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
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)
Forward, always forward!
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