Thank You to All of Our 2017 Sponsors!
PLATINUM
New York State Commission for the Blind
GOLD
C Tech
CyberEyez
Lighthouse Guild Vision + Health
Northeast Association of the Blind at Albany
Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Raymond V. Wayne
SILVER
Vis-Ability, Inc.
BRONZE
3D Photoworks
Easy Tactile Graphics (E.A.S.Y., LLC)
Guide Dog Foundation
Helen Keller National Center
Independent Living Aids
New Utrecht Pharmacy
Strictly Car Service
Visions Services for the Blind
Xavier Society for the Blind
Thanks to JW.org for providing volunteers for our convention.
AGENDA
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM: Exhibit Hall. Coordinator: Chancey Fleet, Second Vice President, NFB of New York State, and First Vice President, New York City Chapter NFB. In the Dutch/Schreiber Rooms.
10:00 AM – 12 noon: Open Forum with the New York State Commission for the Blind, Brian Daniels, Associate Commissioner. Voice your opinion to officials about services in our state. In the Thacher Room.
12 noon – 1:00 PM: Guide Dog Division, Lucy Marr, President, New York State Guide Dog Division, and President, Syracuse Chapter NFB. In the Nassau Room.
1:00 – 2:15 PM: Blind Parenting: Carl Jacobsen, President, NFBNYS, panel moderator, and guest speaker Holly Bonner, MPA, MSW, CASAC, Creator of Blind Motherhood.com. Audience participation will follow. In the Thacher Room.
1:00 – 2:15 PM: Vendor Presentations: Each exhibitor will explain his/her products in a group presentation. In the Dutch/Schreiber Rooms.
2:30 – 3:45 PM: Student Division Social Event. In the Helderberg Room.
2:30 – 3:45 PM: Parents of Blind Children Workshop, Coordinators: Cayte Mendez, President, National Association of Blind Educators; Chair, Scholarship Committees, NFB National and NFBNYS; Secretary, NFBNYS; and Director of Educational Programs, NFBNYS. In the Nassau Room.
2:30 – 3:45 PM: Blind Seniors: Carl Jacobsen, facilitator, and Ruth Sager, President, NFB Seniors Division. An exploratory meeting to form a new division for seniors in our affiliate. In the Thacher Room.
4:00 – 5:00 PM: NFB of NYS Board of Directors meeting. All are welcome. In the Thacher Room.
7:00 – 10:00 PM: Everyone, please join us in the Nassau/Helderberg Rooms for our Hospitality Night, featuring food, fun, and a cash bar. Hosted by Nefertiti Matos. We look forward to seeing you there.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18
Morning General Session
8:30 – 8:45 AM: Call to order: Carl Jacobsen; Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance: Mike Robinson, President, Buffalo Chapter NFB; National Anthem: Cantor, Dr. Mindy Jacobsen, First Vice President, NFBNYS, First Vice President, NFB Diabetic Action Network; and President, New York City Chapter NFB.
8:45 – 9:00 AM: Presentation of the Scholarship Class of 2017: Cayte Mendez, Chair, Scholarship Committee NFBNYS.
9:00 – 9:30 AM: State of the State Address: Carl Jacobsen, President NFBNYS.
9:30 – 10:00 AM: State of the Union Address: Dr. Marc Maurer, Immediate Past President, NFB.
10:00 – 10:15 AM: Vanda Pharmaceuticals: Karen Orband, RN, BSN, CDE, Notheastern Regional Nurse Educator.
10:15 – 10:30 AM: Bringing Clean Water Back to Lake Onondaga: Luis Mendez, attorney and NFBNYS member.
10:30 – 10:45 AM: Living in Two Worlds: Mike Robinson, President, Buffalo Chapter NFB.
10:45 – 11:00 AM: A Word from Our Sponsors.
11:00 – 11:15 AM: Northeastern Association of the Blind at Albany: Where Are We Now, and Where Are We Going? Chris Burke, Executive Director, NABA.
11:15 – 11:45 AM: Report from the Libraries: Jill Rothstein, Chief Librarian, Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, New York, NY; and Shawn Lemieux, Senior Librarian, Talking Book and Braille Library, Cultural Education Center, Albany, NY.
11:45 AM – 12 noon: A Word from Our Senior Division: Ruth Sager.
Lunch Break Information & Meetings
12:15 – 1:45 PM: Blind Parents group, coordinator, Heather Bird, President, Rochester Chapter. In the Schreiber Room.
12:15 – 1:45 PM: Student Division, Nihal Erkan, President, Student Division, NFBNYS. In the Dutch Room.
Afternoon General Session
2:00 – 2:20 PM: The Bell Keeps Ringing: Report from our New York State BELL Academies: Cayte Mendez, Director of Educational Programs, NFBNYS, and Lead Teacher, BELL, and Rasheta Bunting, BELL Program Coordinator.
2:20 – 2:30: Nothing About Us Without Us: Consumer Access to VR Information: Chancey Fleet.
2:30 – 2:45 PM: Blind Parenting: Holly Bonner.
2:45 – 3:00 PM: Xavier Society for the Blind, Malachy Fallon, Executive Director.
3:00 – 4:00 PM: Panel: The Many Faces of Residential Rehabilitation: Nancy Miller, Executive Director/CEO, Visions Services for the Blind, New York, NY; Peter Slatin, Alumnus and Board Member, Colorado Center for the Blind, Littleton, CO; and Dan Wenzel, Executive Director, BLIND, Inc., Minneapolis, MN.
4:00 – 4:15 PM: Chapters as Windows into our Philosophy: Cayte Mendez.
4:15 – 5:00 PM: News from our state agency: Brian Daniels, Associate Commissioner, New York State Commission for the Blind. This presentation will include a question-and-answer period.
6:30 – 11:00 PM: Banquet - Mistress of Ceremonies: Mindy Jacobsen.
- Cash bar available from 6:30
- Invocation: David R. Stayer, President Emeritus, Greater Long Island Chapter
- “Horse Race” game
- Keynote Address: Dr. Marc Maurer
- Auctions, pledges, and prizes
- Presentation of Scholarships to the class of 2017: Cayte Mendez
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19
7:00 – 8:30 AM: Resolutions Committee breakfast meeting in the Dutch Room, Chair, Chancey Fleet.
9:00 AM – 12 noon: General Session
- Invocation: Carl Jacobsen
- Report from the Resolutions Committee: Chancey Fleet, Committee Chair
- Consideration of, and voting on, resolutions
- Report from Nominating Committee, David Stayer, Chair
- Election of Officers
- Chapter and Division Reports
- New business
12 noon: Adjournment
National Federation of the Blind of New York State
2017 Resolutions
Resolution 2017-01
Regarding TASC Accessibility
WHEREAS, the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC) is an assessment used to grant high school graduation equivalency to students in New York; and
WHEREAS, the New York State Education Department has in 2017 awarded Data Recognition Corporation a new multi-year contract under which Data Recognition Corporation will continue to administer the TASC throughout the state; and
WHEREAS, state-wide use of this test over the course of the previous contract has surfaced a panoply of barriers to equitable access to blind customers, including missing or inadequate tactile representations, description of graphics, missing or inadequate accessibility features in the computer-based version of the test, and missing descriptions of graphical content in the audio version of the test, so that test takers must intermingle use of the audio TASC with use of a human reader; and
WHEREAS, Tasc candidates can assess their readiness for the test, and their strengths and weaknesses in relation to its content using a readiness assessment that can be purchased by the organizations where they are studying; and
WHEREAS, Data Recognition Corporation does not provide this readiness assessment in an accessible format; and
WHEREAS, the New York State Commission for the Blind has been engaging with New York State Education Department leadership about these issues, and a way forward toward remediating them; and
WHEREAS, the state rehabilitation council for the New York State Commission for the Blind has also been engaging New York State Education Department officials; and
WHEREAS, that engagement has included a written request by the state rehabilitation council for a clarification letter from the New York State Education Department, to bidders about accessibility standards in relation to existing state and federal law, pursuant to the New York State Education Department’s requested proposal, upon which Date Recognition Corporation’s contract award is based; and
WHEREAS, a clarification letter was not issued, and accessibility standards are not being met in the new contract: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind, in convention assembled on this nineteenth day of November, 2017, in the city of Albany, New York, that this organization commend the New York State Commission for the Blind for its willingness to advocate to the New York State Education Department on this issue, and to help bring involved parties into dialogue; but
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demands that the New York state Education Department take full responsibility for managing its contract with Data Recognition Corporation in such a way that administration of the task comes into compliance with existing state and federal laws regarding accessibility standards; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization reminds Data Recognition Corporation that the absence of specific language, or the presence of vague language on accessibility standards in any contract, is no defense against practices and processes which violate state and federal law; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization, in recognition of the great degree to which the TASC stands between blind people and the careers and higher education to which they aspire, and the added difficulty that TASC takers face as learners outside both the k-12 and higher education systems, affirms our commitment to blind TASC candidates to secure their equity of access to the test itself, and to readiness assessments and other preparatory materials.
Resolution 2017-02
Regarding the Provision of Accessible Documents by the New York State Commission for the Blind
WHEREAS, the New York State Commission for the Blind publishes a vocational rehabilitation services manual as a resource to consumers, Commission staff and other interested parties; and
WHEREAS, this document specifies that a VR handbook and other intake materials as well as subsequent correspondence will be provided to consumers in their preferred accessible formats; and
WHEREAS, common formats that a person might prefer could include Braille, print, audio, and electronic access; and
WHEREAS, intake materials and subsequent correspondence are pivotal tools that consumers can use to understand their rights and responsibilities in relation to vocational rehabilitation; and
WHEREAS, reports around the state indicate that the provision of intake information and subsequent correspondence in consumers’ preferred formats may not be uniformly proactive and consistent: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind, in convention assembled on this nineteenth day of November, 2017, in the city of Albany, New York, that this organization offers its collective expertise in the provision of documents in accessible and usable formats, and that this organization urges the Commission to commit in a public, material and timely way, to ensure consistency in the provision of intake information and subsequent correspondence to consumers in the accessible usable format that each consumer prefers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urges the Commission to incorporate into its intake process a meaningful discussion that helps each consumer identify usable accessible formats from which to choose.
