AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND Reese Robrahn, President 539 New England Building Topeka, Kansas 66603 RESOLUTION 68-01 Adopted July 20, 1968 WHEREAS, there exists in the United States a large and ever-increasing number of multi-handicapped blind children; and WHEREAS, at present, there are little or no adequate facilities available to meet the many needs of multi-handicapped blind children: diagnosis of disability, measurement of capacities, treatment, training and other needed aids and services; and WHEREAS, there is convincing evidence that, when proper and adequate measures are taken, all can be helped to some degree and many developed to the point of self-sufficiency and self-support, and, in any event, all should be developed to their greatest potential; and WHEREAS, the present practice of placing multi-handicapped blind children in residential schools for the normal blind child does not provide adequate or proper facilities for the multi-handicapped blind child, and, at the same time, diminishes the space required for the normal blind child and severely curtails the ability of the residential school to provide an adequate educational program for the normal blind child; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind in convention assembled this 20th day of July, 1968, at the Bellevue Hotel, San Francisco, California, that this organization strongly recommends that there be established several regional diagnostic centers in areas which can best serve several states that do not have sufficient numbers of multi-handicapped blind children to warrant the establishment of state centers; for the early and adequate establishment of these centers, Federal funds should be sought. Such centers should provide all of the facilities and professional staff necessary for complete determination of potential of such children, adequate medical treatment, training, and such education as may be required to prepare them for further education in the residential school for normal blind children, a public school, or for all possible participation in the community. AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND Reese Robrahn, President 539 New England Building Topeka, Kansas 66603 RESOLUTION 68-02 Adopted July 20, 1968 WHEREAS, the residential schools for blind children throughout the United States have, for many years, provided complete, effective, and, in most cases, superior academic and social training for blind children; and WHEREAS, residential schools have provided a climate within which the blind child has been able to overcome dependence on parents and others through competition and association with other blind children of equal ability, and thereby developed great independence and ability to cope with the demands of the public school and college; and WHEREAS, in most states there are not sufficient numbers of blind children in a large number of communities to justify the establishment of even minimal facilities for the education of blind children in such communities; and WHEREAS, even in large communities and cities, too often, the establishment of special facilities for the education of blind children has resulted in even more segregated facilities within a public school, thereby fostering a feeling of inferiority; and WHEREAS, the state-operated residential school can be most adequately equipped and staffed to provide the best possible training at a much lower cost than that of equipping and staffing a large number of small and separate facilities; and WHEREAS, there is strong evidence which would indicate that all blind children would benefit by spending a few years away from home; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind in convention assembled this 20th day of July, 1968, at the Hotel Bellevue, San Francisco, that this organization strongly urges that all states maintain residential schools for the education of blind children. It is further recommended that there be established in such states, and in cooperation with the residential school, a system of determining when a blind child should attend a residential school and when he should be placed in special facilities in the public school or be placed in the public school on an independent basis. AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND Reese Robrahn, President 539 New England Building Topeka, Kansas 66603 RESOLUTION 68-03 Adopted July 20, 1968 WHEREAS, average and superior blind persons are being mingled with multi-handicapped and other exceptional blind persons in some orientation centers and workshops; and WHEREAS, multi-handicapped and other exceptional blind persons need special training and assistance which is time-consuming and unnecessary for the average or superior blind trainee; and WHEREAS, the special attention required by the multi-handicapped or other exceptional blind person results in too little time and attention being given to average and superior blind trainees who are mingled with them in training situations; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind in convention assembled this 20th day of July, 1968, at the Bellevue Hotel, San Francisco, that the Council is opposed to mingling average and superior blind persons with multi-handicapped and other exceptional adult blind persons in training facilities; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council supports and promotes programs and procedures to establish separate facilities for the multi-handicapped and other exceptional adult blind trainees. AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND Reese Robrahn, President 539 New England Building Topeka, Kansas 66603 RESOLUTION 68-04 Adopted July 20, 1968 WHEREAS, the Wagner-O'Day Act of 1938 has resulted in the purchase of substantial quantities of blind-made products by the United States government thereby affording employment to many blind persons; and WHEREAS, such government purchases have encouraged and permitted production of other blind-made products for commercial markets thereby adding to the work available to blind persons; and WHEREAS, the American Council of the Blind continues to be interested in and concerned about needed improvements in workshops for the blind and the protection of the rights and interests of blind employees; and WHEREAS, the American Council of the Blind is concerned about the national trend toward and pressures exerted for the enlargement of the Wagner-O'day program to permit all handicapped shops to participate in such government purchases which would thereby spread the business so thin as to greatly reduce available work for blind employees; and WHEREAS, more than 4,500 blind persons are now employed in workshops participating in the Wagner-O'day program wherein they have met government standards and specifications; and WHEREAS, other handicapped shops do not have a comparable record or experience and might thereby jeopardize the future of such programs; and WHEREAS, blind workers in workshops are in need of a representative system of procedures whereby they can protect their rights and interests; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind in convention assembled this 20th day of July, 1968, at the Bellevue Hotel, San Francisco, that this organization instructs its officers to oppose the expansion of the Wagner-O'day Act to include other handicapped shops and to assist blind workers in workshops in the establishment of a representative system and procedures which will protect the rights and interests of such workers. AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND Reese Robrahn, President 539 New England Building Topeka, Kansas 66603 RESOLUTION 68-05 Adopted July 20,1968 WHEREAS, the national trend in rehabilitation is increasingly in the direction of including all disadvantaged persons without regard to whether they are physically or mentally handicapped; and WHEREAS, there is a national trend in rehabilitation which increasingly ignores or subordinates the vocational objective in rehabilitation; and WHEREAS, the American Council of the Blind is concerned with the necessity to more effectively meet the vocational rehabilitation needs of physically and mentally handicapped persons including the blind; and WHEREAS, the American Council of the Blind is concerned with the probability that the inclusion of all disadvantaged persons in the definition of handicapped individuals for rehabilitation purposes will result in such a dilution of rehabilitation services and such a competition for funds that the unmet needs of physically and mentally handicapped persons including the blind will be neglected; and WHEREAS, the American Council of the Blind does not want the Federal-State rehabilitation programs to have to compete with expanded programs for the disadvantaged, however meritorious; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind in convention assembled this 20th day of July, 1968, at the Bellevue Hotel, San Francisco, that this organization instructs its officers to take such action as may be necessary to assure the availability of effective vocational and other rehabilitation services to visually handicapped persons through the Federal-State rehabilitation programs; and, where programs for disadvantaged persons other than the physically or mentally handicapped exist we urge that these be administered entirely separate from the Federal-State vocational rehabilitation program.