[visionrehabtherapist] Why AER membership
- From: "McCall, Roberta (DELEG)" <mccallr@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <visionrehabtherapist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 1 May 2009 12:06:12 -0400
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
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