Change Makers: A Podcast from APH – Details, episodes & analysis

On this episode of Change Makers, we’re diving deeper into the world of Be My Eyes. Hear directly from the creator of this groundbreaking app and discover how it can help you navigate and troubleshoot your everyday tech gadgets with confidence. 

On this episode

• Narrator
• Sara Brown, APH Public Relations Manager
• Hans Jørgen Wiberg, Founder of Be My Eyes

On this special two-part episode Change Makers, hear from the creator of the innovative app, Be My Eyes. Hear how it originated, early feedback, and what’s next for the groundbreaking app.  

On this episode

• Narrator
• Sara Brown, APH Public Relations Manager
• Hans Jørgen Wiberg, Founder of Be My Eyes

Additional Links

• Be My Eyes Website
• Be My Eyes in the App Store for iPhone
• Be My Eyes in the Google Play Store
• Be My Eyes for Windows

On this episode of Change Makers learn about Wing It - a groundbreaking application for the Monarch and iOS devices that empowers users to create tactile graphics on the fly.

Wing It is available in the Apple store, search for "Monarch Wing It" or you can download it here. The next episode of Change Makers will continue this discussion about programs and applications on the Monarch.

Additional Information (In Order of Appearance)

• Narrator
• Sara Brown, APH Public Relations Manager
• Jason Martin, APH  technical Innovations Product

Additional Links

• Making the Visual World Tactile with the Wing It App for Monarch
• Meet Monarch
• Download Monarch Wing It on the Apple App Store

Gary Mudd, VP of Government and Community Affairs is retiring!  If you ask anyone at APH, they’ll tell you, Gary is at the heart of what we do. He has been integral to supporting everything from the APH Museum and InSights Arts Competition, to the National Prison Braille Program and NIMAC Resources Services team, but most notably, he will be remembered for his advocacy. On this episode of Change Makers, Mike Hudson, APH Museum Director, will interview Gary and find out what's next. After that, Mike will talk to Sara Brown, Public Relations Manager about his time working alongside Gary.

The holidays are here! Today on Change Makers we're discussing gift ideas, traditions and support. Hear some great gift ideas for adults and children and what you can look for when picking the perfect present. Then, learn how to modify traditions to be accessible and how you can provide support for loved ones experiencing vision loss. 

After that, we'll check in with the ConnectCenter.

• Paul Ferrara: APH Favorites
• Lisa Lloyd: Seedlings.org, Fighting Blindness, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Toy orchestra
• Melanie Peskoe: APH Gifts
• Pris Rogers: Vision Aware, Family Handbook, Making Life More Livable
• ConnectCenter: FamilyConnect.com, VisionAware, Foundation for Blind Children Seeitourway.org: Accessible Santa Letter campaign, Jingle Jam Let's Get Cooking with 12 Days of Recipe, Button Trees, Blindfold Twister, Braille Flashcards and Embossed Pictures

CVI is the most common cause of permanent visual impairment in children. After a diagnosis, parents and guardians look for answers and support. 

In today’s episode of Change Makers, we’ll talk to Leanne Grillot, National Director of Outreach Services for APH, Rachel Bennett, CVI Content and Community Manager at Perkins School for the Blind and Diane Sheline Consultant for Students with CVI. Then we will hear from the ConnectCenter.

• Rachel Bennet: CVINow, CVINow Facebook Parent Group
• Leanne Grillot: BookBuilder Replacement
• Olaya Landa-Vialard: ConnectCenter 
• Diane Sheline: StragegytoSee

COVID-19 has changed every aspect of our lives especially in the world of education. With students learning from home, parents and caregivers found themselves providing additional educational assistance and teachers found themselves working to engage with their students in a virtual world. From those needs, APH Hive, Access Academy and ExCEL Academy emerged.

In today’s episode of Change Makers we’ll talk about the many APH services that are geared for students, parents and educators. We’ll talk to Amy Campbell, Learning Management System Administrator, Leanne Grillot, National Director of Outreach Services and Robbin Clark, ECC Coordinator at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. Then later, we’ll hear from the ConnectCenter.

Links:

• APH Hive
• Access Academy
• ExCEL Academy
• ConnectCenter

APH’s 152nd Annual Meeting took place early October in a virtual format, due to the current pandemic. Nearly 1,300 participants logged on to learn how to handle challenges brought on by COVID-19 to be successful in the future.

On this episode, we look back at the Annual Meeting which features: Dr. Craig Meador, APH President, State of the Company Address; the Hall of Fame: Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field induction ceremony; a keynote speech from Tyler Merren, Paralympian; and several sessions and panel discussions.

Links:

• Hall of Fame: Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field
• APH Annual Meeting Website
• AFB Helen Keller Archives

APH’s Annual Meeting of Ex Officio Trustees and Special Guests is almost upon us. It takes place from October 7-9 and will be virtual.

On this episode, APH President Craig Meador and Leanne Grillot, APH’s Director of Outreach Services discuss Annual Meeting. They talk about the decision to make the meeting virtual, its theme “Better Together,” as well as several meeting highlights, including our keynote speaker, sessions and events that will take place, and a surprise ending session.

Another important part of Annual Meeting is the ceremony to induct new members into the Hall of Fame: Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field. Mike Hudson from the APH Museum tells us more about the Hall and about some of its current and its new inductees.

Guests:

• Craig Meador - President, APH
• Leanne Grillot - Director of National Outreach Services, APH
• Mike Hudson - Director of the Museum at the American Printing House for the Blind

Links:

• APH Annual Meeting 2020 registration and information
• Hall of Fame: Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field

At APH we often say "the future belongs to everyone." We mean it. We also think that part of our journey to get there has to do with changing how people see people with disabilities. In today's episode of Change Makers we talk about why representation in the media is so important. We talk with Bree Klauser who stars in Audible's new series Phreaks, and Apple TV+'s SEE. We also talk with Joe Strechay who's been a blindness consultant on shows like Netflix's Daredevil, and Apple TV +'s SEE.

GUESTS:
Bree Klauser - Actress
Joe Strechay - Producer and Blindness Consultant

LINKS:
breeklauser.com