Welcome to the Voice’s newest feature! If Blindness Comes is a special pull-out section on diabetes and vision loss, printed in a larger font. If you know someone living with diabetes and vision loss, please pull this section out and share it.
by Ed Bryant
Voice of the Diabetic is published by the Diabetes Action Network (DAN), a division of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Diabetes is the single greatest cause of new blindness among working-age Americans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, with 12,000 to 24,000 individuals losing their sight from diabetes each year. Concerned by these statistics, NFB members established a new division, the Diabetes Action Network, in July 1985, at the Federation’s annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky.
To communicate about diabetes, and to help spread the NFB’s message of ability, equality, and self-empowerment, the new division set up a magazine named Voice of the Diabetic. The message, that regardless of complications, no one is alone and all have options, has been popular. Initial circulation was 600 copies; current circulation exceeds 355,000.
The NFB Diabetes Action Network does more than just publish Voice of the Diabetic. Periodically we update our free Diabetes Resources: Equipment, Services, and Information, our “resource guide” for blind diabetics and those losing vision. Available in multiple formats: large print, 4-track tape, Braille, and online (www.nfb.org/diabres.htm), it has recently been translated into Spanish (audiotape only).
Although the American Diabetes Association offers its Exchange list for Meal Planning: 2003, in standard print, individuals needing a copy of this publication in alternative/adaptive format (Braille, $10; or 4-track audiocassette, $2) can get it from the DAN, c/o National Federation of the Blind, Materials Center, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, MD 21230; telephone: (410) 659-9314, Web site: www.nfb.org
Our collection of popular articles from past editions of the Voice, regularly updated, is titled: Diabetes Action Network Articles. Like “Diabetes Resources,” it is available, free, in large print or 4-track audiocassette, or online, at www.nfb.org
And we’re not done yet. We are a membership organization ($10 a year to become a member of the Diabetes Action Network), and one of the services available to our members is access to our “Support Committees,” designated DAN members ready to offer their experience, expertise, and positive attitude to diabetics experiencing heart disease and stroke, blindness/visual dysfunction, amputation—prevention and treatment, insulin pump, male and female sexual dysfunction, and many more. After you’ve seen the doctors, and gone through the paperwork, there is value in conferring, one-on-one, with someone who’s already been there themself.
To join the NFB Diabetes Action Network or for more information about our Support Committees, contact: Voice of the Diabetic, 1200 West Worley, Columbia, MO 65203; telephone: (573) 875-8911; fax (573) 875-8902; email: [email protected].