Legislative Hotlines, current issues for blind persons:
CALIFORNIA CONNECTION: 800-221-6359, after 5 PM and weekends
WASHINGTON CONNECTION: 800-424-8666, 3 to 9 PM and weekends
DISCLAIMER: This publication contains announcements from the Silicon Valley Council of the Blind and is also a forum for opinions relating to blindness issues. Signed articles reflect the views, and research, of their authors.
STATUS: SVCB is a 501(c)3 non-profit, tax-exempt organization under the California Council of the Blind.
Monthly meetings are held at the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center (Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired San Jose). Meetings run 9:30 AM to 1 PM the third Saturday of the month and are open to all.
In my message last month, I commented that our washing machine needed to be replaced. The cold-water valve stopped closing properly, which could lead to flooding. The washer and dryer were both here when I moved in thirteen years ago, and who knows how long they had been here before that. So, we decided to replace them both. My goal was to find models that were the most accessible. I began by asking friends for their opinions, but no one had specific recommendations. One person purchased LG machines that could be controlled through the iPhone, only to discover that the app was no longer accessible. Then I contacted the Envision America Accessible Products Hotline for their input. Unfortunately, most of the information they provided was seven to ten years out of date. Even so, it was useful because it gave me tips on what questions to ask. Right now, the GE models appear to offer the best accessibility features. Unfortunately, those machines are too big to fit into the small space available in our mobile home.
Alice recruited her sister-in-law Debbie to take us to Lowe's, where we could get our hands on the machines. It would have been impractical for us to shop independently. The first two Lowe's employees we met were unresponsive and no help whatsoever. Perhaps they were uncomfortable with our blindness. If you find yourself in that situation, I suggest looking for another sales representative. Finally, Debbie chased down a Lowe's Assistant Manager, who proved to be super helpful. We checked out several machines, and finally settled on a Maytag washer and dryer that use knobs as controls rather than touch screens. There is more to tell, but that will have to wait until next time. Meanwhile, stay well and stay safe.
The Envision America Accessible Products Hotline website is
Well, the big happening this month is our first in-person SVCB meeting in over a year. Imagine! We are keeping our fingers crossed that Santa Clara County maintains the current regulations on wearing masks. Right now it's optional, but the rising level of COVID infections may push the county to change requirements.
The way things look now, we'll meet at Vista Center San Jose on Saturday, August 21. We will have an auction, and details on it will be in the FundRaising Report in this newsletter.
We don't know much more than this now, so stay tuned to the Phone Tree message for updates. But we can say that ordering lunches will be through Subway as before, and Donna and Victor can take orders.
Another wonderful event is the resumption of the braille version of the SVCB newsletter. It's been a year since the last issue, but the Braille Transcription Project at Vista San Jose is ready to go, and its Board has agreed not to charge SVCB for production costs. Thank you very much.
Yet another big event is the coming September SVCB picnic. It's at Hellyer County Park on Saturday, September 18. See the Picnic Announcement article in this newsletter. Please plan to pay your dues either by using PayPal, by paying at the August meeting, or by sending a check. Dues are $20. At this time, there are no plans to accept either picnic money or dues payments at the picnic.
Let's wish happy August birthdays to Bev Clifford, Claudia Gulasch, and David Hunter.
Our SVCB picnic will take place this year on Saturday, September 18, from 11 AM to 3 PM at Hellyer County Park in San Jose. The address of the park is: 985 Hellyer Avenue. It is accessible by VTA Access and bus lines, and VTA Access will not be required to pay for parking. Our site is called Sylvandale. The cost to attend the picnic is $20 for all CCB members and $25 for non-members. The chapter will be providing all food, drinks, snacks, and desserts.
The deadline for signing up for the picnic is Monday, September 13th. Please let us know by calling 888-652-5333, or by emailing svcb@onebox.com with the following information:
How many people are coming.
Your meat preference(s) and quantity—hamburger, veggie burger, or hot dog (as many of each as you can eat at the picnic).
At this time you are asked to also consider paying your 2022 chapter dues. They are $20 for regular members and $10 for lifetime members.
You can pay for the picnic and/or dues renewal in three ways:
PayPal to "Silicon Valley Council of the Blind." Please complete the note field indicating what your payment is for.
At our August 21st in-person membership meeting.
Mail your check payable to SVCB to: P.O. Box 4116, San Jose, CA 95125. Please indicate what the check is for on the memo line.
I bet you all are pretty sick and tired of the virtual snacks we've been forced to stomach during our pandemic shelter-in-place era—I know I am! So it's a relief to let you know that, starting in August with our first longed-for, in-person SVCB meeting at Vista Center San José, there will be "real" snacks available for actual eating! August is already covered in the goodies department, but I will need two volunteers to step forward to bring them in October and November of this year. And in 2022, of course, I'll need even more people to try their hand at providing our breakfast snacks. A brave volunteer has already spoken for January 2022, so the remaining months to cover are February through July, and September through November. It's never too early to let your goodies chairperson know which month you'd prefer: grab your month before somebody else snatches it up! For any newbies to the goodies arena, you can bring something you make yourself, or you can purchase something from your favorite supermarket. Goodies can be sweet or savory, and some extra fruit never goes amiss and is greatly appreciated by those of us who have dietary concerns. We usually need about four dozen of whatever it is you decide to bring.
To contact me, call our SVCB phone number (1-888-652-5333) to leave a message for me, drop me an email at goodies@svcb.cc, or look me up in our SVCB membership list and contact me by phone or email directly.
According to news reports, many more people have now gotten their COVID vaccines and restrictions are loosening up, which is good for our mental health and the economy. But we still all need to continue being careful, especially those who have not been able to get the vaccines for various reasons.
We did not have an SVCB membership meeting in July, so I do not have much to report. Our next SVCB membership meeting will take place in person at Vista Center San Jose on August 21, 2021, and at that time we will have the auction that was originally scheduled for July.
The items that will be auctioned include:
An RCA Braille radio. This radio has braille labeled controls. It plays AM and FM radio, as well as the old broadcast TV VHF and UHF audio. The starting bid is $30. This item was donated by Noel and Deb Runyan, and was originally donated by Vic and Bev Clifford.
A Remote-Control Wrist Racer. This item is in its original packaging and looks like it has never been used. The race car has a full function 2.4GHZ wrist remote control. The race car is red, and as far as I can tell, it is about seven inches long. It has a sleek and classic racing design with realistic engine sounds. The starting bid is $5. This item was donated by Bill and Kathy Tipton.
A Cast Aluminum Nutcracker. This charming silver nutcracker is diecast in the shape of a squirrel. The squirrel is about five inches tall and sits on a base that looks like part of a tree branch. The tail of the squirrel is the handle that controls the cracking mechanism located at the mouth of the squirrel. The starting bid is $10. This item was donated by Bill and Kathy Tipton.
An Insulated or Thermal Coffee Carafe with a Screw on Lid. The carafe, which holds 32-ounces of liquid, is white with a green, lavender, pink, and yellow floral pattern trim. The carafe handle has good balance for pouring, but I did notice two very slight dents on the outside. The starting bid is $5. This item was donated by Bill and Kathy Tipton.
A set of three LED Tap Lights. These tap lights are super bright, long life LED's. They are wall mountable or free standing. Just press the top to turn on, and press again to turn off. They are convenient for dark stairways, closets, kid's rooms, hallways, or anywhere instant light is needed. Each tap light requires three AA batteries (not included). The starting bid is $5. This item was donated by Bill and Kathy Tipton.
The next Fund-raising Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, August 9, 2021, at 7:30 PM. We will be discussing large ticket items as raffle prizes for our SVCB picnic, to be held at Hellyer County Park on September 18, 2021. If you can think of some items that would make great raffle prizes at our picnic, please contact me at 888-652-5333 and leave a message that will be forwarded to me, or look me up on our membership list to call me directly. You can also send me an email at fundraising@svcb.cc, or check the membership list and email me directly.
Again, I want to thank all of you who have donated items and/or participated in our virtual auctions over the past several months. We could not have kept the fund-raising money coming in without your help. We will continue to keep you informed of any changes, and as always, please keep yourselves safe and well!
SVCB's Tech Grant Committee will be awarding its next Barbara Rhodes Assistive Technology Grant in 2022.
We will convene in January, at which time we will send out information about the grant to many sources that have served us well in the past. They will then notify their visually impaired and blind clients, members, and students that this grant is available, and that there is an application form and instructions on our SVCB website that can be either downloaded or printed. Completed applications for the grant will be due by March 31. The Tech Grant Committee will review the applications in April, and conduct applicant interviews in April and May. The award recipient will be notified in May and invited to attend our June 2022 SVCB membership meeting, at which time we will present the award.
Let me say right off that what follows is a World According To Me (WAM) column. I hope that many of you made the time to register for and participate in this year's ACB Virtual Conference and Convention. If you didn't, you are in luck, because many of the 166 sessions (both special interest and general) will be available as podcasts, and on ACB Media Streams. I've been attending the conventions of our parent organization since 2006, and I was humbled and amazed by what ACB delivered this year.
The most historically significant part of our conference this year was that we initiated remote voting, thus enabling every ACB member in good standing to vote in elections for officers, the Board of Directors, and members of the Board of Publications. Until this year, if you weren't present at the convention, you couldn't vote. You could be represented by your state and special interest affiliate delegates, but you could not vote as an individual. I think that at last count, 1000 ACB members participated in this summer's elections, which is significantly more than happens at a live convention where only a few hundred folks vote, and where by the end of the week the numbers are even fewer since many people leave for home. ACB initiated this direct voting process as a result of the convention going virtual for 2 consecutive years due to COVID. ACB members also passed a resolution to convene post convention on August 12 for a discussion of enfranchisement for all ACB members from now on, whether they attend the conference in person or attend virtually. We'll discuss complexities of this question, such as voting on resolutions, and continuation of affiliate votes now that it will, indeed, be possible for there to be one vote for every member. I hasten to reassure all of us who feel strongly about the importance of our affiliates that the majority sentiment is to retain them and their voting capacity.
Accessing convention activities was easy. You could listen to them on any of the ten ACB Media streams; you could access them using your Amazon devices; you could phone in to sessions and seminars that interested you; or you could zoom in as a live participant. I enjoyed listening to a panel on hearing aids and audiological research. I heard a presentation by Microsoft, manufacturers of Sound Scape, on how orientation and mobility instructors use the app to teach their students remotely, and on how blind athletes use the app to participate in Orienteering events. Library Users of America (LUA) gave a panel presentation on remote book clubs, and another featuring the poetry of current Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. There were several stellar offerings on audio description in media, museums, the performing arts, and parks. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing presentations by World Blind Union representatives from Barbados and the Bahamas that were given during Monday's General Session. As always, our national scholarship winners wowed me with their intelligence, and the variety of professions and fields of study that they have chosen to pursue. We held a lively ACB auction and an ACB virtual walk. What I've written here doesn't scratch the surface of all that was available.
My sister Jo Lynn Bailey-Page now works full-time as ACB's Grant Writer and Director of Audio Description. As with all members of the ACB staff in both the Washington D.C. and Minneapolis offices, she was working furiously behind the scenes for months—but especially the last 4 weeks—to launch this virtual convention. Most presentations, including many parts of General Session, had to be recorded in advance. It's almost as if a virtual convention must be launched twice, with hundreds of hours of preparation in advance, and then all of the hours on the ground making sure broadcasts happen as planned.
I have always been, and continue to be, in awe of all that ACB does. I feel honored that SVCB is part of the CCB community, and that CCB is an integral part of ACB. We sometimes hear grumblings that our state organization isn't doing enough for us, or that our national organization is trying to control our state and local affiliates. I think that these grumblings are misleading and counterproductive, even destructive. We—all of us—are SVCB, CCB, and ACB. The democratic process in our organization is alive and well. We are small enough that we can raise and hear our voices, but large enough to feel ourselves making meaningful contributions to our community. All bumps and squabbles aside, it's gratifying to be part of something larger than ourselves. So thank you, SVCB, CCB, and ACB, for enriching my life, for giving me valuable work to do, and most of all, for giving me friends I will treasure for the rest of my life.
Tabard begins its new season with in-person plays—almost as things were pre-pandemic—but now you need proof of vaccination, and a mask to wear inside the theatre if required. The first of these is what they call a Top of the Stairs production, meaning that it is for adult audiences and may have some "language." The play is called Cry of Curs. It deals with a county in crisis, an enemy who emerges from fear of "the other," and a powerful woman who deftly transforms her soldier son into the perfect made-to-order politician. But when they decide they don't need him any more, they—and he—must deal with the consequences. See the Event Calendar for start and end dates.
Summary: A study of people learning to read braille reveals how white matter reorganizes itself across different brain regions and timeframes to meet the brain's needs.
Source: SfN
Learning changes the brain, but when learning braille, different brain regions strengthen their connections at varied rates and time frames.
A new study published in Journal of Neuroscience highlights the dynamic nature of learning-induced brain plasticity.
Learning new skills alters the brain's white matter, the nerve fibers connecting brain regions. When people learn to read tactile braille, their somatosensory and visual cortices reorganize to accommodate the new demands.
Prior studies only examined white matter before and after training, so the exact time course of the changes was not known.
Molendowska and Matuszewski et al. used diffusion MRI to measure changes in the white matter strength of sighted adults as they learned braille over the course of eight months. They took measurements at five time points: before the training, three times during, and once after.
Changes in motor, visual, and language-related white matter areas over time. Credit: Molendowska and Matuszewski et al., JNeurosci 2021
White matter in somatosensory areas strengthened steadily over the course of the training. But white matter in the visual cortex did not reorganize until halfway through the training, the point where the braille words start to take on semantic meaning. White matter in both regions went back to the pre-training level two and a half months after the training ended.
These results demonstrate white matter reorganizes itself across regions and different timeframes to meet the brain's needs.
About this neuroplasticity research news
Source: SfNContact: Calli McMurray—SfNImage: The image is credited to Molendowska and Matuszewski et al., JNeurosci 2021
Web Note: The full article is available as a pdf from the Journal of Neuroscience for $35. You can read the Abstract and Significant statement for free, and order the article here.
Social Security Change in Notice Policy Could Affect Visually Impaired
Renewed opt-in needed for many to keep getting mailed notices in formats like large print and braille
Many of the hundreds of thousands of Americans with vision loss who receive specially formatted notices from the Social Security Administration (SSA) will stop getting them this summer unless they act now to continue this service.
For more than a decade, the SSA has offered visually impaired beneficiaries special notice options (SNO) to receive communications in formats such as large print, braille, and CD. Even those who chose, via online My Social Security accounts, to no longer get printed letters from the SSA could still receive special notices in their chosen format, along with an online message.
Starting Aug. 14, these Americans will get only the online version of SSA messages unless they or someone assisting them logs in to their account and opts in for paper mailings. Those who do so will continue receiving special notices in their preferred format, as well as online notices in the Message Center of their My Social Security account.
How to Set Up Special Notices
If you do not get special notices and want to start, log in to your My Social Security account and open the Preferences page. Click the Request a Special Notice Option link in the blue information box at the bottom of the page, and choose one of these communication methods:
Standard print notice by first-class mail
Standard print notice by certified mail
Standard print notice by first-class mail, with a follow-up phone call
Standard print and braille notices by first-class mail
Standard print and large-print (18-point font) notices by first-class mail
Standard print notice and Microsoft Word file of text on a data CD, by first-class mail
Standard print notice and voice recording of the text on audio CD, by first-class mail
Departs every Sunday at noon from Pier 40 in San Francisco. Call 415-281-0212 for information and reservations, or visit www.baads.org.
Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP)
BORP believes that everyone should have access to the unique challenges that outdoor recreation provides, and makes every effort to accommodate each person's needs, including providing transportation and volunteer support. For event listings, call Lori Gray at 510-843-4398, or visit www.borp.org.
Calendar
August
August 3, 5:30-7 PM: Breast Cancer Support Group meeting. For questions, call Lori Scharff at 516-887-1336, or lorischarff@gmail.com.
August 5, 7 to 9 PM: SVCB Board meeting. If you're not on the Board but want to attend this meeting, contact SVCB president Rob Turner.
August 17: Let's Talk Low Vision, Services and Benefits for People with Low Vision; see notes.
August 21, 9:30 AM to 1 PM: In-person meeting at Vista Center for the Blind in San Jose. See masthead of this newsletter and Membership Corner.
August 23, noon: September, 2021 newsletter deadline.
August 27 through September 12: Tabard Theatre Presents CRY OF CURS, a Top of the Stairs production; see notes, and article above.
September, 2021
September 2, 7 to 9 PM: SVCB Board meeting.
September 7, 5:30-7 PM: Breast Cancer Support Group meeting.
September 18, 11 PM to 3 PM: SVCB annual picnic. See the picnic announcement in this newsletter.
September 20, noon: October newsletter deadline.
September 20: Let's Talk Low Vision, Back to School; see notes.