The Vigilant Blog

How often have you had a question you felt too shy to ask? Sometimes you work up the courage and just ask. At other times, it’s better to read about someone else’s experience at your own speed and in the privacy of your own space.

Our blog is a collection of posts aimed at stimulating discussion about assistive technology, independent living, and blindness philosophy. Please comment freely to keep the discussion moving, and please share content you find thought-provoking with your social networks to help spread the discussion to people we might otherwise not reach.

And, please don’t forget to check out the publications from our parent organization. The Braille Monitor, our general magazine, and Future Reflections, our publication for parents, are just two examples of the excellent resources you’ll find in our NFB library.

Do you want to write a guest post? Send us a note, and tell us about your idea!

Board Meeting Minutes for May 2019

Submitted by Joe Orozco on August 15, 2019 - 8:28pm

From Sarah Patnaude, Substitute Recording Secretary

National Federation of the Blind of Virginia NFBV
Meeting of the Board of Directors

Saturday, May 18, 2019
1pm-4pm
Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired
Library and Resource Center
395 Azalea Avenue
Richmond, VA 23227

The National Federation of the Blind of Virginia’s Board of Directors meeting was called to order by President Tracy Soforenko

Invocation by Susie D’mello

Roll Call: 46 members were present including delegates and alternate delegates

A Mother's Advocacy

Submitted by Joe Orozco on July 26, 2019 - 1:00am

The following remarks were delivered to the NFB of Virginia state convention on November 4, 2017 by Gao Lai.

When my son was 6 months old, the doctor said my son would never be able to see the world like me. It was scary. My mind was flooded with questions. I can tell you my biggest
worries were how will my son be independent and take care of himself when I die? Will he graduate from college? Will he have a career? Will he ever move out of my basement? How will he get around? I was looking at a 6-month-old and I was petrified for his future.

Tags: 
Parents

BELL on Youtube

Submitted by Joe Orozco on July 24, 2019 - 1:00am

The following appeared in the December 2017 issue of The Vigilant, our former newsletter:

The Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning (BELL) Academies in Virginia were a tremendous success. This year, we produced an outstanding video to introduce parents, students, sponsors and volunteers to the program and we wanted to share this great video with you. We look forward to introducing more students to BELL academies in 2018. Please help do your part to help spread word of this wonderfully enriching opportunity.

Tags: 
Students
BELL Academy

NFBV.org: The Next Online Chapter

Submitted by Joe Orozco on July 22, 2019 - 10:08pm

For years the Virginia affiliate relied on the WordPress platform to render its website. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the WordPress platform, but we took our cues from the National Office and switched over to Drupal as a way to better integrate with their future web development. Also, we wanted to eventually align ourselves with their branding for consistency.

And, well, let’s face it. The website needed to be updated anyway. Over a time a website will become cluttered, and switching to a new platform helped us clean house.

Tags: 
General Announcement

Triple Threat Comes to Northern Virginia

Submitted by Joe Orozco on July 22, 2019 - 9:11pm

From President Tracy Soforenko:

We are thrilled to announce that National Federation of the Blind President Mark Riccobono has agreed to come to our August 17 meeting at the Westin Tysons Corner. All members are welcome to come to the lunch and meeting to meet President Riccobono and engage in an exciting program. We expect there will be significant time for questions and we hope you can help us learn and grow together.

Tags: 
General Announcement
Students

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