Speaking Out For The Blind

The Muskogee Phoenix Newspaper says that June 2nd marked the 100 th anniversary of vocational rehabilitation for the United States. The U.S. Vocational Rehabilitation program is the program that helps the blind and all people with disabilities get jobs. Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services specialists will join us to talk about the U.S. vocational rehabilitation program’s historical success and future for the blind and disabled.

According to CBS46 Atlanta, a Madison, Georgia non-profit is giving away care packages, full of basic necessities to rural blind and visually impaired residents. The non-profit is called Living Life Team, Inc. Joining us to talk about Living Life Team, Inc will be its President and Founder Rita Harris.

The top international journal called Nature reports that technology is essential for the lives of blind, even though many computer devices and programs aren’t universally accessible. While attending Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands to pursue his Master’s Degree in Integrated Product Design, Krishna Rajagopal developed a special tool to address this serious problem. He’ll talk about this tool.

The coronavirus is an especially difficult time for the blind and visually impaired. According to the Miami Herald, the rules of social distancing are hard to follow when you can’t see. So what can be done about this major challenge? Joining us to answer this question are Miami Lighthouse for the Blind Chief Executive Officer Virginia Jacko, their spokesman David Stiefel, and also blind motivational speaker Mike Lance.

Finger Lakes Times reports that visually impaired man Daniel O’Dell is helping North New York based company V Technical Textiles perform packaging of protective masks for healthcare providers. How did Daniel speak out to get this work opportunity and how does he do the job? We’ll find out!

According to the Portland Press-Herald newspaper in Maine, the State’s students are getting settled into distance learning for the rest of the school year. Catholic Charities Maine has moved from helping blind and visually impaired students in the classroom to assisting them at home. Catholic Charities’ Education Services for Blind & Visually Impaired Children Program Director Nancy Moulton, Teacher of the Visually Impaired Nichole Poisson, and Program parent Amy Snow will explain the new atmosphere.

We’re going to be talking with visually impaired man Vladimir Goncharov about how he beat the odds and became both an Oracle Database Administrator and an Oracle Application Express Platform, or APEX developer. We’ll also learn more about the platform.

Industries for the Blind and Visually Impaired grows and creates employment opportunities for the blind and visually impaired and is the leading voice for teaching businesses on designing, creating, and building accessible workplaces. Industries for the Blind and Visually Impaired President and CEO CJ Lange, Director of Customer Success Deborah Ambro-Crandell, and employee Matt Baumeister will tell us about this unique organization.

There’s an ACB organization that advances the opportunity and accessibility for all blind and visually impaired professional artists or you audience members who do music and art for fun. That organization is known as Friends In Art, or FIA. And former Friends In Art President Lynn Hedl will tell us all about it.

Because of the coronavirus, many blind and visually impaired folks have to stay away from large social gatherings. But that hasn’t stopped them from enjoying their favorite audio described TV shows at home. To talk about some of these offerings along with the latest happenings in the industry is the American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project’s very own Joel Snyder.

How does the Coronavirus affect the blind and visually impaired? And how does COVID-19 affect the American Council of the Blind and its day-to-day business? Joining me to talk about this are American Council of the Blind President Dan Spoone, California Council of the Blind President Judy Wilkinson, and ACB Membership Services Coordinator Cindy Van Winkle.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation just opened the State’s first blind and visually impaired school in Henderson. Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation CEO Emily Smith will join us to talk about that school.

KTVT-TV in Dallas reports that Mariah Maryman is visually impaired. This Kennedale, Texas high school student will explain how she’s accomplishing a lot both on and off the field.

Spectrum News reports that the Lighthouse for the Blind and Vision Impaired in San Antonio, Texas offers a robotics program for kids. Joining us to talk about the program are the Lighthouse’s Children’s Program Manager Cindy Miller, robotics coach Kathleeen Gately and mentor Paul Flores, along with blind robotics team members and students Leonard Santos, Madison Oliver, and Hameed Wilson.

West Philadelphia’s Overbrook Educational Center (OEC) Principal Meredith Foote joins us to talk about her school’s new inclusive playground for the blind.

Pleasanton, California based IrisVision has invented a user-friendly headset that helps low vision individuals regain or more fully utilize their sight. IrisVision founder Dr. Frank Werblin and CEO Ammad Khan tell us more about the headset.

The Seeing Eye President and Chief Executive Officer Glenn Hoagland and Advocacy Specialist and former Seeing Eye student Melissa Allman join us to talk about this special guide dog school and answer your questions about guide dogs.

Cindy Van Winkle, the American Council of the Blind’s new Membership Services Coordinator, joins us to talk about what she’s doing in this role and her very full life supporting the blind community.

There’s a special internationally recognized organization for the blind. This organization represents over 250 million blind and visually impaired people in 190 member countries. The organization is called the World Blind Union, or WBU. World Blind Union President Dr. Fredric Schroeder joins us to explain how the organization helps the blind around the globe.

Newly-elected ACB President Dan Spoone will join us. He’ll explain how he’s improving ACB now and in the years to come.