Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) is investigating experiences, both positive and negative, of users of Major Open Online Courses (MOOCs) available through web sites such as Coursera, Udacity, and EdX. If you are legally blind and have taken or attempted to take one of these courses, DRA would like to hear from you.
To share your experiences, please contact Michael Nunez by phone at 510-665-8644 or by e-mail at mnunez@dralegal.org.
Ai Squared and LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired are proud to announce ZoomText training in San Francisco.
What: Ai Squared ZoomText Training
When: Thursday, March 14, 2013 and Friday, March 15, 2013
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Where: LightHouse San Francisco Headquarters
If you are a teacher that needs to know how to use the latest screen magnification technology, an IT professional that needs to assist low-vision clients, a student or current ZoomText customer who needs to know how to get the most out of ZoomText; then this hands-on training is just for you.
What do you get when you sign up for ZoomText training? You get the following:
Unlike other training courses that can cost up to $1,000 or more, ZoomText training is only $399 per student for a two-day class! Ai Squared accepts most major credit cards, checks, money orders, and almost all state authorizations.
To sign up for the training, please contact Kimberly Cline at Ai Squared 802-367-6152 or kcline@aisquared.com or sign up for training here. For directions to the training location, please call (415) 431-1481.
Space is limited, so sign up soon!
Valentine’s Day is a perfect excuse to make a gift in honor of a special loved one in your life. The cost of a bouquet of roses would cover the cost of a vital white cane for a blind person. Donate to the LightHouse in honor of your beloved today! Provide us with an email address and we’ll send them a very special E-Valentine.Donate
Valentine’s Day is a perfect excuse to make a gift in honor of a special loved one in your life. The cost of a bouquet of roses would cover the cost of a vital white cane for a blind person. Donate to the LightHouse in honor of your beloved today! Provide us with an email address and we’ll send them a very special E-Valentine.Donate
Would you like to learn how blind people tackle the very visual subject of organic chemistry successfully? Do you have a general love for science? Are you a blind or low vision teenager considering a career in chemistry? Then the 2013 California Chemistry Camp is for you!
During this exciting and action-packed 3-day experience, students will get to learn how blind and visually impaired people use chemistry in their careers. We will explore techniques to make chemistry accessible. Take part in hands-on chemistry experiments, apply chemistry to cooking, and do magic with chemistry.
When: Friday, May 3, 2013 through Sunday, May 5, 2013
Where: Enchanted Hills Camp in Napa, California
Who: Up to fifteen blind high school students ages 14-18 will be selected to participate
Fee: Free
Transportation will be provided to and from Enchanted Hills Camp from pick-up points in the Bay Area and in Sacramento. Campers will arrive back at drop-off spots at 4 PM on Sunday, May 5. Or parents can choose to drive their child to and from Enchanted Hills Camp.
For an application or questions for this free camp, contact Angela Fowler, Director of Planning, Accessible Science at fowlers@syix.com or 530-902-0987. We hope to see you this spring at Enchanted Hills!
Meet Angela Griffith, One of our Latest Placements.
We’re happy to announce that Angela Griffith, an August 2012 graduate of LightHouse’s Employment Immersion Program, has been hired as a Technical Support Specialist for Bookshare. After two and a half years of jobseeking, Angela landed a job with Bookshare, a non-profit based in Palo Alto that serve as a national repository for etexts of more than 160,000 books and periodicals. If you are interested in signing up for the service, please visit www.bookshare.org.
After being laid off in 2009, when her employer went out of business, Angela went back to school and became Microsoft Certified at Asher College. Concurrent with job seeking, Angela began contracting at the LightHouse for the Blind, maintaining computers in our tech lab. At the LightHouse, Angela learned about the Employment Immersion Program. She credits the program with helping her refurbish her resume and “brush up” on her interview skills. “It’s helpful to get feedback from a variety of people on how to [interview],” she said.
Program Leader Kate Williams said that Angela was especially gifted at providing advice to her peers. “Angela was very helpful to others in the class,” Kate said.
A career in technical support is an excellent match for her skills and personality. Blind since birth, Angela currently has a dog guide, Tasha. The only downside to Angela attaining a fantastic job is that the staff and clients of the LightHouse miss having Angela and Tasha around. Congratulations, Angela!
Do you want to jumpstart your career like Angela did? Are you looking for a job and need that extra little push to get that interview or spif up your resume. The next session of the 2013 Employment Immersion Program will begin Tuesday, March 19 at our office at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley. For more information, call Kate Williams at 415-694-7324 or email her at kwilliams@old.lighthouse-sf.org.
Blind community members and their sighted friends visited the LightHouse and other Bay Area locations to participate in the first annual Bay Area Blind Blood Drive. They ultimately gave 54 units of usable blood, more than twice the number of units considered by the Red Cross to constitute a successful drive. The drive was so successful, LightHouse for the Blind intends to make this day of giving an annual tradition.
The event took place on January 9th, in conjunction with the Martin Luther King Day of Service 2013, and we were proud to honor and commemorate the great work of Dr. King in this manner. Watch a short television news clip on the drive here.
Before the drive, LightHouse CEO Bryan Bashin said, “Often in the past people have thought of the blind as a group who are the recipients of others’ generosity. We’re hoping to change a bit of that perception by rolling up our sleeves and giving back to the same philanthropic community who has long helped us.”
The LightHouse, along with Lions Center for the Blind, Orientation Center for the Blind, Vista Center for the Blind and all of the Bay Area Red Cross centers, would like to thank and commend those of you who participated in the drive. If you have been inspired to give, please consider checking out the myriad ways you can support the LightHouse, including volunteering. Just visit: www.lbvi.staging.wpengine.com.com and click on GIVE to learn how you can get involved.
The Castro Lions and the San Francisco Park Presidio Sunset Lions are cohosting a Crab Feed to benefit the LightHouse for the Blind and other charities.
When: Saturday, February 9. Cocktails at 6:00 p.m. followed by dinner and dancing between 7 and 10:00 p.m.
Where: St Anne of the Sunset at 850 Judah St. at Funston (easy transportation on the N Judah line)
Cost: $50.00 per person, Special Guest Appearances TBA
Buy your tickets at 1-800-858-5006 or go to www.brownpapertickets.com.
With support from the Napa Valley Community Foundation we are launching a Napa Resident Family Camp. The Camp will be held in English and Spanish. This educational retreat is the first of its kind in Napa. The Family Retreat’s modules will use team-building exercises – including hiking, communal art projects, adaptive sports and trust exercises. The retreat will pair blind students with charismatic and successful blind mentors; facilitate substantive parent-to parent-time to share resources and experiences; and teach parents to design and advocate for Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for their children. If you or someone you know lives in Napa County and has a blind or low vision child, we hope you will jump at the chance to take part in this unique and high-quality opportunity.
The All Napa Family Camp runs from May 17th- 19th 2013. To get more information or sign-up, contact Tony Fletcher, Enchanted Hills Camp Director at 415-694-7319 or afletcher@lightHouse-sf.org.
Through the Looking Glass and its National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families have expanded the eligibility requirement for its 2013 Scholarships for Students who have Parents with Disabilities. In addition to students enrolled in a two- or four-year college, students who attend an accredited technical or vocational school are also eligible to apply for these scholarships.
A total of fifteen $1000 scholarships will be given out Fall 2013. There are separate eligibility requirements for high school seniors and for college students:
1. High School Seniors. To be eligible, a student must be a high school graduate (or graduating senior) by Summer 2013. The student must be planning to attend a two-year or four-year college in Fall 2013, or enrolled in an accredited vocational or technical school during 2013. The student must be pursuing a certificate, license, AA, AS, BA or BS degree, and have at least one parent with a disability.
2. College Students. To be eligible, a student must be currently enrolled in a two-year or four-year college in Fall 2013, or enrolled in an accredited vocational or technical school during 2013. The student must be pursuing a certificate, license, AA, AS, BA or BS degree, be 21 years of age or younger as of March 11, 2013, and have at least one parent with a disability.
All application materials must be postmarked by March 11, 2013. Individuals may submit only one application per award period.
Selection criteria for all scholarships include academic performance, community activities and service, letter of recommendation and an essay describing the experience of growing up with a parent with a disability. Five of the fifteen scholarships will also consider financial hardship and academic potential in addition to the other selection criteria.
Please go to http://www.lookingglass.org for more information, including the application form, complete application directions and an FAQ page that answers many common questions as well as offers helpful suggestions.
Through the Looking Glass
3075 Adeline Street, Suite 120
Berkeley, CA 94703
(800) 644-2666
(510) 848-2005 (TTY)
