Features

Profiles: IDB loses seven to early retirement, gains new staff to fill gaps
Blind Perspective
Talking Tech w/ Curtis Chong: the iBill currency identifier

IDB loses seven to early retirement, gains new staff to fill gaps

By Courtney Townsend
Contributing Writer
Communications Intern

This spring, IDB lost seven long-time employees to the state’s early retirement program.

Doug Cole, Library Associate, 39 years of service. Cole had numerous responsibilities, including managing the Braille and large-print collections. In his retirement Cole plans to volunteer for the IDB and in hospitals. "I really enjoy helping people and knowing that you’re doing something to help others," he said.

Mike Hicklin, Plant Operations Manager, 39 years of service. Hicklin worked as a VR counselor before he took over managing the building housing IDB. As operations manager, if something went wrong with the building, Hicklin was there to fix it. He also worked with students to help them become employed in a maintenance job. In his retirement he plans to stay active and spend time fishing. He said his time at the IDB was very meaningful. "There have been a lot of successes over the years and it’s gratifying to be a part of it," he said.

Dawna Ray, Library Secretary, 34 years of service. Ray had many administrative tasks that kept her busy and kept the Library afloat.In retirement she plans to travel, take fun classes, spend time with friends and volunteer for the Library. Ray said, "I’ve really enjoyed working here with so many dedicated and creative people working towards our goal."

Terry Poldberg, Rehabilitation Teacher, 30 years of service. Poldberg spent his time teaching people in their homes the skills of blindness, speaking to the public and conducting community-based training workshops. He said working with clients and seeing their progress was most rewarding. In his retirement, Poldberg said he looks forward to volunteering and traveling.

The Department also said goodbye to Reader Adviser Cindy Valin, Technology Specialist Lisa Davis and Vocational Rehabilitation Supervisor Bonnie Linquist.

Three new staff members joined the IDB team to serve clients in northern Iowa.

Jamie Corwin, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor. Corwin is based in Decorah and will work to create new connections in the northeastern quadrant of the state. She is from Waukon, and previously worked as a program coordinator at a community rehabilitation center. The job, she said, is a learning opportunity and will give her a chance to utilize her master’s degree in rehab counseling.

Randy Landgrebe, Rehabilitation Teacher. After a two-year stint in Colorado, Landgrebe returns to the Department to fill the needs of Independent Living clients in northwest Iowa. Landgrebe previously was the assistant director of the IDB library, so this new position is a career shift for the Iowa native. He said he is happy to return to the IDB.

Sandy Johnson, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor. Johnson will be helping clients get jobs and retain jobs in northwestern Iowa. Johnson was a high school teacher for 30 years. "Teaching was rewarding but this is more rewarding because you see results faster and meet really neat people," she said.

Blind Perspective

By Linda Slayton

There are times in life when milestones should be called "inch" stones. In those times we change so rapidly that we aren’t even aware of those changes until we look back years later. That’s how attending the IDB Orientation Center was for me.

Already in crisis, I arrived feeling like a cartoon character with that black cloud over my head. My feelings were a massive jumble of fear, depression, worry and just an inkling of hope.

Like most newbies, I threw myself into the skills. I focused on schedules and not hurting myself or anyone else as I attempted new feats of bravery. On my very first day a woman came into the rec room, head bleeding and bruised. She announced to the room at large, "I fell off a bridge." Not what you want to hear on your first day. I later learned that she had stepped off of a high curb on one of the interstate overpasses while on travel.

I gradually came to accept the Center. Then I came to like the Center. Now I look back on that experience as one of life’s best. I made real friends there--the kind you keep forever, even if we don’t talk often. The inkling of hope I arrived with became honest-to-goodness belief in what blind people can accomplish. I found legitimate answers for the question of how to define success based on myself.

I had fun in the Orientation Center. My class was composed of people with mismatched ages, ethnicities, personalities and beliefs. Yet, somehow we became a unified group in which everyone mattered.

Each day we faced practical jokes--everything from rubber-banded kitchen sprayers that gave us wet faces to the business class being kidnapped.

While not discounting what I learned in classes, I devotedly waited for the time when class was over and we went out on the town. It’s amazing how many uses the long cane has. Among those we discovered: fishing pole, sword, light saber, picker-upper, people herder and stick. Who knew? People in Des Moines just weren’t quite ready for our motley crew of blind folks. I do believe the interaction was good for everyone.

The building in which we lived has a rich history, which we attempted to make richer. As an old YMCA building it has many areas to explore. We lived amid impromptu contests in the gym, homemade ice cream fiascoes, amazing races and steps made for sitting and sharing confidences. One of the best parts of the program was being able to be together as a large group, secluded in small groups, or alone when we needed to be. All were important parts of those infamous milestones for me.

I have a great sense of nostalgia about that time of my life--the kind of feeling that develops when we remember a time and place when we had a niche. It’s a remembrance of a pivotal change that made me a different person. Ironically, at a time in my life when I least knew what I would become or who I would turn out to be, I most learned who I was. That’s a milestone.

Linda Slayton is a freelance writer living in Des Moines. She can be reached by e-mail at lslayton@yahoo.com

Talking Tech w/ Curtis Chong: The iBill Currency Identifier

Although a blind person can successfully manage paper currency through the simple expedient of folding different bills in different ways, there are times when it would be handy to be able to identify a particular bill (for example a $1 bill or a $20 bill) without having to ask someone with sight for help. For example, it is easy for me to keep track of the bills in my wallet, but what happens if all of the bills fall out?

ibill Wouldn’t it be nice to have a piece of technology that could help me to know what bill I am holding in my hand?

In October, 2009, Orbit Research announced the iBill Currency Identifier. Priced at $99, the iBill has turned out to be the smallest, fastest and least expensive currency identifier on the market; its nearest competitor is the Brytech Note Teller 2, which sells for $300.

The iBill is very small, measuring 3 inches by 1.6 inches by .7 inches. It fits very comfortably in a shirt or coat pocket. It is powered by one triple-A battery, which lasts at least one year, (according to the manufacturer).

It recognizes all forms of U.S. currency--from a $1 bill up to a $100 bill, and it will provide information about the bill’s denomination verbally (saying one, five, or 20), through a pattern of audible beeps, or (for deaf-blind users) through a pattern of vibrations (e.g., three short vibrations for a $5 bill).

I have found the iBill to be both fast and accurate. It typically identifies a bill’s denomination in less than a second, and it has never failed to correctly identify the money I throw at it.

Impressive as the iBill is, there is one very important shortcoming: it takes a long time to buy one.

People who have ordered the iBill directly from the manufacturer have waited more than three months before receiving their product. Other companies who serve as dealers for the iBill typically receive shipments of the iBill in lots of 25.

Therefore, the demand for this marvelous technology being what it is, dealers have reported that they are sold out the minute they receive the product. Unfortunately, Orbit Research is simply not able to make enough iBills to meet the current level of demand.

We will not be carrying the iBill in our store, but more information on the iBill can be found by going to www.orbitresearch.com/(888)-606-7248; or Patrick Fischer at www.accessibility.net/(800) 539-4357; or Earle Harrison at www.handytech.us/(651) 636-5184.