This week Carl. Rick and Tabitha join us to share some of the expected excitement and behind the scenes look at our upcoming Gala.

This week Anthony welcomes friend to the show Jenine Stanley of AIRA to share with us some news about services for our Deaf and Hard of Hearing Brothers, Sisters and non-binary siblings as well as a host of other great announcements. We will also pick Jenine’s brain about the best tips she has for maximizing wearables and AIRA. 

Then in our second hour Anthony will explore the possibilities of engaging and reading conversational visual cues using haptic tech. Jack Walters and Dr. Bryan Duarte of Hap Chic will walk us thru this revolutionary new wearable. The HET is a wearable assistive technology that provides people who are blind or low vision with real-time access to non-verbal communication cues (NVC) during social interactions. The HET device breaks down barriers to effective and engaging conversations by raising awareness of non-verbal communication cues in real-time. The technology leverages computer vision/ AI to detect and recognize the expressions, gestures, and body language received from an embedded camera on a pair of glasses before mapping the NVC to a dynamic haptic pattern applied to the forearm of the user on a wearable sleeve that is an inch bigger than a watch. With the HET you can tell if someone is smiling, going for a hand shake or waving at you in real time.

Jack Walters is the CEO and Co-founder of HapChic. As a student-athlete at the Colorado School of Mines, where he plays collegiate football, Jack has already earned a degree in mechanical engineering and is currently pursuing a master's in engineering and technology management. He is passionate about developing human-centric, equitable assistive technologies that benefit people from all backgrounds. With extensive experience in user studies and market research, Jack ensures that the technologies he develops are designed to truly meet the needs of the people they serve.

Dr. Bryan Duarte became blind at the age of 18 as the result of a motorcycle accident, and went on to received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Arizona State University focusing on dynamic Haptic interactions, sensory substitution, wearable technology, and assistive technology. He has dedicated the last decade of his life to developing wearable assistive technology that provides end users with an increased awareness of their environment and during social interactions. It is his aim to deliver high quality assistive technology to individuals that can provide access to the world around them in an intuitive, non-intrusive, and near real-time manner.

Questions  or comments for the show can be sent to:

[email protected]

Listen to the show live Sunday’s at 1pm ET on your devices by asking them to play ACB Media and choosing stream 1. You can find ACB;s Sunday Edition with Anthony wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Sunday Edition presents - Guide Dog Rally Impressions

Anthony welcomes Sarah Calhoun, Kim Charlson, and other members of GDUI as well as representatives from the Rally Organization team. We will hear their impressions, and some audio from the event and celebrate the power of Advocacy. Then in our second hour we will discuss how to keep the momentum going, next steps and the somewhat controversial announcement that we can soon disclose in the APP if we are guide dog users.

This week, Anthony welcomes panelists and audience to round table some hot topics. The three hot topics to begin the show will be: Auctions, Popcorn fundraisers, Have we exhausted these forms of raising funds?? What out of the box ideas can we come up with? Guide Dog Rally and denials, Is it time for the community and membership to engage our leadership to take more aggressive stands with rideshare companies? As we wait for news of conventions after Dallas, What cities should ACB Be considering, what red flags and/or non negotiable should help form the criteria? Bring your Hot Topics and share with the Sunday Edition Hot Topics Table.

Find out more at https://acb-sunday-edition.pinecast.co

Episode Notes

This week Anthony welcomes Peter and Belinda as we get the chance to get to know them personally; their motivations and passions and of course to answer member questions.

Belinda Collins from the Tarheel State has been a force in the ACB Community almost from inception. She has interned and is one of the training hosts and so much more. These skills she has springboard to a position on the BOP.

Peter Heide has been sighted and blind four times and has experienced almost

every level of vision between fully sighted and totally blind. He attended

the Wisconsin School for the Blind and Visually Impaired before graduating

from Tremper High School in Kenosha (WI). As an adult he has lived in

Madison, WI, rural Kansas, and a Chicago exurb before he and his wife Susan

moved to Baraboo, WI. Peter has studied English and Comparative Lit. He is a

piano tuner and an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in

America (currently retired). He enjoys time with members and friends of ACB,

serving on MCAC and Constitution & By-Laws, as president of ACB of

Wisconsin, and now as a Board member of ACB.

Questions or comments for the show can be sent to:

[email protected]

Find out more at https://acb-sunday-edition.pinecast.co

The current document we are governed under as attached at the end of this email.

This week Anthony welcomes Michael Byington who will lead us all in a round table discussion about what members feel the relationship should and maybe should not encompass or represent.

The ACB Board voted to update the documents surrounding these important relationships, and this week we will explore how the changing world of Not for Profit and advocacy affects how state and special interest affiliates deal with ACB National and vice versa.

We look forward to exploring member thoughts and ideas.

Questions or comments for the show can be sent to:

[email protected]

Listen to the show live Sunday’s at 1pm ET on your devices by asking them to play ACB Media and choosing stream 1. You can find ACB;s Sunday Edition with Anthony wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Find out more at https://acb-sunday-edition.pinecast.co

This week Anthony and crew welcome Chris Bell, Dr. Lynn Coral and Carol Francisco. We will continue to discuss the different forms of blindness and Low vision focusing on Prematurity and Blindness.

Find out more at https://acb-sunday-edition.pinecast.co

Anthony welcomes Scott Thornhill back for some convention follow up conversation and some fun couples conversation with his wife Jane. Anthony and Gabriel will also be put in the hot seat and will be interviewed by Scott and Jane.

Find out more at https://acb-sunday-edition.pinecast.co

Sunday Edition Presents: Teaching Audio Description a conversation  Live from the Adrian Archt Center  with Dr. Joel Snyder  & Eric Lipp C.E.O. of Open Doors Organization explains new regulations flying with Guide Dogs This week Anthony and the Sunday Edition crew go behind the scenes live with Dr. Joel as he imparts his vast knowledge of Audio Description with the new crop of Audio Describers at the Adrian Archt Center in Miami. We will get to hear some of the sample description they come up with and we will chat about the process. Dr. Joel Snyder is known internationally as one of the world’s first “audio describers,” a pioneer in the field of Audio Description, a translation of visual images to vivid language for the benefit, primarily, of people who are blind or have a vision impairment. Since 1981, Dr. Snyder has introduced audio description techniques in over 40 states and 65countries and has made thousands of live events, media projects and museums accessible.  Most recently, Dr. Snyder was named a Fulbright Scholar to train audio describers in Greece and Ukraine over a four-week period. In 2014, the American Council of the Blind published Dr. Snyder’s book, The Visual Made Verbal – A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description, available as an audio book, in Braille,in screen reader accessible formats, and in English, Polish, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese print editions. Then in our second hour we will discuss the changing regulations for flying with our Guides, travel forms and the founding of Open Doors Organization. **Eric Lipp, Executive Director, Open Doors Organization ** Eric founded Open Doors Organization (ODO) in 2000 after personally experiencing the restrictions that people with disabilities face in everyday life due to a lack of awareness and knowledge by businesses. In the 23 years since, he has assisted countless companies, primarily in travel, tourism, and transportation, to better serve the disability community while also encouraging individuals with disabilities to travel. Among his most notable accomplishments are the four Market Studies on Travelers with Disabilities, most recently in 2020, which are viewed in the travel industry as the definitive source for statistics on travel by Americans with disabilities. Eric has worked on numerous government-funded research projects focused on accessible travel under the United States National Academy of Sciences including the Multimodal and Accessible Travel Standards Assessment, ACRP Report 210 “Innovative Solutions to Facilitate Accessibility for Airport Travelers with Disabilities", and the Accessible Transportation Technologies Research Initiative's "User Needs Assessment", which determined the general categories of disability recognized in travel-related research today. Eric is a recognized expert in universal design, the unique needs of people with all types of disabilities, and U.S. and international disability regulations. He sits on multiple advisory boards including those of Alaska Airlines, Amtrak, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, United Airlines, and the Transportation Security Administration's Aviation Security Advisory Council, where he co-chairs the Passengers with Disabilities Working Group. He was also recently appointed to the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board under the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Find out more at https://acb-sunday-edition.pinecast.co

Anthony and the Sunday Edition crew love getting to know the couples of ACB. This popular Sunday Edition feature returns this week with 3 fascinating couples. August will also bring on the couples bonus as on the 25th Anthony will talk with Scott Thornhill and his lovely wife then they will turn the tables and interview Anthony and Gabriel! What fun! This week however we will get to know Tristan and Marco as they navigate long distance, balancing work/life and getting to know each other in the digital world. Then we will talk to Christine and Shannon. These fun and witty ACB members met in the spring of 2009 online. They. began to send regular E-Mails and then started to talk on the phone. Spending many wonderful hours getting to know each other before they finally met in person in 2013. In May of 2013, they became a couple and started their life together. They live in Ann Arbor Michigan, the state they are both originally from. And Finally: Dan and Janeen are an unlikely duo of Oscar and Elmo. He is always grouchy and she is always full of energy and colorful. They have been together off and on for nine years and are recently engaged. They are board game enthusiasts and baking enthusiasts, and love to roadtrip all over the United States. Driving is way more fun than taking airplanes especially when Janeen really hates flying and Dan loves driving. Also, they love advocacy and volunteerism, which they share together. They both really really love music even though it’s opposite: Janeen‘s a boy bander and Dan is a classic rocker all the way. They enjoy concerts and go to so many they can’t even count in a year. With this pair the saying 'opposites attract' really is true.

Questions or comments for the show can be sent to:

[email protected]

Listen to the show live Sunday’s at 1pm ET on your devices by asking them to play ACB Media and choosing stream 1. You can find ACB;s Sunday Edition with Anthony wherever you listen to your podcasts. .

Find out more at https://acb-sunday-edition.pinecast.co