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Connections For EverythingBlind
WELCOME TO CONNECTIONS FOR EVERYTHINGBLIND
Your monthly newsletter from EverythingBlind.com featuring our World Wide Classifieds For The Blind.
VOL. 2
ISSUE 4
April 2009
Navigation Help For Connections For EverythingBlind
JAWS users can press "H" on their keyboard to navigate quickly through the topic headings. You will find title headings before each
category, ad, poem, story, or article.
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Ad Categories
Connections recognizes the need for an edition of Connections that is strictly classified ads with no preaching of any sort! grin
If you wish to view this alternate edition of Connections, please click here
"Classifieds Only Edition"
And now April's issue! Enjoy!
Here with Connections, we would like to give something to everyone. We want it to be a work of the readers, so remember to keep an
open mind and jump in with your own submissions to Connections.
Take some time and help another, today!
How To Help
If you don’t know how or who to help, visit our Personal Growth page at: Personal Growth at EverythingBlind
And go on your own personal journey to find your gifts and strengths. There are many teachers introduced and you should be able to find something that resonates with you.
You may then be able to better find your true peace and happiness.
What You Can Expect
Each month we will share with you stories, poems, and essays on principles which keep us going and growing as not only blind and
visually impaired individuals, but also as able and active individuals.
Send your stories, poems, essays, and lessons about vital principles which you have found to be helpful in your success or failure in
life.
Are you still having problems finding that true peace and happiness we all feel we deserve? Where do you think the problem lies?
One great teacher of how we may better understand where our problems lie is Don Miguel Ruiz.
His book, The Four Agreements shows us a simple outline of the things which hamper our spiritual growth and how to rise above them.
1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.
3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
The first agreement of basically, being completely honest is something we have focused on greatly in Connections, as it’s importance is self evident.
The second agreement of not taking things personally is sometimes harder to come to terms with.
Please read on in an article by Carol Chanel
DO YOU TAKE THINGS PERSONALLY?
Learn How Not To
Who doesn’t want to know how not to take things personally?
Every time I say I help people learn how not to take things personally they always respond – oh, I need help with that.
So how do you learn not to take things personally? I remember people used to tell me that all the time and I really wanted to stop, I just didn’t know how.
Let me give you an example. I remember the first man I really loved left me - “rejected” me - for another woman. I really loved this man and thought he loved me. How could I not take that personally? It felt personal and a lot like rejection.
How did people do it – not take things personally? Did they have some secret system? Did they have a code, some kind of DNA that I didn’t have?
Well I don’t know about everyone else and here’s what I learned. The reason we don’t need to take things personally is because it’s not personal.
How can that be? Isn’t the person who is standing there screaming and being mean to me, saying something about ME? Isn’t the boyfriend who just went four days without calling me, saying something about ME. Or how about the girl friend who just broke up with you for another guy, isn’t that personal, isn’t that about ME?
Maybe your boss was really cool and aloof today,” isn’t that about ME?” you ask. How about your mother who spent your entire life not being affectionate and warm, “Isn’t that about ME?”
Do you understand where I’m going with these questions? The operative word in those scenarios is ME. And here’s the key. Drum roll please! When someone is doing or saying something to you, it is about THEM not you or ME. It’s about THEM.
So the boyfriend who I mentioned broke my heart and “rejected” me turned out to be a coward, a drug addict and basically a sad human being. He went off with a woman who could take care of him, financially. When I saw him years later I realized I had been spared a life of misery.
If you hear yourself say “I can’t believe they did or said that to ME”, then you need to stop, take a deep breathe, and realize you used the ME word about someone else’s behavior.
We make ourselves the important part of the interaction, when the truth is the other person is making themselves the important part of the interaction and that’s why it’s about them.
That’s why it isn’t personal. It isn’t personal. It isn’t about you.
Let’s look at the aloof boss. I had a client whose boss was the most abrupt man in the world. And she thought it said something about her. He was just condescending, abrupt, contemptuous, overworked and that was just his professional life. He was also cranky. Guess what? She ultimately realized it wasn’t personal, and that it didn’t work for her to be intimidated by him. That’s empowering when you can say, “This doesn’t work for me.” But as long as you take it personally,
then you feel badly about yourself and you won’t change your situation.
By the way, that particular client gave it right back to him one day and the whole dynamic shifted. He wasn’t a bad guy, he was just a bully - as long as he could get away with it. And he didn’t have a large enough support staff to help him, so he was irritated and cranky. They have a good working relationship now.
I remember one time about 20 years ago I had gotten a job I really coveted. I was so happy and loved my work. At some point they restructured the company
and I started reporting to a new boss. Now I didn’t know it at the time, but this guy was really mean and had some deep personal problems.
I started having real problems working with this man and I was crushed. I remember sitting one afternoon crying in another director’s office and he told me, “don’t take it personally, the guy is mean.” Well at the time I couldn’t understand that.
Eventually I got married, moved and left that job. I found out later that the guy had done some unbelievably underhanded things to the president of the
company when he didn’t get his way. Guess what, the director was right. It wasn’t PERSONAL. My boss was mean, imbalanced and manipulative.
Who hasn’t had a challenging relationship with a boss? Or a teacher, or a date, or a friend or a parent?
And when you encounter those people, why isn’t what they do to you personal? Because it’s about them.
You often don’t have the luxury of knowing about the person’s personal life. What made them the way they are. In fact, I’ll share this with you.
After working with people in various self-improvement capacities for the last 20 some years I can tell you many people have had unbelievably dysfunctional, painful lives.
It’s amazing they are even functioning.
Let me give you another example. I had a male client who was deeply in love with a woman who wasn’t available. She would draw him in and then do something to push him away. It’s commonly called sabotaging the relationship.
Well at first he took this personally. And here’s why. He had done some things in the
relationship out of his fear that he felt guilty about. So he was sure her behavior was personal.
As we coached and he looked at why he had done certain things, he was deeply sorry. We worked to not have him judge himself for his previous behavior and to forgive himself. He went to her to apologize. At
first she accepted the apology and then she pushed him away again. He got to see that she had major issues around emotional intimacy. It wasn’t personal.
She had had a pretty tough life and the way she protected herself when she felt unsafe was to lash out. And she was highly effective! Who could blame her?
Or maybe you’ve been with someone who is affectionate and seemingly interested in having a committed relationship and then all of a sudden they pull away
when the intimacy gets too real. That person may be suffering from shame caused by some abuse, or problem from their upbringing. We often will never know the real reason.
It’s rarely personal when they pull away. They are afraid of being exposed. The more I coach the more I see how shame plays an enormous role in messing
up peoples’ lives and especially their relationships.
Shame plays such a significant role in so many lives that I taught a workshop on helping people to transcend shame. It’s one of the secrets that blocks intimacy. But that’s a separate article.
Do you see now that people’s behavior and actions are about them? If you go up and hit someone and they hit you back, well that’s a different story. I’m
talking about the uncaused action or behavior – the yelling, the pulling or pushing away, the aloof treatment, the manipulations, or the overreaction.
Here’s a big secret about how to not take things personally. Work on yourself to heal your wounds. As we heal, then we can see that other people have wounds
that cause them to act or react in all sorts of ways. Often we can’t SEE the other person if our wounds are too tender. They inadvertently hit a raw spot
and we react from the pain.
Let me give you an example – the reason I was so sensitive to the “crazy” boss was because of my upbringing from both my father and stepmother. They both
had extremely difficult and borderline abusive parents and really didn’t know how to parent. At times they were mean, aloof, critical and physically and
emotionally abusive. They passed their fears and wounds on to me. Once I healed my wounds I realized that their treatment of me was a sad reflection of
how they felt about themselves and how they were treated.
As we heal there are less and less raw spots for others to hit and hurt. There are less opportunities and reasons for us to react.
So the two ways to not take things personally are:
Remember it’s not about you – it’s about them.
Heal your wounds. Then the things people say and do won’t hurt you.
While you are healing and growing, please remember when you hear yourself say: “Why did she/ he do or say that to ME?” to take the ME out of the sentence.
Change it to “Why did they do or say that to THEMSELVES?” And realize you might not know the answer to that question.
My stepmother recently died. As I mentioned, she and I had had an extremely difficult, painful relationship when I was growing up. And fortunately I had
worked to heal the pain and hurt and had repaired our relationship. After she died, I found out something that was shocking and upsetting about her upbringing.
I remember I doubled over and sobbed and sobbed. Then her behavior and treatment of me made perfect sense. If only I had known. If only she could have
told us, her life and all our lives would have been so different. And yet I’m thankful for the gift of our difficult relationship. I learned first hand
that it wasn’t personal. None of the things she did or said were personal, they were reactions from that wounded place inside her.
You are not a victim of anyone’s behavior or words. If you feel like you are please find a coach, therapist or healer and work through those issues that leave you feeling victimized.
If we feel like victims, then everything will feel personal. And sometimes people are invested in being victims – it’s a
pattern of behavior that is familiar even if it isn’t pleasant.
To change the victim thought process takes time, a major shift in perspective and not judging
yourself when you are working through it.
And if you have been a victim of a crime or abuse then a licensed psychotherapist is often the best way to work through those painful feelings.
And for the rest of us, who have had experiences that led us to feel like victims on some level, just trust that you can change your perspective from: “A Victim of your Experiences to Victorious in your Learning!!”
Which will you choose? And please remember, IT IS A CHOICE. Will you choose victim or victorious?
Next time you catch yourself taking something personally, try choosing victorious and see what happens. Ask yourself: “What can I learn here?” Tell yourself:
I CHOOSE TO BE VICTORIOUS! PEOPLE LOVE ME! I’M A WONDERFUL PERSON!
It is my intention to share with everyone I can how to not take things personally.
Please call or email me if you have any questions or thoughts you’d like to share with me.
Here’s to a Victorious Life, free of taking things personally!
Carol Chanel
CPCC
www.carolchanel.com
carolchanel@verizon.net
As a certified Life Coach, I teach people to overcome the obstacles that keep them stuck yet longing for fabulous relationships, more balance and joy, and inspiration to accomplish their dreams.
We sometimes forget what it feels like to live from our hearts and souls. We forget the thrill of taking the brakes off and flying.
Are you - or someone you know - settling, for less than exciting, in your life, relationships or career?
Call me. You don't have to be stuck! And once you are unstuck you will be joyful and free!
If you would like to explore working with me, please call me at:
310-998-8860
You can visit my website at:
www.carolchanel.com
If you would like to read The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, the audio book can be found at:
Audible.com The Four Agreements
This month marks our one year anniversary of Connections For EverythingBlind.
Thus far, we have touched upon the first ten principles taught through some spiritual programs of enlightenment and growth.
In these periods of growth, if we can find the lessons as we study ourselves and the principles and where we are lacking, then we can correct what is important to us.
The most amazing part in my journey is how my desire and intention to just give has brought me abundance in many ways.
These ten other principles were basically,:
To work at mastering in ourselves, the practices of:
* Accepting brutal honesty
* the ability to see the solution rather than the problem
*belief in an eternal source of the energy that gives us life
* not allowing fear to become the truth
*building upon the core structure of morality
* the willingness to be open to all possibility
* Using the experience and wisdom of humility. Learning from our mistakes
* the ability to forgive and be forgiven
* Self Discipline to do the right thing … always in the end. Right our wrongs
* Perseverance to move forward in our progress and never have thoughts of worry about yesterday, today, or tomorrow.
Not giving up is important when we have not observed the number one principle of brutal honesty.
Are you honestly happy, joyous, and free?... to be happy joyous and free?
Inspirations
All we have to do to find an inspiration is look around us and see someone who has the thing that we want.
Ask them what they did to get that. They all would have to say well, I just wouldn’t believe that I could not have it.
"I never gave up.
"It then became mine." …
Or some such attitude.
It is always wise to consider others views and beliefs and be willing to maybe change some of our own views, if we find others’ views,
at least, possible?
author unknown
Insight On Perception
If we went by what our eyes could see Well, often the truth would be eluding us.
For those without eyes, it's how you perceive things ...
“. We can learn how we are blinded by deceptions of our mind.
Super News!
We are now offering this publication in an online format where all hyperlinks to our advertisers and articles can be easily
accessed.
You may still receive /Connections by email for your viewing convenience.
Past issues can be found at: Connections For EverythingBlind Archives
Please Introduce Yourself
For the reason that I may not have all the information you need at the moment, it is important that you all introduce yourself to me if
you have something to offer.
Please do this, even if you would just like to say hi. I'll look forward to your feedback on our publication.
Any and all suggestions are considered for improving EverythingBlind and Connections
to make them what they were intended to be. Send your comments, links, resources, thoughts, expertise and especially your support to
us and together, we can make EverythingBlind the best place in the world for finding any and all information and resources available to
the blind Community.
Warmly,
Heidi Hockman
Chief Editor
From Meagan
I've created a blog over on live journal, so if you want to check out what I’m up to, go to Meag's Place
I wish you all God's blessings for your lives and best of times in 2008 and beyond.
Sincerely,
Meagan Green
Founder of Connections For the Blind
Coaching and Mentoring
Meet our resident coach, Teresa Christian, and be sure to drop her a line from our Coaching and Mentoring page
Contact Teresa, today, to find out more about this month’s free teleseminar.
They’re always a blast!
teresa@DiamondSynergyCoaching.com
Or call 707-444-8200 (Pacific)
Coaching, the conversation that makes a difference!
Teresa Christian is a life coach with Diamond Synergy
Coaching
Friendship Quotes
Please visit Friendship Quotes To Make You Laugh
Funny Quotes about Friendship
No one can make you laugh quite the way your friends can, and there's nothing like sharing a few funny friendship quotes with those closest to you to make
your day shine a bit brighter.
Here are 18 of my favorite funny friendship quotes to share with those you love. I hope you enjoy these funny friendship quotes as much as I like sharing
them with you!
1. "A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer
2. "There are three faithful friends, an old wife, an old dog, and ready money." ~ Benjamin Franklin
3. "Money can't buy friends, but you can get a better class of enemy." ~ Spike Milligan
4. "A true friend stabs you in the front." ~ Oscar Wilde
5. "Marriage is a sort of friendship recognized by the police." ~ Anonymous
6. "An old friend will help you move. A good friend will help you move a dead body." ~ Jim Hayes
7. "Give me one friend, just one, who meets the needs of all my varying moods." ~ Esther M. Clark
8. "Love is blind. Friendship tries not to notice." ~ Anonymous
9. "I have lost friends, some by dath, others through sheer inability to cross the street." ~ Virginia Woolf
10. "Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate." ~ Thomas Jones
11. "I got a lotta best friends. Some o' them I don't even hardly know!" ~ Archie Bunker
12. "It takes a long time to grow an old friend." ~ John Leonard
13. "We must hang together, or surely we shall hang separately." ~ Benjamin Franklin
14. "Friends are God's ways of apologizing for our families." ~ Anonymous
15. "Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and have her nonsense respected." ~ Charles Lamb
16. "You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes." ~ Winnie the Pooh
17 "Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life." ~ Mark Twain
18. "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one." ~ C.S. Lewis
As you can see, funny friendship quotes are a great way to remember what makes our friendships so special and our friends so dear. Share a few of these
funny friendship quotes with the friends who make your life a brighter and your days a delight.
Editor's Update
Dear Readers,
The number of subscribers is still rising. Do what you can to spread the word about where we are!
Here is the latest subscriber count. This does not include people who are receiving Connections as a forward from a friend or
colleague. We are now at
over 750 readers!
Please forward this to all of your friends and colleagues.
We are bringing the blind community closer together.
Heidi
Experience Personal Growth
One of our goals is to take each of you who are willing and ready to grab a hold of a dream and help you to run with it.
OK, so you may be blind, but who cares. Find what it is that makes you passionate and live it.
Please, visit my personal growth
page to find some ways to help you do this
About the mice …
“…They opened a store where the blind could shop from the comfort and safety of their homes. There is no getting lost in the mall
anymore. There are no rude
and impolite salespeople to deal with any longer. There are no flying carving knives either. There are just lots and lots of gifts and
collectibles, and
things for the garden and home to enhance their beauty that all can be browsed through at your own pace!.
It’s a place where every purchase benefits a scholarship fund to assist visually impaired students earn a college degree.
It’s a place where helping make tomorrow better for everyone is the driving force and not the bottom line.
The place is Blind Mice Mart! It is located conveniently on the Internet and parking is never a problem! Blind Mice Mart—Where you
won’t lose your tail!
Blind
Mice Mart
American Blind Bowlers Association
Since the 1940's the ABBA has enabled blind and visually impaired youths and adults to bowl alongside sighted friends and family.
Throughout the year tournaments are held in many locations in North America. Click here to find out more:
EverythingBlind/ American Blind Bowler's Association
Advertise in Connections
If you are interested in advertising with us, please submit your ad along with payment by March 21nd to be included in April's
issue.
Ad submission instructions can be found near the end of this publication or on our home page
Ad Categories
Looking For ...
In this section we will post your requests, for free, of something you need that you have not been able to easily find.
This may range from a product or service that you require, or a resource or just to make new friends to correspond with.
Send your submissions to this category,
every 3 months, with looking for ... in the subject line.
For Self-Employed Persons Interested in Networking
Looking For other blind self-employed people for the purpose of
- networking around the unique issues experienced by being a blind person and also being self-employed.
- Discussing topics such as accessible bookkeeping software, And accessible marketing tools
- Alternative ways of networking
- Websites, blogs and web designers
- How to address blindness with customers and clients
- how to deal with Social Security
- share experiences about what has and has not worked and more.
Looking for a group already in existance or other blind entrepreneurs also wanting to connect.
Email Rebecca Degeorge
phone: 415-459-7585, Pasific
Or email Teresa Christian
Phone:707-444-8200, Pasific
LF 5-5
Looking For a Friend or More
my name is Mark. I am a white mail seeking friendship that might lead to a personal romance with a white catholic woman in the US only. I travel with a Guide Dog. I am forty-six years old and stand 5' 2”. I am diabetic, but do not let this get in the way of having fun. I enjoy music, walking and cooking. Or Send Braille and tape letters to 4220 Clayton Road building 2 Apt 118 Concord, CA. 94521
LF 6-13
Shirley Cheng, blind and physically disabled 25-year-old award-winning author, is looking for family-friendly sites with which to
exchange links.
Her site's info is below. If you are interested in swapping links with her site, please contact her via her site (the e-mail
link at the top of her page).
Title: Dance with Your Heart! Inspirational and Fantasy Books and Poems by Child Prodigy Shirley Cheng, Award-Winning Author
Shirley Cheng
LF3-2
Looking for people to share their links to build EverythingBlind.
If you have a valuable resource for the blind that you would like to share or if you’d like to suggest ideas to make EverythingBlind.com
the best place to start your search for everything blind related:
, contact Heidi at:
heidi@everythingblind.com
Looking for volunteers to forward this mailing on to 3 friends
Please ask them to subscribe at: subscribe@everythingblind.com
Note when responding to any ads, please remember that they are all featured on our pages of EverythingBlind at
Products at EverythingBlind.com
And when you go there and find their link to purchase any products, you help support the efforts of EverythingBlind
Products
We are registered distributors of promotional products. Over one million products for event give-aways, fund raising and organization
recognition. We also manufacturer a full line of award recognition products. We manufacture Braille plaques, ADA signage and custom
Braille tags & labels. Call Rick at 269-344-2307
award-1.com
PR2-1
health and wellness products
Learn how to detoxify your body of dangerous metals and poisons!
TOXIC METAL exposure is a serious problem in the ecosystem worldwide, and elements such as mercury, uranium, plutonium, cadmium, bismuth, nickel, silver,
and even gold, platinum, and palladium are all suspected of being problematic for the immune system and of causing a wide spectrum of disease symptoms.
Go to: And find the line
DEtox with Pure, Organic Fossil Shell FlourTo learn more
Cellfood
CELLFOOD IS HERE! ~ The power of Oxygen, Trace Minerals, Enzymes, Electrolytes, Amino Acids, and more, in a base of dissolved
oxygen.
It is with you wherever you go!
'From personal experience, I can attest that this product is amazing! Cellfood provides oxygen to every cell in the body. It brings you
vitality, energy and a new zeal for life. Furthermore, it's a 'food', not a 'medicine', so it doesn't interfere with anything else you take or
use--whether it's food, drugs, other protocols, etc.
'The Cellfood Oxygen Gel made the pain in wounds vanish within seconds and completely healed wounds within hours! A client lost 75
pounds using the Natural Weight Loss Formula!'
- Rev. Juliet Nightingale
Certified Reiki Practitioner
TowardTheLight.org
And now, there's also the powerful Multi-Vitamin Spray Formula!
All of these products being in liquid form provide the ultimate bioavailability so that you receive the full potency and benefit of these
fine products and nothing is wasted or lost through the digestive tract.
You can order these products postage paid at Order Cell Food
PR 5-3
Books
The Glass Diary
- audio book read by the author, Karen A. Myers, PhD
$15.00
At eight, Megan could not see her paper diary, so she confided in her mirror. These are conversations she had with her "glass" diary from ages 8 to18.
To purchase CD, go to Purchase The Glass Diary
http://www.karenamyers.com/
The Way I See It: Bumping into Life with Low Vision
- audio book read by the author, Karen A. Myers, PhD
$15.00
A humorous compilation of 21 depictions of the author "bumping" into life, i.e., experiencing life with low vision.
http://www.karenamyers.com/
To purchase CD, book, and eBook, go to Purchase The Way I See It
We are Tape Ministries Northwest and record Christian books on tape cassettes; a free lending library
in existence for 28 years.
The books are inspirational. We also record Decision Magazine and Our Daily Bread daily devotional.
Go to:
Tape Ministries Northwest
Or call 206-243-7377 for a free catalog.
BK 8-7
Broken Eyes Now On Audio Tape!
The book 'Broken Eyes' by Mack W. Riley' is now available on tape and CD!
at the Braille Institute # CBB 2492
Tel. 1-800- 808-2555 for southern California residents
For CD visit:
Broken Eyes
Recently, I published a book in memory of Mack Willard Riley a Collection of Short Stories, named "BROKEN EYES", because the last
20 years of his
life he was totally blind. Yet, it never stopped him from continuing to try to reach his goals, no matter what stood in his way.
He helped more people in need than anyone I know, especially people losing their "SIGHT", including myself.
Each copy costs $14.95, plus $3 shipping and handling. A wonderful gift for family and friends for birthdays or Christmas!
For more information, or to order, contact Lea Seelig Riley at:
mlsr7777@sbcglobal.net
Broken Eyes
BK2-1
Dance with Your Heart! Inspirational and Fantasy Books and Poems by Child Prodigy Shirley Cheng, Award-Winning
Author
Shirley Cheng
Be empowered, inspired, and motivated through the inspirational writings, radio interviews, and life story of miracle survivor Shirley
Cheng, a blind and physically disabled motivational speaker, poet, author and contributing author of seventeen books by age
twenty-four.
Despite her multiple physical disabilities, she's living the life she loves and she empowers others to do the same.
Subscribe to her monthly newsletter, Inspiration from a Blind, to receive words of inspiration, news and updates on her books.
BK 6-3
Services
Financial Services
WORK AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Obama must address needs of blind, disabled
The following is found at: Chicago Tribune editorial letter
Obama must address needs of blind, disabled
= January 20, 2009
While President Obama will have to grapple with one of the worst economic slumps in the past 50 years, two raging wars in the Mideast, and a host of other pressing problems,
we strongly urge him not to forget the critical needs of a large but often overlooked community, people who are blind or have other severe disabilities.
Already this group is coping with an unacceptably high unemployment rate of 70 percent. In addition, the aging of the nation's massive baby boom generation
in the years ahead will mean a virtual explosion in the numbers of Americans facing vision loss. This will place even greater demands on our national health
care delivery system.
To help ease this situation and better anticipate the needs of the future, the Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired proposes
the following Blindness/Disability Agenda for President Obama and the new Congress:
Strengthen federal initiatives such as the Ability One and Randolph-Sheppard programs, which help people with disabilities become employed, providing products
for the federal government and operating vending facilities on federal property, respectively. Capitol Hill, incidentally, can become a model Randolph-Sheppard
location through the setting up of vending facilities in House and Senate office buildings and other facilities in the nation's capital.
Increase funding and accountability for rehabilitation programs, which help people with disabilities become employed.
The new president needs to be committed to funding enforcement of such far-reaching laws as the Americans for Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Justice and others.
A huge barrier to employment for people with disabilities is transportation. Therefore, we recommend the enhancement of such programs as the Job Access
and Reverse Commute (JARC) and New Freedom Initiative to encourage communities to create and expand transportation services for people with disabilities.
If we're going to "talk the talk" about employing people with disabilities, then agencies should "walk the walk." Agencies receiving federal funds must
make a concerted effort to hire and retain employees with disabilities.
Go beyond the traditional, 9-5 type jobs when helping people with disabilities find employment. Look at programs which can help people start their own businesses
and work at home.
The federal courts have ordered the United States Department of the Treasury to make our nation's paper currency independently identifiable by people who
are blind. President Obama's treasury secretary must be committed to carrying out this court order as expeditiously as possible.
In 1973, Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This act has been amended several times since then. When IDEA was passed,
it stated that the federal government would provide 40 percent of the funding needed to provide a free, appropriate public education to students with disabilities.
President Obama must make it a priority to raise the level of federal funding for IDEA up to 40 percent from the current around 18 percent within four
years. Among other things, this funding would help increase Braille literacy among children who are blind or visually impaired.
Technology is advancing faster than any of us can fathom. Yet people with disabilities, particularly those who are blind or visually impaired, are being
left behind because much of the technology is not accessible. President Obama must work for federal policies that will ensure that people with disabilities
are able to take advantage of all that new technology has to offer, at the same time as everyone else.
Along these lines, the new chief executive can commit to working with Congress to reintroduce H.R. 6320, "The 21st Century Telecommunications and Video
Accessibility Act." Pedestrians who are blind or visually impaired are being put at great risk due to the popularity of hybrid (quiet) cars which when
operating at speeds under 25 MPH, make virtually no noise. Because of this, pedestrians who are blind or visually impaired cannot hear these cars when
they are stopped or when they are operating at slow speeds. President Obama needs to be committed to finding a solution so these cars can be heard by pedestrians
who are blind or visually impaired. He can show this commitment by asking his secretary of transportation to research this issue and come up with solutions.
Championing these measures will greatly enhance the quality of life for millions of disabled Americans. We hope that our new president will strongly support
them!
--Janet P. Szlyk, Ph.D.
Executive Director
The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired
Envision is hiring!
If you are legally blind and looking for work, consider Envision-Kansas
At Envision you will earn competitive pay and enjoy a generous benefits package.
To learn more please call
888-425-7072
Envision
Choices and resources for people who are blind or low vision.
Mark.benson@envision.com
WB 1-7
Come learn the undeniably lucrative art of telemarketing
and tech and copy advertising so you can sell whatever you have to sell … including yourself.
This affordable, lifetime, money back guaranteed program of study is a recurring, continuous Teleclass, where you can participate as
often and openly as you wish to learn the surprisingly fun skill of selling what people want and helping them to understand why your
product can help them.
Come check out the program at:: DT Mentor
Travel Services
BEST PRICE ASSURANCE!
If you book your trip through Shiloh's Travel and later discover, someone
else has booked the exact same trip at a lower fare, through Shiloh's Travel
or else where excluding Priceline and Hotwire, Shiloh's Travel will refund
you the
difference of your original trip booked with Shiloh's Travel.
THE DEAL.
1. original trip must be booked with Shiloh's Travel.
2. Lower price must be on same dates, same city pears and same airline
excluding groups,
corporate Priceline and Hotwire.
3. Must send confirmation number of lower fare to Shiloh's Travel to verify
the accuracy of the lower fare.
Once this has been determine, you will receive a check for the difference
between the 2 fares.
Logon today, to Shiloh's Travel at:
Shiloh's Travel Services www.shilohstravel.com
or call:
888-831-3180
With our best price assurance guaranty, what do you have to lose?
Payments are accepted by credit card, PayPal, check and money order.
Shiloh's travel:
Shiloh's Travel Services www.shilohstravel.com
Email
reservations@shilohstravel.com
Phone:
888-831-3180
404-419-6777
TR 5-12
Legal Services
Entertainment
Like descriptive videos, but, don’t know a quick and easy way to get them?
Well, visit Blind Mice Mart’s movie vault at: Blind Mice Movie Vault where you can immediately download from a list of over 100 popular titles that you can download immediately for free!
EN 2-6
Blind or Visually Impaired? - How You Can Learn to Play Chess!!!
"The Gymnastics of the Brain"or "The Martial Arts of the Mind"
feel the "Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat" or just have fun.
a great hobby, wonderful recreation, playing Blind or sighted people alike.
A great way to meet others, take this games of Kings to whatever level you like!!!
please visit the Web site of the United States Braille Chess Association
A group of Blind or Visually Impaired Chess enthusiasts who enjoy playing Tournaments or just Friendly Games with those of their own
strength and knowledge of this wonderful sport!
the U.S. Braille Chess Association has a listserv. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail message to: usbcachess-subscribe@topica.com
To join, or for more information, on how to get your free accessible chess set, contact:
Alan Dicey, President
United States Braille Chess Association - USBCA
adicey@bellsouth.net
EN 4-1
Computers
Visual Innovations and Solutions
Do you have a Brailler collecting dust on a closet shelve?
Do you have a Braille & Speak or type & speak in the desk drawer because you have upgraded?
Are you upgrading your Computers?
Have you thought what to do with the computers, other technology, and adaptive devices that you no longer use?
Visual Innovations and Solutions has the answer for you.
By donating your old computers, technology, and adaptive devices you will be opening the window of opportunity to many through out
the country.
Please contact me if you have any computers, technology, or adaptive devices at:
Visual Innovations
875 Derbyshire Road #72AA
Daytona Beach, FL 32117
Phone: 386-898-2954
visualinn@yahoo.com
Check out our Web-site: http://visualinnovations.org to
find out how you can help.
CP 1-7
Free Information
Blind File Sharing is a service designed for visually impaired people
who want to share files or need a way to send files to people that are too large to be accomodated by an email client as an attachment.
The site does not incorporate graphics or capchas.
The content within the site explains all the aspects of how to use the service.
BFS supports m3u playlist files for streaming audio.
Currently, the Sound Prints radio show, which is broadcast by the Kentucy ACB is hosted on Blind File Sharing for those who want to download or stream the audio over the Internet.
Blind File Sharing http://publicftp.com
Visit a website for the blind!
We have put together a site where all VIPs their friends, family, and anyone else that wants to find something pertaining to vision or
vision loss, can come to interact and learn.
Check it out!
EverythingBlind.com
How Can I Get Connections?
To get your free subscription to Connections, send a blank email to:
subscribe@everythingblind.com
Ad Submission Rates and Instructions
Do you have something you want to buy, sell or trade?
Send only $5 for an ad of 50 words or less .
All ads run for one month.
For new advertisers, a 50 word ad will run free for one month.
At this time, there are no limits on how many ads you may place, but no two ads may be related to each other.
The deadline for submission of all ads is the fifteenth of the previous month. For example, if you want your ad to appear in the October
issue, the deadline is September 15.
Just include a brief, but detailed description of what you would like to sell or what service you wish to provide.
General Ads
50 words One month: $5 per ad
One year placement: $50.00 ($10 savings)
100 Words: $10.00 per ad.
One year ad placement: $100.00 ($20 savings)
Sponsor Ads (top placement in Connections.)
200 Words $20.00 per ad.
One year ad placement: $200.00 ($40 savings)
400 Words: $35.00 per ad.
One year ad placement $375.00 ($45 savings)
500 Words: $50.00 per ad.
One year $500.00 ($75.00 savings)
Send your ads to:
ConnectionsAds@EverythingBlind.com
You may use PayPal for payment.
Just click on the link below and enter the amount and indicate the length of your ad and time you would like it to run.
If you wish to pay by check, US dollars, only, please … you may send it payable to:
Connections For EverythingBlind
At:
Connections For EverythingBlind
c/o Heidi Hockman
4135 Vasco St
Punta Gorda, FL 33950
Be sure to submit your name, your advertisement name, email address, optional phone number and address, to properly credit your
account.
Feel free to pass the word! This will benefit you as an advertiser, as well as make others aware of Connections.)!
Note: You do not have to be blind to advertise in Connections.), however, we do ask that all blind and visually impaired readers can
benefit from your product and/or service and that all material, web content and sites be accessible to screen readers.
ConnectionsAdvertising And Literary Submissions Guidelines
Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind when sending in your ads and literary pieces.
1. When sending an ad by email, please place a before and after your ad in the message. This will ensure that only the ad itself is
included in Connections. If you have a personal phone number or email address in your signature you do not wish to share with the
readers, please protect your own privacy.
2. Before sending in your ad, please read the information that appears at the end of every Connections.)issue. You will then be more
aware of the types of ads you may place and the costs for each.
3. When contacting Connections please make a note in the subject line pertaining to your inquiry or submission. This will ensure that
your message is not deleted as spam.
Submissions
1. Contest submissions should be no longer than 700 words.
2. When submitting literary pieces, please keep in mind that the readership of Connections is world wide and general in nature.
Please, no adult or explicit material.
3. Please send your submission in the body of an email, along with the attached document, preferably in Microsoft Word format.
Double spacing is not necessary.
4. Please be aware that in print, there are two spaces between sentences. This is because print is much smaller than Braille and
therefore needs the extra space for ease in reading.
Submit Your Literary Work To Connections!
Do you write poetry? How about short stories or articles on varying subjects of general interest? Do Do you travel to out of the way
places? Do you enjoy writing jokes and humorous pieces? Many small publishers cannot pay large sums of money, and some do not pay
at all, but this doesn't make them less useful to begin building up your portfolio of published works. When the time comes to submit your
piece for paid publication, you'll have lots of clips from various publications to present to editors.
Connections is one of those small non paying publications at the moment. The copyright remains your own, so you can publish any of
your works elsewhere. I am especially interested in blind and visually impaired writers, but not exclusively. I hope to hear from
you soon.
Email Addresses For Connections
To submit a literary piece:
submissions@everythingblind.com
To subscribe:
subscribe@everythingblind.com
To unsubscribe:
subscribe@everythingblind.com
For general questions:
info@everythingblind.com
Remember everyone, this magazine contains what you put into it, so send in your ads and literary submissions today! Be sure to leave
pertinent contact information so interested parties can ask you further questions. Connections reserves the right to censor. If materials
are not suitable for this venue, they will not be accepted and payment along with your ad will be returned to you. Publication of ads and
articles does not imply endorsement. Connections is not responsible for validity of ads. If you have a question regarding a particular ad,
please contact the individual or corporation listed. Thanks for taking the time to read these reminders. Until next month, Live
your vision, and feel free to share this exciting publication with your friends!
Remember also, advertisers are looking forward to your response, so contact them today!
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