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Bravos
Index of Members
Saluted
RFB&D proudly congratulates
the following
members on their outstanding accomplishments
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President George W. Bush
has appointed James J. Elekes of Union, NJ, as a
public member to the US Access Board, a leading federal
agency on accessibility and accessible design for people
with disabilities. The Access Board develops and maintains
design criteria for the built environment, transportation,
telecommunications products and information technology.
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Elekes has been an RFB&D
member since 1981, when he lost his sight due to complications
of juvenile diabetes. "Since that time," he says, "I
have been an avid user of RFB&D."
An adjunct professor at Essex County College in West Caldwell,
NJ, he has taught political science and sociology for 12 years.
He is also an adjunct professor at the County College of Morris
as well as a private consultant on access issues. He is pleased
to note that "over 50" books have been recorded at his
request, and that he has been able to get the books he needs to
teach either before or immediately after the start of classes.
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Diane Sharon of Toutle,
WA, states, "I didn't know I had a reading disability
until my children were grown and two of my boys were diagnosed
in grade school." When she decided to go back to school
herself for nursing and began to experience difficulties
with her course work, one of her counselors introduced her
to RFB&D.
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Convinced that "education
opens doors," she soon graduated from Walla Walla College,
passed her RN boards and began working as a nurse.
The stress of working as an
RN took its toll on Sharon. "The more stress I experienced
the more problems I experienced with my dyslexia," she said.
"Fear of making a vital mistake inhibited my career."
Then, because of recent cuts in Medicare, her position was eliminated,
leading to her decision to return to school once more, again with
the help of RFB&D.
"My skills as a teacher,
come naturally. I am going to work on growth in that area by getting
my masters degree in public health," she said.
Sharon's advice for anyone facing a reading disability
is "Don't give up. Always be open to new ideas and keep learning
… look for the skills you possess and the courage you have
… You have talents that others without disabilities are incapable
of. Don't get bogged down in what the world says you can't do.
Look for what you can do and where your strengths are."
Congratulations are in order
for two RFB&D members who were recently named Rhodes Scholars.
They will study for two to three years at
Oxford University in England.
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Kamyar "Cyrus" Habib
of Bellevue, WA, is a senior at Columbia University in New
York, majoring in English and comparative literature. A
Truman Scholar, he has also concentrated in computer science
and has designed an apparatus that converts text applications
to speech.
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Habib is a black belt
karate instructor, a downhill skier and a published photographer.
He is also blind and serves as the president of an advocacy
group for students with disabilities as well as vice president
of the Iranian student's association at Columbia. He has
worked for Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Hillary Clinton
(D-NY).
Habib has been using
recorded books from RFB&D since middle school, and he
says it has been "extremely helpful." He looks
forward to more and more textbooks being made available
in digital format, especially for when he attends law school
after completing his PhD in European Literature at Oxford.
Habib also looks forward to working on a joint photography
project that will highlight the photographic perspective
of people who are blind.
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Adam S. Cureton of Kingsport,
TN, will receive both a BA and an MA in philosophy and political
theory at the University of GA, where he is a Foundation
Fellow.
A Presidential Scholar who is legally blind, he founded
a journal on disability, as well as the Leadership, Education
and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities mentoring program.
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He has been a stand-up
comic and a ranked racquetball player. "I now realize
how using recorded textbooks from RFB&D opened many
opportunities for me, and I wanted to give back," he
says, explaining his reasoning behind doing volunteer work
for the Georgia Unit of RFB&D. Cureton plans to complete
a doctorate in philosophy at Oxford and continue to pursue
his interest in disability advocacy and social justice.
05/2003
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If you have an RFB&D success
story of your own, please e-mail us about it (one page
or less) at success@rfbd.org.
By doing so, you grant us permission to possibly use this information
in future publications. Please include your phone number, so we
can call you for further information, if needed.
RFB&D works for them -- it can work for you or someone you
know! For further information, please call RFB&D's national
headquarters at 866-RFBD-585.
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