National Federation of the Blind Partners with Santa to Promote Braille Literacy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Chris Danielsen
Director of Public Relations
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
cdanielsen@nfb.org

National Federation of the Blind
Partners with Santa to Promote Braille Literacy

Baltimore, Maryland (November 16, 2015):  Once again, Santa has enlisted the help of the elves at the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Jernigan Institute to get Braille letters out to hundreds of blind boys and girls this Christmas season. 

Mark A. Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: ?Santa approached the National Federation of the Blind several years ago and asked us to be his helpers. Knowing how much he means to children everywhere, including my own, I am pleased that we will once again be assisting St. Nicholas this year. Braille literacy is the key to success and opportunity for the blind, but unfortunately too few blind children are learning it today. This program is a fun way for blind children to practice their Braille skills while receiving a holiday greeting from Santa himself.?

Between November 16 and December 18, parents of very young children, under the age of ten, can visit www.nfb.org and fill out a Santa Braille Letter request form. The form can also be printed and faxed to (410) 685-2340. Beginning November 30, the Braille letters from Santa will start going out to blind boys and girls across the country. The Braille letter will also be accompanied by a print copy (for mom and dad to read), as well as some other fun Christmastime activities. Requests for letters must include the writer?s name, the child?s name, birthday, gender, mailing address, a telephone number, and e-mail address in case Santa?s helpers at the National Federation of the Blind have questions.

The deadline for letter requests is December 18, to ensure that a return letter in Braille is received before Christmas. 

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About the National Federation of the Blind

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. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.

NFB YouTube Channel

NationsBlind

				NationsBlind This is a channel devoted to videos created by or featuring the National Federation of the Blind and its 50,000 members. The National Federation of the Blind...
				View on www.youtube.com	Preview by Yahoo

http://www.kathyskids.org

Ms. Kathy's Kids Blog: http://mskathyskids.blogspot.com/

Santa Rides again

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MMIY1QC/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_LKfjub12K15ED

Santa discovers he is losing his sight. After moping around the North Pole, his wife convinces him to seek training at an advanced center for the blind. Santa undergoes many tests of his courage in order to gain the skills, and he returns to his old job of delivering packages for children. (Amazon.com)

LPOBC on Facebook

You might like the LPOBC page here on Facebook: Louisiana Organization of Parents of Blind Children/NFB-Parent Division

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Philadelphia Salon Hosting Fundraiser For Indonesian Child With Rare Cancer

By Chelsea Karnash of CBS Philly 
[Source Link: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2014/01/29/philadelphia-salon-hosting-fundraiser-for-indonesian-child-with-rare-cancer/]

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A little boy is fighting for his life, and one local salon is trying to help.
Pieter, a two-year-old from Indonesia, is battling a rare form of eye cancer called bilateral sporadic retinoblastoma. The cancer already caused him to lose his left eye shortly after birth; now, the disease has reappeared in his right eye.

Luckily for Pieter, his parents were able to bring him to the United States to undergo treatment at Philadelphia’s Wills Eye Institute. Unfortunately, they had to sell their home in Indonesia and use most of their savings to pay for that treatment – over $50,000, with almost $25,000 more still needed to finish Pieter’s treatment.

That’s where Laurentius Purnama, owner of Philadelphia’s well-known Laurentius Salon and a native of Indonesia himself, comes in.

Purnama, who met Pieter and his family at the Church St. Thomas Aquinas in South Philadelphia where his son, Jude, goes to Sunday School, was touched by the family’s story and decided he wanted to host an event to help fund the boy’s treatment.

On Sunday, February 9th, Laurentius Salon will be donating the entire day’s proceeds to Pieter’s family so that they can continue his treatment here in Philadelphia. Customers can make an appointment for any service – cut, color, blowouts, manicures and pedicures – and the cost will go towards Pieter’s battle with cancer.

Additionally, Laurentius will host a silent auction for several mint condition designer handbags, including a Louis Vuitton Mary Kate bag and an Yves Saint Laurent Mombasa bag, as well as other great prizes.

For those unable to attend the one-day fundraiser, Laurentius has also set up a kickstarter fund for Pieter and his family.

“No donation is too small, and each and every donation adds one more ray of hope for Pieter,” the page says.

So far, online donors have contributed nearly $13,000, but more is still necessary to ensure Pieter is able to continue receiving treatment.

“If it’s determined on February 5th that Pieter needs additional treatment, or if another retinoblastoma appears,” Purnama writes, “Pieter’s family has no more options.”

To donate to Pieter’s cause online, visit: www.gofundme.com/6c11os. Or, to make an appointment for the Feb. 9th fundraiser at Laurentius Salon, visit: http://laurentiussalon.com/contact-us.

Colombia is First Country in the World to Eliminate Parasitic Disease River Blindness

[Source: http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2013/08/colombia-is-first-country-in-the-world-to-eliminate-parasitic-disease-river-blindness.aspx]

Colombia has been verified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having eliminated the parasitic disease onchocerciasis (known as “river blindness”), thus becoming the first country in the world to achieve this goal.

In an official notification letter, WHO director-general Margaret Chan congratulated the government of Colombia and urged it to “maintain vigilance to detect any future outbreaks” of the disease, which continues to circulate in other countries of Latin America.

 Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), WHO’s Regional Office for the Americas, said Colombia’s achievement is “an example of commitment, persistence, and integrated work” and noted that the Americas Region has shown leadership in fighting this and other neglected infectious diseases. She also called for “redoubling efforts to eliminate the disease” in five other countries of this hemisphere, namely, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela, which are working toward achieving this same objective.

The official announcement came during a meeting in Bogotá led by Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos and minister of health and social protection Alejandro Gaviria, with participants including former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, director of the Carter Center, which spearheaded the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program of the Americas (OEPA), supporting actions to eliminate the disease. PAHO’s assistant director, José Romero Teruel, and the PAHO/WHO representative in Colombia, Gina Watson, also participated in the meeting.

Colombia achieved elimination of onchocerciasis following 16 years of concerted efforts led by Colombia’s National Institute of Health with support from the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the Secretariat of Health of the Department of Cauca, academic and research institutions, OEPA, and PAHO/WHO.

Article continued at this link: http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2013/08/colombia-is-first-country-in-the-world-to-eliminate-parasitic-disease-river-blindness.aspx

Japanese "eyeball licking" trend carries blindness risk

[source: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/article/320966/12/Japanese-eyeball-licking-trend-carries-blindness-risk]

(CBS News) A strange trend among Japanese school-aged children and teens -- licking a friend or lover's eyeballs -- may be perplexing, but experts are more worried about the germs they are potentially spreading.
"This is a dangerous practice which has the potential to spread a number of bacteria that reside in the mouth to the eye resulting in bacterial infections such as conjunctivitis to styes as well as abscesses involving the lids and eye socket," Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency medicine physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, told CBSNews.com.
Eyeball licking, which is also known as "worming" or oculolinctus, has existed for quite some time, and there are numerous clips of people engaging in the act on YouTube. Japanese blog Naver Matome interviewed one concerned teacher who said that he ran into two sixth grade students licking each others' eyeballs in an equipment room. After he confronted them, they admitted it was popular in their class. His independent survey of students confirmed his fears: One-third of the children admitted to eyeball licking.
The Guardian cites a Japanese music video from the band Born, which features an eyeball licking scene, as the spark for the reignited trend.
Dr. Robert Noecker, an ophthalmologist practicing in Connecticut, told Medical Daily that the eyeballs may act as an erogenous zone due to the amount of nerves.

"The cornea is the most innervated part of the body," Noecker said. "That's why it might feel good to have it licked. It's the same thing with sucking toes -- they're so sensitive because the body needs to be able to detect minor particles and other disturbances. If you're so inclined, that's the plus."
But, eyeball licking comes with many risks. It's easy to spread bacteria that causes conjunctivitis, better known as pink eye, with your tongue. When infected with the germs, the clear lining inside the eyelid and the white of the eye gets inflamed, giving the eye a pink or red color. Normally, pink eye will go away on its own, but in severe cases people will need antibiotics or other medical treatment.
The Japanese teacher also noted with growing concern that he saw up to 10 students at a time wearing eye patches, which he realized were hiding eye ailments.

Glatter, who hasn't seen any of these cases enter his emergency room just yet, said he's also worried about the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

"Chlamydia is a bacteria of particular concern which can be spread sexually, and has the potential to lead to blindness if left untreated," he pointed out. "Although its incidence is decreasing, it is always a concern in this. Setting especially if there has been any orogenital contact."

There's also the chance that licking the eyeball could accidentally scratch it. Any cuts can become a trap for bacteria, which can lead to other problems. Dr. Phillip Rizzuto, a spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, told theHuffington Post that left untreated some of these germs could also cause blindness.

"The bacteria in the mouth is nothing like the bacteria in the eyeball, which is why we no longer recommend people lick contact lenses to moisten them," Rizzuto said.
Noecker warned teens not to try this activity at all.

"There's got to be better ways to do things," Noecker said. "I would recommend that people find another outlet that won't compromise their vision in the long term."

Michelle Castillo, CBS News

This is a touching story about two disabled athletes. I saw a story about them some years ago but this video completes their story: One is legally blind while the other lost his legs in a train accident. The continuation of their story is about their relationship with the reporter who became a part of their lives. 

Another interesting part about the story is that the visually impaired wrestler became interested in judo in college and he was coached by my former student Scott Moore who is a multi-medal winning paralympian himself. In this video, as the young wrestler goes to the paralympics, you will see Scott--the coach with albinism-- with him.  

I'm thankful to Scott who shared this video with us on our LSVI alum page on Facebook.  After viewing it, I know that you will be, too!

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9454322/why-stayed

Blind-Friendly Cities in the US

Is your city blind-friendly? Is it easy to get around independently either by foot or via public transportation? If not, perhaps you can work to get something done about that or if you're looking to work and live in a blind-friendly atmosphere the articles to where these links will take you may be  of some help in your decision making:

Top Places to Live:
A list on ehow based on public transit, studies by AFB etc.  http://www.ehow.com/list_7463247_places-visually-impaired-live.html

Navigating Cities, For the Blind
Claudia Folska, a blind city planner, believes she can find ways to create urban landscapes that are easier for everyone to navigate(Wired Magazine): http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/09/st_qafolska/

Liveable Communities
Here is the list by the American Foundation for the Blind based on 2003 data: http://www.afb.org/section.aspx?SectionID=43&TopicID=183&DocumentID=2110
This list also tells specifically why these places were given the ratings they have.

Genetic Predisposition to Advanced Retinopathy of Prematurity

 Genetic Predisposition to Advanced Retinopathy of Prematurity ...
Background: Retinopathy of prematurity is a well known blinding disorder in ... Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a major cause of childhood blindness that.
www.sciencedomain.org/download.php?f=1371282461...

Deafblind Community Gets Connected

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=166026

Visual Impairments Specialist Scotlandville Magnet High School of Excellence http://lee.ebrschools.org/kathynicholslee
http://www.kathyskids.org
http://teacherweb.com/LA/RobertELeeHigh/MrsMichael/t.aspx
http://mskathyskids.blogspot.com

Deafblindness Slide Show

http://www.slideshare.net/cde0830/deafblindness

BBC Story: Sensory room hope for Amelia

Batten's is a horrible disease. I've had about five students with this condition over the years. I seem to find many articles about children with it from the UK. 

This story is about a grandmom raising money and awareness about Batten's Disease.

~K

** Sensory room hope for Amelia **
A Nottinghamshire grandmother is raising money for a "sensory room" for her three-year-old granddaughter, who is not expected to live beyond her eighth birthday
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-20294114 >

** BBC Daily E-mail **
Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all
in one daily e-mail
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/email >

Services Plea for the Deafblind: A Letter

  http://www.penarthtimes.co.uk/news/letters/9887916.Services_plea_to_minister/?ref=erec

Blind Europeans divided by living standards, united by obstacles

http://www.euractiv.com/specialreport-eye-active-ageing/blind-europeans-divided-resource-news-515612

 

Visual Impairments Links for May

[This is from a digital handout I give to all of my teachers.]
Visual Impairments Specialist: Ms. Kathy




Below are some links to ideas and activities that I have consulted with some of you about. If not—well here they are! Remember that the Classroom Suites activities cannot be open unless you have the program installed on the computer you’re opening them on. Don’t forget to save them before closing if you want to keep them. If you accidentally delete a CRS activity that you’d like to keep you can find them on the Activity Exchange if you have a free account there. Look for my user name: mskathy0724

I’ve put asterisks (*) next to my special activities for students with multiple disabilities.
___________________________________________________________________
20 iPad Aps for Kids with Autism*

It’s a list of what it says. 
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ABCYA.com

“ABCya.com is the leader in free educational kids computer games and activities for elementary students to learn on the web. All children's educational computer activities were created or approved by certified school teachers. All educational games are free and are modeled from primary grade lessons and enhanced to provide an interactive way for children to learn…”
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ABC’s of Digital Tools in the Early Childhood Classroom*

It’s a list of what it says 
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Animoto

Good videos can be created for classes with photos and graphics found on the internet. However one cannot add one’s own audio except for music , for creating descriptive videos for children who cannot see the graphics.
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Braille Notebook cards*

A teacher does not need to know Braille to use these cards. These are used when you are going over the alphabet every day with the entire class and the blind child in your class cannot see or feel the letters you point o on your chart. Have the paraprofessional open these notebook cards for the child to follow along with her sighted peers.
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Catalog of iPad Aps for Teachers and Students*

It’s…you know.
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Children Around the World (Mexico)*


Created By: Cindy Kerr

Skill Level: Grades K-2

Curriculum: Language Arts Life Skills Social Studies

Activity Details: Join us this year as we visit children in countries around the world to see what their schools look like, clothing, music, food and language. We'll see the map, flag and capital cities.

Easy next page button and yes-no self checking questions.
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Edmodo

“Edmodo provides a safe and easy way for your class to connect and collaborate, share content, and access homework, grades and school notices.” (There is also a mobile access version)

Educational Needs for Low Vision*

A few ideas for children with low vision
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E-Reader’s Worksheet1 *

E-Reader Worksheet 2*

Use these as a template to create an online worksheet for your students. Do you know how to create hyperlinks like the ones in this document?
_________________________________________________________________
Five Little Monkeys*


Intellitools activity: Created By: Cindy Kerr

Skill Level: Birth-5

Curriculum: Language Arts Math

Accessibility Features: Switch Low Vision

Activity Details: Easy numbers 0 to 5 with music from the well known song. Find the answer to turn the page.

Scanning set.

Attached overlay.



Music purchased from iTunes is "Five Little Monkeys" by The Countdown Kids.
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Fun Brain*

Learning games in all content areas with a section for teachers and parents.
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Greenville ES Word of the Day

Created By: mskathy0724

Skill Level: Grades 3-5

Curriculum: Language Arts

Accessibility Features: Low Vision

Activity Details: Some of these words may seem above 2nd & 3rd grade level but you may be surprised! My visually impaired students like to try "footlong" words. Sometimes they'd bring them to class. Then we'd get the definiton and they'd braille/write their own sentences for them in their morning journals. Some of the sentences they authored are included in this activity. I'd make a card with the word, part of speech, definition in print embossed with braille and they'd tape it to our door until the door was filled with "footlong" words. For a fun test, I'd let the Intellitools program read to them and they'd braille their answers on paper. Then we'd check answers from their papers to the program.
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Internet4Classrooms

Free Internet resources to use in classroom instruction, developing project ideas, reinforcing specific subject matter areas both in the class and at home and even for online technology tutorials. The portal is used by teachers, parents and students of all ages on six of the seven continents (there are not many classrooms in Antarctica) and is available to anyone with an Internet connection.
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KERPOOF!

Great for encouraging creative writing! The Kerpoof website is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company… Kerpoof is all about having fun, discovering things, and being creative. Here are just a few ways that you can use Kerpoof:

• Make artwork (even if you aren't good at drawing!)

• Make an animated movie (really! it's easy!)

• Earn Koins which you can trade for fun things in the Kerpoof Store

• Make a printed card, t-shirt, or mug

• Tell a story

• Make a drawing

• Vote on the movies, stories, and drawings that other people have made
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Lily: The Blind Great Dane


Intellitools Classroom Suites Activity: Created By: Byron O Wilkes

Skill Level: Grades 3-5

Curriculum: Language Arts

Accessibility Features: Switch AAC

Activity Details: This activity set is made up of two activities. The first is a reading activity for students which relates the story of Lily, a blind Great Dane and her friend Maddison. Note: students can also listen to the story if they can't read yet. The second activity is a comprehension activity which provides a set of seven questions in a 3-2-1 format to evaluate the student's comprehension or understanding of the story. Note: the activity captures all of the student's responses and a report can be generated through the IntelliTools Classroom Suite Reporting System if the activity is assigned to the student. Please note that the template used for the reading activity is from the Learning Magic, Inc. "Writing Bin-Early Skills" CD and the template used in the comprehension activity is from the Learning Magic, Inc. "3-2-1 For IntelliTools Classroom Suite" CD. Please do not use these templates to create other activities unless you own a copy of the aforementioned CDs. For further information on those products please visit our website at www.learningmagicinc.com.
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LDOE Coursewhere

Create an account here and apply for workshops sponsored by the LDOE this summer.
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Matt’s Wallet*


Intellitools CRS Activity: Created By: mskathy0724

Skill Level: Grades 3-5

Curriculum: Math Life Skills

Accessibility Features: Low Vision

Activity Details: My high school student Matthew wants to count money because someday he wants to be rich. He helped with this activity. It helps to teach how many of each coin will equal a dollar and how many of each bill denomination are in $100. Matt picked out the items to purchase at the end of the activity. Since the items chosen stay on the activity, a teacher can check for correct answers by going back into the program to see the number of coins and bills the student clicked to add to the pictures.

May In My Classroom

An Intellitools activity brought to you by the same therapist who created “April in My Classroom.”

Microsoft Narrator*

If you have a relatively new computer, one of the accessibility features is a screen reader called Microsoft narrator. The link will take you to the web site that will show you how to locate and use it.

MOODLE

“Moodle is a Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It is a Free web application that educators can use to create effective online learning sites.“
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Ms. Kathy’s Kids Blog

Just my blog where I post ideas, photos of ideas, articles and the occasional rant/vent. 
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My Big Campus

“My Big Campus extends the classroom to a safe, engaging online environment.”
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One True Media*

Free but it’s worth it to purchase a premium account. Create videos with music and sound. Voice videos can be added (I’ve used clip from my Flip Cam) so that visually impaired children can appreciate the videos as well. You can email links to parents or order a DVD of your finished product for about $10.
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Raz Kids!

An online leveled books library for grades K-6. Students improve their reading skills by:

• Listening for modeled fluency

• Reading for practice

• Recording their reading

• Checking comprehension with quizzes

Students log in to get books and quizzes assigned by their teachers.
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Research Paper Sites (High School/Middle School)

It’s that time of year! This list of sites can help. I’ve had them for a while so let me know if some of the links are no longer valid
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Scoop It!

Instructional Resources for Technology on all levels. You can search for lesson plans and curricula using the drop-down menus, or visit the Educator pages for any of the products
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Study Guide Template

This one was made for a VI resource class but you can use it as a template for HS/MS Study guides and drop them in your students’ computer folders
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Technology for the Visually Impaired

A blog about the latest stuff and updates on stuff we already use. Yum!
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Typical Technology Solutions for the Disabled

You know.

Tactile Gloves Allows Deaf/Blind to Text

This is fantastic!
	Tactile Gloves Allows Deaf/Blind to Text Source: patheos.com Thomas L. McDonald | Technology

Mountbatten Braille Writer Instructions

I found this web site helping a colleague by phone with instructions in using the Mountbatten Braille Writer--or as one of my 'dahlin' little students used to call it: "Mountinbatten". It actually has FAQ's and videos for instruction! This way, if you're at one of your million other schools, the teacher can use this site for problem solving rather than calling you back from the other side of town or waiting until you get back to help the child.

 It has also been a refresher for me just exploring it this evening as I've been about a year without a student who needed it and I'm a little out-of-practice with certain features.

There is also a section for parents. I believe if parents have a child who is learning braille, the parent should be learning right along--and that includes the equipment the child uses. Parents should have some knowledge of braille but you'd be surprised at how many don't bother to learn it.

At any rate, here's the link: http://www.mountbattenbrailler.com/index.html

How Tommy Edison, the 'Blind Film Critic,' Became a YouTube Sensation - The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/256821/#.T6lKnXKvsak.email

ZoomNews contest reminder

Just a reminder that you only have a few more days to enter the ZoomNews contest - the deadline is April 30th. All you need to do is reply to this email and answer the following question: "What is your best tip for sightless organization? How do you keep track of clothes, food, desk objects, etc.?" If you send in your entry by 4/30, you'll be entered into the drawing for a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate! Take a few minutes out of your day and send us your best tips for organization - and look for all the suggestions in the next issue of ZoomNews, due out in June.

Ai Squared     Manchester Center, VT     (800) 859-0270     www.aisquared.com

Find us on:

Visual Impairments Specialist Scotlandville Elementary http://lee.ebrschools.org/kathynicholslee
http://www.kathyskids.org
http://teacherweb.com/LA/RobertELeeHigh/MrsMichael/t.aspx
http://mskathyskids.blogspot.com