Usually on Tuesday Topics we attach our predictions to other elements like "how to keep your resolutions" or something similar! This time we are flat out

prognosticating! We are gazing blindly into the future with the hope that something from the chaos of what is to be will trickle back to us! I would argue

that these times are as hard as any time ever during which to look ahead! The art of extrapolation says that we ought to be able to take what has just

happened and assume that these events will help us unerringly identify those actions that the events that have happened portend. Lately, friends, it does

not appear to work like that!

I will be fascinated to see what the team comes up with and what you believe will be the big events of 2026.

From 7 to 9 PM Eastern time January 6 2026 Tuesday Topics will once more take to the internet. It is time for all of us to look ahead to 2026 and predict

what we believe is in store for people who are blind, our country, the world and whatever other things we are minded to predict. With the new year less

than a week old we will gaze into our crystal balls and dare to extrapolate from the present what we believe the next twelve months will hold. What will

new technology look like? What will preoccupy ACB?

Last year went in directions none of us managed to anticipate! Will wars end? Where will our economy go? How will artificial intelligence evolve? Dare

we look ahead to the mid-term elections? Maybe not! What do you, our Tuesday Topics audience, see in the future? Join our effort to penetrate the unknown

with bold predictions where no internet podcast or live program dares to go!

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Those of you who have been long time listeners to our show can

probably guess what our topic is. At the end of each year we like to review the events that those of us on the team and you think are the most significant

things that have happened during this year. We are pretty loose about what can be included but want to talk about blindness things, technology, movies,

books and whatever else seems to come up. There are some things we know we should be thankful for and we like to look at some of those. There are probably

some trends that are not so great and we will probably talk about some of those. The bottom line, dear topickers, is that we want to end up with a sense

of 2025 that we can take forward with us to 2026.

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

There appears to be a whole range of ways that the brain reacts to picturing something with one's eyes closed. I listened to a recent program where a condition

was described that intrigued me. The term I heard was "afantesia" but that appears not to be the correct name of the condition. Essentially people who

have this condition see nothing in their brains when they close their eyes and try to picture even something as concrete as an apple. At the other end

of the spectrum there are people who have, again not the correct word apparently, "hyperfantesia". These individuals can be reading a fantasy novel with

dragons or unicorns and, when they close their eyes, they can see images of these elements as clearly as though they were a part of the story. It appears

that ten percent of folks are at one end and ten percent at the other end and the rest of us somewhere in the middle.

Clearly people who were born blind will probably be at the not-see end but what about people who have lost their vision later in life? What do they see

with their eyes closed? Are those folks on all ranges of the spectrum from nothing to everything?

People who are born blind dream! How do they dream? Is there a difference between the way people who have seen dream? Do they dream with the sight they

used to have? Does their ability to "see" lessen with time?

Essentially, we want to explore perception awake and asleep. The questions I have suggested are just the tip of the iceberg. I will tell all of you about

my dreams if you join us! So will others! I can tell you now that I see nothing with my eyes closed! Oddly en, I don't smell anything or hear anything

either which, one would think, ought to be a possibility.

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Last year we featured a play

with blind actors from our ACB Sacramento chapter. We hope to have them on in the future to share their latest project! On our show this time we feature

a group based in Pennsylvania interested in "improv".

Sue Lichtenfels from Out of Sight Improv will join us for the next Tuesday Topics. Through virtual experiences, Out of Sight Improv enables blind and sighted

actors to soar high through their mind's eye. After learning a little about Sue and this project, we'll hear the trailer for their most recent improv audio

play. Then she will share some helpful improv techniques before we dive in to perform short scenes ourselves.

Members of the audience will also get to play so don't miss this chance to become a star!

Here's Sue's contact info if you wish to learn more or become involved:

Out of Sight Improv

[email protected]

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Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Tuesday Topics will once more tackle an issue that we think deserves atffention. We live in polarizing times! Politically

our nation is perhaps more divided than it has ever been. Within our very own organization it sometimes seems that civil discourse is replaced by uncivil

recourse to inappropriate messaging.

Are there ways to defuse this level of irreconcilability? Can we find ways to interact with each other in ways that produce dialogue rather than log jams?

We certainly can't change where our country is with a single program but we think we can open'ly explore some communication techniques that might help!

We can also engage each other in ways that demonstrate what apposite communicating looks like!

Debbie Hazelton, a professor and psychologist, will join us to help explore division and dialogue.

Peter Altchul will also be with us!

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

From 7 to 9 PM on November 11 Tuesday Topics will join in the celebration of Assistive Technology Awareness Month. I am not sure that this is its actual

title but there have been a number of posts announcing it exists!

What is assistive technology? Is it different from access technology? Where does adaptive technology fit into the picteaure? We will explore definitions

but, more importantly, we will discuss the current state of all three elements. It is arguable that there are more tech options available today than there

have ever been! It is also accurate to say that, in the current environment, there are questions about where Federal funding may be over the next few years.

Do children and seniors have equal access to technology given the limited dollars availble to people not in rehab? What can we do to alter this discrepancy?

What does the future look like? How has competition affected technology? What are gaps that need filling? Are there things ACB needs to do in this arena?

Assistive technology has revolutionized the capacity of people with disabilities to function independently. We will celebrate and explore both high tech

and low tech equipment that has impacted people with disabilities!

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

From 7 to 9 PM on November 4 Tuesday Topics will consider fund raising as it applies to ACB and other blindness groups. ACB has a range of ways to raise money. Members contribute a lot; sponsors represent a viable option; fees for services is a new potential approach. Every nonprofit in the world is finding it harder and harder to persuade people to give! Where does ACB stand? Is it harder in the current environment to raise money for organizations like ACB? Are some of the methods used by some blindness organizations inappropriate or demeaning? What can we do about those that make us angry? How can ACB compete with other blindness groups? What do folks get when they give? These are just some of the questions we will explore on Tuesday Topics next time! When ACB was formed, a major issue was how fund-raising was being handled. There has always been a need for money to implement the objectives of ACB! All kinds of options have been explored! Affiliates could get things they could sell; special appeals happened; ACB reached outside to find folks who would support what we do; and many other approaches have been tried. Are there specific approaches we would reject? What methods worked best! Do you remember some of the objects ACB used to sell? Should we raise dues to get more funds? Is fund raising harder these days than it 'used to be? How come? What does the future look like? Brian Charlson will lead this week's Tuesday Topics as we explore a subject that is necessary and controversial!

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Tuesday Topics will explore halloween experiences. Did you trick or treat as a child who was blind? Did you like it or not? Did you take your children trick or treating? How was that? How do you handle halloween these days? Have you ever either tricked or been tricked at halloween? How aware are you of what is going on in your neighborhood with halloween? These are just some of the questions we will invite you to explore! When people come to your door do you ask them to describe their costumes? Are there ways that your blindness affects how you handle this holiday?

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

We are now on the two hudred and twenty-ninth show in the current series of Tuesday Topics. That is quite a number and I need to thank everybody involved for enabling us to be around as long as we have. It is difficult to come up with topics that are new and exciting and your help deciding on subjects is certainly appreciated! It is my plan to try to find some guests to help us understand the current state of Medicare and medicaid and to explore some of the options that people have chosen and why. If we are going to succeed with this topic we will need to hear from folks who have explored the options that are out there! I hope to get somebody who has worked on this issue on resolutions and with AAVL. I have done some work on the topic and I know there are lots of questions out there! Is plain Medicare better for some people? If so, why? What do supplements provide and what do they offer? Is medicaid getting harder to get? What is the difference in states which have extended medicaid coverage? Are Federal dollars contracting for medical support? What has the impact of this change been and what should we do about it? What has your experience with both medicare and medicaid been like?

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Tuesday Topics concentrates on employment once more. October is Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM), and during this Tuesday Topics program, we consider some of the advantages and disadvantages of having a designated month to focus on this issue! We spend much of our time, however,  on the connections between artificial intelligence and the employment of people with visual impairments. What's helping? What's not? How can we better support visually impaired people and the employers who hire them to thrive in a rapidly changing workplace? How can employers guard against AI discriminating against potential employees with disabilities and why should they? What legislation might help? Are there other barriers besides AI that we need to work to break down? What message should we seek to share this month? Kayla Bentas, Tanner Gers, Brock Kitterman, Peter Altschul and Sara Freeman Smith provide particular expertise and experience to these issues and we welcome them as guests!

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co