discussion
National Dialog
Regarding Blind Parents,
Thursday, May 21,
2020,
12:00 p.m. PDT /
3:00 p.m. EDT.
Join us to
discuss blind parenting during our nation's health crisis. Topics include:
• One thing your family is doing that
is keeping you sane
• Distance learning and children in
school
• Social distancing
• And more!
Chat with some of
our nation's leaders in the blind parenting community and share your
experiences, ask questions, and let us know what topics you would like to have
us discuss on future calls.
Discussion
Panelists
Featured leaders
in the blind parenting community will include:
• Lisamaria Martinez, mom of three
children ages nine, five, and three
• Melissa Riccobono, mom of three
children, ages thirteen, ten, and seven
• Hai Nguyen, dad of two children,
ages nine and seven
• Terri Rupp, mom of two children,
ages ten and eight
We Welcome
Amira Lucas and Her Family to the NFBCO Education Team
Here is a cute pic
of young Kadyn Lucas stylin’ in his new glasses. Welcome to the Federation
young man!
National Federation of the Blind Distance Education Resources
Rob Harris is the President
of our NFBCO Parents of Blind Children Division. He reminds us that we have
excellent resources for families working with their children during this time
of pandemic. He also sends some wonderful tips for parents just having fun and
teaching the kiddos all at the same time. See his wonderful article following Curtis
Chong’s Aurora Chapter info.
Ring the BELL of Freedom Through Literature. Ring the BELL for Summer Fun and Learning. It’s the BELL Summer Academy In-Home Edition.
Martin Becerra-Miranda
is the Director of Youth Services at the Colorado Center for the Blind. He is
also managing our NFBCO BELL Academy In-Home Edition. We strongly encourage you
to find families of blind kiddos and sign them up for what is certainly going
to be a fun and fascinating adventure at home. Here is what Martin sent:
Attend
NFB BELL® Academy In-Home Edition!
The
National Federation of the Blind is offering three summer virtual programs of
the NFB BELL Academy, Braille Enrichment for Literacy & Learning, to
prepare blind and low-vision children to grow into confident and independent
blind people by enhancing their education.
Take
advantage of this opportunity for your child to connect with blind role models
and more by registering for one of the following sessions:
•
June 1, 2020 through June 12, 2020
•
June 22, 2020 through July 3, 2020
•
July 27, 2020 through August 7, 2020
Each
registered student will receive the materials to complete all lessons alongside
their parent/ guardian via mail. Each day during the two-week session, there
will be two opportunities to connect via web or phone with an experienced
teacher. This gives students and families the chance to ask questions and get
to know each other.
Limited
space available. Learn more and register now at nfb.org/bell.
Game On! Denver Chapter Update from Dan Burke
The Denver Chapter’s
last two meetings on the Zoom platform have been the biggest since it was the
only chapter in the Metro area. (Excluding, of course, our annual Holiday Party
and summer barbecue.) And following Adjournment on May 16, about 25 members
played a lively game of Scategories using the breakout room feature.
Board member
Brett Boyer has previously hosted a couple of Zoom meetings where he's become proficient
at dividing teams up and placing each in its separate room. Here's how it
worked on Saturday:
We had three
teams of eight or so, each with a scribe. We played several rounds, and on the
final category, for example, we had to list things that began with the letter S
related to the NFB. Then Brett sent us to our respective rooms where we
brainstormed answers and our scribe furiously wrote them down. (Julie Deden
used her Braille Sense Polaris.) When time was up, we were whisked back into
the main room again and took turns giving our answers. Naturally, Scott LaBarre
was the first thing on our team's list!
In some ways,
this was even easier than playing at the kitchen table, because there was no
chance that someone from another team might overhear us or (none of us would
ever do this) drag their feet coming back to the meeting as they tried to get
down a few more answers. The final result was a three-way tie.
In both April and
May, we had 60 connections to the cloud meeting, which includes connections
where more than one person is listening. I estimate we may have had 80 or 90
members on each of these calls.
And we welcomed
four new members this month - two of whom were sent to us from our Mountain
Hour at Five.
It's fascinating
how we've become increasingly comfortable socializing via internet platforms
such as Zoom. It has something to do with being in our own living rooms, not at
the meeting room at the Center, passing around a wireless microphone. As the
strangeness of doing everything Zoom fades into familiarity, these interactions
paradoxically become more personal, even though we miss getting together in
person.
Of course, we
don't get the same social time before and after the meeting, but we do ask
everyone to introduce themselves at the beginning of the meeting (I do an
alphabetical kind of roll call). And I put social time right on the agenda so
members can share a little with each other about how we are all doing in this
strange time.
I shared a
recording of the Western Meadowlark, my favorite bird, because Julie and I
heard one calling every morning last week on our early morning walks.
Another paradox.
I've never heard a meadowlark in our neighborhood till this shutdown.
Meadowlarks nest on the ground in open fields, and they rarely sit on anything
higher than a fence post. We live in the deep Denvurbs, not exactly prime
meadowlark habitat. We walk on a short stretch of the High Line Canal Trail. It
passes Millikin Park, and north of that are some small pastures for pet horses,
and that's where the meadowlark is nesting, apparently. Because we're working
from home due to the shutdown, we're out on our walks early in the morning when
we’d otherwise be on the bus going to the center, just when meadowlarks are
happiest to sing. The dull roar of Denvurbs traffic is much reduced, and there
are almost no people out on the trail or in the park to disturb the birds.
The meadowlark's
song has buoyed my spirit this past week, and so we all shared something like
that which has been a balm to us. Steph Baldwin has been finding more time to
meditate. A couple of folks are keeping a gratitude journal, some using an app
designed for that purpose. At the same time, we were glad to know that Curtis
and Doris are doing well in their retirement community. Though they can't go
down to the first floor, their facility has not had an outbreak of COVID-19.
Put that in your gratitude journal!
And Diane
McGeorge fessed up to stepping out her back door at 8 p.m. to howl with her
neighbors to thank all the essential workers that have seen us through the
COVID crisis thus far!
Next month we'll
have a new game, focused on NFB trivia in preparation for NFB Virtual 2020.
and, with any luck, we'll play a recording of Diane howling!
May Meeting of the NFB of Colorado Aurora Chapter
From the aggregator:
The Colorado affiliate and the Aurora chapter have certainly been fortunate and
blessed by the arrival of Curtis and Peggy Chong from New Mexico. Readers of
this rag have certainly been impressed and informed by the Blind History Lady,
Peggy Chong. The Aurora chapter has a great secretary in Curtis Chong. And Curtis
brings a feel for the Federation and a want to include and help. He’s also
blessed with amazing expertise in the area of access technology.
Typically, when our
Blind Coloradan carries meeting announcements, especially if they have already
been posted elsewhere, we would simply print the who, what, when, and where of
it all. However, This announcement from Curtis contains reminders on how best
to use the zoom platform that you may wish to share with others. Especially
those who are still figuring out that virtual landscape. And hey, if you’d like
to join a Federation chapter meeting Saturday morning, I am sure our Aurora
brothers and sisters would love your company. Here is what Curtis says:
Greetings
Everyone:
The
May meeting of the Aurora Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of
Colorado will be held on Saturday, May 23, starting at 10:30 A.M. We are
pleased to be able to hear from Joan Lopez, who serves as Arapahoe County's
Clerk and Recorder. She will address questions relating to voting, ballots, and
elections in Arapahoe County.
As
we did for our April meeting, we will be using the Zoom platform. As the host
and meeting moderator, I plan to check into the meeting on or about 10:00 so
that early arrivals can connect in and chat with each other before the meeting
actually begins.
You
can join the meeting in a number of ways—from a traditional conference phone
call or using the Zoom program on a computer, smart phone, or tablet.
Joining
the Zoom Meeting With a Traditional Phone Call:
If
you dial into the meeting with a phone call, you should bear in mind the
following two commands which you can enter using the phone's dial keypad:
Star
6 is the command to mute and unmute yourself during the meeting.
Star
9 is the command to raise or lower your virtual hand.
To
join the meeting, call 669-900-6833. Enter the meeting ID: 9669-5510-434,
followed by pound.
If
you are using your iPhone to dial into the meeting, take advantage of the
following one-tap mobile link here:
+16699006833,,96695510434#
Joining
the Meeting With the Zoom Software:
Here
is the direct link to join the Zoom meeting using Zoom:
If
any of this information is confusing, please feel free to call me directly at
303-745-0473. Also, if you have any trouble connecting on the day of the
meeting, please call me right away at this same number, 303-745-0473.
I
look forward to seeing all of you at our meeting on May 23. Thank you.
Yours
sincerely,
Curtis
Chong, Secretary
Aurora
Chapter
National
Federation of the Blind of Colorado
Parents of Blind Children Take Note
Here are some
wonderful reflections from Rob Harris and his blind daughter, Isabelle.
Spring is here and
while out on a walk earlier this week I was reminded of nature emerging from
the winter months. I think of the new season we are all in as this pandemic
changes our normal. Give yourself a pat on the back, this is hard, and you are
doing a great job! Normal routines are now disrupted, the classroom has moved
to the home front. Be kind to yourself and to your family. If following a
regular schedule is not the priority, that is ok, spend your day having fun
together. Bring out all of the pots and pans with your littles, explore each
and every item in all of the lower cupboards that are age appropriate. Lids,
pans, colanders. Maybe this is the first time exploring these tools of the
house, what do you want your child to know about it. Explain why it has holes,
try it out together. As the school-aged children's education shifts to a model
that we heard about, digital learning, that time is here. By now your students
most likely have heard from their education team. If Braille is being taught
materials should be sent home with communication from the TVI. Many of us are
using the district's learning platforms such as Schoology and ClassLink. As a
reminder, Freedom Scientific is offering a FREE home version of its popular
software JAWS, ZoomText, and Fusion for both until June 30th, a great time to
use the tools that most blind adults use in their jobs day today. With more
time at home, this is a great opportunity to learn activities of daily living,
ADL's. Laundry, lunch making, cleaning up a mess are all skills for lifelong
learning, I spilled a box of shredded wheat and had to clean it all up, even
that fine powder found at the bottom of the cereal bag, what a mess! The NFB
Distant Learning program offers lessons to learn these skills. For older
students in High School and on their way to college, now is a great time to
practice these "on your own skills". Document what skills you want to
learn as you identify tools in this online and digital world. What can help you
be successful? Speaking up, self-advocacy and knowing what works for you is
really important as we all figure this new learning model together. Always
remember you have a team of resources in the NFB of Colorado, reach out, the
number for help is 303-778-1130 extension 219.
