Tuesday Topics

Last week Tuesday Topics was supposed to look at two issues. As has often happened in the past with this presentation, we never got to our second issue. Instead we ranged from a discussion of the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act and its consequences to even broader questions like "how do you %decide what changes you really want to make in the law and how much detail is needed? Th...

I received a couple of chides from faithful listeners who expressed dismay and chagrin that we did not cover the ADA on its anniversary. Had I thought of it, it might have happened. The 26th for me is my son's birthday and since he is not a girl I could not name him "Ada". I don't think it matters that our discussion is a week later than the anniversary. The law and its value, unlike the...

Paul Edwards and Brian Charlson will begin a discussion that we fervently hope our listeners will help us continue. It is on a subject that may make some of you uncomfortable. ACB is an organization of people who are blind but it is also an organization of just plain people. Some of these folks are conservative and some are liberal. Some come from the South of this country while some are from the...

It has been too long since our last Tuesday Topics program appeared for your delectation. However, we are back. My producers Rick Morin and Larry Gassmann are ready to go and my new co-host and i can hardly wait to once more foster good conversation and the exchange of ideas. I am overjoyed to let everyone know that, from now on, Brian Charlson is my co-host for TT. We were partners in the past an...

This is, of course, not the only time the committee will meet. Open meetings will happen on Tuesdays and Thursdays and those resolutions up for discussion will be described. On this show we will deal with a situation on the Resolutions Committee that I have never seen before. By the way, I am saying "we" because I am a member of the committee. What I have not seen before are two resoluti...

I am honored to have as my guest Michael Faire who has just released the second edition of his huge, free book that begins to be about the iphone but turns out to be about so many other things. We will talk about why he wrote the book in the first place. We will explore what is new about the second edition and, of course, we will talk about accessible games. Michael edited the magazine of accessib...

Tech Tips on Tuesday Topics. For the last few Tuesday Topics we have dealt with some fairly heavy topics. I thought it might be fun to share new things on this next show. How I spend my days as someone who is retired involves the use of a variety of technologies. I spend a good deal of time with baseball, lots of time with music, some time with podcasts, some time watching TV Find out more at http...

For the last six decades there has been debate about whether there is such a thing as "disability culture". There has also, by extension, been a serious question as to whether such a thing as blindness culture exists. Most people would accept that there is "deaf culture". Many would accept that there is such a thing as "black culture", "women's culture" and...

# How ought one to choose a person with whom you wish to have a long-term relationship? We have lots of instances of partnerships between people who are blind and people who are fully sighted. We also have partnerships between two folks who are blind. Is there a difference? Does a relationship between two people who are blind work better? Does a relationship between blind and sighted people work b...

Tuesday Topics will continue a tradition we began last year. We explored last year just how ACB was going to vote during a totally digital convention. This year we are dealing with a different animal in that our convention in Omaha Nebraska will be a "hybrid convention". In other words, we have to meet the needs of those folks who are at home and do not choose to attend our ACB meetings...

# We will discuss how moving affects people who are blind; advantages people who are born blind have over those who lose their vision later in life; April Fool’s Day tricks; and Easter traditions.

Last week I completed the sale of my house in Miami. This was sort of traumatic for me and it has led me to ask how well those of us who are blind deal with change. I know I have found relocating to Jacksonville somewhat difficult. How is it for other people who are blind? Call in and tell us. What can we do to make it easier? What is hardest about leaving an environment you have grown accustomed...

# Perhaps the most valuable awards offered by the American Council of the Blind, at least in monetary terms, are the Durward K. McDaniel award and the Morgan-Chase Leadership Fellows award. Tuesday Topics this week will hear from members of the committee that oversees these awards. We will hear from some of the winners and what they have been up to since winning the awards and, along the way, we w...

My guest is Anisio Correia whose name may not be all that familiar to all of you. He was born in Portugal, has been blind all his life, I think, and has managed to have a distinguished career during which he served people who are blind for the most part. What is it like coming to a new country? What was it like to be blind in Portugal? Why serve people who are blind? How have services changed  dur...

This week I would like to propose three ideas for your delectation. If you find none of them delectable, we will be in serious trouble. However, you have not let me down yet! First, I thought it might be of interest to explore our experiences with books that feature blind people. My experience suggests that literature has contributed some to the attitude of society to those of us who are blind. Ho...

# Over the past year, there has been a lot of change in the way that the American Council of the Blind shows itself to the world. Our web site is quite new and is meant to appeal as much to those who seek us out as to those of us who are members. Last year, ACB Media arrived! What is it? What can be access there? Why have we focused away from individual elements like blogs, radio, and podcasts to...

braille as our subject. Braille is the medium used by many people who are blind to read and write. It also represents the initials of one of the affiliates of the American Council of the Blind, the Braille Revival League. We will talk about that organization and what it is doing. The Perkins Braille Writer is seventy years old. Many of us would have said it was older than that! We will talk a litt...

This week we will get a chance to review the year that was and look forward to the year that is ahead with Eric Bridges who is Executive Director of the American Council of the Blind. With Eric will be Clark Rachfal who leads our legislative effort at the capitol. This is Clark's first appearance on Tuesday Topics so we will find out some about his background. He is an avid fitness person so I sus...

# Meet some of the members of the ACB awards committees; award recipients; and learn about the people for whom some of the awards are named. How are winners chosen? How can you become involved in the awards process? Recipients must be nominated to receive an award. Thus, you are an invaluable part of the awards process.

Last week we talked about some of the characteristics of last year. However, we did not come close to discussing all the elements of last year. 2020 seemed like a year when race relations took some steps forward. How was 2021? What did ACB accomplish in 2021? How has service delivery to newly blinded people changed with COVID? What about school for children who are blind? We heard nothing about mu...

This is a reminder for you not to miss being a part of evaluating 2021 now that it's gone! Tuesday Topics will happen for the first time in 2022 on January 4 from 7 to 9 PM. It will in fact be our third attempt to talk about the year that will be was by the time we do the program. Without my knowledge, the Tuesday Topics folks and other friends of mine decided that it would be nice to do an issue...

# This week, many friends of Paul Edwards gather to wish him a happy 76th birthday. This was a big surprise to Paul and it turned out to be a wonderful and memorable 2 hours.

tonight, then, will be New Year's Resolutions! What can we do in advance to make it more likely we can actually make them more than remembrances of things past was March? What are good resolutions? Have you made some resolutions which you have kept religiously or which you have spectacularly failed to keep? We want to hear about your Resolutions History! If we exhaust this topic, I thought it migh...

# I thought it might be fun to see if folks have run across particularly cool presents for blind people this year. I will talk about a few but would welcome calls from sellers of products or folks who have thought of or bought cool presents.

First, welcome back to the co-chairs of the Audio Description Project Committee, Kim Charlson and Carl Richardson. They have both been guests in the past and have kept you informed of what the ADP Committee is up to at various points over the last year. Paul also welcomes Barry Cronin, who will be playing a major role in the gala. These three folks know more between them about audio description th...