BRS Community Resources & Advocacy 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A BRS is helping a client register to vote independently. Which federal law requires states to provide accessible voting systems to individuals with disabilities, including those who are blind?
- National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993
- Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 (Correct answer)
- Voting Rights Act of 1965 Section 208
- Federal Election Campaign Act accessibility provisions
Correct answer: Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002
HAVA requires that at least one accessible voting system per polling place enable blind and other voters with disabilities to vote privately and independently.
Question 2: Which nonprofit organization administers Bookshare, the largest accessible online library for people with print disabilities including blindness?
- Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D, now Learning Ally)
- Benetech / Benetech's Bookshare (Correct answer)
- National Braille Press
- American Printing House for the Blind
Correct answer: Benetech / Benetech's Bookshare
Bookshare is operated by Benetech and provides free access to students with qualifying disabilities through a USDOE grant, and paid individual memberships to others.
Question 3: A BRS is advocating for a client in a rural area with limited transportation. Which federal program funds rural and specialized transportation services that benefit blind individuals who cannot use fixed-route transit?
- Section 5310 Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities program (FTA) (Correct answer)
- ADA Paratransit mandate under Title II only
- Medicaid Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) exclusively
- Federal Highway Administration rural access grant
Correct answer: Section 5310 Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities program (FTA)
FTA Section 5310 funds transportation services for seniors and individuals with disabilities, including demand-response and mobility management programs in rural areas.
Question 4: Under the ADA, a public transit agency's paratransit service must operate within how many miles of a fixed-route bus or rail line corridor?
- 1/4 mile on each side
- 3/4 mile on each side (Correct answer)
- 1 mile on each side
- 2 miles on each side
Correct answer: 3/4 mile on each side
ADA requires complementary paratransit to be provided within 3/4 mile of each side of a fixed-route bus line or rail station.
Question 5: A BRS is working with a school-aged client transitioning to adult services. Which document, required under IDEA beginning at age 16, outlines postsecondary goals and transition services including community resource connections?
- Individual Education Program (IEP) with a transition plan (Correct answer)
- Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) through VR
- Individual Written Rehabilitation Program (IWRP)
- 504 Accommodation Plan with adult service referrals
Correct answer: Individual Education Program (IEP) with a transition plan
Under IDEA, the IEP must include a coordinated transition plan beginning at age 16 (or earlier) with measurable postsecondary goals and identified transition services.
Question 6: Which concept in blindness advocacy refers to the systemic assumption that sighted people's ways of experiencing the world are superior, leading to undervaluation of blind people's abilities?
- Audism
- Sightism or visual normativism (Correct answer)
- Ableism (general disability context only)
- Ocularcentrism as a purely philosophical term with no policy relevance
Correct answer: Sightism or visual normativism
Sightism (or visual normativism) describes societal bias that privileges sighted norms and undervalues blind people's competence and alternative techniques.
Question 7: A BRS wants to connect a client experiencing vision loss grief with peer support. Which program model has shown evidence of effectiveness for emotional adjustment to vision loss?
- Strict biomedical referral to psychiatry as first-line intervention
- Vision rehabilitation peer support programs such as those using the Lighthouse Guild or ACB peer visitor models (Correct answer)
- Online general disability forums without vision-specific facilitation
- Mandatory group therapy with sighted counselors only
Correct answer: Vision rehabilitation peer support programs such as those using the Lighthouse Guild or ACB peer visitor models
Structured peer visitor programs led by trained blind individuals, such as those offered through organizations like the Lighthouse Guild and ACB, have demonstrated effectiveness in supporting emotional adjustment.
BRS Community Resources & Advocacy 5
A BRS is helping a client register to vote independently.
Which federal law requires states to provide accessible voting systems to individuals with disabilities, including those who are blind?