[accessibleimage] links

Hi,
Three links, perhaps a bit off subject, but follow ups of
earlier stories. One about space camp, one the opening of
the Perkins Museum and a story about Sabriye Tenberken,
director of Braille Without Borders,winning an Award.
Best,
Lisa

http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/041113/Life_FLy.asp

Perkins Museum
http://www2.townonline.com/watertown/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=125344

http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=249553


Leila Hadley Luce Award for Courage : Sabriye Tenberken

Blind since she was 12 years old, Sabriye Tenberken studied
Central Asian Studies at Bonn University where she mastered
Mongolian, Chinese, and modern and classical Tibetan.
Tenberken translated Tibetan into Braille and then traveled
to Tibet where she established Tibet ?s only school for the
blind in Lhasa. Traveling on
horseback throughout Tibet, looking for blind children to
bring to her school, she realized how sightless children,
because of their blindness, suffered from unhealthy living
conditions. In addition to teaching blind children how to
read with Braille,Tenberken also teaches them how to climb
in the Himalayas, and overcome the stigma of their
disabilities. She is the founder and director of Braille
Without Borders.


Stephens City Student Takes Part in Camp 
                By Val Van Meter 
                The Winchester Star 
             
                Tyler W. McDonald has been 
                flying high this fall in the footsteps of
astronauts. 
                In September, the 12-year-old Stephens City
youngster climbed a rock 
                wall, experienced weightlessness, and tried
out a simulator at the 
                National Aeronautics and Space
Administration?s Space Camp in 
                Huntsville, Ala. 
                But he never ?saw? any of those things. 
                                
                        
                Tyler is blind. 
                Thanks to the Winchester Lioness Lions Club,
Tyler and his teacher, 
                Laura Spears, spent seven days at the NASA
camp, learning, doing, and 
                having fun. 
                The two will make a guest appearance at the
6:30 p.m. Monday meeting 
                of the club at the Travelodge in Winchester. 
                Tyler?s critique of the camp: ?It was so
cool.? 
                There were a lot of firsts for Tyler ? his
first airplane ride, 
                living in a ?habitat,? and playing with
other children who didn?t have 
                the advantage of sight. 
                When she was contacted by the Lionesses,
Spears, who teaches 18 
                children in Frederick County schools with
visual impairments, had no 
                doubt which child she would recommend for
the trip. 
                ?The choice was very easy. Tyler is my only
totally blind student.?
                
                Mainstreamed at R. E. Aylor Middle School,
Tyler has made the A honor 
                roll, Spears said, with help from his own
personal aide, Kristy Wubbe.
                
                At first Tyler?s mother, Carrie Herndon, was
reluctant for him to 
                attend the camp, especially because parents
are not allowed to go with 
                their children. Parents must pick another
chaperone. 
                The fact that Spear would accompany Tyler on
the trip persuaded his 
                mother. 
                ?I?ve been teaching Tyler since he was two,?
Spears said. 
                Tyler took his first airplane ride in
stride. 
                ?It was awesome,? he said. He spent his
flight soothing a 16-year-old 
                who was very nervous about flying. 
                At Huntsville, Tyler learned he would be
living in a ?habitat,? which 
                he found fairly funny. 
                ?Animals have habitats,? he said. 
                Braille numbers identified his door and
Spears helped him learn to 
                negotiate the hallways. The habitat, Spears
said, was designed for 
                sighted students and had to be altered for
the Space Camp for 
                Interested-Visually Impaired Students, which
costs about $625 in 
                tuition. 
                Students must learn to get around on their
own, even though their 
                teachers or chaperones are with them during
the day. Tyler learned the 
                wall pattern from his room to the bathrooms
and still remembers his room 
                number, 318. 
    
                Spears, Tyler said, had a room on the fourth
floor where all the 
                ?girls? were. 
                Tyler joined a team of 10 youngsters. Each
team is named for an 
                American astronaut. Tyler was on the (Edwin
E. ?Buzz?) Aldrin team. 
                Aldrin walked on the moon in 1969. 
                The students attended lectures on the
various Apollo moon missions 
                and they did mock laboratory experiments. 
                ?We made slime,? Tyler reported. 
                Jello powder and alcohol formed the base of
the experiment to make a 
                mold under weightless conditions. 
                ?It was very tactile. Great for the kids,?
Spears said. 
                Tyler?s disappointment at not being able to
do the computer side of a 
                robotic experiment may push NASA to purchase
a new Braille computer. 
                ?Tyler is very interested in computers,?
Spears said. The youngster 
                has a computer with voice capability at home
which helps him keep in 
                touch with friends over the Internet. 
                ?It scans things and reads to me,? Tyler
explained. 
                ?They may revamp the computer program to fit
him for next year,? 
                Spears explained. 
                The kids also built small rockets, Tyler
said. 
                His ?worked perfect. It made a swoosh!? 
                Harnessed up, Tyler also climbed a wall,
feeling for projections and 
                following instructions yelled from watchers
below. 
                But his ?most favorite thing? was the ?Sixth
Chair.? 
                The name comes from the fact that the chair
simulates 1/6of 
                Earth?s gravity. 
                For 45 seconds, Tyler flipped and rolled in
the simulator. 
                Spears also tried it, for 90 seconds. 
                ?Screaming is what I was doing,? she said,
but the youngsters all had 
                smiles on their faces. 
                ?No one,? Tyler reported, ?got sick? in the
simulator. 
                The campers also experienced the surface of
Mars in simulation. 
                ?They have different kinds of rocks. You
feel them,? and answer 
                questions, he said. 
                One on figuring out the luster of the rocks
stumped him. ?I couldn?t 
                do that. I can?t see shiny.? 
                Space Camp tried to gear all its teaching to
blind children and those 
                with low visual capacity, Spears said. 
                ?They brought in little models,? of
equipment and vehicles ?and let 
                you feel them.? 
                Tyler also made new friends. 
                In fact, he helped two boys from Mexico get
into the spirit of camp.
                
                ?They spoke no English,? Spears said, and
were accompanied by a 
                translator. 
                ?They were left out of the socializing,? as
the week began, Spears 
                said. Tyler sat across from them at lunch
and ?by Wednesday, he was 
                speaking Spanish to them.? 
                ?We?d do these impressions. We?d made up
jokes and cracked each other 
                up,? Tyler said. One joke, played with
straws full of milk, turned out a 
                little messy, but certainly helped break the
social ice. 
                The interaction, Spears said, was special. 
                ?It?s difficult for Tyler to play with kids
his age,? at Aylor, 
                Spears said, because sighted children play
different games. 
                Tyler said he cried when he got home,
because he already missed his 
                friends. 
                ?It?s a real good experience for blind
people all around the world,? 
                he said. 
                Tyler is hoping to return to the camp next
year. 
                ?I?m going back until I?m 85,? he said with
a grin. ?If I was an 
                adult with kids, I?d take my kinds there.
Wait,? he said, recalling the 
                rules, ?I wouldn?t be allowed.

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