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Your weekly dose of information that keeps you up to date on the latest developments in the field of technology designed to assist people with disabilities and special needs.
Show notes:
Beep baseball with Stephen Guerra | www.nbba.org
Exclusive NFB Freedom Scientific Home-Use Program \ http://buff.ly/1GeV4fp
Teens Take ‘Artificial Pancreas’ for a Test Run http://buff.ly/1B6Oics
Web Accessibility MOOC for Educators http://buff.ly/1B6O2KI
Apple vs. Google: The Real Winners Are Students with Dyslexia http://buff.ly/1L1EcNq
On the Hill with Audrey Busch www.ATAPorg.org
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STEPHEN GUERRA: Hi, this is Steve Guerra. I’m from the National Beep Baseball Association, and the NBBA secretary, and this is your Assistive Technology Update.
WADE WINGLER: Hi, this is Wade Wingler with the INDATA Project at Easter Seals Crossroads in Indiana with your Assistive Technology Update, a weekly dose of information that keeps you up-to-date on the latest developments in the field of technology designed to assist people with disabilities and special needs.
Welcome to episode number 211 of Assistive Technology Update. It’s scheduled to be released on June 12 of 2014.
I’m excited today to have my guest Steve Guerra who’s going to talk about beep baseball and what’s happening in the world of beep baseball and the National Beep Baseball Association. Also we have some very low pricing information on Freedom Scientific software; how some teens are taking an artificial pancreas out for a weekend run; a free web accessibility MOOC for educator; and a little bit of insight into Apple versus the Google and how that helps the world of assistive technology. We also have a segment with Audrey Busch who talks about what’s happening in Washington, DC, as it relates to assistive technology.
We hope you’ll check out our website at www.eastersealstech.com, shoot us a note on Twitter at INDATA Project, or give us a call on our listener line at 317-721-7124.
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Did you know that we do more than just the show? In fact, we do a couple of other shows. Head on over to AccessibilityChannel.com. Check them out. You might find something else you might like. That’s AccessibilityChannel.com.
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A bunch of people that I know will be gathering in Orlando on Sunday, July 5, through Friday, July 10, at the NFB conference, or convention rather. There will be all kinds of great learning opportunities, lots of advocacy going on there. The thing that caught my eye about the convention is Freedom Scientific, the maker of things like JAWS and Magic, is going to offer some deep discounts during the exhibit hall time there at the convention. They’re going to be offering JAWS 16 Home Edition licenses for $75, a JAWS 16 Home Edition license with an SMA, software maintenance agreement, for $175, and you can get an Open Book license for $75 and a Magic 13 license for $50. I haven’t seen those kinds of low prices before, but I’m going to pop a link in the show notes over to Freedom Scientific’s website where you can read about some of the sessions that are doing at NFB 2015 in Orlando and also verify these prices. I’m not making it up. They’re right there on the website.
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The headline from Medical Design Technology magazine reads, “Teens take artificial pancreas for a test run.” Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I’m a person with type I diabetes and have been dealing with insulin pumps and shots and so for about 20 years now. It seems that the Yale medical group has a group of teenagers, a group of kids between the ages of 14 and 17, who took the artificial pancreas system out for a spin recently. One weekend, they were using this artificial pancreas, which is a system that automatically monitors blood sugar in the body and delivers the right amount of insulin. They did this over a four-day period and they did all kinds of cool stuff too. They went hiking and played laser tag and climbed a rock wall, ate their meals together and were monitored the entire time by Yale medical staff. Apparently this device is coming along and getting closer, but apparently with teenagers, it’s very difficult for this technology to be effective. So they had a successful study and they’re going to be doing more of this kind of a thing. They have a plan to include a total of 15 teenagers in a study in the future. Some going to pop a link in the show notes, and I’m going to keep it on my list of stuff to keep an eye on as well. I encourage you to go over and learn more about how this artificial pancreas might really be something for teenagers and others like me with Diabetes.
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Are you an educator? Do you ever teach anything online? Well, the Colorado Community College system is partnering with canvas network, and they’re going to put on a MOOC, a massive open online course, that runs from July 20 to August 24 of 2015, and it’s free. It’ll be available online starting July 20, and the bullet point list of topics include: principles of accessibility; the effect of accessibility barriers on people’s access to information; WCAG 2.0 guidelines; creating accessible MS Office and PDF documents; creating accessible images, diagrams, and charts; creating accessible audio and video resources; creating accessible HTML webpages; and how access to the web is an essential requirement for full participation in the information society. I am an educator, I do online courses, and I’m going to try to find some time to participate in this MOOC because I think it’s some great information. I’m going to pop a link in the show notes over to canvas.net that will have a link right to the enrollment for this free online education experience. Take advantage of it. You might learn something. Check our show notes.
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There seems to be a constant battle with Android versus iOS, which is Apple versus Google. There’s an interesting article in Forbes that talks about the fact that students with dyslexia are the real winners when it comes to this ongoing battle between Apple versus Google. They talk about how the facts specifically that iPhones and Android phones or Android and iOS based tablets are constantly back and forth battling to get more market share. In the process, there has been a ton of stuff developed that helps students with learning disabilities like dyslexia. They talk about some of the apps like Dragon, Inspiration, Read and Write Gold, that you can have on an iMac. Then they also talk about the accessibility features that are built into iOS and some of those apps that are available for Android and even within the Chrome browser. So it’s an interesting article, interesting perspective. These are things that I kind of see a lot but never thought about the fact that this competition between Apple and Google really has created some additional accessibility for people with disabilities. This article talks about how that applies to students with dyslexia. I’m going to pop a link in the show notes over to Forbes.com where you can read more about this article by Jamie Martin. Check our show notes.
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It’s time for On The Hill with Audrey. Audrey Busch is the Director of Policy and Advocacy for the Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs. In her update, she lets us know how the power of politics is impacting people with disabilities and their use of the city market. Learn more about Audrey and her work at ATAPorg.org.
AUDREY BUSCH: This is Audrey Bush, Policy Director for the Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs, coming to you with your monthly Washington update. Congress was in session three out of the four weeks in May, and made the most of their time bypassing the first bicameral GOP budget agreement in over a decade. The budget agreement formally sets spending levels for fiscal year 2016. Congress also reauthorized the Patriot Act which was a huge time suck to put it mildly, and also has continued their work on 12 appropriations bills that they will have to complete by the end of July or beginning of September in order to have a final fiscal year 2016 budget ready for approval by the end of fiscal year ’15.
Both the House Education and Workforce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee are consumed with working on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, but all eyes are so focused on the Senate for when they will bring the Every Child Achieves Act, their reauthorized version of the No Child Left Behind Act, to the Senate floor for a debate and vote. Rumors have it that the bill could be considered as early as late June or as late as mid-July. This bill will be fighting for floor time if not considered before July, however, because appropriations bills typically dominate most of congress’ time come July. Staffers and the keeper of the Senate calendar, majority leader Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, stay optimistic, however, and state the bill will inevitably come to the Senate floor.
It will be a busy legislative period between now and when Congress breaks for their annual month-long recess in August, so as the temperature rises in Washington, so does the hot air in the halls of Congress. Hopefully the heat drives members of Congress to keep focused and yield accomplishments in order for them to retreat to their home states and allow some of the hot air out of our nation’s capital this August. So I look forward to our next update in July, and until then, stay cool.
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WADE WINGLER: Here in the United States, it’s summertime. I’m trying to spend time outside with my family. A lot of my friends are sitting in places where there are people cheering and there are crowds, and there is a thing going on called beep baseball. I’m excited today to have Steve Guerra who is the secretary of the National Beep Baseball Association, who’s going to spend a little bit of time today explaining what’s going on with beep baseball, what is it, and how you might get involved. First of all, Steve, thank you so much for cutting out some time in your day to day to be with us.
STEPHEN GUERRA: You’re very welcome. Thank you for having me.
WADE WINGLER: Steve, I have been at a beep baseball game. It’s been a while. I want you to help explain to my audience, for those who don’t know, what is beep baseball and specifically how did you get involved?
STEPHEN GUERRA: Beep baseball primarily is the closest adaptation to the national pastime of baseball and softball that so many people within the United States and globally enjoy on a weekly basis from sandlots to Little League fields to minor league fields to major league baseball.
We take a baseball that is 5 inches in circumference and weighs about 16 ounces, and I say we because the Denver beep ball group which actually make the balls, the beep baseballs, they take the ball, and they hollow out this ball, and they put a mechanism inside of it that enables it to give off sound. It’s a beeping mechanism. It’s the center of the ball and is activated by pulling the pin out of the top of the ball. So imagine this 5 inch in circumference ball, 16 ounces, and it has a leather covering over it that sewn over to give the mechanism inside and keep everything together. Once you pull the pin out of the top of it, it starts making a rapid beep, much like, in terms of technology — and this is yesteryear technology — much like what an old pager would sound like.
So in addition to that, in addition to the ball, we also have approximately 48-inch to 54-inch-high bases, which are otherwise maybe just tackling dummies. But they are from cylinders and also give off a sound when they’re activated, which is a solid sound which is differentiated from the beep baseball sound. Those bases are wired. There are some prototypes out there for wireless, but they are wired bases that are switched on by a switch box by a base operator at the scorer’s table.
I’ll take a step back and give you some information. Every team has six players on the field at any one time as well as the batter at home plate. Everyone is blindfolded in order to level the playing field. The batting team has its own pitcher and catcher, which is different from baseball. The object is we want to put the ball in play. So the pitcher stands about 20 feet from home plate and delivers to a cadence, saying “Set, Ready, Pitch” or “Set, Ready, Ball” the ball to the plate in the area where the batter is singing, either using the catcher as a target or just pitching the ball in the area where the batter swings. At the point of contact, that base gets turned on. Now it’s become a foot race, a foot race for the people in the field, the defense fielding the ball, prior to the batter reaching the base, or the batter reaching the base. If the batter reaches the base, it’s a run for the team. If the ball gets fielded by the defense, then it’s out. There are three outs in an inning, six innings in a game. That whole process, from when the ball is hit to when the play is over, can be anywhere from 4 to 6 seconds.
WADE WINGLER: So one technical question to make sure that I’m understanding. When you say the ball is fielded, that means someone gets their hands on it?
STEPHEN GUERRA: Someone gets their hands on it and shows it and claiming position without keeping it close to their body, or that they have a good handle on the ball, and they show it to a field umpire or the umpire of the game, for that matter, and the umpire makes the decision. If it’s clearly before the batter reaches the base, obviously it’s an out, but there are a lot of bang-bang plays. For your listeners, for those who don’t know, the bases are situated in foul territory by 10 feet, or 10 feet in foul territory, and are 100 feet from home plate. At the point of contact, the batter has no idea if they’re going to be running either to first or third, because there are only two bases in beep baseball, first and third. So it really is a six second play, or six or seven second play, you really have to decide which way you’re going to go or which way you’re going to have to run to when the base gets turned on because you have no idea where you’re going. You can be a right-handed batter and then have to jump to your feet and run towards third-base or have the luxury of running to first base. The same thing would apply to a left-handed batter. They don’t know where they’re going until when they hit the ball. Hopefully at the point of contact, that base gets turned on and then it’s off to the races.
WADE WINGLER: So let me make sure I understand this. From the perspective of the batter, they’re holding a baseball bat. They’re blindfolded so that, regardless of their level of vision that, they have no ability to see the ball coming. The ball is beeping. It’s coming at them, and they take a swing, and then and only then, if they make contact with the ball and it’s in fair play, then they’ve got to figure out which way they’re going to run because one or two bases start beeping at them. Is that right?
STEPHEN GUERRA: That’s right. I’m kind of a stickler in terms of what we use. The bats that are able to be used are regulation ASA/USSA softball bats. They can’t be baseball bats. We use bats generally because the ball weighs 16 ounces. There is a collective theory that says that you want to have a bat that’s going to be double the weight to at least drive the ball somewhat. But there are individuals who are using bats that are 38 ounces heavy. But we also can’t use a bat that’s any longer than 34 inches. Unfortunately, we are using some heavier bats than what modern day softball or baseball are using because the conventional theory now is use lighter bat that has more pop to it. That may be the case, but because our ball is so heavy and so big, we need more of a weight to drive that ball.
Also, for the record, in order for the ball to be considered fair, there is a 40 foot line that the ball must travel past in order to be fair. That’s 20 feet beyond the picture. So if you a ball that’s 39 feet and 11 inches, it’s considered foul. We share with people that that’s our beep baseball bunt. Generally bunting is not allowed. So you have to hit the ball 40 feet in order to be fair, but there are people who hit it 40 feet and an inch, and they’ll just leg it out for their base, and hopefully they’re fast enough so that they can get there before the fielders come up and get the ball.
WADE WINGLER: So I’m guessing that people have to be in pretty decent shape to play beep baseball, or not so much?
STEPHEN GUERRA: Yes. Ideally, with the situation at hand, because there are so many people in the country and in the world that are not as physically fit, and that’s why there’s such an outcry from every which angle you can think of, on TV and radio and such, that you need to keep on moving, moving, moving. It’s healthier for you. But yes, some of the best athletes in the world are playing beep baseball. They are conditioned, and there physically fit. They have superior cardio capabilities. They are strong, they are muscular. In every way, shape, and form, they are completely athletic. Wade, you can see, so I can tell you, when you’re looking at a beep baseball game, the thing that amazes people more than anything else in the world is how anyone who’s blindfolded can run to a base 100 feet from home plate without any hesitation and as fast as they are. There is no game out in the current marketplace and in the current arena of sports for the blind that is as competitive or as athletic as beep baseball. You are an all-around athlete. If you want to be at the top of your game, if you want to be considered one of the finer athletes of the league, you have to be excellent on both sides of the ball. You have to hit, run fast, and on top of it all be a superior defenseman.
WADE WINGLER: I’m giggling a little bit because I have friends and colleagues who play baseball and also work in the AT business. We’ll be talking about work and stuff, and the minute I talk about, hey, how’s it going with beep baseball, they puff up a little bit. They get a little taller. You can tell those folks are serious business about this game.
STEPHEN GUERRA: The National Beep Baseball Association has been in existence now almost 40 years. For the individuals who essentially started the league and/or brought the sport to life, people such as John Ross, Jim Quinn, Dennis Huberty, Bill Gibney, just to name a few people from around the country, they put together this opportunity for us to play the sport. We have the luxury of making the sport the finest that it ever could be. Once you start playing beep baseball, you never — I’ve seen more people say I’m going to retire, and then they start to retire, and you say, well, you know, I’m going to give it one more try, one more year. They don’t ever want to retire. Playing beep baseball, people are there because they want to be there, not because they have to be. They love the sport. There’s nothing like it. There’s no equivalent challenge for them. You don’t see a beep baseball player all of a sudden — and this not to take anything away from them — but you don’t see a beep baseball player all of a sudden becoming a blind golfer. They wanted to play beep baseball, and there’s nothing else.
Answering another question, which was how I got involved, was I got introduced to the sport of beep baseball back in the mid-1980s through a dear friend Dan Fabiano. He encouraged me to come out and try it out. I tried it out, fell in love with it, played on a Long Island team called Out of Sight, went to college and did my own thing and found beep baseball again through another recreational team in the Long Island area, Long Island New York. After playing with them for a couple of years, I said, well, I think I can do this better, and I want to play competitively. And then we started in 1997 the Long Island Bombers. I was with them and went to my first World Series to observe and such in early 2000’s. And then we went as a team in 2002 to our first World Series. And then I had the luxury of having the opportunity to pick up and move from New York to Minnesota back in 2008, and I did the same thing here as I did in New York. I helped a recreational team and pulled from the pool of individuals who play in that team to create the Minnesota Millers, which is a competitive team of beep baseball here in Minnesota. I’ve evolved over time.
Back in 2006, I took a plunge and decided that — National Beep Baseball Association up until then had all secretaries of the league as being sighted. It was my belief that it’s entirely possible to take a paper job and make it a paperless job. I’ve been the secretary for the NBBA since 2006. I have done everything within my means to eliminate paper completely and make in completely web-based and/or electronic for people to make payments for their fees and such and register their teams and submit all their paperwork electronically so we have no paper. Along that road, it’s been a tremendous journey. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Primarily working in the AT field myself, I enjoy helping people, and I enjoy watching new teams grow and watching new teams participate in the World Series and such. As long as I’m alive, I’d like to stay the NBBA secretary. It also depends on if the membership wants me.
WADE WINGLER: Absolutely. I appreciate your comments about the paperless world. I think that makes tons of sense. Steve, we are running a little short on time. I want to talk about the league structure a little bit. When this comes out, it should be the middle of June or so. So tell me, will be happening in the world of beep baseball in the middle of June?
STEPHEN GUERRA: In the beginning of June, we have a tournament in Indianapolis hosted by the Indy Thunder, amongst other tournament going on. During that time the show will be released, it’s going to be the beginning of the weekend of June 12, and that’s when the Bolingbrook Beep Ball Bash, hosted by the Bolingbrook Lions, is going to be hosting their team and for six teams. It’s their 50th anniversary, so congratulations to them.
There’s a host of other tournaments going on. During the Memorial Day weekend, there’s a tournament going on in Kentucky, a beep baseball classic. They’re going to be opening up a dedicated beep baseball park, so thanks to Dave Wickstrom and Independence of Kentucky for doing that and hosting an eight team tournament there. There’s a northeastern classic tha’ts going on on June 20 and July 11 in Boston and Pennsylvania, respectively. There are other potential tournaments going on and/or pickup games between teams.
A lot of the problem with teams is that they have to fundraise much and have to travel so much to play other teams. But we have teams throughout the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Dominican Republic, South Korea, Australia. We are growing. We have been growing. Back in 2008, we had 269 members. Now we’re going to probably surpass the 500 mark in 2015. We are anticipating for the 2015 World Series which is being held the week of July 26 through August 2 and is being sponsored by primarily the Flam Institute, David and Eileen Flam. We are anticipating to have more than 20 teams at the World Series, which is a first. The largest World Series we ever had was in Palo Alto, California, in 1986 with 22 teams. I think we might be able to sweep the past that this year. I think so. I don’t really know just yet, but there’s a lot going on.
Beep baseball is a completely volunteer driven sport with players. We have a good mixture of both players and volunteers. If not for the people who made the balls and bases, the Denver Beepball Group, and Lions across the United States and other individuals who are supporting National Beep Baseball Association and all its affiliate teams, we really would not be where we are today. The sport has thrived and grown beyond anyone’s original expectation who started all this back in 1976.
WADE WINGLER: I wanted to say that I can tell you it’s a great organization. I can certainly hear your enthusiasm. We are just closing out for time for this interview. Before we do, how can people get involved? If your enthusiasm is getting with them, how do they reach out? What’s the website? What’s the contact information?
STEPHEN GUERRA: They can contact the NBBA through our website at nbba.org. We are also available on twitter at NBBA. On Facebook we are available at NBBA Public Relations, facebook.com/nbbapublicrelations. If you go to nbba.org, all of our corresponding links for any of our social media presence is there. You can check out all of the links that are available. It’s a completely user-friendly, accessible site based on 508 compliance which we are proud to say that. It also helps, not that I’m too biased, but I’m the webmaster, so I make that possible. Aside from all that, that’s the way to contact us but you can also call us at 866-400-4551. If you want to reach me and him a beautiful voice, you can choose option two or listen to the automated message and choose the option that you desire.
WADE WINGLER: Stephen Guerra is the secretary of the national beep baseball Association and has been our guest today pick Steve, thank you so much.
STEPHEN GUERRA: Wade, take you so much for time, I appreciate the opportunity.
WADE WINGLER: Do you have a question about assistive technology? Do you have a suggestion for someone we should interview on Assistive Technology Update? Call our listener line at 317-721-7124. Looking for show notes from today’s show? Head on over to EasterSealstech.com. Shoot us a note on Twitter @INDATAProject, or check us out on Facebook. That was your Assistance Technology Update. I’m Wade Wingler with the INDATA Project at Easter Seals Crossroads in Indiana.