First of all, big congratulations to Marcus and rosy on offspring number three. Which will teach travel in which will teach braille? LOL. Hi guys, I was just listening to President Riccobono?s presidential release for this month. When questions were allowed, I heard a couple of questions that sound like they are right up the alley of orientation and mobility instructors. I wanted to kick these are on the list and maybe even talk about them on Tuesday night if we have time, given that we already have an agenda, and see if everybody agrees with me or if anybody has better techniques than I have. I am always in the market for something better and in this group, it?s really not that hard to get. Someone asked about those invisible lines on the store now where are you have to stay behind them to maintain a social distance from the clerk or the customer ahead of you. Typically what I have been doing is asking someone in the store. If I?m shopping i probably have a clerk and ask about the one-way signs down each aisle. When I go to get the clerk, I try to stay a little more than a cane?s length behind the person ahead of me and when the person at the counter says next, I ask how close I should get. If I get confused, I can ask the person in front of me where is the marker so I can stop when you go up. Sometimes, especially in Walmart, the lines have been tactile but I?ve had to really concentrate to feel them. Easy answer, lines in a store, ask someone. Braille signs: Someone talked about braille signage and disinfection. Business is regularly disinfect door knobs and other things that we are expected to touch. They probably don?t think about the braille signage. Some blind people may feel extra vulnerable because of other disabilities or health issues. How many of us are currently running around with a bottle of purell in our pockets?. My solution is to disinfect the sign or whatever it is that my cane hits before I put my fingers on it. Once I have ascertained it is the sign I want, I can disinfect my fingers. nine chances out of 10, it is a restroom sign and there?s a place inside to wash my hands which is much better than using purell or any other hand sanitizer. Easy answer, clean it ourselves before we touch. There was some talk about returning to live meetings in the future and national convention in person in 2021. President Riccobono made a comment that he wasn?t sure how we would greet people at the presidential suite or in other places. I don?t know if this will become the new norm or if it?s just something that I do with my clients but for a month or so, my clients and I have have replaced the ritual of shaking hands with the ritual of sharing a bottle of hand sanitizer. How to locate said hand sanitizer? A Friend of mine in the Nebraska showed me a cool technique many many years ago and several of us have been teaching it over the past 20 years to our clients, colleagues, friends and any other blind person with a cane. The handshake technique is where two cane usersfind the tips of each other?s canes and bring the canes together. Once the canes are vertical and touching, we simply move our hands up and down canes until we can touch. In Lou of touching the hand with the hand, we can use the canes to find each other and then present the bottle of hand sanitizer from the top. The person receiving the hand sanitizer can be taught to look from below. Then, since it?s very likely a new client will hand you the sanitizer the same way he or she received it, I typically go above when I want to get it back. This might take a little practice and the good news is that if we touch each other, the hand sanitizer is still available. I have been telling my clients that this has replaced the cultural norm in our society for shaking hands. Easy answer, Don?t shake hands or elbows or feet, shake the hand sanitizer. so what do you say, kick this idea around and see if we can come up with some cool solutions to present to our national president. Then he might talk about them on the next release. Might even say that it was the orientation and mobility teachers who are certified NOMC who banded together and gave him these ideas. It would be a good marketing ploy for Louisiana Tech University as well. Anytime we come to the notice of the rest of the NFB, it reminds them what we have and what they might have. The younger ones will be reminded that there is an orientation and mobility program especially for blind people waiting just down south in Ruston. By the way, I want to know if any other listeners to the presidential release remarked on President Riccobono?s comment to Pam Allen. When asked if there would be a big reveal this year at convention regarding the location of the 2021 convention, he turned to Pam and asked if she thought they should tell people. Hey, anybody for begniettes at the 21 convention? fingers crossed that somebody says Naawlins. These general sessions had better and on time because I haven?t been to the Crescent city in 20 years and I?m headed for the quarter, the food and the hurricanes.. Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 30, 2020, at 2:09 PM, Dezman Jackson <djackson at bism.org> wrote:
? Thanks for sharing this Merry-Noel. I know that we also have published works such as Mettler?s Cognitive Learning Theory and a book written by several of our own called Techniques used by Blind Cane Travel Instructors. Has there been any thought towards publishing an updated version or even just a modern textbook for structured discovery instructors?
Regards, Dezman Dezman
On Apr 30, 2020, at 9:59 AM, Merry-Noel <owinm at yahoo.com> wrote:
Hello all,
(Link is attached)
If you have not done so yet, download my dissertation study: Self-Confidence Levels in Sequential Learning Vs. Structured Discovery Cane Travel, Post Orientation and Mobility: A Comparison Study.
It will soon NOT be available for free! Get it while you can.
Ben, I do discuss ?informed choice? and the lack thereof in my dissertation.
Here is the link
https://commons.cu-portland.edu/edudissertations/266/
Merry-Noel
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
On Thursday, April 30, 2020, 8:04 AM, Edward Bell <ebell at pdrib.com> wrote:
You don?t have on here where or how to download your study
Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC, Director,
Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness
Louisiana Tech University
600 Mayfield Ave / 210 Woodard Hall
PO Box 3158
Ruston LA 71272
Office: 318.257.4554 Fax: 318.257.2259
ebell at latech.edu http://www.pdrib.com
*************
"I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops."
-- Stephen Jay Gould
From: Merry-Noel <owinm at yahoo.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2020 6:42 PM To: Edward Bell <ebell at pdrib.com>; 'Ben Vercellone' <benv at fastmail.com> Cc: 'NOMC Mailing list' <nomc at lists.nbpcb.org> Subject: Re: [Nomc] Cane Travel Meeting Follow-Up
Hello all,
If you have not done so yet, download my dissertation study: Self-Confidence Levels in Sequential Learning Vs. Structured Discovery Cane Travel, Post Orientation and Mobility: A Comparison Study.
It will soon NOT be available for free! Get it while you can.
Ben, I do discuss ?informed choice? and the lack thereof in my dissertation.
Merry-Noel
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
On Wednesday, April 29, 2020, 4:54 PM, Edward Bell <ebell at pdrib.com> wrote:
Ben,
Informed consent or not, VR counselors know next to nothing about cane travel. They will understand it as O&M most likely, but nothing on the internet or agency brochures will shed light on any difference between COMS and NOMC. Consumer advocacy, public education and availability in each state will be what makes the difference. On that note, we are accepting applications for Summer and Fall and yes we do have scholarships, so please help us to recruit for the next generation of NOMC
Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC, Director, Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness Louisiana Tech University 600 Mayfield Ave / 210 Woodard Hall PO Box 3158 Ruston LA 71272 Office: 318.257.4554 Fax: 318.257.2259 ebell at latech.edu www.pdrib.com ************* "I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." -- Stephen Jay Gould
From: Ben Vercellone <benv at fastmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2020 4:50 PM To: Edward Bell <ebell at pdrib.com> Cc: Keller, Becky
; NOMC Mailing list <nomc at lists.nbpcb.org> Subject: Re: [Nomc] Cane Travel Meeting Follow-Up Hi Dr. Bell,
Thank you. Your approach definitely sounds encouraging and Effective. Can you tell me how well informed choice is implemented nation-wide? I'm in the lower half when it comes to understanding legal things in-depth. But I am guessing that agencies for the blind are more likely to tell people about SDCT than are web searches for O&M-related terms that don't include "Structured Discovery". Is this correct? If so, then this will make it less critical for our web presence to command the same footprint as the COMS perspective in the near future. It just seems to me that SDCT too often remains one of the best-kept secrets unless someone or some legislation makes it a conversation topic.
Sincerely, Ben
On Apr 29, 2020, at 4:33 PM, Edward Bell <ebell at pdrib.com> wrote:
? Hi Ben,
As I said earlier, I am glad to make space available and host more information on either site and we also have a blog we can use if people want to. One thing I have tried promoting all of my professional life is the notion that Structured Discovery is uniquely and distinctly different than COMS instruction. If you google search today the term ?Structured Discovery? the first three hits are NBPCB, NFB and PDRIB. So, I think we are positioned well so long as we always talk about Structured Discovery Cane Travel or the Structured Discovery form of O&M. Not even Donna Sauerburger Tries to pretend she knows anything much about Structured Discovery any more. Just my $.02
Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC, Director, Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness Louisiana Tech University 600 Mayfield Ave / 210 Woodard Hall PO Box 3158 Ruston LA 71272 Office: 318.257.4554 Fax: 318.257.2259 ebell at latech.edu www.pdrib.com ************* "I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." -- Stephen Jay Gould
From:Ben Vercellone <benv at fastmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, April 29, 2020 4:26 PM To:Edward Bell <ebell at pdrib.com>; 'Keller, Becky'
; 'NOMC Mailing list' <nomc at lists.nbpcb.org> Subject:RE: [Nomc] Cane Travel Meeting Follow-Up Hi All,
When I brought up the website topic last night, my main hope was for us to have a large hub for everything NOMC, similar to how many COMS instructors and supporters view Dona Sauerburger?s website as a large hub for everything COMS. I now realize that creating a new and unified website may not be necessary. But what is necessary is for our philosophy to command more attention from COMS professionals and from search engines. Whether our web presence is based on one website or multiple, and whether or not it involves creating any additional websites, I?m pretty open-minded. Someone on yesterday?s Zoom call said he/she (I think he) has been working on a podcast or audio/video content (I can?t remember exactly). But this sounded excellent. I?ll look for the YouTube channel Dr. Bell mentioned shortly. As I said last night, an O&M specialist in Missouri thinks that Dona Sauerburger is the O&M goddess, I didn?t comment when I heard him say this. But is sure did persuade me of the need to maximize our outreach. I don?t want to reinvent wheels, but I?m hoping that we can have a much larger web presence in at least 2 ways. First, I am hoping that our website/s will somehow be glued into the consciousness of many COMS when they?re sharing O&M information. In other words, when they recommend http://sauerburger.org, they?ll also feel the moral obligation to share http://nbpcb.org, http://pdrib.com, ETC. Second, when one searches online for O&M advice, especially regarding recommended cane length, he/she will probably agree with me that the COMS perspective is vastly more prominent. People aren?t supposed to use Google as their doctor, but many people do this anyway. Similarly, almost everyone researching blindness for the first time will use a search engine. They should have super easy access to our empowering philosophy and teaching methodology. In my opinion, they currently don?t, unless they get ?lucky? or hear of SDCT some other way.
What do you all think? I really am not nit picky about the solution. All I know is that a problem seems to exist, which I?ve fleshed out a little bit in this e-mail. And having increased audio and audio/video content may truly be a homerun, especially in people?s constantly accelerating lifestyles. The drop route videos sound awesome.
Finally, I have a brief Structured Discovery story to share. Just last year, I got utterly fed up with my inability to understand diverging diamond interchanges (DDI?s). I had already received some instruction on at least 2 occasions by a COMS instructor, but I still did not get it. Well, to my delight, cooperation took place between Rehab Services for the Blind of Missouri and Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services where Jane Lansaw works. Jane came and taught me to cross at the oldest DDI in the U.S. which is in Springfield, Missouri. Immediately afterword, we took the bus to a newer and much larger DDI in Springfield, and I independently crossed there. Talk about transferable skills and SDCT! It was wildly cool. I did also use tactile graphics of these DDI?s, since this learning modality helps me a lot. But the tactile graphics probably helped no more than one third in this process. The main help was the SDCT approach, delivered by Jane Lansaw. Anyway, I do have some audio and video footage, but the weather was kind of bad that day. I?ll review the files soon if I can. At the very least, I wanted to share a summary of that great success here. If an increasing number of people hear and believe stories like this one, and if they can very easily find these SDCT testimonies with their search engine of choice, imagine what will be possible.
Sincerely, Ben
From: Edward Bell Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2020 11:56 AM To: 'Keller, Becky'; 'NOMC Mailing list' Subject: Re: [Nomc] Cane Travel Meeting Follow-Up
Hi Becky,
This is all really good.
I am willing and able to add resources to either the PDRIB or NBPCB web pages. Just let me know what and where and I can get it done. Of course, anyone subscribed to this list can also post information here to get it out more quickly. I also believe we have a YouTube channel if there is video to post.
Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC, Director, Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness Louisiana Tech University 600 Mayfield Ave / 210 Woodard Hall PO Box 3158 Ruston LA 71272 Office: 318.257.4554 Fax: 318.257.2259 ebell at latech.edu www.pdrib.com ************* "I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." -- Stephen Jay Gould
From:NOMC <nomc-bounces at lists.nbpcb.org> On Behalf Of Keller, Becky Sent:Wednesday, April 29, 2020 10:24 AM To:NOMC Mailing list <nomc at lists.nbpcb.org> Subject:[Nomc] Cane Travel Meeting Follow-Up
Good morning everyone, Thanks so much for all of your input and energy last night. We had some really good discussion, and the two hours seemed to fly right by. At one point, we had 28 folks in attendance. Pretty neat if I do say so myself.
Jedi and Jane, thank you also for volunteering to give us an example of your virtual drop routes. We look forward to hearing it when you send it out to everyone.
Below you will find the last remaining questions we had on our original agenda. We touched a little bit on some of them towards the end of our meeting, but I included them just in case you had additional thoughts or suggestions. Between now and Monday the 4th, please send me any further topics or questions that you wish to have posed to the group.
In addition, a proposal was introduced last evening that focused towards developing a new, or expanding our current Structured-Discovery websites, to include resources, readings, O & M media, etc., sort of an information portal for instructors. I've pasted our current links below for everyone. Dr. Bell, we were hoping to get your feedback and counsel regarding this topic.
Thanks again everyone for your participation and contributions. Have a wonderful week, and talk to you soon. Take care,
http://www.pdrib.com/ https://nbpcb.org/index.php
Questions: How could we work with folks to plan detailed hypothetical out of town trips, so they have an understanding of what goes into planning for a vacation or business trip? This way we could potentially utilize O&M as well as tech skills.
How can we get folks thinking about mental mapping places they haven?t been yet?
How can we help our students overcome fear, especially in uncertain times? In general, not necessarily focusing solely on cane travel...
Becky Keller, NOMC, COMS Lead Orientation and Mobility Instructor Virginia Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Vision Impaired 401 Azalea Avenue Richmond, VA 23227 (804) 371-3093 becky.keller at dbvi.virginia.gov Facebook: VDBVI Worldwide Web: Virginia Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Vision Impaired YouTube: VRCBVI "Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome." -Arthur Ashe
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