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LightHouse News

LightHouse Staff Featured on Roster of Speakers

LightHouse staff members will speak at the inaugural Blind Babies Foundation alumni event on September 24 at California School for the Blind in Fremont. Blind Babies Foundation provides early intervention and education services to infants and preschoolers who are blind or visually impaired.

The upcoming alumni event offers a mix of discussion groups and activities. In a presentation called “If Not College, Then What?” Richard Rueda, LightHouse Director of Community Services, will talk about available transition services for post-high school blind and low vision students. Donor Relations Coordinator Lisamaria Martinez will present on “Feeling Confident in the Sighted World – Social Skills for Adults.”

For more information about the event or the alumni association, contact April Souza at april@blindbabies.org or 510-446-2229.

ILRCSF Assistive Technology Lending Library

The Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco (ILRCSF) is happy to announce the launch of its new Device Lending Library

With support from the Department of Rehabilitation, and as part of the Assistive Technology Network, ILRCSF’s Device Lending Library offers people with disabilities the chance to come in, try out the latest technology, and even bring it home for an extended test run.

ILRCSF has a wide variety of devices available to borrow, including:

Portable ramps, handheld GPS systems, laptops and iPads with a variety of accessibility-related software, and more.

These items can:

  • Make home, work and school more accessible;
  • Assist in orientation and decision making;
  • Serve as loaners during device repair or while waiting for funding.

Contact Derek or Amber to learn more about the program.

Main office line: 415-543-6222

Email:
Derek Zarda: derek@ilrcsf.org
Amber DiPietra: amber@ilrcsf.org

Register Today for Sept. 14 Jobsite Visit

Each week the LightHouse is coordinating a group of individuals to meet with their employed counterparts working for the Bay Area’s leading businesses and institutions.

Our next jobsite excursion will take place on Wednesday, September 14. We will be visiting Scott Blanks, who works at the Lions Center for the Blind as their Director of Assistive Technology and Computer Services.

Scott became active in the blind and visually impaired community at an early age through his local Braille Institute in Southern California. Eager to explore Northern California, Scott relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from the Hatlen Center for the Blind (formerly the Living Skills Center). At Hatlen, Scott spent many evenings assisting fellow students in navigating their computers. These joyous moments led Scott to discover his calling: instructing others and imparting knowledge in the field of assistive technology.

This passion spurred Scott to work as an Assistive Technology Specialist with Adaptive Technology Services for more than eight years. In 2010, Scott came to the Lions Center for the Blind to serve as Director of Assistive Technology and Computer Services.

When he’s not glued to a computer, Scott enjoys music, reading and movies of the horror genre. As a former Paralympic athlete, Scott went to the Sydney games in 2000 with the U.S. men’s goalball team. He holds a degree in radio broadcasting and has been certified to provide instruction in assistive technology by Access Technology Institute.

Please RSVP by Tuesday, September 13th, as space is limited.

To register for the Jobsite Conversation Series, or to find out more about it, please contact:

Rich Russo
Community Services Program Assistant
(415) 694-7352
rrusso@lighthouse-sf.org

Fall 2011 Scholarship for College Student with a Disability

Nonprofit organization disABLEDperson Inc. announced its fall 2011 national scholarship competition for college students with disabilities. The competition ends on October 15, 2011, with an award of $1,000 going to one recipient.

In order to qualify, students must be enrolled in a 2- or 4-year accredited college or university in the United States. They must be a full-time student and U.S. citizen (minimum of 12 credits for undergraduate, 9 credits for graduate). High school students or college students who are not attending classes full-time are not eligible to apply.

To participate, go to https://www.disabledperson.com/ and click on the Fall 2011 National Scholarship Competition for College Students with Disabilities link at the top of the page.

The form on the registration page must be filled out completely; incomplete or fraudulent forms are unacceptable. Spelling and grammar are imperative, so please submit carefully edited drafts only.

Upon winning, the student will provide proof of disability through their disability student services department. Disability is defined as described under the ADA: “A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such an individual.”

The winner will be announced on https://www.disabledperson.com/ on October 31, 2011. All decisions made by disABLEDperson Inc. are final.

Sleep, Light and Your Body Clock

Dr. Steven Lockley, assistant professor with Harvard Medical School and an associated neuroscientist with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston,  has been studying the effects of light on our body rhythms and the effects of visual impairments on body rhythms for about 17 years. Listen or read the transcript of his presentation at the Hadley School for the Blind by clicking on the following link and scrolling till you find the links to the Sleep, Light and Your Body Clock (Thursday, July 14, 2011) presentation:
http://www.hadley.edu/PastSeminars.asp

Dr. Lockley is involved in a medication study sponsored by Vanda Pharmaceuticals and is looking for participants to take part in an FDA trial. You will be compensated for your time if you are accepted into the trial. If you are interested, please contact the referral center at 1-888-389-7033 or go to www.non24registry.com to take a short survey.

Listen and Learn How Blind People Really Get Jobs

LightHouse to Offer 22 Live-Stream Hours of Intensive Employment Retreat Starting Today! 

To listen to the stream, simply go to: 
http://lbvi.staging.wpengine.com.com/listen.m3u

If you missed any part of our programming, note that all the sessions are being recorded and will be made available for download through our website at http://lbvi.staging.wpengine.com.com/news/category/podcast/

Want to know the inside scoop on how blind people get job after job even in this economy? Want to listen in as blind professionals and blue-collar workers tell their stories of job success? And want to learn how blind employees manage to keep up their self-confidence and work-life balance?

The LightHouse for the Blind is beginning today an unprecedented four-day summit at its Enchanted Hills retreat in Napa, California. This lively immersion gathering will bring together more than 60 participants to talk seriously about employment. And not just how to shake someone’s hand or format a resume, but the deeper motivation and techniques everyone needs to win their next job.

Presenters will include Marty Nemko, Bay Area job coach, author and radio host; Kirk Adams, CEO of the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind; Elcio Barcellos, Vice President for Global Recruitment at Hewlett-Packhard; Michael Bullis, longtime writer and employment motivator; Gena Harper, a top executive with Smith-Barney; Mike May, entrepreneur and adventurer; Joe Xavier, Deputy Director, California Department of Rehabilitation; Tim Ford, attorney with the California Department of Health Services; George Wurtzel, lifelong blind advocate for blue collar employment; and many others.

The live-stream is not limited to a few professions or career paths. In fact, among the dozens of attendees in Napa will be people in law; high tech and programming; nursing; rehabilitation; counseling/therapy; ministry; chemistry/physics; social work; interpreting/translation; piano tuning; administrative support; accounting/finance; customer service; human resources; and advertising.

Our live-stream will begin on Tuesday, September 6th at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time and continue until 6:00 p.m. that day.  We’ll resume the live presentation Wednesday and Thursday at 8:45 a.m. and present our lively lineup until roughly 5:00 p.m. each of those days. We’ll wrap up with some powerful presentations Friday morning, September 9th, from 9:00 a.m. until noon.

The stream is free of charge, and we hope you will cross-post this information to any individual and organization who could use a powerful boost to their own employment objectives. The LightHouse for the Blind in San Francisco is proud to offer this motivational and fun seminar to our community free of charge.

To listen to the stream, simply go to:
http://lbvi.staging.wpengine.com.com/listen.m3u

SUMMIT AGENDA
Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011
1:00–3:00
Dr. Marty Nemko, Career Coach and Host of Work with Marty Nemko on KALW, 91.7 FM (NPR-San Francisco)

3:15–4:15
Why Should I Go to Work? Mike Bullis, Executive Director, Image Center, Baltimore, MD

4:20–5:10
Note Taking & Effective Access Technology, Peggy Martinez, Accessibility Manager, Seattle Lighthouse

5:15–5:45
Three Skills You Can’t Do Without – Stacy Cervenka, former Legislative Aide for U.S. Senator Brownback, Republican, Kansas

Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011
8:45–9:45
Reinventing Myself 14 times – Mike Bullis, Executive Director, Image Center, Baltimore, MD

9:55–10:55
Dairy to DOR – Joe Xavier, Deputy Director, California Dept. of Rehabilitation, Blind Field Services

11:00–12:30
Who Do I Hire? – Panel: Stephen Dobbs (professor and scholar; ret. CEO, Marin Community Foundation, Buck Trust; Senior Program Office, J. Paul Getty Trust; and Executive Director, Koret Foundation); Joe Xavier, Deputy Director, California Dept. of Rehabilitation; and Kirk Adams, CEO, Seattle LightHouse for the Blind

1:30–2:15
Be Your Own Job Developer! – Tim Ford, Attorney, CA State Dept. of Health and Human Services

2:20–3:30
Work-Life Balance – Panel: Theresa Duncan & Richard Rueda, Dir. Community Services, LightHouse for the Blind

3:35–4:25
Keeping your Head, Staying Unflappable – Joe Xavier

4:30–5:15
The Dragon Woman’s Interview Disasters and How to Avoid Them – Julie McCarthy, Director of HR and Facilities, LightHouse for the Blind

Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011
8:45–9:45
Working a Room and Working the World – Mike May, President, Sendero Group LLC

9:55–10:55
Effective People I Know – Silvana Rainey, Co-Founder, Adaptive Technology Services

11:00–12:00
Blue-Collar Bliss (via Skype) – George Wurtzel, Industrial Arts Instructor, Blind, Inc, Minneapolis, MN

1:00–2:10
What You Wanted to Know from Recruiters, but were Afraid to Ask – Kate Williams, Employment Immersion Program Leader, LightHouse for the Blind

2:15–3:15
First Impressions in the Workplace, Mike Bullis

3:20–4:15
Once You Get That Job, How to Stay Employed: Tips HR Should Have Told You – Julie McCarthy

4:20–5:10
On relationship-building, reading people, having soft skills and developing those connections giving you breadth in work – Peggy Martinez

Friday, September 9, 2011  
9:00–10:00
Stop Holding Your Breath and Waiting for Perfection – Mike Bullis

10:05–11:05
Taking the Next Scary Steps – Mike May

11:15–12:30
Who Do I Hire? Panel: Elicio Barcelos, Vice President Global Recruiting, Hewlett-Packard

PlayPlay

Submissions Welcome for Collection on Disabled Moms

Are you a mom with a disability and have something to write about?

Demeter Press is seeking submissions for an edited collection on disabled mothers. The goal of this edited collection is to add to literature on mothering and disability by providing stories by disabled mothers or their children, as well as chapters of scholarly research and theorizing.

Both the stories and research in this collection are intended to raise critical questions about the social and cultural meanings of disability and mothering. Whether a birth mother, an adoptive mother, a foster mother, a co-mother, someone mothered by a disabled woman, or someone whose research explores disabled mothering, you are invited to submit to this collection.

For more information please go to:
http://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/news-and-events/edited-collection-on-disabled-mothers-call-for-papers-1176.html

Watch and Play Paralympic Sports on BORP Opening Day

BORP (Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program), the leading provider of accessible sports in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, is having its Opening Day on Saturday, September 10. Opening Day showcases BORP’s sports programs and gives friends, family, community members, etc., the chance to try the sports out.

Opening Day Schedule
10:00 Welcome
10:30 Goalball
11:30 Prep Wheelchair Basketball
12:00 Power Soccer
1:00 Varsity Wheelchair Basketball

Refreshments will be provided.

Please invite your friends, family, other potential participants, community members, teachers, donors and anyone you think might be interested in getting to know BORP’s programs.

Opening Day is at:
James Kenney Recreation Center
1720 8th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710

Visit http://www.borp.org/ for more information about BORP.