ACB Tuesday Topics

It has been a while since Tuesday Topics looked at artificial intelligence. We know that it is becoming more and more crucial for people who are blind. Meta glasses, copilot, and new components on new iPhones are just some of the changes that are happening. Blind Information Technology Specialists are sponsoring a three day training program in Dallas at our convention. Jeff Bishop, BITS President, will be with us to tell us about that and other AI activities. What has changed in the last year? How are people liking the new versions of the meta glasses? How do people feel about the other new glasses that are becoming available? How effective is AI at making what we do better and what can we expect in the future? These are just some of the questions we will explore as Tuesday topics once more focuses on artificial intelligence! There is a new book that has just been released by the National Braille Press concerning using AI. It is written by Judy Dixon who is, on Tuesday, on her way to Germany. She is expecting to join us for part of our show from the airport. Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

In our last two editions Tuesday Topics focussed on the upcoming convention. Our first session looked at what is scheduled in terms of exhibits, tours and the convention in general. Our second session looked at how we will vote and at the proposals to change the Constitution and Bylaws of ACB. Now it's time to explore how many of us have experienced the ACB convention and what impact the hybrid era has had on what we do! What should people who have never been to a convention think about when preparing? Are there special things dog users need to do? What did you learn when you first went to convention? What's it like to attend convention virtually? How do you plan ahead and schedule how you will choose among options? What do you miss by not attending in person? What do you gain by staying home? Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Last week our topic was the upcoming ACB convention and we provided lots of information about what is planned for Dallas this July and via zoom during June! As part of our convention we will be exploring some constitutional changes and, of course, we will be holding elections and perhaps doing other voting. What are the proposed changes? Will we use the same approach as last year? What specific amendments will we consider this year and what chance will rank and file members have to provide input or offer changes? Our next program will feature folks from our voting task force and will also hear about planned changes to the Constitution and bylaws of ACB. We will also explore how resolutions will be handled and when various events will occur. There will be enough time for you to become a part of the debate over proposed changes and for you to provide suggestions that can be considered. Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Each year we do a convention preview. This year we are excited to welcome three people who can give you all the information you might want about what's coming up in Dallas. Of course we will have Janet Dickelman, the heart of convention success. She is the convention coordinator and can tell you all about what is coming up in Dallas. In addition, we are lucky to have with us Rhonda Trott herself who can give you information on tours which she coordinates. Are you curious about the exhibit hall? Michael Smitherman will be with us. He is the exhibit hall boss and can give us a preview of what is on tap there. I am excited to have all these folks with us to provide the most complete and comprehensive presentation on what the convention has to offer. Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Tuesday Topics will once more take to the digital radiosphere and a bunch of other places for our last program about recreation. We expect to have 4 folks with us who can talk about a range of outdoor activities open to people who are blind. Actually at least two of the "sports" are indoor activities. We have looked at phone games, Lady a games, games that are not electronic and stand alone games that are. Now it's time to look at other games and sports that don't fit into these categories. Do you know what goalball is? Did you know there is a special game of Darts made for people who are blind or have low vision? How much do you know about the United States Association of Blind Athletes? Did you know there is such a thing as "blind tennis". We will talk about all of these activities and may well also have some folks who can tell us about skiing opportunities and other sports that are open to people who are blind. I forgot about Beep Baseball which we will certainly discuss. As Summer approaches it will be good to look at some activities that will get us outside and that can get us some of the exercise we perhaps did not get during the Winter. Special Note: You are cordially invited to join the new Tuesday Topics Discussion list. Simply send an email to Tuesday-Topics+subscribe@groups.io and reply to the confirmation email you will receive to activate your subscription. Please join us! Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Tuesday Topics will continue its series on the games blind people play! This time we are inviting Lucy Edmonds back to talk about accessible hand held electronic games. Some of the may be bigger but the point is that games can happen in a device that is not a phone and is not a computer! Lucy will once more bring some devices with her so we will get a chance to experience how some of the games work. Not all of the products we will be showing you are designed for the blind. Many of them just happen to be accessible!

We have now talked about iPhone and video games and about games on smart speakers. This time we want to talk about old-fashioned games that we played before the computer came along. Many of us grew up playing cards. Some of us played chess and checkers and backgammon and dominoes and scrabble and monopoly and parcheesie and snakes and ladders. Many of us played games either we adapted or our families did. Games like Clue, for instance. Do we still play those games? If not, do we miss them? Do we play them on the computer or on our iPhones? Where can we find adapted games? Are there new games available we could try? Essentially, we are going to explore the way it was with games when we were growing up. We will look at memories and resources. We will explore favorite card games and we will ask whether those days are gone for good!

Last week we began our series on "games blind people play" and had Aaron join us to tell us about his experiences both with the iPhone and with other devices. This time we are truly honored to have Lucy Edmonds join us who has been doing a show on community for the last four and a half years on games you can play with Lady a. She tells me she literally has hundreds of games but will choose some that she likes best from various genres. As she does on her community show Lucy will actually demonstrate some of the games for us. The coolest thing about Alexa games is that people who are blind are just as capable of doing well as people who can see. In fact we may be better at listening and processing game information quickly. I am over the moon excited to have the queen of Amazon Alexa games as our guest on Tuesday Topics.

20250401 Tuesday Topics Originally Broadcasted April 1, 2025, on ACB Media 1   Game on! We talked about accessible games on phones, computers, Alexa, and online platforms. Participants shared what they played, how they played, and why they enjoyed it!

20250325 Tuesday Topics Originally Broadcasted March 25, 2025, on ACB Media 1   Participants shared their stories about spring traditions, sports, and memorable moments! From March Madness, Baseball, to April Fools' pranks, Lent, and Easter, let's talk about how this season impacts our lives.

Hear how a new affiliate has survived its first five years. This program is the third in a series. The first explored the ways ACB consciously works to create and foster leadership. The second program explored how our policies ought to be applied in times of uncertainty and perhaps even outright hostility to many of our cherished values. This time we o explore and celebrate one of ACB'S newest affiliates which is celebrating its fifth birthday. How has Next Gen done? What do they see as their strengths and weaknesses? What are their plans for the future? Do they contemplate major changes? How do they measure success? Is it based just on members? Does it depend on contributions to ACB? Right now membership is, I think, limited to people under forty. That may have changed! Does Next Gen believe it should fundamentally alter what it does, who can be members or altering its objectives. The idea of consciously creating an affiliate whose members have to be younger than the average ACB member seems like a good one! Has it worked?

Join us as we explore difficult questions and invite you to share your views of where ACB should go! We will explore what we believe is an important issue. There has been a lot of debate recently on the lists about how ACB should function in the future especially in an environment where some cherished liberal values are being questioned. Should ACB confine its role to dealing with blindness issues? How much should we be involved in DEI and DEIA issues? We have a longstanding history of coalitioning with other Civil Rights organizations. What have we gained from that involvement? To what extent have other organizations been prepared to be vocal on blindness issues? To what degree have minority members of ACB been welcomed by other civil rights groups? Is there danger for ACB if we align ourselves with a range of groups seeking recognition of controversial elements such as gender dysphoria? Is there a middle road? Are we obliged by our history to go all in for civil rights for minorities of all kinds? Where should we stand with regard to gender, to race, to national origin, to religion, and to other traditional components of civil rights legislation. We have put together a panel of individuals who represent a range of views. It is also my hope that you will make your opinion heard on issues that are neither easy nor simple!

Tuesday Topics will once more welcome folks who strive mightily to develop new leaders for the American Council of the Blind. I of course refer to the folks from the Durward k. McDaniel committee who also work on the Chase Fellows Program. In addition they conduct the Berle Colley Leadership group. Actually they may be different committees but I hope that we will have a chance to hear from all the groups that are working on developing new leaders for ACB. In previous years we have had a chance to hear from former Chase folks and DKM winners as well as getting an idea of how the Leadership Institute is doing and details concerning the mentorship program. This is being handled by separate committees so I am hoping that all of those groups will be represented. At the heart of what all these groups are doing is an understanding that ACB needs to create new leaders. We have found various ways to do this and ACB needs to know just how effective all these approaches are!

Holly days, holy days, holidays! In February there are several! Which are they and what do they mean? From 7:00 to 9:00 eastern time on February 4 Tuesday Topics will be available on a variety of platforms. We have been somewhat serious over the past few shows so this time we want to explore three holidays or, perhaps more accurately, two birthdays and a holiday. Abraham Lincoln and George Washington create Presidents' Day and on February 14 cupid appears for Valentine's day. We would love to hear about your most unusual cupid day or really any story you would care to tell about that holiday. Did you send out cards in school? Did you send out just one card in school? Were there embarrassing Valentine occurrences? Many people don't pay much attention to Presidents' Day. Should we care more? What qualities do we celebrate with both of the named chief executives? Are they worthwhile?

Tuesday Topics will continue our discussion of employment. As often happens, we are unable to handle everything we plan for when we get into our Tuesday Topic. on our last program there was lots to learn and lots to think about and lots that's worth hearing. I encourage many of you who did not listen to go get our podcast. Represented on our show was ACB'S Employment Committee and our Government Employees affiliate. We covered what both employment groups are doing but what we were not able to do is get to the really current element of our discussion. A lot is happening with the Federal government! How will it affect people with disabilities? What should ACB do about it? We are told that people with disabilities will not be seriously affected. Many do not believe this! We will explore what is going on. We will consider the future of employment for people with disabilities. In addition to looking at Federal employment, we will consider employment at the state and local level. Has that been altered by the new rule concerning title Ii of the Americans with Disabilities Act that went into effect last April? I think there is still more to be said about how we can work with Vocational Rehabilitation. We will have some new members of the employment committee who were not a part of our first show and Patrick Sheehan will be back to represent Government Employees!

There is some disagreement about the exact percentage of people who are blind who are unemployed and apparently unable to find work. What is clear is that well over half of those supposedly seeking jobs are not finding them. ACB has set up an employment committee to work on these issues and we will be exploring with some of its members what they have been up to since we last talked with them. We have also invited Patrick Sheehan of the Government Employment affiliate. Without holding anyone responsible for taking actions on all of the issues that are out there, we will consider some questions that we have not asked before. How well is Vocational Rehabilitation doing? Can we make it better? How? How much is artificial intelligence affecting the unemployment rate? Are many people who are blind being denied interviews because they are triaged out of the picture because of lack of experience or their disability or not having a driver's license. What should we do if this is happening? The new administration has taken actions concerning some Federal employees. Do we need to be concerned? If so, why and what should we do about any concern we may have? You probably have questions about employment as well and certainly have experiences you have had job hunting. We will invite you to talk about what happened and we will offer suggestions about what might make things better!

Right at the end of our last show a question was raised that I hope will be sufficient to keep us talking for our whole program. The question that was raised was "Have you ever played the blind card"? It will be interesting to see if my notion of what that question means is the same as Brian's who actually asked it. For me, the "blind card" means that you are making it clear that you are blind so as to acquire an advantage that you might otherwise not have. Allowing yourself to be moved to the front of a line in the airport because your cane was noticed might be an example. Acquiring a permit that allows you to use a disabled parking spot might be another. There are lots of times on calls when we might say "I am blind". This may or may not confer an advantage! Is it fine to play "the blind card"? When is it not appropriate? When is it mandatory that you play it! Missouri and Australia both have blind pensions regardless of income. Is this a good thing or not? I think virtually all counties offer an extra homestead exemption for people who are blind. Is this appropriate? I hope you will think of times when the "blind card" is a good thing and I suspect that some of you will tell us about times the "blind card" should not be played.

on Tuesday January 14 Tuesday Topics will be available in aeall its usual forms and places. By Tuesday the year will be two weeks old and many of us will have made resolutions that we are teetering on the brink of losing control of as other activities fill our days. How can we change that? What is the value of making resolutions? Are there positive benefits, asieade from the obvious ones, that happen because we stick to what we say we are going to do? Can we take specific steps that will make maintaining our resolutions more likely? What are the benefits beyond the resolutions themselves of following through? We will once more have the two Debbies, Debbie Hazelton and Debbee Armstrong, our psychological gurus to help us sort through all the intricacies of the resolutions reality.

Tuesday Topics will begin its two hour fairwell to 2024. What were the high points? What are things we will be glad to see the last of, if any? Were there technological developments of consequence in the blindness field? How about ACB? What was 2024 like for our organization? A special interest affiliate became our largest chapter. We held a convention in Jacksonville where those present were about the same as those attending via zoom. We found ourselves with lots of debates but continued to grow our internet presence. We have a new Executive Director and have said good bye and hello to a number of employees. There are new resolutions we have passed; new initiatives we have begun; and new causes and concerns we have begun to espouse. The country and the world have also changed! Join us as we explore the year that almost was and will have been soon!

Tuesday Topics is winding down for 2024. We have two more shows to do. We have determined that on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve we will not be on the air. So our next show on December 10 will focus on Christmas and it will depend for its success on those of you who coce and participate. I am going to put lots of questions out there that we might talk about. We will almost certainly not get to all of them but they will give you a notion of what we will discuss. What was the best Christmas gift you ever got and why? Was there a gift you really wanted but didn't get? Tell us about it! What was the most unusual Christmas you have had? Do you have cool plans for this year? Is there a special dish you eat at Christmas? Do you have family traditions you would like to tell us about? Do you celebrate other holidays? Tell us about them! Most of us do not know as much as we she either about Hanukah or Kwanza!We will spend two hours reminiscing about a holiday we have all experienced spending well or badly! We want to hear your stories!

Two elements intersect this week. We are four days after Thanksgiving in the United States when our Topics show will air. We are also Four weeks removed from the election that saw Donald Trump elected as President of the United States. It also appears that Republicans will control both the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States. What will this mean for legislation relating to accessibility and other elements of concern to people who are blind? What has President Trump indicated by his appointments so far about his attitudes to government? How much of Project 2025 can we expect to see and how will it affect people who are blind? These questions are not intended to be political ones! Instead we hope that we can explore what we know and what we have been led to expect! The transition from one government to another is happening now and, for the first time in many years, one party will, at least to some degree, control the executive branch and both chambers of the Congress. If simple majorities made for legislation it would be easier to predict what might occur. However we know that, for many votes, sixty is the magic number in the Senate and that may be harder for the new administration to manage. President Trump has indicated that he supports lessening the size of government and has indicated that he plans to look at a number of agencies and departments to decide if they should be retained. The Department of Education is an area where he and many others believe there is room for change. Maybe it's too early but let's explore a little what the next few years are likely to hold for people with disabilities. Let me state once more that this is not a political show and we will have no hesitation cutting people off who do not recognize this fact. We know a good deal now and we will share some of that. We also think that our members may know a good deal as well. I mentioned Thanksgiving at the beginning of this program write up. This year has been one where a lot of new elements have been rolled out for people who are blind. If our discussion on the new administration gets bogged down we can spend some time exploring some of those 2024 changes for which we can and should be thankful! Episode Notes Notes go here

Two weeks ago we, as we often seem to, only completed one of the two elements we had proposed. Interestingly enough, during our last program our guest raised the same issue when talking about a science fiction novella he had written. Essentially what we asked two weeks ago was, "If you could have full vision for just a few minutes only once in your life, what would you want to see?" We wonder if the answers from folks who are totally blind would be different than those that people with some vision would offer. Would people who had never seen want to see anything? Might it be more abstract and general? We hope that lots of you will come and share the answer to this question. My answer is a little strange, I think but, of course, I won't tell you what it is till we are together next Tuesday! Folks who are deaf have managed to develop a detailed and effective form of communication called in this country, American Sign Language. Many deaf people can also read lips! Some have learned to speak fairly well! If deafness is their only disability, folks with that issue can drive, can see to get around, can read regular print, and, in lots of ways, can be more independent than we as people who cannot see are! If you had a choice, would you want to be deaf or blind? Tell us why! There was a survey done well over twenty years ago where both deaf folks and blind people were asked. Would our results be the same? Just in case these two questions aren't sufficient, I would like us to explore an assertion I have heard quite often. People who are blind have never had it so good as we do today! Is that true? Defend your position, please! For what it's worth, I am not sure what the right answer is!

Two weeks ago we, as we often seem to, only completed one of the two elements we had proposed. Interestingly enough, during our last program our guest raised the same issue when talking about a science fiction novella he had written. Essentially what we asked two weeks ago was, "If you could have full vision for just a few minutes only once in your life, what would you want to see?" We wonder if the answers from folks who are totally blind would be different than those that people with some vision would offer. Would people who had never seen want to see anything? Might it be more abstract and general? We hope that lots of you will come and share the answer to this question. My answer is a little strange, I think but, of course, I won't tell you what it is till we are together next Tuesday! Folks who are deaf have managed to develop a detailed and effective form of communication called in this country, American Sign Language. Many deaf people can also read lips! Some have learned to speak fairly well! If deafness is their only disability, folks with that issue can drive, can see to get around, can read regular print, and, in lots of ways, can be more independent than we as people who cannot see are! If you had a choice, would you want to be deaf or blind? Tell us why! There was a survey done well over twenty years ago where both deaf folks and blind people were asked. Would our results be the same? Just in case these two questions aren't sufficient, I would like us to explore an assertion I have heard quite often. People who are blind have never had it so good as we do today! Is that true? Defend your position, please! For what it's worth, I am not sure what the right answer is!

It has been a while since we have invited a guest to share his or her life and opinions with us. On this program we are pleased to welcome Anthony (Tony) Candela. He has been a wrestler, a runner, a worker in the field of blindness and a writer. He has three books on bookshare. One is a sort of memoir of his athletic experiences; one is a collection of short essays that are easy to read and have certainly provoked some thought from me; the third book is a science fiction novella. Tony has worked as a rehab counselor, served some time with the American Foundation for the Blind and currently is working part time with the Blindness project housed in Mississippi. I suspect Tony has some interesting things to tell us about his life and about being an athlete and a writer. I hope he will also reflect some on the state of the game in the blindness service industry, if it's appropriate to speak of such a thing! In any case, there are lots of reasons for you to join us on zoom so you can interact with our guest with wide ranging experiences that he can discuss with all of us!

Kim Charlson will join us for a few minutes on our show to remind us about the fourth annual Audio Description Gala! It is an amazing event and we look forward to hearing all about the latest iteration of an important opportunity to celebrate audio description and those who create it. On Election day, November 5, which is also Guy Fawkes day in the UK, Tuesday Topics will take to the air from 7 to 9 PM on November 5. Fittingly, we think, Tuesday Topics will concentrate on the election. We felt it would be good for us to be available for folks to tell us about their voting experiences this cycle. We will also explore how this election may be different from those in the past. Obviously, we will not be conducting a partisan political exercise. If we were going to do that we would have done it much sooner! We know that many of you will be glued to your media for the results. Perhaps we will talk about how they are functioning but it will be pretty early for us to look at their performance. I have not heard either Presidential candidate make meaningful statements about disabled voters. What does this tell us? Voters with disabilities represent more than 20 percent of the electorate. If there are significant disability elements that we have missed, I hope you will tell us about them! Have you played a role in campaigns this year? Would you tell us about what you have done? It is certainly possible that the Tuesday Topics Team will be talking among ourselves a lot but I hope not! Last time our election show had interesting input from many people. We hope this one will be exciting, informative and relevant.

We are two days before Halloween but we are not going to talk directly about that! However, one of the things associated with Halloween is fear. We would love you to tell us the time in your life that you were the most scared. We suspect that people who are blind or have low vision might find different events frightening than would people with vision. I know that for me the time in my life that I was most frightened was Well, you'll have to tune in to find out, won't you! We are looking for a particular moment rather than something like cockroaches or moths.

Our topic this week, on the surface at least, may seem a little unlikely. At its heart, our question is "Are we better off because of COVID?" I am not speaking about the country as a whole. I am talking about people who are blind. Many of us had to learn skills we might not have learned were it not for COVID! We learned to use zoom! We learned to shop on line! We acquired a range of knowledge from the community programs that may even have kept us from becoming more frightened and depressed. What other skills did we acquire? Were there other COVID benefits? What about the other side of the coin? What did COVID take away? Are we less willing to go out? Did the skills we learned persuade us we didn't need to leave our houses as often? Did we learn to fear being around other people? Are we frightened of crowds now? The question, then, is, on balance, has COVID left us better or worse off? Join us and share how you feel about the legacy of COVID for people who are blind! Are you more likely to go to plays or movies or stay at home? Now that the conventions of states and ACB are being streamed, do you feel safer being at home? Has COVID made it harder for you to make friends or easier? Do you have more contacts because of the people you meet on line? Are you more  isolated?

The last month has been full of natural disasters. Hurricanes Helene and Milton have caused devastation in several states and tornadoes have contributed their destructive impact. Tuesday Topics wants to hear from people who have interacted with emergency management folks! How were you treated? What about preparations for events? Did you find adequate ways to keep in touch with what was happening? Television is supposed to provide audio description of information being scrolled across the bottom of the screen during emergency announcements. Do you know if they did that? Do you know how to turn your audio description on? Do you have a register of people with disabilities in your area? What was your experience in a shelter? Do you use a guide dog? How did your companion do and how was he or she treated? Now that you have had experience with a disaster, what changes do you think need to be made?

Are the messages being sent great? If not, what should they say? Should they focus on pride, discrimination, employment, equity, inclusion or something else? It's your job to think about what the "big question" ought to be and then share your conclusions with us! What is the message that we would like society to share about people who are blind. in October of each year proclamations proliferate from Mayors and governors and even from the White House. Many years ago all of those missives would urge everybody to recognize and obey the White Cane law. For the past several years different emphases have emerged. Sometimes we hear about the employment of people who are blind! Sometimes we hear about the importance of disabilities and are asked to respect and value what folks in that category bring to our world. Since it appears that there is a question about what message folks think they ought to deliver, isn't it appropriate for us to share with society what we think is the most important thing they should trumpet about us? So that is what this edition of Tuesday Topics will explore!

Our show last Tuesday featured a number of people who shared their experiences going to school. While most had some pleasant memories of their education, many also had pain they chose to share with us. Learning didn't come without hurt and hardship. Some felt schools for the blind did not live up to expectations. Others felt mainstreaming didn't protect kids who are blind from harm or care much how effective teaching was. If you wanted to put in your two cents on this issue, call in early. We won't talk very long among ourselves and will get to folks who want to share pretty quickly.

There has been a lot of academic debate among experts as to whether folks who are blind do better if they have atffended schools for the blind or been mainstreamed. Experts may fight but I would be interested to know from those who actually experienced being educated as a person with vision loss what you think is best. Some say that kids who are mainstreamed are more academically prepared but far less socially ready for life after school! It is argued that those who spend time at schools for the blind do better with blind and sighted friends than those who are mainstreamed! Many mainstreamed kids do not get any access to physical education and often get little career education! A long time ago, schools for the blind kept students there most week ends! Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Now kids must go home every week end from most schools! Is that good? Is doing both mainstream and residential school the best of both worlds?

One of the hosts of Tuesday Topics is famous for his culinary prowess. Brian Charlson recently presented to the Greater Louisville Council on the subject of barbecue. There are shows on ACB Community that feature cooking. One is hosted by Florida's own Sheila Young. In the past Cooking with the Hazelnuts was a regular program on ACB Radio and a gentleman who often hosts Tuesday Topics for Clubhouse, Herbie Allen, is currently doing a cooking show. We clearly have some resources at our disposal and I haven't talked about perhaps our most popular cooking show with Sheryl Cummings and the gentleman from Blind Mice Mart. Are there new devices that cooks are using? Do people like being able to be connected via wifi to the phone? Are there devices that are relatively inexpensive that can do cool things? We hear lots about small kitchen appliances and there is, I think, still a show and a list that explores air fryers and other such devices. Where do folks find their recipes? Are there areas where there aren't enough instructions? Are new stoves making accessibility possible? We hope we can persuade some of the culinary cream of the crop to be with us next week to tell you about what they do and how they do it!

We encourage folks to suggest ideas for Tuesday Topics and have, in the past, used some of those that we have received. This week we are once again availing ourselves of a suggestion made by two ladies who both happen to have similar names. Both Debbie (Hazelton) and debbee (Armstrong) have suggested we take up a topic that we think is very important. Both of them will be a part of our panel either the deb duo or the double Debby or the larger than little Debby program. Their suggestion and our topic involves technology. They ask why many people who are blind seem to be technologically challenged? Are they technophobic? What can we do about it? There are other people who are blind who seem amazingly tech-savvy! Is there a reason? Clearly there are people with no disabilities who are technologically incompetent but there is more at stake for people who are also. If folks who are blind want to work, they must be technologically effective! If they want to avail themselves of the range of options in terms of mobility, literacy or social interaction, technology is just as crucial! The Blind Information Technology Specialists are trying to do some exciting things with technology and we hope that Jeff Bishop will be here to talk about some of them. Whether he is with us or not, we want to explore with you what creates technophobia for people who are blind and what we can and should do about it! Though I have not actually previewed what these ladies will say, I suspect their view is that this "affliction" is treatable and maybe even curable and they will help us explore some of the steps all of us can take to help those who feel challenged by the time we are trying to survive! Ms. Armstrong works at a community college where her job involves making technology available to students with disabilities. Ms. Hazelton is currently teaching sociology at a college in Alabama and has a background in psychology and technology. Jeff, if he can join us, works to make computer technology accessible at a college in Phoenix. Within ACB all three of these folks work in areas where technology is crucial. I think they bring to this issue both experience and insights that I am looking forward to having as a part of our Tuesday Topic. You, our listeners, will have insights as well! Share your tech comfort levels with us! What approaches have you used to become techpetitive?

It is Tuesday Topics' plan to see if members of the employment committee want to join us! In fact I can now confirm that at least one member of that committee will be with us! There was a lot of debate in early resolutions committee meetings this year about a proposal put together by the Employment Committee. A resolution was passed and Tuesday Topics will be asking the committee what it says and how it may affect how ACB opera'tes in the employment area! In addition to their input, we want to explore some elements of employment. The level of joblessness is lower than it has ever been. Less than four percent of our working age population is "unemployed". Yet data demonstrates that at least forty percent of people who are blind do not have jobs. We have looked at some of the reasons and we will do that again! However, we want to explore what we think ought to be done about unemployment for people who are blind! Whether you are working or not, you have ideas! Call us and tell us what we need to do! Vocational Rehabilitation thinks they know what to do! Organizations for the blind and perhaps even organizations of the blind think they know! But we are asking you! Why do you think folks aren't working? What do you think should be done about it? How much is unemployment of people who are blind our fault as blind people? How much of a role does prejudice and discrimination play? How will artificial intelligence affect our chances of work?

Tuesday Topics will focus on how AI is being used by people who are blind! This was planned for last Tuesday but the ACB Board of Directors preempted our discussion! We will be expanding our second topic from last week! I wonder how many of us are using artificial intelligence to describe pictures and other things. I saw a long article almost a year ago about a blind person who was using A i to describe coins he was collecting! Are there other things you are using these programs to accomplish? How well do they work? Have you noticed "hallucinations" much? Are they becoming less common? Are there things you can't do now with artificial intelligence that you would like to be able to do? There are lots of ways that we can access artificial intelligence! How should we do it? Should we use AIRA? Should we concentrate on the approach of Be My Eyes? Should we expect that entities like copilot will become the way we implement AI. Should the use of AI become part of the curriculum of rehab agencies? Should ACB, perhaps through BITS (Blind Information Technology Specialists), consider doing some training for us? Are we making AI more important for people who are blind than it needs to be? Should we be concerned over what has happened to Orcam? What are the implications of this development for those who own Orcam products? There are lots of questions and lots of issues!

We are getting closer to elections and I am curious about where we get information about politics, current events and breaking news! Are there podcasts that people enjoy? Do folks use the usual news outlets? Are people tuning into news from other countries? Is there a reason why people do that? Do you read newspapers? How much of a role does National Public Radio play in your information gathering? Are there other ways you acquire information about what's going on that I haven't mentioned?

Whether we like it or not, all of us have to buy things. We get groceries, food deliveries, stuff from Amazon and lots of other online places. We watch and buy from TV channels. Many of us actually venture out into the community to stores where we buy things! How do all these methods work for us? Has online shopping gotten easier or harder? Has covid changed the way we shop forever or are we going back to brick and mortar shopping? How helpful are folks in stores? Do we usually take someone with us when we go shopping? Do we return lots of what we buy online because it's not what we thought it was going to be? What would we like to change about our shopping experience? How are the apps? How are the stores? Is there a role for the telephone? Do we use AIRA to help us shop? How does that work? Ultimately there are lots of questions. We look forward to your answers. Clearly shopping ain't what it used to be folks! We look forward to exploring just how much it's changed the way people who are blind operate!

Tuesday Topics will explore voting. This time we are not looking at ACB elections but are instead interested in looking at registration and actual casting of ballots for primaries and the general election coming up all too soon. There appears to be a good deal of disagreement concerning which presidential candidate will be best for our country. I hope there is no disagreement about how important it is for each of us to exercise our right to be a part of the decision we will make in November or in primaries before then. We know that the 2020 elections saw some progress in a few states. In those states folks could use a mail ballot and could return it electronically. In other states the ballot itself could be made accessible but it had to be mailed back. New machines were launched which, according to most experts, made our election the least vulnerable contest ever. We hope to have a guest who will bring us up to date on where we are in various states. Otherwise we will rely on folks from states who will tell us what's going on. In Florida, for instance, the news is bad and we will talk about that! We are going back to using webinar this week so note that we have a new link. This link will work in the future so save it!

There were still a few hands on Tuesday and I received a couple of messages indicating that folks had more to say about the convention. So we will do one more program about the ACB meeting. We will focus on what we might want to change. How did folks feel about elections? What other changes would we like to see! We will be in Dallas next year! Are there elements you would like to see included there? Do you know about good tour options? We haven't said much about the way that resolutions and the bylaw amendments were handled. What do we think of getting them completely out of the way virtually before we meet? How about information about what was happening? Were you up to speed with what was happening when? Do you have suggestions about other publicity approaches?

Talk with us about the convention that has just ended on Tuesday Topics tonight!

More than half of the people who are blind in this country are over the age of 55. For many seniors with vision loss, the only funding that is available for service delivery comes from a source which has not seen an increase in funding for two decades and is estimated to meet only 3 percent of the resource needs. Services to seniors without vision loss are provided under the Older Americans Act. That law is scheduled to be reauthorized by the end of September of this year. Right now it does not do a lot for people who are blind. How can we change this? What do we want to see in the reauthorized law? It is expected that the population of people who are seniors and legally blind will double by 2040 or so! What will that mean and what can we do about it? Tuesday Topics is excited to welcome folks from ACB'S special interest affiliate the Alliance on Aging and Vision Loss (AAVL) to bring us up to speed on where we are and on what ACB and other organizations of and for the blind are trying to do. It's urgent that you tune in so you can help to make a difference in a variety of ways. The Florida affiliate of ACB just passed a resolution and every state can do what Florida promised they would do! Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

We spend lots of time talking about people who are blind and include everyone who has a vision problem. We don't usually distinguish between people who have no vision and people who have some. This week we want to invite folks with low vision or better than low vision to join us and tell us what it's like when you can't completely see but you aren't completely blind either. Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

This week we are going to explore a word we hear a lot but what does it actually mean. That word is advocacy! How does it apply to people who are blind? What are issues we should be advocating for these days? Are there issues we should not be advocating for these days? How should we approach advocacy for an issue? We will identify one in the first hour and spend part of the second hour deciding how best to advocate for that particular issue. Hopefully that will give folks an idea of how to put together a campaign to advocate for a particular thing which you and your affiliate or chapter could consider identifying. Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

This time we are going to spend some time exploring relationships. There is a good deal of controversy as to whether relationships work best if both parties are blind or if one of the two folks involved can see! What do you think! Where do people who have partial vision fit in? Is a relationship between a blind person and a person with partial vision the best of all? It's not good enough for you to tell us which is best! Tell us why! What makes for problems with each of the different kinds of relationship? If you were free and could choose your next partner, would you choose somebody who is blind or partially sighted or fully sight-enabled? Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

In many respects, we are the most fortunate generation ever. We have access to more information than we can possibly use and we are at the beginning of a revolution that will make the data we can acquire now seem infinitely tiny and paltry. Before you turn away in disgust, this is not another exploration of AI though we are more than a year since we last spent time on it and lots has changed. It is an exploration of the impact of another phenomenon on the lives of people who are blind or have low vision. Be My Eyes, Envision and AIRA are all programs that fill an important niche in our lives. They allow us to get information either from other humans or from artificial intelligence entities or, from a combination of the two. What has their impact been on the world of people who are blind? Have these devices mad people who use them more independent or more dependent? Have they encouraged experimentation or created reliance on people for help that has limited technological exploration? In the case of AIRA, how does their business model appear to be structured? Can they afford to pay their employees over time? Does their model depend on selling AIRA to governments, retailers and others? Is there another model that would work better? What would we lose if Aira were to go away? Obviously these questions constitute no more than the tip of the iceberg. Join us as we put personal assistance software and people under the microscope of Tuesday Topics! Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

It is common for Tuesday Topics to start something we don't finish and our last program was no exception. We were able to define many issues, provide some hypotheses for why they happen and confirm that some things need to be done. However, we did not get to the place where we could finalize actions that can be taken or decide for, sure if actions should be taken. So our program next week will explore actions that can be contemplated to deal with the fact that many things we have asked for are not being used as much as we might like. Perhaps that's okay! If it's not, what should we do about it? Who is responsible for doing anything? Individuals, local chapters, state affiliates, the national organization, local communities, states, the Federal government? We will look at voting, theaters, movies, transit, braille and other components of full inclusion. Join us! Your opinions are crucial! Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Last week we asked you to come up with topics we could consider for future programs. I have to say that the participation of our regular listeners was just a mite limited. Let me thank those who were there and who participated in our show. Brian Charlson actually came up with the idea for our next Topic and I think it is an interesting one. Initially, the topic emerged because Brian was concerned that so many plays where we ask that audio description happen are so poorly attended. Why is that? Does it have to do with COVID? Does it have to do with the income of people who are blind or low vision? Does it have to do with discomfort with paratransit or other ways of getting around? Are theaters the only place where we have become tortoise-like? Are we content to wait at home till accessible movies hit the television screen? Have we lessened our social outings now? Will our chapters more and more meet via Zoom? Do we use accessible pedestrian signals enough to justify their expense. How about announcements on buses? Where do Uber and Lyft fit into the system? At the heart of this issue is whether it matters! Should we be concerned that we are asking for more and involving ourselves less? If the answer is yes, what should we do about it? Do our chapters have a responsibility to work on these issues? Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

You are crucial for Tuesday Topics tonight! Usually by Wednesday mornings our podcast is available from your usual sources. So far this year our crew has tackled serious subjects like history, employment, awards and leadership building. We all decided two things after the show this week. First we decided that we would take a break from earthshaking matters of moment and focus instead on you! What are your plans for your vacation? What do you like to do during the Summer? Are you a baseball fan? Do you listen to your team on radio? Do you have some specific memories of that? What else do you like to do these days for fun? What was the last game you played? If none of these subjects turn you on we have another option for you! For our second hour we think we are going to make it your turn! You get to call in and talk about anything you like within reason! We are not interested in the mating habits of South African cockroaches though maybe you can persuade us it's an important subject. However we really do want to open the mike for you to raise any question you like with us! Your comment or question can be earthshaking or just about you! You are the boss! We really need you to be ready with topics for Tuesday. Only two out of the five producers of Tuesday Topics can sing. The other three of us are a danger to ourselves and others and should not be given the chance to destroy ear drums. Save us from ourselves by calling into Click the link below to join the webinar: Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

We will be exploring two topics that are related. We will finally complete our history of the relationship between ACB and NFB and then we will begin to explore what the philosophy of ACB is and how we can make it better known. A former President of ACB and a former Federationist, Mitch Pomerantz, will join us as a panelist. How have the changes we have observed in the Presidents of the NFB impacted ACB? What are the areas where we now differ and what are the elements that we perceive are the same? Why is it that people believe that the Federation does it all and ACB lags behind? Is it true? What is the philosophy of ACB. We have talked a lot about how the Federation characterizes its beliefs. ACB certainly has some beliefs and attitudes and values. What are they? Every one of you reading this should think about what those values are and share with us what you think they are. Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Earlier this year Tuesday Topics did a program on the history of blind advocacy. As is very common on our show, we did not finish. We got past the formation of the American Council of the Blind but that still leave us with over half a century to cover. Sheltered workshops, NAC, the ADA, the independent living movement, affiliate rights and responsibilities, the growth of special interest affiliates, ACB Radio, Facebook, Twitter, the internet, audio description, and much more. The history of all of these elements is perhaps different from what you might think. Join us to talk about the past as prelude to today. Episode Notes Notes go here Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Remember to join Tuesday Topics as we explore how ACB encourages new leaders! More than that there is a mentoring program which is now in its second year of operation. I was a part of the first year and I look forward to guests who will tell us how year two is going. Tuesday Topics hopes that former fellows, first timers and some of the cohort of the first year of the mentoring program will come and tell us what these programs have meant to them. It is hard to know how to develop leaders. It is hard to know how to develop diversity. It is hard to know even how to get new people to become a part of ACB. Tuesday Topics will have the honor of exploring all these issues next program. Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co