Is the task of raising a child an art or a science? Probably both. At the 2006
National Federation of the Blind National Convention last summer in Dallas,
Texas, the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC) adopted
a theme--The Equation for Success--from the world of science. With
the help of dynamic, knowledgeable presenters and a wide variety of programs
and activities for parents and kids, we explored together the elements of the
equation that lead to success for blind children and youth. As always, parents
also discovered that simply observing the thousands of blind people traveling
independently about the hotel and doing all the normal things that people do
at conventions was itself as valuable as all of the organized seminars, workshops,
and activities combined.
The following photos and descriptions are highlights from the 2006 convention.
Mostly, we have selected photos that depict the programs sponsored at the convention
by the NOPBC. (As many people have observed, the NOPBC programs alone constitute
a conference within a conference.) For a thorough overview of the entire convention,
please see the August/September 2006 issue of the Braille Monitor.
The issue is available on the NFB Web site at www.nfb.org (click on publications
and select Braille Monitor). Also, back copies in print or alternate
formats may be requested from the NFB Independence Market at (410) 659-9314,
extension 2216.
The weeklong convention began on Saturday, July 1, a day set aside by the convention
for NFB divisions to conduct seminars. And that’s where we begin our photo report:
Saturday, July 1
The
NOPBC seminar begins with the annual “Kid Talk” with NFB President Maurer seated
on the floor with the children. His time with the kids centers around the new
Kurzweil–National Federation of the Blind Reader, dubbed the “Best New Invention
Ever” in the NOPBC agenda. Dr. Maurer shows them how the reader works, then
passes it around while he patiently answers questions and encourages the kids
to use their hands to examine the machine. “Lots of people don’t want us to
touch things,” he tells them, “but that’s how blind people learn. At this convention,
we want you to touch things.”
After the children return to their seats, Ryan Strunk, president of the National
Association of Blind Students, kicks off the adult portion of the seminar with
a keynote address about the “Equation for Success.” He begins the speech with
the statement that, in regard to the equation in the agenda, “in fact, there
are two other elements involved: improv [improvisation] and luck.” With frankness
and humor, he explained that just before he came to the convention, he picked
up some clothes from his dry cleaners and stuffed them in his garment bag. Unknown
to him, the cleaners had removed the tags from his colored shirts (in his system,
shirts with no tags are white) and gave him someone else’s dress pants. All
of which he only discovered shortly before dressing for the seminar that morning.
But, because he is flexible and has learned many problem-solving skills throughout
his growing-up years--and with a little luck--he managed to put together a suitable
outfit. Ryan continued to speak of his own experiences with sincerity and humor
while delineating the components of the equation that combine to create successful
blind adults.
Following
Ryan Strunk, Eric Vasiliauskas, M.D., a pediatrician and parent of two blind
sons, Vejas and Petras, speaks to parents on the topic, “The Power of Knowledge.”
Who knew that Dr. V. (as he’s affectionately known) could turn such a dry-sounding
title into a speech that moved many in the audience to tears? (This powerful
speech is printed in its entirety elsewhere in this issue.)
After lunch on Saturday, Susan Osterhaus, a math teacher from the Texas School
for the Blind, leads a standing-room-only workshop. As the attentive crowd looks
on, Osterhaus describes math techniques, tools, tips, strategies, and resources
for blind youth. The workshop is one of three topics in the middle school/high
school strand. There were four workshop strands in all--early years, elementary
years, middle school/high school and special topics--and three workshop titles
per strand, for a total of twelve different workshops for parents and teachers.
Angela
Wolfe, coordinator of the “Art with Feeling” afternoon session for children
ages 8-12, poses for a picture as youngster Cindy Plac (El Salvador) displays
her latest creation. Kudos goes to Wolfe for putting together and conducting
this session at the last minute when the original program had to be canceled.
Matt
Maurer, President Maurer’s brother, plays a Braille-related game with six-year-old
Jasani Whitehead (Iowa) at the Braille Carnival. The Braille Carnival was reorganized
this year into smaller, multiple sessions in order to provide more individual
attention to each child.
In
“Talk About It Theater,” coordinated by Carrie Gilmer, kids tackle difficult
social situations they may encounter in their daily lives. Through a skit they
create, then act out, these blind and sighted youth learn how to react to ignorance
and misinformation about blindness.
Instructor
and mentor, Barbara Pierce of Ohio, and Dasha Radford, age 10 (North Carolina),
quickly become close-“knit” friends at the knitting workshop for kids ages 8-12.
Jimmy
Cale and R. J. Crease of Indiana are intrigued at the prospect of trying out
newly developed lab tools for blind students during the “Chemistry: Seeing Color
Through Sound” program for teens. Organized and conducted by Andrew Greenberg
of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Nanoscale Science and Engineering
Center, and blind chemist Cary Supalo of the Independent Laboratory Access for
the Blind (ILAB) project, this workshop was one of three afternoon sessions
offered to teens in collaboration with the NFB Jernigan Institute, Center for
Blind Youth in Science.
The
chance to get together with other teens to share experiences is a convention
plus. While parents and younger kids relax and enjoy socializing Saturday night
at Family Hospitality, teens talk about issues concerning dating, relationships
with parents, social interactions, and more at Teen Talk, a regular NOPBC-sponsored
session just for teens. Throughout the convention, NOPBC also offers a safe,
supervised hangout environment at the Teen Hospitality room.
Sunday, July 2
Orientation
and mobility instructor, Roland Allen of Louisiana, teaches nine-year-old Nautica
Whitehead of Iowa how to use a cane on stairs during the NOPBC-sponsored Sunday
morning Cane Walk. On the Cane Walk, blind children learn tips and techniques
based on the guided discovery method taught by (mostly) blind volunteer instructors
while sighted parents and siblings have the option of experiencing a cane lesson
under sleepshades (blindfolds).
Shawn
Payne of Utah and his sons Andrew, age three, and Jacob, age five, pose for
a picture after participating in one of the two Cane Walk sessions. Parents
with infants and toddlers have the option at the Cane Walk to spend time with
Joe Cutter talking about early movement and cane use.
On Sunday afternoon, MATHCOUNTS Executive Director, Lawrence Jacobson, speaks
to the Math Now! Forum and Seminar for Math Lovers about the need for our country
to entice young people from diverse populations into math and engineering careers.
The forum was preceded in the morning by a closed 
math
competition between four students, Hannah Weatherd, Michael Taboada, Kyra Sweeney,
and Megan Bening, and four adults, Steve Jacobson, Nathaniel Wales, Jason Ewell,
and Paul Dressell, using Brailled MathCounts local and regional level competition
materials. Kyra Sweeney concentrates on a problem in the individual round. The
members of the kids’ team listen intently while Kristin Chandler of MATHCOUNTS
gives instructions. The results of the competition are 
announced
at the forum. Engineer Nathaniel Wales of California gets the top score, but
close on his heels was Louisiana seventh grader, Michael Taboada, who took top
honors for the kids team.
Jean
Bugby is accompanied by her adult daughter, who happens to be blind and severely
multiply disabled, as she co-presents at the Sunday afternoon workshop, “An
Introduction to Active Learning.” The Texas School for the Blind (TSB) partnered
with the NOPBC by providing two other presenters for the workshop--Amy Doezema
and Sara Kitchen, both teachers at TSB.
NOPBC
board members Kevin Harris and Brad Weatherd organize the first-ever Dad’s Night
Out at the 2006 convention. The informal meeting at one of the hotel lounges
featured buffalo wings, beer, commeraradia, and lots of talk about--what else?--their
kids.
Monday, July 3
The NOPBC annual meeting on Monday afternoon pulls together parents at every
stage of involvement in the NFB. Here, president Barbara Cheadle (center) consults
with NOPBC treasurer and longtime leader in Louisiana, Sandy Taboada (left),
and first-time parent, Teri Turgeon (right) of Massachusetts. Teri and her husband
John are among the eighteen sets 
of
parents who attended the convention with funding from the NFB Parent Leadership
Program--a new initiative to develop parent leadership at the state and national
levels.
On Monday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Braille book lovers of all ages gather for
the Braille Book Flea Market.
Ahbee Orton of Texas makes several selections and sits down to read. Bianca
Saranieco of California browses through a stack of Braille book titles, and
Anna Walker reads a book with her mother, Carlton Walker of Pennsylvania.
The Braille Book Flea Market is fun for the entire family. The Colton family—Denise,
Rick, and Katie--pause for a photo before Katie gives her Braille book selections
to the UPS volunteers to be boxed and later taken to the post office to be shipped
Free Matter for the Blind back to their home in Utah.
Tuesday, July 4
If it’s Tuesday night,
it must be IEP workshop night. Teachers, Gail Wagner of New Mexico and Merry-Noel
Chamberlain of Iowa, both past winners of the Distinguished Educator of Blind
Children Award, co-present a workshop for parents and teachers who are veterans
of the IEP process (it was purely coincidence that Tuesday, and therefore the
workshop, fell on July 4). Other workshop options included an IEP workshop for
those new to the process and an “Access-It-Yourself” workshop about how to locate
resources.
Nani Fife, of Hawaii, leads a workshop designed to put the fun back in exercising
with her “Hula Workout” seminar for Federationists of all ages.
Lindsay Adair of Texas proudly shows off her Independence Day dress to the photographer
who stops by NFB Camp to get a few snapshots of the kids whose parents take
advantage of the NFB-sponsored childcare services coordinated by Federation
volunteer, Carla McQuillan.
Wednesday, July 5
On
Wednesday the convention adjourns at noon and the afternoon is free for convention
attendees to relax, take in the local sights, or drop-in for a little bit of
Cane Talk with Joe Cutter and other Federation mobility instructors.
Kristin Turgeon (Massachusetts) and her father John examine and compare access
technology in the vast exhibit hall. The convention brings together in one place
at one time, about eighty vendors--nonprofits, for-profits, big companies and
small--of specialized products, materials, and access technologies for the blind.
The exhibit hall is a rare opportunity for blind kids and their families to,
as one mom put it elsewhere in this issue, “try before you buy.”
Levi
Bressan from Colorado savors his chance to sit in a red 1957 Thunderbird, one
of many coveted cars at the classic and antique car show in the parking lot
of the hotel on Wednesday afternoon. The show was organized by the newly organized
Classics, Antiques, and Rods (CARs) Division of the NFB.
Thursday, July 6
On Thursday night, a record-breaking crowd packs into the ballroom to partake
of the festivities at the annual banquet. 
Dr.
Maurer delivers his banquet address, entitled “An Element of Justice,” to an
eager and enthusiastic crowd.
