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THE BLIND CALIFORNIAN
Quarterly Magazine of the
CALIFORNIA COUNCIL OF THE BLIND
Spring, 2014,
Volume 58, No. 2
Published in Braille, Large Print, Cassette, Email (), and Online in readable and downloadable text and audio media
Donna Pomerantz, President
1115 Cordova Street #402
Pasadena, CA 91106-3036
626-844-4388
Executive Office:
California Council of the Blind
1303 J Street Suite 400
Sacramento, CA 95814-2900
800-221-6359 toll free
916-441-2100 voice
916-441-2188 fax
Email:
Website:
San Francisco Bay Area Office:
Catherine Skivers
836 Resota Street
Hayward, CA 94545-2120
510-357-1986
Los Angeles Area Office:
Donna Pomerantz
1115 Cordova Street #402
Pasadena, CA 91106-3036
626-844-4388
Jeff Thom, Director
Advocacy and Governmental Affairs
800-221-6359 toll free
916-995-3967 cell
Webmaster:
Judy Wilkinson, Editor:
1550 Bancroft Avenue #113
San Leandro, CA 94577-5264
510-357-1844
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Table of Contents
From The Editor's Desk by Judy Wilkinson . . . . 5
Reflections and Thoughts about CCB by Donna Pomerantz ...... 9
Governor Brown Appoints Joe Xavier As Director of the Department of Rehabilitation by Juney Lee, Chief Deputy Director, Department of Rehabilitation ...... 15
Out of The Doghouse by Ken Metz ...... 17
CCB Can Help with Social Security Problems . . 19
A Dynamic Organization: Divisions And Growth by Catherine Skivers ...... 21
2014-2015 CCB Scholarships Are Waiting For You by Christy Crespin ...... 30
My Story: Differences In Cultural Attitudes Toward Blindness And Literacy by Tuan Nguyen ...... 32
Getting The Email BC by Mike Keithley, member, Publications Committee ...... 40
Governmental Affairs Report by Jeff Thom . . . 41
Candle In The Window Presents Its 2014 Retreat! by Donna Pomerantz ...... 44
Looking Forward to Camping Season by Erik Smiley ...... 44
Revitalize That Old Perkins Brailler by Mel Kahn and Judy Wilkinson ...... 48
Wellpoint to Make Healthcare Information Accessible to Customers with Visual Impairments by Steven Mendelsohn ...... 50
California Council of the Blind 2014 Officers And Board ...... 52
From The Editor's Desk
Judy Wilkinson
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"You know, we've got it pretty good these days. We have so many more tools and access, there aren't really any mountains to climb, no big battles to fight. Maybe that's why people with visual impairments aren't joining organizations like the CCB." So said a blind friend of mine recently. It is indeed gratifying as one climbs to look behind and see the distance traveled, the obstacles overcome: achievements in web accessibility, in access to books and periodicals, in accommodations in our physical environment like talking pedestrian signals, to mention a
mere handful of examples. But look ahead: the mountain looms.
Certainly money makes a lot of this access easier, but that's what much of our community doesn't have enough of to stretch much beyond basic necessities, much less afford the goodies like braille notetakers, smart phones and the like. I'm lucky enough to own an array of wonderful tools which have made my life so much easier: a notetaker, portable scanner, barcode reader, color identifier, smart phone, talking blood pressure machine and scale.
Yet for all too many blind people, accomplishing basic tasks remains challenging: reading the mail, shopping for groceries. Their access to books is limited to NLS services (and only what might be available on cartridge which for most regional and subregional libraries doesn't cover the entire collection available to those of us who can download from BARD). They aren't able to roam BookShare, Amazon, Audible and other ebook providers. Everything I'm about to discuss represents my frustrations, but think how those frustrations are compounded for the members of our community who can't even get in the door.
Access to in-depth research material. This morning on the BARD website, I opened the "health and medicine" category: amazing! Over a thousand books! I then typed the search term "breast cancer". Amazing again: some 20-plus books with those words in their title. Don't get me wrong, the scope of what NLS offers us never ceases to astound me. But think of the resources available to a blind person searching the web for books on "health and medicine" or "breast cancer". Books abound for ebook readers or those with notetakers who can access material from BookShare or Amazon, much of it up-to-date and cutting edge. But the quantity of material available to the sighted world is exponentially larger than even that. My husband Steve is a serious investor in stocks and options: the advanced material is unavailable at worst and inaccessible at best. If he had access to additional and better material, who knows what island I'd be basking on today. These are examples of compelling, perhaps even life-saving research, but this problem of finding in-depth material permeates my life. I'm a wine enthusiast: I do find lots of material on the internet as well as choices from BookShare and Amazon, but many many key books which I'd love to have are just plain unavailable. I'm a knitter to whom the number of patterns actually available is minuscule compared to the probably millions of patterns available to sighted needle clickers. Too many subjects of interest to us (especially if they are specialized) just aren't covered by Amazon's Kindle! And serious reference books are still mostly unavailable.
Shifting to another area of frustration, I become apoplectic on the topic of inaccessible household appliances! Touch sensitive flat screens are becoming ubiquitous. Rarer and rarer are pressure-sensitive screens which you can at least mark with dots or scotch tape. My oven has a touch-sensitive panel, meaning that if I touch it anywhere, I activate something. My solution was to have made a plastic overlay with holes so I could count until the place I wanted to push before inserting my finger. But that cost me time, assistance time (drawing the panel) and the cost of having a plastics manufacturer create the template. But I was at least able to create a work-around. I dread when my dial-style dishwasher goes south. The American Foundation for the Blind's website has information about accessible appliances: but try finding those actual models in a real store that you can touch and play with. And when you do go to that Sears showroom, notice how many choices your sighted peers have. And your Cable box? Well help may be coming soon, but it isn't here yet, and to my knowledge TiVo-like devices still aren't available to the likes of us.
If you ever want an icebreaker in a conversation among blind folks, just mention paratransit services! Talk about issues which still have challenges! It isn't for nothing that we spend several hours each Friday morning of our conference/convention dealing with important transportation issues. Underemployment still is our supreme problem. Job searching is basically impossible without access to a computer, but though progress has been made on some of the megasites, once you're on the employer's site where details and applications are found, all too many are inaccessible, giving the upper hand to sighted job seekers.
Obviously I could cite many challenges which still face us despite how much better things have become. Though we've won many battles, the war continues. No need for organizations like the CCB?
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Reflections And Thoughts about CCB
Donna Pomerantz
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As our CCB nears the close of my time as your president, I wish to share a number of things with you in this article. First and foremost, sincere thanks to each of you who, no matter what, continued your support of our CCB in all its endeavors. We would not be where we are today without you.
During the almost 4 years of my presidency, we’ve made a number of large changes in our infrastructure. We are having financial struggles, but it seems many not-for-profits are in the same boat. Everyone is searching for that treasured pot of gold.
As a result of our financial issues, we have begun to grow the CCB Mutt Strut: this is our fourth year. However, before continuing I wish to thank several people in the CCB who had this vision and shared it with me and others years before Mutt Strut became a reality (you know who you are).
In speaking with professional fundraisers, I was told from the beginning, that during the first 3 to 5 years of a fundraiser of this kind, to expect loss, not profit. The reason for a loss is because these are the “building years". To me, that made sense, but what a gamble it would be to start. Each year, the regions and core builders added some things, and chose not to continue things that the entire group thought didn’t work so well. I will say that for the past three years there was money spent, and yes, believe it, there has been profit each year. The CCB, through Mutt Strut, has also made “community friends” who knew nothing about us until sharing this Walk/Run with us. These new communities, along with those of our CCB family, are providing support to this new, uncharted territory for the organization. My hope is that our new President and Board will continue moving to grow this fundraiser that is way outside the box for all who have been involved. I know I’ve gone way beyond my comfort zone, but what an adventure!
Another change in our infrastructure is we have moved to an annual conference and convention beginning in this, our 80th year of existence. With this change come new challenges for our CCB. There will be some bumps in the road as together, we define what works in the programming and what needs to be changed; however with change comes new roads we must travel and the opportunity to become more creative in a new environment. After this conference and convention, we will gather once again via conference call and find out how things went. The Board has given 3 years (this being the first) to use this program format. We will tweak things as we move forward in to another new territory to explore.
Infrastructure by definition means things that aren't readily visible. I am proud of our effort to establish procedures and processes for better data management: I know some of you don't like filling out those event request forms and the more exacting roster and officer information sheet documents, but because of such changes, we can keep better tabs on our membership with the longterm goal of serving us all more satisfactorily. In addition, the Board has put in place requirements so that all who wish to serve on the Board know what is expected of them. And finally, I'm so proud of our candidates' page. Now those who wish to hold office have an opportunity to share their vision with all of us. Look for the new page some time in mid March.
Turning to other matters, at this time we do not employ a Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs. We currently have our Governmental Affairs Committee Chair working the Capitol, taking the pulse of those halls, blazing the trail toward barrier removal and equal access for all people beyond our CCB that are blind or visually impaired in California. We have had success in legislation requiring that content to be evaluated for educational purposes must be accessible digital material. We have had strong influence in advocating for a State Price Schedule that would make for a more seamless approval so our members and beyond would receive equipment in a timely manner from the DOR. We are currently working on amechanism to provide assistance to our community for reader services on a global level. We are advocating for accessible formats in the healthcare arena.
We have made our imprint on access to prescription medication labels, continued access to point-of-sale machines, access to parks and trails, the increase of accessible pedestrian signals in our cities, full and equal access to that right to a private, independent vote as our sighted peers enjoy. We have done so very much with few resources. And there is so much more. Please refer to Jeff Thom’s Governmental Affairs
Report in this and past BC’s to further read about our legislative endeavors. Also check archived presidential reports on the conference/convention pages on our website or ask for the tapes from the office.
As we move forward, we must never forget members of our CCB family who are no longer with us. I will not name anyone at this time, but I would urge you to think about those pioneers/veterans who have passed away these past few years. Think of how they touched your life; think of how they impacted the CCB.
To the people who work and give so much of their time and share their gifts with the CCB, without you, we would not be here! Thank you all as that time and those gifts cannot be measured.
It has been a challenge for me to be your president, operate as an executive director, and to a smaller degree, bring in donations to the Council: all at the same time. I have learned a great deal from this experience. It was with sadness, reluctance and regret that I made the decision to leave office for health reasons before I could complete my likely term as your president. But it has taken its toll on me personally. I wish to thank the loves in my life for all of their support: my partner and husband, Mitch Pomerantz, and my strong, loving family. It has not been easy, but I will always treasure your love and honesty. I must rejuvenate and be healthy. But let me say, I will continue to attempt to be of service to my successor and in a much smaller way, as a support to our CCB.
So now to my final thoughts for this article. We are a grassroots, consumer/advocacy membership organization, comprised of our chapters and statewide affiliates throughout California. How do we continue evolving as a strong viable healthy force?
What is the balance that must be achieved between that chapter to state and state to chapter co-existence relationship? Can the chapters and statewide affiliates have a strong existence without the state? Can the state have a strong existence without the chapters and statewide affiliates? What do we all need to do to strengthen each other to continue being a viable presence to gain full independence and equality of opportunity for all blind and visually impaired Californians? Is that still our current mission? If so, how do we achieve it in today’s world, knowing nothing will be immediate and perfect?
Thank you all for allowing me to be a part of the California Council of the Blind story.
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Governor Brown Appoints Joe Xavier As Director of the Department of Rehabilitation
Juney Lee, Chief Deputy Director, Department of Rehabilitation
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Date: February 14, 2014
I am extremely pleased and honored to share the Governor's announcement appointing Joe Xavier as the Director of the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR). We are fortunate to have someone from our own team, whose relationship with DOR began more than thirty years ago as a consumer, someone with extensive involvement with the disability community, and vibrant passion for public service as our new Director. Joe shares former Director Tony Sauer's dedication to strong leadership and unyielding commitment to collaboration with stakeholders. In addition, Joe supports DOR's modernization efforts, vowing to put 20,000 or more consumers to work annually.
Sixteen years ago, in 1998, Joe began his state service career in the Business Enterprises Program (BEP) as a Supervising Consultant and promoted in 2001 to an Auditor. He has served in leadership roles within the Department for almost a decade, beginning in 2005 as the Business Services Section Chief. Because of his strong management skills, Joe was recruited in 2008 to interim acting BEP Program Manager. Joe was later appointed to Deputy Director of Independent Living and External Affairs and most recently served DOR as Deputy Director of Specialized Services Division.