Due to COVID-19, our Museum and Factory Tours have been temporarily suspended. Due to delivery delays with the USPS, please allow 6 – 8 weeks for delivery on items shipped via Free Matter for the Blind and 3 – 4 weeks for items sent via Priority Mail. If you have any questions, please contact cs@aph.org or call 1-800-223-1839.
Close
Annual Meeting 2018
The 2018 Annual Meeting of APH Ex Officio Trustees and Special Guests on October 4-6, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in beautiful downtown Louisville has ended. Thank you for participating!
For 160 years the American Printing House for the Blind has created specialized materials, products and services for people who are blind and visually impaired. Much like NASA engineer Tom Milner said about its pursuit of the space shuttle program, “We have dreamed big, ventured on wild seas, lost sight of the land a few times and found stars to guide us on our journey. We expanded our horizons and learned lessons.” To celebrate APH’s storied history and our mission to move forward in to the future, we invite you to join us as we journey “From History to New Horizons” at the 2018 APH Annual Meeting. For 2018, we are celebrating both the 160th anniversary of APH and the 150th anniversary of Annual Meeting!
As part of the 2018 Annual Meeting we will celebrate our progress with successful new products, services, processes, and initiatives. Learn more about all of these while also enjoying related meetings, meeting new colleagues and connecting with old friends. You will have the opportunity to expand our horizons and yours as you provide input on APH products in development, receive training on APH products, services and initiatives, and enjoy lively conversations in our round table discussions. We will honor two new inductees in to the Hall of Fame for Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field at Friday’s Hall of Fame induction luncheon and you won’t want to miss the celebration of our APH InSights Art award winners at their special banquet on Friday evening.
Product Updates
-
This beautiful full-color calendar features the artwork of blind and visually impaired artists, and is suitable for low vision or blind students and adults, or anyone who enjoys unique artwork.
Months, days, holidays, and moon phases appear in both braille and large print. This calendar can be used at a desk or hung on a wall and is ring bound to allow pages to be folded over easily.
Note: A special version of this attractive calendar can be custom-printed with your organization’s name, logo, address, website and phone number for fund-raising purposes! Contact APH for more details on custom calendars.
-
Decision Making Guide: A Guide to Print Size Selection provides parents, teachers or other professionals with an easy formula to help determine the correct print size for a student’s eye function. The Guide Bailey-Lovey Charts (Word Reading, Sentence Reading, Passage Sample, and Pre-Primer Sentence Reading) to determine the print size needed for various tasks. A large print guide book is also included.
-
With a little “thinking out of the book,” you and your little one can discover literacy activities that are enjoyable and meaningful.
Laptime and Lullabies: Sharing the Joys of Literacy With Your Infant or Toddler Who is Blind or Visually Impaired was created for APH by Kay L. Clarke, Ph.D., to help families and their early intervention teams develop communication skills, conceptual understanding, and a love for literacy.
This product includes a handbook and 18 booklets that cover a range of topics including first chapters of literacy, establishing relationships, growing listening skills, exploring the world, and much more.
Recommended ages: Birth to 3 years.
-
A comprehensive measure of achievement, oral language, and cognitive abilities adapted exclusively for braille readers!
Woodcock-Johnson IV: Adapted for Braille Readers (WJ IV ACH), is a comprehensive set of assessments which are administered to identify learning problems and improve instructional outcomes. This adaptation is comprised of tests which were able to be adapted for braille readers from each of the three batteries: Tests of Achievement (Standard and Extended), Tests of Cognitive Abilities (Standard and Extended), and Oral Language.
Features
- Adapted students tests from each of the three batteries translated in UEB with Nemeth and available in both contracted and uncontracted braille.
- Scoring software provided on a USB flash drive specifically created for this adaptation.
- Examiner manuals and record forms for each of the three batteries of assessments.
- An Administration Guide and Resource Manual authored by Dr. Lynne Jaffe.
Note: It is strongly suggested that the administrator have approved professional development training in administering the original print Woodcock-Johnson IV. Examiners must meet the qualifications for administering this assessment and have purchased the publisher materials which are referenced in the braille adaptation. The audio CD provided in the publisher kit is necessary to administer portions of the braille adaptation.
These materials must be ordered directly from the test publisher:
Customer Experience Support – Assessments, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 255 38th Avenue, Ste. L, St. Charles, IL 60174 800-223-9540, Fax: 630-467-7192, AssessmentsOrders@hmhco.com -
“Build” a book and create a child’s connection to literacy!
The Tactile Book Builder Kit contains a wide selection of materials enabling users to quickly custom-make books of many kinds—firsthand experience storybooks, concept books, simple texture books, informational books, alphabet books, adaptations of print books, and more! A large, varied assortment of pre-cut pages permit easy attachment of objects and presentation of collaged textures, shapes, raised line drawings, and multisensory elements as illustration. Braille paper, braille label material, and clear page protectors offer multiple ways to add braille and print text. All pages fit into sturdy plastic binders with re-closeable safety loops. Binders feature an open-view front to allow users to create and insert their own tactile cover art.
The Kit also includes a Guide to Designing Tactile Books, a 120-page illustrated handbook assisting teachers and caregivers in creating books and tactile illustrations matched to the skills of a particular child.
APH Products to use with Tactile Book Builder: Picture Maker Textured Shapes (61-151-168), Picture Maker Geometric Textured Shapes (1-08838-01), and Classroom Calendar Kit Day Numbers (61-410-004).
WARNING: Choking Hazard–Small Parts. Not intended for children ages 5 and under without supervision.
-
APH is pleased to announce that Math Flash is now available on Amazon Alexa®. Previously available on the Google Assistant™, now Amazon users can access these self-voicing electronic flash cards through Alexa. Just search under Alexa Skills for APH Math Flash. Enable Math Flash and get ready to have some fun while brushing up on your math skills. You can find the APH Math Flash skill at this link: https://amzn.to/2uX0zQE.
Events
-
Load up a world of savings on selected APH products with APH’s Sizzlin’ Summer Savings Sale 2018, July 1—September 30. As always, first come, first served.
-
Presentations/Exhibits
August 1-2, 2018
Iowa Summer InstituteAugust 13-17, 2018
BVA 2018
Sparks, NVAugust 22-25, 2018
Envision 2018
Wichita, KSCIP Event
September 14-15, 2018
9th Annual IsLAND Conference on Disability
Princeton, NJConference
October 24-26, 2018
NBA Professional Development Conference
Detroit, MI -
Take a fall road trip and check out the VIPS Stampede in Kentucky and the Sports Extravaganza 2018 – 20th Anniversary in Texas.
Autumn Sporting Event information is available on the APH Physical Education, Recreation, and Health website.
-
The ceremony to induct the legendary Frank H. Hall and Susan Jay Spungin will take place at a noon luncheon on Friday, October 5, 2018, in conjunction with APH’s 150th Annual Meeting. Please make your plans now to join our eloquent facilitator, Dr. Jane Erin, along with Dr. Spungin and Carl Augusto who will be responding for Mr. Hall.
Accessibility At APH
In the ever-changing world of technology, transportation and information, it is hard to keep up, and even harder when you can’t efficiently access the resources you need. For this reason, APH has begun a renewed effort to review and tackle accessibility barriers inside and outside of our organization.
Late 2016, APH formed an Accessibility Committee comprised of representatives from different areas of the company, to guide our accessibility efforts. One of the first milestones of this committee resulted in APH’s Accessibility Hub. The hub is a place that, among other things, hosts user-friendly accessibility checklists for some of the most widely used formats, such as MS Word, Outlook, Excel and Power Point. It will also soon host our new and improved in-house Diversity Training Modules. The hub is like our world, ever-changing, so we welcome you to check it out and send us your comments and suggestions. We are building it up as we speak.
APH is also reviewing in-house processes to account for accessibility from the ground up. Currently, we are reviewing the process of creating User Documentation, in order to provide our customers with the best and most accessible experience possible.
In addition, we are collaborating with local entities interested in accessibility, including Humana, Louisville’s transportation authority TARC, and the Louisville Cultural Accessibility Association. We are providing trainings, participating in joint events, and affecting change that will have local and global affect.
This is just the tip of what is going on at APH with regards to accessibility. We have a lot of work to do, but we welcome the challenges, and will happily celebrate our successes too.
Treasures from the APH Libraries
-
Moon, S. D., Davis, T., Simpson, M., & Merrill, A. R. Talent Unleashed: 3 Leadership Conversations to Ignite the Unlimited Potential in People. Franklin, TN: Post Hill Press, 2017
“Leadership requires many things, but one of the fundamental roles of a great leader is to recognize and ultimately unleash the talents and strengths of others” – book cover. While written with top business and organizational performance in mind, Talent Unleashed strives to frame leadership into three on-going thematic conversations whose purpose is to strengthen relationships and recognizing the potential and talents of those around us, whether in the role of leaders or that of mentors, teachers, and coaches. The book’s authors seek to show how through these conversation leaders can build trust, clarity, and empowerment to not only help individuals to give the best they can within the framework of an organization or mission but also to help individuals discover their own unique gifts, talents, and abilities. Leadership conversations, whether formal or informal, create a sense of caring and belonging, creating connections, and enable individuals to unleash their strengths and talents.
-
Palmer, F. E. Social Lives of Students at Schools for the Blind: Letters from Principals and Superintendents. Iowa School for the Blind, 1929.
In December of 1928, Iowa School for the Blind Superintendent F. E. Palmer wrote to his colleagues across the country asking what methods they used to promote the social lives of their students. The numerous replies he received were so helpful that he compiled and redistributed them to the schools. This collection of unpublished letters provides an incredible view into America’s schools for the blind and the social interactions of their students. Some superintendents supplied detailed lists of diverse groups and activities. One of the shorter responses comes from the Kentucky School for the Blind, where Superintendent Martin kept the students too busy for any “social entertainments.”
This compilation has been digitized for Internet Archive.
APH is working with the Internet Archive to digitize portions of the M.C. Migel Collection. Search the phrase “full text” to find these items at the Migel Library. The digitized texts are available in a variety of formats, including DAISY, Kindle, EPUB, PDF, etc.
Contact Library staff: library@aph.org, 800-223-1839, ext. 705
APH Braille Book Corner
APH offers a number of recreational books in braille available with Quota funds. Each of these titles was originally transcribed and produced by APH for the National Library Service which has graciously granted permission for this offering. As usual, these titles have been added to the APH Louis Database where you can find thousands of titles produced in accessible formats.
-
By: Juana Medina
T-N2214-40 – $25.50
Juana, a spunky young girl from Colombia, loves playing with her canine best friend, Lucas, and resists boring school activities, especially learning English. But she changes her mind after her family entices her with a special trip to an English-speaking place. Grades 2-4.
-
By: Yvette Landry
T-N2207-80 – $21.50
In southern Louisiana a grandmother tells her grandchildren about the local legend of a strange old woman, Madame Grand Diogt, who would dwell in attics and snatch away misbehaving children. One summer, a granddaughter discovers exactly what happened to those kids. Grades 2-4.
-
By: Elizabeth Strout
T-N2189-00- $71.50
In the hospital, recovering from what should have been a simple operation, Lucy Barton gets a visit from her estranged mother. While her mother shares gossip from home, Lucy thinks back on her past and their difficult relationship.
-
By: Stephen L. Petranek
T-N2186-00- $43.00
It sounds like science fiction, but Stephen Petranek considers it fact: Within twenty years, humans will live on Mars. We’ll need to. In this sweeping, provocative book that mixes business, science, and human reporting, Petranek makes the case that living on Mars is an essential back-up plan for humanity and explains in fascinating detail just how it will happen.
In this exciting chronicle, Petranek introduces the circus of lively characters all engaged in a dramatic effort to be the first to settle the Red Planet. How We’ll Live on Mars brings firsthand reporting, interviews with key participants, and extensive research to bear on the question of how we can expect to see life on Mars within the next twenty years.
-
By: Christopher Buehlman
T-N2205-60- $177.50
New York City, 1978. For the last forty years, Joey Peacock has enjoyed the hunt as an adolescent vampire–until one night, when he sees a group of creepy children hunting recklessly in the city’s subway system, endangering them all.