The Carroll Center for the Blind and the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind recognize outstanding employees who are visually impaired through the annual Carroll Society Awards Ceremony. These Awards recognize blind and visually impaired employees who have made significant contributions to their companies by their outstanding ability and job performance.

Individuals are chosen because, despite vision loss, they are exemplary employees and contribute to the overall culture of both their business and community. Despite the employment barriers people with disabilities face, inductees have proven their commitment to making a difference by serving as both leaders and examples for others. Each new Carroll Society inductee demonstrates the passion, professionalism, and excellence to change the perception of what it means to be blind in the workplace.

Blind Employee of the Year Award Recipient:

• Eric Manser, Digital Accessibility Consultant at Harvard University

Carroll Society Inductees:

• Karen Santiago, Community Outreach Coordinator at Easterseals Massachusetts
• Barbara Balsamo, Emergency Line Operator at The Baker Center for Children and Families
• Sarah Wiles, CAP Advocate at Massachusetts Office on Disability
• Josh Pearson, Program Coordinator at Polus Center for Social & Economic Development, Inc.

Congratulations to this year’s winners!

NEWTON, Mass. (March 23, 2023) – The Carroll Center for the Blind, a leader in services for individuals confronted by the challenges of low vision and blindness, today named Tina Laffer as the new Director of Outreach and Community Engagement and Donna Mitchell as the O&M Assistant Education Director.

NEWTON, Mass. (January 5th, 2023) – The Carroll Center for the Blind, a foremost leader in rehabilitation services for visually impaired individuals, is proud to announce the appointment of Bruce Howell and Eileen Y. Lee Breger to its Board of Directors. Both of these individuals will each help lead the Center to new heights with their persistent drive for the betterment of those with visual impairment. Following the appointment of Bruce Howell and Eileen Y. Lee Breger, the Board of Directors will be comprised of 16 members. 

NEWTON, Mass. Dec. 15, 2022 — The Carroll Center for the Blind—a pioneering and innovative vision rehabilitation and educational center for the blind and visually impaired of all ages, is pleased to announce its strategic partnership with Level Access—the trusted provider of enterprise digital accessibility solutions. Through this partnership, Level Access has committed to a multi-year grant to help fund The Carroll Center for the Blind’s Screen Reader User Tester training program.

This seven-week training program provides adults with visual impairments the education and certification needed to pursue employment in the field of digital accessibility, helping close an employment gap that exists for the visually impaired. Just 44 percent of people who are blind or visually impaired are employed, compared to 79 percent of those without disabilities.

“Screen reader user testing plays a critical role in the work we’re doing to make the web more inclusive. Incorporating the real-life experience of screen reader users into web accessibility testing helps identify user barriers that can be fixed well before they are present in a live environment,” said Tim Springer, CEO, Level Access. “We’re incredibly excited to accelerate this much-needed employment pathway for a segment of the population that is often underrepresented as we work to create a web that’s accessible for all.”

In addition to this partnership, Level Access has acquired The Carroll Center’s digital accessibility service line, which provides accessibility testing, expert support services, training, and education to corporations, businesses, and other organizations.

“The way in which organizations approach digital accessibility matters, and we fundamentally believe in Level Access’s comprehensive approach,” said Greg Donnelly, President and CEO, The Carroll Center for the Blind. “We are confident that Level Access’ acquisition of the Carroll Center’s accessibility service line and integration of it into its existing digital accessibility business will further our fundamental interest in making the internet available and accessible to all, while embracing the growing challenges and opportunities organizations face in this space.”

One specific challenge is the complex legal environment. There is an ever-increasing number of lawsuits and ADA legal demand letters sent to organizations that do not make their experiences accessible. Prioritizing digital accessibility is also an authentic opportunity for brands to demonstrate support for their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

The Level Access solution combines advanced software with expert support services, empowering organizations with the tools and expertise they need to navigate this legal complexity while seizing the business and brand benefits of digital accessibility—all while contributing to The Carroll Center’s shared interest of creating an accessible digital world.

Established in 1936, the renowned Carroll Center for the Blind has been serving those with vision impairment for over eight decades; we are known nationally as a premier Vision Rehabilitation and Education Center. Located just outside of Boston on a sprawling campus in Newton, Massachusetts, we proudly serve individuals of ALL ages and ALL stages of vision loss. Learn more at www.carroll.org.

Level Access has an unparalleled history in helping customers achieve and maintain compliance with the full scope of accessible technology regulations and standards including the ADA, WCAG, CVAA, AODA, EU directives on digital accessibility, and Section 508. Delivered through a comprehensive suite of software, expert services, and training solutions, the company’s solution ensures customers’ web, desktop, mobile, and electronic document systems are accessible to everyone. Level Access and eSSENTIAL Accessibility, two leaders in the digital accessibility solution space, announced their merger in August 2022. To learn more, visit www.levelaccess.com.

Media Contact
Jungwoo Sonn
The Carroll Center for the Blind
617 981 9368
jungwoosonn@carroll.org

The Carroll Center for the Blind and the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind recognize outstanding employees who are visually impaired through the annual Carroll Society Awards Ceremony. These Awards recognize blind and visually impaired employees who have made significant contributions to their companies by their outstanding ability and job performance.

Individuals are chosen because, despite vision loss, they are exemplary employees and contribute to the overall culture of both their business and community. Despite the employment barriers people with disabilities face, inductees have proven their commitment to making a difference by serving as both leaders and examples for others. Each new Carroll Society inductee demonstrates the passion, professionalism, and excellence to change the perception of what it means to be blind in the workplace.

Blind Employee of the Year Award Recipient:

• Nora Nagle, ADA and 504 Accessibility Coordinator, Museum of Science

Carroll Society Inductees:

• Muna Abraham, Activity Assistant, Avita of Needham
• Karen Hegarty, Controller, Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute
• Jennifer Ross, Customer Engagement Coordinator, MBTA
• Brian Switzer, Assistive Technology Instructor, Perkins School for the Blind

Congratulations to this year’s winners!

Watch the 2022 Carroll Society Awards by activating the embedded Facebook live stream.

The 22nd Annual New England Regional Braille Challenge is officially a wrap! Congratulations to everyone who participated in the virtual New England Regional Braille Challenge on February 12, 2022. This competition, a national program of the Braille Institute, encourages blind and visually impaired children to hone their braille skills which are essential to success in the sighted world. Students completed their contests remotely in the first stage of the Braille Challenge, a nationwide competition which celebrates excellence in braille literacy. Only the top 50 students with the highest scores in the nation will qualify for the Braille Challenge Finals later this year.

 

We’re excited to announce our regional winners below:

At five years old, an age when most kindergarteners were just beginning to learn individual letter names and sounds, I remember working with the Perkins Brailler. The Perkins Brailler is similar to a typewriter and produces braille on paper instead of producing it electronically. At ten years old, I was proficient in braille and received a Braille N’ Speak 640 (an electronic braille note-taker). I was on cloud nine! Until this point, I had exclusively used my Perkins Brailler to do my homework. In order to make my homework accessible to my sighted teachers, I needed assistance from a paraprofessional or my father. They would interline all of my assignments, a process where they would transcribe in print below each braille line. Using the Braille n’ Speak was like having my own mini computer, allowing me to create and edit documents and print homework for my teachers independently. The Braille n’ Speak was also a lot lighter and easier to carry around than the Perkins Brailler.

Over the years, I upgraded my braille technology with newer models. As an adult, I use a braille note-taker that runs on the Android platform called a Braille Note Touch Plus. The Braille Note Touch Plus is an Android tablet with a refreshable braille display attached. I also use a refreshable braille display called the Mantis which is a QWERTY keyboard with a refreshable Braille display attached. Both of these devices can pair with a laptop computer and I can easily read what is on the laptop screen using the braille display as well as listen to it.

Why all this complicated braille technology? Why not just use devices that talk? I will tell you why. Braille is critical to my independence. Taking braille out of my technology is like taking print away from a sighted person. Would you like to just listen to your favorite website or magazine? Would you rather receive a long audio message than a detailed email?

For young students today, there are many devices to learn braille at an early age. Devices like the Braille Buzz and Taptilo are designed to help teach braille through play. The Braille Buzz, made by American Printing House for the Blind, teaches both braille and phonics. As the name alludes to, the Braille Buzz is shaped to resemble a bumblebee, encouraging practice with braille characters and phonics, similar to a variety of audio-based toys that teach print writing. The Taptilo teaches the same thing; however, it uses a refreshable braille display and braille cells where the students can create their own braille to interact with the device.

Donation will support rehabilitation initiatives for people who are blind or have low vision and name The Lulie Gund Center for Vision Rehabilitation.

NEWTON, Mass. (January 20, 2022) – The Carroll Center for the Blind, a national leader in services for individuals who are blind or have low vision, today announced a record donation from Gordon Gund and the Gund Family in the amount of $1.5 million. This transformational gift will support rehabilitation programs provided in the main building on the Carroll Center’s Newton, MA campus and the renaming of the building to The Lulie Gund Center for Vision Rehabilitation.

The Carroll Center is the foremost leader in vision rehabilitation and has been serving people with vision impairments for over eight decades. The programs offered in The Lulie Gund Center for Vision Rehabilitation are key to producing successful outcomes for clients to live independently—whether it be obtaining or retaining employment, school advancement and college transition, community engagement, essential skill development or emotional adjustment to vision loss. The building houses programs like manual & sensory arts instruction, braille instruction, assistive technology and device training, personal management and essential skills instruction, low vision services, vocational training, adjustment counseling, fencing, recreational and social enrichment activities, and more.

Mr. Gund’s gift is the largest outright gift in the Center’s 85-year history and aligns with the Gund family’s ongoing support of the blindness community for the past five decades. Gordon Gund, a prominent American businessman, philanthropist, former sports team owner and family man, was rendered totally blind at age 31 due to a progressive genetic disease called retinitis pigmentosa. In 1971—one year after becoming blind—Gordon and his wife Lulie, along with others, created the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) to find treatments and cures for inherited retinal diseases. As someone with vision loss, Gund has a profound understanding of the critical need for vision rehabilitation services like those offered at the Carroll Center for the Blind.

“The values and the qualities of the services provided by the Carroll Center are extraordinarily helpful to people who are dealing with blindness or visual impairment. I know my wife Lulie would be proud to have her name attached to this vision rehabilitation center,” said Gordon Gund. “I also know she would join me and the rest of our family in wishing the Carroll Center, its board, and its tremendously capable dedicated staff continued success in their efforts to assist the thousands of visually impaired and blind people, who will come through these doors over many years to come, to achieve independence, self-confidence and a fulfilling life.”

The Carroll Center for the Blind officially renamed the main building during an intimate ceremony on December 5, 2021. The Lulie Gund Center for Vision Rehabilitation will carry the namesake of Gordon’s late wife, Lulie, who was instrumental in supporting him throughout his personal journey with vision loss. Together, they formed a special bond of support and respect that would serve as a catalyst for success in their charitable and business pursuits.

“The history of this building is great, but the future of this building is even greater,” said Gregory J. Donnelly, President and CEO of the Carroll Center for the Blind. “Gordon’s $1.5 million gift will help us transform and further innovate our services so we can keep doing what we do best—offering education, experiences and opportunities so that our clients can pursue their passions and reach their fullest potential.”

To learn more about contributing to the Carroll Center for the Blind, please contact Dara Dalmata, Chief Development and Communications Officer at dara.dalmata@carroll.org.

About the Carroll Center for the Blind
Established in 1936, The Carroll Center for the Blind empowers those who are blind and visually impaired to achieve independence and to lead a fulfilling life. The nonprofit organization provides services for individuals of all ages including vision rehabilitation services, vocational and transition programs, assistive technology training, educational support, low vision services and essential skills for seniors, and more. For more information, visit www.carroll.org.

Welcome to my blog, Teaching with Hope. Here you’ll learn about blindness and visual impairment, the power of assistive technology, educating students who are blind, and how you can make sure you or a loved one can succeed academically and then professionally. But before we go any further, you need to understand a few things about me and my journey.

 

Blast from the past

Let’s rewind to the year 2001. It was the start of the new millennium, and I had just graduated as an honors student from my local high school. I was teeming with excitement as I walked across the stage to receive my diploma in front of my family and friends. It was one of the proudest moments of my life, and I looked forward to pursuing my path in higher education at the University of Maine at Orono (UMO) the following fall semester, where I received a scholarship.

There was one problem. I was functionally illiterate–utterly incapable of writing a coherent sentence, never mind a complete paper.

This is the part of my story where many people scratch their heads and ask how I could have possibly gone through school as someone who is functionally illiterate. Well, the answer is simple. I didn’t know what I didn’t know, so I went through school like everyone else. I did my homework to the best of my ability, and I received excellent grades. I was on the honor roll every year.

I had no idea that my education was lacking until I graduated high school.

Then that day came to take the college placement exam. My parents and I were shocked when I received extremely low scores. Teachers told my parents that I was an excellent student, but given my placement exam scores, “some students simply weren’t meant to go to college.”But here I was an honors student with college aspirations. 

 

How did I end up here?

So how did I wind up doing so poorly on the placement exam? Several factors were at the root of the problem, but all fingers pointed toward the gaps in my education.

First, I had very limited time with my Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) who had to cover a wide geographical area.

Second, while I also had a paraprofessional in addition to my TVI, the paraprofessional did not know braille and had difficulty adapting materials. Without having the adapted materials on time, or even worse, not having the adapted materials at all, my paraprofessional would often pull me out of class into a room in the back of the library to do the work together. I would sometimes be in that room for an entire school day and would miss the ongoing lessons.

Finally, my general education teachers had no idea how to teach me. After all, I was the only blind student in my elementary and high school. While my teachers thought they had good intentions when passing me from grade to grade, this is the worst thing they could have done. If my parents had known what was happening, they could have intervened and assisted me better with my education. I would urge every parent of a blind child to ensure you have open and constant communication with your child’s school.

My SAT score was 200–one of the lowest scores they had ever recorded. My math skills were equally abysmal. I could not do addition and subtraction with any degree of surety, and my multiplication tables were sketchy at best. In fact, those basic skill-sets were the only ones that I had even marginally attained throughout my entire study of mathematics in high school. I never studied Algebra, Geometry, and certainly no Calculus. I knew very little.

As part of the application process for the University of Maine at Orono, they required a written paragraph detailing my goals in college. Here is what I wrote: “I want to go to college so that I won’t be poor and on welfare.” As you might imagine, they refused me admission into the university. My parents were told privately that “some students were not meant to go to college” and that they should start considering having me study independent living skills and trade-school training.

My dad came to the rescue. After coming to the realization that I wouldn’t be able to pursue my dreams of higher education, he volunteered to go to extension classes at the university with me and help me overcome my illiteracy. During my placement testing at the university’s extension program, I tested with severe deficits in all subjects. I took every remedial course they offered: math, English, beginning science, and every course I could take!

My dad sat through all those courses, prepared my materials, and worked with me tirelessly every day and every night. He also worked full-time and attended his own classes at the university throughout this period, but he assured me that if I were willing to work harder than anybody else, I could do this. I studied 16 hours a day. I would wake up in the morning and hit the books if I were not on my way to class.

When my dad and I were driving (the classes were often 60 or 70 miles away), I listened to the lessons he had recorded in the car. I would stay up until midnight to work with dad for two or three hours after he got home from his job. We did this every day (including weekends) for eight years.

Fast forward to 2009. I graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Maine at Orono (UMO) with two bachelor’s degrees and a cumulative 3.88 GPA. I had completed 200 course credits in my eight years, not including my remedial classes. Since graduating from UMO, I have acquired certifications in several technological skills, including JAWS for Windows, A-plus, HTML 1 and HTML 2, and two master’s certificates, one of which is in assistive technology. I also recently graduated from Missouri State University with a master’s degree in Special Education/Blindness and Low Vision.

So how did I go from being a functional illiterate in 2001 to being an accomplished academic with a handful of degrees and certifications today? The answer is complicated and multi-faceted, but it is fair to say that while I did every ounce of the heavy lifting demanded of me along the way, it was my dad’s intuitive understanding of the use of technology available back then, that led to the success I have achieved, and to my understanding of the potential impact of current and future technological developments on the students of today.

My educational experience has made me passionate about ensuring all students who are blind or visually impaired receive the best education possible. This can only happen with hard work, open communication, and appropriate specialized instruction. Through my new blog, Teaching with Hope, and the remote accessible technology instruction I provide to TVIs and their students through the Carroll Center, I am starting to see this dream of mine come true!

BY THE PLAN FOR SPECIAL NEEDS PODCAST (VIA PLAN OF MA & RI)