Tuesday Topics

Next Tuesday is Valentine's Day Eve. We thought it would be a good time to explore relationships. How have folks with visual impairments fared with internet dating sites? Which have you tried? How have they worked? If you don't use the internet, how do you start relationships? Are there tricks you can share with us? Are you looking to date people who are blind or people who are sighted or either w...

One of the joys of being a part of the American Council of the Blind is that, in addition to having state affiliates as members, the organization has welcomed the formation of more than a score of organizations formed based on an interest or a set of skills. Over the past couple of months there is no question that the affiliate most often garnering our attention was BITS. Blind Information Technol...

Not so occasionally, Paul Edwards makes commitments that he completely forgets to put on his calendar. That is what happened several weeks ago when the Awards Committee asked for an opportunity to present on Tuesday Topics. Instead of continuing our session on the history of blindness and services to the blind, we will be joined by members of the Awards Committee of the American Council of the Bli...

Occasionally it's a good thing to look back at where we have been. Acb began in 1961; the NFB began in 1940; there were blindness organizations as long ago as the 1880s. As we approach Martin Luther King Day let's spend a little time looking at some of the history of work for and programs for the people who are blind in the United States and, perhaps, in other parts of the world as well. What were...

A new year will be with us by the time Tuesday Topics returns to ACB Media One at 7 PM on January 2 2024. As we suggested on our last presentation the topic this time is 2024. What will the year be like? How will it differ from 2023? How will it be the same? Are there particular things we are looking forward to seeing? As with our last presentation we will begin with the big picture and look at th...

As we suggested on our last presentation the topic this time is 2024. What will the year be like? How will it differ from 2023? How will it be the same? Are there particular things we are looking forward to seeing? As with our last presentation we will begin with the big picture and look at the country, the world and, if appropriate, beyond our planet. Then we will focus on blindness issues. AFB h...

This week we will be doing the first of two programs surrounding the new year. We will not be holding Tuesday Topics on Boxing Day because that is a part of the Christmas holiday when many of our listeners will have better things to do than listen to us. We have a kind of tradition on Tuesday Topics though which we will follow again this year. We do one show where we explore the year that is endin...

One of Tuesday Topics's frequent contributors is DeAnna Quietwater Noriega. I have had the privilege of knowing this fine lady for over thirty years and am proud to call her a friend. DeAnna has just released her second book which is about growing up as a Native American. Here is a little of the blurb about her book. DOGWOOD BLOSSOM: GROWING UP NATIVE AMERICAN "In Dogwood Blossom, DeAnna Nori...

There are lots of laws that are passed that have created accessible traffic signals, accessible voting machines, the availability of braille materials from counties or the state and announcements on buses. These are just some of the accessibility elements that we have "demanded" or, at the very least, come to expect. More and more municipalities are saying that they don't know why they b...

Our first topic will explore how people who are blind feel about the patronizing attitudes of other people. We have all had it happen! Who helps you dress? Isn't your daughter lovely to take care of you! You actually work????? Clearly we don't love these situations but how should we handle them! Are those with us partly responsible? Should we expect them to stand up for us? Should we argue and get...

Our topic will explore how people who are blind feel about the patronizing attitudes of other people. We have all had it happen! Who helps you dress? Isn't your daughter lovely to take care of you! You actually work????? Clearly we don't love these situations but how should we handle them! Are those with us partly responsible? Should we expect them to stand up for us? Should we argue and get the p...

Tuesday Topics will once more consider questions raised by the Voter Task Force. There will be representatives from Resolutions, the Constitution and Bylaws group and the Voter Task Force. At the beginning of our first meeting with this group on October 24 we read a document that the Task Force is using for a number of community calls. We have looked at some of them but still have lots to look at....

Tuesday Topics will consider fear on ACB Media One. It isn't often that Tuesday Topics actually occurs on Halloween. As a result we thought it might be fun to explore some questions we think operate around Halloween for people who are blind. Have you had Halloween experiences that were cool? Have you had experiences that were awful? Were there things at Halloween that scared you? Halloween aside,...

We will be joined by the voting task force to explore where ACB needs to go from here. For the last few years ACB has had a system where every member in good standing, whether at a convention or not, can cast his or, her or their vote when ACB is trying to make decisions. We have also maintained the ongoing validity of affiliate voting. It is perhaps true that affiliate voting is fairer than it ha...

Tuesday Topics invites folks from our Audio Description Project to tell us about what is happening with ADP and our upcoming festivities! We will be live on ACB Media One and there is information below on joining us via Zoom or from Clubhouse. We will once more have the privilege of welcoming back the co-chairs of our Audio Description Project Carl Richardson and Kim Charlson. In the past they hav...

We have been threatening for the last couple of programs to spend a program discussing White Cane Safety Day and its related laws. It now appears that the time for that has come! All over the country agencies and organizations of people who are blind cooperate to create awareness of folks who are blind on White Cane Safety Day. What impact do these activities have? What impact do White Cane Laws h...

Tuesday Topics has welcomed ACB'S Employment Committee in the past and are happy to welcome some of them again this week. Peter Altschul, Melanie Sonohui and Carrie Muth will be our guests. The committee has been very busy since we last had them on. They have been creating podcasts, collecting and spreading job announcements and, now, they have released a survey that they would like us to know abo...

Remember to join us for Tuesday Topics! have a guest who runs a cruise assistance business and exhibited at ACB this Summer! We are heard From 7 to 9 PM on Tuesday September 26 cruising will be served on Tuesday Topics. You are invited to sit at the captain's table and bring with you stories both droll and drear of your experiences on the rolling sea, preferably aboard a ship! How is cruising for...

Tuesday Topics will explore people who are blind and college. What was it like for you to decide to go to college. Was it intimidating? Did you live in the dorm? How was that adjustment? Were you treated well and fairly at College? What was the worst thing about college for you? What was the best thing about college? Was college worth it? What would you change about your college experience at coll...

We have a habit on this program of biting off more than we actually chew. This happened with our last program. We ended up spending a lot of time talking about going back to school and really did not get to Labor Day. Even though it's a little late, we thought it might be of interest to see what people think of Labor Day as a holiday. Is it something that folks value because of unions? Have you be...

What memories do we have about going back to school? Many people who are blind went to schools for the blind. Was going back a happy thing or was it sad? If you were mainstreamed, was the end of the Summer a good thing or a bad thing? What was your Summer like when you were growing up? Were you lonely? Were there things you looked forward to each Summer? Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics...

It is our intention to make this edition of Tuesday Topics an occasion where those who knew Oral Miller who died on August 6 could come and share some memories of his life and work. Oral lived to the age of ninety and made contributions to people who are blind in a variety of ways. He was the fourth President of ACB. He served only one term because he chose to go to work for ACB as its national re...

We will spend time exploring some Federal actions. Most of our time will be spent exploring the adoption of a final rule by the Architecture and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (ATBCB). This Board has been operational for more than half a century and is responsible for overseeing regulations that assure that people with disabilities are fully included in society through the adoption of ru...

It is a common thing for Tuesday Topics to bite off more than it can chew. We did it again last night! We thought we were going to spend an hour talking about our experiences with radio and then move on to other things. Not so much! We spent a truly fun two hours romping together through the past of radio and us! If you missed the show, catch the repeats or the podcast! It was great fun! However,...

This week we are going to discuss a topic that we hope will be of some interest to many blind and visually impaired people. From the time I was three years old in 1948, radio had become a critical part of my life. I don't think I am alone. I lived outside the United States for many years and listened to short wave radio even more asiduously than I had listened ! AM radio in the US and Canada befor...