Podcasts about white cane day

Season 6 kicks off with a jam-packed conversation featuring Angie, Kimberly, and Danny. Angie shares her powerful experience attending the Uber/Lyft protest that took place on White Cane Day 2024, touching on the impact it had and the meaningful connections she made with blind creators on TikTok. The trio dives deep into the world of guide dogs—from the emotional bond between handler and dog to the tough decisions around whether or not to get one. They explore common hesitations, the responsibilities of maintaining a guide dog's training and hygiene, and the reality of facing ride-share denials. The conversation also tackles how handlers navigate cultural misconceptions about dogs, and the ongoing work of educating the public and drivers alike. Expect personal stories about Angie's guide dog Draco and Danny's former guide Teeva, a breakdown of guide dog schools versus privately trained dogs, and a real look at the challenges and triumphs of life with a working dog. If you've ever wanted the full picture of what it takes to own, trust, and advocate for a guide dog, this episode covers it all.

#WhiteCaneDay is here! Let's celebrate the strength and independence the white cane symbolizes! Do you use a white cane or other tools? Share your story with #ShareYourVision! www.FightingBlindness.org/ShareYourVision

We're continuing our education series during October, Blindness Awareness Month - BAM! A lot has changed since the summer of 2020, but not the focus and hard work of returning guest and ally, Caroline Karbowski, who joins us this week from the home of Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, Mass. There she will soon be celebrating October 15th (White Cane Day) with blind and deaf-blind students who she's having a hand in teaching things such as tactile literacy and self advocacy skills. Returning friend of Outlook, Caroline, has been working with the students of this historic educational campus for blind and deaf-blind children for months now. After catching up with Caroline, and for our listeners on her company See3D which produces 3D models for tactile learners, we could have used more than an hour's time to find out all the work she's been doing since we first met her. Like the international outreach Perkins does, as we found out on the tour of the school we took in July, Caroline shares about the international outreach See3D is now working to offer through the mission of the organization she herself started back in 2017 as a high school student. Now she contributes, through her own biology background, to making the STEM fields more accessible and inclusive while finding new ways of making the braille she learned, as a sighted person, even more relevant for herself and her students. Since her time in Ohio, from certified braille transcriber to orientation and mobility specialist, Karbowski left her schooling and her work in her home state and moved to Boston, where she's been experiencing life at the school with the children during the summer camp offerings and now is beginning a new school year on the Perkins grounds. She tells us about the vast array of resources and assistive devices for multi-sensory teaching techniques available to her there and about some of the adventures she's been on with the kids over the summer, what the year ahead is shaping up to be for her in Watertown where we just visited ourselves, and her continued educational and entrepreneurial goals within various inclusion spaces. Plus, she shares about coming across more “braille in the wild” and shares about A Cubed Design and its ideas for how to make electronic braille machines more able to withstand wear and tear when in use. So from the art and experimentation of tactile map making and the range of communication and teaching tools she's both making and making use of there in Boston to the continued work back there in Ohio where she's utilising interns, grants, and other funding and fundraising strategies to continue with 3D printing, Caroline and helpers have been working on making everything from weather guides, to lightening, to the life cycle of a butterfly accessible. And not only is she driven toward all we've so far listed, Caroline also tells us about the ballroom dancing she enjoys and how The Terminator showed up for his interest in the activity. From her now going on to attend U Mass, to Perkins, to growing work with C3D, Caroline Karbowski shares it all with us. She is one sighted ally we'll have back on with us again, but just try to listen to this educational themed episode and not feel inspired to learn something new and be of service to the younger generation. Undoubtedly, as the list of necessary and innovative work she does grows as it has in the years since Covid turned Outlook from strictly a radio show to now a broadcast and a podcast both, we're glad we met her and, this second time around, we're sure you will be too. Learn more about A Cubed Design, a startup for braille literacy that is developing a low-cost and customizable braille display: https://www.acubed.design And listen back to her previous appearance on the show: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2020-08-31-interview-with-ceo-of-see3d/id1527876739?i=1000489673485

In this 22nd  episode of Wellness Wednesday, Beth Gustin, LPC and Robin Ennis, LCSW, CPC, have a general discussion about blindness awareness. October has a variety of Blindness related awareness campaigns bringing about awareness to the public with White Cane Day, Disability Employment and Blindness Awareness Month all happening in the month of October. Beth and robin talk about the exhaustion of constantly feeling the need to advocate, prove and being the perfect ambassador for the entire community all the time. How the battle of grieving and rebuilding can play out on one's journey and why asking for help can be  a form of independence.   Check out all the Wellness Wednesday episodes.   Show Hosts:             Robin Ennis on the web at www.robinennislcsw.com             Beth Gustin, LPC, NCC, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, CAGCS, PLGS             Www.transitioningthroughchange.com   You can message Beth and Robin by calling 612-367-6093 or by email. They are looking forward to hearing from you!   Read More

We celebrate White Cane Day on Talking Vision this week as Sam catches up with Duncan Steward, the owner and founder of Platinum Cre8ive, and Jordan Ashby, volunteer coordinator for Vision Australia in NSW. Duncan and Jordan have both been involved in White Cane Day events over the years, including White Stick Fest which is now available to watch on demand at whitestickfest.org featuring artists who are blind or have low vision from Australia and around the world.Support this Vision Australia Radio program: https://www.visionaustralia.org/donate?src=radio&type=0&_ga=2.182040610.46191917.1644183916-1718358749.1627963141See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

October 15th was White Cane Day. and this year to mark the occasion, we wanted to talk about white canes from a slightly different perspective. Join us as Shawn welcomes Acacia, Dougie, and Ishita to the show for a fascinating discussion about using a white cane later in life or choosing to use one even though you may have just enough vision to manage without one. Using their own lived experiences as examples, they discuss the advantages of this choice and how perceived attitudes can sometimes influence when that choice is made. Blind Beginnings' mission is to inspire children and youth who are blind or partially sighted and their families through diverse programs, experiences, counseling and peer support, and opportunities to create fulfilling lives. Visit us online at www.blindbeginnings.ca to find out more!

Felicity Beaulieu – Chief Operating Officer – EverAbility group  International White Cane Day   (EverAbility is the overarching parent company of VisAbility)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Notes This week Anthony and Crew will hear some updates from the Employment Committee and hear about their survey Then in our second hour we will be joined by Judy P. A long time mobility instructor. We will get to know her and explore what white cane day means from another perspective. Bring your questions for these folks. Please fill this survey out to assist the Employment Committee from ACB. https://forms.gle/mV3uEM1V4585Tej9A A poem from Judy about the Cane's perspective You're not the only one who's felt embarrassed to be seen outside walking with me this for many's always been a part of the whole whole process as together we will train but in time you will realise you'll soon be proud again I'm made to give you back the things that you may feel you've lost like pride and independence all the things that blindness cost I'm not a sign of weakness I'm a reason to be proud alleviate anxiety w hen you are in a crowd Sometimes I'm left behind or folded up inside your hand But I'll be ready for you I won't judge I understand I know these feelings natural It's the way that people stare when you can still see somethings but for blindness you prepare You don't need to see nothing to be able to use me that's not the way that blindness works it fades so differently I'm here to be a symbol and signal that you're strong a reason not to isolate a reason to belong So when you're feeling ready I'll be with you day or night unfold me hold me confident and swipe me left to right Eventually you'll come to terms our partnership remain It's me and you forever I am your mobility cane TheBlindPoet

Frank Pefley talks about the Braille Institute in Riverside and their White Cane Day on October 17. Tanialee Sanchez shares details about the Inland Regional Center and their Fall Festival Cultural Resource Fair on October 28 in Riverside.

In our Saturday sit-down special, Money FM hosts Neil Humphreys and Dan Koh join Dr Wong Hon Tym, Chairman of Guide Dogs Singapore, para-swimmer Sophie Soon and her guide dog, Orinda, to discuss White Cane Day. Sophie also describes her day-to-day experiences to show how Singaporeans can help the visually impaired and expresses her hopes of competing in the Paralympics.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In our Saturday sit-down special, Money FM hosts Neil Humphreys and Dan Koh join Dr Wong Hon Tym, Chairman of Guide Dogs Singapore, para-swimmer Sophie Soon and her guide dog, Orinda, to discuss White Cane Day and how Singaporeans can do more to make life easier for the visually impaired and their guide dogs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

in this episode, Jason, and Rey discussed the importance of the white cane. Also, they bring on Alex Villareal to give us the rundown on what's happening at white cane day 2023. All about the white cane, and our independence.

Hello everybody!   Welcome to our September 2023 monthly Digest: a monthly newsletter of the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania!   The events and information listed below will be within the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania as well as any pertinent information from the National Federation of the Blind and the Pennsylvania blind community.   If you or anyone you know have any upcoming events or information that can pertain to the blind community in Pennsylvania, please send them to Stacie Leap at nfb.stacie@gmail.com  by the 27th of the month so it an be added to our calendar for the following month.       For those using screen readers, you can use your heading navigations to skip around the email.     A Message from our State Affiliate President   Happy September Federation Family!   It is hard to believe that State Convention is 2 months away.  Our National Representative this year is Pam Allen, 1st Vice President of the NFB. There is only a short time to register for the Convention at the Early Bird price.  On September 15, the registration increases to $25.  Register early and save!   Looking forward to speaking with you on Coffee with The President on Wednesday, September 6 at 7:30PM!       - Lynn Heitz   President, National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania   president@NFBOfPA.org      Google Calendar Links    The National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania also has a Google Calendar that can be viewed either through the web or subscribed to your calendar apps.   You can view the calendar without subscribing to it and view it on your web browser by going to NFBofPA.org/calendar/.  However, if you wish to subscribe to the calendar and get the events on your calendar apps, please click Subscribe link in the show notes and go through the steps to subscribe:     Member Spotlight: Angelina Angelcyk    Each month, we will highlight someone within our affiliate. The goal is to allow other members to learn about other members within the affiliate. We hope you enjoy this little spotlight!       Angelina Angelcyk serves as one of our board members for the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania. Serving as the youngest board member, she is the student representative. Angelina is a senior of her high school in the Greater Pittsburgh area. You might recognize her name and voice at many NFB events, both nationally and locally. She showcases her piano skills and singing ability at the annual Piano Bar that is hosted by the student division. She is a part of a band, Spectrum, and recently performed alongside Pittsburgh musician Norman Mardini. A woman of many talents, she performed as Rafiki from the Lion King at the Geyer Performing Arts Center in July 2023. She also sings at many events and sells Sachets during our state convention. If you ever get a chance to meet Angelina, do not forget to say, “Hello!”      Calendar of Events    The following events are also on our Google calendar with the Zoom information or meeting location. If anyone within a chapter, division, or group see any errors or misinformation, please contact Stacie Leap at nfb.stacie@gmail.com       The below information is correct as of the first week of the month. The information is most up-to-date on the Google Calendar so please check back periodically to ensure the right information.      Jigsaw Chapter monthly Meeting    a monthly meeting for those who do not have a local chapter in their geographical area. This is our at-large chapter Meetings This meeting is typically held on the 1st Saturday of the month.   Saturday, September 2, 2023 at 10 AM      Coffee with the State President and Board   This monthly discussion meeting brings everybody together to get to know the state affiliate board members and the happenings within the state's divisions, chapters, and advocacy efforts. This meeting is typically held the 1st Wednesday of the month.   Wednesday, September 6, 2023 at 7:30 PM      Greater Berks Chapter Monthly Meeting    A monthly meeting for those who live in the Greater Berks County of Pennsylvania This meeting is typically held on the 2nd Friday of the month.   Friday, September 8, 2023 at 10 AM       Greater Lehigh Valley Chapter Monthly Meeting    A monthly meeting for those who live in the Greater Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania.  This includes Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, and the surrounding areas. This meeting is typically held on the 2nd Saturday of the month.   Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 10 AM       Keystone Chapter Monthly Meeting    a monthly meeting for those who live in the Philadelphia area. This is one of two local chapters in the Philadelphia area. The other chapter is the Greater Philadelphia Chapter. This meeting is typically held on the 2nd Saturday of the month.   Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 10:15 AM      Happy Valley Chapter Monthly Meeting     A monthly meeting for those who live in or surrounding State College, Pennsylvania.  This meeting is typically held on the 2nd Saturday of the month.   Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 1:00 PM     Board of Directors Quarterly Meeting   This meeting is the quarterly meeting for the board of directors. Only those in the board can make motions and vote but all are invited to be a part of the meeting.   Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 7:30 PM      Deaf Blind Division Monthly Meeting    a monthly meeting for those who consider themselves to be Deaf Blind and their supporters. This meeting is typically held on the 2nd Monday of the month.   Monday, September 11, 2023 at 6:00 PM       Pennsylvania Association of Blind Merchants (PABM) Monthly Meeting    a monthly meeting for those who are or wish to be involved with the Business Enterprise Program, entrepreneurship, and their supporters. This meeting is typically held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month.   Wednesday, September 13, 2023 at 6:00 PM       Capital Area Chapter Monthly Meeting    a monthly meeting for those who live in the Greater Harrisburg area. This meeting is typically held on the 3rd Saturday of the month.   Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 10:00 AM       Erie County Chapter Monthly Meeting    a monthly meeting for those who live in Erie County Pennsylvania. This meeting is typically held on the 3rd Saturday of the month.   Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 2:00 PM       Blind Parents Group Monthly Meeting    a monthly meeting for blind parents, grandparents, and their supporters This meeting is typically held on the 3rd Saturday of the month.   Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 7:00 PM      Pennsylvania Organization of Parents of Blind Children (PAOPBC) Monthly Meeting    a monthly meeting for parents of blind children and their supporters This meeting is typically held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month.   Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 1:00 PM       Pittsburgh Chapter Monthly Meeting    A monthly meeting for those who live in the Greater Pittsburgh area. This meeting is typically held on the 3rd Wednesday of the month.   Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 6:00 PM      Greater Philadelphia Chapter Monthly Meeting    a monthly meeting for those who live in the Philadelphia area. This is one of two local chapters in the Philadelphia area.  The other chapter is the Keystone Chapter. This meeting is typically held on the 4th Saturday of the month.   Saturday, September 23, 2023 at 10:00 AM      Brandywine Valley Chapter Monthly Meeting    a monthly meeting for those who live in the Brandywine Valley area of PA. This meeting is typically held on the 4th Saturday of the month.   Saturday, September 23, 2023 at 10:00 AM      Pennsylvania Association of Guide Dog Users (PAGDU) Monthly Meeting    a monthly meeting for those who have or are considering getting a guide dog as well as their supporters. This meeting is typically held on the 4th Saturday of the month.   Saturday, September 23, 2023 at 4:00 PM      Pennsylvania Association of Blind Students (PABS) Monthly Meeting    a monthly meeting for blind students of all ages and their supporters. This meeting is typically held on the 4th Monday of the month.   Monday, September 25, 2023 at 7:00 PM      Blind Seniors Group Monthly Meeting    a monthly meeting for those who are seniors or almost seniors as well as their supporters. This meeting is typically held on the 4th Wednesday of the month.   Wednesday, September 27, 2023 at 7:30 PM      White Canes Connect Podcast    Did you know that the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania has a podcast? It is hosted by members David Goldstein and Lisa Bryant as well as some guest hosts. It features interviews with our PA members as well as interviews and resources for the blind community. The monthly digest is also on the podcast for those who wish to hear a human's voice instead of a screen reader. You can listen to it wherever you listen to podcasts.   Listen on  Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, IHeartRadio, and on YouTube @PABlindPodcast. Contact White Canes Connect at whitecanesconnect@gmail.com if you have any show ideas or wish to be on the podcast.      State Convention 2023     Our State Convention is coming up soon! Mark your calendar! Clear your agendas! We will be convening from November 9 to 12, 2023 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Harrisburg, PA!   Please see the links below to register for the convention as well to reserve your hotel rooms! Room rates are $99 a night. We will have a Senior Possibilities Fair, Technology Seminars, Talent Showcase/Live Auction, special interest groups and division meetings and so much more! We hope to hang out with you at the convention!   Attendee Registration for State Convention:   https://nfbofpa.org/2023-state-convention-registration/   Info on making hotel reservations at the Crowne Plaza Harrisburg:   https://nfbofpa.org/reservations-for-crowne-plaza-hotel/     Senior Possibilities Fair 2023   We will also have a senior possibilities fair on the morning of Thursday, November 9, 2023. There is a separate registration form for this event and can be found at the following link:  https://nfbofpa.org/senior-possibilities-fair/     Talent Showcase   For those who will be attending the convention in-person, we are looking for performers of all talents to showcase them at the talent show which will take place on the evening of Friday, November 10, 2023. If you are interested in performing, please contact Stacie Leap at Stacie.leap@gmail.com      Shout-Outs and Announcements!  Birthday Wishes    The National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania would like to wish all those who were born in September a very happy birthday!     Rest in Peace Tom Anderson   Tom Anderson served as the Chair of the Blind Christians Group after it was changed from the Communities of Faith division. This email was from Dan Burke:   "Dear friends and Federation family -       Julie and I are heart-broken to tell you that Tom Anderson, the beloved first-Braille teacher at CCB and one of the two staff members who opened the doors of the Colorado Center for the Blind in 1988 with Diane McGeorge, died Tuesday afternoon. Tom had been in the hospital for about two weeks in Kansas where he and his wife, Linda returned after tom's retirement from CCB in 2015. He passed quietly from this life with his dear Linda holding one of his hands and his twin sister Toni holding the other.       Tom had cancer nearly 20 years ago, but was cancer free until about two years ago. He entered treatments and finished them early this year. He and Linda came to the national convention in Houston, and it was wonderful for all of us to see him. He was so obviously excited to be back at the convention again. But he became ill after they returned home and eventually was hospitalized.       Tom was a man of faith and a minister, having his own small church in Littleton for a number of years. He was also a staunch, life-long Federationist, holding many offices  at the chapter, state and  national levels, including the Denver Chapter President, the NFB of Kansas state board, and the long-time President of the NFB in Communities of Faith.       Tom was such a good man, a dedicated and patient teacher of Braille to hundreds of blind students over the 27 years he taught at the Center, if also exacting and sometimes stern. He embraced his nickname, “Dr.  Dots,” loved to page students late for his class with, “Henrietta, the dots await your fingers,” and had one of the most endearing and genuine laughs ever heard in the halls of CCB. No one had a laugh like Tom's, and he laughed often and easily.        Julie spoke with Linda this afternoon. At this time, there is no public memorial scheduled. Please send Linda and the family your prayers and positive thoughts.   Rest in peace, dear, kind and loving friend and teacher to so many.”      Fundraisers  Blind Parents Group T-Shirts Fundraiser    The t-shirts come in either black with white letterings or white with black letterings. Both shirts say “I Support #BlindParents” with the NFB of PA Logo and “Blind Parents Group” at the bottom. Funds raised will start a scholarship fund to assist blind or visually impaired parents and their family through financial life hardships. To purchase a t-shirt, please contact Stacie Leap at nfb.stacie@gmail.com     Dancing in the Dark   The Greater Lehigh Valley Chapter will be hosting their annual Dancing in the Dark event on Friday October 13, 2023.   On Friday October 13th we Joyously invite you to enjoy a night of fun and enlightenment to celebrate ational Meet the Blind Month and White Cane Day. This is a semi-formal evening of dinner, music and dancing.   Cocktails begin @ 6:00 PM   .  Tickets are $75 and the deadline to purchase ticket is September 15, 2023.   This event will be held at: Blue Grillhouse   . (4431 Easton Avenue. Bethlehem, PA 18020)   There are four menu selections:   1. Flounder stuffed with jumbo crab in lemon cream sauce   2. Chicken breast marsala   3. Slow roasted prime rib of beef - traditional or horseradish crusted   4. Roasted Zucchini with Quinoa   Contact the Event Chair Jemmie Jones for more info and to purchase tickets: 908-391-8375      Believe You Can! Talent Show     SAVE THE DATE: The Keystone Chapter will be having their annual talent show fundraiser on Saturday, October 14, 2023 at 8 PM ET. If you wish to be a performer, please complete the Google Form: BelieveYouCan.live/talent.   Tickets are on sale now at BelieveYouCan.live/tickets.    For more information, please visit their website: believeYouCan.live or contact David Goldstein at david@iCantCU.com If you wish to be a performer or have any questions, please contact BelieveYouCanShow@gmail.com      Other External Events    These events are not hosted or sponsored by the NFB or the NFB of PA. However, we think these might be good resources for those living in Pennsylvania. If you have any events that you wish to be in our monthly digest, please email Stacie Leap at nfb.stacie@gmail.com      Liberty Resources' Blind/Low Vision Support Group    Our members Karen Rose and Simone Cooper partner up with Liberty Resources to hold a weekly virtual support group at Liberty Resources. The aim is to share resources and provide support to those experiencing blindness or low vision. Meetings are weekly on Tuesdays from 1pm to 2pm ET via Zoom. You do not need to live in Philadelphia to attend these meetings, this is open to all in Pennsylvania! For more information or to sign-up, please email Latoya Maddox at LatoyaMaddox@libertyresources.org       Purple Path Awareness Walk   Purple Path is an awareness walk about domestic violence. It will be a day filled with testimonials, live entertainment, raffles, food, resources/information tables and much more! The event will be on October 7, 2023 from 12PM to 4PM at 800 Macdade Blvd.Collingdale, PA 19023. More information including volunteering, sponsorships, and registering can be found on their website: www.purplehouseporjectpa.org      Women Healed For a Purpose 2023 Conference!    Our member Lyvette Byrd is hosting her 2nd Annual Women Healed For a Purpose Conference under her business, For the Byrds Consulting, LLC. The mission of the conference is to equip and restore the community through a faith-based initiative that we hope will strengthen women holistically; mind, body, and spirit.   We are women Living Interdependently in support of Family, Friends, and our Fellow neighbors to Educate and Empower our community. The event will be on Saturday, October 28, 2023.  There will be guest speakers, and live entertainment. There will be an in-person option as well as a Zoom option. For more information including vending opportunities, volunteering, or to register, please visit the For The Byrds Consulting website .      NFB Pledge    I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind; to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution.      NFB Message    The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams.       Many thanks to everybody for all they do within the Federation!       Thanks!   the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania team   www.NFBofPA.org

In this podcast Jason, and Rey go live at white cane day 2022. The guys have several guests including Joaquin Cornejo, Matt Slinger, Brandon Eslick, and Alvin Martin. They talk about the white cane, and their independence.

SRC Commission meeting, Gulf Breeze and garbage contract, Adams Sanitation vs Waste Pro, honor rolls, White Cane Day, General John Adams is the Grand Marshall for Veterans Day Parade on Pensacola Beach

20221015 Strolling from East to West Across America – National White Cane Day Originally Aired October 15, 2022, on ACB Media 6 Attendees joined the Get UP and Get Moving Campaign Committee as they strolled from east to west across our great nation! We invited all state and special interest affiliates and advocates for mobility safety to join us as they shared what activities they are up to in celebration of White Cane Safety Day! Participants were encouraged to grab their canes or guide dog and get up and get moving as we celebrate our mobility and independence on this incredibly special day! Sponsored by ACB Get Up and Get Moving Campaign

Join guest host Tess Herbert this week as she takes over for a special episode of Talking Vision to celebrate White Cane Day on October 15. Sam interviews Diane Lucantoni, a white cane user from Ballarat who has taken up using her cane after losing her vision shortly before the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020. Then later in the show Tess is back to speak with Graeme Innes and Maryanne Diamond, who have both been recently admitted to the board of the National Disability Insurance Agency. And finally this week, Frances Keyland joins the program for a Reader Recommended.Support this Vision Australia Radio program: https://www.visionaustralia.org/donate?src=radio&type=0&_ga=2.182040610.46191917.1644183916-1718358749.1627963141See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are once again going to tackle two topics! We thought it might be interesting to talk about an issue that is not blindness-related. It may be a little scary for us to discuss this topic but we want to know if we are creating holidays or, I suppose, special days that focus too much on specific issues of particular groups. So, juneteenth, Martin Luther King Day, Jewish holidays, Christmas, Easter, and so on. We do not have a holiday celebrating the ADA! Should we have one? What is the impact of these specific holidays. If you look at a calendar, virtually every day is dedicated to something. In a couple of weeks we will reach October 15 which is known as "White Cane Safety Day". That day has often been used to create an understanding of mobility problems faced by people with low vision and who are blind. How effective are these celebrations? What do they accomplish? In the past, we had lots of partners including the White House, state and local governments, local agencies serving people who are blind and companies interested interested in allying with us. Now the White House is describing what we are celebrating as Employment of people who are Blind Day or some such title. What messages are we sending with our White Cane celebration? When we ask sighted people to wear blind folds, are we creating a better understanding of the problems we face? Do we create room for partnerships with White Cane Day or are we allowing ourselves to be used to create advantage for other groups who feel like they can take advantage of the day? What might we do to make it better? What kind of outcomes would make White Cane Day more valuable? We hope that many of you will take part in both these discussions that will explore together the things that bring us together and the things that divide us! This is another of those situations where we don't think there may be right answers. We do think it's important for us to think about the implications that our actions include! Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Table of Contents President's Message: I'm So Thankful!, by Dan Spoone ACB and Walmart Team Up on White Cane Day to Amplify the Importance of Health for Independence for Blind and Low Vision Americans Convention 2022 Preview: The Hilton Omaha, by Janet Dickelman Summaries of the August and September Meetings of the ACB Board of Directors, by Penny Reeder Summary of 2021 Resolutions Passings Looking at My Low Vision Life … At Least So Far, by Edward L. Cohen The Mother of All Fundraisers, by Judy Wilkinson Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action and Fairness Hearing Here and There, edited by Cynthia G. Hawkins Christmas Wishes, by Earl Scharry The New Year, by Horatio Nelson Powers ACB Officers, ACB Board of Directors, ACB Board of Publications Accessing Your ACB Braille and E-Forums

Full Transcript In episode 6 of Manager Minute, employment and VR take center stage during October's National Disability Awareness Month. David D'Arcangelo, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB), and Natasha Jerde, Director of State Services for the Blind of Minnesota (SSB), join Carol Pankow to talk about the state of employment, today's challenges, and the initiatives and practices they implemented to improve employment for individuals with disabilities.   Learn how David and his team at MCB increased their customer base by 25% over the last year and how partnerships and creativity in Minnesota are helping to increase the number of people with disabilities being employed.   Find out more about VRTAC-QM at https://www.vrtac-qm.org/.                                                                       Stay up to date by following VRTAC-QM on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @VRTAC_QM.   About VRTAC-QM Partnering with State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies (SVRAs) to enhance service delivery and maximize outcomes through quality program and resource management.  The purpose of the VRTAC-QM is to provide training and technical assistance that will enable State VR agency personnel to manage available resources, improve effective service delivery, and increase the number and quality of employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. The VRTAC-QM provides TA and training in VR program and performance quality management, fiscal and resource quality management of the VR program, and general quality management of organizations. You can request technical assistance from the VRTAC-QM by contacting your TA Liaison directly, contacting any member of the Center you wish, or by filling out the information on our main website and clicking on submit. While on the main website, join our mailing list to receive updates on training and new activities occurring within the center.    Full Transcript:   Speaker1: Manager Minute brought to you by the VRTAC for Quality Management conversations powered by VR, 1manager at a time, 1 minute at a time. Here is your host Carol Pankow.   Carol: So welcome to the manager minute, I am so excited to have David D'Arcangelo, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, and Natasha Jerde, Director of State Services for the Blind in Minnesota. Thank you both for joining me today. Natasha, you've been in your position for two years now. So how's it going in Minnesota?   Natasha: Well, first, thanks for having me, Carol. And for others, I'm actually filling in for detail magazine with Minnesota General, so I am representing both. So I will speak globally and with Minnesota. We are definitely going through a state of evolution because not only are we going through COVID, we are also one of the states that really are going through the racial reckoning that's been happening when George Floyd was murdered. So we are having a lot of diversity and inclusion efforts in addition to trying to figure out what VR is going to look like in this new era. So it's been a challenge, but it's also been an opportunity as well.   Carol: Yeah, it definitely has been a heavy load and thank you for pinch hitting for Dee, too. I knew you could represent both, so that's great. And David, I saw you just had your three year anniversary in August. So how are things in Massachusetts?   David: Thanks for having me on. Things in Massachusetts are going well. I'm excited to talk about all of the various programs that we have. We haven't let COVID stop us at all. We continue to move forward. We're doing realignment projects. We've done a bunch of those that we'll talk about. Hiring is up good things happening in Massachusetts. I know we're going to go into more detail.   Carol: Good to hear it. Well, October is designated as a National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and when I was thinking about an October topic, well, it just made perfect sense to talk about employment and VR. David, I remember last year when we were on a call with RSA and they were highlighting VR's 100th anniversary. You presented what was happening at the Mass Commission and you really had some exciting things happening for customers during the pandemic. And I love following all the work that you do on your social media and I saw y'all have a podcast as well. And Natasha, I know your team well, and they're always creating some wonderful ways to build partnerships with employers and create interesting and lasting relationships that have helped to improve employment opportunities. And you're also a really good partner with Minnesota General. I know two years ago we held the roundtable and recognition of employers in Minnesota during this very month to celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month. I just wanted to talk for a second about some Bureau of Labor Statistics and as I was looking things up as of August 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that unemployment rates for persons with disabilities are 11.5 percent, compared to five point one percent for persons without disabilities. And the labor force participation rate for people with disabilities is 35.6 percent, compared to 75.8 percent for working age people without disabilities. Now, the labor force participation of people with disabilities is higher than it was prior to the pandemic, and John O'Neill, he's the director of the Center for Employment and Disability Research at the Kessler Foundation. He said that this actually has been a bright spot during the pandemic as people with disabilities, and he thought maybe out of economic necessity remained engaged in the labor market. He says the last time that we saw labor force participation at this level was July of 2009. But even given all of that, you know, that bright spot, much work needs to be done to increase the number of people with disabilities in the labor force, which really ties directly to the mission of VR. So I know these past 18 months have definitely been a challenge for you both pivoting to remote work for your staff, figuring out new ways to provide services to your customers and figuring out the reality of this new world of work. And in some ways, I'm really hopeful that the pandemic has proven there are new ways in which work can be done that's going to benefit our consumers in the end. So let's dig in. So, Natasha, can you paint us a picture of your agency? Like, how many people are you serving right now? Do you currently have a waiting list and how are your employment numbers looking?   Natasha: I have both Minnesota blind and general here at Minnesota Blind. We're at about 650 individuals we're currently surveying. And if you look at 2, 3, 4 years ago, we were usually in the 700's. So our applications are still down, but they are trending upwards. We haven't had a waiting list for a few years. All categories are open. Our employment numbers are slowly trending upwards. 2021 brought much higher well, not much higher, 3 higher than 2020. But we are looking to get back our 2019 numbers slowly but surely. And as for Minnesota General, they've had a downward trend. There are about 2000 fewer applications and serving 11 percent fewer applicants than they did in the previous year. Our numbers are pretty on par with the national trends. Minnesota General has been offering services to all people on the waiting list. They reopened their final 2 priority for service categories, which had been closed since the fall of 2014. They have effectively eliminated the waiting list. They are seeing rates of employment at the time of exit decrease overall about 13 percent decrease, which is very identical to the national trends.   Carol: That's big news, though on the waiting list, that's good stuff. That is really good stuff for both of you. So, David, paint us a little picture of your agency.   David: Basically, everything I'm going to talk about is on our website. So let me just start with that. If people hear something that resonates with them, please use us as a resource. We want to collaborate with you. Go to Mass.Gov/MCB Mass.Gov/MCB and find out all that's going on with the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind. We've seen a 25 percent increase over our previous year in terms of VR despite the pandemic, so that's really a testament to our team, our counselors, and most especially though, the consumers we work with who have persevered and there's just a lot of opportunity in Massachusetts. Some of that might be related to the pandemic, actually. You know, COVID has put real strain on the health care system. We've seen hiring there. But even other service industry things, we've seen hiring there to go back to John O'Neill's data point, which I believe in John very much and Andrew out Anvil that does the entire program first Friday of the month at noon, I faithfully listen to the number come out and they do a great job since the data has been collected in 2008. Yeah, I mean, we made a great amount of progress that COVID happened. We slid all the way back and now we've slowly regained. So at least we're back to where we were, which I think is a good thing for people with disabilities. Specifically to Massachusetts, though, we've seen that, we've seen our VR program increase and consumers typically we have, you know, somewhere between 850 and 950. Now we're at about 1050, 1038 consumers. Exactly, actually that we served as of June 30 at the end of the fiscal year. And of that, we had 155successful closures, and many of those were six figure closures. We had a significant amount of people that got a high level job, so that's very encouraging to us and we've had some good results. I know we're going to talk about some of the specific programs we're looking at pre X, we're looking at the mid-career professional and even older adults who want to reenter the workforce or continue to work beyond retirement age.   Carol: That is super exciting news. It really is. I love it. That's what I remember you talking about with RSA when we were doing that. Other call it like a year ago, like these six figure positions, that's that's incredible. So now that we've gotten this kind of picture of what's going on in general with your agencies, let's just look a little bit at the overall employment picture in each of your states. So what's your employment rate kind of look like and what are your hot employment markets and sectors? And David, I'll go to you first. I know you started a little bit on this. I'll let you expand.   David: Yeah, as I indicated, health care remains strong. In Massachusetts, we're hovering right around five percent for the general unemployment number. Our labor participation rate among the general population remains strong. Unfortunately, among people with disabilities, we're still looking at around two thirds of all working age people with disabilities who are not in the labor force. To me, that's job one, right? That's job one for our agency, for our counselors, is engaging our consumers and trying to get them resolved to want to work. That, I think, is because before you can get the job, we know how to get them the job once they're resolved, but they've got to be resolved to want to work. So that's job one. Then the second part is getting them a job, which is it's not easy, but it's easier, right? I think we're doing well. We've put together public awareness campaigns to really try to get out there. We use actually real allotment dollars from RSA to launch our What's Your Vision campaign, which we're out on TV with 30 second ads. We've been in print or on social media again, go to mass dot gov food slash MQB to check out the full campaign. I know there was a plethora of real dollars coming from RSA, so if you're looking for something to do with those dollars, we've proved the proof of concept that you can do it and it can be effective because we're having more people come to MQB.   Carol: Very cool. Yeah, I'm looking forward to looking at that link. So Natasha, how about you? What's going on with the employment overall? The picture in Minnesota?   Natasha: Minnesota is looking great. Our unemployment rate is at 3.8percent, which is well below the national average. Our labor force participation rate is 67.8 percent for all individuals and about 48 percent of Minnesotans with a disability are employed, and that's compared to about 38.8 percent nationally. So the numbers are looking great. And when you're asking about hot jobs across the board, everything is hot right now. Job vacancies are at a record number. Employers across the state are reporting difficulty finding workers. The demand is especially high in health care and social assistance. But those other areas that really were hit hard during the recession, including food service, hospitality, those are soaring right back.   Carol: Wow, thank you for that. So it's no secret that the pandemic had a huge impact on employment and the economy as a whole. But can you tell us how the pandemic has affected employment for the customers you serve in particular? And are there any lessons you learned during these past 18 months you're putting into place for the long term and attached? I'm going to punt that one to you first.   Natasha: We actually had a lot more opportunity than challenge when COVID hit, so we did have a number of individuals with disabilities who were laid off primarily because they were in the service and hospitality industry, and that was hit especially hard. But with COVID, it really showed that teleworking is completely and utterly doable, and all of these job postings we're seeing now are for remote workers. And when you're working with people who have transportation barriers who also live in very rural settings, this has been incredible and they're getting jobs and we're able to accommodate those jobs. The biggest struggle, though, is because we are so remote and virtual is accessibility issues, and we've been doing a lot of education of employers, of our own employer, the state of Minnesota, how to make sure everything is accessible so that if someone is working virtually, they can still do their job. And how we implement accommodations in a virtual world look very different. I think our biggest lesson learned is you just need to roll with it. You have to be flexible and you can't get locked into the way you used to do things. So we did things we didn't think was actually possible. We've done virtual adjustment to blindness training. We've even done virtual job site accommodations where they would walk us around on their phone or their laptop showing us the worksite, and we had been able to give suggestions and ideas how to accommodate without ever leaving our house. You just have to throw the book out the window is what we learned.   Carol: I bet your team has been super busy. I bet those guys are just like, Wow, but it's got to make the work super interesting.   Natasha: It's so much fun. I have never seen such creativity as I have these past 18 months. We have tried anything and everything, and it's been incredible. We're going to use a lot of those things from here on out.   Carol: Oh, very cool. So, David, I know you guys are always super innovative at the mask commission. So what about you? Tell us about how these last 18 months have impacted you and employment for your customers and kind of any lessons you've learned?   David: Yeah, really. Just a big credit goes out to our team and our consumers, one for being resilient. And we closed Friday, March 13 at five o'clock and we were open for business Monday morning, 9:00 a.m. Our counselors were already equipped with mobile laptops. Aware, which is our case management system, is all in the cloud, so we were positioned well to be able to work in this remote environment. So that's helped our counselors and our team. But additionally, I got to agree in Natasha's right, and I think you all listening to this podcast will agree the amelioration of transportation as a barrier or at least the significant amount of that as a barrier has been a game changer. It's really a paradigm shift and is unlocked. So many potentials for not only blind people, but all people with disabilities. I think that the permanence of that opportunity is a huge takeaway, a silver lining. Covid is a very serious situation. A lot of people have suffered, so I don't want to say it's a great thing because we wouldn't want to trade that right. But this is really help people with disabilities. And I think in the long term, it's going to continue to help them. I think that's the top of the full thing. And how can we leverage that even further? Is there are things we can collectively go to RSA for or I think, you know, Carol, I also sit on the National Council on Disability. Although I'm here as commissioner today, I'm trying to influence people on the federal level to think outside the box. And let's consider if there are other ways that we can leverage, whether it's being online or any technology that we can use to bring to bear for the benefit of people with disabilities to work.   David: I think more and more of that is coming, and that's a good thing. We're getting some of the other things we've been doing, though we just want an award. I'm pleased to say for our graphic novel that we put together our Patriots Best Practices guide. That's a good thing. We're trying to engage those students and their families who traditionally you know how some of these RSA guidelines go. They're very dry. They're on an eight and a half by 11 piece of paper typed print. This is engaging. We find once you put it in the kids hands, they can't put it down and they're learning about all the steps of VR and the families are learning about that. That's a good thing because we really believe it takes a village and back to the other thing we were talking about where you've got to get the person with the disability resolved to want to work. And yes, they come about that ultimately on their own. But if their families are in on it, their friends are in on it, the community is on it and telling them, Hey, this is a good thing. Work brings independence, self-determination and it really, you're going to be contributing to something. I mean, I would assert somebody's self-identity really work is intertwined with that. So we think that things, whether it's the what? Your Vision ad campaign, this Preets practices guide, all of the other work that we're doing, trying to get out into the broader community. We think that rising tide will lift all ships.   Carol: So is that price guide also on your website, David?   David: It sure is Mass.Gov/MCB. Additionally, we have a companion website that goes with it that shows you the graphic novel and is audio described at the same time. And I think that's quest for independence. It's the UWW, AMC B Dash quest for independence. Again, go toMass.Gov/MCB. You'll get the link to it.   Carol: Awesome. No, I'm sure there's some people going to be interested in that as well. That's a bonus tip all listeners for the price guide. That's great. So it might be a little early on seeing this yet, but have you either have you seen any kind of the signs of the long COVID starting to impact customers? David, I'll ask you that first, have you started to see that?   David: Yeah. So in Massachusetts, we haven't seen too much of that, but we have seen hesitancy getting back out into the community a little bit. And on the consumer side, you know, so we're only going to do that when people are comfortable because it's really it's safety first, it's safety first for our team, for our counselors and then additionally for the consumers. We haven't seen too many breakthroughs, fortunately or too much spread in our community in Massachusetts, which we're grateful for. We have a high vaccination rate. I think Massachusetts leads the nation in the percentage of our people who are vaccinated. I think that's contributed and helped really open things up in Massachusetts here. I wouldn't say it's back to what it was pre-COVID, but I think we're trending in the right direction and hopefully sometimes we'll be able to put this behind us.   Carol: Good. Good, Natasha, what about in Minnesota? Are you seeing any signs of like the long COVID in customers?   Natasha: We have not. Between both general and blind. We haven't seen a single applicant or customer who is dealing with long COVID. Part of me is, yes, it might be too soon, and the other part of me is thinking, I don't know if individuals really are realizing that those long term effects are going to have a disabling impact on them, and they may not even realize what VR is or what disability is. They were living and working just as anyone does. And then this happened. So I think there might need to be some awareness out there in the future.   Carol: I can see a campaign coming. I can see David like launching a campaign around this, how we going to serve the long COVID folks. So back in the day, I used to have this personal philosophy. I like to tag to start with, you know, about employment, and I always felt that I wanted our customers to achieve and obtain or maintain family sustaining wages. And I don't focus used to be like, what? Like, what is that? But I didn't want people to just get a job. I wanted them to give more than a job. I was hoping it could lend itself to a career and moving up and having a ladder and buying a house and doing all of that. So what is your personal philosophy around employment and people with disabilities and Natasha, I'll ask you first.   Natasha: My first philosophy is I agree with you, Carol. Any old job does not mean a good job, and family sustaining wage is essential. My other philosophy is I don't believe there should have to be a philosophy around employment of people with disabilities. I mean, frankly, VR is a long term goal needs to be that we aren't needed, that the only factor in any employment situation should be that the individual can do the job and it should not matter if they have a disability or not. And employers need to recognize that every single person brings value and strength to the organization. And we are doing a family sustaining wage study in Minnesota, and 93 percent of individuals with disabilities who are part of the data did not receive a family sustaining wage. 93 percent, there should not be a gap and they should not be relegated to entry level employment, minimum wage employment if they want and need to do more. My philosophy is there shouldn't have to be one.   Carol: I love that here here, Mic-drop on that boom. So David, how about you? Even though we shouldn't have to have one? Do you have a personal philosophy?   David: I certainly do as a consumer myself, having been completely blind multiple times in my life and now being legally blind right on 20-200, there is a significant amount of suffering that occurs with people with blindness, people with disabilities in general. Coming to that acceptance, that disability is going to be part of the natural human condition, I think is the first thing. So once you can come to terms with that, then it becomes the greatest secret right, which is we become what we think about. So if you focus and your resolve that you want to work, you will achieve that and then move up. And so it starts with goal setting and a plan and all the things we talk about in VR, the tried and true methods of sitting down with your family, with your extended circle and drawing up that plan and sticking to it, the path to prosperity is paved by perseverance. You got to hang in there for everyone hundred you ask you. I get 99 no's, and you can't give up until you get that one, yes, even if it's at the hundredth time, so you've got to hang in there, that is. The number one thing is that perseverance, because people with disabilities are naturally inclined to solve problems to hang in there. Whether it's the Accenture study that we know that people with disabilities outperformed in terms of being on time in terms of having less absenteeism, in terms of being productive in many ways. Those are all good traits, but it starts with overcoming the inherent challenges that come with disability. And then once you do that, then come into VR. We've got programs and services, and we've got great professionals who know how to provide opportunities for you.   Carol: I love that. Oh my gosh, I'm glad you said it. That Accenture study as well. It's back to the basics. I always think we used to talk about that. Going back to the basics. I know sometimes it's like, Oh, here's a flashy new program that's going on, but really, it is back to the basics. I am going to ask you, though, have you had any other types of initiatives or practices that you put into place around employment that you're hoping are going to help to move the needle forward? And David, I'm going to kick that to you.   David: So let's talk about some of the realignment projects that we do. I think year one realignment projects that we did. Twenty four separate realignment projects, we follow that up with another six this year. I think we're doing another 6. So we're talking everything from the graphic novel that we talked about to we launched an employer challenge during the pandemic. We get great response on that from the business community, where we challenge the business community to, hey, do one more thing. That's the name of the campaign. Do one more thing. Everybody can be a mentor. You can offer one more internship. How about interviewing and then hiring and then promoting and retaining all of those things? So that's what that campaign is centered around. We launched our Career View podcast. We've got twenty one episodes there on all types of VR topics. We have special guests and staff and counselors sharing their insight, by the way that's available on our website Mass.Gov/MCB. You can also find it on SoundCloud, Apple and Google. So we have our nationally recognized summer internship program. This year, we had nearly 70 individuals participate that joins more than a group of 700 that we've had over the years. In October, we had our job fair. We do that annually at Radcliffe and with partners like Perkins School for the Blind, Carroll Center for the Blind and other community stakeholders. This year we had 40 career ready candidates who pitch themselves. We did reverse pitches, which seem to be a very effective model in the 20 personnel executives that we have loved it and we're getting placements out of that job fair. We did the 60 second elevator pitch, so if you want more information, contact me, be pleased to share it. We did a reach for the stars, which was in that event where we gave out gifts to the people that had the best pitches. And then for Nadeem, we created blogs and worked with our sister agencies, MRC and Match Commission for the death of Hard of Hearing to get it out through their communities to make sure that people know that, yeah, it's about blindness, but it's also about people with deaf blindness and people with blindness and other disabilities as well. So whether it's the virtual town halls that we're doing, I came day celebrations. I mean, we've got a lot of events going on. My team has worked so hard and I think we have the advantage, though, of such institutional knowledge and just great human resources here in Massachusetts with our team at MCB and the consumers. I mean, you just got to have a willing consumer group that wants to take part.   Carol: Well, I think you need to have a session at NCSAB or CSr CSAvR and all the things that you're doing because I could just see, like my old director, wheels are turning. I am sure colleagues from across the country would be like, What are you doing? I want to know more about that.   David: Sign us up. I mean, there is a number of other studies that we did realignment projects. I think in total, Carla and I, who's our communications director, Carla Cathy, does a terrific job. I think we stopped at 52 different projects that we've done over the past 24 months or something like that. So we've got a lot going on. Check us out. Mass.Gov/MCB to find out more.   Carol: Holy smokes. Thanks for sharing that. So Natasha, I know you're representing you and Dee, so are there any other initiatives or practices that you all are doing around employment to move the needle forward?   Natasha: I got sent a whole list that Minnesota General has been doing, but I think the biggest thing I wanted to share first is that we are doing most of these things together. I think Minnesota General and Minnesota Blind had had a long history of being very isolated from one another and siloed. That is no more. We do almost everything together and as one voice, and so a lot of the things I'll be talking about, we are doing this as a team, but with employment, I think pre-employment is the first place we start is when you build that. Relationship between a student and work, so a couple of things that we're doing at SSB is bring your a game where students are meeting monthly and they get information about an Alexa game and then they play that game with their family and friends, and then they come back together with their peers to talk about the game and how it relates to jobs and job skills. And then we also did an open mic night so that we can encourage the artistic side of our students. And they came, Well, they're going to be coming on the 28th. They're singers and bands and poets and comedians and storytellers, so they'll be able to share their talent. We're also expanding our pre-employment transition services programs. We're adding another work opportunity navigator who's going to be focused on providing work experiences in the northern region since we have a ton of students up there and a lot of need. We're also entering into a contract with the third party to host liability insurance so that we can get more students out there for work experiences. That's been our biggest barrier, so we figured let's get over that so we can get students paid work experiences. We have a program in Minnesota called the Connect seven hundred program, which is great but could be better. But Connect seven hundred is like Schedule A, where a person with a disability can come in and have a noncompetitive interview. And the Connect 700 program has just soared this last year. And the stats are that someone who applies for Connect 700 with the state are nearly twice as likely to get hired than someone from the general public firsthand. SSB has had a number of vacancies in every single vacancy, has had to connect 700 applicant and almost every single vacancy has been hired from a Connect 700. So that's been a really great experience. Another huge project, and I'm going to say it's 2 projects. The first is the elimination of subminimum wage. Legislature created a task force to eliminate it by 2025 and going hand in hand with that is our collaboration with the Department of Human Services to help people who are on waivers and receiving vocational rehabilitation to get jobs. We're doing something called service provider alignment, so if someone's on a waiver and getting vocational rehabilitation services, they can have the same provider from start to finish. We have a new framework called Engage Plan, Find and Keep so that it helps people move through that process without any delays so that they can get into employment. And there's no back and forth of who's paying for what. So it's a seamless experience. And then I could go on and on with 50 more things, but for sake of time, I won't. But the final thing is we have increased our collaboration with our WIO partners tenfold because they have connections. We don't we know disability, but they have connections with the business community we often can't replicate. So we've been doing a lot with our title 1 and title 3 partners. And so with that, I'll turn it back to you, Carol.   Carol: Well, I know that's been on your heart for a long time. You've always talked about that partnership with the WIO partners, and that is so critical. You both have so much happening. And so I want to lead us into our National Disability Employment Awareness Month, little part of our discussion and how each of your agencies is drawing attention to this month. So, Natasha, I know that I was following on social media as well and saw that there was an employer event earlier in the month. So can you tell us a little bit about how that went?   Natasha: Yeah, we had over 400 attendees. We invited the creators of the windmill training. If you're familiar with windmills, Milt Wright is the company, and the two owners of that corporation actually came and presented. And the topic was music within disability inclusion in a business world, and that recording is available on YouTube. And if you go to our Career Force website, it's available on there. We also unveiled something called disability inclusion bite-size learning modules for employers, and they are 20 minute modules and there are five of them that employers can go in and learn about disability inclusion, and there's tip sheets and tip cards and how they can incorporate it into their business. We've also done a number of blog posts and of course, we celebrated White Cane Day and we posted three videos regarding White Cane Day and what it means for people with vision loss. And fortunately, our governor is very much in support and issue two proclamations one for NDI and one for White Cane Day.   Carol: Yeah, that was awesome and I loved it. I saw your video too, promoting White Cane Day. I thought that was really well done. Both of you are good at the old social media and David, I follow the mask commission all the time on social media and I saw you were part of a panel a couple of weeks ago for National Disability Employment Awareness Month.   David: Yeah.   Carol: and also I saw there was a podcast dropped and you had a couple of other tweets out and some really cool things with customers. I just wondered if there's any things you want to highlight about the special month.   David: Again, just a shout out to our team for doing such a great job with all of the social. Media, Caller Kath is doing a great job, but did a VR panel with the state exchange for employment for people with disabilities, a seed project which counts on state governments, has an affiliate. It's the National Association of State Personnel executives. So NASPE they had their conference in Boston, so they wanted to hear from me. So we were able to present there about hiring people with disabilities. So we're a model employer state. We talked a little bit about that and how they could do things in their state. So that was good. But we kicked off the month with our vlog and our ad campaign that I mentioned previously. What's your vision, which is on TV and it's in print and it's really getting a lot of traction. We had our job fair. We had our employer of the year and then our Reach for the Stars contest, which we talked about. We had our virtual town hall with our transportation authority, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, about barriers and making sure that people with disabilities have their free or reduced Charlie card in Massachusetts. If you're blind, you have a free travel pass to be able to travel throughout the public transit system. So we talked about that we had a white pain awareness day and celebration where we had some mobility awards within that program. That was fun, but we had a provider's council presentation with the disability commissioners all throughout Massachusetts about human services and things like that. We presented to higher education professionals at Lesley University. We did an event for parents of children with blindness and visual impairments for the Boston Public Schools and New England College of Optometry. Again, just more of the reallotment project. So it's very busy at MCB, but it's a good thing. And I think that's one of the reasons why you're seeing the amount of consumers coming in for VR is up. The amount of closures is up. So it's a good thing. I think it's working.   Carol: I'd say so, David, I think you need to train your peers. I have never seen anyone quite like you and how you've promoted and really gotten traction in Massachusetts and have made some really cool things happen. I think it's amazing. And Natasha, I just wanted to say so that if people wanted to follow what you were talking about with the mini modules for the employers, I looked it up and it's CareerForceMN.com. So if anybody wants to listen to that, definitely. David's promoted his website to a number of times, but folks should definitely go to both because I think that you will get a lot of rich information that is applicable in any state. It doesn't have to be that it was developed for Massachusetts or Minnesota. What's being said are things that are pertinent anywhere. So I know we need to close up here shortly and I just want to ask you each. So if you had a shiny VR crystal ball and you could forecast what is happening with VR 5 years from now and how would employment for VR look? And what do you think needs to be done to just overall improve employment for individuals with disabilities? Natasha, I'm going to go to you first and then I'll go to David   Natasha: O if only I had that crystal ball. You know, I think we can't have VR look the same in 5 years from now as it does 5 years ago. I think we have hung our hats on the old way of doing VR for so long, and we really, really need to reimagine across the board how we work with our customers and everything that David says. This is what I hope that all VR agencies embrace. We need to connect people to not just any old job. We need to be focusing on advancement. We want people to never have to come back to VR. But yeah, that's the majority of our cases. Are people returning. That's why we need to invest people for the long haul and we need to make sure that they have everything that they need so that they do not come back. And the way that we approach businesses, I think, has been kind of archaic and has been from this. Well, we're going to convince you to hire people with disabilities, but we need to be driving home that the expectation is if employers want talented, loyal staff, a strong business model that embraces diversity and inclusion and a workforce that actually reflects their stakeholders and customers, then they cannot disregard the disability community. And VR needs to be the leader in that message. And it cannot be. Just please hire someone with a disability that's not going to work, and that's not our approach anymore.   Carol: Well said. Well said. So, David, how about you? Do you have a crystal ball?   David: Wish I did. But the great poet Santayana said those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it, so I think we need to look back. Let's look back at starting with like Smith's best act and all of that and see how much progress we have made. And even it just contemporarily when we're talking about we did away with homemakers, that was a big VR thing. Right now, it's imminent that we're going to get rid of. 14C, that's another step. You know, I look at programs like the SBA8A program. Let's get included in that. I look at Randolph Sheppard as we've seen the pandemic just crushed so many of those vendors there. What can we do now to expand that program or to get that program into other sectors or industries to keep that alive and keep people entrepreneurial? So I. I think the future's bright for VR, I believe in incremental change. These are long standing challenges that are profound. And so to me, it's like, what can we do to look at the existing program, incorporate all of the good things that we've talked about, all of the things that we've been hyper accelerated to learn as a result of COVID. It's the transportation piece that we talked about, the technology piece that we talked about. Let's keep that going so we can provide our people with access to the opportunities. And I'm just very confident that we're trending in the right direction. I want to keep it going.   Carol: Well, thank you, David, for those positive words at the end. I really appreciate that. I think you two are both such a visionary and just talented leaders, and I'm really looking forward to the work you all do over these next five years. Very excited. Thank you for being on the show. I appreciate your time. I know you're both busy.   David: Thank you, Carol.   Natasha: Thanks to you all.   Speaker1: Conversations powered by VR. 1 manager at a time, 1 minute at a time brought to you by the VRtAC for Quality Management. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening!

# Are we being protected by white cane laws? How should we handle white cane safety? October is also Disability Employment Awareness Month. The employment rate for people who are blind remains at 30 percent, leaving 70 percent of people who are blind not employed. Why is that? Can anything be done to fix it?

“Those who expect to reap the benefits of freedom must undergo the fatigues of supporting it.” —Thomas Paine, 1777 We're back, for round two, back in studio. We're in person again for our final live show of October and, when live, you never know what will happen on air. We talk days of importance and if there's a point to it. Days, weeks, months: Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM), National Day of Action For Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, World Sight Day, White Cane Safety Day/White Cane Awareness Day/White Cane Day. Eye health is important, but as blind people celebrate it too and the problem of no sight bumps up against the pride we're trying to feel and show to ourselves and others. Blindness is a spectrum, shades of grey from low vision to totally blind. More resources for blind people to be successful and happy is where we on Outlook stand. From World Sight Day to White Cane Day. We talk orientation and mobility, stairs vs elevator, and backtracking and accepting assistance. Fitting in vs finding our way. It's about finding the focus and figuring it out. We discuss tips we'd give to anyone assisting us and helpful apps we can access. From apps to more low tech tools for independence. We talk unloading dishes from the dishwasher and sorting and washing towels. It's the mystery of blindness demystified. Finding meaning in the mundane. Brian will be attending the CNIB's Connecting The Dots conference this month, to see what they have to offer, and Kerry isn't happy with them lately and will not be going, but talks her frustration with that organization's lack of care with their braille translation/production. What makes a book accessible? The CNIB is no longer offering this though they claim they are. Low quality braille is all they offer now. Lately we've been talking about advocacy fatigue. Kerry just the other day attended something fun and positive, something promoting audio description, the Luminato Festival, an arts and culture festival in Toronto. Sometimes we need a break from the advocacy, though advocacy can come through art. We're still here because it does matter and it's the small price paid for living as white settlers on this land, privileged as we are, in Canada. For more info on a few of the things mentioned in this episode, for the Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN) and Luminato Festival Toronto and the podcast Talk Description To Me, you can check out: https://www.odenetwork.com https://luminatofestival.com https://talkdescriptiontome.buzzsprout.com

Episode Notes This week Anthony speaks with the effervescent  Jeannine Stanley about what's going on with AIRA and some HUGE announcements. Have you found a creative way to use AIRA? Jeannine and Anthony want to highlight some creative uses also.  Then in our second hour Anthony welcomes back the Get up, Get Moving folks to celebrate the Coast to Coast White Cane Day Dance Party celebration, talk about what's next and hear from listeners how they celebrated White Cane Day and how they are…. Getting up and Getting Moving!  Questions and comments for the show can be sent to:  celebrationac@aol.com

Jeff Molzow is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, someone who helps teach adults who are blind and visually impaired to return to work successfully and effectively. Jeff has continuously pushed the envelope of his field via his passion for blind advocacy, combined with a strong background in technology.  Now Jeff is here to help us understand what White Cane Day is, and why it's such an important day for the blind community. You'll also hear from TSBVI student Michael Fulk, sharing his take on this holiday. For more information about White Cane Day visit https://whitecaneday.org/

Join the Misfits as they talk with Political Refugees Benafsha and Medhi Yaqoobi. Visually impaired themselves, this family serves as the Commissioner for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. They share with us about the condition of living with a disability under Taliban rule and the work they have done to try and promote equal treatment among women and those with disabilities.For more information on the Yaqoobi family or to support their work visit www.hopefound.orgThis episode is sponsored by Courageous Clothing Company.For more information on Courageous Clothing Company visit: www.courageousclothingcompany.comFor a full list of our links and ways you can support the show visit bio.link/ministrymisfits or go to https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ministrymisfits--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/appSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ministrymisfits/supportSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/Ministrymisfits)

Join the Misfits as they talk with Political Refugees Benafsha and Medhi Yaqoobi. Visually impaired themselves, this family serves as the Commissioner for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. They share with us about the condition of living with a disability under Taliban rule and the work they have done to try and promote equal treatment among women and those with disabilities.For more information on the Yaqoobi family or to support their work visit www.hopefound.orgThis episode is sponsored by Courageous Clothing Company.For more information on Courageous Clothing Company visit: www.courageousclothingcompany.comFor a full list of our links and ways you can support the show visit bio.link/ministrymisfits or go to https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ministrymisfits--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/appSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ministrymisfits/supportSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/Ministrymisfits)

Olga Itsenko-Mahler from Brisbane is a blind mom, blogger and businesswoman. She sews costumes and organizes children's parties, trains for the Paralympics in Paris and delights guests with goodies that she cooks herself and teaches other blind people to cook. This is a Russian language content. - Ольга Иценко-Малер из Брисбена - незрячая мама, блогер, а с недавних пор и предприниматель. Она шьет костюмы и устраивает детские утреники, готовится к Паралимпиаде в Париже и радует гостей вкусностями, которые готовит сама и учит готовить других незрячих людей.

October 15, 2021 is National White Cane Day in the United States. Today I talk a bit about what this has to do with health and fitness.   ***** Created and produced by Lyn Lindbergh of COUCH to ACTIVE. Get the Couch to Active online experience and kickstart your health and fitness motivation today. www.couchtoactive.com/course  Fitness Motivation, Personal Trainer, Group Fitness, and support for people with Chronic Illness, Long-Term Injuries, are Blind.   Join a group fitness class of Lyn's designed specifically for people with chronic illnesses, fibromyalgia, absolute beginners, and the blind. https://www.couchtoactive.com/group-fitness    Lyn's YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGsnbdFmkpX5vgDTUgUr03g/playlists   

In honour of White Cane Day October 15, 2021 Harriet talks to Seeing Eye Dogs' learning and development lead instructor Kylie Gersh about dog guide mobility and how handlers can navigate with the assistance of a Seeing Eye Dogs. If you are blind or have low vision and wonder if a Seeing Eye Dog is right for you visit Seeing Eye Dogs' website for information for future clients which includes information about eligibility and FAQs. If you are a dog guide handler and would like to find more information about our client services webinars or masterclasses visit our website for upcoming webinars or our masterclass series to help you get the most out of your partnership. For more information on Seeing Eye Dogs the work we do and how you can help visit our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you could have dinner with just one person who's not alive today, a famous person from history, who would you choose? It's October which means Blindness Awareness Month, October 14th being World Sight Day, and October 15th which is known as White Cane Day, we at Outlook speak with M. Leona Godin, friend of the show. We've been talking a lot about her recently released cultural exploration of blindness and sight - "There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness" since it came out, with Pantheon Books, back in June. And before, since her first appearance on the show in June of 2020. Again, it being October and with Halloween right around the corner, what is it with the graphic language around the eyes (gouging in works of literature such as in Shakespeare's King Lear or Oedipus Rex by Sophocles? Godin took a phrase from Shakespeare for a chapter in her book entitled: "Out, Vile Jelly!" It seems to fit the theme and this time of year well, as we discuss the vulnerability of one's eyes and the forms that takes. We talk book title changes like hers which occurred in the year since she was last on with us, and why there's not more of a call for blind pride, but not like how there's terms such as blind rage, blind drunk, and how love is blind. Instead, why is there a hesitancy for creating a blindness pride movement, as in the other pride movements happening in other marginalized communities? We ponder out loud an imaginary dinner party with us three in attendance, along with historical figures mightily included in "There Plant Eyes", such as Louis Braille and Helen Keller - 2021 we're referring to as the year of "There Plant Eyes" on Outlook On Radio Western and this one was a fun, light chat between friends with a little vile jelly thrown in for good measure. Here's where to go to find out more information about There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness and the link to hear Leona's first appearance on Outlook from last year: http://thereplanteyes.com/about-the-book-and-the-author/ https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-on-radio-western/id1527876739?i=1000488226682

October is such an exciting month, you guys! For one, it is the Blindness Awareness Month which we all love. We also have White Cane Day coming up which is our favorite. And of course, with that, I've got some easy activity ideas that I would love to share with you guys to implement with your students for White Cane Day! You will get to hear five activity ideas that you can also mix around for you and your students to do together, depending on how you see fits. These ideas are a mix of virtual activities as well as in-person. Excited? Head on to the podcast now! Links: Allied Independence, Website

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:Announcement 1: Our full episode will release on Friday for White Cane Day! We have a special guest, a political refugee from Afghanistan, who serves as the Commissioner for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC). You can learn more at www.hopefound.org.Announcement 2: You can join our mailing list at: http://eepurl.com/hKi0BLAnnouncement 3: Ministry Misfits Merchandise is ready for preorder. Contact us today!Announcement 4: We want to come see you! Ministry Misfits is brought to you by: Courageous Clothing CompanyFor more information visit: bio.link/ministrymisfits--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ministrymisfits/supportSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/Ministrymisfits)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:Announcement 1: Our full episode will release on Friday for White Cane Day! We have a special guest, a political refugee from Afghanistan, who serves as the Commissioner for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC). You can learn more at www.hopefound.org.Announcement 2: You can join our mailing list at: http://eepurl.com/hKi0BLAnnouncement 3: Ministry Misfits Merchandise is ready for preorder. Contact us today!Announcement 4: We want to come see you! Ministry Misfits is brought to you by: Courageous Clothing CompanyFor more information visit: bio.link/ministrymisfits--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ministrymisfits/supportSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/Ministrymisfits)

How do we best serve the blind and visually impaired in our schools? CESA 2's very own Kristi Kimberlin and Chelsea Dallin talk about their experiences at the Wisconsin School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and in daily life. Come celebrate White Cane Day as they describe what the visually impaired need for the best education experience. Subscribe to our CESA 2 podcast email list!: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/S091xli/podcast

KGMI's Joe Teehan talks to Yvonne Miller about White Cane Day and the importance of being aware of blind people living in our communities.

It's a special White Cane Day edition of Talking Vision as Sam catches up with vice president of Blind Citizens Australia Fiona Woods to talk about the upcoming David Blyth Award which will be held on the evening of White Cane Day on October 15. Vision Australia client Ed Tap also joins the show with his orientation and mobility instructor Carolina Canavezzi to talk about the journey they've been on together to improve Ed's independence after he experienced further vision loss. Then to wrap up the show, Stella Glorie pops in for a quick chat about Vision Australia's monthly newsletter For Your Information or FYI. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Francene Marie interviews Shannon Houlihan, the Executive Director of Para Guide. Para Guide is a volunteer led organization that has trained 225+ volunteers to guide blind athletes. Mark your calendars for October 16th as we celebrate Blind Sports Day and White Cane Day with Mecklenburg Park and Recreation, Metrolina Association for the Blind, and the Charlotte Independence. Para Guide supports the visually impaired via cycling, running, yoga, tennis, soccer, goal ball, and more! Also in October this amazing group will offer their final virtual event of the year in partnership with OrthoCarolina.   Sign up for their newsletter at www.paraguide.org because everyone is welcome to join! Follow on Facebook: PARA GUIDE. On Instagram: para_guide, or follow on Twitter @para_guide, LinkedIn at Para Guide and TikTok @paraguide.

Metformin recall; 2021 ACB Convention is virtual; White Cane Day, delivery option for seniors, Kentucky Talking Book Library news, Covid contact tracing; incredible food facts

Metformin recall; 2021 ACB Convention is virtual; White Cane Day, delivery option for seniors, Kentucky Talking Book Library news, Covid contact tracing; incredible food facts

We celebrate White Cane Day and chat with a young white cane user Sam, his father Jim and orientation and mobility specialist Darren. Also on the program, Donna Dyson has chosen White Cane Day to release her latest single I Close My Eyes to See. We talk with Donna about her motivation to write the song and what White Cane Day means to her.

Elana's White Cane Tips, Weekend Weather Forecast, Fun Fact of the Week, Wisconsin White Cane Law, Celebrity Birthdays, and White Cane Day History.

This week on the ACB Advocacy Update, Claire Stanley and Clark Rachfal speak with three ACB members - Jeff Thom, Maria Kristic, and Lindsey Tilden, as they celebrate National White Cane Day. The guests talk about their own life experiences as white cane and/or guide dog users and the independence they afford. The holiday emphasizes the independence of blind and visually impaired persons, which often runs contrary to societal misconceptions.

World white cane day || Mrs Namrata || DPS Mahendra Hills

In this episode of The Lead from DH Radio, we talk to several NGO workers and others about the significance of October 15, a day that is marked as World White Cane day. Several organisations and individuals use the occasion to discuss the significance of the white cane and also highlight problems affecting the blind. We speak to Shalini Khanna, Director, NAB Centre for Blind Women in Delhi, Kameshwari Kiran, Programme Manager with Google, and Summaiya Khan who works with an NGO on the use of the white cane and the problems faced by blind women. Kameswari and Summaiya are blind and based in Bengaluru. Download the Deccan Herald app for Android devices here: https://bit.ly/2UgttIO Download the Deccan Herald app for iOS devices here: https://apple.co/30eOFD6 For latest news and updates, log on to www.deccanherald.com Check out our e-paper www.deccanheraldepaper.com To read news on the go, sign up to our Telegram channel t.me/deccanheraldnews

National Coming Out Day recognizes the individual journeys part of the LGBTQ community. What better way to recognize the pride and how far the journey has taken us then by talking with Blind Pride International members and allies. BPI turned 20 this year, and members join Sunday Edition to talk about why it is important to remember the strides so many before us have taken to make the world a safe and accepting place. We will also talk about the importance of being able to COME out and live proudly. Halloween closes out the month of October, but the month opens up celebrating the beauty, diversity, and richness of Hispanic Culture. After a well-respected IRC Luncheon presentation and the beautiful ACB-Voices article celebrating Hispanic Heritage, Gabriel Lopez Kafati brings members of that wonderful panel we met at convention, as well as other proud Hispanic friends in a roundtable celebratory conversation. Gabriel and friends will share the unique aspects of being blind or visually impaired persons living in the US. If you have not had the chance to read Gabriel's article, head to www.acbvoices.org and join so you can enjoy all the wonderful member stories on ACB Voices. National White Cane Day; On October 15th, the world takes a swipe at recognizing the Blind and Visually impaired. Sunday Edition invites all ACB Members to call in and share their experiences and triumphs. Use the Zoom Link below to join the live broadcast. As always, Sunday Edition welcomes your comments, requests, and suggestions. Please reach out by sending me a note at: Celebrationac@aol.com

This segment discusses about White Cane Day

It's so exciting to know that we are entering the Blind Awareness and White Cane Day month which is my second favorite month in the entire year! This is the month to celebrate what it means to be a person with a visual impairment and letting them feel successful and independent as someone they're capable of being. In this week's podcast, you will get ideas on what you can do in order to let your students bond with their classmates remotely. Yes, you heard that right, remote activities! But for people who are back to teaching in person, these activities will also be super fun in person so don't miss out and tune in to the podcast now! Links Allied Independence

Blake Lindsay is a speaker, author of Blind For A Purpose and the manager of Outreach at Envision Dallas. He stops by to share his story and talk technology and White Cane Day.

Matthew Layton presents Studio 1 – Vision Australia Radio's weekly look at life from a low vision and blind point of view. This week… Musicians in lockdown! Most of our lives have been affected in some way by the global pandemic in the last few months, but we wanted to find out how musicians - particularly blind and low vision musicians - are coping. The closure of venues has not only meant the obliteration of their main source of income, but also their direct contact with other humans - both audiences and creative collaborators. Matthew speaks to two blind/vision impaired musicians Shane Kendall and Lara Nakhle about their experiences in the past couple of months and asking if anything good has come out of lockdown for them. He also talks to Jordan Ashby who is organising a virtual music festival for White Cane Day in October. And there's our usual appointment with Studio 1's Mental Health and Safety Manager Tammey Candeloro. Please do get in touch, with the show CALL or TEXT: 04 500 78834 EMAIL: studio1@visionaustralia.org  TWITTER: http://twitter.com/varadionetwork and  http://twitter.com/whingeingpom -- GUESTS AND RESOURCES Shane Kendall - for more information about Shane's fully accessible recording studio, please email shanekendallmusic@gnail.com Jordan Ashby - If you'd like to get involved in Jordan's White Cane Day event, please email him at undefined jordan.ashby@visionaustralia.org  Lara Nakhle - to learn more about Lara and keep tabs on what what she's up to, visit her facebook page https://www.facebook.com/laranakhlemusic/ Tammy Candeloro - Counselling 4 You WA https://www.counselling4youwa.com.au/ - 0423 93 15 74 [PHOTO CAPTION: Singer Lara Nakhle, looking like a superstar, on stage singing gently into a microphone.] -- Vision Australia gratefully acknowledges the support of the Community Broadcasting Foundation for Studio 1.

Stephen Jolley joins the program along with Caren and Jim to chat about White Cane Day.   Vision Australia CEO, Ron Hooten, gives us the update on the new program to further assist people with their NDIS plans and reviews. Julie from the shop talks about the range of white and coloured canes available.

5 Easy Ways to Celebrate White Cane Day and Blindness Awareness Month with your Orientation and Mobility Students: Have a big celebration. Invite 1,000 of your closest friends to march along main street and have a party! Make shirts. Hire a bounce house. Have the mayor give a proclamation. Pull out ALL THE STOPS. This way to celebrate White Cane Day with your students and the entire community. In Austin, they start planning in April and have a lot of support from the community. This is a great option if you are looking for ideas for next year and if you want to get the community involved. If you don't have an extra few months to plan that, check out the other options below. Plan an awareness activity. You can show the video “Just Ask” and have students do fun activities like sandwich making, simple obstacle course, tag, teach guide technique under blindfold. This idea is great for O&M students who want to showcase their abilities and help educate their friends. We talk about more specific ideas in the podcast. Have your student make a thank you card and deliver it to teachers on campus. This idea is great for students who want to celebrate with the teachers who have helped them along the way. Have the student make a card for someone and mail it from the post office. Making a card allows the student to be involved in the process and helps them create something meaningful. Taking it to the post office to be mailed can help increase their independence and teach them all about post offices, address systems, city blocks, etc. Make Cane pretzel rods. By taking a simple pretzel rod and dipping it in white chocolate, you can have a fun, easy to eat (or give away) snack! Who doesn't love snacks? Want a copy of a card you can easily download for your student? Visit Allied Independence Online to grab your free download!

We chat with MP Dr Katie Allen. Dr Allen was a guest at the launch of the tactile twenty dollar note at our Kooyong centre. Also on the program, we talk Vision Australia bursaries and we hear from our Gosford office and its big day of festivities planned for White Cane Day.

In honour of World White Cane Day, which is actually October 15, we hear a repeat of a panel interview from February of 2018, in which former co-host Simon Treviranus speaks with Debora Thomas, Ted Cooke, and Devon Wilkins.

Brooke and Donna welcome back our good friend Samantha. We chat about Gilmore Girls, Pink Hair, Calvin and October 15th being National White Cane Safety Day. Samantha shares the meaning of White Cane Day for individuals that are blind or visual impaired. Lots of laughs with a our 3rd "B". Please be sure to subscribe and rate where you like to listen to podcast. Questions/comments: twobsinapodcast@outlook.com

White Cane Safety Awareness Day is held at the Capital of Minnesota in Saint Paul. Teachers of the blind and visually impaired, students, counselors, parents, representatives, senators and Blind and Visually Impaired people from all across Minnesota gather in the Rotunda where their voices can be heard before they start out on the White Cane Safety Awareness Day walk. The reading of the governor’s proclamation  declaring October 15, 2019 as White Cane Safety Awareness Day. Voices from  our leaders from the Blindness Community and politicians as well. The day starts in the State Capital and then heads out for a walk through the streets of Saint Paul bringing awareness to the public and friendships amongst the attendees. Join us at the Capital in Saint Paul, October 15, 2019, beginning at 10 AM and wrapping up around 1 PM.  If you have any questions you can contact Michell Gip by email or by phone at 612-872-0100 ext. 231. You can register on-line at www.BlindInc.org/White-Cane-Day-2019 . ***** Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. To find your State Services in your State you can go to www.AFB.org and search the directory for your agency. Contact: Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Storeand Google Play Store. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Tech Tip: How to add a voice command to shortcuts you create in the new Siri Shortcuts app for iOS. Main Topic: White Cane Day. Show Notes: Siri Shortcuts: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209055 White Cane Day: https://nfb.org/white-cane-awareness-day

Show Summary: (Full Transcript Below) October 11 is White Cane Day in Minnesota and the Blindness community came out strong to support the awareness of the White Cane. Speakers shared the history of White Cane day and others talked about the freedom and independence the white cane brings to them. The Minnesota State Academy for the Blind shared their voices and sang aloud in the Capital’s Rotundra. With the support of the local Lions Clubs, MSAB, NFB of MN and Blind, Inc. the White Cane Day event was a great event with a lot of participation. From joining in on the song to marching in the walk from the St. Paul Capital to the St. Paul Cathedral and bac, participants chatted and talked while blazing through the chilly and windy Autumn day in Minnesota. As Carol Pankow put it, “Rain, sleet or snow, we do it and the weather doesn’t stop us. We just keep moving and grooving with life. You can find out more about MSAB on the web. http://msab.msa.state.mn.us Check out the NFB of MN on the web at www.NFBMn.org http://members.tcq.net/nfbmn/ And be sure to see what opportunities and events are happening at Blind, Inc. on the web at https://www.blindinc.org And check out your local Lions Club and see what they are doing in your community.   Thanks for Listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store   Full Transcript: What Does White Cane Day Mean to You? Voices at the Capital 2018 John Jasinski: So, on behalf of governor Mark Dayton, I have a proclamation.   Alycia Howard: Hi, I am Alycia Howard.   Brian Daniels: My name's Brian Daniels. I'm the representative from the Faribault area.   Holly Nordmeyer: My name is Holly Nordmeyer. I'm from the Minnesota State Academies.   John Jasinski: So, what does White Cane Day mean to me? My name is Senator John Jasinski. I'm from district 24 where the Minnesota Academies have a facility. So, I believe it's important to raise the awareness on White Cane Day and what it is and making sure that the people with disabilities, blind disabilities are safe on their streets in a safe area so they can walk and navigate through our communities.   Trume: My name is Trume and I feel like coming to White Cane Day means a lot because I know that I ... Although I've been blind for a really long time, I can still use my resources to my advantage.   Kristina T.: My name is Kristina Tinason. I am a teacher for the blind and visually impaired and I come today to celebrate equality and just awareness in general. White Cane Safety Day.   Quinn H.: My name is Quinn Hobble. I come to White Cane Day because being blind myself, I have seen just how much the long white cane gives me freedom and being a contract worker for the state of Minnesota teaching cane travel, I get to see how much freedom the long white cane gives each and every one of my students on a daily basis.   Sheila K.: My name is Sheila Koenig. I'm the transition coordinator at State Services for the Blind and I come to White Cane Day because it's a gathering of blind people from all over the state and we're here to show that we have a voice and a presence. I think it's amazing to kick off the program at the state capital, which is a place that really symbolizes people's voices.   Ryan Strunk: Back in 1928 I believe it was, we passed a resolution that said that we were approving a new travel device for getting safely across the street. And that new travel device was a whistle. The idea was you'd come up to the curb and you'd pull out your whistle and you would blow on your whistle until somebody heard you and came out and you would say, can you please help me across the street?   Eva: I'm Eva. White Cane Day is spreading awareness about blindness and the use of the canes and who we are and that we are out there.   Brian Daniels: My name's Brian Daniels. I'm the representative from the Faribault area. I've been in the legislature for four years and I have to tell you, this White Cane event I think is the best of all our functions that we have. It's showing that people are not disabled if they're blind or disabled in different way, and I love that. I love the school they have down in Faribault. They do a good job for all of our kids and I'm just proud to represent this area.   Carol Pankow: I'm Carol Pankow, Director of State Services for the Blind. Well, White Cane Day, I think, and I love it especially today because it's crappy out, the weather's crazy, but it's just representative of what people go through every single day. Whether it's rain, sleet, snow, beautiful weather, there are people who are blind, visually impaired, deaf-blind, all around this country going out, doing their thing. They're working, they're going to school, they're making it happen and they don't just stay in 'cause the weather got bad. You can't. You gotta keep moving and grooving with your life. So, I just think this day is really representative of all things that ... It's like another day, but it symbolizes what blind, visually impaired and deaf-blind people stand for and that they're able to go out and move around with confidence and do their thing and live their life.   Greg Smith: I'm Greg Smith and I'm here with a group of students from South High School and we're coming just to celebrate the freedom that the white canes provide the students and their independent. We think this is a great event.   Nick: My name is Nick. I come to White Cane Day because it's nice to see that there are other people that are visually impaired like me.   Ryan Strunk: Even though we had this idea in mind that it was now National White Cane Safety Day on October 15th, the public still wasn't always cool with it. You'd walk into a shop that sold glassware with your cane and you could be kicked out or you'd walk into a restaurant with your guide dog and you could be kicked out and so we started fighting across all 50 states to make sure that we had the right to participate.   Nadia: Hi, my name is Nadia and I'm a student at BLIND, Inc. What White Cane Day means to me is that this is a day of pride of us using our white cane. Our white cane shows that we can go anywhere and we're not scared to do anything out in the public. It's a symbol for people to know that we're out here doing our thing just like they are. I love using my white cane every day. I have so much pride in using it and I'm so glad that today we get to celebrate a day like this.   Jeff Thompson: Raise your canes.   Nadia: Oh, that'd be cool. I'm open to that.   Speaker 16: Yeah. I think today is really just good about for the public awareness of people ...   Nadia: I know, yeah.   Speaker 16: There's a lot of people in the general public ...   Nadia: They don't understand it.   Speaker 16: But no. They don't know anyone who's blind, so they're not really exposed to it. So, I think today is just really good ... It's a good day to just, yeah. Kind of makeup. This is one person.   Nadia: Right.   Speaker 17: It's like a chance to stand out from the crowd and understand that even though we're visually impaired or blind, we can still do whatever we set our mind to do.   Anya Swenson: My name is Anya Swenson and I come here to raise awareness about safety and about this important issue.   Ryan Strunk: Because that white came is not only a symbol of who we are, but it is at the core of what makes us independent.   Josie Lion: Hi, like John Davis said, my name is Josie Lion. I found about ... My disability about four years ago in Oklahoma and sadly Oklahoma doesn't have a lot of support, so I didn't really get my cane until about two years ago when I moved here. So, when I was in Oklahoma I was afraid and scared 'cause I didn't have anything to help me figure out what to do. So, I was not social. I was not getting good things. I was just ... I just lived in my own little room, kind of like a hermit crab. When I got here to Minnesota, I got my cane. I felt more positive and I felt more social. I finally went to my first party. So, finally did clubs after school. I finally made friends and actually did things with them and I wouldn't be able to if it wasn't for my white cane.   Kristen O.: Hi. I'm Kristen Orien, state specialist for the blind and visually impaired for the Minnesota Department of Education and I come to White Cane Day to celebrate independent travel.   Terry Wilding: Hello, my name is Terry Wilding. I'm not blind, but I am deaf. What I see for White Cane Day means what we can do to spread awareness about what our students need. The State Academy is what the blind community needs. How we can better advocate for more legislation and changes within our communities as well as changing the culture so that way people are aware of us and willing to work with us from this point forward.   Brent: My names Brent. I'm a new student. I've only attended BLIND, Inc. for about a month now.   Jeff Thompson: Oh, good for you.   Brent: I am from Hastings, Minnesota. White Cane Day means to me that it's a chance for everybody out in the big city and everywhere just to understand that there are visually impaired and blind people out there who deserve to be respected for their blindness, treated fairly just as anybody else and when it comes to street crossings and everything, they're just real willing to ...   Jeff Thompson: At least slow down a little bit, right?   Brent: At least slow down or give us the opportunity to cross. Yeah, yeah.   John Jasinski: Blind pedestrians have the right of way. Any person operating a motor vehicle in this state shall bring such motor vehicle to a stop and give the right away at any intersection of any street, avenue, alley, or other public highway to a blind pedestrian who was carrying a cane, predominantly white, metallic in color, or with or without a red tip or using a guide dog.   Jenny P.: My name is Jenny Pelletier. I'm the music therapist at MSAB and we're excited to be here with all these other folks from Minnesota and celebrate today.   Dan Wenzel: Dan Wenzel. I'm the Executive Director of Blindness: Learning in New Dimensions, BLIND, Incorporated. Love to be here. I think that White Cane Day means to me independence, but also a chance for us to get together as blind people and show the capabilities that we have. So, look forward to getting out there and walking with my friends.   Beth: Beth. I come to White Cane Day because I work with two students that are legally blind and it gives me an opportunity to see other students and how capable they can be.   Alycia Howard: Hi, I am Alycia Howard and to me White Cane Day means a celebration of independence and a celebration of how the long white cane has impacted not only the blind community but how sighted people perceive the blind community and just the positive light that White Cane Day sheds on that.   John Davis: Hi, this is John Davis. I'm the Director at the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind and what White Cane Day means to me, it's an opportunity to share and bring forth the importance of white cane awareness and for people to understand that when they're out driving that they need to be aware of individuals that have either a white cane or a guide dog and that they follow the rules of law, which means that they provide the right away for those individuals so that they can travel safely and those in the vehicles can travel safely as well. It also means that ... For our students in our academy, that white cane means that freedom to be able to get out and just participate in life like everybody else.   Isaac: My name is Isaac. I'm currently an intern student at BLIND, Inc. I'm student teaching there, hoping to obtain NOMC, which is the National Orientation and Mobility Certification. I think it's really great thing that they do here and it's good to get everyone out in the community.   Holly Nordmeyer: My name is Holly Nordmeyer. I'm from the Minnesota State Academies and I'm the Orientation Mobility Instructor and I'm also a teacher for the blind and visually impaired. Well, White Cane Day, for me, it's independence. It's recognition for our students. I mean, our students are a minority in the population overall. To me, it's a time for them to get together and meet other people that are cane travelers and travel at whatever level of skill that they have and show off those skills and let all the drivers out there know that there are white canes and to let the public know what the white cane law means. It means a lot to me.   Dan Wenzel: A lot of people talk about safety, but for me it also means opportunity. An opportunity to explore the world. An opportunity to get out there with our canes and our dogs and make a difference.   Betsy S.: I'm Betsy Shallbetter. I'm a teacher at the Academy for the Blind. White Cane Day means a whole lot to me as it has made a difference in my community. Whenever we do the walk in Faribault, Minnesota people start to pay attention.   Dan Wenzel: For me, it means participation. A chance through action to show the abilities of blind people as we go and live the lives we want.   Brittany T.: My name is Brittany Thomforde. I am the Director of Special Ed at the State Academies and this is my first White Cane Day.   Jeff Thompson: Your first?   Brittany T.: My first. I've never participated in a White Cane Day.   Jeff Thompson: Well, welcome.   Brittany T.: I'm really excited to see how this event works and see all the students and adults and teachers and staff and I'm excited to cheer everybody on. I'm the first one down at the end of the steps today, so I'm excited to do that.   Jeff Thompson: Oh, so they get a job for ya?   Brittany T.: I have a job. I chose to volunteer today.   Jeff Thompson: There you go.   John Jasinski: So, on behalf of Governor Mark Dayton. I have a proclamation.   Samantha: Hi, I'm Samantha and I think that the white cane is very important because to so many people it's such a symbol of independence.   John Jasinski: Whereas there are estimated 63,000 Minnesotans who are blind or visually impaired, many of them who've traveled with white canes.   Samantha: I know, for me, I've been blind my whole life. I've never not used a cane. I know a lot of kids sort of reject it and don't wanna be seen with it, but to me, I never felt safe traveling without one.   John Jasinski: And whereas the need for the orientation and mobility services and White Cane Safety awareness will continue to grow and remain vital to the educational, vocational and recreational needs of all Minnesotans who are blind or visually impaired.   Samantha: To me, it's always been a big deal. My mom is blind as well. I was using a cane from the time I could walk. I was walking around conventions and stuff when I was two with the canes.   John Jasinski: And whereas the Minnesota Department of Education and Minnesota Public Schools support educational outcomes for all children.   Samantha: Always been something I have had and I think it's something that it's important that people realize it's sort of a symbol of independence rather than a stigmatized symbol of needing assistance. I think there's an important distinction there.   John Jasinski: Now therefore, I, John Jasinski, on behalf of Governor Mark Dayton, do hereby proclaim Thursday, October 11th, 2018 as White Cane Safety Awareness Day.   Jennifer Pelletier: Our students at the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind have been working on composing a song in the last few weeks. Many of them have had the opportunity to put some thoughts together about what White Cane Day means to them. We talked about what it was like to use a white cane for the first time. We read the white cane law and had a little bit of discussion about that.   Ryan Strunk: So, as you walk today, as you stride out around the Capitol, down the streets, be proud of your white cane. Tap that white cane and let everybody know that we are here, we are not going anywhere and we are proud of who we are. Thank you ladies and gentlemen.   Kristen Oien: All right. Hello everyone. I'm Kristen [Oien, I would like to send out a special thank you to Holly Nordmeyer and Michelle Gip for helping arrange this awesome day. So, let's give them all a round of applause. I'd also like to thank all of our volunteers who will be along the route if you have some ...  

October 15 is White Cane Day – a day where we celebrate the white cane as a symbol for inclusion. We hear from a range of white cane users including Donna Dyson who chats about how using the white cane has the possibility to educate the broader community. Chris Edwards from Vision Australia’s Advocacy and Engagement team talks about keeping his skills honed, Lauren Henley discusses how her white cane gave her back her independence after losing her vision in a car accident and Janian Baron tells us where her white cane takes her.

What Does White Cane Day Mean to You? We Do the Cane Well!   October 10th is White Cane Day in Minnesota and the Blindness community came out strong to support the awareness of the White Cane. Speakers shared the history of White Cane day and others talked about the freedom and independence the white cane brings to them. The Minnesota State Academy for the Blind Choir shared their voices and sang aloud in the Capital’s newly remodeled Rotundra. With the support of the local Lions Clubs, MSAB, NFB of MN and Blind, Inc. the White Cane Day event was a great event with a lot of participation. From joining in on the choir songs to marching in the walk from the St. Paul Capital to the St. Paul Cathedral and bac, participants chatted and talked while enjoying the nice Autumn day in Minnesota. You can find out more about MSAB on the web. Check out the NFB of MN on the web at www.NFBMn.org And be sure to see what opportunities and events are happening at Blind, Inc. on the web at www.BlindInc.org And check out your local Lions Club and see what they are doing in your community. Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

Talking Vision celebrates White Cane Day, 15th October, a very important day in the blindness and low vision calendar. It's a day which highlights the independence achieved by people making use of this essential mobility tool. Stella speaks with passionate white cane user Bernadette Jolley. Bernadette says the cane is an ‘extension of herself' and recounts being introduced to the white cane and the excitement of going out on her own for the first time plus how she uses her cane today. Also on the program, Orientation and Mobility Specialist Margaret Harvey discusses how the white cane enables someone's confidence to grow while also being a very clear indicator to the sighted public. 

This week we begin the series of conversations recorded at the Vision Australia Texpo 2014. Also, from a recent International White Cane day event, we have a catch-up with a highly achieving winter and summer paralympian. Vision Australia's Texpo, showcasing technology and services for people who are blind or have low vision, was held this year in Melbourne on October 10 and 11 and in Sydney on October 17 and 18. Stephen Jolley attended the Melbourne event and spoke with exhibitors. This week, we concentrate on some easy to use phones and hear about products from the Australian Lions Visual Independence Foundation. Paralympian Jess Gallagher attended Vision Australia's White Cane Day event in Melbourne's Fed Square and took the time to speak with Stephen Jolley. Program participants are: • Leon Cosher from Kisa, explaining the Kisa Phone; • Julie McDonnell from Oricom Phones; • Anne Eldridge from the Australian Lions Visual Independence Foundation; • Jessica Gallagher, Winter Paralympic dual bronze medallist. Also this week, Frances Keyland from the Vision Australia Library previews a title in ‘Reader recommended. Let Talking Vision be your national radio reference on blindness and low vision. A Vision Australia Radio production, it is broadcast nationally each week on over 25 RPH and other community stations.

October 15 each year, is designated International White Cane Day. Vision Australia like other blindness and low vision organisations around the country, conducts events to increase community awareness of the place of the cane in the lives of people who are blind or have low vision. At 8:00am on this year's celebration day, a team from Vision Australia along with special guests gathered at Melbourne's Federation Square to show passers by how the cane is used in getting from A to B or in real terms from home to work or school or wherever. Stephen Jolley was there to record a series of conversations for Vision Australia Radio. In this Talking Vision Special you can hear: • Jessica Gallagher, Winter and Summer paralympian and Vision Australia ambassador; • Tony Clark, ALP candidate for Ringwood at the upcoming state election who is blind; • Ramjesh Prekash, a student from Fiji who is blind; • Jessica Timmons, an orientation and Mobility Specialist with Vision Australia. Let Talking Vision be your national radio reference on blindness and low vision. A Vision Australia Radio production, it is broadcast nationally each week on over 25 RPH and other community stations.

This week, it's the cane that links participants as we celebrate on October 15, International White Cane Day. We drop in on an event at Vision Australia Kooyong in Melbourne for children and their families and then hear from an elite athlete who is a strong advocate for the cane. At the White Cane Day event, Vision Australia Ambassador Gorgi Coghlan observes how children must be supported to maximise life opportunities. Children and parents explain the benefits of an occasion like this where they can get to meet and share experience. Then, Winter Paralympian Melissa Perrine tells of her alpine skiing and how the cane has made a positive difference for her. Program participants are: • Gorgi Coghlan, TV personality, vocal performer and Vision Australia ambassador; • Than Autran, 11 year old student who is blind; • Kelly Goodfellow, mother of a child who is blind; • Sam Valavanis, a 12 year old student who is blind; • Melissa Perrine, a Winter Paralympian from Mittagong in NSW. Let Talking Vision be your national radio reference on blindness and low vision. A Vision Australia Radio production, it is broadcast nationally each week on over 25 RPH and other community stations.