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A child learns to read Braille with her grandfather, and Dr. Marc Maurer sits on the floor with blind children while telling them a story.

What's New??

Phase II of the Tactile Art Program!!

Starting today, the second installment of the Tactile Art Program will begin. This facet of the program will focus on tactile drawing for children ages two through eight. To find out more information and to enroll in the program, please visit https://actionfund.org/tactile-art-program.

Leadership in Literacy: How Do We Know What We Do Not Know?

Dr. Marc Maurer, Executive Director of the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults recently spoke at the national convention of the National Federation of the Blind. Read the text of his speech here: www.actionfund.org/leadership-in-literacy or listen to the audio recording of the speech.

Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship

The Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship is given annually to a legally blind student who exemplifies the fruits of Dr. Jernigan's teachings. The Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship is valued at $12,000. Dr. Jernigan changed perceptions regarding the capabilities of the blind in this country and around the world. 

 

Applications for this scholarship are available for five months, from November 1 to March 31 of the following year. In order to more effectively reach potential applicants, this funding is offered as one of many available scholarships in the National Federation of the Blind's scholarship program, however the Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship is funded entirely by the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults. To obtain an application and read the directions to apply for the $12,000 Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship, go to www.nfb.org/scholarships after November 1.

 

The winner of the 2017 Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship is Ms. Maureen Nietfeld of Centennial, Colorado, who is pursuing a degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics at Metroplitan State University.

 

Having gone through 33 surgeries, including a kidney transplant from her rare Von Hippel-Lindau disease in her 35 years, Maureen is an upstoppable force and grace under pressure. She knows that a healthy lifestyle can improve your life, even with a genetic disorder.

 

Maureen will continue to work at the Colorado Center for the Blind teaching blind children and adults while pursuing her degree.

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Give the Gift of Literacy

How do you feel about giving the gift of literacy along with the love of reading to a young blind child? You can find that feeling of joy by donating $10.00 to supply a blind girl or boy with a Braille book from a current popular children's reading series. This gives blind children the ability to interact with their sighted peers about the books that excite them.

 

These books also encourage blind children to improve their Braille reading skills, which in turn improve the spelling, vocabulary, and overall literacy of these students. 

 

The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults believes that all blind children should have these skills, as well as a collection of books of their very own to read and enjoy over and over again.

 

We hope you believe as we do that every child should have the opportunity to read, learn, and enjoy all of the places that books can take you. Donate $10.00 today to cover the cost of a Braille book and make it known that you want blind children to have books they will love just like their sighted friends.

 

You can donate online with a credit card, or print and mail our donation form to the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.

Kenneth Jernigan Library

The Kenneth Jernigan Library for Blind Children is dedicated to the reading pleasure and education of blind children and young adults. The library is run by volunteers and unlike the traditional "walk-in" library, distributes Braille books entirely by mail. Applicants may have books sent either to their home or school according to their preference.

 

Books are available in two distinct formats: Twin Vision®or Braille. Twin-Vision® books contain adjacent pages of print and Braille, making it the ideal form for sighted or blind teachers and parents. Many of our Twin-Vision® books contain colorful pictures in print, which can be equally enjoyed by sighted children with blind parents or students with limited vision. Braille books are produced for the use of more advanced students and for upper grade readers. Titles in this category contain many classics.

Free Braille Books Program

This program provides blind children a free Braille book every month from a popular children's reading series. The books are for the children to keep and collect for as long as they want them. In the past seventeen years over two hundred ninety titles from popular children's reading series were distributed to thousands of blind children. Each year the American Action Fund breaks new ground by offering fresh and interesting titles and series that are sometimes overlooked in the Braille community.