Hi Penny, I have been mulling over the various comments on your topic and finally cannot contain myself any longer. I have heard many people asking the same question you have posed today, and I feel compelled to share my thoughts. The main reason I believe it is important to join and maintain membership in AER is simple. It has nothing to do (for me) with what I gain personally. I believe that AER is our professional organization. As a profession, we need to network and have a national voice and presence. This is the main thing I see AER providing. If our profession looses it's professional/national voice, it will shrivel and die. Our profession of VRT is very small and struggling badly to stay afloat, recruit new people into the field, and help others (especially the medical fields) understand who we are, what we do, and why we are the best choice when looking for a specialist to work with individuals who are blind or have low vision. If we, as a profession, made up of each of us as individuals, choose not to support our professional organization with our dues (which at this time is AER's primary income), we are doomed. This is also the reason I have maintained VRT certification since I graduated from a Masters level university program in 1985. It is the professional thing to do. It, again, has nothing to do with the personal return I gain (except for my own ego, which can inflate pretty big sometimes!). Professionalism is also the reason I am considering returning to the educational system to obtain a Ph.D. While I will not gain anything personally such as a pay raise, I feel this will give me an opportunity to work toward building our profession into something useful, self-sustaining, and able to continue providing the best and most qualified services to people who are blind or have low vision. I hope I have given you some food for thought and a peek into what I see as the big picture. Sincerely, Roberta McCall, MA, CVRT Michigan Commission for the Blind 517-335-7231 mccallr@xxxxxxxxxxxx ________________________________ From: visionrehabtherapist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:visionrehabtherapist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Penny Reeder Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 2:57 PM To: Maduffy@xxxxxxx; visionrehabtherapist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [visionrehabtherapist] Re: A Message from AFB regarding JVIB First, let me say that although I have been a member of AER from time to time over the years since I have been involved as a professional, and a consumer, in the blindness field, I am not currently a member. When I worked for the state, the state I worked for would not cover my membership in AER and their salary was so minimal, I felt that I could not afford the cost of membership. I have been meaning to join since I believe my current employer will cover the cost of member,ship, but now I am not going to bother, because, really, what tangible benefit of membership would there be for me? I have always felt that the most useful and tangible membership benefit was my access to JVIB, which is the premier professional journal in the field. If I cannot rely on AER to provide my accessible subscription to JVIB, then why should I join? Now for AFB's decision to charge me for online access to the journal, as usual, AFB does not understand the concept of equal access! Why should I have to pay more for accessing JVIB online than a print subscriber would pay for a print subscription to JVIB? If I am misunderstanding this fee structure, please enlighten me, but if I am not, and AFB is charging a separate (unequal) fee for online subscribers to JVIB, then they are not understanding one of the key concepts for which they profess to advocate! In addition, I want to poit out that it is much cheaper to distribute a publication online than it would be to pay for printing, brailling, or even making available on cd and mailing. An online subscription should be *cheaper than a print or braille or other-than-online format subscription! Thank you for allowing me to express my opinions, and if I am misinterpreting either of these recent announcements, I hope that someone will help me to "see the light." Penny Reeder At 12:54 PM 4/29/2009, Maduffy@xxxxxxx wrote: Hello Listers: As a VRT and as an Associate Editor of JVIB, I'd like to share this information with you, as a follow-up to the recent announcement by the AER Board of Directors to suspend the online JVIB subscription as an AER member benefit. To follow this discussion and to share any feedback you might have, I suggest you post your comments to the AER Listserv, where they will reach the appropriate audience. An Important Message from the American Foundation for the Blind: Effective immediately, AFB Press will offer all professionals a new $25 individual subscription fee for online access to the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) and $65 for a combined print and online subscription. To allow for a new subscription process to be put in place following the AER decision to terminate JVIB as a member benefit, AFB Press will provide continuous access to JVIB during the months of April and May to our readership. Readers can log on using the generic "AER, AER" user name and password. During the month of May, JVIB's readership will be invited to join the JVIB community by contacting AFB Press directly and taking advantage of the new, reduced subscription rates for individual subscribers. At that time, AFB Press will provide additional information about how readers can formally sign up for their new subscriptions. In the meantime, please contact afbpress@xxxxxxx with any questions you might have. AER members who have print add-on subscriptions to the journal will be receiving their April print issue in the mail. Questions about your AER membership or the JVIB add-on print subscription arranged by AER should be addressed to the AER office directly. Thank you for your support of JVIB, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with you, our valued readers. The Editors and AFB Press Maureen A. Duffy, CVRT Editorial Director AWARE (Associates for World Action in Rehabilitation & Education) Phone: 914-528-5120 E-mail: maureen.duffy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Are you aware of our web site? www.visionaware.org <http://www.visionaware.org/> "Self-Help for Vision Loss" www.twitter.com/visionaware ________________________________ Big savings on Dell XPS Laptops and Desktops! <http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1220631276x1201390200/aol?redir >