Want a better way to get around San Francisco and the Bay Area? LightHouse tactile maps are a go-to resource for orientation and travel planning. In conjunction with production of Accessible BART Station Maps we have also produced simple user friendly braille and tactile maps of all nine San Francisco Muni Metro stations. Each map “talks” when using a SmartPen and employs bright contrasting colors for easier visibility.

Watch this short tutorial and demo of our Talking Maps.

If you, like many, aren’t familiar with how to read and use tactile maps, the LightHouse can help. LightHouse Orientation and Mobility (O&M) instructors, who are experts at teaching students how to use tactile maps, can teach you. And the LightHouse Access to Information (AIS) team is working hard to develop supplementary materials to serve as training aids in the effective use of our Accessible Maps.

If you are a blind or visually impaired commuter or a Bay Area O&M Specialist or TVI and would like these materials as aids to help your or your students develop the confidence to independently navigate public transit, we would like to hear from you. To learn more, receive instruction and maps; please contact Greg Kehret, Director of Access to Information Services, at gkehret@old.lighthouse-sf.org, or 415-694-7349. This project was funded in part by a New Freedom grant.

This is another in our continuing series of staff profiles which feature the people who make up the Lighthouse.

“My trip to Nicaragua completed a circle. It was spectacular. It was life,” LightHouse afternoon Receptionist Gilberto Melendez responded when asked about a recent visit to Nicaragua to visit family. Gilberto [pronounced: Hill-bear-toe] regularly interjects metaphors and allusions into his everyday conversations, turning a potentially pedestrian cordiality into an intimate, genuine, welcoming connection.

Born and raised in Nicaragua, Gilberto was always enraptured by the silver screen and theater. “In my first acting role, at age 10 in Nicaragua, I played Christopher Columbus. I forgot my lines, but remembered I had hidden them on a slip of paper in my pocket. I read them on stage in such a way that the audience thought it was a part of the show. It was at that moment that I knew I was born for the stage.” In the 1980’s he decided to risk it all; to leave his loving family in Nicaragua and move to Los Angeles, the entertainment capital. He acted, sang and danced on stage and on film. And it was also here that he was introduced to the blindness community. “In Los Angeles I worked with a blindness organization to record textbooks. I became intensely curious about other ways the blind adapt to their surroundings.”

Eventually, after hearing about the beauty of the Bay Area and its vibrant theater scene, he made the move north. “All I kept hearing about was how mystical and pristine Northern California is all year long. In 2001, I packed my bags and headed to San Francisco.”

While pursuing acting and dance in the Bay Area, Gilberto decided to continue his passion for supporting blind folks as they increase their confidence and independence. “Shortly after moving to San Francisco, I saw an opening at the LightHouse. I was persistent in my interview, stressing that I ­really wanted to work as a receptionist at the LightHouse, that this job would truly be the realization of a dream.” Seven years later, and Gilberto continues to welcome students and visitors to LightHouse San Francisco Headquarters each afternoon.

Since joining our team, Gilberto has magnified his impact, working as a Spanish interpreter for our Rehabilitation Services Department, including our Orientation and Mobility (white cane travel) program, our Cooking program, and at Enchanted Hills Camp. Because of Gilberto and our other staff who are versed in foreign languages, we are able to bring our services to isolated communities and ensure that every blind person can receive the instruction that will help them live independently.

Coming from Nicaragua, Gilberto has an insider’s view of the unique cultural aspects of many of the Latin American communities. He understands that for many Latinas and Latinos, treating an individual’s blindness also means extensive training for the family. “The Spanish include their family in everything. Family is number one. If someone in the family is struggling, dozens of people step in to help. Often the family members go too far, preventing someone newly blind from learning independence. It is the LightHouse’s job, and my job as an interpreter, to be aware of these deeply loving, yet slightly misplaced conceptions of care “for” the blind. We teach family members, and our blind Spanish students, that independence is possible, and that someone who is blind does not require extra care or overbearing support.”

We are fortunate to have Gilberto here welcoming students every day; in addition to his work with LightHouse he maintains his impressive stage presence all over the Bay Area. Flamenco dancing, minvit French-step, Baroque opera, and Jewish folk theater are only a smattering of the breadth of Gilberto’s theatrical reach. Next time you’re at the LightHouse, be sure to ask Gilberto about what he’s currently working on. You can see him in early and mid-March in the Jewish Community Center of the East Bay’s production of the Yiddish Purim musical with English subtitles, “Di Megileh of Itzik Manger”.

If you are a Spanish speaker and would like to talk with someone who can set you up with the assistance you need, contact Gilberto 415-431-1481.

Join the more than 1000 students who participated last year in the 2015 Northern California Braille Challenge. This year it will be held at Santa Clara Valley Blind Center in San Jose.

Youth from Northern California in grades 1 through 12 are invited to compete in a series of five skills contests demonstrating braille reading and comprehension, speed and accuracy, spelling, proofreading, and tactile graphics. Everyone who competes is recognized.

Northern California Braille Challenge
A National Program of Braille Institute
Hosted by: Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in collaboration with LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, California School for the Blind and Braille Institute of America

When: Saturday, February 28, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Where: Santa Clara Valley Blind Center, 101 North Bascom Avenue, San Jose, CA 95128
For more information or to register, contact Vista Center’s Alice McGrath at amcgrath@vistacenter.org or 650-858-0202 x130.

Volunteers Needed: Teachers for the Visually Impaired, Transcribers and braillists are needed to serve as Proctors and Scorers for this exciting event. Please contact Alice McGrath.

SPONSORS:

• The Braille Institute Auxiliary
• Humanware – Victor Stream players
• Seedlings Braille Books for Children – gift certificates for a book or t-shirt from their catalog
• Santa Clara Valley Blind Center – venue host

Unified English Braille (UEB) Option to be Offered for Grades 1and 2

Since both the United States and Canada have now adopted Unified English Braille (UEB) as their official code, the Braille Challenge will be offering a UEB option for the Apprentice level only in 2015.

This means students in grades 1 and 2 will have the option to choose this year. They may take all three contests in EBAE (the current English Braille American Edition) or in the new UEB code, but may not mix the two. Eligibility for Finals will not be affected. Students who earn the top scores, regardless of code selection, will advance to the Finals. An uncontracted option will be available for both codes.

To learn more about UEB, and to find tutorials and sample documents, please visit the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) website. Additionally, there is a new APH Quick Tip video regarding the American Printing House for the Blind’s implementation plans for providing k-12 tests and textbooks UEB.