The Braille Examiner
Summer 2006
A Publication of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois
Editor: Connie J. Davis
Co-Editor: Deborah Kent Stein
President: Lois Montgomery
Contact Information
President: Lois Montgomery, (309) 762-NFBI (6324), Lmm3527@aol.com.
Editor: Connie Davis, (773) 338-6922, condav850@yahoo.com.
Co-Editor: Deborah Kent Stein, (773) 631-1093, dkent5817@worldnet.att.net.
Print & Braille Duplication: Carmen Dennis, (773) 583-0899, carmen88@comcast.net.
Tape duplication & Distribution: Pittman Enterprises & Associates, pittman.e.a@cometlink.com, (773) 779-1856, fax (773) 779-2763, Debbie Pittman
Proofreaders: Carmen Dennis & Kelly Doty
Announcements:
All subscription, address changes, article submissions, comments or questions concerning the newsletter should be directed to Connie or Debbie.
We strongly encourage readers of the cassette version of the newsletter to return the tapes for recycling in the envelope provided.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Lois Montgomery
Greetings to all!
As you know, HR2872 passed the House late in February, and we've been working diligently toward the passage of S2321 in the Senate. Both of
these bills deal with the Louis Braille Commemorative Coin in observance of the 200th anniversary of the inventor's birth in 1809.
We need to contact Senator Durbin to thank him for signing on. We must also contact Senator Obama to express the importance of such a bill and
to encourage him to sign on, as well. At present, there are sixty-four sponsors. We need sixty-seven sponsors to receive Senate approval, so
we're very close! The creation of the Louis Braille Commemorative Coin will be a salute to Braille literacy throughout the world.
As KNFB ambassador for Illinois, I continue to enjoy beta testing the K-NFB Reader. Recently, eight "pioneers" from this state each received
a portable hand-held unit to join me in testing and promoting this remarkable piece of technology.
It is my pleasure to report that three persons from Illinois will soon be enrolled in our NFB training centers, thanks to the cooperation of
the Office of Rehabilitation Services here in Illinois. Each of the three centers will be represented, as each prospective student has
requested to attend a different center.
The NFBI has undertaken an exciting new program this year. Two blind students, A. J. Scheiner and R. J. McLaughlin, will carry out summer
internships, with stipends and mentoring through the NFBI. The internship program gives blind high school and college students the
chance to obtain much-needed "hands-on" experience in their fields of interest.
Congratulations to Dave Wright of the Chicago Chapter who, once again, has been accepted to participate in NASA Internship. He will spend
eleven weeks at the Goddard Space Center beginning May 21. Illinois is honored to have two NFB National Scholarship finalists for
2006. Corb O'Connor and Ronza Othman (who is a member of the Chicago Chapter) will be attending their first national convention this year as
scholarship finalists. Congratulations and good luck to both of these excellent students!
I'm also proud to announce that Illinois has a "Braille Readers Are Leaders" contest winner this year. First-grader Alyssa Townsend of
Lake Zurich read 1,697 pages, placing second in the kindergarten/first-grade category nationwide. Third-grader Brett
Pingel of Chester also took part in the contest. Congratulations to both of them, and may they keep reading!
The 2006 NFB national convention will soon be here. This year it is being held at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas July 1-7. The
Illinois Caucus has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 4, at 8:00 a.m. Our room assignment has yet to be announced. Let's have a good turnout
this year from Illinois! I look forward to seeing you in Dallas! Remember, conventions change people's lives forever.
Plans for our 2006 state convention are moving forward. Several speakers have already committed to participate. Mark your calendar for
November 10-12. It's not too early to make your reservation at the Ramada Plaza, 5615 N. Cumberland, Chicago. Phone 773-693-5800. Make
certain you mention the NFBI in order to receive the discounted room rate. If you have any ideas or suggestions, or would like to help in
any way, PLEASE let me know. There is something each of us can contribute to make this a successful convention.
It is important that we work together to continue building the affiliate and strengthening the movement in Illinois.
I am here to serve you. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, suggestions, concerns, or comments at:
E-mail: Lmm3527@aol.comPhone: (309)762-NFBI (6324)
Mail: 3527-12th Avenue Moline, IL 61265
CHAPTER NEWS
Blackhawk Chapter
By Robert Gardner
The NFBI Blackhawk Chapter holds monthly meetings the second Saturday of each month at 1:30 p.m. Our meeting place is the South Moline Township Center located at 637-17th Avenue, East Moline. Rides to chapter meetings can be arranged.
Recent meetings have featured programs by manufacturers demonstrating products for the blind, and also a demonstration of the portable Kurzweil Reader being developed under the sponsorship of the NFB. A future meeting will include a program from our Illinois DORS local representatives.
We will have our annual swim party at the house of Lois and Russ Montgomery in Moline on the third Saturday in July, and our annual picnic on the second Saturday in August. Those events will take the place of our regular chapter meetings in July and August.
Our chapter will take part in the "Birdies for Charity" fundraiser associated with the John Deere Golf Tournament in July. Not only is this a worthy fundraiser, but it also provides chapter members an opportunity to educate the public about blindness-related issues and to share the NFB philosophy.
The NFBI Blackhawk Chapter publishes a monthly newsletter, "Hawk Talk". The newsletter is available on the NFB IL-Talk list on the Internet and on the NFBI website. It also can be sent by E-mail or snail mail to anyone who wants it.
We are the blind speaking for the blind, and are changing what it means to be blind in the Quad-Cities and northwestern Illinois. We have 50 enthusiastic members, so come and join us!
Chicago Chapter
By Deborah Kent Stein
The Chicago Chapter held its annual election on Saturday, April 8. The following officers were elected: President, Debbie Stein; First Vice President, Patti Gregory-Chang; Second Vice President, Anthony Thomas; Secretary, Connie Davis; Treasurer, Carmen Dennis; and board members Joe Monti, Ronza Othman, Debbie Pittman, and Bob Widman.
At the May 13 chapter meeting Mazen Istanbouli gave a short talk about his work with a group of blind students from two Chicago high schools. Mazen helped the students advocate for themselves when they decided they should not be required to take drivers' education class since they are not eligible to obtain driver's licenses. After his talk a lively discussion ensued. Some chapter members supported the students' position, contending that it was pointless and frustrating for them to learn about driving when they will not actually be able to drive a car. Others expressed their belief that requirements should not be waived for students on the basis of blindness, and pointed out that blind students can benefit from learning the rules of the road.
Recently Fox News asked us for help in preparing a story about Chicago taxi service. A Fox reporter wanted to see whether cab drivers are cheating blind passengers. Trailed by a news team with hidden cameras, David Wright and David Harlow took a series of cab rides to find out. They described their experiences at the May chapter meeting. David Harlow said that several cabs refused to stop for him when they spotted his dog guide. One driver short-changed David Wright, but he noted that such incidents occur very rarely. Both said that they helped to educate the Fox crew about blindness. The team was amazed when they each arrived independently at the meeting-place downtown.
On May 3 Steve Hastalis, Steve Handschu, and Debbie Stein spoke to thirteen blind students at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park. Steve Hastalis, who met the students' career development specialist at a conference, arranged the visit. At the school the three Federationists answered questions about their careers, and shared ideas about job-seeking strategies. The students were lively, responsive, and clearly very interested.
The next chapter board meeting will convene promptly after the business meeting on June 10. Board meetings are open to all members and guests. Please bring your ideas, suggestions, energy, and enthusiasm. It is time for us to think about fresh fundraisers and new projects that will help us change what it means to be blind!
The Chicago Chapter meets at 1 P.M. on the second Saturday of each month (except July) at the Exchequer Pub and Restaurant, 226 S. Wabash, Chicago. Please come join us!
Ferris Wheel Chapter
By Cathy Randall
The NFBI Ferris Wheel Chapter met with students at I.S.V.I. once more before the end of the school year. We work to have speakers as often as possible at our chapter meetings, and we send out meeting notices regularly to area media.
We hope to arrange several additional activities outside of chapter meetings. These activities include a class in horsemanship from Daryl Darnell's riding instructor and a hike and canoe trip at a nearby Nature Conservancy refuge.
Heartland Chapter
By Bryan Turner
The Kankakee Heartland Chapter will be holding a fundraiser on June 17, at the Bradley WAL/MART located at 1260 N. Kinzie Ave. Bradley from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. There will be no July meeting. Plans are in the offing for an August picnic, so stay posted to Il-Talk for further details.
Travel Class from Hell
By Robert Gardner
"Where are we?" Jenny asked, irritation in her voice.
"I don't know," I answered, irritated also. "I thought we were where we're supposed to be, but nothing checks out."
The two of us had been sent out on a route for travel class at BLIND, Inc., the NFB training center in Minneapolis. The route had seemed simple: Take a bus north to downtown Minneapolis, get off at 6th Street and Nicollet, walk one long block west to Hennepin Avenue, cross busy Hennepin, turn left, then find the entrance to "Block E," a large, interior mall. Our actual assignment was to find the Borders Bookstore there.
But something had gone wrong. We'd made that final left turn to find the entrance door to Block E, but nothing seemed right. We were disoriented; we were lost. But there was no panic. Jenny, an experienced traveler, had been at BLIND, Inc. since last November, and I'd been in training for two months. We knew the solution to our problem was to use our heads. Just start using our brains to figure out how to get where we wanted to be.
Our travel through downtown had involved large amounts of background noise and heavy traffic on some streets. The sidewalks were wide, and there was a "crud line" of planters, garbage cans, poles, and streetlights alongside the actual streets. "Shore lining" with a cane was impossible, or at least impractical, and all one could do was try to walk a straight line. But that was the purpose of this downtown travel route, and we had both done similar routes many times before. But nothing was working. Finally, I asked someone where we were. We received the usual response from someone sighted: "Where do you want to go?" But all we wanted to know was where we were. After several tries, the man explained we were on the east side of Hennepin. To this day, I don't know what we did wrong or how we ended up on the east side of the street rather than the west. Whatever we did, neither Jenny nor I caught it.
"Okay," I then said to Jenny, "let's walk this way. This way would be north, and I can probably figure out where we're at if I can check out the traffic on the cross street." The traffic turned out to be one-way going west. "That must be 5th Street," I said. "The odd-numbered streets down here are one-ways going west."
"It's 5th," Jenny replied. "Hear the bell over there? That's the light rail, and it runs down the side of 5th."
The light rail is a commuter train, part of a system like the Chicago Metro. Jenny was right. I could hear the bell at a light rail station. Now we knew exactly where we were. The southeast corner of Hennepin and 5th.
We crossed Hennepin, a nightmare-busy street of many lanes, and walked one block south. We then found Block E, using our canes to find various entrances. That early in the morning the main door to Block E was the only one unlocked.
We'd been told that Borders was on the first floor inside. When we explored, we couldn't find it. We were then told Borders was actually on the second floor. Disgusted with everything by now, we figuratively rolled our eyes and said the heck with it. We decided to head back to the Center. Time was running out to get to our next class.
We retraced our route, heading back to Nicollet Avenue to catch a bus back to the Center. I was mad at myself. When I first came to BLIND, Inc., I was unsure whether I could walk the half block from the apartment house to catch a bus for school. I'd made great progress in two months, I thought. Yet here for the first time on a travel route, I'd become disoriented and didn't know where I was. The situation didn't frighten me anymore - I was just mad. How had I screwed up? Nicollet is a restricted traffic street, relatively narrow and relatively quiet. With all the background noise, I kept checking as we walked across 6th to make sure we didn't miss the corner. At one point, I sensed an opening to my right, the direction we wanted to go, and turned. Almost immediately, I found myself walking down a concrete ramp. Whoa! I was walking into some kind of parking ramp.
Anyway, we found the corner; then searched for the bus stop further down Nicollet. We boarded a #18 bus and got off at a familiar stop on 22nd Street. After the roar of the bus had subsided, I looked for Jenny. She'd taken off without me, probably a sign she was steamed also. But I was sure she'd crossed the wrong street. "Jenny," I called. "Where are you?"
"Over here", she called back.
"Get over here," I said. "You went the wrong way."
She admitted she'd forgotten where she was and had crossed the wrong way. But had she? We walked the two blocks east to the Center. Crossing 1st Avenue, I checked to the left with my cane for the short concrete wall fronting the Center. And . . . there was no wall. My God, we'd screwed up again!
Well, we eventually did make it back. I figured out we were on the south side of 22nd rather than the north where we should have been. Jenny was the one who finally found the steps up to the Center. We went in, each grumbling. And that concluded the worst travel session I'd been on to date. But we'd made it to where we were supposed to go. And we'd made it back.
The next day in travel class, I was still upset about the events of the day before. I asked Zach, the mobility instructor, if I could do that route to Block E again. This time Jenny wasn't in the class, and I did the route solo. And I made it, no problem. I'm still confused at what had happened the day before.
Just to make things interesting, I decided to take a different route back to the Center. Instead of going back to Nicollet, I jumped on a #6 bus that went down Hennepin. I got off at 28th Street near the student apartments; then tracked down the nearby Isles Coffee Shop. I'd never been there alone before, but using my nose, ears, and my cane, I found the door. I had a cup of coffee and a pastry, sitting outside at a table in the sunshine. I then again crossed Hennepin and caught the standard #17 bus back to the Center. I felt exonerated for the day before.
Later that day, I teased Jenny about how I'd gone back to Block E. How, without her, I had no problems. Little Jenny, coming only up to my chin, snarled at me. I jumped back. Travel is taken seriously at BLIND, Inc., and I should have kept my mouth shut.
The Voting Conundrum
By Steven M. Handschu,
Consultant to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners
Most blind persons who tried to vote in Chicago in March, using the audio ballot, felt that the system was disappointing, at best. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners has received reports of problems at every point of the process. Problems ranged from judges who didn't know that there was an audio ballot or how to turn it on to machines that didn't work or had such poor sound quality that the voter had to listen to parts of the ballot many times to understand what it said.
It is bad enough that blind people have had such a tough time, but the system as a whole has had problems. The good news is that the results of the election are not in doubt. There are so many backups that this is simply not a question. But we all know about the many delays in counting and processing the votes. Commission staff worked 16-hour days resolving the situation. In my short time as a consultant with the Commission, I have been both surprised and impressed at how personally invested the staff is in holding a seamless and successful election.
As I write this report the situation is fluid. Here is what we are doing. The commission has hired an independent technical consultant to
evaluate the machines that were used in the March primary. The Board has not yet paid Sequoyah Voting Systems, the company who built and
sold us the machines, the $16 million called for in the contract. The payment is pending, awaiting the consultants' report. We are creating
a whole new group of board employees with the technical background and training required to keep the machines running and to assist the
election judges in their use. There will be one such person at every polling place. Finally we are working with Sequoyah, on the "Edge 2
Plus," the new touch-screen machine, with audio ballot, that will be used in the November general election.
We are determined that all voters, including those who are blind or have other disabilities, will have the kind of seamless efficient election that the "Help America Vote Act" promised us. You can help in this process. Tell us, if you have not already done so, about your experiences, the good and the bad; please include your ward and precinct numbers. Most important: DON'T GIVE UP. With all the trouble that many of us had, it still felt good to vote independently for the first time. The system won't get better if we don't use it. Please encourage everyone you know, particularly blind and disabled people, to come out and vote.
Letter from Dr. Marc Maurer
From the Editors: Upon learning of the problems that plagued blind Chicagoans who tried to vote independently in March, NFB President Marc Maurer wrote the following letter to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
April 7, 2006
Mr. Langdon Neal
Chairman, Chicago Board of Election Commissioners
69 West Washington Street, Suite 600
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Dear Mr. Neal:
As you can well imagine, the viability of accessible voting machines is a matter of great importance to blind voters in Chicago. I am led to believe that the machines that were used in your recent election were entirely inadequate. I am further told that you and your staff have been both gracious and helpful in many ways to our members in Chicago. We appreciate your efforts on behalf of blind people. If the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners wishes to replace these machines with ones that work, we will be glad to assist you.
The most obvious assistance we can give you is the knowledge of our technical staff who have been testing and evaluating the accessibility of voting machines for years. We also have many other resources that we can bring to bear, if they would help you.
We feel that this matter requires urgent attention and look forward to
a successful and cooperative solution.
Cordially,
Marc Maurer, President
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
MM/kw
cc: Mr. Lance Gough
From the Editors: We are delighted to report that some blind Illinois voters did have good experiences when they went to the polls in March. Among them was Blackhawk Chapter member Jo Ellen Riordan. The following story celebrates the good news.
April 13, 2006
On Friday, March 3, 2006 Tim Harshbarger, a Normal, Illinois native, cast his first secret ballot on Diebold TSx voting equipment at the McLean County, IL Courthouse. JoEllen Riordan, a Morrison, Illinois resident became the first voter to use the TSx voting equipment in Whiteside County, Illinois. "Having the ability to cast my own vote is fabulous! Just fabulous! I felt like I was on top of the world. I can't express my feelings enough. This is truly a put our hands up in the air and rejoice moment!" explained Ms. Riordan. "I have been legally blind all my life and have never been able to vote independently. You make it wonderful by having these machines out there for us to vote on," added Ms. Riordan. "I can't wait for the next election, so that I can come back and vote again.
Prior to voting on the TSx equipment, Ms. Riordan's husband would accompany her to the polls, read her the options and then cast her ballot for her.
To support these changes, Fidlar clients have installed Diebold's TSx voting equipment. The Diebold TSx voting device is equipped with headphones allowing the ballot to be read to users and choices are made on a keypad designed like a telephone pad. It also optionally provides larger print on the viewing screen.
"This election has been rather trying, with all the changes and not knowing how these changes would effect how we do things," said Dana Nelson, Clerk, Whiteside County, Illinois. However, after seeing Ms. Riordan vote it made it all worthwhile. It was by far the best ending to my week."
In McLean County, Mr. Harshbarger walked through a demonstration machine prior to voting and stated that it really helped. After the demonstration was finished, Harshbarger received his card that allowed him to go to the official voting machine and cast his ballot.
Peggy Ann Milton, McLean County, Illinois Clerk was elated to be a part of this process. "Considering that you are changing the life of someone forever makes all the effort in preparing for this election worth it. I'm happy that we picked the equipment that we did and were able to experience this along side Tim."
SB 2330, Food For Thought
By Mary Lou Grunwald
In January of this year, a bill was introduced into the Senate, by Senator Michael Jacobs, to strengthen a law that has been in effect since the seventies. The existing law allows blind vendors to operate vending facilities such as cafeterias, gift shops and convenience stores on state property and in state buildings. It is a companion to the Randolph-Sheppard Act, a federal law enacted in the 1930's, which allows blind vendors to operate vending facilities on federal and state property. The Randolph-Sheppard Act has given thousands of blind people a chance to earn a decent living and become contributing members of society. The national law has come under attack in recent years by other organizations, such as N.I.S.H. These organizations wish to limit our present and future opportunities on federal properties.
On the state level we are experiencing difficulties as well. There has been widespread non-compliance to the state law in recent years, which is endangering its viability in the present and future. Fortunately, Senator Michael Jacobs (grandson of Oral Jacobs, the original sponsor and champion of this legislation) introduced a new and improved version, which would more fully represent the national act and would solidify the vendors' right to do business on state property.
The bill sailed through the Senate and was passed by a very large majority. When it got to the House, however, it ran into some vehement opposition from state agencies, such as the Department of Corrections, the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Human Services. After a great deal of good faith negotiating on the part of the vendors, some compromises were reached, and the bill passed out of the House, as amended, by a huge majority. It then had to go back to the Senate for a concurrence vote in the state government committee.
Much to our shock and amazement, the room was filled with opponents to our bill. Unfortunately, representatives from the Governor's office and the Department of Human Services were among that group, despite the agreements that we thought we had reached with these agencies just a week ago.
The bill is in a non-concurrence status in the Senate until the veto session. We will most likely have to try again next year. It is very disturbing that the very agency that the vendors are supposed to work in partnership with, and would hopefully promote the program, would oppose this bill.
I hope that this story will be food for thought for us, as Federationists, in the coming year.
"A Vision of History"
By Tamara Browning
From the State Journal Register
Along with other classmates from the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired in Jacksonville, student Brandon Kozak tours the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield by listening and touching. Designed by famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the Prairie Style house built between 1902 and 1904 at 301 E. Lawrence Avenue offers architectural complexities that can be explained intellectually and appreciated physically. Richard LaFollette, Assistant Site Manager, tells the group that Wright wrapped a brown brick wall around a carriage house, which now serves as the visitors' center that the group had just exited. "He just kind of wrapped a wall around it to keep all the activities - the horses, the rubbing down of horses - away from the garden," LaFollette says. "A lot of outdoor entertaining was done here in the courtyard, and he wouldn't want to do that right next to the horse stables."
As the students make their way from the courtyard to the home's interior, art teacher Anna Bergschneider asks Kozak to feel a brick wall. She explains that the bricks are kind of "whitish-beige-gray color. Sections at the top and bottom are kind of orangish-brown color. He got that on the entire house, and it wrapped around the carriage house," Bergschneider says to Kozak. "The fence around the property is the same brick wall."
The tour continues through the inside of the more than 12,000-square-foot house, which includes thirty-five rooms, five bathrooms, and sixteen separate levels, and is the third largest house Wright built. Toward the end of the tour, in the home's library, there is a one-quarter-inch scale model of the exterior of the house that the students are welcome to examine by touch. It's the first time a group of visually impaired people has experienced the model since it was delivered last fall. "The model is based on how the home looked in 1910 and gives a better sense of its layout," says Regina Albanese, Executive Director of the Dana-Thomas House Foundation. "It's nice that we've got it here, because people arrive at the site, they go into the carriage house, they walk around the outside of the house, and when they get to this point in the tour they're confused," says Albanese, who adds that visitors don't get to see the whole house at the same time. "A lot of them will say, 'I don't know where I'm at right now.' When they look at this layout, everyone gets a sense of it. Then they can touch it. It's been no touch all the way through the house, and you can actually touch this."
At three feet wide and about five-and-a-half feet long and forty-five pounds, Estle Grady of Springfield constructed the model with mostly hard woods. Grady has done woodworking as a hobby since before he retired in 1985. Bob and Catherine Randall of Jacksonville, who are active with the Dana-Thomas House Foundation, commissioned this model. The idea for the model grew out of Catherine's frustration that blind people aren't allowed to touch things while visiting museums. During a visit to the Wright-designed Unity Temple in Oak Park, Catherine, who is blind, became angry. "Here they have this lovely model with a Plexiglas lid on top of it you couldn't take off," says Catherine, past president of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois. "I said, 'You know, this doesn't do blind people any good at all. Could you ever get that lid taken off?'" Museum personnel were able to find a dusty model in an attic that was brought down for her to examine. She asked that it be left out for other people, but she doesn't know whether that happened.
"It was an example of how many museums don't have anything that blind people can touch," Catherine says. "That's why we got involved in commissioning this model. It's so wonderful for blind people to finally be able to touch a model," she says. "You understand Wright's intricacies in detail intellectually when you read about them, but to be able to touch them as they all relate to the architecture of the house in this model is so neat! For sighted people too, because as we've been saying, you can never see the whole house." The project took Grady 824 hours during more than five-and-a-half months to complete. A perfectionist, Grady admits, "I threw up my hands on that thing more than once." The house kept Grady up at night, figuring out how he would try to approach it the next day. "I walked away from that thing for three solid days. I said, 'I'm not going back. I'm not going to finish that thing. It's a monstrosity. I'm not going to finish it,'" he says. "Then I cooled off and went to a movie."
The Dana-Thomas House was built for some $60,000 after 40-year-old Susan Lawrence Dana approached Wright about designing it. Charles C. Thomas bought it in 1944, and for thirty-seven years it served as the corporate offices for the Charles Thomas Publishing Company before the state bought it in 1981 for $1 million. It is the only state property purchased solely for its architectural merit, building integrity, and for the quality of its original world-renowned collection of art, glass, furniture, and decorative art, according to a video about the house. The Dana-Thomas House has been host to more than 1 million visitors since 1981.
The house is open from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. Wednesday through Sunday for free tours, although a donation of three dollars for adults is suggested.
I.S.V.I. student Brandon Kozak thinks the house is "all pretty cool," and that his favorite part was "looking at the intricacy of the design." He says he also liked the model of the home. "You can actually feel the design with your hands," Kozak said. "The model puts blind people on an equal footing with their sighted peers who go through the museum," Catherine Randall says. "It helps people to be able to understand how all the elements of the house go together."
Catherine hopes that other Wright buildings eventually will include models. "However, it doesn't occur to people to do that," Albanese said. "Without Catherine's input it wouldn't have occurred to us either. She is the one who said, 'Hey!'."
Pickups and Tractor Pulls
By A.J. Scheiner
From the Editors: A.J. Scheiner is one of the students in our 2006
Summer Internship Program. A.J. has found alternative techniques to help him take part in many activities often thought to be out of bounds
for a blind person. He agreed to describe some of his hobbies in a short piece for the
Braille Examiner.
My name is A.J. Scheiner. I graduated from Paris High School at the end of May. I am planning to attend Lakeland Junior College [in Mattoon, Illinois] {hometown of Fellow Federationists Brian Johnson and Connie Davis} to major in Ag Sales. I was asked to write about the things I enjoy doing and do regularly.
I have an old pickup truck that I am restoring. It is a 1977 Chevy pickup. During this winter my dad and I took the fender, door and bed off to replace them. I am currently sanding the new parts down and we will then replace them and repaint them.
I pull Garden tractors in the summer. I have an old Wheel Horse tractor that my dad and I restored and rebuilt. I have pulled it for three years. I pull one pull and my dad pulls the other. I pull using a two-way radio and my dad tells me which way to steer or lean to guide the tractor down the course.
Meet A Fellow Federationist: Annette Grove
By Connie J. Davis
Annette Grove, President of our Four Rivers Chapter, was born in Mascoutah, Illinois. She has one sister and two brothers, both of whom are deceased. The youngest child in the family, Annette was the only one who was born legally blind.
Annette attended school in Mascoutah, where she was mainstreamed. Because there was no resource room for blind students, her parents advocated for reasonable accommodations, and she feels that she received a good education. She did not let her blindness deter her. After graduating, Annette attended MacMurray College, where she obtained her B.A. in sociology. She loved learning and felt that a B.A. was not sufficient. She went on to do graduate work in special education at the University of Illinois in Urbana. She believed this degree would be helpful for her job as a rehab teacher.
After moving to Edwardsville, Illinois Annette took a job doing research work on deviant behavior related to sex, drugs, and suicide. She continued her education by earning a masters degree in criminology. Later, while living in Belleville, she earned a third master's at Webster University in St. Louis. This degree was an MBA with a focus on health care administration.
Now Annette didn't get all these degrees just to earn them. She has put them to good use in her work. As stated earlier, Annette was a rehab teacher. For seventeen years she taught daily living skills to adults with multiple disabilities at Jewish Vocational Services (JVS) in St. Louis. For an additional ten years she worked in the adjustment to blindness program for JVS. When JVS merged with Goodwill Industries, Annette says her master's degrees "really paid off." She served as Chief Financial Officer, Compliance Officer and Executive coach. In total, Annette worked for JVS/Goodwill for twenty-eight years.
After her husband Dick died, Annette took off six months to decide which direction her career would take. She now works on a contractual basis, doing executive consulting. She is an examiner for the Baldridge National Quality Award, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce. She does the quality awards for various companies. She also does executive coaching for Goodwill International, which takes her to many parts of the world. She mentors any organization that may be having problems. Annette is the first and only person with a disability who does this kind of work.
Additionally, she does work for CARF, which is an organization that accredits federal and state rehab agencies. She is also on the consumer advisory committee for Amtrak. Annette welcomes comments about Amtrak service as it pertains to blind individuals. You can call or e-mail her. Her e-mail is agrove@mersgoodwill.org. Her phone numbers are: cell, (314) 304-9634 and work, (314) 904-3464 ext.420. Annette uses a number of alternative techniques in her job and her daily life. Zoom Text with speech enables her to read her computer screen, and she uses her long white cane in her travels. Like many of us, she says one of the biggest challenges she faces is the transportation issue. While there are buses where she lives, the routes and schedules can be inconvenient. Many times she must take several buses to get to a nearby location. That can take a long time. Nonetheless, Annette is a frequent traveler.
Annette met and married Dick Grove in the mid sixties. They had three sons, all of whom are grown and married themselves. Her oldest lives in Missouri and works in a cheese factory. Her second lives nearby and is the Executive Director of the Jefferson Parks Association. Her youngest lives in Madison, Wisconsin and is a physical therapist. Annette has eight grandchildren.
Annette Grove joined the NFB in the late sixties in Urbana, Illinois. Since there was no chapter in Belleville for many years, she attended meetings of one of the St. Louis chapters. She became president of the Four Rivers Chapter in 2004. She has attended state and national conventions, as well as Washington Seminar. Annette takes a great interest in both advocacy and legislative matters in our affiliate.
In her spare time, Annette is very active in her church. She is involved in missions work, which took her to Guatemala this past winter. She visited women who make sweat-free textiles. She has also spearheaded fair-trade exchange activities. She arranges social activities at the church, as well. She enjoys music, singing and playing the piano. She loves being out-doors for such activities as walking, hiking, camping, and cross-country skiing. She loves to cook, especially ethnic foods. Every Christmas her family chooses a different country to celebrate. They feature the foods and decorations of that country.
Annette feels it is important for blind people to find their way into the real world, and advocates for that goal at every chance she gets. Her life is certainly a positive example. She did not allow her blindness to stop her from fulfilling any of her dreams. In fact, Annette was inducted into the hall of fame in her high school due to her many achievements.
This is just one example of Federation philosophy in practice. We can achieve what we want when provided with opportunity and given the chance to compete on a basis of equality with our sighted peers.
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