APH News

Exciting APH Product Information!

Read on to learn about these new products – now available!

• APH Spring Fever Sale
• New Downloadable Manual Available
• APH Braille Book Corner

U.S. Reviews APH Products!

For the 9th time, the US Department of Education’s Expert Review Panel met for their annual review of new products. The group was facilitated by Dr. Kim Zebehazy of the University of British Columbia (1st row, second seat), with Annette Reichman, Director/Liaison, Office Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (1st row, third seat). They reviewed products released in 2014. Product development was evaluated for Relevance, Research, and Utility. APH welcomes the oversight and insights of this expert group!

Standing (l to r): Tiffany Wild, Derrick Smith, Jim Olson, Martin Monson, Larry Taylor, John Poggio; Seated (l to r): Kristie Smith, Kim Zebehazy, Annette Reichman, Laurel Nishi

The Unforgettable APH Star Video Contest Deadline Is Approaching

This is the third year APH is hosting the Unforgettable APH Star Contest. Over the years, we have seen kindergarten students, high school kids, teachers and adults from all over the nation describe and share information about their favorite APH product. This year, we’d like to see you in action!

The contest guidelines are simple: Upload a video telling us about your favorite APH product, and become a star! The first place contest winner will win a $150.00 cash prize. The second and third place winners will receive $75.00 and $50.00, respectively. All participants will also be entered in a random drawing for Amazon.com gift certificates.

You can find the contest guidelines at sites.aph.org/contest

The Spring 2015 contest deadline is May 13, 2015. If you need assistance uploading your videos or have any questions, please contact Maria Delgado at mdelgado@aph.org.

APH Goes to Bat for Stevie Wonder Gift

Deanna Southerling, KFC Yum! Center Marketing Coordinator and Stevie Wonder with the braille Louisville Slugger
Photo: Linda Doane

On Friday, March 27, Stevie Wonder came to Louisville to present his “Songs in the Key of Life” show. He left with a bit of history: what is likely the world’s first baseball bat engraved in braille. The bat was presented to Wonder before his performance.

Louisville Slugger and the KFC Yum! Center partner on special bats given as gifts to most of the big-name acts that play at the facility, including Paul McCartney, Beyoncé, and Bruce Springsteen. “This is the first time we’ve made a braille bat in our 131 years,” said Louisville Slugger VP of Corporate Communications Rick Redman.”

The maple bat is finished in orange with white and black accents, mirroring the colors of Wonder’s hit album “Songs in the Key of Life.” On one side, the bat has Louisville Slugger’s oval logo – along with the KFC Yum! Center logo, plus these words on the barrel:

STEVIE WONDER
SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE TOUR
MARCH 27, 2015
LOUISVILLE, KY

Frank Hayden, Director of Technical and Manufacturing Research at APH worked with Slugger to create braille for the bat. "The American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville created the computer file for our laser to engrave Braille on the bat," said Slugger’s Rick Redman. "They were excited to help out because Stevie Wonder is a customer of theirs. We ran a couple of test bats until the Braille was just right, and they gave us the green light."

Gary Mudd, Vice President of Public Affairs at APH helped test the braille. The first bat was made out of ash wood, which was not a good fit, in his opinion. "The grain was just a little too busy, noisy for the fingertip anyway. And then we talked about maple and it was a finer grain that worked perfectly."

Watch WDRB’s video of how the bat was manufactured at Louisville Slugger http://www.wdrb.com/story/28634621/watch-see-how-louisville-slugger-made-their-very-first-braille-bat

Save the date!

Join us in Washington, D.C. in June for Learning Without Limits, A celebration of educational opportunities for people with vision loss—past, present, and future.

American Printing House for the Blind and honorary hosts, Senators John Boozman, Thad Cochran, Barbara A. Mikulski, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, and Richard Shelby and Representatives Andy Barr, Tom Cole, Brett Guthrie, Thomas Massie, Hal Rogers, Lucille Roybal-Allard, and Ed Whitfield invite you to an exhibition, reception, and demonstration of assistive technology.

APH’s Traveling Exhibit, Child in a Strange Country: Helen Keller and the History of Education for People Who Are Blind and Visually Impaired will be open from noon, Monday, June 8 – noon, Wednesday, June 10. On Tuesday, June 9, drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served at a reception from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM. At 6:00 PM, APH’s first Building Independence Awards will be presented to Senator Mitch McConnell and Congressman John Yarmuth.

We’ll need your help to make this event a success. If you have questions it, or suggestions of others to invite, please contact Roberta Williams rwilliams@aph.org

Visit archive.aph.org/museum/strange-country/ to learn more about the traveling exhibition.

APH Takes Advantage of Open Data to Improve Location Based Information

On March 21, APH had the honor to host and participate in an innovative project with Civic Data Alliance (Louisville’s local Code for America Brigade) called the Hackathon to adopt Louisville’s available open data and add it to “Open Street Maps.” Collaborating with members of the community, we were able to enhance the available housing data which will significantly improve the data quality within the current Nearby Explorer app. With this partnership with Civic Data Alliance, we have validated 40% of the city’s data thus far.

On March 25, Larry Skutchan presented to the Louisville Metro Department of Information Technology – Online Services and Open Data Management Steering Committee. The topic Larry presented was How the American Printing House for the Blind has used Louisville Metro and LOJIC Open Data. The audience was very excited to hear about all the Nearby Explorer data enhancements and the impacts is has already had on current users of the Android app.

Seeking Field Evaluators

SPORTS COURTS: Touch and Play

APH is currently seeking field evaluators for SPORTS COURTS: Touch and Play. This set of materials consists of a variety of color/tactile sport courts and fields with interactive, magnetic 3-D pieces (e.g., players, nets, basketball goals, bowling pins). The 11” x 17” layouts can be used on a magnetic board or as standalone displays for demonstrating important features of each court/field, player positions, game strategies, etc. The layouts are complemented by an instructional guide that is co-authored by a true “team” of experts and provides adaptations for students with visual impairments and blindness.

Two field test opportunities are available—June-August 2015 (ideal for summer camps) and September-November 2015 (during the academic school year). The latter round will include a greater number of field test sites.
The number of prototypes is limited. Field test sites will be chosen based upon location, type of educational setting, number of students per site, and age/grade level of students. Teachers who have not field tested for APH in the past are especially encouraged to participate. All evaluators will be asked to complete and return a Product Evaluation Form and related student outcome data by the end of the field test session.

If you would like to be considered as a field reviewer of SPORTS COURTS during either the summer or fall timeframe, please follow this link to a short survey that should be completed and submitted by April 24, 2015: http://goo.gl/forms/1gu7j9MUpZ

Please contact Karen J. Poppe, Tactile Graphics Project Leader, at kpoppe@aph.org with any questions about this field test opportunity.

Field Evaluators Needed for Braille Literacy Project

APH is collaborating with the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) to produce a Practice Guide for the I-M-ABLE (Individualized Meaning-centered Approach to Braille Literacy Education ) by Dr. Diane P. Wormsley. APH will pair the I-M-ABLE Practice Guide with several other APH literacy-related products, including a talking card reader. The kit will be available with Federal Quota Funds. I-M-ABLE is an approach developed for students who have not been successful learning to read braille. The approach is a whole- to-part approach that begins with teaching whole words — individualized vocabulary words that are meaningful to the student. Students move from reading whole words into reading charted stories and from there into phonics instruction and reading more sophisticated stories. The approach also focuses on proper hand and finger technique in reading as well as writing braille.

Field testing of the kit will begin in Fall of 2015 (mid-September) and extend through Spring 2016 (end of March). Evaluators must have a student or students with whom they will agree to use the approach for the entire six-month period. Students who are ages 7 through 18 and have made little or no progress in reading braille and who have additional disabilities, such as a mild to moderate cognitive impairment and/or ESL, will be considered for the field testing.

Field evaluators will receive training in the use of the I-M-ABLE and baseline data collection. They will be expected to work with students for at least three to four days a week using the approach and to keep track of and report student outcomes as part of the product evaluation. Included in the kit will be the I-M-ABLE Practice Guide, a Califone Talking Card Reader and a small set of blank cards, braille reward stickers, the Chunk Stacker game with braille labels (for phonics activities), along with record keeping sheets for reporting student progress. In addition APH will provide the APH Word PlayHouse for supporting phonics instruction when your student reaches a predetermined level of competence.

If you wish to be considered as an evaluator for the I-M-ABLE Practice Guide Kit, please go to the link below for more information and to complete a survey that will ask for information on you and the student(s) with whom you intend to use this approach. (The survey permits you to enter a rationale for a particular student who you feel would benefit, even if the student doesn’t completely match the criteria.)

Here is the link to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CZ9DTWP

Please contact sspicknall@aph.org if you have any difficulty completing the survey, or if you have questions about the field evaluation or the I-M-ABLE.

Tactile M-WCST Expert Reviewers Needed

APH is seeking enthusiastic psychologists to expert review the tactile version of the M-WCST (Modified Wisconsin Card Sorting Test). This test is a modification of the original Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and provides the clinician with a tool to assess perseveration and abstract reasoning. The prototype consists of a 48-card deck of tactile cards along with four tactile stimulus cards. For ease of testing there is a non-skid, eight-section tray in which to place the cards. This assessment can be administered to persons ages high school to adult in a short amount of time.

APH has produced a prototype of the tactile cards, which we have been granted permission to produce for the visually impaired. Evaluators will need to have their own copy of the M-WCST in order to have the administration directions and scoring. These are available from PAR (www.parinc.com), 16204 N. Florida Ave., Lutz, FL 33549 or 1-800-331-8378.

If you are interested in possibly serving as an expert reviewer, please provide the following information: your name, title, school/agency, and your complete contact information (phone number, mailing address, and email address). Send this information to Carolyn Zierer (czierer@aph.org), Test and Assessment Project Leader or Laura Zierer (lzierer@aph.org), Research Assistant by May 15, 2015. You may also contact Carolyn at 502-899-2328 or 800-223-1839, ext. 328, or Laura at 502-899-2279. Thank you!

Field Testers Needed for a Prototype Science Device!

APH needs TVIs to evaluate a prototype of the Submersible Audible Light Sensor or “SALS.” This device consists of a light detecting probe that can be immersed into liquids and a unit that converts the detected light to sound in real time. This feature makes visible changes in experimental samples accessible to students with blindness and visual impairments in a qualitative way. For example, the distinction between clear, filtered stream water and stream water with sediment could be detected with this device: the probe immersed in clear water would emit a high pitched sound, whereas the probe immersed in water with sediment would emit a lower sound. SALS is suitable for K through 12 students, and a Guidebook will provide grade-appropriate activities.

If you have students with whom you can participate in this field test evaluation during May and June 2015 or during summer 2015, please email the following information to Rachel White at rwhite@aph.org

• Months in 2015 you are able to participate
• Your full name
• Your professional title
• School or Agency name
• School or Agency mailing address including city, state, and zip (postal) code
• Email address
• Best phone number to reach you
• Number of your students who could participate.

Thank you, and if you have any questions, please contact: Rosanne Hoffmann, STEM Project Leader. rhoffmann@aph.org, 502/899-2292.

Got Five Minutes? Assessments: We Value Your Opinion!

We are in the process of refining our list of priorities in the area of tests and assessments. We are asking teachers/psychologists in the field of blindness and visual impairment to provide to APH your valuable feedback. We would like to capture information about the types of assessments that are most widely used in your district with sighted students and the ones that you consider to be most needed to be available in large print and braille.

Please take a few minutes to complete this short survey.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email Carolyn Zierer, Test and Assessment Project Leader, czierer@aph.org or call 502-899-2328.

Thank you for taking time to help us evaluate our list of priorities. Individuals like you assist us in following through with our mission to promote the independence of persons who are blind and visually impaired, and we are sincerely grateful!

Visit this section of APH News in the months ahead to find a list of available APH products helpful in the development of important tactile skills necessary for meaningful interpretation of tactile graphics by young children and students with visual impairments and blindness. This issue’s focus is on APH products (or individual product components and activities) that reinforce Exploration and Functional Use of Real Objects:

• Effective Use of Objects: A Process Centered Intervention (7-35500-00)
• Fine Motor Development Materials: Twist, Turn, and Learn (1-08420-00)
• Giant Textured Beads (1-03780-00)
• HANDS ON: Functional Activities for Visually Impaired Preschoolers (1-03260-00)
• On the Way to Literacy Storybooks:
  • Something Special (6-77500-05)
• Select Switch (1-08617-00)
• Sensory Learning Kit (1-08611-00)
• Setting the Stage for Tactile Understanding (1-08853-00)

Do you have other recommendations for products or activities encouraging the development of exploration and functional use of real objects? Share your ideas with Karen Poppe, Tactile Graphics Project Leader, at kpoppe@aph.org as she builds a comprehensive “Tactile Skills Matrix” for future reference on the APH website.

Treasures From the APH Libraries

The APH Migel Library has recently begun working with the Medical Heritage Library, a consortium of libraries with historical collections relating to health and medicine. The consortium includes the medical libraries at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins Universities, the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Wellcome Library in London, and many other research institutions. The primary goal of the consortium is the digitization of materials relating to the history of health and medicine. There are more than 73,000 items in the collection so far.

The M.C. Migel Library at the American Printing House for the Blind has digitized over 2,270 items from its collections and made them available on Internet Archive. These materials are of significant interest to historians of medicine, most especially those researching disability history. The Medical Heritage Library will add a tag to Migel Library materials to include them in the consortium. More information on the consortium is available at http://www.medicalheritage.org/about/ and digitized items can be accessed at https://archive.org/details/medicalheritagelibrary.

The APH Barr Library supports research initiatives at APH, while the Migel Library is one of the largest collections of nonmedical information related to blindness in the world. Although the collections do not circulate, arrangements can be made to use the materials on-site. In addition, an ongoing digitization effort means APH will continue to make materials available through the online catalog at http://migel.aph.org.

From the Barr Library: Fink, Stephen L., Rainette Fantz, and Joseph Zinker. The Growth Beyond Adjustment: Another Look at Motivation. 1961.

The authors recount a story of a quadriplegic hospital patient who meticulously constructed mosaic tables from ceramic tiles. They draw on this example to assess the role assigned to creativity as a motivational force in behavior. The fact that this individual demonstrated the capacity for personality development far beyond simply “accepting” her conditions compels us to rethink motivation theory as it pertains to the process of rehabilitation in a medical setting. The patient described in the beginning of the article was frustrated with the institutional policy that forced her to limit her creative activity to specific hours. Thus, the authors advocate for more flexible policies to satisfy the basic need for self-expression, as it relates to personality growth and motivation.

From the Migel Library: Marks, Robert A. "The Blind Demand the Right to Marry." Physical Culture 79.2 (1938): 34+.

Written from the perspective of a psychotherapist who is blind, this article discusses the limitations that popular prejudices have placed on the social lives of the visually impaired. Marks claims that most authors have written only of the “abnormalities” of marriage for the blind. This discourages visually impaired authors from discussing it, for fear of encouraging a “morbid curiosity.” Additionally, most schools for the blind lacked any social education programs at the time, and in fact still segregated male and female students. Marks argues that integration of the sexes, social education, and counseling must be made available in schools for the blind. Further, a strong vocational education would secure the financial stability of students who are blind, increasing the likelihood of a successful married life. This work has been digitized for the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/blinddemandright00byro

APH is working with the Internet Archive to digitize portions of the M.C. Migel Library. Search the phrase “full text” to find these items at http://migel.aph.org. The digitized texts are available in a variety of formats, including DAISY, Kindle, EPUB, PDF, etc.

Contact Library staff: library@aph.org, 800-223-1839, ext. 705

Around the House:

APH Welcomes New Staff Members!

Corey Knapp

Denise Snow

William Freeman

Please welcome Corey Knapp to the APH family. Corey has joined us as a Developer in the Technology Product Research Department. He comes to us with a fresh and innovative developer’s mind as he is a 2014 Computer Science graduate from Bellarmine University.

The Technology Product Research Department welcomes Denise Snow and William Freeman to the department. Denise joins us from Educational Product Research as a Technology Product Specialist. William joins us from Braille Transcription as a Quality Analyst.

APH on the Road

DC/MD AER Conference – A CAPITOL Idea!

Kerry Isham, Field Services Representative, presented on behalf of APH at the 2015 DC/MD AER Conference in Baltimore, MD. The event took place at Columbus Gardens in White Marsh on Thursday, February 26. Kerry presented at two sessions entitled “Lighting and Environmental Factors for Individuals with Low Vision” and “Making Presentations Accessible to Individuals with Low Vision.” She discussed the dangers of blue and ultraviolet light; the availability and benefits of various types of lamps; how to choose appropriate lamps, fonts, and font sizes; and the best choice of graphics and backgrounds for presentations. Additionally, she demonstrated APH’s Better Vision Lamp and the Lighting Guide Kit. APH was pleased to be represented at the DC/MD AER meeting where approximately 100 members were in attendance!

KAER

APH was on hand as KAER was “Puttin’ on the RITz” (Reading, Independence and Technology) at the 2015 annual state conference, held in Lexington, KY. The conference, held March 11-13, at the Clarion Hotel Conference Center, drew around 100 participants from across the commonwealth.

The “RITzy” agenda included two pre-conference sessions by APH staff members: “CVI: What Works and What’s New” by Susan Sullivan, and “Teaching Students to Create Tactile Illustrations: A Strategy to Develop Concepts and Decoding Skills” by Dawn Wilkinson and Susan Spicknall. During the conference proper, APH’s Ken Perry and Heather MacKenzie presented “STEM and the Orion TI-84 Plus Talking Graphing Calculator,” and Janie Blome, APH Field Services Director provided an agency update.

We were also represented by exhibitor, Kerry Isham in the vendor area, where some favorite APH products included the Braille Beads: APH Starter Kit, the Quick and Easy ECC, the Venn Diagram Template Kit and the Geometro: Student Workbook Kit.

It was fun and educational to put on our top hats and white gloves as we networked with fellow AER members this year!

“Agents of Change” and APH Descend On Fairfax for VA AER Conference

Kerry Isham, Field Services Representative, exhibited APH products at the 2015 Virginia AER Conference held in Fairfax, VA, from March 18-20. The event theme was “Becoming Agents of Change,” and APH was pleased to be represented as such. Approximately 200 members were in attendance, many of whom stopped by the APH booth to check out new and tried-and-true products such as the Braille Beads: APH Starter Kit, DNA Twist, Match Sticks, EZeeCount Abacus, and the Spangle Tangle. A big thanks to Virginia for reminding vision professionals that we can be agents of change, and for providing such an enriching conference experience for all who attended!

In Memorium

APH is sad to announce the passing of Cynthia Johnson, Ex Officio Trustee representing the Ohio State School for the Blind. Cynthia served APH as an Ex Officio Trustee for 7 years, and had a long career as a psychologist, educational clinic administrator, and superintendent at OSSB. Under her leadership, the OSSB Marching Band was awarded APH’s Creative Use of Braille award in 2013.

Please join us in offering our condolences to her family, colleagues, and students.

Quick Tips Corner

Spring has sprung, so why don’t you go out and take a walk in the beautiful spring air, sniff the flowers and watch the robins play? It’s okay, I’ll wait right here…

Back already? There’s nothing like feeling really refreshed by taking in the spring air after a long winter’s nap, is there?

And, speaking of refreshment makes me think of APH Quick Tips! Know why? Because Quick Tips provide soothing refreshment for the APH mind and soul! They’re so concise and informative that they just make a person feel all warm and APH-y!

We’ve had a wonderfully refreshing bunch of Quick Tips this past month. In case you missed them because you were hibernating, here they are:

• Braille Readers Theater – This was the fourth year of the Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind’s Braille Readers Theater. We hope that you were able to attend the recent dramatic production.
• Book Port Plus, Part I – So, you have a Book Port Plus, but don’t know how to find titles on it? Let Maria Delgado show you how!
• Book Port Plus, Part II – Maria Delgado shows you how to use the "key describer" mode on the Book Port Plus.
• Book Port Plus, Part III – The Book Port Plus series continues as Maria Delgado talks about why you don’t have to turn the unit off.

Don’t forget to check out more Quick Tips: http://archive.aph.org/quick-tips/

Give us Quick Tips feedback by emailing Kerry at kisham@aph.org. And, thanks for watching!

2015 APH Annual Meeting Taking Shape with Dr. Chuck Wall!

Kindness: A Way of Life

Looking for some kindness in your life? If so, you won’t want to miss the 2015 APH Annual Meeting of Ex Officio Trustees and Special Guests. We are proud to announce that the keynote speaker for this year’s event will be motivational speaker Dr. Chuck Wall, who has received international acclaim for his creation of the “random acts of kindness” movement, which was born out of a 1993 class assignment for his students at Bakersfield College in California. Students were charged with committing “one random act of senseless kindness” and analyzing that experience for the class.

His “random act of kindness” movement has resulted in some 350 television and radio appearances including the Oprah Show, CNN, and The Hour of Power. He has been honored by the U.S. House of Representatives for his humanitarian work and has worked for the President of the United States, developing a stage production about the future of America. He designed a desegregation program for the nation’s schools and has authored or co-authored six books and numerous articles.

We are excited to welcome Dr. Wall to Annual Meeting and know that his keynote will be the beginning of an excellent event. Other highlights will include sessions spotlighting APH products, the APH Product Showcase, a variety of related meetings, and, of course, the annual InSights Art Awards Banquet. Dates for the event are October 8–10, at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Louisville. Registration information will be available in a few months, but mark your calendars now, and do something kind for someone today!

Peace, Love, and BRAILLE, Man!

Thirty-five of Kentucky’s finest students met at the Kentucky School for the Blind and at APH on March 16, 2015, to participate in the 5th Kentucky Regional Braille Challenge. The Braille Challenge, a national program of the Braille Institute of America, celebrates braille literacy and braille readers through a series of competitions in spelling, proofreading, speed and accuracy, reading comprehension, and interpreting charts and graphs.

Students competed for prizes donated by APH, HumanWare, National Braille Press, and Seedlings Braille Books for Children. While the students were competing, parents, teachers, and others volunteers met with APH Executive in Residence Diane Wormsley for a round table discussion about braille and its impact on students. They also had the opportunity to browse an exhibit of APH products and to visit and network with one another.

We were joined by several members of the Louisville League of Mascots, and want to say thank you to Buddy Bat, Chuck E. Cheese, Frisch’s Big Boy and others who came to cheer on our students. Louisville Metro Councilman Bill Hollander was on hand during the opening ceremony to offer encouragement to the competitors and wish them all luck.

We congratulate all of the lucky students who competed this year. We are proud of each and every one of them. Congratulations also to Madelyn Loyd, the overall winner of the event; to Calli Larison, overall winner in the reading comprehension category; and to all of our winners. We will be rooting for you to make it to the finals in Los Angeles in June!

Loading on Multiple Devices: CVI Complexity Sequences eBook

D-03610-ED — $9.95

Related Products

CVI Complexity Sequences Kit: 1-08156-00 — $53.00

Recently, we were excited to introduce a digital version of CVI Complexity Sequences, containing the same information and images as the hard copy kit. In addition, the digital images are interactive!

Did you know that you are allowed to install this eBook on more than one device? Each instructor must purchase a copy of the eBook. You are then allowed to load the eBook on more than one device for instructional purposes. For example, you may have a student use the sequence images on one device while you refer to the electronic guidebook on another device. It is not recommended that the images be used without the instructional guidebook.

The CVI Complexity Sequences Kit includes cards that present sequences of images designed to help students identify a target image in the presence of increasing amounts of background information. These cards may be used individually or as a sequence and should be presented against a black or plain, light-absorbing background. You may purchase CVI Complexity Sequences as either the hard copy kit or the new eBook.

Digital Edition Includes

• Guidebook, electronic format
• Same ten sets of eight images as the print kit, in an electronic format

In addition to tablet devices, CVI Complexity Sequences eBook and Interactive Cards can be used with iBooks on Mac computers and with eReaders on PCs. At this time, the audio feature is not supported by all eReaders. To determine if an eReader supports the interactive feedback, ensure it supports EPUB 3.x format or newer.

Recommended ages: Preschool and up

Social Media Spotlight

Throwback Thursdays, APH Style

Do you post a #tbt every Thursday? We do! Check our blog or Facebook every Thursday for a Throwback post taken from our museum collection! Find out which blindness field legend participated in the Marches on Selma, or learn about some cool early technology for people who are blind!

"Like" APH at Our Facebook Page!

We invite you to visit our Facebook page and "Like" us! You can find APH at these social media sites: Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Flickr, Pinterest, and at our blog, Fred’s Head from APH.

APH Welcomes New Ex Officio Trustee

Dorothy Liegl, the South Dakota Department of Education, replacing Colleen Kirby.

APH Travel Calendar

April

April 7, 2015
Perkins Innovation Advisory Group
Watertown, MA

April 8-11, 2015
CEC 2015
San Diego, CA

April 9-11, 2015
2015 AFB Leadership Conference & Arizona AER Annual Conference
Phoenix, AZ

April 13-17, 2015
Legislative Visits on Capitol Hill
Washington, DC

April 14-15, 2015
POSB/STEM Conference 2015 Math/Science Institute
Watertown, MA

April 15-18, 2015
NCTM National Conference
Boston MA

April 16-18, 2015
NBA Spring Professional Development Conference 2015
Austin, TX

April 16-19, 2015
AOTA 2015-95th Annual Conference & Expo
Nashville, TN

April 17, 2015
Illinois State University Outreach
Normal, IL

April 22-24, 2015
Penn-Del AER 2015 Conference
Harrisburg, PA

April 23, 2015
Marketing Working Session for TBG Reader
Watertown, MA

April 24-26, 2015
AER International Board Meeting
Bronx, NY

May

May 11-15, 2015
Legislative Visits on Capitol Hill
Washington, DC

May 17-20, 2015
VAVF
Orlando, FL

May 27-28, 2015
International Digital Publishing Forum
New York, NY

June

June 5-7, 2015
The Family Cafe 2015
Orlando, FL

June 8-10, 2015
APH Exhibit on Capitol Hill
Washington, DC

June 22-24, 2015
CCSSO/NCSA (National Conference on Student Assessment) 2015
San Diego, CA

June 25-28, 2015
Visions 2015
Baltimore, Maryland

June 26-27, 2015
Pediatric CVI Conference
Omaha, NE

APH Spring Fever Sale

Load up a world of savings on selected APH products with APH’s Sizzlin’ Summer Savings Sale 2014, April 1—June 30. As always, first come, first served.

archive.aph.org/products/springfever.html

New Downloadable Manual Available

Get the manual you need instantly! APH offers a selected list of product manuals available for free download (archive.aph.org/manuals/). You may print or emboss these as needed. We will continue to package hard copies of these manuals with their products and sell hard copy replacements.

Newly added manual:

• Geometro Teacher’s Manual

APH offers a number of recreational books in braille (Quota funds can be used). Each of these titles was originally transcribed and produced by APH for the National Library Service which has graciously granted permission for this offering. As usual, these titles have been added to the APH Louis Database where you can find thousands of titles produced in accessible formats.

Note: all books are produced upon receipt of orders, therefore, please allow several weeks for delivery.

Venus
by Ruth Bjorklund: T-N1950-10 — $20.00
Part of the Space! series, this book discusses the planet Venus’s role in the solar system and in human history. Covers information learned from space probes about the features of the planet’s surface — volcanic plains, water, and atmosphere. Compares Earth and Venus and presents quick facts. Grades 5-8.

Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens
by Patricia Lauber: T-N1953-90 — $17.00
Color photos augment the dramatic story of the eruption, aftermath, and gradual return to life of the volcano. This is a spectacular book; Lauber’s narrative describing the eruption, aftermath, and gradual return of life to the Mount St. Helens slopes devastated by the 1980 eruption is anchored with stellar color photographs that show each phase of the destruction and the healing. Grades 4-8. *(AR Quiz No. 6745, BL 5.2 Pts 1.0)

Communism: Exploring World Governments
by Sue Vander Hook: T-N1950-80 — $40.00
Examines communism’s origins in nineteenth-century Europe as a theory that inequity among classes is unfair. Highlights key figures Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Describes daily life, elections, economics, and human rights in communist countries such as China, Cuba, and North Korea.

The Kid: A Novel
by Sapphire: T-N1954-60 — $116.00
Precious succumbs to AIDS when her son Abdul Jones is nine years old. Abdul spends time in foster care and at a Catholic orphanage, where he is abused. Some adult content.

Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939-1944
by Aranka Siegal: T-N1967-30 — $83.00
Memoir of Jewish author who, at age nine, was trapped in the Ukraine at the outbreak of World War II. Recounts her return to Hungary and her family’s forced move to an Auschwitz ghetto. Some adult content.

*Accelerated Reader quiz number, book level, and point value. For more information on the Accelerated Reader program, see the January 2006 APH News or www.renlearn.com/ar/