Activate Inclusion

23/01/2023

Activate Inclusion Donors and Friends:

I can’t believe it is 2023! I would like to take a moment to reflect on the last year and acknowledge supporters and friends. First, Activate Inclusion has had some changes to the board. Andy Hansen has stepped in as a new board member and Matt Hines has stepped down as acting director. I have assumed the role of director with the support of the board. Our board currently consists of 3 members (Nicki Palm, Andy Hansen, and Sara Logston). Nicki recently graduated with a degree in teaching, Andy is pursuing his Masters in school counseling, and I am finishing my master’s as a teacher of the Visually Impaired.

This year we have been blessed with some generous doners to whom we are eternally grateful. I would like to say a special thank you to Sue and Mark Brander for their generous donation at the end of 2021 before I started writing these letters. Their donation continues to help Activate Inclusion provide resources and experiences to individuals in Washington State.

With support from our community, Activate Inclusion continues to provide experiences and resources to help individuals who are blind, low vision and deafblind. This year we began providing activities and education during youth workshops hosted by the department of Services of the Blind. Youth learn about self-determination, independence, and soft skills to help prepare them to enter the workforce. Activate inclusion also supported young adults in receiving their first Identification card, participating in the National Federation for the Blind of Washington conference, getting a sports physical, finding housing, and advocating for themselves.

In 2023 we plan to increase programming for young adults who are actively seeking skills and support to enter the workforce as well as continue to support individuals by connecting with one another to increase a sense of community and belonging. We have amazing resources in our state for individuals with disabilities but not every individual can access these resources at the time that they need them. Providing critical support to those who seek to better themselves should be a community effort. We are stronger together.

Looking forward to another wonderful year.

Sara

14/07/2022

If you are in Washington state, there is a public listening session on Friday the 15th at 9 AM discussing the importance of making prescription labels accessible. 

Agenda's are available for PQAC upcoming meetings Washington State Department of Health sent this bulletin at 07/07/2022 04:00 PM PDT View this as a web page PQAC meeting agendas available Meeting agendas are available for the following meetings. Registration is no longer required, simply follow the...

13/05/2022

https://katu.com/news/local/inclusive-playground-gabriel-park-play-area-set-to-open-in-sw-portland-no-child-should-be-deprived?fbclid=IwAR0ZOA2KfD_QI4OAPG3IQlZicjBNoV9oyHJfW6QuXNwPDyhq2qF6cl9LUmw

We need more projects like this one.

PORTLAND, Ore. — A new, inclusive playground is having its grand opening ceremony in southwest Portland this weekend. The Gabriel Park Play Area, located at Southwest 37th Avenue and Vermont Street, is meant to bring the community together to play, no matter your abilities or age. Features inc...

05/05/2022

Hello friends. Unfortunately we did not receive enough submissions for the 2022 Contest. We are looking to retool this contest for next year and hope that you will join us once again with your photos and videos.

07/04/2022

Every other Saturday at 4 PM, Nikki and Ryan host Ability Talks over zoom. Join the conversation with other people in the blind, Low-vision and deafblind community looking to make connections and find supports. Check them out on Facebook

https://m.facebook.com/AbilityTalks/

This page is devoted to the Ability Talks support group. This group is for anyone who is blind or low vision that wants to connect with others. We currently conduct all meetings virtually every other Sunday at 4 pm Pacific Standard Time. Send a inform.

30/03/2022

Many films come along with the opportunity to share with the public on a grand scale the beauty of disability and the real people behind the stories. This is a great article talking about one of those missed opportunities

“As a Deaf person, I am exhausted at yet another mainstream story that pretends to be about my identity filtered through the eyes of the hearing other,” writes Garrett Zuercher.

26/03/2022

https://activateinclusion.org/news/activate-inclusion-launches-partners-for-accessible-pal-leisure-program/

We are pleased to announce our official launch of the Partners for Accessible Leisure (PAL) program. We want to help businesses by providing more accessible tools for their customers and to enhance the experience of our communities with disabilities in various forms of leisure. Will your business join partner with us?

We are just getting started.
Paper Tiger Coffee Roasters
Main Event East

By: Nikki Palm, March 26th, 2022 Vancouver, WA - We are pleased to announce our official launch of the Partners for Accessible Leisure (PAL) program. Partners for Accessible Leisure (PAL) was designed with direct feedback

26/03/2022

📢ANNOUNCING THE LIFE SNAP CONTEST 📷📱🎉🎊. for our blind, low-vision and deafblind community, it’s time to have some fun and show off. Send your photo/video of your fave adapted passion to our Facebook, Twitter or email us at team@activateinclusion.org


Washington State School for the Blind
Washington State Department of Services for The Blind
Oregon Commission for the Blind
LightHouse for the Blind - San Francisco Bay Area
Northwest Association for Blind Athletes
NFB of Washington - Clark County Chapter
Boundless Technology
Washington State School For The Deaf
Wenatchee Valley Council for the Blind
Washington Council of the Blind
Blind Beginnings
American Council of the Blind
Perkins School for the Blind
Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind
Overbrook School for the Blind
Shaesaung School for the Blind
Texas School For The Blind
Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind
Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind Friends
Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind
Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind Friends
Utah School for the Blind
Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind
North Dakota Vision Services/School for the Blind
SD School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind
Florida Center for the Blind
New York Metro Blind Hockey
National Center On Deaf-Blindness
Colorado Center for the Blind
BLIND, Inc.
New Mexico School f/t Blind and Visually Impaired (NMSBVI)
Paths to Literacy for Students Who are Blind or Visually Impaired

We Want To See Your Passion In Action How It Works Activate Inclusion wants photos or videos of you enjoying your favorite adapted activity. Grab a selfie on your tandem, grab a vid of you

23/03/2022

Check out this amazing story about Bryce Weilder, a college basketball broadcaster who is blind who has covered over 200 games. His message is so important and it is so great to see him following his passions.

14/03/2022

https://www.applevis.com/blog/apple-makes-fitness-workouts-more-accessible-blind-low-vision-subscribers-addition-audio-hints
This is useful for more people than they realize.

Apple Fitness+ workouts are gaining Audio Hints, a new accessibility format developed by Apple engineering that combines VoiceOver and Apple’s Text-to-Speech synthesizer to read synchronized Timed Text over video to provide verbal cues beyond those given by the trainers. Audio Hints are intended t...

07/02/2022

NFB and Aira make COVID-19 at home test results accessible.

On January 3, 2022, National Federation of the Blind’s President Riccobono wrote a letter to President Biden regarding the NFB’s concerns about the accessibility of at-home COVID-19 tests. He reminded the President that the blind have already faced many barriers during the pandemic, including in...

24/11/2021

There is still time to participate in this valuable survey. 

“We are asking the community to weigh in on preliminary design options to help inform the analysis and decision-making process for a new multimodal replacement bridge." - Program Administrator Greg Johnson

Take our online survey to help guide decisions to determine a safe, equitable, multimodal, & earthquake-resilient replacement bridge solution.

surveymonkey.com/r/IBRFALLinput