we wanted to share a 'time sensitive' request from Ray Campbell, Chair, American council of the Blind Education Task Force...
Hello:
I come before all of you, figuratively, on bended knee. I am joining with
others in asking you to take a few minutes, tomorrow, to do something simple
and powerful for the future of education of children with visual
impairments.
Tomorrow, June 27, is the birthday of one of the most beloved and
accomplished iconic figures in the blindness community, Helen Keller. It is
also National Macy Act Call-in Day. Join me and many others in celebrating
this important day by calling your Member of Congress and your two United
States Senators, asking them to sponsor the Anne Sullivan Macy Act.
Named for Helen Keller's beloved teacher, the Anne Sullivan Macy Act if
passed and signed into law will insure that school districts are held
accountable to provide children who are blind or visually impaired with
educational services to meet their unique learning needs. Children who are
blind or visually impaired are among the most highly successful
academically, but among the least likely to be employed because they do not
always receive appropriate training in such things as Braille, Orientation
and Mobility, Activities of Daily Living and Adaptive Technology.
Just last week, the United States Department of Education stated that
children who are blind or visually impaired should receive instruction in
Braille, reiterating guidance contained in the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA). This letter can be read in PDF form at:
http://tinyurl.com/plpfmy3.
What do you need to do tomorrow? Call your Members of Congress and your two
United States Senators. Thanks to the American Foundation for the Blind
(AFB), this has been made easy with the provision of two toll free numbers
which are currently active. To contact your Representative in the United
States House of Representatives, call 855-882-macy (6229). When you call
this number, you'll be prompted to enter your 5 digit zip code after hearing
a brief description of the Macy Act. To contact your U.S. Senators, call
877-959-macy (6229). Again, after a brief intro to the Macy Act, you will
be prompted to enter your zip code. You will then be prompted to choose
which of your Senators you wish to talk with. Keep in mind with the Senate,
you will need to make two calls.
What do you do once connected to your Member of Congress or Senator's
office? Ask them to sponsor the Anne Sullivan Macy Act. Now, since this
legislation has not yet been introduced, you do not have a bill number to
give them. When asked for a bill number, indicate that the legislation has
not been introduced, tell whomever you talk with that you'd be very pleased
if your Representative or Senator introduced this legislation and direct the
person you are talking with to www.afb.org/macyact.
Are there other ways you can participate? Sure. You can Tweet to your
Representatives and Senators if you're on Twitter. I just tried
www.tweetcongress.org. While the option to search by zip code doesn't
appear to be working, if you know the name of your Representative or
Senators, you can enter that, search by name and you'll get the Twitter
handle of that individual if they are on Twitter.
What else can you do? You can go to www.afb.org/macyact to find full text
of the legislation, sign an on-line petition indicating your support, post
information on FaceBook and other things. Get your families, friends,
business associates and others to call in as well. If you're receiving this
message and are part of an agency serving children and/or adults who are
blind, forward this message agency wide and encourage people to call in.
Is tomorrow the only day I can call in? Absolutely not. In fact, the two
numbers given, 855-882-macy and 877-959-macy are currently active. So, if
you're busy tomorrow but can call in today, do it! If you're busy today and
tomorrow, and can't call till Friday or next week, do it whenever you can!
What's most important? That you call and encourage Congress to introduce
and pass the Anne Sullivan Macy Act. Once you've made your calls, AFB wants
to know how it went. Send a note to Rebecca Sheffield at AFB,
rsheffield@afb.net.
Our children are our future. They are the ones who will be the future
employers, educators and leaders of our country. Let's do all that we can
to make sure children with visual impairments receive all of the educational
services they need to meet their unique learning requirements so they can be
successful at whatever they choose. Tomorrow, on Anne Sullivan Macy Act
Call-in Day, we the people can take a big step toward doing this by asking
our Representatives and Senators to sponsor the Anne Sullivan Macy Act.
Join me, make those calls and let Congress know we want and need this
legislation introduced and passed.
Ray Campbell, Chair, American council of the Blind Education Task Force
Ray1530@wowway.com
# # #
For the American council of the Blind: CLICK HERE
Hello:
I come before all of you, figuratively, on bended knee. I am joining with
others in asking you to take a few minutes, tomorrow, to do something simple
and powerful for the future of education of children with visual
impairments.
Tomorrow, June 27, is the birthday of one of the most beloved and
accomplished iconic figures in the blindness community, Helen Keller. It is
also National Macy Act Call-in Day. Join me and many others in celebrating
this important day by calling your Member of Congress and your two United
States Senators, asking them to sponsor the Anne Sullivan Macy Act.
Named for Helen Keller's beloved teacher, the Anne Sullivan Macy Act if
passed and signed into law will insure that school districts are held
accountable to provide children who are blind or visually impaired with
educational services to meet their unique learning needs. Children who are
blind or visually impaired are among the most highly successful
academically, but among the least likely to be employed because they do not
always receive appropriate training in such things as Braille, Orientation
and Mobility, Activities of Daily Living and Adaptive Technology.
Just last week, the United States Department of Education stated that
children who are blind or visually impaired should receive instruction in
Braille, reiterating guidance contained in the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA). This letter can be read in PDF form at:
http://tinyurl.com/plpfmy3.
What do you need to do tomorrow? Call your Members of Congress and your two
United States Senators. Thanks to the American Foundation for the Blind
(AFB), this has been made easy with the provision of two toll free numbers
which are currently active. To contact your Representative in the United
States House of Representatives, call 855-882-macy (6229). When you call
this number, you'll be prompted to enter your 5 digit zip code after hearing
a brief description of the Macy Act. To contact your U.S. Senators, call
877-959-macy (6229). Again, after a brief intro to the Macy Act, you will
be prompted to enter your zip code. You will then be prompted to choose
which of your Senators you wish to talk with. Keep in mind with the Senate,
you will need to make two calls.
What do you do once connected to your Member of Congress or Senator's
office? Ask them to sponsor the Anne Sullivan Macy Act. Now, since this
legislation has not yet been introduced, you do not have a bill number to
give them. When asked for a bill number, indicate that the legislation has
not been introduced, tell whomever you talk with that you'd be very pleased
if your Representative or Senator introduced this legislation and direct the
person you are talking with to www.afb.org/macyact.
Are there other ways you can participate? Sure. You can Tweet to your
Representatives and Senators if you're on Twitter. I just tried
www.tweetcongress.org. While the option to search by zip code doesn't
appear to be working, if you know the name of your Representative or
Senators, you can enter that, search by name and you'll get the Twitter
handle of that individual if they are on Twitter.
What else can you do? You can go to www.afb.org/macyact to find full text
of the legislation, sign an on-line petition indicating your support, post
information on FaceBook and other things. Get your families, friends,
business associates and others to call in as well. If you're receiving this
message and are part of an agency serving children and/or adults who are
blind, forward this message agency wide and encourage people to call in.
Is tomorrow the only day I can call in? Absolutely not. In fact, the two
numbers given, 855-882-macy and 877-959-macy are currently active. So, if
you're busy tomorrow but can call in today, do it! If you're busy today and
tomorrow, and can't call till Friday or next week, do it whenever you can!
What's most important? That you call and encourage Congress to introduce
and pass the Anne Sullivan Macy Act. Once you've made your calls, AFB wants
to know how it went. Send a note to Rebecca Sheffield at AFB,
rsheffield@afb.net.
Our children are our future. They are the ones who will be the future
employers, educators and leaders of our country. Let's do all that we can
to make sure children with visual impairments receive all of the educational
services they need to meet their unique learning requirements so they can be
successful at whatever they choose. Tomorrow, on Anne Sullivan Macy Act
Call-in Day, we the people can take a big step toward doing this by asking
our Representatives and Senators to sponsor the Anne Sullivan Macy Act.
Join me, make those calls and let Congress know we want and need this
legislation introduced and passed.
Ray Campbell, Chair, American council of the Blind Education Task Force
Ray1530@wowway.com
# # #
For the American council of the Blind: CLICK HERE
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