Fore~Sight
Winter 2015
From the President’s Desk by Carlos Paraskevas
Since becoming President of the AzCB, I have learned some very valuable lessons. While the lessons are not absolute, they are instructional and help me be a better leader. Let me share some of these lessons with you.
First, people don’t always do what they say they are going to do. Because members are busy and can be drawn in many directions, they don’t always remember nor have the time to follow through on their commitments. As a leader, I need to be organized and monitor the tasks that have been assigned to members. That way I can help remind them, support them and when unquestionably necessary reassign the task to someone else.
Next, everything is harder than it looks. People, including me, are quick to judge others. We change our perspective when we have to stick our own necks out. From politics to sports, the world if full of Monday morning quarterbacks who will shoot you down and second guess everything from your skills to your motives. When I face those Monday morning quarterbacks, I have to ignore the negativity, learn from the criticism and prove myself by my actions.
Additionally, I have learned I will make mistakes. Sometimes, big mistakes. I do not make them deliberately. However, mistakes and failure are essential to human growth. It’s ok to make them. As AzCB President, I have to be productive. Being productive, I am likely to make mistakes more often because I attempt more things that are outside of my comfort zone.
Another lesson I’ve learned is there will always be someone who is better at the things I do than I am. That’s why the best athletes are always training. They believe that there is continually room for improvement. I seek out top role models and learn from them. I incorporate the best of who they are into the best of who I can be.
An important lesson I learned is that teamwork will produce an overall better result than if each person within the group were working toward the same goal individually. However, the concept of group cohesion needs to be considered. And, it is my responsibility to coordinate and strengthen our mutual positive attitudes. As the group becomes more cohesive, its functioning is affected in a number of ways. Interactions and communication between members increase. Common goals and interests become sharper and drive us to be greater than we are. In addition, group member satisfaction increases as the group provides friendship and support in accomplishing results.
The AzCB team has a lot to do and limited resources to get it done. I will unapologetically ask members to do a lot to better our community and make things better for people who are blind. I will ask you to do more and give more than you thought you could. The greatest lesson I have learned is that we can all do more individually and much, much more together. Let’s do this.
Unified English Braille (UEB)
Braille has been the official tactile reading and writing method for people who are blind in the United States. Braille is named after its creator, Frenchman Louis Braille. He published his system, which subsequently included musical notation, in 1829. The second revision, published in 1837, was the first digital (binary) form of writing.
Braille was not the only tactile reading and writing code used by people who are blind in the U.S. during the late 19th and early 20th century. New York Point may have been more widely used. Advocates for NY Point claimed it to be superior to both American Braille and British Braille. According to Robert Irwin in his book "As I Saw It" (1955), this “war of the dots” divided the schools of the blind into two camps, one that used NY Point and another that advocated American Braille.
The issue was finally settled around 1916. The war was lost by both sides because the British stood by the braille code it was using. Ultimately, the wealth of code already available in the British Empire and the desire for a unified English language code led to the acceptance of the Braille code in the U.S
The braille code for English, however, has had variations from one country to another. On November 2, 2012, the United States members of the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) voted to adopt Unified English Braille (UEB) to replace Braille American Edition. Based on extensive dialog and planning that involved more than 30 organizations as well as individual consumers, teachers, and transcribers, BANA established January 4, 2016 as the date by which the United States will implement UEB.
Unified English Braille will now integrate code for all English-speaking countries into a single unified system.
Unified English Braille is intended to develop one set of rules, the same everywhere in the world, which could be applied across various types of English-language material. The notable exception to this unification is Music Braille, which UEB specifically does not encompass, because it is already well-standardized internationally. Unified English Braille is designed to be readily understood by people familiar with the literary braille (used in standard prose writing), while also including support for specialized math and science symbols, computer-related symbols as well as more specialized programming-language syntax, foreign alphabets, and visual effects (bullets, bold type, accent marks, and so on).
Since there are still two major coding-systems for math-notation and other technical or scientific writing (Nemeth as an option in the United States versus the Taylor-style math-notation which will likely be used in other countries), some rules-conflicts still remain, and braille-users will be required to 'unlearn' certain rules when switching.
As of the implementation date in January 2016, UEB, Nemeth, Music, and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) will be the official codes for use in the United States.
SAZCB Scholarship Winners Announced
The Southern Arizona Council of the Blind (SAZCB) has selected four students to receive $100 scholarships. The students are Rebekah Gilbreath, Jernigan Netzsosie, Alyssa Tamayo, and Steven Wilson. This scholarship was established to recognize students enrolled in southern Arizona who have achieved positive academic records. Please join us in congratulating all the scholarship recipients for their accomplishment and wish them continued success.
The ADA Legacy Tour Bus by Barbara McDonald
Do you know what ADA is? It stands for the Americans with Disabilities Act. We will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the ADA on July 26, 2015.
On December 2, 2014, Tom Olin, a veteran disability rights photographer, came to the Disability Empowerment Center (DEC). He is traveling through the United States in his ADA Legacy Tour Bus.
Phoenix was the last stop in Phase One of the ADA Legacy Tour. The Tour is a traveling exhibit designed to raise awareness and build excitement about ADA25, the 25th anniversary of the ADA. Each stop will have a unique theme and purpose. The tour will end in Washington DC on July 26, 2015.
The ADA Legacy Tour Includes:
· The "Road to Freedom" ADA Bus - which traveled to 48 states in 2007 to raise support for the ADA Amendments Act
· A four-panel display on the history of self-advocacy
· Displays on The ADA Legacy Project and its effort to preserve disability history, celebrate disability milestones and educate future generations of disability advocates
· A "Because of the ADA" booth where one can post thoughts and photos to illustrate the difference the ADA has made in their life
· The ADA quilt on which tour participants can add their signature to the thousands others have contributed
· A display on the history of the Road to Freedom Tour
· An information table with handouts on The ADA Legacy Project and the ADA, plus information from partners and sponsors
· Events, workshops, artifacts and other programming provided by local hosts
Mr. Olin brought pictures and posters sharing information about the Road to Freedom. The posters were spread around a room. The first poster talked about celebrating the milestones accomplished in our community and commemorating our heroes. It showed a picture of President George H. W. Bush signing the law while Justin Dart and other people with disabilities were looking on and waving the United States flag. The second poster expressed the importance of educating the future and raising the awareness of the continuation of advocacy for ADA. The last emphasized preserving the past and honoring disability rights and the people who worked in our community for those rights. There was also a panel that spoke about the people who had worked for the ADA and how the law affected them in their lives.
The road of the ADA did not just start in July, 1990. It started a long time before when people with disabilities talked about societal barriers which excluded them from their communities. Parents complained about the exclusion and segregation of their children. These were the people who organized, spoke out, and wrote letters. Without their diligence, there would be no ADA today.
For more information, please visit adalegacy.com.
GDUA Annual Membership Conference by Liz Whitlock
The Guide Dog Users of Arizona held their 2014 Annual Conference, “Harnessing Momentum and Moving Forward”, on November 8 at the Arizona Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ACBVI). It was a huge success! The conference was jam-packed with speakers from across the US on subjects varying from dog allergies to training methods and communicating with our loyal companions and other information and comradery.
Our day began as Guide Dog Users, Inc. President Penny Reeder, via teleconference, gave us an update on the happenings and direction GDUI is striving for. Our other Parent Affiliate President in attendance, Carlos Paraskevas, gave a brief update of the Arizona Council of the Blind.
In attendance were five Guide Dog schools. Each school gave an update on their schools’ latest happenings, the new and the proven. Each school graciously answered questions from the floor.
Kelsey Bocken and Mark Jones from Spofit invited us all to come and sweat with them at their progressive gym. The equipment and employees are ready to help all levels of ability and fitness. We are very fortunate to have one in Phoenix. There is only one other Spofit in the nation.
Noah Cress, an Eagle Scout who has just completed adding new braille signs & navigation through the Sight Compass App at the Judith Tunell Trail at South Mountain Park, gave a description of the changes. This is a must do on the GDUA calendar this year. Cress was recently recognized by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell for his project and received the Phoenix Mayor’s Disability Awareness Recognition Award. Way to go Noah!
Our Keynote Speaker was Michelle Johnson, a prominent horse woman in the Phoenix area who uses equine therapy to assist her clients. Ms. Johnson spoke on biofelia and anthropomorphism, the behavior of animals and what they have to tell us, if we just listen.
Taralyn Temple, DVM, a veterinarian from the Phoenix area, spoke on dog allergies, varying from skin to food, what can be done, and what the future brings in with the continuous medical research.
Dave Hagemann, a guide dog trainer, talked with us on the various training techniques from clicker training, praise & correction, and treat training. It was a very informative talk that led into various other training questions.
GDUA finished the day out with our business meeting. Elections were held for our 2015 year: President Liz Whitlock from Chandler; Vice President Connie Jacomini from Gilbert; Secretary David Steinmetz from Chandler; Treasurer Jacque Olsen from Tempe; along with two board members, Rachel Krieg from Tucson, and River Forest from Phoenix. Plans were discussed to continue to provide support and education to the community, as well as keep the social side growing strong.
Renew Your AzCB Membership
If you have not renewed your AzCB membership, now is the time to get it done. You can renew with your chapter or by going to www.azcb.org and joining the state organization. Please update your contact information and select your newsletter format preference. The AzCB is a powerful voice for the rights of people who are blind. Make that voice be heard by keeping your membership up to date.
VisionWalk 2015
The Arizona Council of the Blind is a community sponsor of this year’s Foundation Fighting Blindness VisionWalk. The walk will take place on Saturday, February 28, 2015 at Steele Indian School Park located at 300 E. Indian School Road. Registration starts at 8:00 a.m. and the walk begins with a stage presentation at 9:00.
Many of our members will be walking with the AIB Amigos or Webster's Woofers. Come join us and make a donation if you can. Visit VisionWalk Arizona on the Web.
The Foundation Fighting Blindness, Inc. is the world’s leader in providing awareness and funding that drives the research that will provide preventions, treatments and cures for people affected by retinal degenerative diseases. Since its inception in the spring of 2006, VisionWalk has raised over $30 million to fund sight-saving research. As promising treatments move into critical human studies, the need for research funding is greater than ever.