Hello MWABA,

Join us for the Fall Social, the White Cane Day Family Goalball event, and Tandem Biking!

Fall Social

· RSVP by October 13th for this year’s fall social Oktoberfest party! Come enjoy this fall tradition on Saturday, October 18th from 5:30-8:30 at the home of Drew and Amanda Aswell, in Vienna VA. Welcome in the fall weather as we celebrate good friends over good food. Bring your family, dress up a little and have fun. We’ll have bratwurst and a number of German side dishes. Veggie sausages will be available on request. Bring drinks or a dessert to share. Amanda’s house is a 10-minute walk from the Dunn Loring station on the orange line. She also has a fenced yard for any guide dogs that want to get out of harness and party along. Prost! Sign up here: Oktoberfest Party RSVP

White Cane Day Family Goalball Event

· MWABA is excited to host a fun community goalball event in celebration of White Cane Day. This event will take place on Saturday, October 18th from 10:00-1:00 at the Columbia Heights Community Center. It is open to anyone who is interested in trying out goalball, including our regular adult players, youth, and family and friends! We’ll come together for an open gym style of play and rotate anyone who is interested in playing in and out in a series of practice games. This will be a great opportunity for parents or siblings of youth participants to get suited up in pads and eyeshades and experience the sport. In the spirit of White Cane Day, this event will be all about building community, raising awareness, and having fun. Please find more information and sign-up at the link below. The deadline to sign-up is October 15th.

· https://forms.gle/Pn55F2E7xNzapkKc9

Tandem Biking

· Sign up here by Tuesday at 8 p.m. for the Eastern Market ride on Thursday at 6 p.m. and for the Bethesda ride on Friday at 6 p.m.: https://forms.gle/a3fC438hzv9aH8m89

Other Activities

· The Challenged Athletes Foundation 2026 Grant Application is open, and the deadline is November 14th. Individuals can apply for grants for equipment, training, and competition. Grants Archive – Challenged Athletes Foundation

· Research Study: Street designs continue to evolve resulting in new challenges for blind pedestrians. Accessible Design for the Blind, working with Kittelson & Associates, is looking for volunteers who are blind to participate in a study on the accessibility of bus boarding islands in the Washington, DC, area. We want to better understand the experience and challenges of people who have little or no vision when crossing bicycle lanes to get to or from buses at bus boarding islands. Bus boarding islands are separated from the sidewalk by bicycle lanes that must be crossed to board the bus or to reach the sidewalk when exiting the bus. These islands can be of various designs, and they may have a sizeable area where one can wait for the bus, or they may have limited or no width, in which case passengers board the bus from the edge of the bike lane. These bus boarding islands let people riding bicycles use a bicycle lane that passes buses on the side away from the street, so they don’t have to wait behind buses or go around them by moving into the traffic on the left side of the bus. The boarding islands reduce conflicts between bicyclists and buses and other traffic, but they introduce potential conflicts between bicyclists and pedestrians. These conflicts occur because the bus boarding islands require passengers to cross the bike lane when traveling to or from where you board the bus.

· The study is looking for experienced travelers who are comfortable using a long cane, who regularly travel independently outdoors, have an inability to see shapes or objects such as pavement markings such as crosswalks, signs, or vehicles including bicycles AND who would be willing to participate in the research. If you decide to take part in the study, you will be asked to do several trials in which you will begin on the sidewalk or bus island, need to locate the crossing location for the bike lane, and cross the bike lane. For some of the crossings, there will be additional assistive features present at the crossing. There will be a certified orientation and mobility (O&M) specialist with you as you travel. Compensation is $75, and travel costs to get to and from the study area will be reimbursed

· If you are interested in participating in this study, please call Marybeth Cleveland at 301-412-4224, or email her at mbcleveland to get additional information and to find out if you are eligible for the study. Feel free to share this with anyone who may be interested and who is in the Washington D.C. area.

Thanks and see you out there!

Metro Washington Association of Blind Athletes (MWABA)

Sports and fun for everyone! https://gomwaba.org