Looking Toward 2023

On this episode of Change Makers, we’re looking back over everything that’s happened this past year, and what we’re looking forward to in 2023.  APH’s President, Dr. Craig Meador, Vice-President/Chief Officer Innovation and Strategy, Anne Durham, and Vice President, Impact and Outreach, Paul Schroeder, all discuss the exciting developments with products, construction and action in Washington, D.C.

In this Podcast (In Order of Appearance)

• Jeff Fox, Narrator
• Sara Brown, APH Public Relations Manager
• Dr. Craig Meador, APH President
• Anne Durham, APH Vice-President/Chief Officer Innovation and Strategy
• Paul Schroeder, APH Vice President, Impact and Outreach

Transcript

Jeff Fox: 0:00

Welcome to Change Makers, a podcast from APH. We're talking to people from around the world who are creating positive change in the lives of people who are blind or have low vision. Here's your host.

Sara Brown: 0:15

Hello and welcome to Change Makers. I'm APHs Public Relations Manager, Sara Brown. And today we're looking back over everything that's happened this past year and what we're looking for towards 2023. It's coming up quick. I've got three very special people here to talk about APH APH products and how things are going in Washington DC as it pertains to APH, I have APHs president, Dr. Craig Meador, APHS, vice President and Chief Officer of Innovation and Strategy, Anne Durham, and APH is Vice President of Impact and Outreach, Paul Schroeder. Hello Craig, Anne and Paul, and welcome to Change Makers.

Dr. Craig Meador: 0:59

Thanks, Sara. Thank you, Sara.

Sara Brown: 1:02

So this podcast is about looking back over the past year and looking forward, but first up, looking back over the past year, what are some of the highs you would like to mention from your respective departments?

Dr. Craig Meador: 1:16

Well, 2022, um, I, I think 2022 was kind of the beginning of the return to normalcy. Uh, it didn't quite start out that way. You know, we had had that fit and start back in'21 where we thought we're bringing everyone back. And then we had the COVID flare, and then everything went quiet for a while. And then January, uh, we just went all in on, we were gonna go to conferences and, and, uh, so that was, I, I think that was our, our turning point where we just decided we were going to just reengage with both, jump in with both feet, reengage in the world and, uh, kind of c be damned. Uh, not necessarily taking, uh, being foolish, but definitely taking some calculated risks with, with our, with our, uh, activity and with our engagement. And, uh, sure enough, we we're set off to go to CES the first week of January, and I think we lost the entire team to COVID. And so I went solo<laugh>, we didn't even set up our booth and, and, uh, but it was just a weird surrealistic experience in beginning to the, uh, start of 2022. Cuz the first couple of conferences we were at were pretty much, um, let's see, we went CES and then CEC and then ATIA and all of those started out really light. All of those had attendance that was way below normal. And, um, it was just kind of testing the water, so to speak. But as the year went on, we, we, it felt like reality or things came back, uh, uh, reality we were familiar with and, and, um, which was very reassuring. So that, that, that was just my introduction to 2022. Um, and I, I think as a company, not that we were dormant during those two years of COVID, cuz we weren't, but I think it was exciting because we finally got to put, um, our plan that we had been working for two years. We finally got to unveil that and got to roll out a lot of, um, um, I, I don't know, it was, for lack of a better analogy, as kind like the debutantes ball. You know, we, we had been doing our work for two years and now we finally got the show up, um, already for the show. And, and there we were.

Anne Durham: 3:54

I think that was probably the most exciting thing for me, um, was to be able to connect with the field again. Um, because being away from everybody, you know, um, and we did everything that we could really to connect with the field, uh, through Zoom and, um, sometimes just through the mail, you know, whatever we could do to, to stay connected with teachers and with students, uh, we tried to do during Covid, but there's just nothing like in person there. There's nothing like being able to sit there and just have these long conversations and really hear about what's happening in classrooms and, um, you know, the, the, uh, the challenges that teachers are facing. And they have changed so much since before covid, we had so much to learn about, um, what's going on in their environments and, and how their world is changed. And we need to adapt, uh, to that so that we can support them better. And, and again, there's just nothing like in person. People will tell you things. They'll be much more honest with you when you're in person. Um, and, um, you know, they will tell you exactly how they feel about how you're doing when you're in person for sure. And, um, uh, I, I can't, I can't even begin to express that. For me, that has to be the highlight of this year was, was to be back in person with everybody. To be able to show them what we've been working on, to hear their honest opinions about that, to hear what they really need, what students really need. Um, that's been so eye opening and so important to our work and, and so grateful for everybody who has, um, showed up and talked to us and been honest. Um, it's shaping the way that we are going to move forward for sure. And, um, that's, you know, of all the things that we've done and we've done an awful lot this year. That's probably the most important thing.

Paul Schroeder: 5:33

Sara, this is, this is Paul Schroeder and, and, uh, in the impact and outreach department, of course, the annual meeting, the in-person Annual Meeting, which of course I suppose technically is fiscal'23, but that certainly does loom as a great large accomplishment. Wonderful. All the things that, that Anne and Craig have said about seeing people. And, um, we had some wonderful presentations from, from our own team and also from, from folks outside, uh, uh, just the exceptional keynote speech, uh, by M. Leona Godin. And, um, some interesting presentations from, from people who, who haven't necessarily been at APH meetings in the past, um, talking about demographics, uh, work that's going on, uh, to, to look carefully at, um, older individuals with vision loss and, and understand those demographics. And also looking at, uh, the other side of the students in eligibility under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and some of the challenges there. That was a lot of fun. The other thing for me, uh, was to see that we are continuing to, uh, have great support from from Congress for our appropriation. It took a little while this past year, we didn't get the final bill until the middle of March, so it was six months into the fiscal year. Uh, but we did see a nice increase and, uh, we've, we've continued to see, um, some in some, some good increases from Congress and we, you know, very much appreciate that that shows the support for what we're doing, uh, here at APH. We're, of course, we'll talk some more about this, but we're waiting for the next appropriations bill again. Uh, we're a little bit late or Congress is a little bit late, but we hope that'll happen at the end of this year.

Sara Brown: 7:22

Okay. And going towards the building, there's a lot of noise in those hallways right now. Can you talk about the current renovations that are underway?

Dr. Craig Meador: 7:32

Well, this, um, was another piece of the surrealism or, uh, uh, the new reality is surrealism. Um, we have been in planning stage on this building for almost two complete years. We started a lot of energy during covid, uh, high board level engagement. We have, we've been having weekly building meetings and weekly museum committee meetings that at, at times have as many as 20 people in, in both of those meetings. And so it's a lot of voices speaking into, uh, what is to become. And for those who are joining this podcast and are unaware of the changes we're talking about, we are about ready to go through, which will be a a$40 plus million renovation at APH when it's all said and done. And what that means is our buildings for those who've been to APH, you know, uh, our, our buildings are, um, it's a huge complex. It is a, uh, there's been 14 additions over 150 some years, the last big edition being done in the seventies, uh, seventies. And I think there's a one section done in the early eighties, the back warehouse. But, but the main part of the building where we exist, and most of what I say we exist, most of our front end offices in the museum exist. I is this old 1953 structure. And it, like every building that was built almost 80 years ago, 70 years ago, if I can do my math right, um, it has shown a lot of wear and tear, and it has been fixed as needed, but it's way overdue for a large overhaul. And so, while we were in the process of planning for this building, uh, of course this was the time when, when the, uh, uh, right before this building time and kind of what, what set this all in motion, even though we were talking about it before, is when AFB trusted us to steward the Helen Keller Archives. So we brought the archives into our museum collection on loan, um, and it just became a, a driver for building this new museum configuration. And as we started moving through the building process and the museum process, what became very apparent, uh, as Anne and uh, uh, Marge Kaiser on our board and, and Jo Haas, who is, uh, uh, part of the museum development team leading that effort, really started to come together with this idea that it couldn't just be a museum. In fact, it had to be more of an experience and it had to be the most accessible experience that was out there for something of this nature, which required us to do a lot of conversations. Paul led groups and led groups, Mike Hudson, our museum director, led groups, um, we've, we've heard from multiple committees. And then we actually reached out and hired consultants who specialized an accessibility to bring that voice into this planning process. So two years, I, I tell a long story here to get to a very short point, but, uh, two years of planning and four weeks ago we began with the interior demolition work. So we are have easily a two, two full years of construction ahead of us during wish time. The entire front of the building will be taken down, all the walls of the front of the building will come down, all that will be left are floors and, uh, the interior structures, a whole new museum will be built on the front of our building, extending us out towards Frankfort Avenue. And, um, it's just gonna be a completely different and amazing facility when everything is done. And I'm, I'm quite excited about it because one of the things that, um, never felt right about APH APH does amazing work we have done. We are producing amazing products with partners. Uh, we've had amazing success. And yet when you step into our building, it's a very lack, uh, it's kind of lackluster. I mean, it, it has served its purpose. And, and not that we need some grand opulence, um, magnificent structure to, to feel our worth. But when this new building is built in, people will come see this building and will come into that building. We'll say, there is something really amazing and magical happening here. And for those who know APH and have, have been to APH and have worked with us as partners all these years, they already feel that. They feel that even without the building being there, but for the, the, uh, uneducated public, uh, right now, our building is, is something you wanna steer away from<laugh>. I mean, it's, it's, it's a pretty flat type structure. It doesn't really, it's not a, uh, doesn't give off these vibes of welcome. Um, and you know, one of our, our big taglines is"Welcome Everyone." And yet we have this building that basically says, you know,"don't bother us if you, if you don't have business here, please go the other way." So the new building will be a very welcoming building. It will be the centerpiece of Frankfort Avenue. It will, uh, draw a lot of attention to itself and really will harp into the work that is being done, not only in APH, but being done by APH throughout the country. And I, I think it'll be a show place that will, uh, make the entire field, uh, very proud of our history and, uh, also the tradition and education of, uh, uh, blindness and working with low vision students both in schools and in the workplace. So it's, it's gonna be a real show stopper. So we're excited about that, but it's been a long time and, but we've started. So that's, that's exciting.

Sara Brown: 14:06

And, and Craig mentioned products. Can you talk about some of the products that came out this year and some of the products that are on the horizon for next year? It's quite exciting for next year.

Anne Durham: 14:16

Yeah, and I'll, I'll try to make this brief, but you know, Sara, we had more than 40 new catalog products come out last year, so, you know, I don't want us to be here all day. But, you know, just for some quick highlights, you know, and some of those product items we're looking at UEB updates, which are really important. And we have so many, um, braille products at APH that's taking us while to get there, but we're getting closer and closer all the time to getting those braille products updated to UEB. And so several of those, uh, were u updates this year. But then we also had a lot of good core products, um, added to our catalog this year. Like the CVI Companion Guide Kit, the Submersible Audio Light Sensor, that's one we've been waiting for for a while that came out this year. The In My Backyard Tactile Theme Pack, the Telling Time, flip Over Concept book, the Caterpillar book, all of those were some really fun things that came out. Um, I think the text-to-speech for Chameleon, that was, although that's not a new product, that was an addition, uh, to the Chameleon, that's, uh, you know, for us at APH that's got a whole product team working on it just to get those kinds of software enhancements. Um, that's really important though, I think. And, uh, we definitely saw the response come through that that was, um, an enhancement that really mattered to students. So, um, that was a big project that, um, that was a release that happened this year that was important. And, um, you know, along the lines of enhancements when we added the Code Jumper puzzles, we've had a really good response to that. So, um, you know, I think that that, that works just like a product as well. Um, I also kind of wanted to mention that the Guidelines and Games for Teaching Efficient Braille Reading that came out from APH Press this year was the first time we've been ever been able to make an APH press book available on federal quota. Um, which is, was really exciting because we know that teachers need those kinds of resources. And just in the first month we, uh, had like 400 copies of that book purchase, which shows that teachers are very hungry for that kind of information. So we're really happy that we're gonna be able to start doing that with a lot of the APH press books for teachers and hope to see some more of that next year for sure. So, and, and I know when we're looking at next year, everybody's number one question is, Polly,"when are we gonna see Polly?" So I'm happy to say that that should be in the spring around April sometime that Polly will be out. And if you're just hearing about Polly for the first time, which I doubt anyone listening to this podcast is at this point. But Polly is an early braille teaching device, an electronic device, uh, that is wifi enabled and will help young children learn and reinforce braille concepts in a very fun, gamified way. And, um, we're really excited. We've got a, a long waiting list. People are anxious to see this device come out, and that should be happening in the spring, and we'll have a number of new other learning products coming out next year. Uh, a lot around math. Uh, I know sports courts is one that we should be seeing come out, and people have been very excited about that, a way to represent those, uh, different kinds of sports courts and a, in a tactile way. And another thing that we're really trying to focus on is providing more materials for our Spanish language learners. And, uh, and we're working on that and hope to see, uh, several products out for Spanish language learners next year. So we're just super busy, um, at APH and our product development departments. We have a lot of technology that's being developed in the background too, new technology, and, uh, you know, some of that may come out next year, it's gonna be kind of close, um, on the border there. But, uh, yeah, just very busy with a lot of new things and, you know, just stay tuned because, you know, we always involve, uh, everybody, uh, in the development and the testing in all of these products. So it's never really any big secret what we're working on. And, uh, we need everybody's feedback and input.

Sara Brown: 17:57

That's really exciting. And one thing I'd like to say too, um, this is just a question I just thought of, but I think I'll take anybody's input. Can you talk about how it felt for time to acknowledge Polly as one of the best inventions of 2022? Is this the first time an APH product has, has received that honor?

Anne Durham: 18:17

I think it's the first time for time, yes. Um, yes, yes. But not unusual for APH to receive, um, honors of distinction? No, I think we've gotten several CES awards and FCC awards and, and things like that, but it was, it was nice to see it in time and, and, um, you know, anytime that we get an award like that, it's an opportunity for us to tell the rest of the world how important these learning materials are to students and how important accessibility is to students. So, um, yes, very excited, but not in a way of like, look how great we are. It's just like, what a great opportunity this is to talk about the work that we do, which we already know is very important, I would say.

Sara Brown: 19:00

All right. So Paul, we're up to you. Yeah. Can you talk about some of the stuff that's happened in Washington this year?

Paul Schroeder: 19:06

Well, of course I mentioned appropriations and, uh, the increase and, and that of course, the Department of Education. Uh, we haven't talked a lot about this on the podcast, but I've been very impressed with the work coming out of the office for special education and rehabilitative services. That's OSS as we know it in the field. And OSEP is the special education programs part of that. And there's been a, a lot of interest in trying to, uh, up update some activities. Of course, we haven't reauthorized the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act since 2004. So that's, that's something that's long awaited not gonna happen anytime soon. But the department is doing its best, I think, to try to, uh, update some of the guidance and technical assistance that it offers a lot of interest in things like discipline. And looking at section 5 0 4, uh, which is of course the part of the Rehabilitation Act that's, uh, got non-discrimination in anyone receiving a federal, uh, federal funds. Um, and does have some importance in the special education area because many kids are served under 5 0 4. Uh, so the department is trying to look at some of these, these issues. We talked a little bit at the annual meeting about the need for updated guidance. Uh, the department hasn't done guidance on, uh, blindness and low vision issues since 2000. So that even came out before the reauthorization of idea, which had some important provisions like the National Instructional Materials accessibility standard for textbook files. So, um, there's, you know, we don't know whether the department will, uh, undertake an effort to update the guidance, but we had a really good conversation about it. And the department itself had some staff at APH who were listening, did a listening session and have, uh, since that and done a listening session through the Connect Center as well, to get input from the field about the interests and needs and issues, uh, facing students who are blind or low vision with or without other disabilities. So a lot of good stuff happening, uh, in that regard. The other thing, of course I'll mention is we, um, I don't know if people knew this, we just had an election. It was very quiet, nobody really talked about it, but we, we had a midterm election. Uh, Congress will change next year in an important way. The, the house, uh, the House of Representatives, one body of Congress will be under the control of Republicans with a very narrow majority, similar to the very narrow majority of the Democrats have these last two years. And the Senate will stay under Democrat control. So, um, Congress is itself is gonna be forced to, uh, try to work together. Uh, we'll see, uh, that hasn't worked super well over the last few years, several years. Uh, but maybe, maybe things will change. I hope so. Um, it certainly makes our job more challenging when Congress can't get itself together to work on appropriations bills, uh, as these create a lot of challenges for people waiting to see what the final number is going to be, um, for the appropriation. And that's frustrating for us. It's frustrating for our exofficio trustees. It's really frustrating for everybody. And, um, we, we, we do, we do hope for the, for some level of cooperation, perhaps next year, uh, to make, to make things a little bit easier in the appropriations world. But to come back to, uh, the department, I am very excited about the leadership at the Department of Education, at the secretary level, and at the, uh, level of, uh, the folks that, uh, we work with on special education issues. It's, it's a, it's a very, uh, it's a group with a lot of strong knowledge about education issues and, and a great deal of interest, even in APH, we got to have a, a meeting with the acting assistant secretary, uh, back, uh, a month or so ago. And, and, uh, Katie Neas is her name, she was very engaged and very interested, not only in, uh, braille and issues of that nature, but also in textbook accessibility and, and what could be done to improve, uh, the use of IMUS files and, and things of that nature, uh, to make textbooks more available. So I, I really look forward to, uh, working with that group, uh, certainly for the next two years and, and maybe beyond, if, if, uh, if they, if they stick around.

Sara Brown: 23:36

You all have already said what you hope to see for APH overall the next year. So I'm gonna ask the last and final question. Is there anything else you all wanna discuss? Is there anything you all wanna talk about, or, you know, expand a little bit more on whether it's looking back at 2022 or looking ahead to 2023?

Paul Schroeder: 23:55

Yeah, this is Paul again. I'm gonna say one real quick thing. I'd be remiss if I didn't, because it's always something that we need to remind our listeners, and that is you are, uh, the individuals that really have the power, uh, to tell the story about why APH matters, the services and, and products that we provide, why those matters to students. And of course, telling those stories to members of Congress and their staff and those offices is so important. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, uh, for, not only for the APH appropriation, but really in a larger way, telling the story of why educating blind students matters and why it's so important to make sure the blind students have the materials they need, whether they come from APH or they come from another source. And so I hope that listeners will, uh, check in with us if they have questions. If they want to know who to work with in Congress, I'm always happy to give that information to them. Uh, if they want to, uh, call an office or send a note, talking about the importance of education and ensuring supports for blind students, uh, that is, is very meaningful and very important, um, over the next, certainly over the first six months of the next year, while Congress is getting itself organized and starting to work on appropriations. That'd be an excellent time, uh, to communicate that, that those messages.

Anne Durham: 25:21

You know, Sara, I wanted to say too, I think sometimes it's hard to measure it a year by like, you know, what product came out or what were the big successes, because sometimes it's just how hard have you been pushing that rock up the hill? Mm-hmm. You know, I think for, you know, for one, one particular effort that we've really been pushing that rock hard up the hill this year has been the dynamic tact device. And not just us at APH, but all of the partners that have been involved in that all across the field. And there's been a lot of rock pushing. And, you know, at times we've seen, um, some, some victories, little victories here and there. Uh, you know, one of those was the announcement of our partnership, um, between Humanwear and, um, the National Federation of the Blind, which was announced at NBS convention at summer, and also again, at, at our annual meeting. And another one I think was the adoption of the eBRF, which took a number of international organizations to agree to that is a huge, huge accomplishment. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> to get everybody on the same page. And now Daisy is going to take over that standard, another huge accomplishment because that electronic braille standard will make multi-line braille navigable for everybody. And, um, and also applied to so many other things. And, you know, so those like little, little victories, but they're, there's, it's still pushing the rock up the hill. And I think next year, as you know, the, the prototypes come out and we start our field testing, and then we eventually see these communities start to build, build around software development, and then by the end of the year, we start training teachers how to use them. Again, that's still more pushing the rock up the hill. It's not the big launch yet, but these are all really important things that are gonna be happening. And, and part of a really important effort that's going to take not just APH, but everybody in the field working together to accomplish something that we've all been waiting for for decades. And, um, and again, kind of hard to measure a year, um, you know, by some of those marks, but, but certainly something that I think everybody would deserves a big group hug for. I think in this, over this past year, for sure,

Dr. Craig Meador: 27:20

Uh, we, we talked about the kind of the getting back to normal, you know, the readjustment to society, so to speak. Um, and the one, we had a couple, I had a couple big a-has, uh, having been with this company now seven years, and that is the one that Anne has already has spoke to, and Paul has as well, is the company that came out of COVID, was not the company that went into Covid mm-hmm.<affirmative>, uh, we changed because the world forced changed upon us, and we were an early adopter to that change. Um, and, you know, a lot of that was through our online presence, through the increase of the services we were providing, we saw the growth of the high, we saw the growth of outreach, we saw the growth of regional programs, we saw the growth of the Connect Center, um, uh, the partnerships that were formed, not only with universities, but with Humanware, with NFB, um, and, and many, uh, NTSC and, uh, a number of other programs that have started. All of that wasn't happening pre COVID. So when, when we got to the big showcase conference of the summer, which was a er, I was quite taken back by how many APH people were there at the conference. I think we made up one fifth of the conference,<laugh>. And at first I was like, uh, I was being Scrooge McDuck. I'm like, going,"who's paying for all this?" And, but the reality was is, um, or the awareness, the big aha after I had time to settle down and, and, um, I, um, I'm fortunate to have a lot of good people in my life that tell me to basically chill and, and just step back, look at what's happening, take it in and chill and wait to form an opinion. And, uh, after I got off, I get beyond my early freak out. You really start to realize that we have become such an integral part even more what we were before COVID into the way people work. Um, and I, that's, that's not, that is a humble acknowledgement that people have asked us to partner with them, and that carries a lot of responsibility. And, and so we have created an expectation within the field, within communities that APH will be there to be a partner to help address the needs of these, um, from, from the big players down to the small players as APH wants to partner. And services has been our biggest growth product over the last two years. So what that means is, as a company, we've gotta be responsive to that. Now, now that a lot of that has happened organically, it's time to get sy get mm-hmm.<affirmative> and create a systematic approach that really starts to look at who we are as a company and where we need to go for the next three to five years so that we can be even do, or what is be a better steward of people's trust and do a better job with the resources we have so that we can help continue to help other agencies, programs, companies, partners, have success and grow as well as we will see. And if we do that right, then we will see APH grow and flourish. Um, and what we have found is, as Paul mentioned to and I, I don't think this was any accident, um, but I think it was, uh, a careful cultivation of the resources in Washington. We, you know, we've always had good support from the, from Osers and Department of Ed, but these past two years, because we came forward with solutions at a time crisis, I, I really feel like there is just big wide open arms in, in DC uh, for the initiatives we're putting forward, uh, for the work we are doing. And, um, I just feel like we, we've, we've always had strong support, but I, it, I think this is at an all-time high, and I think that speaks to the work that, that has, uh, all the prep work that's been done during Covid and, and the good work that we're doing. So that's a lot of responsibility. It's a lot of self-awareness, and it's a lot of, uh, like I said, we, we've got to create the system that allows us to be very intentional with our efforts and our resources. So I'm looking forward to that. We're beginning that work very quickly, very soon. Uh, but I, I think what people have seen over the last two years will just start to grow and to multiply. Um, and I'm excited about that. It's, it's scary. It's a big challenge, but, uh, I, I think it's gonna have some big, big implications, um, as we move through this.

Anne Durham: 32:31

I think that, um, a lot of our partners are coming out of COVID different as well, and it's almost like we see a whole resing of where everyone wants to be, needs to be and, and how, how they're going to serve. And I feel a new energy that's, that's evolving out of this and a new commitment. And I am so excited about next year and, and how we're all gonna work together and how we're gonna move forward together. Um, I think that, again, being back in person, just bringing this full sparkle, bringing back in person, in addition to be able to listen to each other, you get to plot together, right? You get to say, okay, how can we mix this up differently? How can we, how can we work together? How can we collaborate together differently? And there's been a lot of that, um, a lot of those kinds of conversations with our partners and a lot of new enthusiasm. And I think we're all coming out of this better and stronger and with bigger ideas and, and a renewed sense of what's possible. And, um, and, and I think we're, I, I think we're gonna see some really awesome things happen in 23. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, you know, I'm excited.

Sara Brown: 33:44

Okay. Well, thank you all so much for joining me today on Change Makers.

Speaker 6: 33:49

You're

Anne Durham: 33:50

Welcome. Thank you, Sara. Thanks a lot,

Speaker 6: 33:52

Sir.

Sara Brown: 33:54

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Change Makers. I hope you have enjoyed listening about all the exciting things that have happened this year and our plan to happen next year. Thank you again for your support, for listening to Change Makers, and we will see you next year.