AFB Blog

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). Throughout this month, corporations and other organizations renew and refocus their commitments to addressing the barriers that face Americans with disabilities in the workforce. The American Foundation for the Blind hopes to address a significant barrier to employment for people with vision loss by increasing our focus on transportation, which remains one of the most trenchant barriers blind people face when seeking and…

On September 24, and in light of October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month, George Abbott, AFB’s Chief Knowledge Advancement Officer, hosted a webinar sponsored by Getting Hired, a recruitment solution dedicated to helping inclusive employers hire professional individuals and veterans with disabilities. The webinar was titled “Hiring & Retaining Talent with Visual Impairments.” George’s presentation included advice and best practices on hiring and retaining people with…

During a recent broadcast of a nationally syndicated radio show, the hosts and listeners of the program took aim at a babysitter who called in and said she was unable to obtain work due to her blindness. Like many in the field of blindness and low vision, we were appalled and disheartened to hear of the public's misconception regarding the abilities of a person with a visual impairment to perform babysitting duties. Despite having the same hopes, dreams, and talents as everyone else, people…

A big thank you to the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) for hosting a wonderful event with Caroline Casey on August 30! Caroline is a disability advocate from Ireland who has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, an Ashoka Fellow, an Eisenhower Fellow, and a past advisor for the Clinton Global Initiative. Her latest campaign, the Valuable 500, is pushing global businesses to take disability inclusion more seriously. Caroline is currently working…

The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is delighted to announce that our President and CEO, Kirk Adams, was awarded his doctorate in Leadership and Change from Antioch University on August 3. Antioch’s PhD in Leadership and Change program is “dedicated to engaging working professionals in the interdisciplinary study, research and practice of leading positive change in workplaces, schools, organizations, and communities, across the country and world.” Kirk’s dissertation was titled “…

Over 180 totally gorgeous items can be seen for the very first time! Captured in over 1,200 fully accessible digital images, these 2D and 3D items in the Helen Keller Archive provide an alternative lens with which to view Helen Keller’s extraordinary life. Beautiful artifacts, oversize documents, and photograph albums are now there for all to see. The items include treasures like... Keller’s 1904 Bachelor of Arts Degree Certificate from Radcliffe College—Keller was the first deafblind person…

by Elizabeth Emerson Thanks in large part to the Helen Keller Archive at the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), I have been fortunate to be able to come to know—almost 100 years later—my great-great grandfather, Joseph Edgar (Ed) Chamberlin, his wife Ida, their children, and their life. Beginning with the first letter that I found in the Helen Keller Archive from Ed Chamberlin to Anne Sullivan, dated March 22, 1892 1, and ending with Helen Keller’s last letter to Ed’s widow in July 1935…

As we celebrate the 29th Anniversary of the ADA, AFB is pleased that Representatives Jim Langevin and Donald McEachin and Senator Tammy Duckworth have led the reintroduction of the Disabled Access Credit Expansion Act. The bill increases the amount of the Disabled Access Credit, which helps businesses afford renovations to become more accessible to people with disabilities, expands the number of eligible businesses, and invests in programs that mediate ADA-related disputes and help individuals…

On July 26, 2019, the United States will mark the 29th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the primary civil rights law protecting the rights of disabled Americans and one of the most comprehensive pieces of disability non-discrimination law in the world. AFB celebrates the tremendous progress our society has made toward equity in the past 29 years, but we also recognize that many barriers still remain. One of the primary focus areas of the ADA is employment. Title 1 assures…