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CCB National Newsletter

October 2015

Announcements

++Upcoming Information to CCB Members: Please note that CCB members will be receiving some advocacy information by e-mail soon on library services and eye health and vision care. Watch your inbox for this important information.

++Get ready to vote!:

You probably already know about our upcoming federal election taking place in October. But are you prepared to cast your vote? Elections Canada has provided these key tips to ensure you’re ready:

• Make sure you’re registered.

• Go to elections.ca to check, update or complete your voter registration.

• If your registration is up to date, you’ll get a voter information card soon after the election is called. It tells you when and where to vote.

• Registering in advance makes it easier and faster when you go to vote.

• Encourage others to register too!

• Check that you have the right ID.

• To vote, you’ll need to prove your identity and address.

• Check the list of accepted ID so you know what to bring when you go to vote.

• Learn about Elections Canada’s accessibility services.

• Check the Accessibility Policy and Service Offering

to find out about the tools and services available to make voting an accessible experience.

Accessible voting tools include the following:

Voting screens

The new voting screens are designed to allow more light to enter. The screens have no overhead cover, so you are able to see the ballot and instructions more clearly.

Magnifiers

If you would like to use a magnifier to help you vote, just ask the election worker at your polling place when you arrive. The magnifiers are lightweight, have an integrated light, and can make the ballot look four times bigger.

Tactile and Braille voting templates

Each polling place has a tactile and Braille voting template that you can use to mark your ballot. Your ballot fits into the template, which has Braille and embossed numbers beside each marking point. This lets you find the marking point that matches your choice of candidate.

Braille lists of candidates

On election day, each polling place will have a Braille list of candidates that you can use with the tactile and Braille voting template mentioned above. The Braille list reproduces the names of the candidates and their political affiliation in the same order as they appear on the ballot. The candidates' names have numbers that match the embossed and Braille numbers on the voting template.

Large-print lists of candidates

Each polling place has a large-print list of candidates you can take behind the voting screen to read. It looks exactly like the ballot, but it is 2.5 times bigger. The large-print list does not replace your ballot. Once you refer to the list, you will need to mark your ballot in the same way as usual.

If you need assistance at any time during the voting process, ask the election worker and let them know how they can help.

Want to learn more about this year’s election? Have questions about where or how to vote? Visit elections.ca

++A Special Request from Barrier Free Canada: We would like to make an important appeal to our readers. From now until October 19, we are asking you to please help our cause by taking to social media.

We need as many of you as possible to start tweeting and retweeting. You can either make up your own tweets or retweet any tweet that you come across with the hashtag #canadiansdisabilitiesact. Or write to us at info@ and we will be pleased to provide you with sample tweets.

Every voice and every tweet counts and it is only like this that we will convince our next Canadian Parliament to implement a Canadians Disabilities Act. Use Twitter and Facebook and let's share each other's tweets and posts!

++Results for the CCB Cribbage Tournament:

Please find the results below:

1st place - 2406 points Heather Hannett from Calgary

2nd place - 2353 points Brian McIvor from Calgary

3rd place - 2327 points Charles Clement from Edmonton

4th place - TIED 2323 points Ray Shanner from Regina + Terri Lee Skerry from Calgary

5th place - 2317 points Ron Teel from Calgary

Thanks to all the participants and volunteers.

++Congratulations!: We are extremely pleased to let the CCB community know that our National President, Louise Gillis, is the 2015 recipient of the Holly Award presented by the Halifax branch of the CNIB each year. The following is the text of the presentation to Louise at the CNIB Atlantic provinces AGM on September 22.

“In 2011, CNIB established the Holly Award as a tribute to the memory of Holly Bartlett, an extraordinary woman from Halifax who touched many people’s lives. From skydiving and horseback riding to swing dancing and rock climbing, Holly didn’t let her vision loss hold her back from living life to the fullest.

This award is presented to exceptional volunteers in Atlantic Canada who capture the spirit of Holly with their generosity, compassion and commitment in serving those who are blind or partially sighted.

The Holly Angel was created by renowned stained glass artist Sharon MacNamara. The angel was designed as a tribute to Holly, with CNIB colours – blue and green – and tactile features. Each angel is comprised of clear, DIE-CROW-ICK glass and is hand crafted from the first cut to the final finish.

Despite being diagnosed with polio at an early age and vision loss later in life, Louise has achieved great success and has helped many others along the way. She has volunteered for Polio Nova Scotia, CNIB, and CCB. In these capacities she has worked on many projects/committees and with individuals to improve the lives of Canadians living with disabilities. Improving eye care and prevention of vision loss are major areas of her volunteer work.

Louise is the National President of the Canadian Council of the Blind and since joining CCB, she’s impacted the lives of countless individuals with vision loss – assisting eye care experts as far as China and empowering individuals with vision loss to accomplish their goals.

Louise was also once a CNIB volunteer. She coordinated fellow volunteers in Cape Breton, helped as a peer mentor, visited clients in their homes to mark appliances, and advocated on behalf of the blind community.”

Congratulations Louise and thank you for all that you do!

Submitted by:

Pat Gates, Chair, CCB Access & Awareness NS Chapter

++World Sight Day, October 8, 2015: This September, the UN will finalize a new set of development goals, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), that will direct international development work and funding for the next 15 years. The SDGs will replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were adopted in 2000 and dominated international development for the last 15 years.

The MDGs were limited in scope and ended up not having many positive effects on the lives of persons with disabilities. Fortunately, the post-2015 process has already proven to be more inclusive, with a high level of civil society input, including with the International Disability Alliance, the International Disability and Development Consortium and the World Blind Union, resulting in several direct references to persons with disabilities.

We have worked hard to ensure that eye health is a part of measuring the success of the goals’ targets and indicators. Combating eye diseases will likely become more difficult over the next 15 years, as the World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that eye disease will have doubled from 1990-2020. The burden of eye disease is highest in poorer countries, with 90% of all global cases of serious vision impairment occurring in the developing world.

People who are blind or have very low vision in poorer countries are far less likely to go to school (only 10% of them do), have gainful employment (90% are unemployed) and participate in society as a full and equal citizen. All of these factors lead many blind and low vision persons to live in poverty and social isolation.

We are looking to the SDGs, and the global development community as a whole, to live up to their promises and help end this vicious cycle of poverty and isolation. In order for the SDGS to be a success and lead to positive outcomes for blind and partially sighted persons, they must include projects to prevent blindness, since 80% of all vision impairment could have been prevented, as well as work to bring increased attention to the links between disability and poor eye health, and poverty and isolation.

The World Blind Union is asking for all concerned parties, especially those in government and international development organizations, to work hard to implement the SDGs in a way that captures the robust and inclusive spirit in which they were drafted, and to no longer leave persons with disabilities out of the global development agenda.

We are also calling on governments and development organizations implementing the SDGs to ensure that they will include projects on the prevention of poor eye health, awareness raising initiatives on disability and eye health, and services that offer a continuum of care (including essential technological tools, equipment, resources, rehabilitation and medical services) to address the unique needs of those who live with low vision and blindness.

++Accessible features on new Bank Note: The Bank of Canada unveiled and issued a commemorative bank note this month at Rideau Hall to mark the historic reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

This limited-issue bank note is a variation of the existing $20 note in the Polymer series. It has all the same security features, making it easy to check and difficult to counterfeit. The differences are in the visual elements of the large window.

The three key elements to help blind and partially-sighted Canadians recognize bank note denominations by touch (tactile feature), sight (large numerals) or electronic signal (bank note reader) are identical on the commemorative $20 note as on all the other polymer notes.

++MEMBERSHIP DUES REMINDER

Please note that all membership packages were mailed out to each Chapter Contact at the end of August.

If you did not receive the membership renewal package for your chapter, please contact Camilla immediately at 1-877-304-0968 or csimon@.

Remember the Early Bird Draw deadline is Friday, October 30, 2015 and is a chance for two chapters to win back all the dues for their chapters.

Regardless of who wins the Early Bird Draw, ALL chapters who get their membership renewals in before Monday, December 7, 2015 will receive the rebate of $5.00 per person plus $1.00 per e-mail that CCB offers every year.

++WHITE CANE WEEK ORDER REMINDER

WCW Order Forms were included in the Membership Renewal Packages that were sent to each chapter’s contact person.

To avoid shipping delays PLEASE NOTE the deadline for submitting WCW orders is Friday, December 11, 2015 so that orders can be assembled and shipped in plenty of time for WCW February 7 – 13, 2016.

Please plan carefully and place your entire order at one time to avoid confusion & the extra shipping costs incurred by sending multiple packages to one chapter.

You may also use the same form to request up to $100.00 in WCW funding support of your chapter’s WCW events.

PLEASE SEND ONLY ONE ORDER PER CHAPTER

++White Cane Safety Day: The white cane is recognized across the world as the international symbol of blindness and mobility, and that is why the World Blind Union (WBU) has chosen to focus on the issue of silent cars and their effects on mobility for blind and low-vision persons for White Cane Safety Day on October 15, 2015.

Shared spaces are becoming increasingly common in our communities, where pedestrians, vehicles and cyclists use the same space for transit. This increased complexity can make mobility more difficult for persons who have low-vision and blindness, especially when combined with newer technologies that make vehicles quieter, and therefore less detectable. When traveling at speeds under 20 kilometers an hour, hybrid and electric vehicles are essentially silent and many blind and low-vision persons depend on vehicle noise to know when it is safe to cross roads. Silent cars also pose a significant risk for all pedestrians, sighted and non-sighted, as quiet cars are 40% more likely than audible cars to be involved in a collision with a pedestrian.

The WBU wholeheartedly supports new, cleaner technologies for vehicles, including hybrid and electric cars, which are better for the environment. However, the dangers posed by hybrid and electric vehicles are real and serious for blind and low-vision pedestrians all over the world. New technologies must be designed and manufactured in a way that takes blind and partially-sighted persons’ needs into account, as called for by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its principles of universal and inclusive design.

For the past several years, the UN has been working to address the hazards posed by quiet vehicles. The World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) and its subsidiary, the Working Party on Noise (GRB), as well as the Quiet Road Transport Vehicles Informal Working Group (QRTV), are the three UN bodies involved in the regulation process. The QRTV originally set-out to develop a global technical regulation for a mandatory Audible Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS). Unfortunately, this working group’s mandate has been narrowed and it is now moving towards a standard that would only apply in certain countries, not including countries such as the USA and China. We are disappointed by this move away from a global regulation.

The WBU fully supports a global standard for an AVAS that will: 1) ensure that an alert device is loud enough to provide adequate warning about the presence and movement of hybrid and electric vehicles; 2) prohibit a pause switch that would enable the driver to turn off the alert device whenever he or she finds the sound annoying; and 3) require that the quiet vehicle emit an alert sound while stationary, such as when stopped at a traffic light.

The WBU calls on all governments and regulators to support a global technical standard that reflects the QRTV’s original mandate. WBU members, and all other likeminded stakeholders, can contact their WP.29 members and encourage them to insist that our concerns be incorporated into any final international regulation. For more information on the WP.29 and its members, follow this link: /introduction.html. The World Blind Union (WBU) also has a Position Statement on this issue (Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.), which highlights the need for an AVAS in order to keep blind and low-vision pedestrians, alongside all other pedestrians, safe and fully mobile in all cities and communities across the globe.

++In Memory…..

The Board of Directors and staff of CCB would like to express our deepest condolences to Sandra Poirier, National Board member from PEI, in the loss of her mother, Beatrice MacKinnn Poirier at age 95 on September 15, 2015.

In the News

++Blind photographer: I was declared legally blind 14 years ago, at the age of 40. I lost my driver's license and my social work position, for which I had earned a bachelor's and master's. It was my chosen profession, and I didn't give it up lightly. When it disappeared, so did some of my confidence and sense of identity. What was I to call myself if not a social worker?

I ended up becoming a photographer. The words "legally blind photographer" don't sound like they should exist together. Indeed, until recently I didn't think this path was available to me. I'd always loved taking pictures, ever since I was a little girl, snapping shots of my family and pets with the Kodak and Polaroid cameras my mother always had around.

But I was born with retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive blinding disease that deteriorates the retinas over time. And with retinitis pigmentosa comes night blindness, which meant I couldn't see in a darkroom to use the chemicals and develop photos, nor could I read the settings on a camera to shoot manually — all major problems in the era before digital photography. So as a teenager I decided, regretfully, to put my love of photography in a box and leave it alone.

I didn't feel bitter about it. It was just another adjustment I had to make given the vision problem I had.

My condition didn't deter me from enjoying photography in my mind. I read about photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Ansel Adams, and daydreamed about the kind of pictures I would make if I could — not family snapshots with a disposable camera, but those on the fine art, creative side of photography. Maybe a mountain, or a snow-covered field, or an unusually shaped tree. Definitely landscapes, because I'd grown up with rural scenery all around me.

Then, in 2013, after I could no longer drive, practice social work, or sketch drawings, I decided to turn my dream of being a photographer into a reality. I had heard so much about how easy point-and-shoot digital cameras were, and I wanted to try one.

I still have some vision. "Legally blind" doesn't mean completely blind. Each person's experience is different, but for me it means that everything I see is extremely blurry — oddly enough, like a camera lens that is turned so far out of focus that you can't distinguish a person from a tree, or see where steps begin and end, or where the restroom door is, or what a person's features look like. I see the general blurry shape of things, and the closer I am to something, the better I can determine what it is.

I lost social work. This would be just another thing to lose. Self-doubt crept in.

But the idea wouldn't leave me alone. And so, with a little nudge from my son — he actually took the first picture — I picked up the camera and walked around my backyard with it, snapping the shutter just to see what I could capture.

When I transferred the images to my 47-inch monitor, I was amazed at what I couldn't see in my own backyard, but what my camera could: purplish blueberries in some brush. Wild pumpkins at the edge of the woods. Individual brown leaves on a tree (it was fall of that year).

Not only could I take the kind of pictures I'd always wanted to take, I could see things with my camera that I couldn't see without it, like it's a second set of eyes. A double gift.

I didn't need a darkroom, because images are "developed" inside the camera. I didn't need to read the settings, because I had the camera set on auto.

How I work

I take most of my photos outside, in black and white — I see best in contrast, plus I've always admired the classic black-and-white style. Sometimes I move up close to something of interest while walking, hold the camera about three or four inches away from it, and snap the shutter.

Other times, I literally point randomly in the direction of blurry hills and vague shapes of trees, or whatever is out there in the world, and take a picture.

With landscapes and nature, my vision doesn't have to be perfect. I can be abstract and make mistakes.

People are more challenging to photograph. I can't tell if someone is looking at the camera, or if I'm cutting off heads, or centering, or if the lighting is right or wrong. I can capture someone in a general way, or a natural way, or in a candid shot, but doing formal portraits in a studio isn't for me. I've tried it, but you need better vision to do it well.

Then comes the heart of my work: I take my camera home to my large monitor to see what I've captured. There's a photography term called "the decisive moment." It means knowing when to snap the shutter at the perfect second. My decisive moments come after I've taken the pictures, when I make my selections on my big screen. I'm often surprised at the accidental pictures, like a bird perched in a tree, or power lines that make for an abstract composition.

I delete many more photos than I keep, and the ones I keep are the ones I can see best —high contrast, simple composition, and subjects I can make out fairly well.

I've never had formal photography classes, but I do use the art education I've had in the past, as well as my years of sketching. I also learn from my favorite photography "mentors" online, Ted Forbes and Ibarionex Perello, who both teach the art of photography.

How my low vision affects my art — for the better

If my vision condition is an asset to me as a photographer, it's in that it's helped define my style. I don't try to set up a photo or have any preconceived notions about what the picture should look like. I don't fret over how a shot should look beforehand.

I don't compare notes with other photographers with full vision, because I already know that their approaches and techniques are different from mine. They use a viewfinder, and can see details in the subject, background, and environment they're shooting. They may adjust settings to their taste. I don't worry about how other photographers work; I'm just happy to have found a way to do my own work with a camera. I can see things with my camera that I can't see without it, like it's a second set of eyes

I don't agonize over my art. I snap pictures, then choose the ones I like. If I don't have any from the day's shooting that I like, it's okay. I can always take another picture. And when the day comes that I can't take pictures this way anymore, because my vision has deteriorated so much, then I will find a way for that to be okay, too, because I have a collection of photos that I'm happy with.

I'd like to think that my photography is pretty or interesting, but I can never really be sure unless someone tells me. I rely on people's reactions. It helps me to know how the photo makes others feel. I've had reactions ranging from "bleak and dreary" to "beautiful." I accept all of them, because I feel honored to be able to take photos. I've learned that it's hard to stifle creativity, and that there is more than one way to express yourself artistically. I've learned that with the right technology and a shift in perspective, people can do things they thought impossible.

Tammy Ruggles is a fine-art photographer in Kentucky.

++Blind 'adrenaline junkie' Trevor Thomas uses GUIDE DOG to lead him on treks:

A blind hiker has walked more than 6,000 miles of treacherous mountain paths with only his guide dog to show him the way.

In 2006, extreme sports enthusiast Trevor Thomas was hit by an autoimmune disease that cruelly robbed him of his sight in just eight months.

At first depression kicked in and he found it hard to adjust, but after meeting blind athlete Erik Weihenmayer he decided to regain his independence.

Now the determined 46-year-old has become an inspiration to millions after he and Tennille, a black Labrador-retriever, documented their trips through rocky terrain, snow and storms for the past three years.

Tennille now acts as Mr Thomas' eyes during hikes after he was blinded in 2006 by an autoimmune disease

Mr Thomas decided to regain his independence after meeting and becoming inspired by blind athlete Erik Weihenmayer

After overcoming such adversity, the determined 46-year-old has become an inspiration to millions

Adopting Tennille in 2012 enabled him to hike solo and the pair have explored routes including Tahoe Rim trail through California and Nevada and Jefferson National Forest in Virginia.

Using a technique called echolocation, Mr Thomas identifies his surroundings by listening to sounds - in the same way as bats and dolphins.

The duo's latest challenge is a 500 mile trail in Colorado for which they set off on June 19.

Mr. Thomas, from Charlotte in North Carolina, said: 'Tennille and I have hiked about 6,000 miles together between the trails we have hiked and our daily training hikes in Charlotte - she literally is my eyes.

'She is able to find signs, alert me to blow downs or other debris in my way and she can tell me if I am in danger of hitting my head.

'She leads me around obstacles or stops so I can explore my own options and she can find where trails intersect - helping to reinforce my map choices.'

The self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie is now sponsored by a number of outdoor adventure companies.

He added: 'I got into hiking when I went to hear Erik Weihenmayer talk of his accomplishments as a blind man.

The pair have now hiked more than 6,000 miles together and are currently attempting 500mile trail in Colorado

'He'd climbed Mount Everest and after speaking, encouraged me to go out and find some athletic event to challenge me.

'Before going blind I was into extreme sports so hiking seemed like something I could do and I found myself drawn to the challenge.

'I hike so I can challenge myself to push the limits of possibility for the blind.

'I want to set an example that we can do things in this life that up until now seem distant and remote - I love to push myself and in doing so feel the victory of accomplishment.'

By Corey Charlton

++Blind mechanic working in Salem auto shop: When you've been a mechanic for more than 20 years, you get a sense when something's not right.

The newest hire at Victory Automotive has a wealth of knowledge and experience and a habit of sniffing a vehicle's fluids to detect if it's past its prime.

"I've been doing that all my life," said Christopher Goodman. "Smelling oil, smelling coolant, smelling power steering fluid."

That sense is more important than ever.

Goodman is legally blind.

He can see light, but no shapes.

Yet he is determined to keep doing the job he loves.

"It's challenging, whether you can see or not," said Goodman. "It's rewarding in a lot of ways. It really is."

Goodman, who was raised in Oregon, first realized his vision was failing in 2010 when he went to get his driver's license renewed.

An employee there told him to go to an eye doctor when he couldn't read a sign.

Soon, he started to experience trouble with his vision at work.

"[You] come in with a car and park it and open the hood," he explained. "By the time you get things written down on the paperwork, your eyes are usually adjusted. Well, mine wouldn't recover from the light, so I'm looking at a black engine compartment."

By 2012, detached retinas and untreated glaucoma robbed him of his sight.

His father, a U.S. Marine, raised Goodman and his siblings to adapt and overcome challenges.

When surgery to re-attach one of his retinas didn't work, Goodman decided to focus on adapting to his vision loss rather than trying to fix his eyesight.

"I wanted to make my mind superior to what it was before, my attitude superior and my body superior," he said. "Because when you go blind you become vulnerable and you get this thing in your head, a fear."

Goodman, then living in Idaho, sought help through the Idaho Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

After moving to Salem, he received vocational training from the Oregon Commission for the Blind and Blind Skills of Salem.

A job counselor drove Goodman to auto shops throughout Salem to look for a job.

He found one at Victory Automotive in June.

"I said, 'Wow, if you think you can do it, by golly, I want to see it,'" said owner Dan Hammond.

Hammond said Goodman's positive attitude and work ethic matter more than Goodman's vision.

"Every day I'm surprised with something new he can do," said Hammond. Goodman works in the shop's office, answering phones and helping customers. He uses a special program to input information into a computer.

He helps other mechanics in the shop when he can, relying on his senses and a memory bank of past experiences with vehicles to offer suggestions.

"First thing I ask is what are we working on and they tell me," Goodman explained. "Then all of the sudden my mind just builds up this little package."

He also utilizes tools like a talking gauge to check tire pressure.

He is still learning to adapt and is eager to do more work in the shop.

While Goodman has always enjoyed fixing cars for people, he finds the job rewarding for a new reason.

He's hopeful his experience will inspire other people with vision loss.

"All these people need to know, and I want to be one the people that shows them, if we just make our minds up to go do it and work, we can do it and work," he said.

By Laura Rillos

++Farewell and thank you!

After 91/2 years it is with mixed emotions that I announce my retirement from CCB on September 30, 2015. I am, however, looking forward to continuing to work part-time with CCB on special events such as the CVICC.

While my husband and I are excited to begin this new chapter in our lives, it will seem very strange to not be interacting on a regular basis with members across the country.

Thank you to all of you who have taken time to help me learn about the endless abilities of people living with vision loss. You have truly opened my eyes!

I’ve met a lot of amazing people and made a lot of life-long friends through the years. It has been a privilege and honour to work with and for members of the Council and I wish each & every one of you the best and brightest future!

Please keep in touch!

Fondly, Janet

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