Monroe County Council of the Blind

For those not familiar with the back work that goes into visiting our Pennsylvania Representatives during the Legislative Day, here’s a brief summary.

Once the delegation has been selected, each attendee is responsible for making appointments with their assigned legislators.

This usually involves a phone call to the legislator’s office to determine the name and email of the office scheduler. All appointments are required to be made in writing.

We have seen this process go very smoothly requiring little in the way of follow up. On the other hand, sometimes multiple written request and phone calls are necessary. Even then an appointment is not guaranteed.

The opportunity to meet directly with a Legislator is rare. Usually, meetings are made with Legislative Aides or Directors. In the event that an appointment cannot be scheduled, it is worth just showing up in the Legislator’s office and asking to speak with an aide. If they are not available you can leave documentation detailing the imperatives.

This year, I was only able to obtain 2 out of 5 appointments. No worries!

In Congressman Barletta’s office, the request to speak with a Legislative Aide was initially rejected. After leaving materials and getting the Legislative Director’s contact information we left the Congressman’s office. Following a brief visit to the rest room, the Legislative Director Kelly approached me in the hallway. She asked if I just tried to meet with her. We spoke casually for a few moments when she invited us back into the office to discuss the imperatives. Coincidentally she is very passionate about disability and education related issues.

The lessons learned this year:

• “Appointment? We don’t need no stinking appointment!” – There’s no loss to asking for a meeting at the office if an appointment could not be scheduled.
  
• Speak Up! – Take any opportunity to talk about the issues. You never know who is listening.

The last step in the meeting process is always the follow through. In the experience cited above and every other meeting, following up with the person attending the meeting is essential. It can make the difference in advancing your issue. Remember, Legislators have hundreds of issues being brought to their attention. Keeping your as high on the to do list as possible is the goal.

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Filed under: ACB Seminar

The sight of men and women pulling rolling suit cases up to a hotel registration desk is familiar to many. Add white canes, furry guide dogs and others grasping the elbow of a sighted person and now this may appear out of the ordinary for some unfamiliar onlookers.

Here now, for the first time, we will present the seminar from an alternative perspective. Rather than focus on the presentations and materials that you can listen to live or on demand after the seminar, my wife and sighted guide for the visit to the Hill, will give you her perspective.

I now present to you Marlett Reid.

As a guide my duties really begin on Tuesday, the day on Capitol Hill. I’m responsible for guiding us to the Hill from the hotel, locating all of the representative’s offices and in general providing information that can only be obtained from sight. Hands held out for a greeting or exchange of a business card, detour signs or notices posted on doors are just a few examples.

At the hotel, I enjoy watching the way people work together. For example, several ACB members get off a bus and make their way into the hotel. As though they rehearsed, they line up in single file. Each person has their hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them. The lead is guided by a hotel staff member. In tight military precision, they walk into the hotel ending at the registration desk. Each individually checks in and receives their room key. Team work!

In the meeting room, everyone uses adaptations to find others in their delegation, old friends or maybe an available seat.

For some this process may appear awkward. Here, it’s normal.

“Las Vegas,” one young woman walking with a guide dog calls out in search of her delegation. When her colleague hears her call, the response is her audible beacon guiding her to her destination.

Never make the mistake and ask for regular print. Here regular is Braille, digital files and large print.

If you’re interested in seeing the latest in technology and how it is used by people with vision loss, this is the place. Laptops, Braille displays, note takers, iPhones and digital book players are in use by many. Accessing the internet, posting to Face Book and Twitter and even just checking the time; these devices do it all.

All of the seats are full. Old friends becoming reacquainted, new friendships being formed; no one is ever left alone to find their way.

It’s no wonder that over the years, the individual’s making up ACB have been successful. Legislation and advocacy projects implemented through the core value of working together as a team.

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Filed under: ACB Seminar

Day 2 of the ACB Legislative Seminar was jam packed with information.

The day began with a helpful discussion of what to expect on the Hill tomorrow along with some interesting information to help traverse the various buildings.

For example, the first 2 digits of a representative’s office room number indicate the building and floor respectively. Longworth numbers start with 1, Rayburn with 2. Even if you don’t plan on visiting, this could be useful in a game of trivia or during your next cocktail party!

For those who have never visited a Legislator, the expectation of a meeting and the reality are two very different things. I remember my first year, I thought we would be invited into a large office and seated on a plush leather couch. I imagined the Legislator seated behind his Mahogany desk, smoking a cigar while he and a stuff Deer head, (4 pointer) both look down at the nervous advocates trembling on the couch.

Ok, maybe I watched too many movies as a child. In reality, chances are that you won’t even sit down, be in an office or even meet with the representative. In most instances, you will talk to a Legislative Aide in the reception area, sometimes in the hallway, or in some other ad hoc location. It’s far from a comfortable private encounter. You have 15 minutes to get your point across and convince the aide that your issue is something that deserves the support of the representative.

I strongly suggest that everyone check out the archive of the seminar for more information. There’s way too much for me to recap.

Following the presentations, the PCB team finalized some very important transportation details and strategy.

We’re all looking forward to a positive day on Capitol Hill.

Go PCB…Can’t Stop…Won’t Stop!

T.Reid

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Filed under: ACB Seminar, Accessibility, Advocacy, Affiliate Organizations

It figures one of the only days that I was in the midst of a good sleep (this does not happen very often) I would get the nudge from my wife waking me up. “It’s time to get ready” she said.

We arrived in Virginia, just outside of DC before noon. The drive wasn’t bad, easy for me to say, I was asleep about 15 minutes after filling the gas tank. Marlett and her trusty GPS did a great job getting us here safely.

After settling in and getting a bite to eat, we crashed the President’s meeting already in progress. The Legislative Seminar officially kicks off Sunday afternoon.

There were several presentations from various ACB committees. Each geared to empower state leadership with information to apply to their affiliates.

Two topics of interest and applicable to the local chapters were:

• Updated Pedestrian Safety Handbook – A comprehensive resource for all chapters interested in advocating for Accessible Pedestrian Signals. It is clear that a lot of time and energy was put into this new document.
• Responsibilities of Treasurers and Other ACB Affiliate Officers – This very detailed topic included information regarding 501c3 status and insurance requirements.

Stay tuned for the next update, I’m hoping to do something a little different.

T.Reid

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Filed under: ACB Seminar, Accessibility, Advocacy, Affiliate Organizations

Kudo’s to our local library for their participation in a new project of the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, called “Get REAL– Regional Education Assisting Life Long Learning.”

Creating a welcoming environment for people with vision loss is not new to the Hughes Library. Several years ago, they installed a computer with both screen reader and magnification software.

This recent participation in the Get REALL program is their next step, along with upgrading their computer equipment, to increase access for all who are print impaired within the Monroe County community.

On Saturday March10, MCCB will host our first Open Forum on Vision Loss of 2012. This will take place in the Board Room of the Eastern Monroe Public library.

A representative of the EMPL will be there to feature the devices they have available to lend.

Of course, members of MCCB will discuss real world application for these devices as well as other high and low tech products.

Feel free to call for more information (570)421-4118.

As always, free refreshments will be available.

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Filed under: Accessibility