White Canes Connect

In Episode 112 of White Canes Connect, hosts Lisa Bryant and David Goldstein welcome Bailey Bostelman, Regional Field Director for the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB). The episode highlights the upcoming VisionWalk in Philadelphia on October 5th, where Lisa will be participating. Bailey shares insights into the mission of FFB, which has raised over $915 million to fund research for inherited r...

In Episode 111 of White Canes Connect, co-hosts David Goldstein and Emily Gindlesperger, both Vice Presidents of the NFB of Pennsylvania, discuss the exciting details surrounding the upcoming state convention in Erie. This year marks a return to Erie after over two decades, and the event will take place at the Ambassador Banquet and Conference Center. The venue promises accessibility and convenien...

In Episode 110 of White Canes Connect, co-hosts Lisa Bryant and David Goldstein gear up for the upcoming National Federation of the Blind   of Pennsylvania State Convention, which will be held from November 7–10, 2024, in Erie, PA. The episode features an insightful conversation with Lynn Heitz, NFB of Pennsylvania's president, and Tracy Soforenko, NFB of Virginia president and national representa...

In episode 109 of White Canes Connect, co-hosts David Goldstein and Lisa Bryant engage in an enlightening conversation with Simone Cooper, founder of the Blind Social Club, and Katie Sampson, an advisor for the Sowing Excellence Awards. Simone shares her journey from starting the International Cuisine Club for the Blind and Visually Impaired in 2017 to changing the name to a more-fitting Blind Soc...

In episode 108 of White Canes Connect, hosted by David Goldstein, the focus is on accessible voting in Pennsylvania. Diane Gordian from the Pennsylvania Department of State joins the podcast to discuss the importance of ensuring voting accessibility for individuals with disabilities.   The episode features a recording from the August 7th "Coffee with the President" meeting, where Diane highlights...

In Episode 107 of White Canes Connect, hosted by Lisa Bryant and David Goldstein, the focus is on the recent national convention. The episode features first-time attendees sharing their experiences and highlights. Angela Ferguson expressed how the convention surpassed her expectations, offering valuable insights and camaraderie. Anissa Brown and Kenny Robinson echoed similar sentiments, emphasizin...

In White Canes Connect episode 106, Lisa Bryant and David Goldstein, alongside guests Lynn Heights, Kaye Baker, and Camille Tate, delve into preparations and excitement for the upcoming NFB National Convention in Orlando, Florida, from July 3rd to 8th.  The conversation transitions into an engaging discussion with Lynn, the President of the NFB of Pennsylvania, Kaye, the Secretary of the NFB of Fl...

In this episode of White Canes Connect, hosts Lisa Bryant and David Goldstein speak with Laura Wolk Slavis, the first blind woman to clerk at the United States Supreme Court. Laura shares her remarkable journey, starting from her early involvement with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) due to her childhood diagnosis of retinoblastoma. Her father's proactive engagement with the NFB's resou...

In episode 104 of White Canes Connect, hosts Lisa Bryant and David Goldstein sit down with Ed Plumacher from the United States Blind Baseball Association (USBBA). They delve into the inspiring journey of Ed, who was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at 15 and has since become a pivotal figure in adaptive sports. Ed shares his passion for blind baseball, detailing the foundational stages of the U...

In episode 103 of White Canes Connect, Lisa Bryant and David Goldstein speak with Kat Bottner, the First Vice President of the Keystone Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania, a along with PhD candidates Abigail Nolin and Kayla Hepler from the University of Delaware's Department of Material Science and Engineering. They delve into their groundbreaking research on tactile a...

In episode 102 of White Canes Connect, hosts Lisa Bryant and Simon Bonenfant explore web accessibility for the visually impaired. Their guests, Bob Moran from Accessibility Shield and Dennis Zehner from Sites for Hope, discuss their organizations' efforts to improve website usability for people with visual impairments.   Sites for Hope, serving the Greater Lehigh Valley and Monroe County since 192...

In Episode 101 of "White Canes Connect," hosts David Goldstein and Lisa Bryant engage with Rabbi Lenny Sarko to discuss his pioneering work on the Braille Torah. Rabbi Sarko, who is visually impaired himself due to complications from diabetes, shares his unique journey of adapting the Torah into Braille to facilitate inclusive religious participation for the blind and visually impaired within the...

In this 100th episode of White Canes Connect, Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, joins Lisa and David for a celebratory and insightful discussion. President Riccobono reflects on the podcast's journey, emphasizing its role in amplifying the voices of the blind community and fostering a sense of belonging and empowerment. He shares his journey with blindness, highlig...

While educating a child with a disability can be challenging, the Delaware County Intermediate Unit, or DCIU, offers many tools and supports to meet that challenge head-on, preparing every student for a successful future! In this episode of White Canes Connect, Simon Bonenfant speaks with Jason Gonzalez, DCIU Professional Development Specialist, and Holly Short, DCIU Orientation and Mobility instr...

In this episode of White Canes Connect, presented by the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania and hosted by Lisa Bryant and David Goldstein, listeners are treated to an enlightening conversation on living with low vision, commemorating February as Low Vision Awareness Month. The episode featured insights from Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapists Lachelle Smith from Salus Universi...

In this episode of White Canes Connect, hosts   Lisa Bryant and David Goldstein explore the Diabetes Prevention Program with special guests Joani Schmeling from the Health Promotion Council and NFB of PA President Lynn Heights, a diabetes coach. The program, developed by the CDC, is designed to support individuals with prediabetes through lifestyle changes over a year, emphasizing the importance o...

 In this episode of White Canes Connect, Lisa and David speak with Dr. Carolyn Peters and Sabrina Rice from the National Organization of Blind Black Leaders. They discuss the importance of the organization and when it became a division of the National Federation of the Blind.  They review all the planned Black History Month events the organization presents (see the listing below, along with the Zo...

 In this episode of White Canes Connect, Simon Bonenfant speaks with ADLN program coordinator Lee Etzold and newly trained audio describer Gina Pisasale as they discuss how the program was formed, how the training was conducted, and who was selected to participate. They also discuss the strong support team of blind and visually impaired coaches, other audio describer mentors, and audio description...

 In this episode of White Canes Connect, Lisa and David speak with Christine Palmer, the organizer of the NFB of PA's Diabetes Support Group, Debbie Wunder, the President of the NFB's Diabetes Action Network, and Anil Lewis, NFB Executive Director and DAN Second Vice President about diabetes. Christine tells us why she wanted to start the group here in Pennsylvania. Debbie explains that one in fou...

Welcome to our January 2024 monthly Digest: a monthly newsletter of the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania! The events and information listed below will be within the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania and any pertinent information from the National Federation of the Blind and the Pennsylvania blind community. If you or anyone you know have any upcoming events or inform...

 In this episode of White Canes Connect, Lisa and David look back at the 2023 NFB of PA State Convention with emails and a voicemail from attendees. The emails were read using AI, so let us know your thoughts. We also talk about the 2024 State Convention in Erie coming in November. We share some audio clips with holiday messages from previous guests of the podcast, like Suzy Wilburn from Southeast...

 In this episode of White Canes Connect, Lisa and David speak with Leigh Jackson, Natanya Sortland, and Carol Sexton about A Christmas Carol at People's Light in Malvern on December 10. Leigh, Director of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Programming People's Light, explained that there was more than a relaxed performance that afternoon. There will be a sensory tour starting a...

 In this episode of White Canes Connect, in association with our friends at Accessible Pharmacy Services for the Blind, we hear from experts from the American Diabetes Association, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the Virginia Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Be My Eyes, Kaiser Permanente, and Accessible Pharmacy discuss accessible diabetes management, diabete...

In this episode of White Canes Connect, Lisa and David talk with Andrew Leland, author of The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight. Andrew tells us the story behind the title. He discusses his personal journey of vision loss from Retinitis Pigmentosa. He explains why he included some history of the organized blind movement and assistive technology interwoven with his journey. Andrew...

In this episode of White Canes Connect, we relive the tactile astronomy presentation for the 2022 NFB of PA State Convention in Pittsburgh. With Dr. David Hurd, Professor of Geosciences at PennWest University, Dr. Matt Marone, Professor of Physics at Mercer University, and Dan Gardner from ViewPlus, the tactile graphics company. They show the audience how they teach tactile astronomy to blind and...