By Jessica L. Edmiston, AIDB Chief Adult Programs Officer 

Henry Ford once said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time, more intelligently.”

Can one increase their intelligence? Research is mixed. However, Howard Gardner, a Harvard Developmental Psychologist, suggested in 1983 that humans have 12 intelligence modalities: visual-spatial, verbal-linguistic, musical-rhythmic, logical-mathematical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic and bodily-kinesthetic. The concept behind the theory of multiple intelligences is that people learn in a variety of different ways. 

Philosopher Socrates and even Gardner might ask, ‘How does Structured Discovery fall within this theory?’

“Herein lies the beauty of the Alabama Freedom Center for the Blind (AFCB) and the Structured Discovery philosophy,” notes AFCB Executive Director Isaac Beavers.  “In Braille, Assistive Technology, Travel, Home Management and Seminar, we provide students with individualized tasks, assignments and experiences non-visually. We incorporate student interests and learning styles with opportunities to problem-solve through the experience, so as both Henry Ford and Howard Gardner suggest, to begin again with additional intelligence and confidence - to secure success.”

Beavers notes that the AFCB itself has gone through a similar metamorphosis of continuous improvement and increased intelligence much like its students. The program was originally established within the AIDB Birmingham Regional Center in November 2016 with five students as the brainchild of National Federation of the Blind (NFB) leaders Allen and Joy Harris, former Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) President John Mascia, Au.D., and partnering agency, Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services. The AFCB moved into a set of apartment buildings in the Avondale area of downtown Birmingham, in 2018, creating classrooms and a residential component in the same apartment complex with a capacity to serve 10 students. Staffers and students have presented at the Mississippi NFB State Convention and are in talks to present to NFB of Virginia and Georgia State Conferences. Home Management Instructor Sarah Patnaude was named President of the National NFB Human Services Division and was chosen by NFB to serve on the national NFB Individualized Education Plan Cohort Training. Braille Instructor Anna Trotman was named as Vice-President of the National NFB DeafBlind Services division and she, and Assistive Technology Instructor Gabriella Orton, will present to AT Alabama in November 2024. Travel Instructor Christopher Misterka was chosen to present at the 2024 AVRT Conference in November 2024 and was recently named as President of the Huntsville NFB Chapter with Patnaude and Trotman serving as Vice-President and Secretary, respectively. And, the AFCB Team accomplished all of this while moving to AIDB-North in Decatur in April 2024, where the AFCB is now in a dedicated, 14,700 facility and two, 14,000-square-foot apartment buildings that can house 18 students. 

Success has been born of failure and problem-solving. Strategic and recruitment plans have been developed and implemented; and the curriculum enhanced. Plans for youth transition camps along with staff and senior adult immersion experiences are already being conceptualized. Internships and work experiences are a must, but as Patnaude explains, “Other centers – of which there are now 10 nationwide – utilizing the Structured Discovery philosophy and methodology, have been 30-plus years in the making. We’ve got to give ourselves credit for where we have been, where we are now and where we can be. Success is not achieved overnight.”

For students, success is achieved within a program that spans six to 12 months. Julia Fleming, a native of Arab, Alabama, is a recent graduate and will attend Mississippi University for Women, Columbus, in the Fall of 2024. 

“Going to the AFCB gave me the freedom to live the life that I wanted,” explains Fleming. “Now that I’ve graduated, I can experience that freedom. The greatest lesson I learned was the importance of trusting myself.”

AFCB staff and students learn from one another intellectually, individually and collectively. Julia and so many others now set their own standards and expectations for failure, success – and intelligence.