Both sessions will be held Monday, July 1. Session I will be from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and Session II will be from 1:00-3:00 p.m. (the exact meeting room will be announced prior to the convention).

Those interested in participating in this focus group should send an e-mail to Beth Braun at the NFB Jernigan Institute with the following information:

• Your full name
• The best e-mail address to use in communicating with you prior to the convention
• A cell phone number that can be used to reach you at the convention
• Are you blind?
• Are you fluent in English?
• Are you a non-native English speaker?
• An indication of which of the following categories applies to you (include all that apply):
  • K-12 student
  • Undergraduate student
  • Graduate student
  • Teacher of blind students
  • Rehabilitation professional
  • Educator not working with blind students
  • Parent of a blind child
  • Consumer of video description
  • Professional not working in a blindness- or education-related field

If you are unable to e-mail your interest in the focus group, you can reach Beth at (410) 659-9314, extension 2369.

Session I:
An opportunity for sighted amateur describers to evaluate YouDescribe¬Smith-Kettlewell’s new Web-based video-description tool for YouTube. Participants will test the system by recording their own descriptions for selected videos and report on their experience.

Session II:
An opportunity for blind video description consumers to evaluate YouDescribe¬Smith-Kettlewell’s new Web-based video-description tool for YouTube. Participants will test the system by navigating the Web site to listen to selected described YouTube videos and will report on their experience.

Participants in Session II will need to provide their own Windows7, Apple, or Chrome laptop, and must be familiar with their screen-reading software and Web browser. The laptops must have Wi-Fi connectivity (Wi-Fi provided). They will also need to provide their own headphones.

Please respond with your interest no later than June 10.

Note that participants will not be picked on a first-come-first-served basis but rather to ensure that the focus group has a good mix of perspectives.

Check out the YouTube promo.

Today’s theme: Opposite ends of the spectrum.

This year, Team LightHouse had the largest number of team participants of the event, including an astonishing 40 tandems. Those who stayed the night at Enchanted Hills Camp were treated to a carbolicious spaghetti dinner the night before and a hearty breakfast that morning.

After the ride cyclists and their friends and family enjoyed food, drink and music at the Cycle for Sight Wine and Music Festival. LightHouse maintained a table which served as a meeting place for the Team members who shared their camp stories and memories. Lucky raffle winners picked up special hydration backpacks donated by Osprey.

“My family and I rode 15 miles along the beautiful and scenic roads in Napa and had a blast! We were one tandem in a group of forty tandems–plus a handful of single bikes–that hit the rode in a united effort to make a difference in the lives of blind kids this summer in Enchanted Hills Camp. “
–Lisamaria Martinez

We thank the riders and supporters of Enchanted Hills for their enthusiastic participation and for making this year’s event the best Cycle for Sight so far. To see photos from the event go to our Cycle for Sight 2013 Facebook photo album.

“I’m so glad I came to Transition Summit again! It’s been so helpful in my career pursuits, especially in learning leadership skills.”
–Micah Aveno

The young people were placed in teams and challenged with hypothetical problems that they worked together to solve. One such challenge was to imagine that they were out hiking alone, lost, with a storm coming in and 20 minutes of daylight left. They were tasked with building a shelter that would keep them warm and dry, with just the things they found around them. Though overwhelmed at first, the young people quickly learned how to break down the challenge into more simple, solvable steps – a skill that will serve them well in the workplace and in life.
As an extra added bonus, keynote speaker and graduate chemistry student and Chemistry Camp leader Hoby Wedler talked to the group about maintaining enthusiasm and a positive attitude, cultivating professionalism and how to solve problems creatively.

“Do they have Transition Summits for sighted people? They should! This is so helpful. I have sighted friends who could benefit from all of this information.”
–Eduardo Mendez

If you are interested in attending next year’s Transition Summit program contact LightHouse Community Services Director John Liang at jliang@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7334.

Then everything stopped. It began when she started having trouble reading street signs. “One evening in September 2007, while I was in the car with my husband, I asked him why they had put Christmas lights up so early; I said ‘Look they’re all over the place’. He didn’t know what I was talking about.” Lily realized that what she was seeing was the blurred lights of streetlamps, appearing like holiday lights. She went to see an ophthalmologist who diagnosed her with myopic degeneration and told her it was unlikely she would gain much vision back.

It became harder and harder for her to see, and Lily finally gave up the career she had built for four decades. She was the primary breadwinner in the family and as their finances became more precarious, she became more and more depressed. That’s when her sister encouraged her to come to LightHouse.

She went, and it changed her life.

At first Lily enrolled in the LightHouse’s Changing Vision class where she learned an array of tricks, tools and resources for the visually impaired. A LightHouse social worker connected her with the Department of Rehabilitation counselor John Grote, who introduced her to adaptive equipment such as a CCTV to enlarge printed material and a computer with ZoomText software. “The world began opening up again, and this meant that maybe I could get back to work and improve our financial situation. I enrolled in the LightHouse’s Employment Immersion Program. But I was sure I couldn’t do loans anymore – that I would have to do more simple office work such as answering phones.

“Kate Williams encouraged me not to settle, and to reach up to my dream.  Kate is very inspiring – I thought I was too old to change but I look at her, she is also older and low vision. And there were other people in the class my age. I’m actually glad I lost my vision – it led me to a place where I have a brand new perspective on aging. Why be limited? You’re only as old as you feel. Kate showed me how to write a resume, how to put a cover letter together and how to present myself in an interview. But what she really did was teach me how to sell myself to employers while not selling myself short!”

After graduating from the Employment Immersion class, Lily learned that new government regulations required her to be licensed in order to work as a loan officer. Eager to return to the job scene, and with the help of her new adaptive equipment, she crammed several months’ worth of study into an accelerated online course. “I never studied so hard in my life – I finished in two weeks and then took both the state and federal exams in the same day. I wouldn’t advise anyone to do both in one day, but I was impatient. Fortunately I passed the exams and got my license.”

With license in hand, Lily was hired as a loan officer in November 2012 by Diversified Mortgage Group in Fremont, California. She went through a seven-week training and has just begun closing loans. She’s thrilled and says, “If you are interested in going back to work, I strongly encourage you to take the Employment Immersion class. You’ll learn so much about yourself and your capabilities. Kate will point out what you’re really good at, give encouragement and show you how to open doors. Then you just need to get in there and prove you can do it.”

Is it time for you to re-enter the job market? Follow Lily’s lead and join us for the next session of the 2013 Employment Immersion Program which begins Tuesday, May 28 at the LightHouse’s office at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley. For more information, call Kate Williams at 415-694-7324 or email her at kwilliams@lighthouse-sf.org.

The LightHouse, working with Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, has produced a prototype for the first-ever talking maps that will enable blind or visually impaired people to handily navigate BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) subway stations. Three of the stations are completed, with the other 41 stations on this BART’s 104-mile subway line soon to follow. Muni Metro underground stations are next on the agenda, and the principal designers – who themselves are blind – envision someday bringing similar innovative devices to many sites across the nation and globe.

The talking maps concept was applied to BART by LightHouse staff and Joshua Miele, a scientist at Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco. Miele directs technology research and development at Smith-Kettlewell.

“I dreamed of doing this for years,” Miele says. “A blind person at an unfamiliar station doesn’t know to head left or right, how to find a ticket kiosk, where to go up onto the street to hop on a bus. You needed to budget time for getting lost, asking strangers for assistance, or both. Well, my solution was making maps talk. The key to that was the arrival of the Smartpen.”

Miele solved the BART map problem by adapting the capability of a Livescribe Smartpen. The new LightHouse produced flip books with tactile graphics have pages with raised symbols – easily detected with a fingertip – that indicate staircases and escalators, bathrooms and exits, and brief Braille captions. The paper also has a subtle, swirling matrix of printed dots. When a user sweeps a map page with a Smartpen (basically, a slim computer with a tiny camera that can read that pattern) a richly detailed audio commentary on each location, including all nearby landscape features and assets, will pour into the user’s ear.

Miele blended the technologies that resulted in the map project, but to actually create the maps, he relies on staff at the LightHouse. “They’ve been the lynchpin of this whole project,” Miele says. The LightHouse has a Braille production facility at its headquarters office, where the Access to Information Services team will produce and distribute the maps.

To make talking BART maps a reality, considerable information had to be gathered. Each station required a detailed study to decide what features to represent. LightHouse Board member Chris Downey, a blind architect, called in colleagues from major architectural firms, like HOK and Gensler, and other members of the AIA (American Institute of Architects) to help. Volunteer teams fanned out across the subway system. Downey says necessary data not only streamed into the LightHouse, but flowed back in the other direction. Participating architects grew much more cognizant of how blind and disabled people experience space – which can influence and improve their future designs.

“It’s the first time a project like this has been accomplished anywhere,” says Miele. “But it won’t be the last. This sort of tool can be used everywhere, airports, bus and train stations, malls, schools, libraries, national parks, even your governor’s office.”

It is estimated that the first talking BART maps will get into riders’ hands by Fall 2013. For more information, please contact Greg Kehret, Director of Access to Information Services, at 415-694-7349 or gkehret@lighthouse-sf.org.

Dr. Conley-Jung accepts private insurance, Medicare, Alameda County Medi-Cal, UnitedHealthCare Military and Veterans (formerly TriCare), Victims of Crime, private pay, and Department of Rehabilitation referrals.

For more information or to make an appointment, please contact Dr. Conley-Jung at 415-694-7307 or cjung@lighthouse-sf.org.

The Counseling and Psychological Services program at the LightHouse can help to:

• support healthy adjustment to blindness and visual impairment across the lifespan
• encourage greater social participation within and outside the blindness/visually impaired community
• remove potential barriers to academic success, gainful employment and job retention
• promote a healthier, more active lifestyle
• expand and strengthen social, professional and familial support systems
• improve self-esteem and confidence.

Clinical Services may include:

• Periodic and ongoing workshops and support groups to address specific aspects of mental health and wellbeing
• Individual peer counseling and psychotherapy
• Life coaching for developmental life cycle transitions and adjustments
• Resource referrals to internal and external community services and organizations
• Assistance with navigating different and oftentimes multiple service systems (medical, financial, educational, occupational, human services, etc.)

Enchanted Hills Camp volunteers bring their already acquired skills to camp to help staff create an enriching and vital camp experience, while maintaining a fun, supportive, and safe environment.

Each summer we utilize over 50 volunteers to assist in these areas and more:

• Arts and Crafts: ceramics, painting, jewelry, and weaving
• Nature/Science: hiking, ecology, Native American history, gardening
• Sports and recreation: archery, goalball, soccer, beep baseball, bowling, boating, yoga, horseback riding and swimming
• Enrichment: acting, dance, music and journalism
• Staff assistance: cooking, office work, maintenance, driving, and reception work

If you’ve got a skill or two to share, are a team player and enjoy working and living in the community atmosphere of camp, this volunteer opportunity is for you. You’ll need to be able to work a 12-hour day and travel independently. You’ll be asked to demonstrate emotional maturity, sensitivity to blindness and the ability to accept people as they are. Most of all, you must share the desire of the LightHouse to promote the independence, equality and self-reliance of people who are blind or visually impaired.

For more information contact Camp Director Tony Fletcher at 415-694-7319 or afletcher@lighthouse-sf.org.

Where: The Republic at 3213 Scott Street (at Lombard Street) in San Francisco
When: May 4th from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
What: Wear your best derby hat and be ready to bet on your favorite horses!

Best dressed male and female will win a gift certificate.

Check out the invite on Instagram here.

Note from the LightHouse: Ms. Kudlick is the Director of the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability and a professor of history. She has been a friend of the LightHouse for many years and agreed to let us post the following article:

For Easter I went to visit my parents who are in their mid-80s and still live in the house where I grew up. Over the past few years my father has been proof of that saying in the disability community that if we live long enough, we’ll become disabled in some way. His eyesight has been declining due to macular degeneration. I’ve watched with fascination as the eagle-eyed fellow who shepherded my mother from whom I inherited my eye condition and me around to our various eye doctors became the one who Mom and I helped.

Interestingly, the things that we all thought would be beyond horror turned out to be something he took in stride. They live in San Jose, a city dominated by the car if ever there was one. Non-drivers because of our eyesight, my mother and I had always taken public transit, but Dad had been aloof, viewing it as a necessary, less-desirable alternative for his wife and daughter. And yet the day he traded his car for the bus, he seemed relieved, even freed. Maybe his inner New Yorker came back to sit on vehicles with a cross-section of the local community, yet maybe too his wife and daughter had paved the way for demystifying transit. In fact, he found his fellow passengers fascinating, especially how the well-dressed, largely white eco crowd interacted with the mostly Latino day-laborers, those of all races either too young or too old to drive, interspersed with the occasional grump whose car or license had been impounded. After years of listening to me and Mom complain about the car culture and advocate for every possible transit initiative, he became even more zealous than both of us combined, telling everyone about routes and projected improvements and the like.

But my father’s real gift from the disability community came from my having discovered the iPad’s accessibility. Several years ago I began hearing about this out-of-the box feature built into iOS called VoiceOver which made Apple mobile devices fully accessible to blind and low-vision users by making everything you touched on the screen talk. I knew you could make the letters bigger by spreading your fingers, but otherwise unless you’d been around blind people who used the text-to-speech feature, it seemed counter-intuitive: tiny flat screen, few buttons, no knobs. Poking at it, I felt frustrated, but something deep down told me that if so many of my blind friends (only two qualified rocket scientists) were raving about how great it was, there had to be something to it.

Bored on a transatlantic flight, I pulled out my iPod Touch and started fooling around with the VoiceOver practice screen that comes on every Apple mobile device beginning with 3GS. It’s a bit of a learning curve because when you turn VoiceOver on, you use different gestures to make things happen, so there’s tons of trial and error as you try to master new ways of interacting. For example, there’s something called a “rotor” that allows you to switch languages, how fast it speaks, whether it reads individual words, characters, or paragraphs, and lots of other things you can set up by slowly moving your thumb and index finger like you’re turning a knob. One, two, three, finger swipes allow you to jump to a new article or chapter by flicking your finger. The advice provided by blind iPhone users on the web is useful, if hilarious, with descriptions such as “think of it like you’re removing a bug.” I can only imagine how all my swiping and tapping – not to mention any accompanying facial gestures or unintended exclamations – must have appeared to the guy sitting next to me who finally somewhere over Greenland plucked up the courage to ask “what game is that you’ve been playing?” But my perseverance was rewarded, because by the time I arrived in London, I owned that thing: books and webpages with pinhead-sized print and apps with cryptic logos all came to life. I could access nearly everything, except for a chunk of apps that hadn’t been designed with access in mind. (I would LOVE for every description in the App Store to say whether or not it was compatible with VoiceOver.)

As my father’s vision continued its slow, inevitable decline, he grew more and more depressed about having first to read his beloved New York Times with a magnifier, then on a cc-tv, then online with ever larger fonts. The New Yorker with its shiny paper and precious print had been out a long time ago. “The lights are going out, kid,” he said one day. Always mentally-alert and a voracious reader, he was withdrawing more and more into himself.

Something in his sadness clicked: I thought of my father not as an old guy losing his sight but as a blind person with possible links to the same community that had nourished me. The reasons for my failure to make this connection sooner are perhaps the topic of another blog, rooted as they are in the barriers our culture continues to draw between disability and old age. But however it came about, I finally realized that my own experience and, by extension, the expertise of my fellow blind people with VoiceOver could open a new chapter for my father.

When my partner and I showed up with an iPad, Dad seemed intrigued but skeptical. He tried the gestures, but they didn’t seem to work, the voice talked when it wasn’t supposed to and failed to talk when he seemed to need it most. Too fast, too slow, the swipes and pokes felt silly and did nothing. I tried to help, but wondered if he needed his own equivalent of my transatlantic flight. A week later, he sounded defeated on the phone. I could tell he wanted to learn and sensed somewhere that he could. But he needed a cheerleader, so I came back home and sat with him on the couch, maybe just like he sat with me as I held my first book in my lap when I was learning to read. “All the blind people do it,” I kept saying, “and they do it only through touch and hearing!” We practiced, furrowed our brows, we cheered, we laughed and rewarded ourselves with chocolate. By the end of the two hours we sat together, he’d mastered enough of the gestures to experience results. I left only once I knew there was no turning back.

This was two years ago. Since then, I’ve told him about apps like Bookshare.org and the National Federation of the Blind’s free access to hundreds of newspapers and magazines through their amazing Newsline for the Blind. He constantly sends links to articles in the Times, keeps up with the local paper, and has added new magazines to his repertoire like Wired and the Guardian. He follows stocks and financial news of every sort, sports, and reads novels. Together at home a couple of days ago for Easter, we compared notes and swapped gossip from our reading. “Go figure,” he said, shaking his head, “Who would have thought that blind people would have given me back the ability to read!”

If you have attended or heard about previous NCBYS programs, like NFB Youth Slam or NFB Project Innovation, you are familiar with the exciting opportunities such programs provide. So, follow the link below and apply today! And don’t forget to tell your friends to do the same! Applications close at 11:50 p.m. on May 15, 2013.

• Who: Blind students currently in grades 8-12

• What: A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn new and exciting information in STEM and experience a small taste of life on a college campus while meeting new friends
• Where: Towson University, Towson, Maryland (just north of Baltimore)
• When: July 29 to August 3, 2013
• Hashtag: #NFBSTEMX

To learn more, or to apply please visit www.blindscience.org/STEMX.

Questions about the program can be directed to Natalie Shaheen at nshaheen@nfb.org.

The goal of these experiments is to investigate the use of computer vision and other sensor-based methods of extracting visual and other information from indoor or outdoor scenes, or from existing images, and of conveying this information using audio, visual and/or tactile output to be useful to blind and low vision individuals. Example of specific applications of this research include: finding and reading aloud printed signs, visual displays, and product barcodes; detecting traffic intersection crosswalk patterns to provide useful guidance to a blind or visually impaired pedestrian who wishes to cross the intersection; and identifying the nature of an image presented in a computer document or website.

This research is supported by grants from federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).

Each volunteer will participate in one or more sessions, each lasting approximately 1-2 hours, to be conducted within the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute building at 2318 Fillmore St., or at locations within walking distance of the Institute.

If you volunteer, you will receive compensation for participating in the experiment at the rate of $30 per hour. Transportation expenses to and from Smith-Kettlewell will be reimbursed with appropriate receipts.

You can participate in these experiments if you are 14 years or older and are:

• Blind or low vision

• Able to walk safely and independently (using a long cane or a dog guide)
• Located in the San Francisco Bay Area.

If you are between 14-17 years of age, you will need your permission from your parent or guardian to participate in the experiment; your parent/guardian is welcome to accompany you during all experiments, but is requested to refrain from interfering with the experiments in any way to avoid biasing their outcome.

If you meet these requirements and are interested in contributing to this important research by participating in experiments, or would like to hear more detailed information about the experiments, please contact Mr. David Vásquez (who is assisting Dr. Coughlan with recruitment and experiments) by phone at 415-345-2116 or by email at david@ski.org.

Want to order right now? Call Walmart toll free at 1-888-227-3403.

Sara Hadsell sits at her work station at the Department of Labor

Sara was born with a genetic condition called coloboma - small parts of her eyes are missing and over the years this has profoundly affected her vision. Sara acknowledges that her low-vision has been a stumbling block towards finding employment. Her first job after college required a lot of data entry, and she managed to get her work done by using a handheld magnifier and increasing the font size on her computer. But despite taking a six-month training course at Louisiana Center for the Blind where she learned blind independence skills such as adaptive technology, braille and mobility skills, all of which should have evened out the playing field for her, subsequent attempts to secure employment were stymied by employers’ unwillingness to work with a low-vision employee.

But one thing she learned about herself during this frustrating time was that she had an inclination towards advocacy and the law. So she moved back to California where she attended University of California’s Berkeley School of Law. “I once lobbied to save the Department of Rehabilitation in Louisiana. So it seemed like the right move. And Berkeley’s law school had someone devoted to helping students like me get accommodation so I could succeed.”

During and after law school, Sara clerked for Disability Rights California, who advocate, educate, investigate and litigate to advance and protect the rights of Californians with disabilities. She continued to be frustrated by the job market and was referred to the LightHouse Employment Immersion program by her then DOR counselor, Rosa Gomez. “Well first of all, the program got me out of the house - it re-invigorated me to look for work again. Like most people, I was sure I already knew how to find a job, but I learned that there was so much more to it: networking, LinkedIn, how to build a good resume. We had a good group of about 15 people. Even though we all came from different backgrounds with different education levels and goals, we were all going through the same thing.”

After completing the Employment Immersion session, Sara volunteered her time helping Employment Immersion program leader Kate Williams and this led to a temporary paid position with the LightHouse. Kate spoke fondly of her, saying, “Sara is extremely bright, has a strong willingness to help and an intuitive grasp of what is needed on the job.”

It was through the LightHouse that the opportunity for a job with the Department of Labor came up. Said Kate, “Due to the warm relationship we have with the Department of Labor, we were able to steer Sara to apply for the job she has now, and she took extra care to make sure her resume honored the requirements of that particular job. That got her the interview. I’m so very proud of what she’s accomplished.”

In February Sara began working for the Department of Labor as a secretary for the Deputy Regional Director of the Pacific Region of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program. She has a variety of responsibilities, including typing documents, answering phones, copying, scanning and other computer work. She is also involved in tracking the furlough days connected with the recent government sequester. And she’s been able to incorporate some of her legal skills by doing analysis of a settlement agreement.

So hats off to Sara Hadsell, who walked the employment walk while helping others in our Employment Immersion program do the same.

Are you looking for a job and need that extra little push to get that interview or take your resume to the next level so it rises to the top of the pile? Follow Sara’s lead and join us for the next session of the 2013 Employment Immersion Program which begins Tuesday, May 28 at the LightHouse’s office at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley. For more information, call Kate Williams at 415-694-7324 or email her at kwilliams@lighthouse-sf.org.

Today’s theme: Feel good tidbits to brighten your day or evening.

Guitar Class
Are you bored with playing air guitar and willing to try the real thing?In early March we launched our brand-new guitar class for blind and visually impaired musicians. The class is intended for blind learners and will make use of tactile and other techniques that maximize learning pace and proficiency. Volunteer Chad Carrion has been playing guitar for 14 years and has a background in classic and alternative rock styles. He will instruct a small group of beginner and intermediate students on basic chords, chord progressions and how to tune a guitar.

JAM Class
Since February, a group of LightHouse clients have been meeting at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance on the third Saturday of the month to get in touch with their inner JAM at the LightHouse JAM class. Led by a dedicated volunteer staff of professional dancers, blind and low vision dancers turn that spontaneous jam into practice.

The class operates by listening to and following the rhythms, soulfulness, funkiness, histories, memories, and many shades of joy that already live inside our bodies. JAM class does not aim to teach people how to dance, but rather encourages the inherent ability to dance that everyone already has in them. We’re waiting for you to join us in the dance – sign up now.

When: April 19 at 2:00 p.m.
Where: LightHouse San Francisco Headquarters

To RSVP, please contact Molly Irish at mpearson@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7320

Join us for “I Think Therefore I App” every second Thursday of the month from 10:00 until 11:30 a.m. For more information or to RSVP for the class, please contact Molly Irish at 415-694-7320 or mpearson@lighthouse-sf.org.

Upcoming Class Dates:

• Thursday, April 11, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
  
• Thursday, May 9, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
  
• Thursday, June 6, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

No one else in my parents’ families had experienced vision loss, so neither my parents nor siblings had any familiarity with blindness. I don’t recall that less was expected of me than of my brothers and sister. There must have been activities that my parents didn’t want me to do or didn’t let me participate in, but I have always felt like I could do what I felt capable of doing. When my judgment was wrong, I learned from the mistake.

One evening I went with my father to keep an appointment he had. I elected to wait in the car
and while he was gone, I pretended to drive the car as many kids will do. I turned the wheel this way and that, shifted the gears using the clutch pedal, pressed the brake, and made motor sounds.

I heard a scraping sound from under the car and got out to see if I could tell what it was. I couldn’t find anything wrong, but I stopped playing and set the emergency brake. Soon I heard my father outside, saying “Where are you?” Apparently, I had steered the car around the corner and bumped into a lantern placed in front of a barricade on the street.

On another occasion, I went with my father to a fishing resort where he had some work to do. I wandered out on to a fishing pier and at the end found a row boat tied to the pier. I thought the boat should be closer to shore, so I got in, untied the boat, and began to row. Very shortly, I discovered that I couldn’t see the shoreline or the pier. I heard my father calling out “What are you doing out there?”

I wasn’t very good at rowing and was going around in circles and getting further from shore. He coached me back in. He didn’t say anything about either event, nor did he tell my mother – and I certainly didn’t tell her.

The LightHouse presents a one week immersion retreat for adults new to low vision or blindness. Learn basic, yet essential daily living skills to live confidently. This retreat offers mentoring, peer participation and support in the splendid wine country setting of the LightHouse’s Enchanted Hills Retreat.

Upcoming Session:
June 9 through 14

If you are a Department of Rehabilitation client or are over 55, you may be eligible for these classes free of charge. For more information or to sign up for any of our training classes, please contact Debbie Bacon at 415-694-7357, or dbacon@lighthouse-sf.org or visit http://bit.ly/visionclass2013.

Those who qualify will get basic cell phones, plus 250 text messages per month.

To apply for the program, customers request a phone from Assurance Wireless by calling 800-395-2171 or visiting assurancewireless.com.

Once the necessary paperwork has been submitted, customers will receive a free phone within 10 days. After receiving their phones, they will get an application from the state of California. They must return that form within 45 days along with proof of eligibility. If eligible, they can continue receiving free service.

Video description (sometimes called “audio description” or simply “description”) makes television programs and movies accessible for people who are blind or visually impaired. Short verbal descriptions of action or key visual scenes in a program, such as setting, costumes, and facial expressions, are provided to add context. The descriptions are inserted into pauses within a program’s dialog.

Since July 1, 2012, the networks are required to each provide approximately four hours of video description per week include ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, USA, the Disney Channel, TNT, Nickelodeon, and TBS. This expanded array of choices is a much-fought-for complement to the current rich menu of described programming that PBS has offered for many years.

AFB’s Described TV Listings initiative makes it easier to find which shows are described, allowing people with vision loss to enjoy their favorite shows alongside their sighted peers.

To learn which programs are being described and when they will air in your area, and to learn more about how to access them on your television, visit www.afb.org/tv.

• promote universal and inclusive design principles to current and future students;
• support the recruitment of people with disabilities into design careers;
• and, promote interaction and understanding.

The symposium will be a public event that will include keynote addresses and panel discussions from leading design professionals, disability advocates, agencies, and organizations in the SF Bay Area and beyond. The workshop will include presentations, activities and exercises for the student participants centered around an inclusive design overview and assessment of the recently renovated SF State Library and the West Campus Green Park scheduled to open in March 2013. Enrollment in pre-workshop orientation and workshop is limited to prospective and current students. Priority consideration will be given to students with disabilities. Please contact ricGomes@sfsu.edu if you would like to register as an observer/non-participant.

When: Thursday April 11 through Saturday April 13

To find out more or to register, click here.

Visit Our Camp Page.

To take the survey online or to learn more about it, go to www.LibraryOfCongressSurvey.org. Or, you can call 1-866-545-1618 to schedule a time to take the survey over the phone.

You do not have to be a current NLS reader to take the survey.

The 25 minute survey is designed to learn more about your experiences with talking books and braille, what types of talking book and braille materials and services you are looking for, and what NLS can do to get you interested in the free Library of Congress talking book and braille program. If you aren’t currently using NLS, let them know what services you want and how they can add you to the list of NLS readers. If you are a current NLS reader, let them know what they are doing well, where they can improve, and what new services you would like NLS to offer. Your answers to the survey questions will be kept confidential. Take the survey now to help Library of Congress NLS better serve all readers who use talking books and braille!

Please note: This clinic is for students who cannot benefit from a Low Vision exam. Typically these students have light perception or no light perception.  The examination will include evaluating the health of students’ eyes, sockets, and polishing prostheses if needed. Each appointment will last for approximately 30 minutes.

There is no fee for this examination, and it is expected to be popular, so you’ll want to apply right away. For application paperwork or questions, contact Stephanie Herlich, Coordinator, Low Vision Services at California School for the Blind, 510-794-3800 x228, 510-794-3813 (fax).

• Fast, easy access to services and resources
• A nationwide network of blind mentors
• Thirty scholarships for higher education offered annually, generally ranging from $3,000 to $12,000
• Eligibility for financial assistance to attend the convention of the National Federation of the Blind in Orlando on July 1-6
• NFB-NEWSLINE^®, the largest on-demand audio newspaper service in the world
• Free advice on finding the right assistive or mainstream technology to meet your needs
• Training and employment opportunities with the federal government
• Effective advocacy on issues important to blind veterans, including access to the military Space Available program
• The opportunity to join in advocacy and fellowship with like-minded blind veterans through the National Association of Blind Veterans, a division of the National Federation of the Blind (http://www.nabv.org)
• A positive philosophy of blindness emphasizing the normality of the blind and our ability to compete on terms of equality with our sighted peers

For more information on NFB programs for blind veterans, please contact Dr. Joanne Wilson by phone at (410) 659-9314, extension 2335, or by e-mail at jwilson@nfb.org.

The subject of the article, Josh Miele, is the President of the LightHouse Board. In addition to heading the LightHouse with leadership and vision, Josh is an associate scientist at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, where he has partnered with the LightHouse to create tactile-Braille maps of every station of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART). The New York Times called the maps, “exquisite things with raised lines of plastic and Braille labels. They elegantly lay out information that can be heard by using an audio smart pen”.

Read the full article here. It will give you a deeper understanding of the intellectual and moral leadership the LightHouse enjoys.

Today’s theme: Sidebar, and the recent 50 year history of radio in the San Francisco Bay Area.

What’s New At EHC?

• Enjoy the outdoor talent shows at our brand new redwood theater!
• Explore new hiking trails parts of the campground that haven’t been visited in years!
• We’ve upgraded our tandem bike fleet so that more campers can ride!

Sessions are listed below. For more information, visit the Enchanted Hills Camp 2013 page on our website. For questions please call us at 415-694-7310 or email us at EHC@lighthouse-sf.org.

EHC Sessions List
Chemistry Camp: May 3 – May 5
Napa Resident Family Camp: May 17 – 19 (call 415) 694-7310 for registration)
Blind Babies Family Camp: June 14 – June 16
Family Camp I: June 20 – June 23
Adults with Special Needs: June 29 – July 3
Adult/Alumni: July 5 – July 10
Family Camp II: July 11 – July 14
Kid’s Session – 3rd through 8th grade: July 15 – July 21
Family Camp III: July 24 – July 27
Teen Session – 9th through 12th grade: July 28 – Aug 3
Deaf-Blind Session: August 15 – Aug 18

 We’re looking for people who know how to build camp spirit and contagiously involve all campers in trying new activities, sports and blindness techniques. You are not required to know much about blindness when you start, but we expect that you will quickly learn much about the can-do spirit and techniques which all successful blind people use. Or you may be blind or visually impaired yourself. So whether your background or interest is in education, psychology, rehabilitation, crafts or sports, if you think you can bring your spirit and knowledge to bear on inventing the best camp ever, we want to hear from you.

Camp counselors are part of a 20-person counseling team. Camp runs from June 14 through August 18. If you are interested in having a fun filled summer at a storied camp, applications are now available. Let us hear from you soon. Our application period closes on March 30, 2013. For further information contact Tony Fletcher, Enchanted Hills Camp Director at (415) 694-7319 or afletcher@lighthouse-sf.org.

In adhering to our 4T philosophy: THINK, TRAIN, TRANSFORM, and THRIVE, the LightHouse Youth Services Program is offering this intensive three day workshop to blind and low vision youth between the ages of 16-25 who are enrolled with the Department of Rehabilitation.

Building upon skills and concepts introduced at Transition Summit 2012, this exciting three day workshop at our beautiful Enchanted Hills Camp promises to be another enriching and educational experience for anyone interested in learning the skills necessary for vocational, academic, and personal success. Participants will explore, discuss, and engage in a wide variety of fun yet meaningful interactive activities covering such topics as: cultivating and maintaining a positive attitude in the workplace; the importance of job enthusiasm; professionalism: what it is and what it is not; identifying and understanding workplace etiquette and boundaries; developing strong interpersonal skills; creative problem-solving and critical thinking; non-confrontational conflict resolution, leadership skills, and more.

Transition Summit 2013 will be a fun-filled event you won’t want to miss!

When: Friday, April 19 through Sunday, April 21, 2013
Where: Enchanted Hills Camp Napa, California

Cost: There is no cost to apply for the summit, however; a referral and authorization from your Department of Rehabilitation counselor will need to be submitted with your application. Individuals who are not Department of Rehabilitation clients may apply for a scholarship.

**Space is limited to 20 Participants. Priority will be given to those folks who attended Transition Summit 2012.

For more information please contact Jamey Gump, Youth Services Coordinator at jgump@lighthouse-sf.org, (415) 694-7372 or John Liang, Director of Community Services at jliang@lighthouse-sf.org, (415) 694-7334.

Where: Beautiful, scenic Napa. Go to www.cycle4sight.com for route information, start times and to register
When: Saturday, April 20 starting and finishing at Justin Siena High School in Napa

Join Team LightHouse! Interested in piloting a tandem bike for a blind stoker? Or, are you a blind stoker in need of a pilot? Contact Tony Fletcher via email at afletcher@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7319 to join Team LightHouse today!

Blind cyclists wishing to register can do so simply by calling the lighthouse at 415-694-7348 and speaking with Chuck to walk you through the online registration.

If you want to give to a very special cause, please consider supporting Team Lighthouse in this year’s Cycle for Sight ride to be held on Saturday April 20. To sponsor a rider or make a donation, go to www.lighthouse-sf.org/donate and choose Cycle for Sight as your designation. Thank you for supporting Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind!

Check out our Facebook Event page!

The SmartLux Digital is ideal for anyone who is visually impaired and wants an economical, portable video magnifier. The SmartLux Digital features a generous depth of focus and includes a stand that, when placed in its fully extended position, is ideal for reading. When placed in its half-extended position, it is ideal for writing. The two small SMD-LEDs on the underside of the device can be switched off when viewing other backlit displays, such as cell phones, to avoid screen glare. The screen is hard-coated for protection and is made with an additional anti-glare layer of film.

Specs:

• Display: 5 inch LCD TFT display with contrast ration 600:1
• Magnification: 5x, 7x, 9x, and 12x
• Color Modes: Full color, black on white, white on black, black on yellow, yellow black
• Weight: 7.8 oz.
• Dimensions: 3½ in W x 6½ in L x 1¼ in H
• Power: Rechargeable; power cord with attachments included
• Run Time: Operating time is 2½ hours
• Charging Time: 2 hours
• 2-year warranty

To purchase the SmartLux Digital or peruse our full inventory of magnifiers and other gadgets designed for the blind and visually impaired, contact Adaptations, the LightHouse Store at 1-888-400-8933 or visit our store online for more information.

If so, you may be interested in becoming a Personal Services/Driver volunteer. Our clients may need assistance with: reading mail, books, newspapers and periodicals; writing checks, letters and correspondence; home organization; grocery shopping or errands; or attending cultural, social or sporting events.

Volunteer at the LightHouse! Visit  www.lighthouse-sf.org to complete a volunteer application.

During this call you’ll get an overview of camp by founder and coordinator Hoby Wedler, and get important information about filling out the application and applying for Chemistry Camp, details on camp logistics, and perhaps most importantly, hear testimonials from past mentors, instructors, and student alum! There will be plenty of time for your questions and comments throughout the call.

If you want more information on how blind students can study extremely visual subjects or want information on talking constructively with people who tell you that you can’t study visual subjects, this call is sure to answer some of your questions about accessibility and most importantly, about how you or a blind or low vision high school student you know can easily participate in the 2013 chemistry camp.

At the recommendation of a friend, Colleen took a right turn career-wise that turned out to be an excellent fit for her engaging personality. She became a successful mortgage banker, helping her clients get the best loans to fulfill their particular needs. But as the real estate market went from boom to bust, concurrently, Colleen’s vision got dramatically worse. This made it difficult to do the driving and sales work required for the job. “I had to stop driving and start facing reality. That’s when a friend told me about the Department of Rehabilitation.” She signed up for services through DOR and went back to school.

In 2012 Colleen got her degree to qualify to work as a Nurse Administrator. The eight-year gap since she was last employed in a medical capacity made it hard for her to compete against nurses who had been working steadily. Meanwhile her DOR counselor referred her to the LightHouse to learn travel skills and use of a white cane. A positive experience led her to enroll in the LightHouse’s Employment Immersion program.

With self-deprecating laughter, Colleen said, “We think we know it all, we know how to find a job. But the Employment Immersion sessions really brought me up to date – I learned so much about what employers really want to see on a resume these days. And going over typical interview questions and practicing in front of the class and a video camera was invaluable. For example, one frequent question is ‘What do you consider a weakness?’ The pat answer is ‘I’m a perfectionist.’ Well, you know, that is just considered a cliché these days. Kate teaches you what works and what doesn’t! When you do an interview, you’re nervous enough, but when you’ve practiced and prepared you can quickly recollect answers you’ve been working on – it makes such a difference! Also, getting the feedback from Kate and from the class really helps build confidence.”

Colleen’s perseverance paid off and she was hired as an Intake and Scheduling Manager for the home health agency American Care Quest in San Francisco. “I talk to the departments at the various hospitals, gather information on new patients and decide which medical personnel (i.e., Skilled Nurses, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists) to send out. I’m working full time, ten to twelve hours a day. It’s great!”

Kate Williams said, “Colleen brought her undeniable energy and positivity to our Spring 2012 sessions. We helped her polish her resume and her presentation and she just went for it. She was dogged about identifying key decision makers and finding a way to get in touch with them. She knows what she wants and goes for it, but she is able to combine this tenacity with a warm and welcoming personality. Colleen positively lights up the room and I’m so pleased with her success!”

Are you looking to jumpstart your career like Colleen did? Are you looking for a job and need that extra little push to get that interview or take your resume to the next level so it rises to the top of the pile? The next session of the 2013 Employment Immersion Program will begin Tuesday, March 19 at the LightHouse’s office at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley. For more information, call Kate Williams at 415-694-7324 or email her at kwilliams@lighthouse-sf.org.

The National Certification in Literary Braille (NCLB) test will be administered by the National Blindness Professional Certification Board (NBPCB), in San Francisco, California on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The LightHouse is located at 214 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco.

To find out more information and to register for this important test, please go to the NBPCB website: www.nbpcb.org/nclb. Deadline for registration is March22!

If you have questions, contact the NBPCB office by phone at (318) 257-4554 or by email at braille@nbpcb.org.

To share your experiences, please contact Michael Nunez by phone at 510-665-8644 or by e-mail at mnunez@dralegal.org.

What: Ai Squared ZoomText Training
When: Thursday, March 14, 2013 and Friday, March 15, 2013
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Where: LightHouse San Francisco Headquarters

If you are a teacher that needs to know how to use the latest screen magnification technology, an IT professional that needs to assist low-vision clients, a student or current ZoomText customer who needs to know how to get the most out of ZoomText; then this hands-on training is just for you.

What do you get when you sign up for ZoomText training?  You get the following:

• Hands-on training with a Ai Squared Trainer
• How to use all of the advanced features of ZoomText 10
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office and using ZoomText effectively
• Knowledge of the Internet and how to use it to its full advantage with ZoomText
• Knowledge of how to customize your ZoomText for your specific preferences

Unlike other training courses that can cost up to $1,000 or more, ZoomText training is only $399 per student for a two-day class! Ai Squared accepts most major credit cards, checks, money orders, and almost all state authorizations.

To sign up for the training, please contact Kimberly Cline at Ai Squared 802-367-6152 or kcline@aisquared.com or sign up for training here. For directions to the training location, please call (415) 431-1481.

Space is limited, so sign up soon!

During this exciting and action-packed 3-day experience, students will get to learn how blind and visually impaired people use chemistry in their careers. We will explore techniques to make chemistry accessible. Take part in hands-on chemistry experiments, apply chemistry to cooking, and do magic with chemistry.

When: Friday, May 3, 2013 through Sunday, May 5, 2013
Where: Enchanted Hills Camp in Napa, California
Who: Up to fifteen blind high school students ages 14-18 will be selected to participate
Fee: Free

Transportation will be provided to and from Enchanted Hills Camp from pick-up points in the Bay Area and in Sacramento. Campers will arrive back at drop-off spots at 4 PM on Sunday, May 5. Or parents can choose to drive their child to and from Enchanted Hills Camp.

For an application or questions for this free camp, contact Angela Fowler, Director of Planning, Accessible Science at fowlers@syix.com or 530-902-0987. We hope to see you this spring at Enchanted Hills!

See more photos from the trip in our Facebook photo album. Need more inspiration to hike? Read this recent article about a blind hiker who traversed the Appalachian Trail using a GPS device and trekking poles.

Come join us! Contact John Liang, Director of Community and Volunteer Services for information on the Blind Backpackers and Outdoor Adventurers clubs, at jliang@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7334.