~~RSVA® “The importance of the RS15”: Kathy Roet, Director of the Business Enterprise Program, Iowa Department of the Blind, Des Moines, IA will led this deepening discussion following the initial presentation at the 2021 Sagebrush conference. She shared how to use the RSA form to show the details of each state’s current program.
~~411 from the IAC – Part 2: Rehabilitation, providing remote services: Attendees heard from two rehabilitation professionals about what providing rehabilitation services virtually has been like. ♠ Megan Conway from the Helen Keller National Center ♠David Kingsbury from the Carroll Center for the Blind Discussed providing rehabilitation services virtually, what accessibility challenges they faced and how they worked through them to continue serving their clients. They then began a conversation about remote support-based services. Many continue to work from home and they gave some opinions on the leading products in this space and some tips and tricks when working with each of these products. They discussed Apple, Microsoft, AIRA and more during this part of the 411 presentations. In addition, Judy Dixon made a brief presentation about a new technology found on the latest iPhones. Is this truly the thing to have for your iPhone? Attendees learned how this technology can be put to use in your environment to help follow people in a line, learn about a new space, and locate large objects. Presenters: ♠ Megan A. Conway, PhD, Research and Accessibility Specialist, Helen Keller National Center, Healdsburg, CA ♠ David Kingsbury, Assistive Technology Instructor at the Carroll Center, Stoughton, MA ♠ Judy Dixon, Co-chair of the IAC, Arlington, VA ♠ Ray Campbell, Second Vice President of ACB, Glen Ellyn, IL Co-sponsored by: Information Access committee and Rehabilitation Issues Task Force
~~BITS/SASI: Do You Hear What I Hear: Are you getting the most from your hearing devices? Have you ever wondered if any hearing aids will work with other technology such as your iPhone? Attendees enjoyed an informative presentation during which two audiologists and a Hearing Care Professional served as panelists as they addressed the issues and answered questions. Presenters: • Dr. Carol Hamer, Audiologist, Hellen Keller National Center, Sands Point, NY • Jacob Smith, Hearing Instrument Dispenser, Oak Lawn, IL • Dr. Nancy Mascia, Audiologist, Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services, Birmingham, AL
En-vision America: Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda, WILL: Why Asking for Help is so Difficult: En-Vision America briefly addressed the psychology of why it is so hard to ask for help, offered hints and how to overcome hesitations and how to craft more effective requests.
GDB alumni and anyone was interested in Guide Dogs for the Blind and guide-dog access: Attendees joined GDB for an update on the DOT Air Carriers Access Act Service, animal Ruling with national experts. including: ◘ Mr. Ray Prentice (Alaska Airline Accessibility Director) ◘ Mr. Eric Lipp (CEO of Opendoors Organization) What is the ‘Ruling’ in brief? How is the implementation going? Who can you give feedback to and how? Plus creative efforts to make the process more usable. This concern has weighed on many Guide Dog handlers. Attendees joined GDB to shape the future of air travel for guide-dog teams. Questions were sent to Rabih Dow, GDB Director of Outreach and Advocacy in advance at: [email protected]. -
~~Helen Keller and the Lions: In 1925 Helen Keller challenged the Lions to be“knights of the blind.” Micheal Hudson, Director of the American Printing House for the Blind Museum in Louisville, KY, took us back nearly 100 years and helped us discover how it all happened. An amazing piece of Helen Keller history. Questions were welcomed.
[GDUI: Help Drive the Future of Driving: In this interactive session, Dr. Giudice described some of his current research on making autonomous vehicles (AVs) accessible for use by blind and visually impaired passengers, discussed the many benefits and huge potential of this newest form of transportation, and highlighted some of the challenges that need to be addressed. A significant part of successfully making AVs accessible is getting input from the key stakeholders and users of these vehicles. Thus occured by answering attendees’ questions, both those submitted prior to the session as well as in real time, Dr. Giudice fostered a discussion of user preferences and concerns around the roll-out of AVs. This brain storming can be used to guide future research. Presenter: Nicholas A. Giudice, PhD., Professor of Spatial Informatics: School of Computing and Information Science- University of Maine, Founder & Chief Research Scientist: VEMILab, Co-founder & Chief Research Officer Unar Labs, LLC., [email protected]
~~ACBL Lessons in Leadership: Speaker - Dr. Patti Hill, Third Vice President of Lions Clubs International. Since joining the Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) Host Lions Club in 1990, Dr. Hill has served in many capacities, including multinational coordinator for Campaign SightFirst II, Secretary for the Alberta Lions Eyebank Society, Vice President of the Lions Eye Research Institute of Northern Alberta, and Committee Member of the USA/Canada Lions Leadership Forum.
~~What Is New at the Corner: Attendees learned about the latest Hybrid Pedestrian Beacon, Rectangular Rapidly Flashing Beacon and other new pedestrian signals specified in the Federal Highway Administration Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, how they work and whether they are accessible. Presenters: ♥ Lukas Franck, Sr., Guide Dog Mobility Instructor and COMS from The Seeing Eye, Morristown, NJ ♥ Representative from Polara Enterprises, a manufacturer of accessible pedestrian signals. Co-sponsored by: Environmental Access and Transportation Committees