National Federation of the Blind



ILLINOIS INDEPENDENTSummer 2017National Federation of the Blind of IllinoisPresident: Denise R. AvantEditors: Deborah Kent Stein and Robert GardnerDenise R. Avant (773) 991-8050Davant1958@Deborah Kent Stein(773) 203-1394Dkent5817@Robert Gardner(309) 236-6606rgardner4@Formatting: Glenn Moore and Janna HarveyNewsline Edition: David Meyer(708) 209-1767datemeyer@Print and Braille Editions: Bill Reif(217) 801-2996billreif@Website: Brian Mackey(609) 953-6988Bmackey88@TABLE OF CONTENTSFrom the President’s Desk, by Denise R. AvantA Legislative Breakthrough, by David MeyerBraille Is about Touching, by Robert GardnerAdventures in Soccer, by Leslie HamricNO LA, by Alex Gami?oIn Memoriam: Annette GroveFROM THE PRESIDENT's DESKBy Denise R. AvantThis column will have the usual announcements about our upcoming national and state conventions, our 2017 national and state scholarship finalists, and our BELL Academy programs. But the most significant item I want to share with you is the overwhelming passage by both houses of the Illinois legislature of HB 2626, the Parental Rights for the Blind Act. In 1981, the United States Supreme Court in Santosky v. Kramer held that parents have a fundamental right to parent their children. This ruling meant that if the state moves to take a child away from the parent, there must be notice and opportunity for the parent to be heard. Furthermore, at any hearing there must be clear and convincing evidence that it is in the best interest of the child to be removed from the parent. In Illinois the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) cannot remove a child from a custodial parent unless there is evidence that the child is an abused or neglected dependent minor. The parent's rights cannot be terminated permanently unless the parent is found to be unfit. During the entire two-step process, the best interest of the child is paramount. In a divorce case where custody and visitation are at issue, the judge has to take the best interest of the child into account. Lately, across the country, we have seen cases in which blind parents' custody of their children is disrupted or lost altogether, based on blindness alone. In 2010 a blind couple in Missouri lost custody of their newborn child in the hospital because hospital staff and social workers determined that they would not be capable of taking care of her. The parents had done nothing to cause harm to their child, yet they were not granted custody for ten weeks. We know of situations in which couples have let the hospital staff believe that the sighted parent will be the primary caregiver, even when this is untrue, simply to avoid being questioned. In Illinois we know of cases in divorce proceedings in which the sighted spouse has requested sole custody, asking that the noncustodial blind parent never be left alone with the child during visitation. Suffice it to say, visitation rights normally are not limited for the noncustodial parent unless there is evidence that the child would be in danger. During the time when the parties were married, the blind parent was alone with the child as the primary caregiver without any adverse results. Cases such as these are based on nothing more than presumptions, misconceptions, and prejudices about blind parents, held by judges, lawyers, doctors, nurses, and social workers. HB 2626 simply states that a blind parent cannot lose the right to parent his or her child based on blindness alone. The bill in no way states that blind parents can never lose custody of their child. It simply prevents removal of the child based on a false presumption. Parties in litigation will have to present evidence showing how blindness, if it does, has an impact on a person's ability to parent, or to present evidence that there is some other reason why the person cannot parent and that it is in the best interest of the child that the parent's rights be restricted or terminated. This is only right, for we know as blind people that if a blind person takes proper and necessary steps, he or she can raise healthy and happy children. We are very grateful to Representative Laura Fine and Senators Sue Rezin and John Mulroe for sponsoring and co-sponsoring the House and Senate bills. We thank all of the members in both chambers who recognized that blind people, too, have a right to parent. Our members Debbie Stein, Bill Reif, and Leslie Hamric testified in support of the legislation. Ray Campbell of the Illinois Council of the Blind (ICB) and many others wrote in support of the bill. Our members were energized by our efforts to get this bill passed. Many of them wrote in support and traveled to Springfield to show their support in person. DCFS requested a slight modification to the bill, which the NFB of Illinois did not oppose. After the modification was made, DCFS offered no opposition. In the upcoming weeks and months we will work with DCFS to come up with regulations implementing HB 2626. One of our missions in the Federation is to educate the public about blindness. We are more than willing to share with anyone, blind or sighted, our resources for blind parents. A page with information related to blind parents is linked to the NFB website. You can visit the blind parents page here. We want the holding of Santosky to be realized for blind parents throughout the country. Illinois has two 2017 national scholarship finalist. The first is Ayoub Zurikat, who is from Jordan. Ayoub will be attending Wheaton College in the fall, and he is seeking a masters in social work. Aneri Brahmbhatt is a former Freedom Link participant. She will attend Belmont University in the fall. Her major will be business administration for musicians. Illinois has selected its 2017 state scholarship finalists. Emma Meyer, president of the Illinois Association of Blind Students (IABS), will be attending the University of Iowa in the fall. She is planning to declare a pre-law major. Amy Bosko, who is the second vice president of IABS, will be attending the University of Illinois/Chicago, majoring in social work. Dustin Cather, who is new to our affiliate, is already an active member of IABS and of the National Association of Blind Students (NABS). He attends Oregon State University online, majoring in political science. Congratulations to all of the 2017 scholarship finalists! We wish all of them the best of luck. On April 22, 2017, IABS and the NFBI sponsored our fourth annual student seminar. The seminar was put on by and for students, and all of the content was geared toward student concerns. I want to congratulate IABS President Emma Meyer and the rest of the students who made the seminar a success. We are soon heading out for national convention, which will take place July 10-15, 2017, in Orlando, Florida. Illinois has a particular reason to look forward to this convention. Amy Lund, who has been the lead teacher for our BELL Academies since 2014, will receive the Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award. Pre-registration has closed and the main hotel is full, but you still might have a chance to attend convention. In fact, many years ago I managed to get registered and find a room in the overflow hotel two weeks before convention. So, you never know. For more information, go to . Illinois is heading into its busiest season as an affiliate. When we returned from national convention, we will start the first of our two BELL Academies. Chicago BELL will be held at the Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired, July 17-28. We thank Dr. Janet Sczlyk for the use of the Lighthouse facilities for the fourth year in a row. Our Springfield BELL program will be held from July 31 to August 4. We soon will be taking applications for our tenth Freedom Link program for blind middle and high school students.We are already preparing for our state convention at the Chicago Mariott Naperville in Naperville, Illinois. The dates are October 27-29. We do not know yet who our national representative will be, but no doubt we will have this information within a few days of national convention. We have some confirmed speakers, and we are waiting for more. You will have an opportunity to meet our three state scholarship finalists, and we hope that at least one of our national scholarship finalists will attend. Let's go build the Federation! A LEGISLATIVE BREAKTHROUGHBy David MeyerBack in 2015 our affiliate president, Denise Avant, asked me if I would consider chairing the State Legislation Committee. Having never chaired such a committee and having little knowledge of the legislation process in Illinois, I was hesitant. Add to that my perception that the Illinois General Assembly seemed in a perpetual stalemate, a situation where members seemed more interested in voting the party line rather than working together for the greater good of Illinois. I thought chairing an NFBI State Legislation Committee with the expectation of getting something done was beyond me. After I expressed much reservation, Denise asked me to take time to think it over and let her know what I wanted to do. Reluctantly I agreed to her request.Before calling the first committee meeting, I decided the only way we had a chance of getting anything passed would be to choose an issue that made sense to both political parties. Additionally, what we should propose ought to be a piece of legislation without high costs. Remembering a national NFB priority that our state affiliate had worked on in previous years, I thought we had an issue that just might work. That issue was the right of blind parents not to face the threat of losing custody of a child solely on the ground of blindness. Though I’ve never been a parent, I remembered how heartbroken my wife and I felt when I showed her an email documenting the struggles of a blind couple in Missouri. They had their child taken away from them before mom ever left the hospital. Since then I’ve learned of a mother in Decatur who also had her baby removed from her care while still in the hospital after delivery. Additionally, I was reminded several times by individuals in a rehabilitation program where I occasionally spoke that blindness was a prevalent reason, perhaps the sole reason, that blind individuals were having trouble seeking custody of children they’d successfully helped raise.Although the first meeting of the State Legislation Committee went well enough, my perception was that everyone on the committee was pesamistic about getting anything done in our partisan state political environment. During the second meeting, Bill Reif, the former chair of the State Legislative Committee, produced a draft of a Parental Rights bill he had presented to the state legislature a few years ago with no meaningful results. We learned that the state of Maryland had passed a Parental Rights Act using language produced by the National Federation of the Blind. Once that language was obtained and the committee had a chance to look at it, we decided to submit it to members of the House Human Services Committee. A member of our committee drafted a letter that laid out why we considered such legislation necessary.By this time the deadline for introducing bills to the House had long passed. We knew we could not get any results in 2016. We decided to submit what we had in 2017, to ask the legislators we contacted to consider submitting a bill then. Two representatives on the Human Services Committee wrote back, expressing an interest in introducing such a Parental Rights bill. AS chairman of the committee, I thanked them and confirmed we would look forward to working with them in the future.In 2017 the State legislation committee began working much earlier, knowing we did not have much time to make our presence known. We also gained two new members on our committee. This was a real blessing, as one new member had a representative interested in our issue, and the other new member had a personal friend serving in the Illinois Senate. An additional benefit was that the senator was a Republican, while the interested House member was a Democrat. One day I received a call from Patti Chang. She had received an email from the Illinois Bar Association about a parental rights bill. She gave me a bill number, told me to look it up on the website, then to get back with her. The bill was HB2626. It was called the Parental Rights for the Blind Act, and the text of the bill was identical to what we had submitted the previous year.We went to work recruiting blind parents to testify, soliciting assistance from other groups, and communicating with the sponsor, Representative Laura Fine. Not only was she easy to work with, she did something that was unprecedented: she participated in one of our Legislative Committee conference calls, offering suggestions on how to improve our written testimony. While that was going on, committee member Julieta Meyer contacted her friend, Senator Sue Rezin. Patti contacted her senator, John Mulroe, whom she knew from her days working as a prosecuting attorney for the city of Chicago. Both senators indicated that they were willing to sponsor our bill in the senate. Three days later several of us went to Springfield and witnessed the first crucial step for passage of this legislation, getting through the Domestic Relations Law subcommittee. Debbie Stein, Leslie Hamric, and Bill Reif all testified about their experiences as blind parents. The bill pass the subcommittee by a 2-1 vote. Our next hurdle was the House Judiciary Civil Committee. The bill passed there by an 8-3 margin. At this point the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) offered an amendment. We decided we would have a much better chance of passing this legislation if DCFS did not oppose it. We accepted the amendment and waited to see if the bill would be approved, which it was. Finally, on April 28, the bill was up for its third reading in the House. The vote was taken, and it passed, eighty-nine for and six against.The bill was then immediately introduced into the Illinois Senate by Sue Rezin, republican, and cosponsored by John Mulroe, democrat. Again several of us went to Springfield to witness another committee vote. We provided both oral and written testimony, as well as several Record of Appearance Witness slips in support of the bill. We were delighted that in addition to our witness slips, we had backing from a member of the Illinois Council of the Blind and from friends of some of our members. It was helpful that there were no witness slips in opposition. Following our oral testimony, a vote was taken and the bill passed out of the Judiciary committee with a 10-0 vote.On May 19 the bill came before the full Senate for a third reading and a vote. The bill passed 49-0 with no abstentions. We now await the signature of Governor Bruce Rauner. It is worth noting that if he does nothing, the bill will become law 60 days from the date of passage.How did the NFBI manage to pass a bill with such strong bipartisan support? In my opinion, I would cite the following: parental custody is an issue that lends itself to bipartisan support; we were willing to accept an amendment from DCFS, preventing a possible political battle which we might have lost; we communicated with legislators; and we followed through on all our actions.I believe the work we have put in this year will pay off in the future. We now seem to have a presence with the Illinois legislature. Contrary to what seems to be the prevalent thought today, the Illinois legislature is indeed capable of a bipartisan response. If we are willing to work with both parties when proposing legislation, the NFBI really can get things done.BRAILLE IS ABOUT TOUCHINGby Robert Gardner"How do we get more young people involved?" "We need more youth to keep our organization going!" Whether you're active in your church, Kiwanis, or a local book club, undoubtedly you have heard these sentiments. We in the National Federation of the Blind are no exception. Often we express these concerns in our local chapters and state affiliates. Hang onto that thought, and let's switch gears. Let's talk about Braille for a moment. Specifically, let's discuss Braille and blind children. For twenty-nine years the National Federation of the Blind held an annual contest called Braille Readers Are Leaders (BRAL) for students in grades K-12. In 2012 the national contest was discontinued. The following year the NFB of Illinois decided to organize its own statewide contest, known as Illinois Braille Readers Are Leaders, or iBRAL. iBRAL turned out to be a great success, with more than thirty kids taking part. The Illinois contest was patterned after the former national contest, though the reading period was somewhat shorter. Each contestant was placed in one of five groups according to grade: K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, or 9-12. The objective was for a contestant to read the most Braille pages in his or her category. Cash prizes were awarded to the top three readers in each group, and every entrant received a complimentary "goodie bag" of Braille-related gifts. Gifts included such items as Braille calendars, slates and styluses, and gift certificates from Seedlings Books for the Blind or National Braille Press. In 2015 the iBRAL contest was expanded to include Minnesota. iBRAL became LOL 2, for Land o' Lincoln and Land o' Lakes. Then, for the 2016-17 contest, the NFB of Illinois invited all of the eight states bordering the Great Lakes to get involved. As one might guess, the contest is now called the Great Lakes BRAL Contest For Kids. It isn't an overly imaginative name, but it's certainly descriptive. Here's a question for you: can you name the eight states that touch one or more of the Great Lakes? If not, read on for the answer. It's easy to see the primary objective of this contest—to promote the reading of Braille at a young age. In particular the contest aims to promote the reading of Braille for recreation. If a child reads Braille for fun, Braille will become a natural part of his or her life at school and at home. Later Braille will be a tool in his or her career. We all know that learning and using Braille at an early age results in greater Braille fluency later in life. We also see many immediate benefits of our BRAL contest. After the close of the contest one teacher of the visually impaired wrote, "As I was walking into my school building last week, your email came through, and I was excited to share with my students that their prizes were on the way. When I got to Ava's classroom, there she was, opening her treats already! Both Shane and Ava were very excited to get their packages (especially at school in front of their peers!). "They are thrilled with the coupons to select and buy Braille books. Shane has to complete some end-of-the-quarter testing. Then I am going to let him make the call to redeem his free book as a reward. Always have to push those independence skills! "We took a photo of both students with their rewards. The front office is going to feature it on the school web page and maybe get some district recognition, too. It was such a positive experience that we all look forward to doing it again next year. "Thanks for all the work you did to make this a reality. I for one appreciate your efforts!" The contest can generate a surprising amount of interest—and a surprising amount of competitiveness—among the kids who take part. One mother wrote at the end of the recent contest, "Attached is Matthew's reading log. I don't think he slept much over the last couple of weeks. I kept finding him awake in the middle of the night reading some more. Thanks!"After being notified that her daughter was a winner in her grade category, another mother wrote, "Thank you so much! Mariam is thrilled! She worked so hard on doing extra reading. Thank you for the program. It really encouraged her to have some fun reading and not view it just as work." It's not unusual for some children to read three thousand pages or more during the seven weeks of the contest. In the 2016-17 competition, Anthony Spears, a seventh grader from Illinois, read more pages than any other contestant. Anthony, who goes by L.T., read an amazing 4,015 Braille pages! He wrote to us, "Thank you for letting me be in the BRAL contest this year. I like the challenge of reading against other students. Thank you for inviting me to the state convention. I will talk to my parents about it. I hope I can come, and it would be a pleasure meeting all of you, too." Now let's get back to our original question. How can we, the NFB, attract more young people to our organization? The answers to that question are many, complex, and sometimes debatable. But one thing has become apparent to those within the NFB of Illinois who have organized and administered these BRAL contests. The vast majority of children entering the contest have had no previous connection with the National Federation of the Blind. In other words, the BRAL contest is their first exposure to the NFB. As the Great Lakes BRAL Contest for Kids continues, we see ourselves touching children on two levels. We are encouraging them to read Braille, to increase their Braille skills. We are also exposing them to an organization, the National Federation of the Blind, that can benefit them in countless ways. Without really planning to do so, we have opened new horizons for blind kids by sparking their interest in a Braille reading contest. If not now, maybe later, maybe when they become adults, these children will remember the National Federation of the Blind. Then it will be their turn to reach out to us. Were you able to name the eight states bordering the Great Lakes? Going from west to east, they are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. For reference the excerpt above about Matthew was from his mother, Karen Leinart from Illinois. The words about Mariam were written by her mother, Colleen Samura from New York. The wonderful letter about Ava and Shane was from Sherry Kennedy, a TVI in Ohio. In conclusion, the administrator of the Great Lakes BRAL contest, Deborah Stein, says, "Thanks to all who were involved in the Great Lakes Braille Readers Are Leaders contest this past year. It was an adventure putting together a coalition of eight states to participate in the contest. But all the work was worth it when you learn that the kids read over 16,000 Braille pages. Congratulations to every student who took part!" For further information about the contest, visit the webpage here. ADVENTURES IN SOCCERBy Leslie HamricAs blind parents we often wonder about how we will have fun with our children. For example, how do we keep track of our children when we cannot see what they are doing? How do we make sure they are kept safe? My seven-year-old son, Michael, and I have had many fun adventures outdoors, including playing soccer, bike riding, and playing on thee equipment in the park. I would like to tell our story of discovery as we found a way to play soccer.It was a beautiful spring afternoon in 2016, and I had just received a soccer ball with rattles in it from the NFB Independence Market. I wanted to figure out a way to play soccer with Michael like he would play with his sighted dad. Off we went to the Tennis court in the park. I guessed that would be a good place to start, since the ball wouldn’t get hung up on anything there. Feeling a bit apprehensive, I positioned the ball at the left side of my right foot, then hesitated. It was now or never and I knew it. One, two, three, kick! Rattle rattle went the ball. Michael sped after the ball, then got in position. “Here it comes,” he said. The ball rattled back toward me. By following the sound, I learned I could run after it!Oops! The ball went right past me. Michael brought it to me and I lined up again. “Over here, Mommy,” he said. I pointed my foot straight toward the sound of his voice, slid my foot back, then kicked with all my might. He got the ball this time!Repeating the same process, I got to where I could keep my “ear” on the ball. Sighted folks learn to keep their eye on the ball and go after it at the same time. Hand-eye coordination. In my case it was hand-ear coordination.Now, it was the seventh try. I heard the rattle of the ball coming. And this time I went for it and got it! What a triumphant moment. I could do this! All it took was a soccer ball that made sound so I could hear it. Michael and I must have spent another hour or so kicking the ball back and forth. I couldn’t wait to tell Andy, my husband, all about our soccer adventure when he came home from work. And that evening I regaled him with the account of our fun time! A few weeks later we decided to have a picnic in the park and play soccer afterwards. Here was a chance to try out my new system. By the end of our little game, Andy and Michael were both in the habit of telling me when the ball was about to come my way. They also let me know when one of them was ready to receive the ball. All three of us had a blast, and I was able to participate equally.We had so much fun we don’t even know who won. Did it really matter? No, it didn’t. The most important thing was all the fun we had.I was so excited that day I texted Michael’s soccer coach and told him all about our soccer adventures. I told him about the adapted ball with rattles that made sound. The best part was telling him how exhilarated I felt that I could participate in a game I thought was impossible. I later found out the coach told a student in his fifth grade class all about how I, a blind mom, was still able to play soccer with my family. All it took was a few modifications.As I bring this to a close, I would like to leave you with some important, yet simple thoughts. Be willing to try new things. It’s okay to wonder whether something will work or not. For example, when I purchased the soccer ball with rattles from the Independence Market, I didn’t have a clue it might change my view of what is possible. But I tried, and look what I found out! The NFB is only a phone call or email away. Next time you question how something can be done, never fear, go straight to the NFB and find out how to turn impossibilities into possibilities. A simple modification, like the soccer ball described here, might change your life and open up a whole new world. A soccer ball that rattles certainly allowed me to have adventures with Michael and Andy that I hope to experience again.NO LA 2017by Alex Gami?o In March of this year, I had the amazing opportunity to take a trip to New Orleans, Louisiana, with the music department from my school, Addison Trail High School in Lombard, Illinois. I am a member of the choir, and both the choir and the band got to go. We went during the week after Mardi Gras, so the trip gave us a chance to learn about that exciting event even though the crowds were gone by then.We left on a bus on March 2 at 4 p.m., ready for an eighteen-hour ride. Much to my later regret, I spent about 75 percent of that time wide awake. We arrived at our first destination, Mardi Gras World, at nearly 11 the next morning and toured the area. I got to take pictures of a lot of astonishing floats that had been made for Mardi Gras. I'd never seen anything like them. We explored the World War II Museum right after Mardi Gras World. We watched a short interactive movie about the war. It was amazing! During the next couple of days we went to some other awesome places. My favorites were Jackson Square, the French Quarter, and Preservation Hall. On the morning of March 4 we performed at Jackson Square. We stood on some steps right in the open area and performed our repertoire. I was honestly astonished by the audience that gathered to hear us perform. We seemed to be a big hit! The French Quarter was a huge shopping district in New Orleans with many tourist attractions. My personal favorite was the beignet place. Pronounced ben-YAY, a beignet is like a fritter, but so much better! A world-famous café in New Orleans makes these little packages of happiness. The shopping part of the French Quarter was fun, too. As we walked around I had a little trouble keeping up with everyone. I was using my cane, though, and I never got lost. Everyone from my school had the same backpack and school uniform, and I managed to distinguish the people in my group. Finally, Preservation Hall! Preservation Hall is a music hall, mainly known for jazz. The players are world-renowned, and we got a private concert. We were so close to the performers I almost got hit in the face by the trombone player's slide! It was the most incredible live performance I've ever experienced. We started the equally long journey back around eight p.m. on March 5. The bus ride was slightly more bearable this time. By now I knew more people from talking to them, and we had a lot to talk about. The trip was officially over when we arrived back at school just before 3 the next afternoon. Going to No LA (New Orleans, Louisiana) was probably the greatest opportunity I've ever gotten, and it was the most fun trip I've ever taken. I would love to do it again some day.IN MEMORIAM Annette Grove1939-2017Federationists were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Annette Riess Grove on May 14, 2017. Annette died peacefully at her home in Belleville, surrounded by her loving family. Annette grew up in Mascoutah, Illinois. She earned a BA in psychology and sociology from MacMurray College, and in 1994 she received an MA in health care management from Webster University. For several years Annette worked as a counselor with the Illinois Department of Mental Health. She was a full-time homemaker while her three sons were growing up. When the boys were launched she returned to the workforce, taking a job with MERS Goodwill in Missouri. Later she joined the staff of Goodwill International, a position that involved extensive travel overseas. She regularly visited Goodwill facilities in eighteen different countries. She retired in December 2016 after forty years of service to Goodwill.Annette Grove was deeply committed to her Christian faith, and she was very active in her Presbyterian Church community. At the age of seventy-six she ran a half-marathon to raise funds for World Vision, a Christian relief organization. Due to her premature birth, Annette had low vision all her life. In the early 1980s she joined the NFB of Illinois. For many years she served as president of the Four Rivers Chapter in Belleville, and she held a seat on the NFBI board of directors in the early 2000s. Federationists from Illinois and across the country remember Annette Grove for the dedication and organization skills she brought to the annual Washington Seminar. "Year after year, Annette kept leading the planning calls," says Rose Sloan. "She made the schedule. She planned the Illinois delegation dinners. After graduation, my first job was working for the National Federation of the Blind in advocacy and policy. I honestly thank my first experience [with Washington Seminar] in DC for shaping my career path. I have Annette to thank for that. I will forever be grateful to her." "Annette was one of the best organized people I have ever known," recalls Cathy Randall. "We will miss her laugh and her charm." "We were all blessed to have known Annette," says Bob Gardner. "The NFBI was blessed to have someone of her talents within it. As I shed a few tears, I find it hard to believe she is gone."Annette was predeceased by her husband of thirty-eight years, Dick Grove. She is survived by her three sons, Allen, David, and Colin; her three daughters-in-law; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. To send condolences visit Moll Funeral Home. ................
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