The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight. The real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of information that exist. If a blind person has proper training and opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a physical nuisance. |
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Upcoming Events
Summer 2010: Junior Science Academy
The NFB will again offer a Junior Science Academy targeting children in grades three through six. The Junior Science Academy offers young scientific explorers an opportunity to experience the excitement of science in a four-day session with hands-on experiences, tactile materials, and innovative non-visual teaching methods. In addition, the Academy will have corresponding parent workshops to provide parents/guardians with the tools and knowledge that they need to help their child succeed. Two summer sessions will be offered: July 28 to August 1, 2010, and August 4 to August 8, 2010. For more information, please visit the Junior Science Academy home page.
Summer 2010: BELL Program
The NFB Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning (BELL) program will be hosted in five states in the summer of 2010. The NFB BELL Program is designed to serve as a demonstration program to provide intensive Braille instruction to children with low vision during the summer months.
Utah: June 14-25
Texas: July 12-23
Georgia (Atlanta): July 12-23
Georgia (Savannah): August 2-13
Virginia: July 26-August 6
Maryland: August 2-13
The NFB Jernigan Institute has packaged the curriculum and it is available free of charge to any affiliate who would like to provide Braille instruction to the children in their state. Visit www.nfb.org/BELL for more information about the program.
What's New
Join the 2010
Race for Independence
It is not too late to sign up for the 2010 Race for Independence, a fundraising effort focused on improving access to technology by blind Americans and supporting other NFB initiatives. The Race for Independence is designed to raise funds for the National Federation of the Blind Imagination Fund, which supports the education, technology, and research projects of the NFB Jernigan Institute, as well as programs conducted by the fifty-two affiliates and over seven hundred local chapters of the Federation. The Race for Independence will also bring public attention to the need for full and equal access for blind Americans to modern technology, in everything from home appliances to automobiles. For more information on the Race, please visit www.raceforindependence.org or watch the Straight Talk About Vision Loss video with Imagination Fund Chairman Parnell Diggs.
NFB Successful in Returning
Infant to Her Parents
The NFB and its Missouri affiliate announced today that they have succeeded in a legal fight to bring a two-month-old infant, Mikaela Sinnett, home to her parents, Blake Sinnett and Erika Johnson of Independence. The NFB of Missouri hired an attorney to assist the couple after Mikaela was taken from them at Centerpoint Hospital almost immediately after she was born. For fifty-seven days the couple, both of whom are blind, were allowed to visit their child in foster care but were not allowed to bring her home. The sole reason given by Missouri’s Department of Social Services was that the couple was blind and could not properly care for Mikaela without the assistance of a sighted person twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. An evidentiary hearing was scheduled for July 20, but at the last minute the state of Missouri dismissed the case against the couple. For more information on this case, please read the official press release.
2010 National Convention
Audio and Video Highlights Now Available
If you missed the 2010 NFB National Convention in Dallas, Texas, or if you would just like to relive the excitement, audio and video from this year's convention is now available. Listen now to some of the highlights including the presentation of the third annual Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards to individuals and companies who have made technology more accessible to the blind, including Apple and Blackboard; a report from Kareem Dale, special advisor to President Barack Obama for disability policy; and visits from eBay and Target, which are partnering with the National Federation of the Blind to make their products and services more accessible to blind customers.
