PIC Family Voices Podcast (00:40)

Welcome to the PIC/Family Voices podcast. Today we will be talking about the American Printing House for the Blind APH Federal Quota Program, which allocates funds used to obtain accessible educational materials for blind and visually impaired students registered on the federal quota. In this episode, you’ll hear from Adrienne Shoemaker and Lynette Lawrence.

Adrienne is a teacher of the visually impaired TDI and certified orientation and mobility specialist, COMS for the Concord School District.  She also works with the New Hampshire Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education Support, providing expertise on vision related services. In addition, she supports the state’s assessment office in serving students who are blind or visually impaired. In 2012, Adrienne received the APH Scholar Award from the American Printing House for the Blind. And in 2019 was recognized as a Distinguished Educator of Blind Students by the National Federation of the Blind. Adrienne serves as a lead point of contact between the field and the Department of Education. She has been in the field for more than 17 years.

Lynette is an education consultant with the New Hampshire Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education Support. She is also the New Hampshire APH ex officio trustee overseeing the annual federal quota process and allocations received to support eligible individuals ages birth to age 22. Before joining the Department of Education, Lynette spent many years working in higher education. She also served as a high school guidance counselor for six years and director of financial aid and associate director of admissions at the Tilton school. Adrienne and Lynette, welcome to the podcast.

Lynnette Lawrence (02:21)

Thank you, Emily.

Adrienne Shoemaker (02:22)

Thank you for having us.

PIC Family Voices Podcast (02:24)

Lynette, could you start by explaining the background of the American Printing House for the Blind APH, including its purpose and the role it plays in supporting individuals who are blind and visually impaired?

Lynnette Lawrence (02:34)

Yes, I’d be happy to do that. Since 1858, the American Printing House for the Blind has operated in Louisville, Kentucky as the world’s largest nonprofit organization, creating accessible learning experiences through educational, workplace, and independent living products and services for people who are blind and low vision. In 1879, Congress enacted the Federal Act to promote the education of the blind which established a system to provide adapted educational materials to individuals birth through adult who are blind and low vision. The American Printing House for the Blind, also known as APH, was named the national central source for these materials and a permanent annual appropriation was created for APH to continue to produce these materials.

The APH federal quota program was established to conduct an annual census of eligible individuals who are blind or low vision. The annual census determines the per student funding allocation for purchasing educational materials from APH. These funds are credited to state specific federal quota accounts which are managed by APH and its ex officio trustees across the United States. Teachers of the visually impaired, orientation mobility specialists, vision coordinators, and parents can use these funds to obtain specialized educational products and materials for students who are blind or low vision.

PIC Family Voices Podcast (04:02)

Great, thank you Lynette for giving us some background on who the APH is and how they support individuals, not just children, but up to age 22. Adrienne, could you explain a bit about who qualifies for the program?

Adrienne Shoemaker (04:14)

Absolutely. There are three different areas that are needed in order to be eligible for the APH Federal Quota Program. So the first one we look at is the functionality. So one area where a student could qualify is if they meet the definition of blindness. So that is a central visual acuity of 2,200 or less using a Snellen chart or an acuity determined in Snellen chart equivalents in the better eye with best correction or a peripheral field of vision no greater than 20 degrees. An individual could also qualify if they function at the definition of blindness. That’s when visual function meets the definition of blindness as determined by an eye care specialist, ophthalmologist, optometrist, or other medical doctor such as a neurologist. So individuals in this category usually manifest unique visual characteristics found in conditions referred to as neurological, cortical or cerebral blindness or low vision, often caused by brain injury or dysfunction. And the third functionality eligibility area could be that they qualify under the IDEA definition of visual impairment. So that would be an impairment in vision that even with correction adversely affects a child’s educational performance. And includes both partial sight and blindness.

Once a student meets the functionality requirement, what we look at is that they need to have a written education plan. So that written education plan could be an IEP, a 504, an individual family service program plan. And what we would want is that written plan to be on file with the local school district, area agency, or it could also be a student who is homeschooled and has a written education plan.

One more area that they need is that it’s really important that we need to, we’re required to obtain a parent or guardian or adult consent form. So anybody who is registered on the American Printing House for the Blind federal quota needs to have a signed parent or guardian consent form.

PIC Family Voices Podcast (06:19)

Great. Thank you, Adrienne, for that explanation on how an individual would qualify for the program. Lynette, could you tell our listeners how eligible individuals are registered on the federal quota?

Lynnette Lawrence (06:29)

Absolutely. The annual APH federal quota registration process begins every year on the first Monday in January, and we keep the registration portal open usually through mid-February. This year that range is going to be Monday, January 5th through Monday, February 23rd.

School district special education administrators, charter school administrators or 504 coordinators, and family-centered early supports and services administrators are the designated authorized officials responsible for registering eligible individuals on the quota. Administrators collaborate with teachers of the visually impaired, orientation mobility specialists, and vision coordinators, as well as parents to ensure both new and continuing eligible individuals are registered. We facilitate the quota here through the Department of Education to assist each of those authorized officials with completing the registration process for their eligible individuals.

PIC Family Voices Podcast (07:35)

Great. Thank you, Lynette, for giving our listeners the information on how eligible individuals are registered on the quota. Adrienne, what are the types of materials available once registered and how are those obtained?

Adrienne Shoemaker (07:47)

All right, so this is the exciting part. So once an individual is registered on the account, they are then able to receive these accessible specialized educational materials. So there’s a bunch of different product categories that are found. There’s early childhood materials, such as tactile storybooks that have Braille and large print in them. There’s giant textured beads matching textured blocks.

In the areas of English language arts and literacy education, there are reading programs, braille trade books, braille labels, sheets, there’s tactile graphics kits, Boston bold line writing paper. In math, there’s tactile five and 10 frames, bold line graph paper, tactile graph paper. We have large print and braille number lines, rulers, protractors, addition and subtraction tables, multiplication and division tables, hundreds charts. Science, we have the whole adapted science materials kit, which includes the talking thermometer. In social studies, there’s tactile world globes, and then also accessible maps and atlases. And in phys ed, there’s sound balls. And this is just a small, small sampling of all the different materials that are available through the American Printing House for the Blind once a student is registered on that federal quota. The way to obtain them is once registered, ordering can be done through a Teacher of the Visually Impaired or Orientation and Mobility Specialist, and they can request those materials for all the individual students that are assigned to them.

PIC Family Voices Podcast (09:21)

That’s great. Thank you for that, Adrienne. It’s clear that the American Printing House offers a wide range of materials and resources. Thank you for sharing such valuable information about the Federal quota program. For anyone listening to this podcast who may need resources, please know that funds received for eligible individuals registered on the quota can be used to obtain educational materials for students who are blind or have low vision. And the APH has been creating resources and materials to support individuals with visual impairments since 1858.

PIC Family Voices Podcast (09:50)

So we’ve heard a bit about the background of the APH, the eligibility, and how the registration process works, as well as the materials offered. But today, let’s dive a little more into how families are supported by the APH and why it matters. I’d like to spend a few minutes talking to Lauren Martone, parent of a child with a visual impairment, to speak on the importance of the APH to families. Lauren, thank you for being here.

Lauren Martone (10:15)

Thank you for having me.

PIC Family Voices Podcast (10:18)

Lauren, to begin, could you give us a little bit of background on how the APH affects your family?

Lauren Martone (10:23)

Sure. I am mom to an 11 year old boy who is identified with cortical visual impairment. His acuity actually is 20-20, but his visual impairment is a delayed processing speed of what he sees. So it’s actually a brain-based visual impairment.

These are complex issues because these individuals often present perfectly sighted. But when they’re trying to access the curriculum, they need support. So the APH quota covers children who are not just blind, but also those who are diagnosed with a variety of visual impairments. And visual impairments, like so many disabilities, are a full spectrum. And I think parents often struggle to know what their child could be eligible for or how to go about meeting those eligibility criteria.

PIC Family Voices Podcast (11:18)

That’s great. Thank you for noting that it is not just about families with blindness, but also children who have any visual impairments of any kind. Lauren, could you tell us as a parent, why should parents know or care about the APH count?

Lauren Martone (11:36)

Absolutely. I think the first thing that’s important to note is that being part of the APH count is completely free for families. And it’s important because like for my son’s school to continue to make him found eligible because having him included in this count makes sure that he has access to accessible materials.

And those accessible materials are not just things that you may see in a general education setting. They’re also accessible in materials that may be available for like PE. They have tennis balls that make sound when they bounce so that folks with visual impairments can hear the balls and use their other senses to kind of participate in those settings. And they have other materials for different unified arts as well as specials. There’s foot pedals to advance music for a child that may want to participate in band. My son needs materials to be available to him in large print. Part of the processing speed delay gives him visual fatigue if he’s looking at things in like a standard size print.

So it’s really important to be part of the APH count because they provide those large print materials. And that’s not just like textbooks, it’s also workbooks that are available through his curriculum. He uses special graph paper that his teacher for the visually impaired orders, it has bolded lines so he’s more able to use it.

And it also ensures that he has access to like 11 by 17 paper so that things that his teachers are photocopying can also be enlarged to appropriate print for him. Our son also really needs access to like audiobooks. He’s in sixth going into seventh grade in the fall of next year. So having those audiobooks and extra extensions on his Chromebook also help make sure that everything is accessible for him. The APH has an amazing catalog that is very user friendly and it’s actually quite fun to go through all of the different things that are available. It’s pretty astounding what they have nowadays. So I would encourage any parent of a child with blind or visual impairment to look through it and not be afraid to reach out to their team with questions or if they wanted to try something.

PIC Family Voices Podcast (14:11)

That’s awesome. Thank you for sharing that regarding the catalog because I think that would be a really handy resource since it seems like it includes a lot of different categories of things that be used in various ways in the school, not just in the general education classroom, but in the PE like you mentioned and bands and other ways like that.

Lauren Martone (14:36)

Yes, absolutely. Sometimes I think in those settings too, like they kind of get lost. So it’s really nice for parents to know in the forefront that they have access to these things and they’re available for them.

PIC Family Voices Podcast (14:50)

Lauren, how did making sure your child was on the APH count improve things for him in his services or education? I know you kind of touched on this, but is there anything else you would like to include?

Lauren Martone (15:01)

Yeah, I would just add as well that here in New Hampshire, we have a really great accessible technology loaner program. So if families find things that they want to try, the team that they work with is able to apply to borrow things as well as the family. And having access to those accessible materials really changes a child’s ability to receive their free appropriate public education.

It also, I think, empowers educators to make their classrooms more accessible. A lot of times, like the accommodations and things that you can put in place for a student with a visual impairment really can help all students in the classroom.  And as I had mentioned, the band equipment, I learned about this because my child’s band teacher had reached out to me, wondering if there was something available to help him advance the music since he’s playing the bass drum now.

And there’s a foot pedal that we’re able to borrow that will connect to his iPad and it will advance the music for him.

PIC Family Voices Podcast (16:06)

That’s excellent and going off of what you just said too about how these types of accommodations can help all students really when they’re implemented in the classroom. That’s a really good point to make.

Lauren, what should families do if they’re unsure if their child is included in the APH count?

Lauren Martone (16:26)

I would encourage them to reach out to their service provider. If the child’s in a public school, a case manager or the special education coordinator. Like Adrienne and Lynette had mentioned, there are other criteria that is required to be included in the federal quota. The child does need to have a visual functionality requirement. So they either need to meet that blind or visually impaired per the IDEA definition. There also needs to be a written plan in place. So that could be an IEP, a 504, or an individual family service plan if the child is not yet enrolled in a public school. And then of course, there needs to be parent and guardian permission. It is important to note that this program is only open for a small period of time. The federal government opens it at the beginning of January and then it closes in February. So, if a parent has a question now would be a great time to ask their school and team.

And as always, the Parent Information Center is available to offer support and share resources for families of children with disabilities and the professionals who work with them. Our website is picnh.org and there is a contact link there or you can call the office at 603-224-7005.

PIC Family Voices Podcast (17:58)

Thank you, Lauren, so much for all of that information and speaking a bit more on how this program helps children with visual impairments as well as blindness and how parents can feel supported throughout this program. And thank you for including the information to reach out to us here at PIC. Thank you for sharing this conversation today to help benefit families navigating this process. Thank you, Lauren.

Lauren Martone (18:21)

Thank you very much.

PIC Family Voices Podcast (18:25)

To summarize, the annual federal quota census determines the amount of funding allocated for eligible individuals who are blind or visually impaired. And these funds are then used to obtain accessible educational materials from the APH. APH works in partnership with Congress to provide resources for individuals from infancy through adulthood. And the resources accompanying this podcast will include a link to the American Printing House, a link to the federal quota program, and contact information for reaching Lynette directly.

Thank you for joining us today and we hope you’ll tune in next time. Take care.