This Change Makers episode is looking toward 2022. Listen as we talk to APH officials about what they want to see from renovations, innovations, finances and equality. We also talk to APH committee members about what they want to see for APH in 2022.
Participants (In Order of Appearance)
Additional Links
This Change Makers episode is looking toward 2022. Listen as we talk to APH officials about what they want to see from renovations, innovations, finances and equality. We also talk to APH committee members about what they want to see for APH in 2022.
Participants (In Order of Appearance)
Additional Links
Welcome to Changemakers 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 visually impaired. Here's your host.
Sara Brown:Hello, and welcome to Change Makers I'm APH's Public Relations Manager, Sara Brown and today we are looking towards the future...2022. We're going to chat with some APH public figures and some committee members to find out what they want to see for 2022. Up first, we have APH's President Dr. Craig Meador. Hello, Craig, and welcome to Change Makers.
Craig Meador:Thank you, Sara. Good to be here.
Sara Brown:So this podcast is looking towards the future. Tell me, what do you wanna see for APH overall in 2022?
Craig Meador:You know, it, this that's kind of a loaded question. I'm excited about 2022, just because, uh, 2021 turned out to be better than 2020. And 2021 didn't quite fully deliver on its promises in some way. And so I'm hoping 2022 will, we'll be able to get back to what I consider more of our normal routine. Um, and, uh, so that, that's my biggest hope for 2022.
Sara Brown:There's a lot of conferences on the planner for 2022. And they're finally starting to resume in person. Can you talk about what's on the map for next year?
Craig Meador:Oh yes. So, um, man, I'm so anxious. I'm so glad we, I think all of us who, whose part of our life is to try travel and, uh, uh, be out in public and connecting with people. We see that on the horizon and that is coming up January and, and, uh, so we are excited about that. That kicks off conference season and, and, uh, conference season, basically there's like three, three seasons, the conference seasons. But we kick off this year with the Consumer Electronics Show. This is something that APH has had a presence at, uh, going on, I think four years now, we've been at four Consumer Electronic Shows and, we do that for a couple reasons. One is we really want to be out there in the mainstream telling the story about accessibility and accessibility and technology and what needs to happen and what could happen and the conversations we have, not only with people from the education field who per chance understand, um, access technology, but also from large, large corporations who have, are just beginning to understand or, or realize that this is an issue. We have found a lot of, uh, what I call"partners in waiting" at CES. So these are people who are just young, usually a lot of young minds who through a university have decided they wanna solve a world issue and they've taken on blindness or visual impairment as their focus and they have great ideas. Um, and they are just really gifted developers. Following right on the heels of CES. You have the Council for Exceptional Children, CEC, which is happening in Orlando, which is probably one of the largest gatherings in the world of all educators who work with students with additional needs. So that is, uh, everything from, uh, autism to vision, to mobility issues, to cognitive issues, to deaf hard of hearing. Uh, it is a grand gathering every year and this year it's in Orlando. And then following the week after that is, uh, ATIA, and we usually have a presence there. We have a number of staff that will be presenting. We have our booth there, and that is also in Orlando, Florida. So January is the month of Vegas in Florida. In February we get a reprieve, there's a few small regional conferences, which are always so fun. Um, and they're fun because you just get to sit down and talk with teachers. That's probably the best part. This is when you hear from the people are in the trenches every day, working with students at these small AER conferences March. The big one is, uh, Cal State University Northridge. What they call CSUN, which I think is the world's largest presentation of access technology that is all related to blindness and visual impairment. That is a big shindig that happens in, uh, California every year. This year will be in Anaheim and we will be there. The large booth, uh, GoodMaps will also be there. And a lot of our partners will be there as well. And it is really a great time. We take some small breaks in April. Of course, VisionServe is happening in April. In May we pick up with a few more, um, AFB has their annual conference this year. And another conference we go to, which is outside our borders. And that is called Sight City, it happens in Frankfurt, Germany every year. We usually send a small team there... small delegation, we show some APH products. And, uh, the fun part about that is we have been introduced to the whole world of services and programs for blindness in Europe. And, um, it, it is once again, making new partners, finding new contacts, finding genius ideas that are happening in other countries and being able to bring those things back to APH. But then we jump into July and we have the two consumer conferences conventions we had, uh, ACB follow in Omaha, followed by NFP in new Orleans. And then the granddady of them all will be this late July, AER International. This was supposed to happen in, uh, last year. And it did not happen of course, because of COVID. And so it has been reset for this year. So we're excited about that. Then we all take a big break in August few small things in September. And of course, then we move into Annual Meeting, which we are so ready. And I, and I know you wanted to talk about Annual Meeting. Annual meeting 2022. Oh my Lord. We are so looking forward to this, uh, we have missed our, our EOTs. We have missed all the, uh, partner programs that use Annual Meeting as a base for their, their Annual Meetings. And we can't wait to have everyone back in Louisville. So the dates are set. We wanna just have a grand reunion at Annual Meetings. So we are looking, looking forward so much to that. Once again, here in Louisville at the Hyatt Downtown and we can't wait for that.
Sara Brown:And moving from conferences to buildings... APH's building is going to undergo some major changes. Can you talk about the upcoming renovations for next year?
Craig Meador:Yes. I can, because it's now coming reality. I mean, we're closer to reality. We're not quite there yet, but, um, we have a wonderful Board of Trustees at APH and they have been in lock step with us as we have gone through this process. This process actually started about four years ago when we began to assess the needs of our current building. And, and, uh, I'm talking about the front part of APH. And every board member, and I think most people who worked at APH said, this is really an aged building and it is held up well, but it needs, uh, uh, you know, it's like every other old building, this building that I'm sitting in right now, the president's office built a constructed, uh, part of it's constructed in the 1960's. The other part was constructed in the 1950's. We're still running off steam heat, which sometimes works. We have updated a lot of things within the building, but it is shown its age. Um, you know, so it is time. Every building has a lifespan and there comes a point when you have to do some major renovations, uh, whether it be retrofitting or complete overhauls, and we are gonna get ready to go into a complete overhaul. We believe we have a, a design, but because APH sits in what is known as Clifton Historical District, it has to go through a historical, uh, architectural review. So we have submitted our plans. Um, it doesn't mean our building has to look old-timey, basically what it means is you're allowed to build something new and modern, but you have to maintain that spirit of what was there before. So we're excited about the design that has come up. We're a little nervous because it is a review and the, and this committee does have the power to say"yay" or"nay." And if they say"nay," then we go back to the architectural redesign. Um, so assuming everything gets greenlighted, we will begin the construction of the new building and the new museum. For those who've been to APH, you know, our museum is on the second floor of the oldest part of the 1880's, part of APH. That's being moved to the front of the building. We are building a world class museum on the front end of APH. So as you come into new APH, you will walk into a large, um, it'll be like walking into any quality museum where there is a grand entrance, a reception, and the Hall of Fame will be brought down to the front of that museum, the History of Blindness and Education as well as a, a number of other things, this is gonna be big. We break ground in September. We will be in construction phase, probably for the better part. They're saying 16 months. And if you know, construction, anytime someone says 16 months, you add another six months. So probably 24 months. So we will break ground in the fall of'22. We are hoping that we wrap it all up in late summer, early fall of 2024. And it is our hope that we will doing our grand unveiling of the new museum and the new building in fall of'24 during Annual Meeting. Once again, I'm speaking a lot of hope here. You never know about construction until you get into it. Uh, but, uh, we, that we are hopeful. We're, we're hoping that a lot of supply chain issues and costs of building materials come down, we have nine months till we break ground. And, um, so, but we are getting excited and moving towards that. And the other thing I think is it's just gonna look fantastic. Um, I'm so proud of APH. I'm proud of the work that is, it has always done, but I'm really proud of the work that we, what we've been able to accomplish through partnerships over the last five years. I really believe APH is a world class organization, and I'm excited that we will have a building that reflects that, but a building's only as good as the people inside. And the building is only as good as, as the impact it has on the people they serve. So we're keeping those two things in mind, higher quality staff like we have right now continue to promote quality development of products and services that meet the needs of the people we serve.
Sara Brown:And is there anything else you would like to mention as we look towards 2022?
Craig Meador:Looking at, looking out to the field. Um, it's amazing what, how our field, and I think the world in general has responded to the, the pandemic, um, as, as far as this ability to adapt and become creative, um, there's some good things that have happened, and there's some things you know, you wish could go back to the way they were, but getting back to, uh, one thing I've noticed, and this is just from, uh, the 10,000 foot level and looking at it, APH APH is, uh, for those who, who are just learning about APH. APH is really several companies under one roof. Or it's the same company... Wow, better explain this, but, but the mission of the different departments are so unique that a lot of times they can move. Uh, I, I mean, for example, you could break out our product research division and they could be a separate think tank under an umbrella organization, somewhere else, our manufacturing department, the same way. Um, you know, and so many of the other things we do and we have worked really hard over the years to bridge, um, and really tie these departments together so that we think more cohesively and that we communicate better. And that's probably been the greatest, uh, what I've really noticed. And this is once again, 10,000 foot view here to the ground, whatever cliché you wanna say, uh, just about looking over an agency. And, um, and I know this is true in other businesses, as well as, as things have spread apart, we have seen, um, even though we're communicating more via Zoom and probably doing it more efficiently, we are seeing a, a cross- department breakdown in communication. So much communication, the good, what I call the, the"ripe communications," the, the communication that adds color, uh, the communication that, that defines nuances happens in the hallways. The other thing is I think relationships, which are key to, to any business being effective and, and really meeting their goal and their mission. It is critical and relationship when you're seeing people in the hall everyday, it's easy to be easier to be dialed into people. Uh, if they're up, if they down, you know, if, if they need a word of encouragement, um, if, if we need to, you know, talk for a few minutes, just to clarify, make sure we're all on the same page that happens so much easier when people are face to face. And so I, I miss that. And I, and it's not saying that we can't fix those items, even if we remain remote because during construction, no, one's coming back into the front end of the building. In fact, we'll even have more people working remotely. So, um, so we, we have to become very intentional with how we connect with each other. And we've also got to provide as much opportunity as complete company to, to gather and to be around each other. And so the next two years, while we go through all, this is gonna be challenging. It's, it's gonna be challeng. And, and we, um, we have no choice, but to be successful and we will just have to figure out pathways to success. And then when the building's done and people start to come back in, um, we will have to learn how to occupy space together. Again, those are, those are the things I I'm very cognizant of. It is as I look to the future. And I look to the work that is to come and where we need to go as an agency and a company, uh, to, to meet our missions.
Sara Brown:All right. Thank you so much, Craig, for joining us today on Change Makers.
Craig Meador:Oh, you're welcome.
Sara Brown:Now we're gonna hear about what APH innovations are in the works here to talk about upcoming innovations and what to expect from APH's developments in 2022 is APH's Vice President of Innovation and Strategy Anne Durham. Hello, Anne. And welcome to Change Makers.
Anne Durham:Thanks, Sara. It's great to be here.
Sara Brown:It's an exciting time right now for APH. We just talked to Craig who talked about conferences and building renovations. You're here to talk about upcoming innovations in the pipeline. Will there be any in the market next year and talk about just the, the path from, you know, product or idea to hitting the
Anne Durham:Okay, Sara, you know, when we, uh, talk about innovations, you know, we consider any product that comes from APH to be an innovation because innovation is a very specific role that APH is designed to do. As part of the Act to Promote the Education of the Blind that authorizes APH's federal appropriation, supposed to produce products that don't already exist out there on the open market. So that means that we're supposed to create the things that have never been created, uh, to meet the needs that have never been met and to solve the problems that have never been solved. So we're in a very unique position, and we have a very specific responsibility to try and push the limits and directions that commercial companies might consider to be, you know, too financially risky. Let's say. We have narrowed our innovation strategies down to five particular areas where we feel like we have the most, um, ability, to move the needle, uh, in the areas of education, employment, and quality of life. And those areas are, uh, in braille technology, braille literacy, low vision magnification technology O&M technology and in STEM. Science, technology, engineering, and math. Now, for each of these areas, we've developed a five year product roadmap and that's kind of a, a term product roadmap, but it is exactly what it sounds to be. You know, it's, we have a destination which is, you know, where we want to move the needle and those goals that we want to see, uh, students and our customers, uh, reach in their lives and how those products will help them achieve those goals. So, you know, developing of those products, I often say that a product is almost like a program in and of itself. And, um, you know, it's not just about the product, it's about everything that we build around that product. That's going to help the student help the teacher, help the customer achieve those goals and their life. And so, um, in every case, we're, we're thinking about the barriers that those products are going to help, uh, uh, break through. And, uh, we, we figure out what's going to be in that roadmap by of course, talking with our customers, teachers, rehabilitation, professionals, students, employers, and so on. We don't make the decisions about these roadmaps in a vacuum at all. Uh, one example, uh, we determined that we really needed more accessible educational tools that would teach students about, uh, coding and programming. Uh, these tools we were told were very absent from the classroom. Plenty, plenty of coding, teaching tools out there, but none of them were accessible. They just simply didn't exist. But what we also knew was that comp future literacy and fundamental programs, programming skills were going to be very essential to kids for their future employment. And we also knew that this could lead to very lucrative, um, careers for students. So a few years later now we have Code Jumper, we have Snappino we have the Code and Go Mouse. We have a variety of accessible coding products because of the planning that we, we have done through those roadmaps, those product roadmaps. Um, another example in our braille technology roadmap, we actually identified a need for a QWERTY keyboard with refreshable braille built in that was something that was not out there in the open market. And our goal there was helping students, uh, develop keyboarding skills, um, so that they would need those in the workplace someday and, and adults needed them and they needed that kind of tool in the workplace immediately. And so that led to the development of the Manus Q 40. And that's been out for a little over a year now, and it's, it's doing very well, and we're getting a lot of good feedback as to how that's helping students and it's helping people in the workplace and that's not just doing well in the United States. It's doing very well abroad too. In fact, I think we, I heard that we sold, uh, 30 of them in Russia last month, you know, which is a, a big surprise, you know, and, and I think, you know, that's a testament that goes to the planning to, you know, when you're listening to what customers need and to understanding where those gaps and needs are, and, uh, you know, working with, with a lot of different people and then listening to what their needs are. So those roadmaps, they keep us really focused on what our destination is and the goals that, that our customers need to achieve and their, um, their learning goals, their life goals, and, and working to help them meet them. Um, I think that there's a couple of things that people should know about product innovation at APH. Every product has to be surrounded by services and support, and that that can include training, uh, webinars. We put courses in the Hive around those products. It can include all of the customer service and support comes along with a product. Uh, people always have questions that, that comes up and, you know, particularly with the technology, um, that can include blogs that provide curriculum ideas. Those would be posted on APH.org or maybe in the ConnectCenter or on APH social media. Uh, the support documentation is always really important and that can be downloaded from the Product Page on our website. Uh, we also provide training at conferences, um, virtual or live hopefully very soon. And, uh, you know, our Annual Meeting is always a real strong showcase of our products and you know, we provide a lot of training there and we take people on, in depth of what we are working on at APH. And another thing I think that people understand is that this innovation that we're doing, uh, takes time. It takes a lot of time. The one thing, you know, when you're creating things that have never been created before, there's no template to follow you're, you're making it up as you go for the most part, you know, and let's say by the time like a Juno magnifier for, for example, is in your hands, you're looking at a device that has been touched. Um, let's say by at least 50 people, I know it's probably more, um, and that's over a two or three year period from that time, that idea has been conceived until it's delivered to you. And a two or three year period on a product is actual, incredibly fast. We have some products that are in the pipeline, uh, a good six years sometimes. And, and sometimes longer, uh, just the first year alone that's spent talking with customers deciding what is needed, finding the right partners, going through all of the legal steps that you have to do. Um, that's, that's a lot of, a lot of time. And then, and then when you go into the development of the product, there's all the prototyping and the testing, and then the testing, and then the more testing and the more testing and the more feedback at every stage. And then there's the setbacks. Um, the setbacks you inevitably encounter, you think you can plan for them, you can't, again, you know, when you're innovating something that's, um, that's never been done before, you, you can't plan for everything and, and you have to solve those problems. And then as you get toward the end, you have to source the materials and plan the manufacturing process. And, and then at the very end there's field testing again, um, and that might reveal even more changes that you need to make. And, and you may end up having to push out that date that you were, you were set to do. And, um, and throughout all of this time, you're planning that ecosystem that I just talked about, the training and the services and the name of the product and, and all of those support materials. And, uh, I know, and, and I understand that for some out there, it feels like forever. From the time we say that we're gonna start working on this product to the time we finish, but for me, and, you know, from behind the scenes, I think it's amazing how fast all of these details actually come together. And, and I think that, you know, a finished product is, is a miracle. It's a, it's a testament of how committed our teams, our partners, and our customers are to working together and, um, how well they solve a gazillion problems together. And in the end, make something beautiful and useful that will make a difference. And, um, so I know you asked, uh, you know, what's happening in 2022<laugh> and, you know, you take all of that in the consideration and you talk about miracles. The miracle is that somehow some way APH manages to release quite a number of new products every year. And in fact, last year we had 30 new products that came out last year, and we expect to have about the same number of products come out in 2022. Um, I'll mention one, uh, that's, I'm pretty excited about that's the Polly, and this is a partnership, uh, product with Thinkerbell Labs. It's an electronic product that will teach braille to young children, which are very excited about it kind of builds on what we've done with Braille Buzz. Um, you know, another opportunity for kids to start learning electronic braille at a very young age, and it's a gameafication tool, so there's a lot of really fun games that kids can play on Poly. And, um, one of the things that I love about it too, is I think it's also a way for parents to engage with kids as they learn about braille and, and parents can learn a little braille too, along with their kids. I've learned a little bit about braille, uh, just, you know, testing some of the Poly devices. So I think that's gonna be a lot of fun for people. And we're super excited about the release of Poly, which I think people will be seeing in early 2022. Um, but you know, it's not just, uh, the, uh, new things that come out like Poly. Uh, we have to keep refreshing our products, uh, to make sure that they stay innovative. So you're gonna see a lot of UEB updates in 2022 and some revisions to some of the APH standards like the Caterpillar Book. And, uh, we also can't forget APH Press, you know, that's a real good friend to the teachers out there, and we're gonna see a revision of the classic Guidelines and Games for Teaching Efficient Braille Reading. That's gonna be published in 2022. And I know a lot of teachers are looking forward to that book. That's a lot of fun ideas in there for teaching braille. So excited about that too.
Sara Brown:One innovation I've been hearing a lot about in this building is the DTD also known as the dynamic tactile device. What can you reveal about it and where do you hope it will be in the process for next year?
Anne Durham:Oh, I'd love to talk about the dynamic tactile device. This is, this is a big, big project at APH and, um, you know, one that takes up a lot of my time and I'm happy that it does cuz we are excited about, it's also a great example of a product that is so innovative that it is taking a long time to come to market, you know, and I think that, um, you know, I worry about the fatigue of this one out there that maybe some people are worried that it will never, ever actually happen. I, I think this one's gonna happen, Sara. I really do. I think we're getting super, super close here and I'm, I'm really glad that you asked this question cuz I, I do wanna talk about, about it. You know, APH had already been working on the idea of this idea of a refreshable tablet device, you know, with an array of pens where you can, uh, feel graphics and also braile. Um, when I first came to APH in 2017, they'd already been into this project for a couple of years and at that time it was called Graphiti. And also at that time though, it was only focused on graphics only graphics. And, uh, what you could do is again, there was an array of pens and you could feed the graphics into this device and you could feel those graphics and this was an incredible breakthrough and it was incredibly exciting for everyone to experience these types that were coming out. Um, one of the first things that I was able to experience at APH when I came was actually a very, uh, a live demonstration of an eclipse happening through the graffiti. So, um, you know, as a team, we were all able to experience the eclipse together, um, as it, as it came through the Graphiti and that, that just really the power of what a device like this could do. Um, you know, but really the whole impetus for this project was about textbooks. And you talk about solving your big problems. There is no bigger problem to solve than how we solve the problem of on-time delivery of braille textbooks to students. Um, the transcribing, embossing and delivery of a single textbook can take months and sometimes longer, uh, a year or more, uh, particularly if this is a math or a science textbook that has a lot of graphics to it. It's incredibly expensive as well. I have to say. Um, as is often a case, uh, a student won't get these textbooks until, uh, months into the school year. So they're perpetually playing catch up, and it's been this way for years. Everyone knows this is not an unknown problem. Everyone has known that this is a problem for a long time. It's just nothing that can be done about it. Um, and what's more, you know, once they get these textbooks, you know, they're, they're huge. It's just volumes and volumes. And as often the case, the braille, those that's in one volume, the graphics are in another are in other volumes. So, so it's very difficult to navigate. Um, it's hard to match these, the graphics up with the text in other words, and it's very hard to follow along in class. Um, so, so that's, that's always, these have always been issues they've always existed. So this is a project we've always called the"holy braille." The"holy braille," because just imagine the difference it could make, if students could have access to the braille and the graphics of a textbook on day one. And if they could navigate that textbook page by page in exactly the same way as their sided classmates, it sounds so simple, but that is an education equalizer that levels the playing field, like nothing else we could do at APH. It's huge. And we're not even talking about all of the other things that a device like this could do with real-time learning just that alone, just to the textbooks alone is huge, but everything else that it could do, um, it just blows your mind. I wake up in the middle of the night, thinking about other things that this device could do. And so does a lot of the team working on this project. But the Graphiti project was a start toward that because if you could at least provide the graphics and some of the other real time graphics you could have, that was gonna be huge. And we invested a lot of time and a lot of resources in that project. And we definitely learned a lot, but the thing that was missing was the braille, right? We still needed the braille. And we were thinking at the time, well, we could match Graphiti with more line braille, but it was still not integrated, right? And sometimes, and this is a very heartbreaking decision that you have to make after you've invested a lot of energy and a lot of resources in a project and everybody's hopes are so high, but you have to say,"it's time to cut the cord." You know, this, this isn't quite right. This is not gonna get it us where we want to go. And this is not going to meet the goals that we have set for our customers. And so that's what we had to do. You know, we had to cut the cord there. We were seeing that the technology to do what we really needed to do was starting to become available. And we knew we had to go in another direction. So that's what we've done. And, you know, we have, uh, formed new partnership, uh, with HumanWare. And we are now we have this best technology in prototype. Now we've developed the specs. We are, we are down the road, quite a ways at this point. I'm almost afraid to say this, but you know, our very ambitious goal is that we will have this ready for market in two years. That's incredibly ambitious. You know? Um, I guess I do wanna say it cuz I want people to hold our feet to the fire. Um, but I know how ambitious it is. And, and let me, let me just say that. I know we are talking about planets and stars aligning for this to happen. Um, but um, I think it can, I think it can, I, we have some of the brightest minds on the planet working on this and we also have just incredible support throughout the field. I think that we are all at the point here, um, where we feel like we're tired of waiting for this, that the time is now that students should not have to wait a day longer. And there is, um, uh, a, I think a unification across the field where everybody is ready to get behind this project and to do everything that they can to push it toward the finish line. Um, I'm just very excited about the momentum that we have, but, you know, yeah, this is, this is a good example of one of those things that takes a long time where sometimes you have to like stop something before you can start again. Um, and it's not like we had to start over because we did take an awful lot of learning with us. Um, that's gonna be really important, but, uh, but we're very, very excited about, about where we're at. And so in 2022, you're gonna be hearing a lot about this project. We're talking about it, every chance we get, um, it's not our practice to develop our products quietly or secretly like a lot of commercial companies do because we need that constant feedback, uh, from our partners and our customers, because we have to get this right. Um, these are your products. Okay. Um, we're developing them for you to solve your problems. So if we don't hear from you throughout the development of something, it's not gonna be right and we can't afford to not get this right. We have to get this right the first time. So we want and need your feedback. So we're gonna be talking about this a lot during 2022 at conferences, in our blogs, um, you know, every chance that we get, um, we're, we're, we're making tours to schools, uh, to agencies, uh, to, uh, every place that we can, we're talking to all of our partners. Um, you know, we have a,"nothing about you without you" philosophy, um, and innovation and strategy at APH. So, um, and, and we apologize, cuz we know this creates some anticipation. We, you all want and need this right now. Um, but, um, but right now what we need to do is we just need to hear from you and we need your feedback. So, um, so we'll be talking about it really, wherever we can find a platform in 2022
Sara Brown:And the APH museum is undergoing some changes. What will We see next year?
Anne Durham:Yeah. You know, the APH Museum is near and dear to my heart because that's our story. Right. And um, you know, I love to sneak into the Museum when I need to be motivated because it's a story of overcoming, uh, those barriers, right. And using innovation to, uh, create change. And, you know, the, the Museum was already undergoing some significant changes, uh, just before the pandemic, because as we formed our partnership with the American foundation for the blind that brought their archives, their corporate archives and the Helen Keller Archives to APH and already at that point, our museum's collection was outgrowing the space that we had for it. And, you know, getting those collections made it clear that we needed more space. So, um, in to 2022 and we are going to be breaking ground for an expanded museum that will be built onto the front of the APH building. And for this expansion, we are dreaming big, big, and, uh, we are going to, uh, build a museum that sets the standard for the most accessible museum in the world. We want this to be the standard by which other museums can learn from. And we want this museum to tell the story of achievement and, uh, to tell the story about meeting challenges, breaking barriers, how you innovate to solve problems and, um, really the fight for Civil Rights and Social Justice too. Our story, the story of blindness is, um, you know, I inspirational, everybody says it's inspirational, but it's, it's really the story of overcoming barriers. And it's a story that can inform everybody. And, um, we want to inspire future in teachers, innovators, employers, activists, and create change simply by helping people understand our field, the field that we all love. Um, and, and why we all stay here, why we all want to work in this field. And, uh, I'm so excited about it. You know, the Helen Keller story alone is great, but all of the stories of our field are great. And, um, it's our board, the APH Board of Trustees is just very involved in this and we also have the expertise of people from across the field involved. So I'm very excited about this and the groundbreakings gonna be a great day for sure.
Sara Brown:And we are gonna talk to some EPAC and ESEC members on this podcast, but tell me, how does innovation and strategy work with EPAC and ESAC?
Anne Durham:Uh, you know, we're so fortunate to have the guidance of the EPAC committee, which advises on our products and the ESAC committee, which advises on our services. And, you know, we'll, once a year, they get together for a couple of days, two or three days. And we go through a lot of presentations where we let them know what we've been working on, uh, for the past year. And they ask us a lot of super hard questions, which is a great process because, you know, they come to it from their perspective as educators. And we need to hear that, you know, we're all always open to feedback and we need to hear that. Um, and at the end of that meeting, they provide us with a list of things that first of all, that they commend us for, you know, which is things that we're doing well. And that's sort of a,"you know, what, you're on the right track of here, here, you know, give us more of this please." And that's an affirmation, which is really important, but they also give us a list of recommendations. And that's often like things that they would like us to work on to improve, or maybe there's some new things that they would like us to consider. So we take both these accommodations and these recommendations very seriously, as we do all the feedback that we receive from, from everybody really. And, um, you know, then that's kind of a process that happens after that, particularly with the recommendations. And, you know, I'll also tell you for an example, uh, one example of something that they asked us to work on is they said it would be helpful if we provided QR codes on the boxes that would take people immediately, uh, to documentation that would allow teachers and professionals quick access to user manuals and other information about products. Yeah, that sounds simple enough, right? Except for this, that had to be accessible. Right? So as we all know, anything accessible is never very easy. So we start, we start searching and we have to find accessible solutions, and then we test them. And as we go along, we provide feedback to the committees and to the, the EX Officio Trustees,"how's this sound?","how's this look?" But then we also find out, you know, that integrating these things into APH's current systems, not so easy as we thought, but it's a great process because, um, you know, they realize that, you know, what sounded like simple suggestion in the beginning, maybe not was, was not so simple after all. And they learned more about our processes and systems at APH than, than maybe they bargained for in the beginning. But, you know, it, it was an idea that we never thought of and a need that they needed met that we never would've thought of. And we work really well together in trying to solve these problems. So, you know, I love that we have these committees and I love that we work together. Um, so well in solving these problems and they are so committed, uh, to the process and so devoted to APH. Um, we're just so very fortunate to work with them. Um, I love the way that it's set up. I really do. And, um, you know, it's not, like I said, not easy all the time, but, uh, it's, we're just very fortunate to have EPAC and ESAC.
Sara Brown:And is there anything else you'd like to talk about for 2022?
Anne Durham:You know, ever since the pandemic, it has been so difficult to plan for any year and in 2020 and 2021, we, we found ourselves shelving our plans and having to pivot just to meet the needs. And, and we're prepared to do that again in 2022, if something unexpected happens, but what we hope, what we hope will happen in 2022 is that we will finally be out meeting our customers again in person. Um, we have missed you so much. So we have plans to be at conferences in person. Um, we know that it's been a long time for all of you since you've had a chance to be hands on with our products. And you've especially missed the opportunity to try out some of our new products like Juno, Mantis, Chameleon, Pix Blaster, Page Blaster, and all these great new coding tools that I mentioned earlier. Uh, we also have new things in the pipeline, new prototypes that we wanna bring to classrooms and to agencies like, like the dynamic tactical device. Right. Um, I think one of the hardest things about the pandemic has really been missing that up close and personal contact with everybody in our field. How do, how do we innovate without you? You know, we, we really, really can't, we're so dependent on you and your feedback and your experiences with our products. That's the only way that we can make them better. It's the only way we can make them, right. And we're so grateful to everyone that helped us in the pandemic with the product testing and for everyone who gave us feedback as best as they could through some very impersonal and awkward channels. Um, but it was essential. And, you know, I just wanna say to everyone, um, we're grateful for you. Um, we're thankful to you please keep your feedback coming. We, we can't build anything without you. Every product, every innovation that comes from APH is built for you and by you, and they have to work for you. So, you know, my biggest hope for 2022 is that we'll be reconnecting better than ever with the customers that we serve and getting all of you more involved in our innovations and, and be working together to transform the future. That's what it's all about.
Sara Brown:Anne thank you so much for joining me on Change Makers today.
Anne Durham:Thank you, Sara.
Sara Brown:Now we have APH's Vice President Community Government Affairs, Paul Schroeder. He's here to talk about what he wants to see for 2022 and funding and growth. Hello Paul, and welcome to Change Makers.
Paul Schroeder:Hello, Sara, happy to be here with you.
Sara Brown:So we're looking towards next year and everything we like to see. Can you talk to us about what you wanna see regarding funding?
Paul Schroeder:We're it's funny that we're right in the midst of we're right in the midst of, of the future, because as we should be already into the appropriations Federal Fiscal Year for 2022, the federal year starts before the calendar year. It's just one of those weird little quirks. It starts on October 1, and we should have had a budget all set for the United States Government, which would include the amount that they're giving to the American Printing House for the Blind. Should have had that all set by October 1st, it wasn't, as listeners to this podcast and anybody who follows the traves of Congress know it rarely happens anymore that the budget is completed, uh, before October 1st vote. So we should have had that done just today. Uh, when we were recording this, the, uh, the Appropriation was about to run out and, uh, Congress, uh, did, uh, something called a"Continuing Resolution," which is what they did back in the end of September when they knew they wouldn't get to the October 1 decision point. Uh, they kicked the, the can down the road to December 3, and now it's down the road into February. Uh, and what that means is their fund funding, the government and APH, uh, at the same level as they funded everything last year, last fiscal year. So funding all stays the same. So what is my hope? I mean, for sure, uh, my hope is that we get a full budget completed in past, in February, and that it hopefully has increase for, for APH. The first thing I'd like to see is, is I'd love to see the budget completed. I'd love to see, um, Congress, um, you know, not only the American Printing House for the Blind, but there were other significant increases for special education funding that were in the house past version of the appropriations bill. And I know we'd all like to see more support for, uh, the kids, uh, that we serve in special education.
Sara Brown:In another area that's in your department is the ConnectCenter, which is seen a lot of changes in growth just during 2021. What do you wanna see for the ConnectCenter for 2022?
Paul Schroeder:I, I am so excited that the ConnectCenter has, has come over to my, my group. Um, it's a set of programs that I was familiar with in my past incarnations. Uh, many know that I worked for the American Foundation for the Blind for a number of years and, uh, helped develop those sites. Um, I, there's a couple things that I wanna make sure that, of course we are providing the kinds of information and resources in those centers that parents and individuals need to be able to take action, um, to support, uh, students and themselves in finding opportunities. That's one, and, and I'd like to see the centers have a little bit more, more advocacy support so that people know how to advocate for themselves or their kids, uh, what to, what kinds of, uh, strategies to make, what kinds of actions to take. So that's something I've been working with the team to try to enhance what we're doing. And then of course just make the, the centers, uh, the sites that make up the ConnectCenter, just as strong as they can be. You know, we had a lot of work to do to, uh, reframe those and, and, uh, uh, reestablish those when we took them over. Um, and so there's a lot of work still needed to kind of make sure the resources are there are up to date and accurate, and the links are accurate and all those things that go into a web program.
Sara Brown:And is there anything else you'd like to mention for 2022? Anything else you'd like to see?
Paul Schroeder:Oh my gosh, there are so many things. You know, one of the other programs in my area is the Museum. Uh, we're gonna be doing, having a lot of focus on the Museum in the next year, uh, as part of our, uh, revitalization and renovation work. And, um, one of a, a key part of that will be the expansion of the Museum. And so I would imagine over the next year that we will have lots of conversations about how to tell the stories that we want to tell about history of education and rehabilitation and, uh, progress, uh, for, for individuals who are by individually impaired and have other disability is there's so many stories that we already tell in the Museum, but there's so much more that we can tell. Um, of course we're privileged to have, uh, currently on loan, the Helen Keller Archives from the American Foundation for the Blind and that'll be a key part of our storytelling with this museum. But there's a whole lot of other stories to tell as well. Um, anyone never visited and I, I really do encourage you to, to do so, uh, come see the museum as it is today, and then, uh, stay focused because you're gonna see some great changes over the next couple of years to that museum, but come visit us now, um, see what stories we're telling, and then we'd love to have some input on changes you'd like to see. So that'll be, uh, a, a very, uh, significant part of our work in'22. And then the last thing, uh, I think you've, you've had some opportunities to talk about our regional and outreach, uh, programs, um, that are also part of my group. And we'll be expanding. We'll be adding more regional supports in, uh,'22, um, and opportunities for people to, um, have support within their regions, the, the EX Officio Trustees and other, uh, stakeholders as well to learn about APH products and, and services, uh, from somebody closer by. Uh, so we're looking forward to expanding that we've already gotten Northwest and Southeast and North Central recently established, and we'll be adding some more, uh, in'22.
Sara Brown:Thank you so much, Paul, for joining me on Change Makers.
Paul Schroeder:Well, thanks for having me.
Sara Brown:Up next. We're looking towards accessibility, belonging, inclusion, diversity and equity for 2022. We have APH's Director Accessibility, Belonging, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity, Tai Tomasi. Hello Tai, and welcome to Change Makers.
Tai Tomasi:Thank you so much for having me on the podcast.
Sara Brown:What are you wanting to see for"ABIDE", which also stands for accessibility, belonging, inclusion, university, and equity at APH for 2022?
Tai Tomasi:So in what we call the ABIDE area, I'm looking forward to having some new trainings for employees, especially in this time of remote work, um, and ways to help make employees feel welcome when they can't be with us in person at our facility. I'm also looking forward to creating some spaces where people can feel empowered to share about their intersectional identities, whether that's disability, race, sexual orientation, um, all different kinds of intersectional identities that sometimes can create challenges for people, um, in terms of interacting with society. So we want to give them safe spaces to speak about those. We're going to increase culture of belonging through some of the trainings and events, especially the ones, um, for people who are working remotely. Um, perhaps some of our wellness activities can incorporate some of our remote employees as well. Maybe we can use social media, um, to work with, with them as well and keep them included. And we really wanna help cultivate a culture where employees feel, um, comfortable sharing their lived experiences. Um, I want to help people cultivate a desire to learn more about accessibility and helping them learn how to bake it in from the ground up. We think of accessibility as, um, you know, know part of a cake. It has to be baked in from the beginning. You can't just put it on the top, so we wanna make sure people understand that about accessibility. Um, and then I want to help departments establish some goals as for the abide areas that we spoke about. Um, just allowing them to put those things down on paper and have some good measurable information.
Sara Brown:What would you like to see elsewhere for, you know, ABIDE in 2022?
Tai Tomasi:I want to see everyone come to a, a willingness to learn and to hear other perspectives without getting so defensive. That's something our whole society needs to work on. Um, we go, we go to confrontation and conflict too easily, and we ha we don't have enough empathy. And I wanna see our society working on developing that. Um, I also want to see more acknowledgement that accessibilty really should be a human right, and a civil right, that, that people have the right to access, basic access to things. Um, it is difficult for people with disabilities and those microaggressions of inaccessibility add up over time. So we wanna see that kind of become more of a right, uh, and the responsibility that comes with with making sure that happens for people. Um, we wanna see the increased understanding of the inequities in our society. That's something I don't think people understand. Um, there's lots of programs that have benefited the majority in society. Um, but we wanna, we wanna talk about that systemic oppression of, of people who haven't had those opportunities. And one of the examples I think of is apple picking. Sometimes people are too short to reach the apple tree, and what helps to create equity is to allow them to have a ladder so they can get up there and reach it better. Um, as compared to people who are taught, that's kind of what equity means to me. Um, and I think we need to have increased understanding that improving equity are necessary.
Sara Brown:Tai, thank you so much for joining me on Change Makers.
Tai Tomasi:Thanks again for having me on the podcast.
Sara Brown:Up next, we're talking to members of EPAC and ESAC about what they would like to see for 2022. Now we're talking to members of APH's EPAC. Stands for Educational Products Advisory Committee, and their purpose is to advise APH in establishing priorities, standards, and policies regarding products. Review research, and development priorities, and more. Review products under development to consider approval for finished products for purchase with federal quota funds. To recommend parents, caregivers, students, and professionals in the field for research or field testing purposes. Now we're talking to EPAC member, Kathy Segers. She is an EX Official Trustee for the State of Tennessee. Hello, Kathy, and welcome to Change Makers.
Kathy Segers:Oh, thank you. It's good to be here.
Sara Brown:Now, this podcast is about looking towards the future just 20 22, which is just days away now, what would you like to see?
Kathy Segers:Well, let me just say, from when I started this back in the 1980's to where we are now, it doesn't even look like the same animal. I mean, it, it, it's just in, in 1984,'85, when I first started teaching, we did everything on Perkins Braillers. There were no electronics at that point. You know, computers still filled the room. You know, we didn't have PCs and things like that back then. And to be where we're at now, from where I started in this field is just phenomenal. And, you know, I think that we need to be open to changes that will make it even more phenomenal for the future for our students. You know, I'm, I'm just blown away by all the coding products that APH has come out with. And I hope that APH continues that and makes that bigger and better, because this is something that has not been very accessible to our kids up until now, when they came up with Code Jumper and all the different products that, that are, you know, available now, and that are in development now. And I'm aware as an EPAC member, there are some in development right now. So I think we need to take that and go full ahead with that because our students need to understand coding to be competitive. A lot of our students are very good at technology, but that's the piece that they didn't have. And I think that will, you know, if we can teach them good coding techniques that will give them a lot more opportunities in the future. Now, as far as, you know, notetakers and braille and those kind of things go, you know, I, I don't know that hard copy braille will, will go away ever completely, but I do know that we need more things in a more portable manner for our kids. It's hard to lug braille books around are some things you need'em for, you need'em for the tactile graphics still. You know, I hope we come up with a tactile graphics pad, like, you know, we had the Graphiti that was in development. And I know that they're, they're still looking at trying to do something along those lines, but until we get a good solid products like that, we're still gonna have, have to have those hard copy books around for the graphics. So, you know, notetakers are wonderful having, you know, files that you can use on your notetakers so that your brail is more portable. I think we really need to move in the direction of making all braille more portable, you know, so that we don't have to lug around, you know, one volume of seven different books in our bookbags and that kind of thing where everything, we can have a notetaker that has, you know, tactical graphic capabilities in our book bag and all of our books on that. I think that's the way of the future. Are we there yet? Nope. But we're certainly looking that way and that's the way that we need to be looking toward product development. You know, not that, you know, some people will always like a book. I still like having a book in my hand as a print reader, you know, but I also do some digital things as well. So it's just having that, that option to do it that way. You know, we really need to move into more of a digital world. The rest of the world has, and the real world needs to move more so that way, and I know we are headed that direction, but, you know, I just, I think that has to be a priority.
Sara Brown:Thank you so much, Kathy, for joining me on Change Makers today.
Kathy Segers:Okay. Thank you.
Sara Brown:Now we're talking to EPAC's Scott McCallum. He is the superintendent at the Washington State School for the Blind. Hello, Scott, and welcome to Change Makers.
Scott McCallum:Hey, Thank so much for having me, Sara. I appreciate you welcoming me here today.
Sara Brown:What would you like to see for 2022?
Scott McCallum:It's a great question. Uh, you know, I think the, the, the knee jerk reaction that I have is to say, I really wanna get back to in person. Um, I mean, we're in-person here at the school. I wanna get back to being in with my colleagues. There, there's an energy, there's a level of support. There's a level of understanding and empathy that, that I feel when I'm around my, my colleagues in this field. Um, and that happens at the APH Annual Meeting that happens at AER International Conference. And for now for two years, we've been on Zoom and it's wonderful. Like it's wonderful to be here with you, but it's, it's, I can't wait to meet you in person. Um, because it, it is different, but I hope that we take some of the lessons we learned in, uh, over the last two years and, and apply them in ways that create some and important changes. I mean, I've seen, um, we've become so much more flexible in how we work and how we think of work. And there's some, there's some really great sides to that. I mean, for some, some individuals that I work with here, mobility has been a challenging thing because whether they utilize public transportation or, or what, um, it, it just was, it was really challenging for some to have to be here all the time. And so for some that flexibility to work from home or to work in a different way has been profoundly positive for them. Um, and, and possibly profoundly positive for our agency. So I hope we take some of the lessons we've learned over the last year and apply them to what we see in the future. Um, and, and I don't like the words normal. I don't wanna say let's get back to normal, cause I don't necessarily even believe in the ideal of a normal, um, I think there's just a huge range of human experience. And so I just, I do wanna get back to where there are choices to be with people and, and to capitalize on that energy and positivity that comes from being together and, and feeling like you belong in a space. Like I, at Annual Meeting, I feel like I belong there and, and I feel like I'm appreciated there, um, in ways that fill my bucket, say that might be different from say, just being here, but, um, but I can't wait to see everybody without a mask on too. And it's a bit of a sighted bias that I, but there's so many folks that I work with here who have been hired over the last two years, who I don't know them without a mask on and I can't wait to see their face. Um, even our students, I don't get to hang out with our students here in the same way that I used to. Um, an example of that is, um, my office is right outside the lunch room. And so on a typical day, um, I'd hear the students going to lunch and I'd often go down and sit with them and, and make my way around to each of their, their tables and get to know our students for the beautiful humans that they are this year. It just in that in last year, it's just, I can't do that. I, I, I don't feel like it's safe for me to sort of invade their space when they have to be maskless. And they're eating, even though there's a, there's an end game in mind. I just, I don't feel like I have the relationships with folks like I used to. So I look forward to being able to build those really awesome, authentic relationships. And, and, um, because I thrive in that space and I think so many of our students thrive when they're, they're viewed for their strengths and they're viewed for what makes them unique. Um, and, and it's a little harder to do that right now when we have to be so distant. So, um, yeah, that's a, a lot of, I can't wait to be back together, but I'm also, we really take these lessons we learned and make life better for other people.
Sara Brown:And one last question, is there anything else you'd like to add?
Scott McCallum:You know, I, there's a lot of divisiveness in the world right now. And, um, and there's some real important topics that we're talking about in ways that that either were pushed under the rug by some or marginalized or minimized. And so I hope we continue to have these conversations in a really rich way, rather it's about race or disability, uh, or just making life better for people. Cuz I mean, I, I'm a, I'm a white guy. Who's had every privilege ever in life. Like I, I, I know that I see that I'm constantly trying to, um, kind of work within that of myself, but also see how can I make life better for others. And so we've had some really important conversations over the last several years and I hope those continue with the same intensity, um, and the same intention of improving life for everybody. Um, in the future, you know, yes, I hope that we have self-driving cars and yes, I hope that every website's accessible, but we've got some, we've got some things we need to work through as people and uh, and especially in our country as Americans and we've, we've gotta recognize our past and the impact that's had on people. And that includes black and brown people. And it includes people with disabilities and, and a whole range of other levels of identity. And so I hope that, that this work continues. Cause I feel like we're starting to build some momentum, at least in Washington. And, and also as a nation, there's some, there's some healing and repair that needs to needs to happen, but we, we also, this can't be a flash in the pan past or a flash in the pan. It can't be something we just talk about once and COVID, O's over and we're moving on to bigger and better things cuz that just isn't that just in my mind, doesn't work, we really need to honor, um, the situation that in and all the levels of complexity that we've brought into this as people, as Americans, as people of privilege and people who haven't had the same privilege. And so I hope those things continue to those discussions happen and, and the world continues to change. Humanity continues to change to, to, um, recognize and value all people. So that's what I hope.
Sara Brown:Wow. What a great perspective, Scott, thank you so much for joining me today on Change Makers.
Scott McCallum:Thanks for having me, Sara. I appreciate it. Appreciate the opportunity.
Sara Brown:Now we have a few ESAC members here to tell us what wanna see for 2022 ESAC stands for educational services advisory committee and their purpose is to provide oversight and leadership in the planning, evaluation, and delivery of product related services, assisting the promotion of APH products, advise APH on general operations and communications as well as topics relevant to the education and rehabilitation of persons who are blind or visually impaired. We're here with ESAC member, Beth Pieters, and she is the Literary Consultant for the State of Iowa and teacher of the visually impaired and Orientation and Mobility Specialist. Hello, Beth, and welcome to Change Makers.
Beth Pieters:Thank you for having me.
Sara Brown:What would you like to see for 2022 as well as the future?
Beth Pieters:I would really like to see a lot more accessibility for our students, whether it's through for testing, um, uh, or for, uh, the educational websites have really been bothering me lately that they're just not accessible for blind and visually impaired students. So I'd really like to see that become a high priority for those developers, those websites. I also like to see more products or uh, orientation, mobility specialists. Um, there's, there are a lot of tools out there, but not many through APH. It would be nice to be able to use quota funds for some of those things. Um, and of course, uh, more you just more access to braille. Um, uh, there's a lot of tools that are available using an iPad or an iPhone, but then only parts of it are accessible for braille. So it would be really nice if those things could be more accessible.
Sara Brown:Okay, Beth, thank you so much for joining us today on Change Makers.
Beth Pieters:Thank you for having me again. Bye.
Sara Brown:We have ESAC member, Jared Leslie. He is the Director of Media and Development for the Foundation for the Blind Children. Jared also serves as an EOT for accounts eight through nine for the Arizona Department of Education. Hello, Jared and welcome to Change Makers.
Jared Leslie:Hello, thank you.
Sara Brown:What would you like to see for 2022? This podcast is about looking towards the future. So what is it, what that you would like to see?
Jared Leslie:Yeah, I think, uh, in the, in the field, I think focusing on, um, knowledge transfer. So you, you have a lot of, um, really just inherent field knowledge that is in a group of, um, individuals that are getting close to retiring and then you have a new cohort that's coming in and helping to support that as well. Um, that knowledge you wanna make sure is available. And I think APH is making that effort, um, with the Hive on a national level. And I think in the state level, um, finding ways to be able to capture that and make sure that, um, on the state's view, um, because everybody kind of tackles, um, the way that things are delivered in their state differently. And so that knowledge is, is really important to make sure that you hold onto that. I do have a couple other things too. I got a kind of excited just about thinking about 2020, um, but I think integration of efforts and then also, um, making sure that we can tell our story. I think over the last two years, we have found ways to be able to invite people into our classroom rooms more and more, um, in a virtual way and be able to show what we're doing individually as a state. I think as a field, we offered more and more webinars, um, to be able to provide trainings. And I would love to see that to, to continue, um, because con conversations have happened from state to state and fromt. I tot I that have not happened in the past because, um, you were used to dealing with the classroom cohort or the district cohort that you were working with. Um, and that has opened up quite a bit more into a national station, um, as well. And then lastly, obviously, um, increase for federal quota funding. I think that's, um, always, um, a huge deal, um, within the classroom, the, for all resource centers that lend out items, um, it means just more students get what they, what they need at a faster rate.
Sara Brown:Jared, thank you so much for joining me today on Changemakers.
Jared Leslie:Thank you.
Sara Brown:And thank you very much for joining us today on Change Makers. We hope you have a wonderful holiday season and happy new year as always be sure to look for ways you can be a changemaker this week and we'll see you back next year.