THE Braille Forum Vol. XXXIII February 1995 No. 8 Published By The American Council of the Blind PROMOTING INDEPENDENCE AND EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION IN SOCIETY LeRoy F. Saunders, President Oral O. Miller, J.D., National Representative Nolan Crabb, Editor Sharon Lovering, Editorial Assistant National Office: 1155 15th St., N.W. Suite 720 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 467-5081 Fax: (202) 467-5085 THE BRAILLE FORUM is available in braille, large type, half-speed four-track cassette tape and MS-DOS computer disk. Subscription requests, address changes, and items intended for publication should be sent to: Nolan Crabb, THE BRAILLE FORUM, 1155 15th St., N.W., Suite 720, Washington, DC 20005. Those much-needed and appreciated cash contributions, which are tax deductible, may be sent to Brian Charlson, Treasurer, 1155 15th St., N.W., Suite 720, Washington, DC 20005. You may wish to remember a relative or friend by sharing in the continuing work of the American Council of the Blind. The ACB National Office has available printed cards to acknowledge to loved ones contributions made in memory of deceased persons. Anyone wishing to remember the American Council of the Blind in his/her Last Will and Testament may do so by including a special paragraph for that purpose. If your wishes are complex, you may contact the ACB National Office. For the latest in legislative and governmental news, call the "Washington Connection" toll-free at (800) 424-8666, 6 p.m. to midnight eastern time Monday through Friday. Washington, D.C., residents only call 331-2876. Copyright 1995 American Council of the Blind TABLE OF CONTENTS President's Message, by LeRoy F. Saunders On The Road To Greensboro, by John A. Horst An Invitation To Be In Touch, by Jim and Marjorie Megivern Getting Shut Out By Windows: Visual Nature Of Popular Computer Program Proves A Threat To Blind Workers, by Michael Putzel Regina Chavez Finds Excellent Opportunity In The United States, by Sharon Lovering Journal Of A Jury Foreman, by Nolan Crabb National Council On Disability Needs Your Help Legal Access: Extending Education: A Key New Decision, by Charles D. Goldman She's Making Bucks By Making Braille, by Nolan Crabb Third Paralympic Congress Will Attract Worldwide Group "Rampaging Readers," by Kathi Wolfe Computerized Mathematical Notation: An Alternative To Nemeth, by Kenneth Frasse Augmentative Communication Devices For The Deaf-blind, by Rodney Neely From Your Perspective, by Kathy Lyons Here And There, by Elizabeth M. Lennon High Tech Swap Shop International Friendly Circle Of The Blind Seeks New Members PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE by LeRoy F. Saunders Much has already taken place in the 104th Congress. I hope all of you have been keeping abreast of this by watching the news. If you have, then you know why we have a very busy year ahead of us in dealing with legislation. This new Congress has many new members. Its agenda seems to be one of reviewing all aspects of federal government, making as many cutbacks as possible and acting as swiftly as possible. Probably all programs from which blind and visually impaired people benefit will be under thorough scrutiny. As I write this, our staff, in conjunction with all the national organizations of and for the blind with staff based in D.C., is attending a hearing on Social Security. The changes recommended by Congress would definitely affect blind people receiving Social Security Disability. This is only the fifth day this Congress has been in session. It is more important than ever that we have a large turnout for the legislative seminar in March. We need people to visit their congressional representatives, in both houses, to inform them of the needs of blind people. You who vote for the congressional representatives will have more impact than those who cannot vote. I believe this will be a busy year for all of us. There are many changes in the states as well as in Congress. There will be a big effort in most states to reduce spending and their legislators will be looking at their programs to cut anywhere they can. It is a time when all organizations of and for the blind must work closely together on both the national and state levels. Should we not be together on major issues, then all blind Americans will pay the price. On January 3, Julie H. Carroll joined our staff as our Director of Governmental Affairs. Julie passed the Virginia Bar Exam last fall and has worked in the medical field, so I am sure this young lady will be a real asset to ACB. ON THE ROAD TO GREENSBORO by John A. Horst, Convention Coordinator Plans are moving right along for a great convention in Greensboro, N.C. Your coordinating committee, with the assistance of the North Carolina host affiliate and its president, Francenia Smith, and the Greensboro chapter with its president Chris Alexander, are hard at work planning convention activities. Jennifer Sutton, Director of Affiliate and Membership Services in the ACB national office, is coordinating special-interest group functions. In 1995, Elaine Sanislo from National Industries for the Blind will again be responsible for exhibits. Cynthia Towers will continue to function as assistant coordinator, working on tours, Margarine Beaman as director of volunteers, James Olsen as registration chairperson, Laurinda Steele, information desk, and Nolan Crabb, press room. ACB is indeed fortunate to have such a qualified and experienced team planning and preparing for its 1995 convention. A massive amount of work is performed by these persons and others who assist. Convention attendees should take a moment to express appreciation to this convention team. The 1995 convention will take place in Greensboro, N.C., July 1-8 at the Holiday Inn Four Seasons. Room rates are $47 per night for single through quad. You can make your reservations now by calling (800) 242-6556. Please do not call 1-800-HOLIDAY; they will not be able to make reservations for this convention. The Holiday Inn Four Seasons is handling all reservations including those for overflow hotels. Special-interest group presidents and program and committee chairpersons planning programs are asked to comply with due dates for submission of information. This will enable ACB to meet printing deadlines and to mail the pre- convention packet to you earlier. The 1995 convention exhibit area will be located in a part of the ballroom where the general sessions will be held, partitioned off, of course. As a result, this will be an excellent opportunity for your affiliate or chapter to operate a boutique or for your company or agency to hold an exhibit. Also, ACB affiliates, chapters, or individual members can become sponsors or patrons of the convention. Sponsors and patrons are listed in the convention program. Call Jennifer Sutton in the national office at (202) 467- 5081, or at (800) 424-8666 between 3 and 5:30 p.m. Eastern time for more details. Many ACB members are very faithful in using ACB's designated travel agency, International Tours of Muskogee, Okla., (800) 259- 9299, for all their travel needs. Unfortunately, however, many others do not, and this results in less income for ACB and increased travel costs for ACB workers, since this company shares profits and provides free tickets based on the volume of ACB business. Our contract with this company was again renewed for 1995. If you are experiencing any difficulty or lack of service from International Tours of Muskogee, Okla., we would like to know about it so that any problems can be resolved. Otherwise, we hope you will support ACB by using this designated travel agency for all your travel needs. Get ready for a great convention in 1995. The beautiful Piedmont area of North Carolina welcomes you. AN INVITATION TO BE IN TOUCH by Jim and Marjorie Megivern As most readers know from an earlier issue of the Forum, the ACB board of directors approved a proposal to have the history of the organization written this year. One of the last tasks of Durward McDaniel before his untimely death on Sept. 6, 1994, was working out the arrangements for us to serve as its co-authors. Upon Durward's death, professor Otis Stephens stepped in and ably completed the details of the contract, and ACB President LeRoy Saunders warmly welcomed us to the project with the assurance of full cooperation and assistance. We are humbled by the confidence placed in us and are determined to do the task well, dedicating it to the memory of the unforgettable Durward McDaniel. Just a word about ourselves before we ask for your help: Marjorie is a journalist of long standing who co-authored (with Dr. Anne Russell) "North Carolina Portraits of Faith: A Pictorial History of Religions" (Donning, 1986). She has also written several histories of local institutions (Brunswick Community College, the New Hanover County Human Relations Commission, and public radio station WHQR). She is also much involved in local theater, both acting and directing, and served on our county school board. Jim teaches in the department of philosophy and religion of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and chaired that department for 17 years (1975-92). He received his doctorate from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and has written widely on historical subjects. His most recent manuscript, to be published shortly, is an account of the tangled story of the use of the death penalty in Christian history. We are already well under way with the preliminaries of the ACB project. Marjorie has been taping personal interviews with as many early officers and participants as are willing and able to share their recollections. She has just returned from a hectic week in California where she was able to meet and tape interviews with seven or eight ACB members whose names figure prominently in ACB's origins. Jim at the same time went to Washington, D.C., where he visited the national office, spoke with current leadership and staff, and sized up the stored archival materials. Aileen McDaniel has already shipped us the files that were in the McDaniels' possession in Austin, Texas, so we already have much to work with. We attended the ACB board of directors' meeting in Greensboro, N.C., and reported on our progress, met and conferred with board members, and gathered further advice and suggestions. We want to learn as much as possible about ACB -- both its past and its present. And that brings us to the main point of this article: we hereby issue a general invitation to the readers of "The Braille Forum." Please feel free to contact us. If you have special memories, favorite stories, revealing moments, important insights or perspectives, etc., we would love to hear from you about them. You are welcome to phone us anytime at home (910) 799-3069, or drop us a line, or send us a tape of your comments. Our address is: 4944 Marlin Ct., Wilmington, NC 28403. We thank you in advance for your interest and cooperation, and look forward to hearing from many of you. GETTING SHUT OUT BY WINDOWS: VISUAL NATURE OF POPULAR COMPUTER PROGRAM PROVES A THREAT TO BLIND WORKERS by Michael Putzel (Reprinted with permission from "The Boston Globe," October 17, 1994.) Jamal Mazrui had learned a lot about computers and information management software in four years on the job at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. So when he was asked, he jumped at the chance to design a new system for another department. Then he ran into Windows. Mazrui is blind. He became a specialist in his field using machines that let him hear what he can't see. Those machines read words displayed on a computer screen, but they can't help him point with a mouse and click on the icons and boxes displayed on computer screens running software called Microsoft Windows. "It looked like things were go" for Mazrui's project, using a popular database software package that works without Windows, the 30-year-old Somerville man recounted recently. Then the people who had approached him heard about Microsoft Access, a database program they were told would be easier for workers in the department to use. Access, however, is a Windows-based product. "They opted to go with it and hire an outside consultant to develop this for them," Mazrui said, adding that his own job eventually will have to be restructured because the school's computer services department has recommended that Windows be adopted throughout the school. The great selling point of Windows, the operating system that has revolutionized computing in corporate America, is that, in general, it is easier to use than systems requiring the user to learn and type in sometimes cryptic commands. To thousands of blind workers who can't see the graphic images on the screen, however, Windows has become not just an obstacle, but a threat. "The blind community is at the highest risk right now of being first liberated by computers in the '80s and now enslaved in the '90s," said Charles Crawford, Massachusetts commissioner for the blind. Jeffrey Turner, a systems analyst for John Hancock Financial Services in Boston, who also is blind, said the widespread adoption of Windows in his office and others around the country "is just killing us." Turner has been writing computer programs for his company for nearly 10 years and said John Hancock has spent more than $10,000 for the special equipment he needs to do his job despite his blindness. But Turner is now the only person in his department who is not linked to his colleagues by a local area computer network. He can't use the e-mail system the company is adopting, nor does he work in Microsoft Word, the standard word processing program used by his colleagues. They operate under Windows. "I'm locked out of it all," Turner said. The blind "are going backwards with technology advancing." Turner has spent his career working with mainframe computers, which use text commands and computer language he understands. But the company's development efforts are concentrated on smaller, Windows-based machines, and he can't work on the most challenging new projects. "When they look at who they can consider for those positions, the cherries of the project, they couldn't consider me because I don't have access to Windows," Turner said. Several companies produce software designed to read the information on a Windows screen and translate it into audible speech. The programs do help some users who run relatively modest programs. But Mazrui, Turner and numerous blind users with considerable computer expertise said the screen-reading programs tend to "get lost" and misinterpret icons or information displayed in boxes on the screen. "Despite the best efforts of a number of manufacturers to make this environment accessible to persons who are blind, it has been a well-intentioned but dismal failure," Crawford said. In their book "Solutions; Access Technologies for People Who Are Blind," produced locally by National Braille Press, Olga Espinola and Diane Croft compare the development of graphical computer environments to dropping a guillotine on blind users. "The technique of choosing from among pictorial images, called icons, in lieu of words, has been a deadly development" for the blind, the authors wrote. An illustration of the problem blind users face shows equally well why the graphical environment has proven so popular outside the blind community. "Instead of seeing the word 'mailbox' on the computer screen, for example, you actually see a picture of a mailbox," explained Espinola and Croft, both of whom are blind. "You can point your mouse to the mailbox, click the button, and presto, the mailbox opens up and you can read messages people have left for you." The key, of course, is being able to find the mailbox on the screen. The Sensory Access Foundation, in a review of screen-reading programs that attempt to translate the information displayed on a Windows screen into audio for blind users, characterized the situation as a "nightmare." Although IBM has made great strides with its screen reader for the company's OS/2 operating system, the reviewers said, similar programs for Windows have serious problems, either because they are unreliable or because they don't work with some of the most common Windows programs. The biggest problem for developers of screen-reading software, the reviewers said, is that programmers have few standards that would make it easier to write programs for the blind, and where standards do exist, the programmers frequently don't follow them. Nick Dotson of Pensacola, Fla., a pioneer in finding ways for the blind to use CD-ROM and multimedia technology, said the problem is not confined to Windows itself but extends to many programs designed to run under Windows. Microsoft's own programming groups don't follow corporate guidelines in writing computer code that a screen reader can follow, Dotson said, and it is, therefore, impossible to impose any discipline on other software developers. Greg Lowney, Microsoft's senior program manager for dealing with issues affecting the disabled, acknowledged that the computer industry overlooked the implications of moving to the graphical Windows environment. But the blind community also ignored the issue initially, he said, because it wasn't apparent when Windows was introduced four years ago how quickly the new system would supplant the old. The company now is working with developers of adaptive hardware and software to give them the technical information they need to design aids for the next version of Windows, which is due out in 1995. But Lowney admits the new product, to be called Windows 95, will not contain sufficient code of its own to make future Windows- based programs accessible to the blind. Jennifer Simpson, a Washington lobbyist who serves on a technology task force of the national Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, said it is difficult to legislate a solution. "We don't want to lock into any one technology," she said, because that could impede progress. Simpson added, however, that making new programs and devices is critical to millions of disabled people, "and nobody's thinking about this stuff, which is what it boils down to." Joseph J. Lazzaro, another author of a book on adaptive technologies, said blind people "are having many of the gains we have achieved over the last 10 years taken away, and the chief culprit is Microsoft Windows." Lazzaro said he doesn't expect to use drawing or visual art software on his computer but programs like Windows that use graphical images in place of written commands are not inherently closed to the blind. By building "hooks" into the computer code to identify graphic images in words as well as pictures and by setting strict rules for programming where boxes appear on the screen, Microsoft could make Windows accessible to the blind, Lazzaro said. "These are computers," he added. "It's not like trying to get a stone statue to talk." REGINA CHAVEZ FINDS EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY IN THE UNITED STATES by Sharon Lovering When Regina Chavez lost her sight at the age of 18, she went from Mexico City to Boston for rehabilitation at the Carroll Center for the Blind. She finished high school in the United States and went on to Emmanuel College to earn a bachelor's degree in business. About three years before she came to the United States, Chavez ran a rehabilitation program in San Luis Potosi, a city at the edge of the desert. She had eight clients between the ages of 13 and 64 years old. People hardly use canes or dogs in Mexico, she said, but they're being used more often. "You should have seen the fights I had with the state school for the blind," she said, when it came to cane use and taking women out with her for orientation and mobility. Men were less inhibited, and two of the women became used to them, but when they would return to school, they would put their canes away. And when she asked the men about labeling clothes, they would respond with something akin to "oh, my wife does that." When she told them to pick up a broom and sweep the floor to learn about their surrounding space, she also got some odd looks, in part because, she said, these were professional working men, and in part because of the gender issue. And before going for her master's, she returned to Mexico and set up a small rehabilitation program. Chavez had 18 clients, both children and adults, and she was the only teacher. She taught skills of daily living, orientation and mobility, and gave individual counseling. She did this, she said, "because there was no one else to teach rehabilitation." But, she noted, "There's no sex differentiation [in orientation and mobility] here." After a while, she realized she needed more education to be able to help people better. So she applied for Rotary Club and Fulbright scholarships, and returned to Boston in 1991. In 1993, she graduated from Boston College with a master's degree in special education-vision program. She currently works for the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind on a multicultural outreach program. She wants the commission's clients, both English- and non-English-speaking, to know what their rights and responsibilities are. Effective communication helps people get the services they need faster. But she sees a need, too: the need for interpreters and bilingual, bicultural workers to help people communicate more effectively. When Chavez returned to Boston, she became a member of the Bay State Council of the Blind. She has been chair of the education committee, vice president of the Charles River chapter, and president of the Greater Boston chapter. She thanks ACB for helping her make her personal experience and professional experience more meaningful, and for helping her reach out to others and share those experiences. Working in the United States has given her an excellent opportunity, Chavez said. "I still want to go back to Mexico and help my people," she added. There are a few other things she would like to do too. "If I can stay in this country," she said, she hopes "that the foundations for the [multicultural] program are well-established ... and that the program can ultimately function without me." She estimates that would take about three years, adding that she hopes the multicultural program would become a permanent program of the Massachusetts Commission. If she returned to Mexico, she would like to coordinate the services and efforts made for the blind. There is little money for education there, she said, and "there's hardly any money coming from the government." Comparing her working situation in Mexico to the one in the United States, she said that in Mexico, it was direct services; here, it's primarily administrative. It's all in the same field, but different parts of the game, she added. Chavez's biggest dream involves the world's blind. "There is the World Blind Union, and the Latin American chapter has been closed for the past several years," she said. She'd like to be a "big cheese" for WBU's Latin American chapter. She would also like to see more unification of efforts in helping the world's blind population. And "someday, somewhere" she wants to earn her Ph.D. JOURNAL OF A JURY FOREMAN by Nolan Crabb "Any mail?" I asked as I tossed my backpack in the corner upon arriving home from work one day last November. I'd hoped to get some of the small stuff out of the way before the nightly ritual began. It's a ritual that lasts anywhere from five to 30 minutes, depending on how many of my four daughters feel the need to climb on me, complain about the latest sibling injustice or just give me the intricate details of their day. "You got a letter from the folks at the court," my wife said. "They want you to show up for jury duty on December 12th." "What a waste of time," I mumbled. "They'll probably send me home, and I'll have lost a day's work." At that point, the nightly ritual began. The transition from would-be juror to referee/arbitrator was instantaneous. In fact, as the November days passed, I completely forgot about my little letter from the county. The court system in our county assigns you a number. Mine was number 137. I reasoned that in December, there couldn't possibly be that many trials going on, so my relatively high number would mean I wouldn't be needed. The letter instructed me to call a telephone number the day before I was to appear to determine whether I would in fact be needed. My wife, who had been summoned for jury duty a few months earlier, had been assigned a number lower than mine. When she called the recording, she'd been excused. "If you got excused with your number," I said with all the confidence of a hairy-chested test pilot, "I won't be going either. It's just as well. The 12th marks the beginning of a serious deadline week for the magazine." Besides, I remembered a summons I'd received while living in Utah several years ago. Back then, blindness and jury duty simply didn't mix in Utah under any circumstances. Once that county found out I was blind, I never heard from them again. But that was 13 years and 3,000 miles ago, and here I was in mid-November 1994 with a letter from the county requesting my service. So while I publicly dismissed the letter as something a half step above junk mail, I privately very much wanted to serve. I had done an excellent job of convincing myself that it wouldn't happen, however. I must have convinced my wife as well. She filed the letter from the county and we both promptly forgot about it until the weekend before I was to serve. "Don't you have jury duty on Monday?" she asked that Saturday. "Yeah," I said, "but I'll never be picked. There're some meetings at work that week I really need to attend. Do you suppose they'd really do something to you if you didn't show up?" "You can't just not show up," Valerie said decisively. "Besides, you want the opportunity to serve. I can tell." I marveled at how easily she could see through me and decided then and there to drop the "who cares" facade. "You're right," I said ruefully. "I'd be fascinated by that whole process." Armed with my now-public desire to serve as a juror, Valerie began what would be a two-day search for the letter we'd received in November. She found the paper Sunday night on her second desperate pass through a file in the cabinet marked "legal documents." In the meantime, I'd tried to find the number for the recording that would tell me whether I even needed to show up. Directory Assistance found nothing. A recorded county directory I'd called turned up lots of numbers for the court, but not the one I needed. In desperation, I called the sheriff's office, hoping someone there would know where I could get the number. Of course, they had no knowledge of the number. When I hung up, I remembered how strongly a policeman friend of mine felt about lawyers, and I realized I'd seriously wasted my time and that sheriff's deputy's time as well. Once the letter was found, calling the recording was simple. Still, I approached it with mixed feelings. I really needed to be at work, but it would genuinely be a letdown if my number was too high. It was not. They wanted everyone whose numbers ranged between one and 200. I'd made it through the first step. I noted with satisfaction the braille on the elevators the next morning as I proceeded to the sixth floor jury lounge. I joined a throng picking up stickers that we were to attach to our clothing which indicated that we were jurors. I peeled the back off my sticker and slapped it to my coat, trying not to obsess over whether I'd gotten it on straight enough or right side up. What did it matter? I reasoned. I'd be going back to work by noon anyway. "The first thing I want to tell you," explained the woman who was conducting the jury orientation meeting, "is that you'll be here pretty much all day whether you're picked or not. You'll be here well past lunch." OK, so maybe it did matter whether I got the little sticker on right side up. I later learned that it was on right. The training video was designed to make you feel warm and fuzzy about jury service; the narrator emphatically informed us that such service was the ultimate expression of democracy, and that our presence there was greatly valued and an essential service to our fellow county residents. If that film's effectiveness is to be judged by the number of citizens who rushed forward upon its conclusion to ask to be excused, the county might be better off serving cocoa and piping in snippets of "Good Morning America" or something. I was surprised at the length of the line of those asking to be excused. In fact, for a variety of reasons, many were released. Those of us who stayed pulled out our reading material and waited for our number to be called. After about 20 minutes, the first set of numbers was called. I was not included. A second range of numbers was announced a few minutes later; I'd been skipped this time. That's probably how it will be all day, I thought. I should have just gone to work. My reverie was broken by the announcement of the third range of numbers. To my surprise, this time I was among them. We silently filed into Judge William Miller's courtroom and took seats. We were instructed briefly that the case to be heard in that courtroom involved an automobile accident. At that point, the voire-dire process began. This is a process wherein the judge asks a variety of questions designed to ascertain whether individuals could impartially serve. We were asked, for example, whether we knew any of the individuals who would participate in any way in the upcoming trial. There were other questions about automobile accident claims and whether any of us were involved currently in seeking judgment against someone else as a result of an automobile accident. I survived that process without any problems. A few more people were released. We sat quietly while the judge and attorneys for both sides examined the list of potential jurors still in the room. "Nolan Crabb," the judge said, "Will you please come forward?" This is it, I thought, as I unfolded my cane and walked from my seat in the back to the front of the courtroom. This is where they'll ask all kinds of questions and ultimately decide they don't want me for whatever reason. I could picture it: "How are you going to handle photographs?" I was ready for that one. During my years as a newspaper reporter, I had learned well how to ask questions about photographs that would allow you to get the story accurately and without problems. I had a nice little speech all prepared about how a totally blind person can generally understand photographs if he knows the right questions to ask about them. I even had examples in my head ready to dazzle them with. As it turned out, there were no questions at all. I was told to sit in the front row of what looked to be two rows of seats facing the courtroom. As I took my seat, still assuming that once I'd sat down they'd start on the questions, I bumped what appeared to be a low wall directly in front of my chair. Do they sit you in the jury box to ask you questions, I wondered? There was some additional paper shuffling, then I overheard the judge say, "OK, let's get the rest of these people called." At that point he began calling out numbers and names of five other people and one alternate. I couldn't believe what was happening. Somehow, I'd made it onto a jury. There were no stereotypes to deal with, no questions from anyone about my ability to serve, no comment to me at all other than the instruction to take my seat. "The rest of you can return to the jury lounge," Judge Miller said. The others filed out, perhaps to be selected for another jury in another courtroom or to be sent home later in the afternoon. I still felt a certain amount of amazement that I was not among those leaving the room. I guess I didn't look amazed enough. "Mr. Crabb," the judge said, turning to me, "since you were the first one selected, I'd like you to serve as foreman of this jury. Is that OK with you, sir?" I was certain that any of those other five jurors would have made an outstanding foreperson. For reasons completely inexplicable to me, this judge had asked me to serve as foreman. I agreed to do so, and without further comment, the trial began. A woman was suing a man she said rear-ended her on a rainy summer day. This accident followed close on the heels of another accident in the opposite lane. One of the cars from the first accident had stopped in the lane in which the plaintiff in our trial was traveling. She apparently stopped, but the man behind her had been looking at the first accident. He failed to see the stopped car in front of him until it was too late. During lunch on the first day, I called home to let Valerie know I'd been selected. She agreed to pick me up at the end of the first day since she would be running errands already. As the first day concluded, we were earnestly instructed not to talk about the case to anyone anywhere. We were then dismissed and told to return the next day at 9:30. I waited for my wife just inside the county's Judicial Center. The December wind was significant enough to make waiting outside undesirable at best. At length, the door whirled open and a voice I knew well -- that of my 11-year-old daughter -- blew in on the wind. "Hey, Dad, I can't believe they picked you. So who got shot? Did they find the person lying in a pool of blood? Did the killer use a gun or a knife? How many ... " "Stop!" I interjected. "For your sake and mine, stop. How do you not breathe? You've just asked 45 seconds of rapid-fire questions and you didn't breathe once. How do you do that?" "It doesn't matter," she replied with exasperation. "So give me the scoop. This will make great gossip tomorrow at recess." "No it won't," I said. "I can't talk about this until it's over. I don't think they'll excuse me for misconduct if I tell you this case has nothing to do with murder, guns, knives or blood." She was visibly deflated. If you've ever been a knight in shining armor and fallen off your steed in the eyes of a young person, you know how desperately I tried to remount my steed. "I've been asked to serve as the jury foreman," I tried cautiously. "So you're the guy who says 'we find the defendant guilty' or whatever when they ask?" she queried. "I guess so," I replied. "I haven't had to do that yet, but I guess that's coming." That placated her somewhat. I didn't sleep well that Monday night. I had real fears of being unable to control a sharply divided contentious jury. I prayed earnestly for whatever kind of divine intervention would prevent the six of us from entering the realm of personal attacks. As I look back, I'm sure we had some kind of help. The deliberations ended in under 90 minutes and everyone was extremely polite and respectful of everyone else. I suggested in a spontaneous little speech before we began deliberation that we were all neighbors in a very real sense -- that we would see one another again in the subway or at the store. I urged the group to keep that in mind throughout the process. "As long as we're going to run into one another again," I suggested, "we may as well meet with pleasant memories of our previous meeting." To my great relief, we had no problems. I had used a Braille 'N Speak for note taking during the trial. While my notes were useful, I was impressed with the collective and individual wisdom of our group. One woman knew something about medical billing; someone else was good at adding numbers. Someone else passed on observations they noted about another aspect of the case. When we were finished, I felt extremely gratified that justice had indeed been done. We were polite to one another, and we were impartial and very down-to-earth in our deliberations. We did award the young woman some damages, but they were not excessive; indeed, they might have been considered low by some standards. As I look back at my experience, I think I benefitted from it perhaps more than anyone else in that courtroom. I gained a genuine respect for the legal process I'd not felt to that degree before. I learned that things are never as easy as they appear to be in legal decisions. I learned that it's much easier to cover the courts for the paper than to sit in the jury box and deal with the court from that angle. But mostly, I learned the immense value of the collective wisdom of a wonderful group of people. Our trial included participants representing a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. But race or occupation was not an issue -- and it could have been. An older woman on the jury eloquently spoke to the rest of us of pain she experienced months after a fall at work. She helped all of us remember that we could be both reasonable and compassionate. I'm not sure how significant my role was or whether I contributed appropriately to the process. I can only hope so and believe so. When I was called upon to deliver our verdict, I was struck anew with the recognition of the importance of our service and its effects in the lives of those who participated in the process. "The law says you won't be called upon again for three years," Judge Miller explained as he thanked us for our services. "Actually, the way our computers are set up in the county, you probably won't be tapped for eight years." I'm certain if I'm ever tapped again for jury service, I will approach it with greater appreciation and a greater understanding for the value of the efforts of those referred to as "the finders of fact," the jury. NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY NEEDS YOUR HELP Dear Friends: I am writing today to invite you to participate in a project of great national significance -- the National Council on Disability's ADA Watch Phase II. NCD believes the time has come to better understand and articulate how the Americans with Disabilities Act is making a positive difference in the lives of 49 million Americans with disabilities, their families and friends. We need your help. NCD has congressional authority and responsibility to monitor ADA's implementation. In 1991, NCD established ADA Watch and in 1993, NCD presented its findings on the first phase of ADA Watch to the president and the Congress. In preparation for ADA Watch Phase II, NCD invited policymakers and advocates to Washington, D.C., earlier this year, to participate in a national summit on what will be required to achieve full implementation of the ADA throughout America. These efforts were continued in Seattle, Wash., last summer, when NCD conducted an ADA Watch Roundtable, to find out about one particular community's efforts in this area. As we prepare for the fifth anniversary of the ADA, NCD would like to hear your personal stories as to the law's impact on your life. We are particularly interested in hearing about varying types of successes and the methods you used to achieve those successes. These stories could be about your own personal experiences, those of your employer, or something related to changes in the community. NCD is committed to the administration's goals of inclusion, independence, and empowerment, and your stories will assist us in our role as adviser to the president and Congress on the implementation of the ADA. The 104th Congress is comprised of many new legislators who were not present in 1990 to hear your discrimination diaries and talk with you during the months preceding the passage of the ADA. Please take the time to send your success stories to us at the address listed below. Your input is essential as we continue to shape disability policy. Thank you for taking the time to respond. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Marca Bristo, Chairperson National Council on Disability 1331 F St. NW, Suite 1050 Washington, DC 20004-1107. LEGAL ACCESS: EXTENDING EDUCATION: A KEY NEW DECISION by Charles D. Goldman (Reprinted with permission from "Horizons," February 1995.) In a landmark opinion embodying concepts which transcend special education, a federal judge has just made Montgomery County, Md., Public Schools aware that when it comes to the education of children with disabilities, it isn't over even when it's over. MCPS' obligation to educate children with special needs extends even when school is out to many more students than the local school system had thought. In a decision likely to be appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis has ordered the Montgomery County Public Schools to apply the concept of extended school year (ESY) whenever such services are necessary to permit a student who has a special education individualized educational program to receive some benefit from his/her educational program during the regular school year. The school system must determine each student's eligibility for summer school (ESY) at the annual meeting held to review the student's progress. This is the case of Reusch et al. v. Fountain, Civil No. MJG-91-3124, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, decided December 29, 1994. Montgomery County Public Schools had followed a practice of offering summer school (ESY) only to children receiving special education services who were likely to regress in their skills between school years. The court ruling is a clear rebuke to the school system and makes clear the obligation goes much further. In addition to children with special needs who may regress, children who without ESY would make less progress in their educational program during the regular school year, children who without ESY would not achieve a major breakthrough in their skills, children with interfering behavior that could worsen without ESY and thereby impede educational progress, children who due to the nature and/or severity of their disability and who without ESY services are likely not to benefit from their educational programs during the regular school year as well as children with special circumstances and who without ESY services would not benefit from their educational programs during the regular school year, are all to be considered eligible. It is clear that each and every child receiving special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act must be individually considered (whether or not they are found eligible) for the summer school (ESY) program. Judge Garbis set forth key procedural requirements for implementing the ESY requirements for 1994-95 and ordered MCPS, in consultation with the disabled plaintiffs to develop an ESY decision timeline plan for future school years. MCPS must place students receiving ESY services in the least restrictive environment and may consider the summer programs it offers for non- disabled students. Documentation of consideration of the ESY issue for every student, including informing parents of the right to ESY and the parents' position on ESY is also required. The procedural requirements alone may spur MCPS to appeal. There is little doubt that more students with special needs will receive more services as a result of this decision. Technically only applicable to Montgomery County, the case should spur litigation in other jurisdictions, particularly in Maryland, seeking more summer services for students with disabilities. But step back and take a look at the bigger picture and ideas in the decision. Judge Garbis raises fundamental issues in education, such as the educational progress of students and students' behavior in the schools as it impedes their education. These concepts apply to able-bodied as well as disabled students. How many times at "Back to School Night" have you heard teachers and principals lamenting about how much students have forgotten over the summer? How many weeks are used, arguably lost, to recouping the summer losses? This is February. Can snow, ice and school delays or closures be far away? Were the make-up days in June truly educational or glorified babysitting, as everyone's minds (and consequently their behaviors) were on vacation? What if school -- for everyone -- had been scheduled to extend later in June? Wouldn't there be more learning? Now, at least for students with disabilities, under Reusch, in Montgomery County, Md., the vicissitudes of the weather, the lazy, crazy days of the end of school, will not impede their progress. Reusch is a decision which advocates for greater public school education for all children -- able-bodied and disabled -- can utilize to champion their position. The reasoning has merit for all students. While the short-run impact of this case is profound, the potential long-run impact and benefit for all students could be truly monumental in terms of facilitating the progressive evolution of public policy and education. And that is just what non- discrimination and equal opportunity principles should do. SHE'S MAKING BUCKS BY MAKING BRAILLE by Nolan Crabb You won't see Jennifer Johnson's name on a list of Fortune 500 companies this year, but she's earned the right to be called a businesswoman, and she's earned it line by line and page by page. Johnson is a member of a growing cadre of one- or two-person braille transcription businesses spawned by the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Johnson and other braille transcribers like her have joined the ranks of those millions of Americans involved in the great entrepreneurial phenomenon that sets America apart from nearly every other nation in the world. The time was when braille transcription was generally considered the domain of volunteers who pounded out virtually millions of lines and hundreds of thousands of pages, all at little or no cost for thousands of blind students and adults desperate for information in braille. In fact, those volunteers still exist, some of them still pounding away on Perkins Braillers with a dedication and professionalism second to none. But the transcription business is changing, and it's doing so more quickly than it did prior to the ADA. The new generation of transcribers is looking at it with a for-profit mentality these days, and Johnson says that's not a bad thing. "It's not easy street," she says, "but you can expand the business and make things happen if you're willing to be persistent and hustle." She knows something about persistence. She received a journalism degree but could find no one interested in hiring her, despite her best efforts to sell herself. "I decided this whole thing was just insane. I basically concluded that I could write, I could edit, I could proofread. Those are vital skills in transcribing as well. I decided to take those skills and apply them to assisting others get information in a format they could read." Johnson rapidly became aware of the information she'd been missing for years when she acquired a scanner and computer. "I was amazed at what I've been missing," she says. "I even enjoyed reading my junk mail. I thought, 'If this is happening to me, there must be thousands of others out there who aren't even aware of the information they don't have access to.'" She cautioned those blind would-be entrepreneurs who have stars in their eyes thinking that business and industry will just come to them begging for information to be transcribed. "That's just not the way it works," she explains emphatically. "Not only do they not come to you, they may not let you in the first time you knock on the door. You have to sell the importance of braille, and you have to sell it on a variety of levels. You have to make it appear economically attractive and worthwhile on a public relations level as well. That takes time, and that takes determination at times. If you can't articulately sell your product then deliver the goods on deadline, you won't last long as a transcriber. It doesn't matter if you're doing this for individuals or for companies. The principles are similar." Johnson started out with restaurant menus. "I began with Appleby's Restaurants in the Indianapolis area," she explains. "You can't just get one restaurant signed up and then kick back and say, 'Well, that's all I need to do.' You'll never make a living with one restaurant account. But that one account can help you get others. If someone down the street learns that you're doing menus for Appleby's, they might be that much more interested in having you do theirs." The day came when Johnson decided to venture into the utility bill production business. As it turned out, her timing was excellent. "I talked to Indianapolis Power and Light. The man I talked to was in charge of customer services. He had already considered it and had been interested in it," she explained. "In fact, he'd already talked to another group about transcribing, but they wanted him to provide some of the equipment they'd use. I just said, 'Hey, I have the equipment already; let's just do this.'" That was the beginning of her work with the utility company. Today, she provides some 50 Indianapolis Power customers with brailled utility bills. The company sends her the printed bills, she scans them in, manipulates the information into a previously created format, and brailles the bill. It is inserted in the envelope with the printed bill and sent along to the customer. She says she has to be extremely conscious of deadlines since the utility company operates on various billing cycles depending on the customer. According to Johnson, she's working out arrangements with Cincinnati Gas and Electric to provide brailled bills to its customers. Operating under the company name of Adapt To Dot, Johnson cranks out bank statements, credit card statements, and a host of more personalized items such as appliance manuals. She says if she has a choice, she'll take utility company business over restaurants "because the utilities pay more regularly." But she hastily adds she's happy to get the restaurant business as well. Much of the information Johnson handles is of a somewhat private nature, especially regarding utility bills. Asked how she deals with those issues, she replied, "When I do anything personal for someone, I just leave myself out of the job. It's just a job I do. I'm just the pipeline through which the braille moves to get to the customer -- that's all. I've never had to sign anything about confidentiality, which surprises me in a way. "A lot of the people I work for don't really know who I am," she explains. "A courier brings me the printed bills, they're transcribed, and sent out from here. There's nothing in the bill that tells the customer who did the transcription." She agrees that the growing freewheeling climate of the transcription business means that some sighted business people who've never seen braille, let alone bought it, could be taken advantage of. "I think you hear a lot more about people going out of the transcription business because they just couldn't make it than you hear about people on easy street who got there by ripping off businesses," she explains. "Of course, the potential's always there for a business to be overcharged. But I think it's a self- policing community and the blind people who benefit from the braille these businesses buy don't want those businesses overcharged either. Maybe it happens, but I doubt it happens very much." Johnson says one of the hardest jobs she faces is convincing businesses that their so-called small job is bigger and more complicated than they realize. "They'll say, 'It's only four pages,' and maybe that's true, but it's still often complicated to format and make it work for braille users. They often don't understand the human intervention involved in working with some documents." While home-based braille transcription isn't likely to buy Johnson a limo and driver any time soon, she insists it has its advantages. "If there's lots of snow on the ground and it's cold," she says, "I don't have to go very far to get to work -- it's in the room next door to the bedroom. Sure, the noise can get to you if you let it, but if there's a big print job going on, I can just close the door and go make lunch." For Jennifer Johnson, transcribing braille can be a matter of continuing education as well. "That's one of the hidden advantages of this kind of business," she explains. "You'd be surprised at how much you can learn from transcribing. I once did a satellite system manual for someone. I was amazed at how many different satellites there are out there and how much and varied the information they provide can be. I've learned more about printing satellite weather pictures on a TV screen or computer printer than I ever thought I'd know. "Granted," she says, "I'm not on the staff of a newspaper somewhere, but in a very real way I'm still doing what I learned how to do in journalism school. There's a lot of flexibility in working for yourself; no one's looking over your shoulder. If you decide to spend 10 extra minutes outside before you get started, it's not going to kill you." Johnson admits, however, that environment makes a big difference in home-based transcription. "Until recently I was in an apartment where I shared the space with the Blazer printer and all the equipment. The walls were tissue-paper thin, and I'd run some jobs most of the day. I'm sure my neighbors wondered what I was doing in there and what all that noise was. I tried very hard not to run the equipment after a certain time of night, however." Ironically enough, Johnson says she relies heavily on other blind people to keep her working. "We can be our own worst enemies," she explains. "If we're not out there talking to these companies, reminding them constantly that we need and deserve access to their information, it won't happen. "If I go in there as a contractor, I'm going to have a lot harder time selling my services if other blind people are passive and don't act like they want the information. We've been passive too long, I think." For more information on Adapt To Dot, its prices and schedules, write to the company at 2709 Napoleon St., Indianapolis, IN 46203; phone (317) 783-7941. THIRD PARALYMPIC CONGRESS WILL ATTRACT WORLDWIDE GROUP ATLANTA -- The Third Paralympic Congress, scheduled here Aug. 12-16, 1996, is expected to attract more than 2,000 people from all over the world for a conference which focuses on a worldwide plan of action to enhance business, social and recreational opportunities for persons with physical disabilities. It will mark the first time ever that concerned people from around the world are brought together to discuss and pro-actively attempt to solve problems facing persons with disabilities, including a growing number residing in the United States. The Third Paralympic Congress will be held in conjunction with, but separate of, the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games which will involve some 4,000 elite athletes with physical disabilities from more than 100 countries, with competition set Aug. 16-27. "This will be the first time ever that disability rights advocates and people concerned with sports for persons with disabilities have been involved in such a high-level meeting," said Barb Trader, vice president of the Atlanta Paralympic Organizing Committee's youth and community programs. "That is exciting when you think of the benefits which can be derived from putting these two important groups together. The combining of the two will strengthen the opportunities and potential for people with disabilities around the world. It should be a thrilling, eventful experience for all involved, one from which they will leave feeling they have contributed to an area in which they are vitally interested and concerned about." The Congress is expected to focus on three major areas: political empowerment, economic empowerment and furthering the disabled sports movement. -- Political empowerment: It is the expressed feeling of Congress officials that there is room for additional movement within the government beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990, legislation which focused on access to public domain, transportation and equal employment. This Congress would promote global legislative actions involving other vital areas such as increasing opportunities for people with disabilities in developing countries, where 80 percent of persons with physical disabilities live; develop a partner relationship with the disability rights movement; recommend action by key groups; recommend methods for collaboration and identify key concepts of political empowerment to carry forward. -- Economic empowerment: It is the goal of the Third Paralympic Congress to discuss and arrive at methods to place people with disabilities who currently do not have job opportunities and people who are not readily received by the working community within the work force. -- Furthering the disabled sports movement: The Congress would further the disabled sports movement by identifying and promoting models for inclusion of children with disabilities into the regular school and community recreational programs and by encouraging provision of proper equipment usable by all participants, especially in developing countries. All areas involving participation of children with disabilities will be broached during the summit, with hoped-for solutions prior to the conclusion of the five-day event. The Third Paralympic Congress would extend well beyond those three focus points by pursuing educational tracks to include a research institute, sports medicine, coaches forum, introduction of new and novel sports, sports management, community activism, children's programs and employment issues. The Congress will also include such features as social events, poster presentations, film festival and a technology and trade exposition. It will require an estimated $1.2 million to put on the event, which Congress officials plan to fund with corporate sponsorships. A steering committee has been put together for guidance in procuring the required funding to put on this worthwhile global event. To obtain details on participating, write to the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Organizing Committee, 1201 W. Peachtree St. NE, Suite 2500, Atlanta, GA 30309-3448, or phone (404) 724-2646. "RAMPAGING READERS" by Kathi Wolfe (Editor's Note: Some time back, the "Forum" ran a story by Ms. Wolfe in which she described her unique adventures with people she met who agreed to read to her from a book written by National Public Radio Anchor Susan Stamberg. That story garnered some attention at NPR and in other places as well. We thought amidst the cold days of February you might enjoy a tongue-in-cheek follow- up from Ms. Wolfe in the form of an open letter to Ms. Stamberg.) Susan Stamberg National Public Radio Dear Susan Stamberg: My ears are burning, and IT'S YOUR FAULT! I wrote in "The Braille Forum" about how I, a legally blind listener, carried your book around -- inviting people to read to me. The magazine has a circulation of 1 billion (just in the U.S.) Still, I didn't expect publication of this story to affect my life. But who knows what will ignite the passions of the public? Forget about couch potatoes and angry voters! We're a nation of wanna-be readers! Ever since this story's come out, the whole world wants to read to me. "You gotta hear 'War and Peace,'" said a friend over Thanksgiving who adores love scenes from Russian novels. "I'm calling the UN if you read the war chapters," declared another friend, moving toward the phone. "You'll love 'Anna Karenina,'" said my buddy who works for Amtrak one day as I waited for a train in Washington, D.C.'s Union Station. "Stop!" yelled his boss, tossing the esteemed book aside. "You know the deal: no reading about people throwing themselves off trains." "Well," my pal said, undaunted, "there's 'The Little Engine That Could.'" On the way to the grocery one morning, Sesame Street's Big Bird caught up with me. "I'll read the letters to you," he said brightly. "Forget that," growled Oscar the Grouch, popping up from a garbage can, "I've got this great book on trash." The other day I found Julia Child in my kitchen. After sampling my lunch she said, "The situation is desperate, only my cookbook can help." When I emerged 500 hours later from Julia's energetic ministrations, I went out to get some air. Who should I run into but Newt Gingrich? "Praise the Lord!" he exclaimed. "Forget the Republican Contract! I'm going to read the complete, unexpurgated version of my novel to you!" "Yikes!" I said, tripping over my white cane in my effort to escape this fate. "Wait!" said Miss Manners, gently tapping my arm. "You can't just walk away from 'the readers.' You need to hear my etiquette book." When I got home, I found one of my former college professors on my doorstep. "You have to hear my revised edition of Plato's dialogue on metaphysics and how to dress for success," he said. "You don't need that," said Camille Paglia, climbing out of a tree dressed as Madonna, "you gotta hear my stuff on vamps." I ran from the house and fled to the desert. At last: no more readers! But what should I hear? The voice of God, calling from the burning bush. "Let me read you this screenplay I'm working on," He said. "Don't you have to put that fire out?" I asked. "I could," God said, "but reading's more fun." Just letting you know what havoc your book has wrought, Sincerely, Kathi Wolfe COMPUTERIZED MATHEMATICAL NOTATION: AN ALTERNATIVE TO NEMETH by Kenneth Frasse, Chair, CCB Technology Committee (Editor's Note: Educators and consumers alike are paying more attention these days to innovative ways of teaching math and science to blind children and adults. Recording for the Blind has been involved with one math and science notation project; an Oregon professor has devised another. This is yet another look at mathematics notation from the point of view of a consumer and ACB member. While some may question whether this story is too technical and specialized for the magazine's diverse audience, we felt that if you or someone you know is studying math, a look at this notation system would be important. You may never need it yourself, but knowing it exists could be beneficial to someone you know.) The following outlines an alternative notation system for math, or MNS. While this alternative has some advantages for the blind, I hope that this article is not interpreted as dismissing the importance of Nemeth Code braille; my mathematical studies which include calculus and differential equations has led me to believe that there really is no adequate substitute for braille math books and the Nemeth Code. Unfortunately, braille math books are difficult to come by, and the necessary transcription of braille math work into print for instructors and projects is extremely time-consuming. One could argue for the use of a transcriber as a reasonable accommodation in school, but, invariably, it would not be considered reasonable in the employment arena. Allow me to retrace the origin of the impetus for developing this mathematical notation system. After becoming blind, I decided to resume my university studies and pursue an additional minor in physics, a discipline that requires substantial mathematical operations and environments. I did not know Nemeth Code yet, but I was registered for a mechanics class in the physics department, and I immediately needed a mathematical notation system upon which I could rely. I eventually found a copy of the complete Nemeth Code, but knew that it would take some time before I became proficient enough to rely on it as a means of mathematical notation. My alternative was the computer since I saw it as the most effective and reliable means by which I could perform other course work as well. I enrolled in an adaptive computer class to learn voice synthesis, a programming class to learn how to program and modify computer programs, and an independent study class on how to use publishing software on a computer. This curriculum was overwhelming in addition to a full-time course load and especially since I had never touched a computer, but I think the end result is a viable means by which one can execute mathematical operations and eliminate much of the transcription time from braille into print. The MNS has two vital components, in addition to one optional and less vital component, the PTS. The first component of the MNS is a publishing software called TurboTex used by Addison-Wesley Publishers for formatting mathematics within the regular text of a book. TurboTex essentially converts a document containing text and non-graphical mathematics into the corresponding graphical symbols on the printed page. The second component of the MNS is a speech review software that includes exception dictionaries for characters and words; I used GW Micro's Vocal-Eyes quite successfully. Unlike most publishing programs and mathematical notation systems for computers, TurboTex is non-graphical, relatively easy to use, and text-based. Additionally, all the mathematical functions in TurboTex are defined with a simple combination of a back slash and a contracted word, and you can use any word processor to perform your work. For instance, the square root of 9 equals three written with a square root sign over the 9 would appear this way: \sqrt 9 = 3 Or the integral of 3 times pi would be written like this: \int 3\pi. In both cases, the equations will be printed out as graphical representations in place of the back slash and contracted words when TurboTex is invoked. In short, the math can be written on the computer and immediately printed out in the precise notation required for an instructor without necessitating transcription. A problem arises, however, when working with extended or complex equations. Back slashes combined with contracted words become almost unintelligible at high rates of speech with the voice synthesis, and this is where the exception dictionaries come into play. For those of you who are unfamiliar with exception dictionaries for voice synthesis, these are speech correction files that are used to correct mispronunciations of voice synthesis cards. These can be used in a more innovative fashion here, however. I set the exception character dictionary to voice back slashes as nothing or silenced, and the exception word dictionary to voice the contracted words of TurboTex as full words. In this manner, the distracting back slashes are not pronounced, and the contracted words have more meaning. In the above examples, the result of the MNS would include silenced back slashes, "sqrt" pronounced as "the square root of," and "int" pronounced "the integral of." The full pronunciation of the voice synthesis with the MNS would be this: the square root of nine equals three, and The integral of 3 pi. The beauty of the combined MNS system and exception dictionaries is that one can manipulate equations and other mathematics relatively easily and intelligibly on the screen, and when it comes time to print the work out graphically for instructors or classmates, all you have to do is invoke the TurboTex program on an ASCII version of your finished file, leaving you free to engage in other interests or work. One detail should be noted in the process: TurboTex translates the many simple back slash commands into highly complex graphics on your printer so it makes your computer work intensively. While the MNS can be run on a slower machine, it is highly advisable to run it on a minimum of a 386 or faster. There is an optional third component of the MNS that can expedite the process and increase the MNS's efficacy. It may be desirable to introduce a primary translation system or PTS prior to engaging TurboTex's translation engine. The PTS would allow you to write even shorter or more contracted codes for graphical math symbols than for TurboTex, and the PTS would translate these codes into the ones that TurboTex understands. TurboTex would then be engaged to translate the final codes into the graphical symbols on the printed page. As an example, the previous case of the back slash sqrt, for "the square root of," could be shortened to back slash R. Another example might be for the horizontal division symbol; this is represented by back slash divide in TurboTex, but you could abbreviate it to back slash D. When run, the PTS would translate the back slash R and the back slash D into back slash sqrt and back slash divide. TurboTex would then translate these codes into the appropriate symbols on the printer. The PTS that I developed was limited to my specific needs at that time, and is inadequate for the full spectrum of mathematical symbols, but it would take little effort for one of our many blind or visually impaired computer programmers to develop a standard PTS that we might all use. A summary of the MNS is this then: 1. You type your course work or project out in your favorite word processor, and save your final draft as an ASCII file; 2. You run the optional PTS program to format your file for TurboTex; 3. You run TurboTex on the PTS output file; the result will be a near-publishable, graphical print-out of your work. Remember that the PTS stage of this process is helpful, but not necessary. Also, if you know how to use macros in your word processor and perform some simple batch programming, you can automate this entire process and only have to press one key combination from within your word processor. TurboTex itself is available through various vendors of publishing software, and is often found already on college and university campuses. Vocal-Eyes is developed by GW Micro, 310 Racquet Dr., Fort Wayne, IN 46825. (219) 483-3625. AUGMENTATIVE COMMUNICATION DEVICES FOR THE DEAF-BLIND by Rodney Neely From the time when the world was first introduced to Helen Keller, society has realized the capabilities of persons who are profoundly deaf and totally blind. Unfortunately, most deaf-blind persons remain isolated from the world around them. The reason for this state of isolation that many deaf-blind persons experience is largely a result of communication barriers which seem insurmountable to many people. After all, most people do not communicate in American Sign Language. Likewise, there are very few people who are conversant in braille or the manual alphabet. For many years, deaf-blind persons have been educated in institutions for the deaf and/or the blind. Materials which they could use were severely limited even in these specialized environments. For example, if a deaf-blind student wanted to understand a teacher's lecture given in American Sign Language, one of the other students would have to interpret for him. This person would have to sign to the deaf-blind student and let him feel the signs that he/she was producing. There is no way to communicate effectively with a group of profoundly deaf and totally blind students in a predominantly deaf environment. Similarly, since the blind students depended on speech as their primary mode of communication, they were rarely able to communicate effectively with students who were deaf-blind. The blind students could communicate with the deaf-blind students through the use of braille, but this is very time-consuming. Traditionally, the solution to this problem is to place the deaf-blind students in a school for the deaf and blind, if there is such an institution in the state. Here, they will have the opportunity to learn American Sign Language, manual communication, braille, and mobility skills. In modern times, deaf-blind people have had difficulty obtaining materials in formats which they can use. For example, according to the March-April 1994 edition of "The Braille Book Review," there are approximately 10,000 braille books currently in circulation at the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. In contrast, NLS offers approximately 35,000 books on tape. This does not include the more than 100,000 titles that have been taped by Recording For The Blind. Many of the recent developments that have benefitted blind people such as talking computers and reading machines have been of little use to deaf-blind persons. Likewise, the telecommunications devices for the deaf have been of little or no benefit to them. SO WHAT'S OUT THERE? The most common device that deaf-blind persons use to access computers is a paperless braille display such as the Alva or the Navigator. This information was obtained as a result of a survey conducted by John O'Rourke of McFadden and Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting group which specializes in employment of persons with disabilities. These paperless braille displays (the Navigator or the Alva) are approximately 24 inches wide and 12 inches long. They consist of approximately 40 braille cells on the horizontal display. Since the computer screen has an 80-character line, it takes two of these braille display lines to hold the same information that is displayed on one line of a computer screen. These refreshable braille displays are so named because they display only 40 characters of braille text at a time. To see the rest of the line displayed on the computer screen, the user has to push the advance button on the refreshable braille display unit. When he does this, the 40 characters displayed on the second half of the computer line are displayed in braille. In order to see a 25-line 80-column computer screen, the refreshable braille display user has to push the advance button 50 times. As you can probably imagine, this is a slow process. It is hard to scan the screen in braille, even when you know what you are looking for. These refreshable braille display units are expensive at approximately $8,000. Deaf-blind people can also use the refreshable braille display units described above to enable them to take advantage of some of the scanning technology which enables totally blind readers to use a scanner to read books. Since blind people usually use synthetic speech produced by a speech synthesizer to listen to the output of such machines as the Kurzweil Reading Edge or the Arkenstone Open Book scanning system, the deaf-blind person must connect a device which produces braille output to one of these scanning systems so that he can read what is being spoken by the speech synthesizer. The deaf-blind person usually would choose to connect a refreshable braille display unit to the reading machine. The only other feasible alternative for a deaf-blind individual is to connect a braille printer to the scanning system. Braille printers cost anywhere from $1,500 to $10,000 depending on the speed and the quality of the braille produced. Another device that affords deaf-blind people the opportunity to read print is the Optacon II by Telesensory Systems Inc. The Optacon II (Optical Tactile Converter) is a compact portable reading aid for the blind. It is about the size of a desktop tape recorder and weighs slightly more than two pounds. The camera converts the print to a tactile image read by one finger on the tactile array. The tactile array has 100 stimulator rods in a five-column, 20-row arrangement. This machine is supposed to enable a blind person (or a deaf- blind person) to read books, magazines, etc. after a period of training. Although some people have read in excess of 80 words per minute with the Optacon II, a more normal speed is approximately 45 words per minute. A successful Optacon user must have a good grasp of the English language since much of his/her speed depends on his/her ability to anticipate certain commonly occurring words such as "and," "the," "of" etc. This machine is a viable option for a person who has lost both hearing and sight after he/she has acquired a fundamental knowledge and understanding of the structure of the English language. However, the Optacon II would be almost impossible for a person who was congenitally deaf-blind to use because it relies on a person's ability to anticipate certain words. This skill is not typically present in most congenitally deaf-blind people. The Optacon II costs approximately $3,500 at the present time. In an attempt to comply with Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act, two companies have introduced devices which enable deaf-blind persons to use the telephone lines to communicate via a telecommunication device for the deaf. The oldest and most well-known of these devices is the Telebraille produced by Telesensory Systems Inc. This device consists of a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf manufactured by Intratech Inc., a phone ringing sensor, and a Telebraille. This system sells for approximately $6,000. In many cases, these devices are supplied to deaf-blind people by the Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing or through the telephone company. The TDD looks like a standard text telephone for the deaf. The sensoring device can fit inside your shirt pocket. The telebraille consists of a 20-cell refreshable braille display, a braille box which houses the display, and an external braille keyboard. The Telebraille measures approximately 12 by eight by four inches. The Telebraille can be used to talk on the phone when it is connected to the Ultratech TDD. It can be disconnected from the text telephone and used so that a sighted person can conduct a conversation with a deaf-blind person by typing on the Text Telephone keyboard. The blind person responds by typing on the Telebraille. The conversation is displayed on the screen of the text telephone and on the 20-cell refreshable display of the Telebraille. Another company which has recently entered the telecommunications market for the deaf-blind is Enabling Technologies. It offers two products that can be used by deaf- blind persons to connect to text telephones. The first device, the Infotouch, allows the deaf-blind person to connect his Superprint modem to the telephone sensor and to a Romeo braille printer. The deaf-blind person prints out the entire conversation in hard-copy braille as it is occurring. This device costs approximately $3,800 or $4,600 depending on the speed of the braille printer. The other device which is produced by Enabling Technologies that enables the deaf-blind person to use a text telephone is the Light-touch. This device contains a small computer with a braille keyboard, a speech synthesizer, and an 18-character refreshable braille display. The Light-touch connects to a Superprint modem via a special circuit board designed for this purpose. The Superprint modem connects to the sensor at some point before the text telephone will function properly. The Light-touch has 640K of storage capacity in the form of non-volatile Random Access Memory. The Light-touch also has a speech synthesizer which, if connected to a speaker, might serve as a means of oral communication for the deaf-blind person. This device costs approximately $4,000. For additional information about these devices, contact: Enabling Technologies, 3102 SE Jay St., Stuart, FL 34997 or Telesensory Systems Inc., 455 N. Bernardo Ave., P.O. Box 7455, Mountain View, CA 94039. FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE For many years, the Catholic Guild for the Blind refused the use of guide dogs at its functions. In 1992 members of GDUI living in the Buffalo, N.Y. area contacted the Guild in writing asking them to change this policy. They refused to change the policy or to meet with us to discuss the issue. In early 1994, the situation still not resolved, we contacted Oral Miller. Oral referred us to Charles Goldman. Mr. Goldman advised us that because the Guild was a church organization, it was not covered in the ADA. However, because the Guild held its functions at locations which received Section 504 funding, the Guild was in violation of New York State human rights law. He suggested we contact the state advocate in Albany. The advocate referred us to Steve Truesdale, Systems Advocate at the Western New York Independent Living Center. Steve sent a letter to the Guild explaining the statute. As a result, the Guild has reversed its policy, and now welcomes guide dogs at its functions. Kathy Lyons, Buffalo, N.Y. HERE & THERE by Elizabeth M. Lennon The announcement of new products and services in this column should not be considered an endorsement of those products and services by the American Council of the Blind, its staff or elected officials. Products and services are listed free of charge for the benefit of our readers. "The Braille Forum" cannot be responsible for the reliability of products or services mentioned. FERRELL HONORED William J. "Bill" Ferrell, a life member of the Merritt Island, Fla., Lions Club, has been awarded a Melvin Jones Fellowship by the International Association of Lions Clubs for his more than 40 years of service. He is past president of the Franklin Road Lions Club in Nashville, Tenn., and first vice president of the Merritt Island Lions Club, as well as a member of the Florida Council of the Blind and Brevard Council of the Blind. CALLING ALL TEACHERS Now is the time for all good members of the National Association of Blind Teachers to send in their dues, and the sooner the better. Dues are to be paid by March 1. Send your name, address, phone number, visual acuity, preferred medium for the newsletter, information about what you teach, areas of specialization, the type of membership (teacher, $15; student interested in teaching, $10; associate -- non-voting, $10; institution or corporation, non-voting, $25, include name of contact person; lifetime, $300), and any additional remarks to Gene Weathers, 203 N. Vine St., Fayette, MO 65248. If you have any questions, call Gene at (816) 248-2590. MOVIN' MATILDA "Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind" has moved to 80 Eighth Ave., Room 1304, New York, NY 10011. The phone number is still (212) 242-0263. The new fax number is (212) 633-1601. American Foundation for the Blind's talking book studios will continue to narrate the recorded edition of the magazine each month. AUDIO DARTS The first national Audio Dart Tournament will be held in Wilmington, Del., May 5 through 7 at the Holiday Inn Downtown. There will be six events with $1,000 in prize money per event. Entry fee is $20 per event; if you participate in all six events the entry fee is $60. The entry fee must be received no later than March 31. Accommodations at the Holiday Inn Downtown are $62 a night plus 8 percent tax. For more information, write to: National Tournament, c/o Pat and Stan Smith, 1110 Maryland Ave., Wilmington, DE 19805, or phone (302) 658-7231. Or call Jack Turner at (302) 577-3080 (work), (302) 764-3361 (home). MONEY FOR HIGH TECH The New York State Department of Social Services is making adaptive technology more available for its blind and visually impaired residents. The state's equipment loan fund for the disabled makes loans in amounts between $500 and $4,000. For more information, call them at (518) 473-3170. TALKING CALCULATOR The talking calculator 6616 from Etcetera Gifts has a large eight-digit LCD display with white numerals on black background, adjustable volume and on-off speaker switch, audio repeat button, speed control, auto shutoff, and comes with a one-year warranty. It adds, subtracts, multiplies, divides and does percents. It takes two AA batteries (not included). This calculator sells for $14.99 plus $3.25 shipping and handling. Send check or money order to Etcetera Gifts, 961 47th St., Brooklyn, NY 11219. Visa and MasterCard are accepted. For more information, call (718) 435- 6265. INCLUSION TAPE The Council for Disability Rights in Chicago has recently completed the production of an open-captioned video called "A Special Education Dilemma." It deals with the subject of inclusion. Professional educators, advocates, an attorney, parents, and people with disabilities participated in a lively discussion on this topic. To purchase a copy of this video, send $33.50 to the Council for Disability Rights, 176 W. Adams, Suite 1830, Chicago, IL 60603. FIELD SERVICES The Seeing Eye has expanded its field services with the addition of Jay Stiteley and his dog Nixon to the staff. Stiteley joins David Loux in introducing the foundation's philosophy and program to agencies, organizations and individuals who work with and for blind people, including presentations to people in rehabilitation training and public or residential schools. Stiteley has extensive personal and professional interest in adaptive technology and works to make communications more accessible to blind and visually impaired people, and presents information to classes and individuals about the student technology center to broaden the students' computer experiences. JOB OPENING National Industries for the Blind of Earth City, Mo., has a job opening for a development engineer. Applicants must have a bachelor's degree in engineering or a related field, or at least 10 years experience in a relevant, responsible position. The job involves identifying, evaluating and recommending new products for development by associated agencies as required by government specification documentation. Applicants must have a minimum of five to 10 years experience with emphasis on one or more of the following categories: plant management, product design, new product research and development, manufacturing engineering and cost analysis. Applicants should also be self-starters who can work successfully and independently with a variety of organizations, including federal and/or state government agencies, raw materials and manufacturing equipment suppliers and NIB-affiliated non-profit agencies. The job involves travel as required to support projects, up to 50 percent of the time. Send your information to National Industries for the Blind, 13665 Lakefront Dr., Earth City, MO 63045. If you have questions, call (314) 739-8005. JAWS FOR WINDOWS JAWS for Windows was set for release January 16. To run it, you must have a computer with a 386 or better microprocessor, four megabytes of RAM, Windows 3.1 or Windows for Workgroups 3.11, and an SSIL-supported speech synthesizer. To order, contact your local dealer or Henter-Joyce, Inc., 2100 62nd Ave. N, St. Petersburg, FL 33702. ADDRESS CHANGE Exchange Unlimited's address has changed. It is now P.O. Box 314, Cook, NE 68329; phone (402) 864-2113. Subscriptions cost $20 for six issues; back issues are $3 each. The newsletter is available in large print, four-track NLS cassette, or IBM 3.5-inch disk. BVA SCHOLARSHIPS The Blinded Veterans Association will award 12 scholarships in the amount of $2,000 each under its Kathern F. Gruber Scholarship Program. Only dependent children and spouses of blinded veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces are eligible for the scholarship. The veteran must be legally blind, but need not be a member of BVA. Applicants must have been accepted for admission or already be enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited institution of higher education or business, secretarial or vocational training school. Applications for the scholarship may be obtained from the Kathern F. Gruber Scholarship Program, Blinded Veterans Association, 477 H St. NW, Washington, DC 20001-2694. Completed applications and supporting materials must be returned to BVA no later than April 15. NEW FROM AFB PRESS There are several new books hot off AFB's press. "Foundations of Braille Literacy" by Evelyn J. Rex, Alan J. Koenig, Diane P. Wormsley, and Robert L. Baker, is a text that addresses the teaching of braille reading and writing in the context of literacy in general, the whole language approach, and how print reading and writing are taught. It is available in print (ISBN 0-89128-934-8) and braille (ISBN 0-89128-935-6), and costs $34.95 plus $3.50 postage and handling. "Instructional Strategies for Braille Literacy" by Rose-Marie Swallow, with Diane P. Wormsley, is a workbook that provides instructors with strategies and methods in many areas of teaching braille. The price is not yet available, but if you wish to order it, it's ISBN 0-89128-936-4. The AFB's Directory of Services will soon be available on 3 1/2-inch disks, and by special order on 5 1/4-inch disks and CD-ROM. Keep an eye out for more details. It's ISBN 0-89128-243-2, and costs $100. To order, send your name, address and payment to: American Foundation for the Blind, c/o American Book Center, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Building No. 3, Brooklyn, NY 11205. To order by credit card, phone (718) 852-9873. TELESCOPIC CANE Maxi-Aids now has available a new, lightweight telescopic cane. It measures about 12 inches and weighs about 5 ounces. This cane retails for $24.95. Maxi-Aids also has a catalog strictly for high technology products, such as computers, CCTVs, furniture and more. For more information, call the company at (800) 522-6294. USDST NEEDS CYCLISTS The United States Disabled Sports Team will be training cyclists for the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games at its third annual bicycle racing camp, to be held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Co., from May 29 to June 4, 1995. Eligible athletes must belong to or join their respective disabled sports organization. Participating groups are the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes, the U.S. Cerebral Palsy Athletic Association, and National Handicapped Sports. Food and housing are provided at no cost to the athlete by the U.S. Olympic Committee. An allowance will be provided for travel costs to all selected candidates. There is a cost of $45 per athlete to cover the expense of materials used at camp. The application deadline is April 20. Space is limited. Interested athletes should apply as early as possible. For an application or more information, contact Peter Paulding USABA Cycling Coach, 49 River St., Plymouth, MA 02360; phone (508) 747-2923. CALL FOR NOMINEES The Lighthouse Inc. of New York City is calling for nominations for its 15th annual Pisart Vision Award, given to people who have made a noteworthy contribution to the prevention, cure or treatment of severe vision impairment or blindness. Nominees may be from any field that prevents or ameliorates blindness or vision impairment, including but not limited to, basic scientific research, engineering, medicine, optometry, rehabilitation or service delivery. The individual's accomplishment(s) should have implications beyond his or her community; if it's an invention or research finding, it should represent an extraordinary advance in the field; and it should be enduring. Formal nominations must include the nomination statement explaining the candidate's main contributions and how it fulfills the criteria; nomination information, including the nominee's current address, job and complete information about education, professional positions held and experience, and three references. Nominations must be postmarked on or before April 1, 1995 and sent to: Secretary, Pisart Vision Award Committee, The Lighthouse Inc., 111 E. 59th St., New York, NY 10022. HIGH TECH SWAP SHOP FOR SALE: Versapoint braille printer. Asking $1,500. In good condition. Respond in print, braille or cassette to Michelle Douglas, 326 Myers Ave., Beckley, WV 25801. FOR SALE: Perkins brailler. In excellent condition; rarely used. Just cleaned and oiled. Comes with braille instructions and a carrying case. Asking $250. Payment plan negotiable. Call Nino Pacini at (313) 885-7330 evenings and weekends. FOR SALE: Telesensory Vantage CCD. In perfect condition -- used very little. Asking $1,400. Call Mr. Shaprey at (407) 585- 9506. FOR SALE: Braille 'n' Speak 640 with calendar upgrade. Basically unused; excellent shape, best offer. Phone Peter-Marc Damien days at (415) 431-1481, evenings at (415) 861-5604. FOR SALE: Arkenstone Easy Scan Hewlett-Packard scanner. Will work on 286 or higher. $650 or best offer. Contact Christine Smith after 6:30 p.m. Pacific time at (909) 793-7086. FOR SALE: Kurzweil reader. Fairly new; hardly used. Asking $4,300. Contact Rod Friedfertig at (516) 897-7308, or write him at 205 E. Broadway, Long Beach, NY 11561. WANTED: Used brailler in good condition. Can't pay more than $175. If you have one, contact David Wannop at (610) 828-9785 between 5 and 10 p.m. Eastern time. WANTED: Optacon II. Contact David Armijo at 1407 Casady Ct., Alamogordo NM 88310; phone (505) 437-9295. WANTED: DP10 enlarging system for use with an Apple IIe computer. Call Jeff at (617) 277-5283. INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY CIRCLE OF THE BLIND SEEKS NEW MEMBERS As many of you know, in 1983 the California Council of the Blind established the International Friendly Circle of the Blind Committee, which was chaired by Maria Lopez. The initial purpose of the committee was to address educational needs of blind persons in Mexico. Early on, the committee was successful in collecting by the way of donations 10 braille writers, 20 slates and styli, 10 board slates and styli, 110 pounds of braille paper, 46 white canes and many other miscellaneous items. These materials were distributed by the committee to needy students throughout Mexico. A presentation by the president of the World Blind Union at the American Council of the Blind's 1985 convention in Las Vegas, which elaborated upon the conditions of blind persons in developing countries with respect to the lack of educational opportunities and basic learning materials, prompted the committee to explore expanding the state committee to a national special-interest group within the ACB. As a result of the committee's focused hard work, the International Friendly Circle of the Blind requested and was granted affiliation at the 1986 ACB national convention. The IFCB identified its purpose as: to assist needy blind students in developing countries by collecting and distributing school materials for the blind and to procure sponsorship whenever possible to eligible blind students in other countries who wish to educate themselves in this country. Unfortunately, due to conflicting priorities, the IFCB has not been as active as it was in its early days. With your encouraged participation, this can change. In response to continued inquiries by many blind people and agencies in various parts of the world regarding IFCB's ability to assist with a range of organizational and personal educational efforts, Rob Cook and Don Brown of California are presently making every effort possible to generate interest in the revitalization of the IFCB. Possibly, the following excerpt from a recent letter to the IFCB may illustrate the powerful need for such a worthwhile ACB affiliate: Hunan, China -- "There is no school for the blind, or handicapped, in this city that has a population of 1.45 million, not including its four governed counties. I had to learn Chinese braille completely by myself. My family is very poor, with my father dying on duty in 1973. My mother receives less than eight American dollars per month in government aid and my brother is too poor to help us. The handicapped in the countryside cannot get this money. The handicapped in the countryside are poorer than me. What can I do for them?! The 'Great Communist' Chinese government doesn't think highly of those poor people. I must do my best for other blind in China." -- Yan-Yan It is our sincere hope and expectation that the IFCB's membership will convene and conduct business at the 1995 ACB national convention in North Carolina. Should you wish more information about how you can participate in the IFCB or if you have items to donate, please contact: Don Brown, Berkeley Council of the Blind, P.O. Box 222, Berkeley, CA 94704, (415) 338-6436, or Rob Cook, Blind Students of California, P.O. Box 73523, Davis, CA 95617, (916) 756-1676. For membership information, contact Regina Chavez, (617) 730-3619.