In this Podcast, we interview Sarah Kolat, Institutional Giving Manager and I.D.E.A Co-Lead at PNW Ballet about how they are bringing audio description of dance to Seattle. From their web site: “Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Accessibility at PNB” Pacific Northwest Ballet recognizes the historical and present inequities in ballet and is committed to shifting the culture in our Company and artform through meaningful action and reflection." PNW Ballet has always been at the forefront of equity by including all people in their performances and audiences regardless of ability, race, gender, or any other factor you could name. They did research to include people with sensory disabilities and neuro diverse populations properly. This work is an extension of those efforts. Plan Your Visit, Information on the program and tickets They have also joined a group of arts organizations in the Seattle area working to publicize their accessible services and performances in a calendar. Services include but are not limited to:

• Accessible Seating
• Assistive Listening Devices
• Audio Described
• Braille and Large Format Program
• Closed and Open Caption
• Courtesy Wheelchair
• Interpretive Services
• Movement Areas
• Personal Care Attendant
• Sensory Guides
• Sensory Kits
• Service Animals
• Visual Assistance

Calendar to Accessible performances Here is a link to RSVP to watch the free presentation mentioned in the podcast of the 45minute audio described and ASL interpreted movie "Telephone" over Zoom, on Wednesday November 13 from 4 to 6PM. Link to Register for Telephone You can reach Sarah with questions at [email protected] You can reach us at [email protected]

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Learning to Live Independently for Today and Tomorrow at LIFTT

We met Steve Lowry on a brisk fall morning at the site of their brand-new building for this exciting tour. Frankly, by the time it was over, we were all ready to move right in. Your guides are Donna Elkins, Reginald George, and Brandy Hill, all from Washington State Department of Services for the Blind. Brandy is not formally introduced in the recording, but she is definitely there. Our fearless leader is Steve Lowry, an instructor at the program. LIFTT is a 10-month, residential independent living skills training program for young adults between 18-21 years old. The program is a partnership between the Washington State School for the Blind and the Washington Department of Services for the Blind. Participants live on site from September-June, including weekends, and learn to be responsible for all aspects of their adult life. LIFTT is housed on the ground floor of the Transition Center at the Washington State School for the Blind, within short walking distance of Clark Community College and multiple lines of public transportation. The building is fully wheelchair accessible and features adjustable lighting throughout, Braille wallpaper, and a curated collection of tactile art. The objective of the LIFTT program is to provide our participants with an opportunity to experience independence in a safe environment before they venture into less protective settings as young adults. Instruction is not aimed at teaching “basic independence skills”. Rather, it is designed to expand independence through authentic practice in the natural setting of day-to-day life. The LIFTT Program focuses on nine areas of core competence: • Personal Care • Kitchen Skills • Household Management • Financial Management • Time Management • Community Access and Travel • Interpersonal Relationships • Assistive Technology • Vocational Skills To learn more about LIFTT to see if it might be right for you, check out their web site at the link below. https://www.wssb.wa.gov/services/liftt And be sure to read our upcoming article in the Winter 2025 WCB Newsline. We hope you enjoy this small tour of a great program. Our podcast is lovingly sponsored by Washington Council of the Blind Newsline magazine and the American Council of the Blind. This episode was hosted and produced by Reginald George. Write to us at TheWCBNewsline at Gmail.com.

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Title: Three Visions of Love without vision Description: Three Couples with varied levels of eyesight share with us how true love works in their lives.

Welcome to our milestone twentieth episode. WCB Newsline Unleashed celebrates spring and May flowers with this special never before released interview, featuring three couples of Washington Council of the Blind. For context, this interview was recorded in the spring of 2023, well before the state convention. They are John and Chris Coulter, Andy and Colette Arvidson, and Julie and Nathan Brannon, and they were brave enough to volunteer to hang out and share true stories of challenges and triumphs in their marriages with Zack Hurtz and Linda Wilder for this one-of-a-kind podcast. With love and humor, they reveal how their relationships have grown and thrived through the tests of time. Their honest recollections give us hope and guidance in living our own best lives. WCB Newsline wishes to thank everyone involved in bringing this podcast to life. Enjoy with us this unique and priceless gift.

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Welcome to the Puppy raisers Part 2. In this chapter we zoom in with a tight focus on Marilee Richards, and her first guide dog Taryn. Her puppy raisers are Bailey McDermott, Rob McChrystal, and her friend Lisa Comstock. Viola Bentson recorded, produced, and made valuable contributions to the content of this episode.

Marilee provided the following additional information.

Bailey and Rob were Taryn’s puppy raisers. (The best ever)! We all maintain a close family bond. They live in Portland and hope to raise more dogs for Guide Dogs for the Blind in the future. Bailey is a Para Legal for Idaho, and Rob works for the Port of Portland. Taryn is their second guide dog. Their first dog (named Violin) is also discussed. Lisa Comstock from KOMO Television joins the conversation towards the end and is the one who takes Taryn and I on most of our adventures. She also takes pictures to keep Rob and Bailey up to date on our lives.

As always, we love to hear your comments and suggestions and will pass them on to those involved. You may write to us at [email protected], or simply use the contact form available at WCBInfo.com and choose Newsline.

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**The Puppy Raisers Part 1

Raising Guide Dogs - an Act of Joy and Love** Hosted by Linda Wilder

This is part one of an in depth two part look at the fascinating world of raising and training future Guide dogs, and how these life-long relationships contribute to the program they serve.

For this episode the cast included: Marie Celeste Condon, Interviewer Howard Hirshman, Puppy Raiser Karen Hogle, Puppy Raiser Paul Hogle, Puppy Raiser Brian and Carol Gregory, Puppy Raisers This episode was recorded, edited, and produced by Viola Bentson and Reginald George.

We know you will enjoy hearing the stories of how joyful, passionate and loving each Puppy Raiser is toward each puppy they raise and train, and often, that moment of meeting the future handler who will benefit from their hard work. The motto of Guide Dogs for the Blind is, “The Making of a Guide Dog; come for the puppies, revel in the people and the purpose.”

We always appreciate hearing from our listeners. If you have feedback for us, or want more information, write to us at [email protected]

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Show Notes by Heather Meares

I love strong women. I admire and respect their fiery spirits, stubborn grit, and determination. I learn from their experiences in education, travel, love, and loss, and how life events mold you into the person you become. I am one. Let me say that it is not easy to carry the weight of expectations that come with being this type of person. You take risks to accomplish your goals, and your decisions are questioned by others who think they know what’s best for you. Quite often, your opinions differ from the rest of the group, but they somehow just have to jump out and find their way into the discussion anyway. People sometimes assume that you really have your act together and know exactly what you are doing because you are bold and confident in the decisions you make, or resolute in what you think and say. Although these factors may be true, most of the time I don’t have a clue about what I am doing or where it will lead, but I know why I am choosing it in that moment. Recently, I was lucky enough to interview not only one of the women I have heard about since I moved to Washington six years ago and hoped I would get the opportunity to meet someday, but also was able to reconnect with another of the most highly respected women I have worked with since I’ve been here. They just so happen to be mother and daughter, and it‘s been a rare treasure to learn from them both. I think they even learned some things from each other during our conversation, and that, in itself, was worth it all. So, let’s hear what Keiko, a blind parent, and Naomi Namekata, her sighted daughter, have to say. If you have comments, write to us at [email protected].

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Readers’ Choice Award 2022

Show notes by Heather Meares Welcome to our 3rd Annual Virtual Readers’ Choice Award Gala! Join us as we read and discuss each of the four finalist articles from 2022. Special thanks to Steve Pierce for being our reader and for all his editing expertise throughout the year, and to Viola Bentson, for hosting our Zoom event. In addition, as the editors, Reg and I would like to thank the entire Newsline and podcast committee by name: Beth Greenberg, Chris Coulter, Zack Hurtz, Marilee Richards, Linda Wilder, Viola Bentson, Lucash Uniack, and an honorable mention to Denise Colley, who will always be an honorary member of our committee, no matter where she lives. Each and every one of our committee members contributes their own part to the herculean effort that is the Newsline. We are honored to have such a hard-working and creative team, and appreciate you all. This year’s nominees are as follows: From the winter issue, “Too Hot to Handle” - by Frank Cuta From the spring issue, “I Choose Joy” - by Hayley Agers From the summer issue, “Who Gives a Hoot?” - by Heather Meares From the fall issue, “Train Music” - by Chris Coulter It has been another great year of writing, scribing, creating, and podcasting, and we are so pleased to be your editors. Here’s cheers to another great year ahead!

Heather Meares and Reginald George

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Join Dorene, Judy, Zandra, and Zack as they talk about the push in Washington State for accessible medication labels. They discuss the lack of equal access to the information on medication labels for those who speak another language or who are visually impaired or blind. They discuss what’s being done to address this issue and illustrate the flaws in the current system.

[email protected] That’s, Accessible Labels at Gmail dot com

Episode Notes

Notes go here

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Show Notes: Join us as Zack sits down with Livu Babitz of Cyborg Nest to discuss the Sentero. Sentero is a piece of wearable tech that connects the user to the world via haptic feedback using vibrations to indicate direction and increase awareness of special orientation. The device also allows you to feel other users heart beats, find the direction of locations around the globe. Want to know what direction to face to find your childhood town? Use Sentero to serve as your guide. You can do the same thing for people, so when your loved one calls you or you’re thinking about them Sentero indicates where they are on Earth. If you’d like to contact Liviu or Zack you’ll find their contact information below… Liviu Babitz: Founder and CEO of Cyborg Nest [email protected] Cyborg Nest: https://www.cyborgnest.net/ Zackery Hurtz: Podcast producer

[email protected]

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Show Notes by Reginald George

"Glass-blowing for many may bring to mind a handsome, young dude somewhere in a Mediterranean country, wearing thick leather gloves and blowing into existence a beautiful flask through a long tube that he constantly keeps rotating. The brilliant orange object on the end of the tube is so hot it singes his eyebrows. At 2,100 degrees, the liquid in a glass-blowing kiln pours like Karo syrup but avoid putting it on your pancakes. It would incinerate your breakfast, and the pyrotechnics would probably burn through your cookware and table. Even so, the hazards are over-blown.  With safety gear, a little training, and the right tools, an average person can have a lot of fun and create impressive glass art. I had previously heard about glass-blowing classes, and it was on my bucket list. Early in December, a window of opportunity opened, and I got a chance to give it a try. I confirmed that a blind person can leap through such a window, and 30 minutes later walked away, proud to have fashioned a unique glass object. We were in Lincoln City, OR, and visited a business called the Lincoln City Glass Center. Such facilities are a common tourist attraction on the Oregon Coast. The glass-blowing experience generally includes two principal production-approach choices, and then several additional choices of specific, possible formed objects. The production choices are to expand a blob of molten glass with air pressure, or to sculpt a glass form from a small piece of semi-solid glass, adding colors and shaping it with tools." ... my ability to take part in the Lincoln City class was never questioned. In fact, they just assumed that I would be able to complete the required tasks.  Later, I learned that one of the teachers has a visually-impaired son, and this might have had something to do with it. All I know for sure is that I had no trouble and a wonderfully memorable experience." 

So begins Frank's article for the 50th anniversary Winter issue of our WCB Newsline.
We walked in without an appointment, and were welcomed like friends. We wish to thank Daniel Hogan and Molly Whipple of the Glass Center of Lincoln City for making us feel so at home, taking time to describe everything in the gallery and showing us many prize objects, and answering all of our questions.
Should you be interested in subscribing or have any questions or comments, please write to us at TheWCBNewsline at GMail.

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