OHIO CONNECTION American Council of the Blind of Ohio

 
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OHIO CONNECTION American Council of the Blind of Ohio
Spring 2019

                                OHIO CONNECTION
                                  American Council of the Blind of Ohio

LEGISLATIVE SEMINAR 2019
Excerpted from an article by Claire Stanley

B     y the time this issue of the Ohio Con-
      nection goes to the printer, a small
group of us will have visited Washington
                                                are blind. This can all change through the
                                                development of accessible DME interfaces
                                                like smartphone apps and other devices
and spent time on the Hill with staff mem-      capable of using nanotechnology that can
bers of our representatives and senators.       incorporate simple accessibility solutions.
The major issues this year reflect the con-     Congress can play a role in ensuring that
tinuing growth of technology in our society.    such technology adheres to the latest soft-
They show both the positive benefits of ac-     ware technology standards, such as Sec-
cessible technology and the negative rami-      tion 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, and that
fications of failing to include accessibility   the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
from the beginning. Here are the issues we      Services (CMS) provide assurances that
will bring to their attention.                  accessible DME devices make their way
                                                into the hands of individuals who are blind
In the last Congress, blindness organiza-       and visually impaired.
tions and the auto industry supported legis-
lation that would establish working groups      In November of 2008, the Centers for
to focus on accessibility and prevent dis-      Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
crimination in operating such vehicles          promulgated a regulation that has had a
based on disability. ACB calls on Congress      detrimental impact on the lives of count-
to move forward with similar legislation that   less individuals who are blind or visually
will continue to drive this technology for-     impaired. The Durable Medical Equip-
ward.                                           ment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies
                                                (DMEPOS) Competitive Acquisition Rule
Advancements in health technology have          contains a provision entitled “Low Vision
resulted in a watershed of durable medical      Aid Exclusion” which states that all devic-
equipment (DME) that monitors vital health      es, “irrespective of their size, form, or
activity and conditions such as diabetes,       technological features that use one or
one of the leading causes of blindness in       more lens to aid vision or provide magnifi-
the United States. However, a failure by the    cation of images for impaired vision” are
DME industry to make devices accessible         excluded from Medicare coverage based
has raised serious health concerns by           on the statutory “eyeglass” exclusion. ACB
those living with such conditions who are       is well aware that this extremely restrictive
blind and visually impaired. For instance,      reading of the “eyeglass” exclusion has re-
devices such as glucometers have notori-        sulted in the denial of vital assistive devic-
ously been a challenge for diabetics who        es for seniors and other Medicare benefi-
OHIO CONNECTION American Council of the Blind of Ohio
ciaries who may have disabilities. The expan-         ACBO Community Shares
sion of the eyeglass exclusion has prevented              Campaign Codes
access to devices such as handheld magnifi-              State of Ohio 19003
ers, video monitors, and other technologies            City of Columbus 60240
that utilize lenses to enhance vision.                  Franklin County 60240
                                                      Ohio State University 60240
                                                        Columbus State 1061

                       CALLING ALL ACBO MEMBERS!
To get more members involved in the affili-     phone conference meeting, which will in-
ate last year, the membership committee         clude information about the speaker or
held conference calls in which at-large and     discussion topic. Feel free to spread the
chapter members could participate. We also      word and invite someone who is interest-
welcomed non-members who wanted to find         ed in our organization.
out more about ACBO. These phone confer-
ences were quite successful. We plan to         The meeting conference phone number
have a call on the second Sunday of each        is 218-339-0402. Use passcode 2226446
month in 2019. Consider joining us on           (ACBOHIO).
March 10, April 14, May 12, and June 9 at
7:30 PM.                                        If you have any questions or sugges-
                                                tions, please contact Ann Pimley.
The calls last an hour or so and often in-      apomerai@verizon.net
clude a speaker. We welcome speakers or         440-226-9141 cell
discussion topic suggestions. Those on the      440 290-7591 home
Acbo-list will receive a reminder of the

 Michelle Spillan, Editor
 Newsletter Committee: Irwin Hott, Jenna McCartney, Jill Noble, Vicky Prahin

 As always, thanks to the contributors: Carol Akers, Debra Baker, Larry Benders, Ma-
 rianne Denning, Katie Frederick, Jill Noble, Ann Pimley, Vicky Prahin, and Claire
 Stanley.

 The Ohio Connection is a quarterly publication of the American Council of the Blind of
 Ohio (phone 614-261-3561). Please e-mail your submission to ac-
 bo.newsletter@gmail.com or mail your material to ACB-Ohio, 3805 N. High Suite 305,
 Columbus, OH 43214. The deadline for the fall issue is May 15.

2
OHIO CONNECTION American Council of the Blind of Ohio
2019 CONFERENCE & CONVENTION:
BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS
By Katie Frederick
The 2019 joint ACB-Ohio and ACB-Indiana         BLE accounts, cutting the cord, and many
Conference and Convention will take place       more. If you have program ideas to share
at the Crowne Plaza Columbus North hotel        please reach out to Brant Adams or Katie
November 15 through 17. The program             Frederick, the program committee co-
committee is hard at work putting together      chairs. Look for more details in the next is-
workshops, speakers, and maybe an excit-        sue of the Ohio Connection.
ing outing for attendees this year. “Breaking
Down Barriers” is the theme, and Linda          To make reservations for the ACBO-ACBI
Leuderman of Women at Risk will present         convention, call either 614-885-1885 or
the keynote address. Possible workshop          866-309-1866; choose option 2 and use
topics include restaurant and grocery deliv-    code BLI.
ery service apps, information about STA-

                                                 ANNUAL
 OLBPD SURVEY                                    SCHOLARSHIPS
The Ohio Library for Blind and Physically       Congratulations again to the 2018 scholar-
Disabled (OLBPD) strives to provide the         ship winners.
best services we can for our patrons. As
part of that initiative, OLBPD is conducting    Every year the American Council of the
a survey to collect feedback regarding our      Blind of Ohio offers six scholarships to resi-
services, how well we perform them, and         dents of Ohio.
ways to improve services in the future. The
survey is open now until July 31, 2019. It       Apply for $1,000 if you will be a fresh-
contains 17 questions, and all answers are         man in the 2019-2020 school year and
confidential and will be collected anony-          are blind or visually impaired;
mously. Patrons can participate by com-
pleting the survey online through Survey         $2,000 scholarships if you are a blind or
Monkey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/            visually impaired undergraduate;
r/2019_OLBPD.                                    $2,500 scholarships if you are a blind or
                                                   visually impaired graduate student; or
The online survey is accessible, but pa-
trons who do not want to use the internet        $2,000 scholarship if you are blind or
can call OLBPD at 800-362-1262 and a               visually impaired or studying a blindness
staff member will conduct the survey over          -related field.
the phone. We appreciate patrons taking
                                                To get qualification information and apply,
time to complete the survey and sharing
                                                go to www.acbohio.org or call the ACBO of-
their feedback and ideas with us.
                                                fice at 614-261-3561.
                                                                                            3
OHIO CONNECTION American Council of the Blind of Ohio
WINTER RETREAT #31—FUN, FUN, FUN!
    By Jill Noble
                            It was cold, snowy,
                            and windy the week-
                            end of the 31st Win-
                            ter Sports Retreat.
                            The average temper-
                            ature was in the sin-
                            gle digits and the
                            wind chill was sever-
                            al degrees below ze-
                            ro. Although the con-
                            ditions were not opti-
                            mal, some of the
                            more hardy souls
                            decided to brave the
    elements and try cross-country skiing,
    snow-shoeing, and hiking. Because it was
    so windy, a few tried something new: flying
    a stunt kite. Unlike a typical kite, a stunt
    kite uses two strings to keep it up and con-
    trol it. Needless to say, the rest of the folks
    chose to stay inside to swim or play board
    games.

    As many participants have stated, this
    yearly event is like a big family reunion.
    Old friends get to spend time together and
    new friends experience the camaraderie.
    There is always something new to try, and
    the food is wonderful!

    Thanks to all of the volunteer drivers/
    guides that help out with this event. We
    couldn't do it without you!

    Now, let’s switch gears to heat and sun-
    shine—the Summer Sports Retreat. This
    year it is scheduled for the first weekend in
    August (2-4). The cost is $85 for partici-
    pants and $25 for guides. For more infor-
    mation, call the ACBO office at 614-261-
    3561. Sign up early to reserve a spot.
4
OHIO CONNECTION American Council of the Blind of Ohio
ADULT BRAILLE LITERACY PROGRAM
By Debra Baker & Marianne Denning

In the fall of 2017, Opportunities for Ohioans      son. Each student spent two one-hour les-
with Disabilities (OOD) sent a request for          sons per week with us, the certified teach-
proposals to teach uncontracted braille to          ers.
legally blind adults throughout the state of
Ohio. The National Federation of the Blind          During each introductory weekend class,
of Ohio (NFBO) was awarded the funding              students learned proper hand position for
for this initiative. As certified teachers of the   reading braille, line tracking, symbol discrimi-
blind, we proposed to teach uncontracted            nation (e.g. ability to discriminate one braille
braille to 16 adults. The opportunity was           character per line that was different from the
open to residents of all Ohio counties who          other three or four characters on that same
were at least 14 years old and legally blind.       line). During the face-to-face weekend
We agreed that it was not necessary for stu-        teaching, we taught the first lesson, letters a
dents to be members of NFB, nor was it              through e, so that students could begin read-
necessary that they were OOD consumers.             ing whole words.

In order to include students statewide, we          Next, we taught the parts of the Perkins
divided Ohio into four regions with four stu-       Brailler by name and showed students how
dents each. For the introductory weekend            to load and unload paper from the device.
lessons, four students traveled to Dayton,          They learned to write the letters and words
four to Columbus, four to Toledo, and four to       they had read in lesson one of The McDuffy
Cleveland. Each student received the Braille        Reader. We also introduced the slate and
edition of The McDuffy Reader, UEB Edi-             stylus.
tion, 200 sheets of three-hole punched
heavyweight Braille paper, a loose-leaf bind-       Since the literacy training was offered as vir-
er, one slate and stylus, a sleepshade, and         tual instruction, it was paramount that we
a $730 Perkins Brailler. The grant funded           find ways to communicate with all students.
student transportation, meals, and lodging          We communicated via Skype, Facetime, or
for each of the four introductory weekends.         telephone. Students received documents
                                                    that were selected to supplement their extra
We decided that each student should inter-          practice beyond the 20 McDuffy Reader les-
act with a blind mentor who reads and               sons. Both students and their mentors
writes braille, so we selected 12 experi-           thought that their hour of interaction beyond
enced mentors to help the 16 students.              regular instruction was helpful and valuable.
Mentors attended a one-day training in Co-
lumbus to be oriented to the Reader, to             Thirteen students completed the program
learn new UEB punctuation, and to make              successfully. They report that they use braille
sure that all knew common braille terminolo-        to label, write phone numbers and personal
gy and tracking technique.                          notes, play games, and read books. OOD
Each student-mentor team spent one hour a           awarded the grant to NFBO again for 2019.
week either reviewing a lesson that we had          Six mentors have asked to participate again,
previously taught or introducing the next les-      and six new ones will join the challenge.
                                                                                                5
BRAILLE CHATS—ANOTHER WAY TO SHARPEN
YOUR SKILLS
If you are interested in continuing to work with braille,
consider joining Susan Fisher, a Hadley Learning Ex-
pert, each Tuesday from 3:30 to 4:45 Central time for
her “braille chats.” Participants discuss tips and tricks
and share information about new products and dis-
coveries. To join the discussion, call 712-432-5610
shortly before 3:30 and enter passcode 6658#. Con-
tact Susan at susan@hadley.edu or 800-323-4238,
extension 6658.

 WHITE CANES NOW COVERED BY MEDICAID
 By Larry Benders President & CEO, Cleveland Sight Center

A rule proposed by the Ohio Department of           tratively. We thank Representatives An-
Medicaid to provide coverage of white               ielski and Kick for their leadership on this
canes as durable medical equipment took             initiative as we take a step toward closing
effect in January, making Ohio the first state      the gap in insurance coverage that exists
in the country to provide coverage for white        for individuals with visual impairments.
canes!
                                                    Cleveland Sight Center has been a lead-
The Medicaid rule 5160-10-30 includes               er throughout this process, providing key
coverage for ambulation aids under durable          information and proponent testimony to
medical equipment, which covered canes,             legislators and administrators through
crutches, or walkers, but previously exclud-        meetings, hearings, and visits to the Ohio
ed coverage of white canes. Individuals             Statehouse in Co-
should check with local providers on availa-        lumbus over the
bility of Medicaid-eligible white canes.            last two years.

Cleveland Sight Center and other Ohio               Thank you for your
sight centers had previously advocated for          continued support
coverage of white canes in House Bill 587,          of Cleveland Sight
sponsored by Representatives Marlene An-            Center.
ielski (R–Walton Hills) and Darrell Kick (R–
Loudonville). The bill received a number of
hearings in the Ohio House while Medicaid
contemplated making the change adminis-
6
STABLE: A LIFE PLANNING TOOL
By Carol Akers
Too good to be true; there must be a              quality of his life. Finally, we can move be-
catch—that is what I kept telling myself          yond the Bank of Mom! The account helps
each time I heard a presentation about the        increase health, independence, and quality
ABLE Act of 2014, which created special           of life. Dustin is very social, loves to meet
savings accounts for people with disabilities     new people, experience new things, go to
and their families. In Ohio, these are known      fairs, festivals, concerts, visit friends and
as STABLE (State Treasurer’s Achieving            family, swim, eat out, and ride in the car.
Better Living Experiences) accounts. I at-        There are many great opportunities to use
tended three different presentations for          the account to accomplish these things.
three different organizations thinking I
would figure out what the secret was and          A few fast facts about STABLE:
why it didn’t fit our lives.
                                                   It is not just for Medicaid recipients!
When I opened my son’s account in Janu-
ary of 2018 with the minimum deposit of            The Ohio Treasurer’s office has given
$50, I did it more out of curiosity than need.       over 900 presentations in the last two
I am the parent and guardian of an adult             and a half years to educate families and
disabled child; his needs are ever chang-            individuals about this program. Ohio was
ing, and I wasn’t quite sure how the ac-             the first state to introduce the ABLE pro-
count would benefit him, but I could see             gram, and enrollment is open to eligible
some possibilities. Little did I know that life      persons from any state, not only Ohio
would suddenly change in just a few                  residents.
months, when Dustin’s father, my ex-
husband, died unexpectedly in June 2018.           If your disability began before the age of
The STABLE account already existed and               26, even if you were not diagnosed until
was the perfect place to have State Farm             later, you may be eligible for an account.
deposit funds from the small life insurance          There is a limit of one account per per-
policy so Medicaid would not count it as an          son.
asset, which would put him over the eligibil-
ity limit. That money gave us the ability to
pay the legal expenses for opening a Spe-
                                                   Anyone can contribute funds to your ac-
                                                     count to a maximum of $15,000 per year
cial Needs Trust, also a qualified disability
                                                     (this may increase as the amounts
expense (QDE), since there was potential
                                                     change for the 529 College Savings
for other funds from his father.
                                                     Plan).
Later, I requested the reloadable debit card
so I could load funds to purchase things for       If you are working, you may contribute
Dustin: new bedroom furniture, a new                 an additional $12,140 per year for a total
transport wheelchair, batteries for his favor-       of $27,140 per year, up to $468,000 life-
ite musical items, his lunch with staff—all          time max.
QDE because it makes a difference in the
                                                                                               7
 Persons in Ohio (such as parents, other         The debit card may be loaded with up to
    relatives, or friends of account holders)        $15,000 (the maximum yearly account
    qualify for up to $4,000 state tax credit        limit). It is still considered as part of the
    for each STABLE account they contrib-            account, as with any debit card, not a re-
    ute to.                                          source.

 It takes $50 minimum to open and there          At the time of the account holder’s
    is a $2.50 monthly fee to administer the         death, after all burial expenses and lia-
    account.                                         bilities are paid, Medicaid may ask for
                                                     repayment, so the key is to use the mon-
 Use your account to place excess funds            ey and enjoy life.
    in if resources need to remain under
    $2,000 to protect government benefits.        I am passionate about the STABLE pro-
                                                  gram. I share the information whenever I
 There are multiple ways to save or to in-      meet families with special needs, whether
                                                  disabled children or adults. This program is
    vest your money.
                                                  an exciting change for the disability world, a
                                                  way to save money and increase independ-
 Qualified disability expenses are very         ence while improving daily life.
    broad, from rent, home expenses, trans-
    portation, and leisure activities to tech-    For more information or to open your own
    nology, medical expenses, copays, buri-       account, go to www.stableaccount.com.
    al expenses, and so much more.                .

 On the other hand, you cannot spend on
    alcohol, tobacco, gambling, porn, or gift-
    ing to others; the money is only for the
    account holder’s needs.

US IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MARRAKESH TREATY
The World Intellectual Property Organiza-        Trump has been accepted by WIPO Director
tion (WIPO) issued a statement on Febru-         Francis Gurry, with Mark Cassayre, the
ary 8, 2019, from its headquarters in Ge-        Chargé d’Affaires for the American mission
neva announcing that the United States           to the United Nations’ installation in Geneva.
has become the 50th member of the Mar-
rakesh Treaty. Because the European Un-          And with that, as many as 550,000 accessi-
ion comprises 28 states, the number of           ble texts have become immediately available
countries now adhering to the treaty             to visually impaired people in the countries
comes to 78.                                     that have signed the treaty.

The official notification ratification docu-     The treaty is designed to facilitate access to
ment from Washington signed by Donald            published works for people who are blind,

8
visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled     pand access to information and resources.”
by creating a universal copyright exception
that will allow authorized parties to “travel”     “The United States’ formal membership in
accessible formats to appropriate consum-          the Marrakesh Treaty marks a major
ers.                                               achievement for our country and a signifi-
                                                   cant positive step forward for the millions of
“The Marrakesh Treaty is WIPO’s fastest-           persons who are blind and visually impaired
growing treaty and we hope it becomes a            throughout the world,” said Karyn A. Temple,
universal one soon, so visually impaired peo-      Acting Register of Copyrights and Director of
ple in every corner of the globe can more          the United States Copyright Office. “The
easily benefit from learning and culture no        United States will now join our fellow nations
matter where it is created," said Mr. Gurry.       in promoting greater accessibility to print
“The U.S. already houses the world’s largest       materials around the globe.” They include
repository of accessible English-language          versions in braille, full audio, and Daisy.
material, representing a major increase in
the global resource base for visually im-          “We pause to celebrate this moment as the
paired people living in countries that have        United States formally joins the Marrakesh
joined the Marrakesh Treaty.”                      Treaty," said Maria A. Pallante, President
                                                   and CEO of the Association of American
“I’m proud of American leadership and the          Publishers. “Having worked so tirelessly with
USPTO’s efforts in the negotiation of the          so many talented partners to realize a better
Marrakesh Treaty, and the opportunities that       legal framework for accessible formats, pub-
our ratification creates for the blind and visu-   lishers now salute the many readers
ally impaired community in the United States       throughout the world who are blind, visually
and around the world,” said Andrei Iancu,          impaired or otherwise living with print disa-
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectu-        bilities. Congratulations, and happy read-
al Property and Director of the U.S. Patent        ing!"
and Trademark Office (USPTO). “This treaty
establishes an important mechanism to both         Information about the Marrakesh Treaty is
protect intellectual property rights and ex-       available at the WIPO site (www.wipo.int).

A TRANSPORTATION LETTER TO GOV. DEWINE
MOVE Ohio!, Mobility & Opportunity for a Vi-       formation of your Blue-Ribbon committee on
brant Economy in Ohio, presented the fol-          funding transportation infrastructure into the
lowing letter to Ohio’s new governor on Feb-       future. While your priorities must include
ruary 14, 2019. ACBO is among the 36 sig-          funding to maintain safe roads and bridges,
natories. Please share it with your local leg-     Ohio needs more.
islators and with other groups who may have
an interest in transportation.                     Ohio must prioritize funding to support the
                                                   safe, affordable mobility of all who call our
Dear Governor,                                     state home, especially but not limited to
Mobility and Opportunity for a Vibrant Econ-       people with disabilities, pedestrians, riders
omy in Ohio, or MOVE Ohio, applauds the            of public transit, and bicyclists as a
                                                                                                   9
complete transportation network.                   decongestion). We also support an array of
                                                   potential funding options that could be dedi-
MOVE Ohio is a diverse coalition from ur-          cated into a transportation choice fund,
ban, suburban and rural Ohio. We represent         some of which we included in an adden-
the interests of everyday transportation us-       dum to this letter.
ers, older adults, people with disabilities, en-
vironmental groups, historically disadvan-         We urge you to address Ohio’s decades-
taged communities, anti-poverty advocates,         long under-investment in public transporta-
bicyclists and active transportation advo-         tion and safe pedestrian and bicycling infra-
cates, organized labor, local transit coali-       structure. These under-investments leave
tions, small businesses and faith leaders.         many of our citizens, businesses, and com-
Our vision is an Ohio transportation network       munities at a competitive disadvantage, un-
that moves people and goods, not just cars         safe, and disconnected from opportunity.
and trucks. It must be a complete network of       Too many people struggle to get to work,
affordable, accessible, and environmentally-       schools and training centers, the doctor’s
friendly transportation options, including         office, a grocery store and retail centers,
public transit, passenger and freight rail, and    among other things. Cars are expensive to
walkable, bikeable streets.                        own, insure and operate. For many low-
                                                   income families they can be prohibitively
To address the concerns we share with you          expensive. For older adults and people with
below, MOVE Ohio asks for the following in         disabilities, driving may not be an option at
the next ODOT budget request:                      all.

Dedicate $150 million per year for public          Despite being the seventh most populous
transit, safe pedestrian, ADA and bicycling        state, Ohio ranks 45th in the nation for our
infrastructure via the creation of a Transpor-     state’s support of public transit. Ohio can
tation Choice Fund. ODOT’s own 2015                and should do better. A little more than one
Statewide Transit Needs Study recommend-           percent of Ohio’s biennial multi-billion dollar
ed $120 million to stabilize the ability of        transportation budgets goes toward public
Ohio’s transit systems to address both ser-        transit, with nearly all of our transportation
vice and capital improvements. An additional       dollars going toward highways. As a result,
$30 million for safe pedestrian and bicycling      transit systems large and small are forced
infrastructure is also included in this figure.    to raise fares for riders, and continually cut
                                                   vital services to work, school, and access
We believe this can be done by dedicating a        to everyday life.
greater share of flexible Federal transporta-
tion dollars, and adopting a 80/20 highway-        Ohio needs a 21st century transportation
transit split, like the federal government, for    system. Expanded transportation options
any increase in the Motor Vehicle Fuels Tax        creates a more competitive Ohio economy
(meaning 20% of any gas tax increase               that enables the expansion of existing busi-
should go towards public transit, pedestrian       nesses and strengthens our pitches to at-
and bicycling infrastructure). These transpor-     tract private investment. A full array of local
tation investments on or along public rights-      and intercity transportation options better
of-way should be recognized in statute for         connects Ohio’s businesses with a larger
the highway purposes they serve (safety and        potential workforce and adds to Ohio’s
                                                   toolbox for attracting new business.
10
Young people and families want bikeable,          vents social isolation while reducing the risk
walkable communities with better access to        of abuse and neglect so we can all thrive.
public transit. Small businesses looking to
attract young workers are locating where          Per mile, taking public transportation is ten
these young people want to live and work.         times safer than driving a car. As your ad-
Safe, convenient and reliable alternative         ministration strives to address Ohio’s opioid
transportation options give low-income            epidemic, investments in transit and active
workers low-cost and accessible commuting         transportation help provide access to addic-
options to reach a variety of jobs and train-     tion services, often an obstacle to treatment
ing opportunities. Better, affordable public      and recovery.
transit enables low-income families to
spend or save money and forced less to            We the undersigned of MOVE Ohio, wish to
choose between fixing an unreliable car,          be your active and engaged partners on be-
putting food on the table, paying for health      half of Ohioans who use and depend on our
care or rent.                                     transportation systems and in determining
                                                  solutions to ensure they are robust, com-
Expanding investments in transit, paratrans-      plete, forward-looking and safe systems.
it, and safety infrastructure for all, or         Thank you for your time and consideration
‘Complete Streets’ supports a vital transpor-     of this important matter. We look forward to
tation workforce in good-quality jobs.            working with you during the budget process.
Increasing the array of alternative transpor-
tation options will reduce our vulnerability to
oil price spikes and the enormous amount                      BLIND PARENTS
of money we spend each year on gasoline.
                                                              CHAT GROUP
These investments also connect more Ohio-
                                                  Would you be interested in chatting with oth-
ans not only to more jobs, but to education
                                                  er blind or visually impaired parents? If you
and health care, regardless where they live.
                                                  have been blind all of your life or lost all or
They also improve health:
                                                  some vision recently, are expecting your first
                                                  child, have preschoolers, children in school
Investing in alternative forms of transporta-
                                                  or grandchildren, or children with disabilities,
tion helps address critical childhood and
                                                  we would welcome you. Sharon Howerton is
adult health issues like obesity and related
                                                  a retired instructor from the Hadley Institute
health issues as well as their associated
                                                  for the Blind and Visually Impaired (formerly
health care costs by promoting more active
                                                  Hadley School for the Blind) who has hosted
forms of transportation like walking and bik-
                                                  a parents group for several years. Sharon is
ing rather than passively driving every-
                                                  totally blind, a mother of two adult sons who
where.
                                                  are now married, and grandma to a blended
                                                  family of five grandchildren. Please email
Better public transit will promote good
                                                  Sharon at shrnhow@gmail.com to give her
health, personal growth, longevity and ex-
                                                  some ideas of your concerns, children, etc.
panded productivity for older adults and
                                                  We meet by phone on Wednesdays at 1
people with disabilities. Quality public trans-
                                                  p.m. Central. Sharon will send you infor-
portation promotes community engagement
                                                  mation about joining the calls when you con-
and connectedness for everyone, and pre-
                                                  tact her.
                                                                                                 11
American Council of the Blind of Ohio          FREE MATTER
             3805 N. High St., Suite 305
                                                           FOR THE BLIND
             Columbus, Ohio 43214

                        ACB-OHIO DATEBOOK
           MARCH 27                                  JULY 5–12
        BRAILLE MATTERS                     ACB CONFERENCE & CONVENTION
NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS LUNCHEON                    ROCHESTER, NY
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