Take Charge with Confidence and Self-Reliance

Category: Braille

  • Turning the Tables: CCB Role Reversal Day 2022

    by

    Dan Burke

    A standing woman gestures to the room of seated fellow students as she talks

    Students from every continent and every epoch imagine, even if only idly, of someday, somehow turning the tables on their teachers. Likely they don’t realize until they have done it, that their teachers also may see such a reversal as an opportunity to return the torment.

    That’s partly the story of Role Reversal Day 2022, held on Friday, February 4. Hand it to the leadership of the CCB Student Association for organizing carefully and thoroughly, putting staff into groups and planning the schedule, even reviewing lesson plans from each ”teacher of the day.” This is the group, remember, that collected necessary items for the NICU babies when Avista Adventist Hospital was forced to evacuate during the December, 30 Marshall Fire in Boulder County.… Read the rest “Turning the Tables: CCB Role Reversal Day 2022”

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  • Seniors Are in Charge and In-person This Week at CCB!

    by

    Dan Burke

    a blind instructor talks with his student, a senior woman as they walk with white canes along a residential street

    a blind instructor talks with his student, a senior woman as they walk with white canes along a residential street
    Dishon and Olive on the return leg of a travel lesson near the center. Seniors in Charge this year was blessed with lovely fall days.

    For the first time in two years, our week-long Seniors in Charge is live and in-person at the Colorado Center for the Blind! These four dynamic and intrepid older blind folks have been waiting since spring of 2020 to get five full days of blindness training in Braille, technology, cane travel and kitchen skills, and they are determined to get the most out of this opportunity to spend quality time with our Senior staff! Duncan, Chris, Stephanie and Dishon are not disappointing them with long, and at times, intensive training every day.… Read the rest “Seniors Are in Charge and In-person This Week at CCB!”

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  • Happy Holidays! Thanks to All of You, Lives Change at the Colorado Center for the Blind

    by

    Dan Burke

    Three young students stand in front of a medical vehicle, all wearing Santa hats

    Three young students stand in front of a medical vehicle, all wearing Santa hats
    Caption: Cristian, Shyanne and Kelly stand in front of the medical vehicle at South Suburban Fire and Rescue Station #12 on December 16. They had just delivered a box of holiday cookies and treats baked by students to on-duty fire fighters. In turn, fire fighters showed students one of the trucks and the medical vehicle. The three students assisted in delivering treats to Littleton Police, where they met Chief Doug Stephens, as well as other officials. It is an annual tradition, our way of thanking the community that is the home of the Colorado center for the Blind.

    We’re celebrating the holidays, and we hope you are too!… Read the rest “Happy Holidays! Thanks to All of You, Lives Change at the Colorado Center for the Blind”

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  • Meet Adama, a Disability-rights Champion from Sierra Leone

    by

    Dan Burke

    Adama sitting at the table in the travel lobby with her phone and her slate and stylus.

    For the past three weeks, we’ve been delighted to have Adama Conteh as a special student at the Colorado Center for the Blind. Adama is from Sierra Leone, a country of about 6 million in West Africa. She has been in the U.S. under the sponsorship of Hope International, which has provided Adama with training at their headquarters in Tennessee, and transportation to Colorado to attend the Center for these three weeks.

    You don’t have to talk to Adama more than a couple of minutes to understand that she is a disability rights and women’s rights advocate at her core.… Read the rest “Meet Adama, a Disability-rights Champion from Sierra Leone”

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  • The #Braille Blizzard Challenge in Littleton!

    by

    Dan Burke

    Ty in the meeting room

    We hosted the Braille Challenge today, referred to as the “Braille Blizzard Challenge” by the seven Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind (CSDB) staff members who drove north  in the storm, sometimes at 25 MPH or slower.  It was also slow going for participants, teachers and parents who came from as far away as Dillon and Fairplay.  It even took as long as 90 minutes to get to Littleton from Aurora as wind and snow swirled across the Metro area this morning, beginning about 8 a.m.

    There were 14  participants in the Braille Challenge hosted here today, and there were 25 in Colorado Springs last Thursday at CSDB. … Read the rest “The #Braille Blizzard Challenge in Littleton!”

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  • Kansas Comings & Goings Today at CCB

    by

    Dan Burke

    Luther Fuller of Kansas reading Braille before the National Braille Challenge

    Luther Fuller of Kansas reads Braille before leaving for the National Braille Challenge

    The NFB of Kansas President dropped by for a quick visit and tour this afternoon. Tom Page and his friend Nicole are in the area with Tom’s string band, the Haymakers. They played in Colorado Springs last night and will be in Denver at Cervantes’ Other Side tonight. Though a number of Kansas students have come to CCB for training over the years, this was Tom’s first chance to see the Center.

    “The energy is amazing,” he said.

    Tom and Nicole bumped into another Kansan this afternoon while visiting. Luther Fuller is part of the Summer for Success (College Prep) Program this summer.… Read the rest “Kansas Comings & Goings Today at CCB”

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  • Blowing off Steam After Competing in the Braille Challenge CSDBBulldogs

    by

    Dan Burke

    A student in sleepshades prepares to make a throw iwht the goal ball

    A student in sleepshades prepares to make a throw iwht the goal ball

    After spending much of the day in their chairs, giving their best in various Braille skills as part of the 2018 Braille Challenge, participants in the Metro area competition found goal ball the perfect way to unwind.

    It’s the third year we’ve hosted the event for Metro-area kids, which is organized in Colorado by the colorado school for the deaf and the blind. Students scores on reading, writing and more are collected regionally and given rankings, then compared to scores across the country. Eventually, the Braille Institute in Los Angeles will bring the most competitive students there for a final competition.… Read the rest “Blowing off Steam After Competing in the Braille Challenge CSDBBulldogs”

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  • Snow Already!

    by

    Dan Burke

    David K. walks through the snow on a winter morning

    David K. walks through the snow on a winter morning

    If you’re on the Front Range of Colorado this post won’t surprise you, because you drove/walked/bussed in a steadily-falling snow this morning.

    But let’s admit it – this 3 to 5 inches of snow is a bit early this year, just think of all those trees whose leaves have yet to drop! Tonight will be a killing freeze, whith temps in the low 20s. That will likely mean an icy commute tomorrow morning. Tricky, but it’s part of the deal. Blind people have to go to work in good weather and bad, just like anyone else. And that’s what we teach and expect here at the Center.… Read the rest “Snow Already!”

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  • Thoroughbred Thursday: Throwdown, Throwback and the Thrill of Success!

    by

    Dan Burke

    a smiling girl with missing front teeth and a woman with their hands on the same page of Braille

    It’s a horse race, for sure. It started this morning with the announcement that Laura was about to go on her support drop with Daniel. She made it back about 11:30, no problem.

    Mickey has been working on her mini-meal – for fifteenn guests – for the past couple of days. At noon she served a penne spaghetti with meatballs to die for, and chocolate chip brownies big enough for your head stone. There were plenty of extras to go around, no sweat.

    Julie has been excited all day about meeting 9-year-old Lexi to talk about Braille. Lexi’s teacher, Janet Anderson, brought her over to meet Julie and talk about ways to read Braille even faster.… Read the rest “Thoroughbred Thursday: Throwdown, Throwback and the Thrill of Success!”

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  • Sleepshades, Cinnamon Pudding Cake & Seniors In Charge May 2017

    by

    Dan Burke

    Steve works with Janet to learn the Braille Alphabet using a muffin tin and tennis balls

    Steve works with Janet to learn the Braille Alphabet using a muffin tin and tennis balls

    You wouldn’t have needed to be told that Dorine’s Cinnamon-Pudding Cake was an award-winner if you had been anywhere near the Center’s kitchen this afternoon. It’s our spring Seniors in Charge week, and we have five dynamic seniors determined to keep living the lives they want. This afternoon, of course, they were cooking and baking under sleepshades, and the smell of that cake had mouths watering out in the lobby and beyond!

    Sleepshades are optional, though encouraged, in the five-day training for seniors. This group is pretty game though, and all are giving them a good workout this week.

    All five, along with some of our Senior Services staff, are staying in our apartments, traveling back and forth to the Center on the bus every day.… Read the rest “Sleepshades, Cinnamon Pudding Cake & Seniors In Charge May 2017”

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