APH News: February 2017

Exciting New APH Products Announced!

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

• NEW! Echolocation and Flashsonar
• REVISED! Push Button Padlock
• NEW! VisioBook Carrying Bag
• New Downloadable Manuals Available
• APH Winter Wonderland Sale
• APH Braille Book Corner

NEW! Echolocation and Flashsonar

Large Print, 8-75975-00 — $77.00
FREE Braille Files, 6-75975-00 — free downloadable .brf files.

Provides research, case examples, instructional approaches, and practice exercises that can lead to mastery of echolocation skills.

This guidebook, written by Daniel Kish and Jo Hook, provides instructional strategies for teaching persons who are blind and visually impaired the use of echolocation as a method of gaining information about space and objects/environmental features in the world around them.

Although Echolocation and FlashSonar works well as an instructional manual for O&M specialists, it can also be used by adults who are blind and visually impaired who are working independently.

An extensive list of references and resources is provided for the reader.

Topics addressed in this guidebook include

• What is Echolocation?
• How the Brain Develops and Operates
• Optimizing Learning Conditions
• How do I Teach FlashSonar to Myself and Others?
• FlashSonar Exercises
• The Importance of Echolocation and Future Research

WARNING: FlashSonar skills should be used along with a human guide, dog guide, or cane.

REVISED! Push Button Padlock

1-03990-01 — $20.00

Not available with Quota funds.

You can have a combination lock that is accessible only to you! Each lock comes with two large print/braille cards listing the combination, along with large print and braille instructions. Buttons eliminate the worry of losing a key. Just push five buttons and presto, you’re in!

Note: This revised lock works in a slightly different manner than our previous model (the discontinued 1-03990-00). Please consult the instructions included with the lock.

NEW! VisioBook Carrying Bag

1-03937-00 — $54.00

Related Item

VisioBook: 1-03913-01 — $2,750.00

Optional item for the VisioBook: Portable Electronic Magnifier and Distance Viewer. This handy padded carry bag with zipper pockets makes it easier to take your VisioBook and power cord from class to class, from home to office, or wherever you use the versatile VisioBook Electronic Magnifier!

Features

• Protective interior padding lines the front, back, bottom, and sides of the bag
• Two heavy duty carry handles
• Adjustable shoulder strap with rubber cushion
• Zippered exterior storage pocket with keyfob latch, measures 9.5 x 15 inches with plenty of room for the power cord
• Interior storage pocket measures 14.5 x 8 inches
• Heavy weight black bag with three bright orange zipper pulls

Bag measures: 14.5 x 12.5 x 2 inches. Made in the U.S.A.

Note: The VisioBook continues to include a protective sleeve. The VisioBook will not fit in the optional Carrying Bag while it is in the included sleeve.

New Downloadable Manuals 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. In most cases, we will continue to package hard copies of these manuals with their products and sell hard copy replacements.

Newly added manuals include:

• Echolocation

APH Winter Wonderland Sale

Load up a world of savings on selected APH products with APH’s Winter Wonderland Sale 2017, January 1—March 31. As always, first come, first served.

archive.aph.org/sale/

Annual Meeting 2016 Sessions Audio and Video

Were you unable to attend the 2016 Annual Meeting or do you want a refresher on a session you attended? On this page, you will find the audio and video for most Annual Meeting 2016 sessions by our expert APH and guest presenters!

Enter the 2017 APH InSights Art Competition!

DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION NOW! APH warmly invites artists who are blind or visually impaired, of all ages, to submit artwork for the 2017 APH InSights Art Competition. For over 25 years, our renowned international contest has delighted the senses, provoked discussion, and most importantly, allowed artists who happen to have vision loss the opportunity to share their creative imagination with the world.

Artists may enter original artwork created in any medium, including (but not limited to) painting, drawing, printmaking, fiber, metal, and wood. This year’s deadline for student artists from preschool through high school is March 24, 2017. The deadline for adult artists is March 31, 2017. Complete rules and entry forms are available on the APH website. We are always deeply inspired and grateful for the unique, artistic expression from each artwork, every year.

We look forward to your participation in our contest. For more information, please e-mail insights@aph.org, or call Rob Guillen, at 502-899-2242.

Teacher-Inspired Uses of APH Products—Visit Paths to Literacy

Paths To Literacy’s “Blog” page showcases a variety of uses of many APH products. For featured products visit the following:

All-In-One Board
http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/strategies/cause-and-effect-activity-students-low-vision
http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/blog/ipad-students-visual-and-multiple-disabilities-making-it-easier-get-started
http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/blog/calendar-boxes-and-schedule-systems-literacy-tools

APH Sound Pages and Scattered Crowns
http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/blog/tips-and-tools-teaching-beginning-braille-skills

ReadWrite Stand
http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/blog/augmentative-alternative-communication-aac-systems-students-cvi-multiple-disabilities-part2
http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/blog/sensory-activities

Swing Cell
http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/blog/introducing-swing-cell-beginning-braille-students

Tactile Connections and ReadWrite Stand
http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/blog/augmentative-and-alternative-communication-aac-systems-students-cvi-multiple-disabilities

Tactile Town: 3-D O&M Kit
http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/blog/how-does-orientation-mobility-relate-literacy

Wilson Reading System
http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/blog/why-we-love-using-wilson-reading-system-struggling-braille-readers

APH Voted in the Top Ten Technology Stories of 2016

Each year, Blind Bargains editors and readers vote on the top ten technology stories in accessibility. The top three stories this year were (1) the VFO merger, (2) Microsoft’s new emphasis and progress on accessibility, and (3) the technology products coming from APH.

The panelists all reminisced about their childhood when APH had so many interesting tools and their appreciation and fondness for the APH booth at the consumer conventions. They were all glad to see APH quality evolving through the digital landscape and providing a variety of high interest, specific tools just like in "the old days."

In addition to mentions of Money Talks and the Talking U.S Maps, panelists expressed special recognition of Orbit Reader 20 and Nearby Explorer. The new VFO partnership, Graphiti, and Talking Typer for iOS got a mention as well.

Congratulations to each of the people who make this happen and thanks to the nourishing environment in which such innovations flourish.

To listen to the podcast, go to: http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=16602

APH Welcomes New Ex Officio Trustees

• Leslie Bechtel Van Orman, the Wyoming Department of Education
• Wendy McLaughlin Stoica, the Ohio State Department of Education

Here’s a handy link to the full directory of Ex Officio Trustees.

Treasures From the APH Libraries

From the Migel Library: Howe, Samuel Gridley. Address of the Trustees of the New-England Institution for the Education of the Blind to the Public. Boston: Carter, Hendee, 1833.

Based on a report by Samuel Gridley Howe, this address was written just five months into the operation of what would eventually become the Perkins School for the Blind. This beautifully written plea for the scholarly education of blind people in America uses several examples of European institutions and their work. Even those overseas schools, it was argued, typically taught only “tricks,” rather than intellectual and scientific endeavors. Howe argues for the use of raised type and visually impaired instructors for academic education at the new Institution in Boston. Inserted in the end of the address is an exceptional and early example of American tactile graphics. This raised map of New England claimed to be of such detail that it could not be surpassed by any from Europe. It contains numerical and raised type labels as well as tactile music. This item was discovered un-cataloged on the shelves of the Migel Library during a digitization project. It was removed from its acidic folder, de-acidified, and digitized in-house. It is now available at Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/addressoftrustee0000samu

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.

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

Social Media Spotlight

Are You Following APH on Twitter?

We post information about new or recently released APH products, sale items, our interesting Throwback Thursday artifacts from our one-of-a-kind museum, our informative Quick Tip videos, and APH happenings on our Twitter page. We also highlight various resources that benefit the blind and visually impaired community. Find us on Twitter @aphfortheblind

"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, Pinterest, and at our blog, Fred’s Head from APH.

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.

The Boy Who Went Away
by Eli Gottlieb: T-N2136-30 — $91.50
Denny Graubart, child-narrator and “domestic surveillance expert,” is having some terrible suspicions about his mother and autistic brother. It’s the 1960’s and his mother struggles to keep his brother out of an institution. The two brothers find themselves locked into an asymmetrical childhood as a family struggling against the weight of medical ignorance. Some adult content.

Cruel Crown
by Victoria Aveyard: T-N2155-60 — $66.50
Queen Coriane recounts her heady courtship with the crown prince, the birth of a new prince, Cal, and the potentially deadly challenges that lay ahead for her in royal life. Meanwhile, Captain Farley exchanges coded transmissions with the resistance — and stumbles upon a connection that may prove to be the key to an attack on the Nortan capital.

Musicophilia: Revised and Expanded Tales of Music and the Brain
by Oliver Sacks: T-N2158-00 — $221.50
Oliver Sacks explores the place music occupies in the brain and how it affects the human condition. In Musicophilia, he shows us a variety of what he calls "musical misalignments." Among them: a man struck by lightning who suddenly desires to become a pianist at the age of forty-two; an entire group of children with Williams syndrome, who are hypermusical from birth; people with "amusia," to whom a symphony sounds like the clattering of pots and pans; and a man whose memory spans only seven seconds – for everything but music.

At the Edge of the World
By Michael Pye: T-N2124-90 — $226.50
An examination of the cultural transformation sparked by events centered in the North Sea region during the Dark Ages, between the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the rise of Europe. The author profiles the technology, science, law, and culture that led up to the emergence of modernity.

After the Fire
by Jane Casey: T-N2155-00 — $174.00
When a fire breaks out at the Murchison Housing Project, it consumes the top floors, leaving three occupants dead. Detective Maeve Kerrigan and her colleagues are startled to learn the identity of one of the victims. A wealthy, notorious, right-wing London politician — the last person they’d expect to find in a place like the housing projects.

*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/

APH Travel Calendar

NIP Events

February 15, 2017
Key Strategies for TVIs & O&Ms When Children Have Multiple Impairments
Naperville, IL

April 19, 2017
Sensory Learning Strategies for Students with Multiple Disabilities
Newark, NJ

April 23, 2017
Strategies for Teaching Children with CVI
Minneapolis, MN

CIP Events

February 15, 2017
APH Products and Services
California State University, Los Angeles, CA

April 17, 2017
APH Products and Services Training
Illinois State University, Normal, IL

Exhibits/Presentations

February 8-10, 2017
New Mexico AER Conference
Albuquerque, NM

February 15-17, 2017
Illinois AER Conference
Naperville, IL

February 27-March 4, 2017
CSUN 2017
San Diego, CA

March 2 – 5, 2017
AFB Leadership Conference
Crystal City, Virginia

March 8, 2017
Focus on Vision Impairment
Norwood, MA

March 9-12, 2017
CTEBVI 58th Annual Conference
San Francisco, CA

March 20-23, 2017
KAER 2017
Lexington, KY

March 29-April 1, 2017
American Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference
Philadelphia, PA

March 31 – April 2, 2017
Iowa Family Conference
Vinton, IA

April 2-5, 2017
POSB Conference 2017
Austin, TX

April 19-22, 2017
Council for Exceptional Children Annual Convention 2017
Boston, MA

Conferences

February 21-24, 2017
NASP Annual Convention
San Antonio, TX

March 1-4, 2017
SREE (Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness)
Washington, DC

March 8-11, 2017
ATP Innovations in Testing 2017
Scottsdale, AZ

March 14-18, 2017
SHAPE America 2017 Convention
Boston, MA

March 29-April 1, 2017
International Brain Injury Association World Congress
New Orleans, LA

April 26-28, 2017
2017 Penn-Del AER Conference
Harrisburg, PA