NFB Convention 2010

Convention went well but it was too long. A week is way too long. I really hated the beginning of the week b/c the individual sessions were boring and I didn't get much out of meetings like "Blind parents group" or "Blind Educators" b/c people spent more time complaining about their life circumstances than talking about tips or tricks or valuable information. Once we started general sessions the week went better. I learned a lot about the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) philosophy, about blindness issues in society, about attitudes and mentalities, about research, etc.

I also found it helpful being able to research technology that I can use to help me in my graduate work and teaching. I have been so afraid of the notion that one morning I could wake up with no vision or that one of my blackouts would result in my vision never coming back. But now I feel more confident that with the aid of certain technology I could continue grad work and find a way to succeed. Too bad everything blind related costs an arm and a leg though.

We had convention in a huge hotel. I've never been in one this big. With 3,000 blind people and all their canes and dogs...I was ready to scream. Smack, smack, smack. We all collided into each other on a regular basis and people were getting rather annoyed with each other. My friend broke two canes and I ended up letting her use mine, which left me with nothing. I still have some vision that I was able to get around the old fashioned way without breaking any arms or legs in the process. :-)

I have to say I'm not sure I want to go to another convention. Just a tad stressful and way too many people. I was grateful I wasn't forced to wear sleep shades the whole time. I would have sat on the floor and cried. The whole building was made of marble and the few times I did use sleep shades I couldn't hear much useful info. It was so loud and echoey. I also tripped like 5 people in a matter of minutes. Whoops!!! I am so glad to be back home!