For teachers
To celebrate their 35th anniversary in 2019, Seedlings Braille Books for Children is offering all certified U.S. teachers of the visually impaired, four one-volume books of their choosing for FREE this year! Order online and use the code TVIP19 as your Purchase Order number so you won't be asked to pay. In the Check Out Information, include your school name & address.Due to your tremendous efforts we gained eight cosponsors across all of our bills. (Five on H.R. 2086: two on S. 815: and one on H.R. 873. This is a significant accomplishment, but we can't celebrate too much because there is still much work left to do!
Please call your representative and two senators and urge them to cosponsor these two bills if they have not already done so. A summary of the two bills follows.
Lego has unveiled a new project aimed at helping blind and visually impaired children learn Braille in a “playful and engaging way.” Lego Braille Bricks, a concept originally proposed to the toy company by two charities, will allow children to learn the touch writing system through play.
The bricks, which will launch fully in 2020, feature the studs used for characters in the Braille alphabet, as well as printed characters allowing sighted people to read the bricks. They will be “fully compatible” with existing Lego bricks, the company said in a press release.
Some parents of students with disabilities are raising concerns about testing accommodations as the state rolls out its new standardized exam. The old test, ISTEP, included text-to-speech technology to read directions and some questions aloud to students with disabilities who have that type of accommodation laid out in their individualized education plan (IEP). But the new test, ILEARN, doesn't do either for reading comprehension questions.
The NFB is investigating the accessibility of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) forms and written communication. If you have requested or would like to request alternative format documents from the IRS-such as Braille, large print, or audio, email Valerie Yingling, legal program coordinator. or call 410-659-9314, extension 2440.
Indiana has received the tickets for the Kenneth Jernigan fund! If your chapter sells the winning ticket, your chapter will win five hundred dollars. Tickets are $10 and you could win:
- Hotel accommodations for 2
- Airfare for 2 for the 2020 convention
- Registration and banquet for 2
- $1,000 in cash
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) at the Library of Congress provides free audio books and braille materials to individuals who are blind or visually impaired, reading disabled (e.g., dyslexia or traumatic brain injury), or physically disabled through a network of regional libraries.
Kaiti Shelton is a remarkable young professional who believes in what she does. She has been the beneficiary of music therapy, has worked with a blind role model, has experienced the roadblocks put in her way by professors who didn't think she could perform in the field, and has demonstrated that, when toughness and creativity and thinking out of the box were required, she had what it took to persevere. She now shares her gift with others who can benefit from music therapy, and we are blessed that she is also sharing who she is and what she does with us.
March 6, 2019 - Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon introduced the Disability Voting Rights Act, a bill that would amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to promote access to voter registration and voting for individuals with disabilities.