One of the twin aims of boldly Blind is to raise awareness among people who are not blind of our capabilities and dignity. It’s easier said than done. After all, we all are heirs of centuries-long progress and poverty regarding how people of differing races, disabilities, and ethnicities regard each other. Thankfully, Title IX in the 1960s illegalized discrimination in th eworkplace and school with regard to one sex, nationality, and disability. The Americans With Disabilities Act did a marvelous job from the Federal level with regard to opening up many opportunities in the private and public square for people to be hired and welcomed who are blind, deaf, mentally handicapped, mute, or cognitively disabled.

Still laws can’t and don’t always change hearts. They don’t by codification alone unteach biases that have built overtime. Hence, while systemic discrimination-that which is permitted under law and practiced without a social check-does not garner much press, much ingrained discrimination still remains. It’s not anyone’s overt fault but a symptom of someone’s lack of exposure to people who are disabled. How is someone to know what a person who is blind, deaf, mute, or quadriplegic able to do unless they observe it or are taught? They can’t, even in our technologically advanced age.

Hence, in her book, Demystifying Disability, Emily Ladau says what eeveryone who’s awareness can grow needs to hear: “It’s pretty common for the mere mention of the word disability to evoke fear, confusion, and an endless stream of misconceptions. And often, people don’t realize their own biases. There’s much work yet to be done to change hearts and minds—or, at the very least, to get nondisabled people to stop treating disabled people as a weird cross between precious gems and alien creatures. And I am one of the many disabled people who are passionate about doing such work.”” (Ladau, Demystifying Disability, p2)

What then is disability discrimination if it’s not systemic? The term I used is endemic. Biases are learned. Favoritism is ingrained. Hero worship is modeled. Fear is passed down from generation to generation especially unawares.

Yes, we need to be forthright when confronted with overt, ad hominim discrimination. That’s when we speak directly to a person as we diagnose their intent. Most of the time, however, we run into situations which call us to speak in the passive voice, about the disparate impact upon us caused by discriminating words or actions. For example, when a college insists on that its faculty does everything possible to accommodate for “special” needs through its disabled students services and yet a few professors refuse to provide course syllabae or handouts available only on a portal whose platform is not accessible to all screen readers, the impact on a blind or low-vision student is that he or she can’t c complete the required coursework. Thus he or she will be jeopardy of failing whatever class they are in.

Confronting the powers-that be means addressing the impact that not failure to provide a work-around has upon a student. Such an example was all too real in th ecase of Payan vs. Los Angeles Community College District. At last notice, to avoid the case being taken to the United States Supreme Court, LACCD agreed to work with all concerned parties and make adjustments to its course delivery.

It is important for us who advocate for the disabilities community that we remain staid and resolute in our stance while not becoming beligerent bulls in a china shop. AS we seek to raise awareness about people who are disabled, we do well to remember the quote from Ladau’s introduction. People whose attitudes and knowledge base has come endemically do need retaught whether by example or hands-on experience with people who are blind, deaf, mute, or otherwise disabled.

It also entails we whose impairments may be different work together as best we can, avoiding the skurmishes that intersectionality often creates between our varying blocs of advocacy. After all, we aren’t after making names for ourselves or a public blow-up for its own sake. Rather, our aim remains equal participation with those who are nondisabled in all that everyday, workaday life has to offer.

What’s the most popular sport that people worldwide play that involves a ball? If you guessed soccer, you’d be right. While not as familiar in the United States per se, its popularity is growing! Maybe, that explains the continued growth of a new blind sport: blind soccer.

We’ve featured the rules and appeal of this game in a previous article. Here, you can check out the United States Association of Blind Athletes’ team in action as well as a summary of the game. We played two games against the Canadian team, winning the first 1-0 and then 3-0. You’ve got to be athletic and quick-blind or sighted-to be good at this sport. Perhaps, you, your local association for the blind or friends might want to play. Contact the United States Association of Blind Athletes to get involved.

Are you living in the northern suburbs of Detroit or visiting them in mid-June? You might enjoy a time to meet future and current guide dogs. That’s because Leader Dogs For The Blind’s Bark and Brew event is back for 2023. You can find the details here.

Like most other guide dog schools, Leader hosts a fun day when people interested in the work guide dogs do with their users can join the schools community of staff, trainers, graduates, and raisers for a few hours’ fun. It’s a way to kick back and support the work the school does while gaining greater awareness of how important dogs are for those who follow them across busy streets, through school and office buildings, and when traveling on vacation. Are you a 5K or mile runner? Consider supporting the work of Leader Dogs for the Blind through getting sponsorships while participating in a bit of your favorite form of fitness. You can also see the details for this event here.

And, of course, imbibe the brew or whatever beverage quenches your thirst while you’re at it.

Everyone of us who is blind has a story to tell about adapting to our vision loss. We use those stories when helping a friend going through difficult adjustments themselves. Maybe, those stories help a coworker or friend better understand how we adapt to living alone or travel around town. Maybe, we use those stories to advocate for others’ dignity when they feel discriminated in a public place.

It’s this last use that the Leadership Academy hosted by the League For the Blind’s Inclusion Institute wants to encourage. Over the next few months, we who join monthly in-person classes and do online modules will learn how to advocate for our needs in the local area of Fort Wayne, IN and beyond. Maybe, transportation is an area someone wants to improve. The directors of the institute may match them with opportunities to advise Citylink’s public transit officials. Someone else may have experience with handling housing concerns. Through the institute, they may learn ways of addressing needs for affordable or cost-effective renting while promoting homes with disability accommodations.

As I sat in an interview today with the Leadership Academy’s directors, I was privileged to discuss the concerns that affect us who are blind as well as people who have other physical and cognitive disabilities. In fact, the three people who interviewed me were all quadriplegic due to a number of conditions. As we talked, we shared our mutual longing to make various aspects of life here in Fort Wayne more accommodating so that people who have various disabilities can experience all that life has to offer with an equal opportunity as anyone else.

We’ll be focusing on four major areas: transportation, housing accessibility, education, and web access for local businesses and schools. Of course, these major areas involve many smaller topics and I am eager to share how the journey progresses. So stay tuned to see my updates on the class and the opportunities it affords me. Perhaps, a similar opportunity awaits you at the center for independent living in your town or city.

Remember, we may not all be involved with professional settings. But we are all advocates navigating life’s contours boldly blind.

For more about the Inclusion Institute at The League For The Blind in Fort Wayne, Indiana, go here.

Have you heard the myth that it’s difficult to impossible for someone who is blind to cook? Well, let’s bust that myth with the help of http://www.theblindkitchen.com. Not only does this incredible website have a repository of products you can buy to adapt your kitchen, it is full of tips and encouragement for cooking easy to complex meals.

Perhaps, you may be afraid of using sharp objects such as knives. You can use such safety measures as cut gloves and tactile guides to help you navigate slicing up meat or vegetables.

The other neat aspect of this website is how it makes cooking fun. So often, we who work or don’t consider meal preparation a tough chore. It doesn’t have to be. We can gain confidence learning how to cook and fashion the activity to our needs. Maybe, we like salads or making desserts. Perhaps, we’re carnivores by nature. Well, look at the type of adaptive equipment such as meat thermometers, cutting gloves, tips for measuring and other gadgets to get you started.

I hope you enjoy this helpful and entertaining http://www.theblindkitchen.com.

What adaptable item do many countries worldwide have that we in the United States don’t? If you guessed paper money, you’d be right. Most countries have some form of identification on their currency that makes it easy for people who are blind or low-vision to quicly transact business or sales on the spot without having to pull out a bill identifier or app on their smart phone.

Now, granted, talking bill identifiers have been around for a long, long time and are very helpful. An example is I-Bill which many of us have used to sort the cash in our wallets. However, we would like to make our transactions as quickly as anyone else standing in line at the store. Of course, we can pull out the good old credit or debit card. I do it all the time and pay for a lot of things with plastic.

But even with more business being conducted by the bar coded plastic, we still want to remain a cash handling community. Cash is legal tender after all. That, along with getting Harriet Tubman’s pic on the $20.00 bill was on many people’s minds when marching on March 10 , 223. As members of various disability rights organizations marched, they chanted and called for the United States Treasury to start minting currency that will allow us to distinguish between 1’s, 5’s, 10’s 20’s, and so forth.

You can read the press release linked here.

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Ask any of us who are blind or low-vision to list the biggest barriers we face when getting out and about in the world around us and we will mention transportation. From late buses to cab/Uber drivers that act like they’ve never seen a guide dog before, to paratransit services that may not reach all over the town where we live. We will tell you transportation is a big deal.

Yes, some cities are known to have better public transit systems than others which leads to better paratransit access. For example, Austin, TX and the San Francisco Bay area in California are known for their efficiency.

Add to that the short or long wait times we experience or the number of days in advance of our appointments we must schedule our trips. Transportation concerns mount before us in almost every aspect of navigating life’s contours.

Well, here’s a call you will not want to miss. I heard about it through the American Council of the Blind of which I am gladly a member. But never fear, you don’t have to be part of ACB to jothe call and the cause with us. Here’s the scoop below the asterisks:

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Untangling Transportation – Magical Advocacy in the Magic City: 9pm ET, 6pm PT, 3pm HT

Untangling Transportation is turning one in March, and we’re celebrating with a magic show. Sunday Edition’s own, Anthony Corona, will be joining us to discuss the work that two Florida Council of the Blind local chapters and others in the Miami disability community have been doing to advocate for improvements to the region’s paratransit services. Joining Anthony will be Justin Acoino, a student of Miami Dade Community College, and the catalyst for an investigative report by a Miami Herald reporter, which has helped to fuel local efforts to address paratransit challenges in the Magic City. Come and hear Anthony’s and Justin’s story, and get ready to learn how you can take on these challenges at home.

Sponsored by

Accessible Avenue

Listen on ACB Media 6

Say to your Amazon device, “ask ACB Media to play 6.”

Join in Clubhouse

Join the call:

Untangling Transportation

One tap mobile: +13126266799,,84349914041#,,,,*283918#

Phone: 312-626-6799

Meeting ID: 843 4991 4041

Passcode: 283918

President Biden has announced that in May the public health emergency will come to an end. What that means for public access, we will find out. Will all mask mandates cease? Will a reduction in COVID testing sites take place?

No doubt we who are totally blind or have low-vision also have our questions, too. Will the NIH continue working with our advocates to ensure ongoing efforts to make medical testing equipment accessible so that we can use it ourselves? Will COVID information lines continue fielding our questions? How will we be sure that conferences and other public gatherings account for attendees who have had COVIDor will accommodations return to prepandemic measures?

You will want to attend a webinar discussing these and other concerns. After all, whether we have expressed fears about vaccines and masking up or not, we will want to enhance our awareness of the disability community’s future following the era of pandemic.

So mark the date, March 15, from 11:00 AM-12:00 Eastern so you can qattend this presentation by the Indiana Department of Health. And even if you are not from Indiana, still come. After all, what affects Hoosiers regarding COVID also affects everyone else.

https://iu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_a8Deas2xTHi3yOyxOP-_7Q

Many of us know the Hadley School for its online and correspondence courses. The school has offered distance education courses long before distance education was cool and even before the internet first brought a lot of our worlds together.

Hadley also hosts several opportunities for people who are blind or have low-vision to connect by discussing common interests. This link will take you to the Hadley School’s calendar of discussion groups.

Of course, if you do want to learn more about the school’s educational opportunities including their small business and entrepreneurship department, visit the main website, http://www.hadley.edu.

I know this is last-minute since I just found out about this excellent program moments ago myself. Are you concerned about the safety of navigating roundabouts, X-shaped crossings, angled crosswalks, and other tricky layouts? Then tune in at 2:00 PM on Sunday when Lucas Frank from The Seeing Eye will present the latest news for encountering these challenges.

Go here and find out more. If you are sighted, you will want to see the cautions you may want to follow when spotting someone with a cane or guide dog navigating intersections.

Go here for the Clubhouse link. https://www.clubhouse.com/event/mZNWXRrk?utm_medium=ch_event&utm_campaign=WNOix72TYRFuLBWHfG8Xvg-585699