The Braille Forum Volume II April 1963 Number 1 Published Quarterly by the American Council of the Blind * Editor: Mrs. Marie Boring 1113 Camden Avenue Durham, North Carolina * Associate Editors Ned E. Freeman, 136 Gees Mill Road, Conyers, GA Mrs. Mary Jane Hills, 104 Longview Terrace, Rochester 9, N.Y. George L. Howeiler, P.O. Box 336, Sandy, Oregon * Executive Offices 136 Gees Mill Road, Conyers, GA ***** ** Statement of Editorial Policy The Braille Forum is dedicated to promoting the greater independence, autonomy and dignity of all blind people. The Forum will carry official ACB news and programs, but its pages will also be available for the free expression of views and opinions. Insofar as possible the Forum will publish news of organizations and agencies of and for the blind and any developments of interest to its readers. Timely material is solicited. Selections of material will be made on the basis of interest, timeliness, originality, clarity and forcefulness of expression. In controversial matters space will be made available for the presentation of all divergent points of view. ** Notice The Braille Forum is available in braille, ink-print and on tape. Miss June Goldsmith of 652 East Mallory Avenue, Memphis 6, Tennessee, should be notified of any change of address or of any person desiring to receive the braille or ink-print edition. The tape edition may be obtained from Mr. Melvin D. Cohen, Tape Library for the Blind, Inc., 94 Broad St. SW, Atlanta 3, Georgia. Letters and material for publication should be submitted to the Editor or to one of the Associate Editors. ***** ** Contents ACB President's Fireside Chat ACB Publications Committee Report ACB Deaf-Blind Committee Requests Comments World Council President to be ACB Banquet Speaker Discriminate or Legislate? By Mary Jane Hills I Have Never Placed a Blind Man, by Joseph F. Clunk Pick up a New Thread of Endeavor, by Linda Conrad Are You Interested in Tape Correspondence?, by Jack C. Lewis Poison Orchid Award Industrial Employment, by Alaric G. Nichols Radar "Eyes" Jewish Guild Adopts New Fee Basis for Services The Need for More Modern Vending Stand Laws Centers for the Blind -- A New Slant on an Old Question, by Frank Kells Adjustment to Blindness Through Recreation, by George Howeiler Problems and Responsibilities Workshop for Industrial Arts Teachers of the Blind Beacon Lodge Camp for the Blind Letters from Readers "I See," Said the Blind Man, by Mary Walton Hyde Park Corner, conducted by Earl Scharry Here and There, by George Card ACB Officers and Directors ***** ** ACB President's Fireside Chat My Friends: In the first place let me make it clear that, although these chats are identified as being written by the President of the American Council of the Blind, the views expressed in them are not necessarily those of the FORUM staff, the Board of Directors of ACB or the membership of this organization. They are strictly my own. If you agree -- good. If you disagree -- this too is good. We call this magazine the BRAILLE FORUM. A forum is not a place where one sits to listen to three or four people, but a place where everyone may express his opinions and discuss the opinions of others. We hope that you will help us to realize this objective for our magazine. I know you well enough to know that you have certain opinions which you are glad to discuss at the drop of a hat -- or less. I also know that you disagree with the manner in which some programs for the blind are being carried on. Some of you might want to commend these same programs -- or others. All right. Here's your platform. One of my most valuable assets at the time I lost my sight (1948) was the experience I had with blind people as a young man. My mother taught for many years in the Nebraska School for the Blind, I visited the school and was greatly impressed by the "normality" of the students. Mother was, of course, full of stories about them. It was also my privilege, while attending the University, to do some reading for a blind student. (This was before the days of "Recordings for the Blind.") Incidentally, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in his senior year, which is an eminence I did not approach. Seeing him striding about the campus and the buildings -- avoiding obstacles and people as readily as a sighted person, almost never using his little bamboo cane -- it was difficult to believe that he couldn't even see daylight. The help that these experiences were to me in making my own adjustment to blindness is the reason that I am so thoroughly convinced that acquaintance with other blind people is, if not indispensable, at least of immense value in the orientation of the newly blinded. We want to make this magazine helpful and informative to all blind people and those who are associated with the blind. The FORUM's Circulation Secretary needs your help to get the names of these people on the proper mailing lists. Please specify which of the three editions is preferred. Your own experience might prove of great help to some other person. It could be a description of the type of work you do, some special technique you have developed to cope with the problems of everyday living, or the story of some outstanding blind person you know. To stimulate your interest in sending in your stories I, personally, will award a prize of $5.00 for the story of not more than 500 words which, in the opinion of the FORUM's Editorial Staff, is most interesting and helpful. This contest will close August 15, 1963. All entries will become the property of the BRAILLE FORUM, and none can be returned. They may be submitted in type, braille or on tape (3-3/4 ips). So, now get busy. Faithfully yours, Ned Freeman ***** ** ACB Publications Committee Report June Goldsmith, chairman; 652 East Mallory Ave., Memphis 6, Tenn. The mailing list is up to date. Fifteen magazines were returned to the Printing House after the January mailing; three subscribers are deceased, the others have moved and left no forwarding address. I believe the BRAILLE FORUM is a good magazine and it has unlimited and enormous potentialities for the common good of all people, blind and sighted. It costs quite a bit of money to print this magazine. It would be a fine thing if subscribers would notify me of a change of address so that they would continue to receive their issues rather than have them go to the incinerators. The magazine is published in braille, in inkprint and on tape. It is available at numerous public libraries. It has several overseas subscribers -- in Africa, India, Australia, England, Scotland, Argentina, the Philippines. It has subscribers in 49 states and the District of Columbia. It is my hope that at the Chicago convention the position and jurisdiction of the Publications Committee will be clarified and stabilized. I do not have any recommendations to offer in regard to publications, but I shall be glad to hear any that others may have. ***** ** ACB Deaf-Blind Committee Requests Comments Boyd C. Wolfe, Jr., chairman; 74 North Huron Ave., Columbus 4, Ohio A resolution of the 1962 ACB convention directed that a survey of deaf-blind people be made to determine whether they felt that there should be a characteristic identifying symbol for them as the white cane is for the blind. Notices were placed in two magazines serving the deaf-blind, and readers were asked for their comments. Other deaf-blind persons were contacted by correspondence. The response so far is about two to one against such special identification. In the course of correspondence involved in this survey, a number of persons expressed their concern that the Library of Congress and others were neglecting braille books and magazines in favor of the talking book and magnetic tape. So many -- especially those with no hearing at all or not enough to make them able to read by talking book or to listen to the radio -- have said that there is much that an organization like ACB could do to improve this situation. Since braille is practically the only medium for information available to those blind persons with serious hearing deficiency, it is important that more and better and up-to-date material in braille be made available. The committee requests your comments and any suggestions on the above matters or any others relating to the deaf-blind. Please write directly to the chairman of the committee. ***** ** World Council President to Be ACB Banquet Speaker The American Council of the Blind is happy to announce that Colonel E.A. Baker will be the featured speaker at its convention banquet in Chicago, Saturday, July 20. Colonel Baker is the president of the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind and was for many years prior to his recent retirement Managing Director of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Colonel Baker is a blinded World War I veteran and one of the founders of the World Council, of which he has been president since its organization. He has played an important role in the progress which has been made in services to the blind in Canada. Those attending the banquet will be privileged to hear this outstanding world leader of and for the blind. As was previously announced, ACB's 1963 convention will be held in Chicago at the St. Clair Hotel, Friday through Sunday, July 19 -21. The hotel is providing unusually attractive accommodations and facilities, and our host, the Illinois Federation of the Blind, has interesting plans in the making. Please make your convention reservations direct with the hotel. Rates are as follows: single, $6.00; double, $10.00; twin, $11.00. The St. Clair is on Ohio Street just off Michigan Blvd., convenient to restaurants, shopping, Chicago's night life, and not far from the Loop. ***** ** Discriminate Or Legislate? By Mary Jane Hills (Ed. note. -- The state of New York has for some time had on its statute books an anti-discrimination law to protect minorities seeking employment. Last year the Empire State Association of the Blind sponsored the introduction of a bill in the New York legislature which would include blind persons in this law. A portion of the bill as amended, and which is under consideration again this year reads as follows: "(a) For an employer, because of the age, race, creed, color, blindness or national origin of any individual, to refuse to hire or employ or to bar or to discharge from employment such individual or to discriminate against such individual in compensation or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment. "(b) For a labor organization, because of the age, race, creed, color, blindness or national origin of any individual, to exclude or to expel from its membership such individual or to discriminate in any way against any of its members or against any employer or any individual employed by an employer. "(c) For any employer or employment agency to print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated any statement, advertisement or publication, or to use any form of application for employment to make any inquiry in connection with prospective employment, which expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification or discrimination as to age, race, creed, color, blindness or national origin, or any intent to make any such limitation, specification or discrimination, unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification.") It is common knowledge that approximately 17 states have enacted anti-discrimination laws to protect minority groups, New York state was one of the first to adopt such a measure. At the instance of the Rochester Chapter of the Empire State Association of the Blind a motion was made and unanimously passed at the January, 1962, ESAB Board meeting to draft and endeavor to procure sponsors for legislation to expand the anti-discrimination act so that it would include blindness. Immediate action was taken by the ESAB dedicated and dynamic legislative chairman, Bill Dwyer. He not only saw to it that the legislation was drawn up, but he went out and found a sponsor for it so that, even at so late a date in the legislative session, this bill could be a part of the ESAB 1962 legislative program. During the last month of the legislative session, this bill proceeded through the Senate, and this year ESAB members have high hopes for its enactment into law. Certainly those of us favoring expansion of the anti-discrimination law realize that it is not going to be the answer to employment problems for blind people. Nevertheless, we do hope that perhaps some blind adults seeking employment may be assisted as a result of this law. There are companies which have established policies that bar blind people from employment solely because of the failure of a blind employee perhaps 20 years ago. If it is possible to obtain statements to this effect from officials in these companies, undoubtedly some of these stereotyped concepts can be shelved. The blind person seeking a position today will be judged on his own merits rather than prejudged by the ability or lack of ability of a predecessor some 20 years previous. ESAB members feel quite confident that, by the end of the 1963 legislative session, blindness will have become a part of the anti-discrimination law. We consider this constructive legislation and believe that its passage will be a positive step toward the employment of more blind people. It is said by many that such problems cannot be legislated. There are good arguments on both sides of the question. The New York state anti-discrimination law, unlike some of those in other states, has teeth. The commissioners on the New York State Commission and their field representatives thoroughly investigate alleged cases of discrimination. If we are fortunate enough to have this measure enacted into law, perhaps it will be well to discuss at some future time whether such problems can or cannot be legislated. ***** ** I Have Never Placed a Blind Man By Joseph F. Clunk Rehabilitation Officer: "Mr. Jones, we would like very much to have you consider giving a job to a blind man who lives in this neighborhood and who we believe can work somewhere in your plant." Mr. Jones: "The company is always anxious to maintain its social responsibilities in the community, and we have quite a number of handicapped workers; but I don't see where we can use a blind person." Rehabilitation Officer: "Mr. Jones, there should be something in your factory a blind person can do, because Mr. Smith in another factory making the same kind of goods has had a blind person in the factory for a number of years." Mr. Jones: "I have heard about him and understand he was a former employee who became blind, and the company made a job for him, but we can't afford to do that. However, we will look around and, if we find a job we think a blind person can do, we will call you." Rehabilitation Officer: "We have a number of blind persons in our adjustment training center where they learn to travel alone, and they learn to use basic tools, such as screw drivers, wrenches, hammers, and sometimes operate drill presses, and we should be very glad to bring one of these trainees to you when you have found a suitable job. After all, it is ability that counts and not the disability." Mr. Jones: "We are in complete sympathy with your plan and will do our best to cooperate. Our personnel department will call you as soon as we can." Rehabilitation Officer: "Thank you, Mr. Jones, and I will see you again some time." In one form or another, this is a very brief summary of the content of far too many employer interviews with rehabilitation and placement officers. Sometimes the rehabilitation counselor assumes that Mr. Jones will hire a blind worker because a mutual friend has reported that Mr. Jones is interested in the general welfare of blind persons or has a relative who is blind. All too often the rehabilitation counselor assumes that the general publicity given to blind persons employed in previous years is sufficient preparation for the education of the current employer. There are also rehabilitation counselors of the opinion that, unless the employer files a request with the agency for a blind worker, such placements are either impossible or are out of order. Many rehabilitation counselors are convinced that special coercive legislation should be enacted and is necessary to bring about the absorption of blind persons in industrial placements. It is very easy to rationalize about the subject and to convince oneself that there is no use looking for jobs for blind persons, because either the blind person does not want to work, or the labor union will not accept, or the employer would rather make a contribution to the United Fund or to the local agency for the blind than to consider the employment of somebody in his business. The fact that blind persons have been working in industrial plants at various kinds of jobs for approximately 60 years is unknown to most rehabilitation counselors, but they assume that somewhere, somehow, the war-time publicity and the occasional advertising of the achievements of a blind person are sufficient preparation for the employer's automatic acceptance of the abilities of blind persons who have been put through various training processes. Frequently the rehabilitation counselor fails to recognize the fact that the present-day employer is influenced by emotions just as much as was the employer of 50 years ago, and he fails to accept the fact that the publicity given to various financial relief programs to aid the blind only serves to emphasize the dependencies of blind people and their unemployability. It is just as natural for the employer to use the excuses of "automation," "labor union restrictions, insurance provisions," etc., as it was in former years for the employer to emphasize the dangers of his industry and fear of injury to the blind workers. When we ask an employer to "hire a blind person," we automatically compel him to mentally review all his impressions of the blind beggar on the corner, the rocking-chair incumbent, the fund-raising campaign material and, simultaneously, the most dangerous departments within his industry; and, since these factors do not have a harmonious answer, then he does not see how he can absorb an employee with these characteristics. Why do rehabilitation counselors violate the rules of good salesmanship by saying to the employer -- "We would like you to employ a blind person or hire a handicapped person," and then they resent the fact that the employer believes that the worker is blind or handicapped and will not believe the counselor when he spends the next hour trying to convince him that the person is not blind or handicapped when put on a suitable job. There is no other sales program within my experience where the salesman first emphasizes the limitations of his product and closes the mind of the buyer before he presents the advantages of the product to keep the mind of the buyer open. Are we actually trying to place blind persons and must we constantly appeal to an employer on the basis of compassion and pity? Is it necessary for us to use the various training programs as the means of building the employer's confidence in our proposition? Is it necessary to have a labor shortage condition in the country, due to war or other national emergency, before we can find suitable jobs for our blind clients? What is the difference in the operation of production equipment when that equipment is making parts for automobiles in peace time or automobiles and tanks in wartime, or in the operation of machines that wash the clothing of enlisted personnel or the clothing of the same people in civilian life? Of course, we must recognize the fact that automation is replacing large numbers of unskilled and semi-skilled workers in every type of business, but there is a need for capable hands and minds to keep the automatic machines operating, and there are material handling operations that must be performed by individuals in the servicing of the automatic equipment. Obviously, the problem would be insurmountable if we were trying to place large numbers of blind persons in any one plant. However, if we distribute capable blind persons properly in the industries of an area, then we should not have any more difficulty in making placements today than we did 20 years ago. Even this objective will not be achieved unless we stop trying to place blind persons. We look for those processes or jobs in every business where physical sight is not required and where the sighted incumbent only uses sight to get to and from the job inconspicuously and to "watch the boss." We must present our proposition to the employer on a business basis in the same manner as we would present ideas to have him buy equipment with which he is unfamiliar but which we know would render service for him. When we say to the employer -- "We are interested only in the jobs and processes in your business where sight is not required and where an individual with the necessary ability can perform the work efficiently, learn it in a normal or less than normal length of time and reduce your labor turn-over," then we encourage the employer's mind to automatically review the processes and jobs that meet his standard; and we do not arouse the paralyzing fears and objections that are secured by the other approach. Of course, the employer is usually startled by the idea that even one job exists in his business in which sight is not required, but he is also intrigued with the idea and approaches it with an open mind and a minimum of prejudice. We must place workers on jobs for which sight is not required, and we hope that the employer finds it interesting to know an employee without sight; but this is only incidental and is not a dominant factor in the relationship. In 1933 the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in Toronto, Canada, called me into a board meeting to inquire about my knowledge of the then current depression. He stated that there were thousands of sighted people who could not find work, and the board wanted to know how we were placing blind persons in the industries of the country. I informed him that I had never placed, and would never place, a blind person, but that we placed efficient labor units on jobs at which physical sight is not required and where the employee produced as good, or better, work than the sighted worker. I found that industry was just as much in need of efficient labor units in depression as in prosperity, and our placements were made on that basis. We placed more than 700 people in the nine-year period from 1928 to 1937, and the placement department has continued to call on industry and present the same basic point of view. Lindsay G. Williamson has been in charge of the placement department since 1937, and, in a recent personal letter, he stated -- "We have every employable blind person known to us working on a suitable job in industry, and, if we had requests for five workers, we could not fill those requests at the present time." There are more people working in production industry in Canada than in all the workshops combined, but they are not blind persons to the employers -- they are efficient, capable employees who happen to be within the definition of blindness. ***** ** Pick Up a New Thread of Endeavor By Linda Conrad "When your life's ambition has failed you, pick up a new thread of endeavor ... make your renewal of effort count. " A dedicated educator subscribed to this credo and lived it to the utmost when he, William A. Hadley, lost his sight tragically at the age of 56. This Chicagoan was forced to consider a new course of work that has, since then, given thousands of people new hope and encouragement. Mr. Hadley learned braille by self-study and changed print textbooks into braille with the devotion of his family spurring him onward. Because he believed that other blind persons wanted to learn, he devised a braille course and set up the Hadley School for the Blind in his living room in 1920. In less than a year there were 90 students of all ages enrolled in the home study course. Courses have evolved through the years as demand for them was evident. The courses begin at the sixth-grade level and continue through college. Ranging from Latin to Poultry Raising, there is an education or vocational course to satisfy every student. Hadley students are found in all 50 states and in 43 other countries around the world. They range in age from 12 to 96, each one fulfilling a dream or ambition with courses suited to him. Most of the students have no opportunity for study as convenient or as natural as this home study method. Few teachers and students meet one another personally but through correspondence their relationship is warm and confident. Richard Kinney, the Assistant Director of the Hadley School, is himself a remarkable product of Hadley teaching. He is both deaf and blind. He is always ready with encouragement for students. But Hadley does not coddle its students. As a blind poet said of her instructors, "They believe in criticizing -- no Pollyanna stuff. Their constructive criticism makes one grow." Hadley is dedicated to making the visually handicapped grow -- grow in knowledge, confidence and independence. Eileen is a lively active teenager who loves jazz and baseball. Although she lost her sight and became crippled, her enthusiasm remained undampened. Mr. Kinney, who provided the inspiration for Eileen, wrote on her first lesson, "By completing your first lesson so quickly you have proven that to begin is to be half done. You have a large green 'A' on your first. Sunshine and shamrocks till next time." Eileen has finished her high school education and is beginning college work through Hadley courses offered by a special arrangement with the University of Chicago. The Hadley School provides the students with both textbooks and reference material. When preparing lessons, the students read the text and questions carefully and then braille or type the answers in their own words and mail them to the Hadley School for correction and comment. Hadley has a course for everyone, regardless of age or ambition. Glenn Downing is a competent, well-paid Dictaphone-typist for a large insurance company and the father of 4 children. After taking braille from Hadley he was able to accept this position in the business world. Hadley has grown from one course in 1921 to the more than 100 educational, vocational, and avocational courses. New courses are planned and presented according to the needs and requests of students. Twenty of the fifty full-time instructors at Hadley are blind. Two of them are both deaf and blind. Many other instructors are scattered over the country correcting and returning lessons to the Hadley School daily. The busy activity at Hadley impresses the visitors. Mailmen stagger in each day under heavy loads of braille courses. Last year, the staff handled more than 13,000 lessons in addition to sending out over 6,500 brailled books and magazines. More than 2,600 blind people were assisted by the Hadley School last year. Many took advantage of the three-level library housing the School 's 12,000 braille volumes. The School also has a completely equipped soundproof recording studio primarily for the recording of textbooks. The Rev. Ross Peterson, who was a Hadley Student of the Year, wrote, "There is nothing like the personalized help that the Hadley School provide s for making studies as easy as possible for the blind. Hadley has been my strong right arm in pursuing my graduate studies." This 35-year-old completed courses in Latin, Greek and German in addition to attending a full-time college program. He received his master's degree from Harvard and is working on his doctorate in Boston University. All Hadley courses have always been free to the blind anywhere in the world. The Hadley School's growth and development have been made possible by generous philanthropic contributions from individuals, organizations, civic and business groups, foundations and corporations. The Hadley School pick s you up and give s you a new lease on life. The dedicated staff members aid each individual, regardless of age, race or creed, with the problems of readjustment. The Hadley School offers a path to new abilities, renewed confidence, new interests and greater independence for the blind person who wants to "pick up a new thread of endeavor." ***** ** Are You Interested in Tape Correspondence? By Jack C. Lewis In the October issue of the Braille Forum appeared an article entitled "Let's Organize a Voicespondence Club." As I pointed out in the article, there are many advantages to such a club. First, through the exchange of tapes with one another this project would offer a social and recreational outlet for members of the American Council of the Blind. This would provide many hours of pleasure and create new friendships. Secondly, the American Council of the Blind has numerous talented members who are unable to participate in local meetings or national conventions. This would make it possible for these members to express their views and opinions on ACB affairs. It in turn would enable them to play a key part in influencing policy-making decisions. Thirdly, a voicespondence club would open the way to a tape library which would be of extensive value to all members. Much education material and constructive matter of interest to blind people could be disseminated through this voicespondence club. Several ACB members have expressed enthusiastic interest in this project. Perhaps you too have a tape recorder and would like to participate. A letter from you stating your name, address and any other information you might care to give about yourself is all that is necessary to get the show on the road. This information will be duplicated and distributed to other interested persons, making it possible for you to select tape pals who hold similar interests to yours. We welcome any suggestions from you. Write to Jack C. Lewis, 28 Collier Rd. NW, Apt. 9, Atlanta 9, Georgia. ***** ** Poison Orchid Award An article in LISTEN, publication of the Catholic Guild for all the Blind (Mass.), discusses how a somewhat vaguely identified committee voted unanimously on October 24, to give the Toxic Orchid Award of 1962 to Thomas C. Lynch, District Attorney in San Francisco, for outstanding service in public mis education. The committee expressed the hope that Mr. Lynch would share his Award with several San Francisco journalists who had praised his action. "Over a period of many years in this country, as blind persons have gradually made their way into positions of social standing and into the professions (including law and journalism), they and the young people who desired to follow them have mounted an increasing campaign to eliminate the stereotype of the blind beggar and to drive the beggars themselves from the streets of our cities. Psychologists working with newly blind persons have found the blind beggar concept a serious handicap to adjustment. Placement specialists seeking to find suitable employment for blind individuals receive their greatest resistance from personnel men who have just thrown a quarter into the cup of a begging blind dependent. Educators of the blind, seeking the acceptance of their graduates by the public, have met a tremendous obstacle in the public image created and fostered by blind individuals who would rather beg than work. Parents of blind children, warm with hopes for their future, have chilled at the tin cup in the hands of the street corner beggar purposefully dressed in worn-out clothing. Men who lost their sight in service have been appalled and angered by the rattle of coins in the cup of some blind person who clearly has no need save in his own masochism to place himself (and by extension other blind persons) in a position of contemptuous pity. "Not so District Attorney Lynch. Not so apparently the people of San Francisco! honorable and intelligent policeman had the rare moral courage to pick up one of the blind beggars on the street and to enforce the city ordinances. The girl (yes, blind beggars are of both sexes) was hauled into court. Out from nowhere came the column of protest in the San Francisco Examiner. The crusader was on his charger, his typewriter a shield before him. To defend blind people? To help their public image? To praise the policeman with the moral courage? Nay, not so! Rather to attack all those who believed the policeman right. "Perhaps one can't expect a columnist to enlist himself always on the side of social progress. But one should be able to expect such things from a district attorney. In court, the D.A. requested that the case be dropped. And, if we may quote him, he did it 'in the interests of justice.' "A columnist writing in the Chronicle let a month and a day go by. Then wrote a very sweet little paragraph about the nice lady who gives the nice blind girl a hamburger every day and gives her dog a ham sandwich -- and all this without even getting a free pencil! Five days later, still another columnist published the following: 'Do you approve of begging by the blind?' How the answers responded we leave to your imagination, since LISTEN prints only that which is fit to ink-print. ..." ***** ** Industrial Employment By Alaric G. Nichols (Ed. note -- Mr. Nichols is blind and has worked for some time in private industry in Vermont.) With the advent of the so-called "industrial revolution" some 125 years ago, alarmists were fearful that machines would replace manpower and there would be mass unemployment everywhere. This proved not to be true. Again, with the advent of so-called "automation," the same fear is evident. This too is proving to be a fallacy. Machines, electronically controlled equipment and advanced technology are creating more jobs for more people than ever before in the history of mankind. Where once a man could earn his living by the sweat of his brow, today the emphasis is on a willing heart and technical know-how. Machines and devices do the work, but it requires highly skilled men and women to operate the machines and to punch the buttons on the control panels. Machines can supply the muscles, but they must be controlled by human intelligence. Because of job specialization in today's industrial world, employment opportunities for well-adjusted, well-trained blind men and women are ever increasing. No longer must a worker in industry be a jack-of-all-trades, but rather he must be proficient in one particular phase of a firm's operation. A drill press operator need not know how to operate an engine lathe, but he must be a skilled drill press operator. A stenotypist need not know how to handle a switchboard, but she must be an excellent stenotypist. We are living in the age of mechanization and specialization. Many times placement specialists have located good jobs in factories that could be handled very well by blind persons, only to find that there were no well-trained blind people available to accept these jobs. By the same token, in some areas of the country there are blind men and women who are well qualified, willing workers who are overlooked by these same placement specialists. Where the latter is the case, the blind individual must take the initiative and "pound the pavement", as it were, and make an honest effort to find a job for himself. If one really has something to sell, he will eventually find someone who is willing to employ his services. A case in point: when my wife, Sylvia, who is blind, came to Vermont from New York, she contacted our state agency for the blind in an effort to find employment as a Dictaphone operator. She told them of her seven years' previous experience in this field, but they exhibited no interest. She inquired as to where dictating equipment was being used here in southern Vermont, and was told simply that they did not know. Being somewhat dismayed by the lack of interest shown by the state agency, Sylvia started making contacts by herself. She was hired by the second personnel manager who interviewed her, and her starting salary with her new employer, Dunham Brothers, a wholesale shoe distributing firm, was considerably higher than the company's usual starting wage. We all recognize that the state agencies for the blind have valuable and useful services to offer. It seems that in recent years they have to some degree discounted the importance of placing their clients in competitive industry. Many of their placement specialists have had no industrial employment experience and are not adequately qualified to make job surveys. Sylvia, through her own efforts, overcame the inadequacies of the state agency in that they were not able to supply her with the necessary information which could give direction to her search for employment by taking the initiative herself. I was told some time ago by a placement specialist in another state that he makes no effort to place blind persons in competitive industry because he finds it too difficult to convince factory executives that blind men and women can hold their own on the. job. If the people who are charged with locating jobs for blind workers fear to place them, how can we as blind men and women have much faith in them? I have successfully worked in competitive industry here in Vermont for more than 20 years. I have seen well-trained blind people with good work habits doing the same and doing very well. I have seen ill-trained blind people placed in industry who have failed miserably. If a blind person is properly placed in a job he is qualified to do, then blindness ceases to be a major handicap. Employers do not employ blind people because they are blind. A blind person is hired because there is a job to be done which he can do as well and as efficiently as anyone. For the most part, employers are not interested in an employee's physical, social or economic status. He is only interested in profits for his company. Blind and sighted alike must be able to produce. Through the years it has given me untold satisfaction to earn my way in the world, to take an active part in the organized labor movement, to be a part of the community in which I live. I feel that a blind person who wants a job and is qualified to do a job should accept whatever services are available to him, but that he should not just sit back on his haunches and wait for a job to come to him. It's hard work, and it takes "guts," but make your own contacts. Call on prospective employers. Be well-groomed, alert and personable at all times. A job may await you somewhere. Look for it. ***** ** Radar "Eyes" From The Washington State White Cane Reports from both England and the United States promise that blind persons soon may be given radar "eyes" based on the echo-sounding system that bats use while flying in pitch-black caves. St. Dunstan's, Britain's institute for war-blinded men and women, says the revolutionary new guidance aid was invented by Dr. L.A. Kay of Birmingham University. The aid has three main parts -- a container with electrical components, a hand-held "probe" like an electric torch which is pointed by the blind person in the direction from which he wishes to receive an echo, and ear-pieces which fit into the ear. Aerospace Industries Association of American, Inc., says the device enables a blindfolded person to detect and make his way around such objects as cars, trees and other persons; also to locate an open door and pass through it without touching it. ***** ** Jewish Guild Adopts New Basis for Services (Ed. note. -- The following news has been released by the Public Relations Department of the Jewish Guild for the Blind, 1880 Broadway, New York 23, New York.) In line with accepted practice in the field of social service, The Jewish Guild for the Blind (non-sectarian) announces that, effective March 1, 1963, it will become the first agency in the New York area serving blind and visually handicapped people to institute a fee-paying basis for its services. This decision is based on The Guild's philosophy, supported by all progressive agencies in its field, that the blind and visually handicapped person is an integral part of society. Payment of a fee for a service is an accepted procedure in our society. Requesting of a blind and visually handicapped individual that which is generally expected of all people helps to foster the self-dependence which is the Guild's fundamental goal. It also helps to ensure a feeling of participation in the life of the total community. The philosophy of fee payment is based on the conviction that payment of a fee by those able to afford it has positive therapeutic value: that it fosters feelings of independence; that it makes family service acceptable to persons unwilling to seek a free service; and that it is appropriate and dignified to pay for a professional service. It has long been known and demonstrated by other social agencies that when a fee is charged, the client breaks fewer appointments and puts more effort into the use of the service. He shows greater respect for the professional service he is receiving. This new fee policy will not be a money-saving step for The Guild. According to Mrs. Sidney E. Pollack, Administrative Director, "In all likelihood it will cost more to administer. Our over-all purpose is to best serve the client, and we believe that our new fee policy is the clients' best interest." The Family Service Association of America with 312 accredited member agencies in the United States and Canada takes this official position. "Fee charging enables agencies to extend services to self-supporting people accustomed to paying for non-tax supported professional services and leaves these clients free to tell others about the agency's services. It also helps clients of foreign descent to take hold of American cultural patterns of paying for goods and services. In establishing a fee-charging policy, it must be clear that services to all clients are the same regardless of the person's ability to pay. Family Service Association of America endorses the fee-charging policy recently established by The Jewish Guild for the Blind believing that their services will be more acceptable to those clients who have been used to paying for various kinds of professional services." A spokesman for the American Foundation for the Blind states that, "For years the Foundation has taken the point of view that this is a good and useful approach." The Foundation is the leading organization in the field of blindness and serves as a clearing house and policy-making body for problems concerning blindness throughout the nation. The client's ability to pay will be based on the principle of weekly family margin. This is the amount of money that a family has left after meeting expenses of a standard. household budget, and rent, taxes, etc. The amount available for fee payment for a client or family unit will be considered to be one-fourth of remaining margin. This rate was determined by The Guild, with the assistance of a top consultant in the field, to be a fair standard upon which to base fee payments. Maximum fee will be determined by: (1) ability to pay and (2) cost of service. For example: suppose a person can afford to pay $10. 00 a week. If he receives service costing $3.00 a week, he will pay only $3.00. Should he begin receiving additional services adding up to $15.00, he will be charged no more than $10.00. No will be charged to clients unable to pay, nor will anyone be turned away. Resources such as savings, stocks, bonds, insurance, realty and income from investments are not considered when calculating income except for individuals residing at The Guild's Home for the Aged Blind in Yonkers, those staying at boarding homes, receiving convalescent care and homemaker services. The financial evaluation will include responsible relatives. Fees from this group will be computed on the same afore-mentioned principle of family margin with amount available considered at one-fourth. According to the Department of Welfare Manual, responsible relatives constitute a husband, wife, mother, father, grandparents or child of the client. Step-parents are responsible for the support of minor step-children. ***** ** The Need for More Modern Vending Stand Laws John F. Mungovan, Director of the Massachusetts State Division for the Blind, points out in the current issue of LISTEN that the Randolph-Sheppard Act was adopted in the depths of the Great Depression and that it is depression oriented. This federal law and many state laws modeled upon it have not kept pace with the gigantic strides made in vocational rehabilitation of the blind over this past decade. They fail to recognize the higher status blind people have now achieved in the economic structure of our society. What is sorely needed in the laws is a clear definition of what a vending stand is, For example, "the Massachusetts law still says, 'a stand for the vending of newspapers, periodicals, confections, tobacco products and other such articles'." This does not include the right to sell coffee, soft drinks, sandwiches and other food items. In our current concept of vending stands and the kind we are now opening, we need to include these food items in order that the blind person can establish a business which will give him more than a marginal living. Since blind persons who operate vending stands are always before the public, how they conduct their business sets for the public an image of all blind persons. If the stand operator is a well-trained business man operating his own business, meeting the needs of his customers and earning a good living through his own enterprise, then he helps to create in the mind of the public a respect for and confidence in all blind persons. If the operator is sitting passively in a dark corner of an unattractive, poorly stocked and poorly managed stand, he only furthers the public's concept of the blind person as a helpless, dependent person. We now see the vending stand program not as the means of eking out an inadequate existence for those who are not able to work in industry. We see it rather as a medium through which selected blind persons carefully chosen for their business acumen and carefully trained in business management, sales and merchandising, can earn a good living for themselves and. for their families. We also look to these operators to provide jobs for other blind persons in their stands and this they are glad to do without any urging. "The emphasis in our vending stand program is not so much on the number of units we open as it is on the quality of the stand, the excellence of the operator as a businessman and the profitableness of the venture. For this reason, among others, we have been concentrating on locating our snack stands in industrial locations. We have a good service to offer industrial plant managers and the kind of snack bar service the blind operators provide is equal, if not better, than that provided by commercial caterers. Every industrial location which we have established has merited complete satisfaction to both management and the employees of the company. ... We need a constant expansion of the vending stand program if we are to continue to raise the living standards of blind people." ***** ** Centers for the Blind A New Slant on An Old Question By Frank Kells, Executive Director, Sacramento Valley Center for the Blind (Reprinted from Associated Blind of California Digest) Centers for the blind -- are they desirable? Should they be changed? Or eliminated? Or, are they basically on the right road? Do they reflect the needs of the blind people, or, rather, the needs of the workers for the blind? Yes, this large family of old questions is still with us -- more involved and more confusing than ever. For this brief discussion, let us limit our definition of a center for the blind to "an organization or department providing recreation, group work, social activities, or informal education for blind persons." On the one hand, many have said that blind people want and need to come together and that it is a community responsibility to provide a fully equipped center for the blind with an extensive program of popular activities and widely used services. On the other hand, there are an increasing number who maintain there should be no centers for the blind, as such. Instead there should be a headquarters staff of skilled professional workers providing services in counseling, information, follow-through referral, and community organization to help blind persons make the best possible use of rehabilitation services and general community resources. Between these two extremes philosophies run the gamut and ideas do battle often to the detriment of the blind themselves, because in all the confusion many vital sources of support are lost. As mankind is painfully learning, indecision is not overcome simply by taking some unequivocal stand and maintaining it, come hell or high water! In our search for constancy of principle, unless we first identify correctly the real issue, face it squarely, and then decide wisely, we will find ourselves stuck with what we thought we were sticking to. What, then, is the real issue? Is it more and bigger centers versus none at all? Independence versus dependency? Integration or segregation? Objectivity versus warmth? The past against the future? In my opinion, all of these only avoid the basic decision: "Do we, or don't we, really believe that all people are different, and that blind people are no exception?" There seems little future for centers generally unless we do believe this and realize finally that no one approach holds the complete answer. An impressive program can be built without great difficulty, provided this is considered an end in itself. But experience has shown that a patronizing "Great White Father" or "Mother Hen" image is the almost inevitable sad result. Nevertheless, we must face the hard reality that all human beings need some help, and some need much help. Although our goal may be self-fulfillment by each blind person as an integral participant in community life, yet, we cannot deny that realistically the chances of achieving this ideal vary greatly with individuals, especially if the additional handicaps of advanced age, chronic illness, mental retardation, or emotional disturbance are present. Doesn't this suggest perhaps the primary function of the valid center program? In a statement of philosophy, Milton Rosenblum, Director of Boston Aid to the Blind, refers significantly to the center as a "way station." Others offer concepts such as "stepping stone" or "bridge," but each sees the center as a provisional setting where each individual can find help in determining his own particular needs and "custom planning" services from many sources to meet them. This is definitely not an easy approach, with its lack of sweeping generalizations and its abundance of tough, day-to-day decisions: "Who needs which in-center services?" "When?" "How long?" and "Why?" "Is each person, to the extent he is capable, making his own decisions?" "Are we utilizing rather than duplicating services available elsewhere?" "Have we the courage to release a participant when this is the right thing for him?" To explore these questions would be far beyond the scope of this discussion. But I believe their challenge is clear, inescapable, and most fascinating! Are we ready, willing, and able to come to grips with it? What do you think? ***** ** Adjustment to Blindness through Recreation By George L. Howeiler (Editor's note -- The following remarks taken from an item written by Dennis Buchanan, staff writer for the Oregon Journal, Portland, in the December 21 issue will explain George Howeiler's role in promoting the idea discussed in his article: "A plan growing out of a will-making session between a woman with a terminal illness and a blind justice of the peace has brought a new vision to this city. "The plan is for the Northwest's first camp for the blind on a scenic, 22-acre Sandy River site deeded for that purpose as a result of the meeting. "The idea for it grew out of a meeting in January, 1962, between Mrs. Oral Hull and Justice of the Peace George Howeiler, blind since 1945 and a former training supervisor for the State Commission for the Blind. "The plan is winning local backing that the men behind it hope to expand to statewide support. Howeiler said he is considering writing Oregon Congress members on possibilities of federal aid. "Surveying for the year-around camp, expected to cost $500,000, began this week. "The meeting that set the plan in motion began in routine fashion. Mrs. Hull wanted to make a will, and she had some property she wanted to lease to her husband for life, then to some charity. "After Howeiler suggested a list of charities, Mrs. Hull said none appealed. Then Howeiler revealed a dream kept alive by visits to camps for the blind in Ohio and Pennsylvania. "'A lot of blind folks are more or less homebound,' he told her. 'They sort of eke out an existence. I have dreamed of a place where they could go for a weekend or a week.' "'There they could find recreation and better personal adjustment by being with others in a similar position. There are facilities like this in other parts of the country, but none here. "'I long have hoped that someone would come along with a little property they might give for this purpose. It's just a thought, a dream.' "Mrs. Hull became enthusiastic. But Howeiler told her to talk it over with her husband and come back. She returned that afternoon. Her husband was all for it. "The next day Mrs. Hull underwent major surgery. Some time later, she came back to see Howeiler -- to get going on fulfilling a dream. "On August 9, the Oral Hull Foundation for the Blind was set up and the property deeded over. Howeiler was named as one of four trustees. "... Hull died on August 26 in the Veterans Administration Hospital of injuries received in an auto accident. "Mrs. Hull now is eager for things to move forward.") A somewhat exciting development has occurred which may become quite significant in the lives of blind persons here in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere. Several months ago an elderly lady donated a tract of land "for the use and enjoyment of blind persons and their friends." The tract consists of 22 acres along the banks of the Sandy River at the foot of beautiful Mount Hood. It lies on two levels and is situated at the end of a hard-topped road adjacent to a fine private airport. Everyone who visits the site agrees that it is almost ideal for the establishment and maintenance of a recreation and orientation facility for the blind. Last August a non-profit corporation was chartered under the laws of the state of Oregon known as the Oral Hull Foundation for the Blind, and on January 12 of this year a board of directors consisting of 21 members was selected. Work has commenced on the project in the way of pruning fruit trees, tearing down old buildings, constructing parking facilities and the like. A topographical survey has just been completed, and work will now begin on the master plan of general development. According to our tentative plans, the facility will provide among other things a community center building, an indoor recreation building with swimming pool, bowling lanes, gymnasium, etc. Near the entrance will be the replica of a western log fort and stockade, inside of which will be an outdoor roller-skating rink that can also be used for outdoor public dances in the summer time. We hope to have such items as a bicycle track, hiking trails, bridle path and miniature golf course. There will be individual log cabins and an area for teepee encampments. Of course there will be a picnic area in the vicinity of the two large springs that provide cool water and not too far from a trout-stocked fishing pond. It is going to be a multi-purpose facility if our plans materialize. It is a facility that will be usable by people of all ages. Folks will be able to come singly, in pairs or in groups. They will be able to come from Portland, Seattle, Boise and any other place where there is a blind person who wants and needs to get away from it all for a while. Above all, we hope that it will be a facility admirably suited for the newly blinded individual. We feel that in many instances such an individual needs to have a place where he can go to restore his physical and emotional health. This matter of going blind is a traumatic experience for most of us and one to which adjustment is sometimes difficult. State agencies do a great deal to assist the individual in his adjustment, but their formalized programs often prove a bit overwhelming to the person whose greatest concern at the moment is the loss of his sight. Consequently, he sometimes hesitates and even rejects the services of the agencies, and so his adjustment is delayed. For example, I was recently asked to visit a newly blinded person. He had recently come from California to establish himself in the roofing business. Because of a severe fall last September he was left totally blind. He is 49 years of age, has a fine home, a charming wife and four children ranging from nine to sixteen. He is a worried man, and no doubt his entire family is worried too. I asked him whether he had been contacted by the state agency, and he replied that he had. "Did they offer any suggestions?" I asked. "Oh, yes," he said. "They told me I should take up the reading and writing of braille, maybe typewriting if my hands and fingers are pliable enough, learn to use a cane, and so on." "Yes," I said. "And what did you say to that?" "But they want me to go to some place in Illinois to do it!" he blurted out, adding, "I couldn't go and leave my family here, and I couldn't take them with me." Now actually he probably should go to Hines Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, as he has been advised to do. His legs, and arms and tarsal bones were broken by the fall, and his hands are still somewhat crippled. He does need to learn to read and write braille, to use a typewriter if possible and to learn to get around by himself. However, he isn't yet ready to do so. He still has not found himself, and he may never find himself if something isn't worked out for him before too long. "What a fine thing it would be for this man," I told myself, "if we had our facility already for him. In it he could learn to do many of the things he used to do -- swim, ride a horse, ride a bicycle perhaps, walk around, fish, etc., and the exercise would do him a world of good emotionally and physically. He could discuss his problems with others who have had similar ones. He would be away from the over-protective environment of his home, and yet he would be close enough to be able to visit with his family every weekend or call them on the telephone. In other words, he would be adjusting himself to his blindness in a relaxed, even casual setting. There would be no psychological testing, no worker interviews, no psychiatric evaluations. They would come later on of course at a time when he would be ready for them. There would be no particular compulsion to do anything except what he would like to do at any given moment and as the facilities might afford. After this would come the time to suggest that he might try Hines Hospital in Chicago, it seems to me. Anyway, these are some of the things that we have in mind in the establishment of this facility. We don't know whether our plans will materialize. We do know, however, that a great many people are interested in it and find the project exciting. We have the cooperation and support of Lions Clubs, of Elks Lodges and of other organizations. We hope to enlist the support of many more. It may take time to develop the plans, but we believe that it will be completed. When it is, it will be a fine place for a blind person and his friends to visit, whether they are from the Pacific Northwest or elsewhere. ***** ** Problems and Responsibilities From die Blindenwelt, West Germany An article describing the modifications in equipment and procedure necessary in adapting a commercial teletype office for blind operations concludes with these comments: "There are problems, yes. But what occupation or preparation for an occupation whether by blind or sighted people does not have its difficulties? Is there any worthwhile goal that can be attained without encountering difficulty?" Also from die Blindenwelt: "Each of us has the responsibility, in the interest of all our comrades, to see to it that sighted people who come to us with questions always receive, in a willing and friendly manner, the desired response. In the final analysis, to give satisfactory answers is to our advantage. We must therefore speak of these things -- educational and occupational facilities and opportunities -- with sighted acquaintances, strangers or co-workers with whom we converse. What sort of impression would be made if it was said about us "That blind man was unfriendly?" This judgement would reflect upon all other blind. It lies with us in every respect to maintain a good impression at every opportunity. ***** ** Workshop for Industrial Arts Teachers of the Blind A workshop for industrial arts teachers is being planned for this summer jointly by the American Foundation for the Blind, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and the American Association of Instructors of the Blind. The workshop will be held from July 1 to August 9 at State University College, Oswego, New York. Applicants selected to participate in the workshop will be given the opportunity to study, observe and experiment with the most appropriate activities and procedures for teaching to the blind, industrial arts activities in woodwork, metalwork, electricity and transportation. Workshop students will be encouraged to delve further in those areas where they have basic preparation as well as develop new technical skills and understandings they have not been exposed to before. A major outcome is intended to be the exchange and development of new ideas and techniques for teaching industrial arts activities to the blind. For an informative pamphlet on this workshop, interested industrial arts teachers of the blind may write to Maurice Olsen, Executive Secretary, American Association of Instructors of the Blind, 2363 South Spring Avenue, St. Louis,10, Missouri. ***** ** Beacon Lodge Camp for the Blind Beacon Lodge Camp for the Blind, located in central Pennsylvania, will conduct its fourteenth camping program this summer, beginning with a three-week session, June 22 to July 13, for blind children between the ages of six and seventeen. From July 13 to August 24 the program will be for the adult blind. For additional information, write to: Beacon Lodge Camp for the Blind, Box 222, Lewistown, Pennsylvania. ***** ** Letters from Readers Mr. Ned Freeman, Associate Editor Dear Mr. Freeman: I do appreciate your placing me on the mailing list for the Braille Forum. I found the January issue to be extremely helpful and was able to use the article by Mr. George L. Howeiler in our guidance class with our upper-class students. I wish to express my own appreciation for evidence I can see for the good work being done by the American Council of the Blind, and I commend them on selecting you as president. ... Sincerely yours, Lee Jones, Superintendent Georgia Academy for the Blind Macon, Georgia *** Ned Freeman, ACB President Dear Ned: While I do not share with you the love for the originator of the Fireside Chats, I want to express 100% agreement with you on moral standards. .. I have been so busy that I have not read every article in THE BRAILLE FORUM, but I have liked the tone of your publication. You are building a philosophy. You exhibit an interest in things beyond legislation and organization functions. This is good, because our interests vary. I was pleased to see the number of Committees you have. It has long been my contention that an organization of the blind -- local, state or national -- must be interested in problems that reach individuals. ... The OCB (Ohio Council of the Blind) is conducting some research on the needs and the facilities for training multiply handicapped blind children. We are not conceited enough to believe that we can provide the knowledge and the money to meet these needs. We are hopeful that we can dig up enough information that we can present in the right manner to the right people to get them to provide the facilities that will meet (these) needs. It would be hoped that these same facilities might be available to states that do not already have such a program. Legislation on a national level, state level and occasionally on a local level is the only way we can deal with some problems. To devote almost our entire effort to legislation alone is a serious error. Encourage your many Committees to work. Their efforts can bring much benefit to the American Council and in turn make ACB a credit to our nation. I am not a member of ACB, but I am planning to attend your convention. Sincerely yours, Clyde Ross, President Ohio Council of the Blind Akron, Ohio *** Mr. Ned Freeman, ACB President Dear Mr. Freeman: Congratulations again to you and to the Editorial Committee on another fine issue of the Braille Forum -- the January one, of course. To me they get better every time. Keep up the good work, and keep it democratic ... The article I am enclosing is the result of a little experience I had here a few weeks ago, and I sent it along with the hope that it might help some sighted or newly blind person to gain that "clearer, truer perspective," should you find it worthy of publication. ... Your editorial on the old-fashioned virtues was particularly good and timely and one hundred percent right. Power to you! Sincerely yours, Mary Walton Editor, Kansas Association for the Blind News ***** ** "I See," Said the Blind Man By Mary Walton of Kansas "See you tomorrow!" the blind worker calls back over his shoulder to a friend as he boards the bus for home. "I saw Mrs. Edwards this afternoon," remarked the blind housewife over the supper table. "Let me see it!" cries the blind girl, reaching out eager hands as an object is being passed around for examination. "I see," the blind social worker interjects occasionally as she listens to the statements of the client she is interviewing. "Don't know when I've ever seen such a hard winter!" grumbles the blind farmer. To some sighted and newly blind persons, this use of "see," "saw," etc. by people who cannot see is a bit perplexing, even disconcerting. That was pointed up for me in a recent conversation with a lady who sells hearing aids. "The blind people I have met seem so happy and well adjusted," she said, "while the deaf ones with whom I work are often so depressed -- so irritated and irritating." I tried to explain that even the one who has had sight and lost it generally comes to realize that there is still a lot left, and that one of the greatest blessings is the fact that the sense of hearing remains. Then she said, "Another thing that never ceases to amaze me about you people is your use of the word 'see'. You don't see a thing, and yet you use that word just as anyone would." I had heard the same thing expressed in almost the same way many times, but this time it started me thinking. With what does one see? Why, with the eyes, of course; but is that ALL? Let us travel for a few moments with a family of five on an auto trip to California. Mother sees the rolling Midwest prairies with their golden oceans of waving wheat almost ready for harvest; the snow-capped Colorado mountains; desert sands shimmering in the sun; cactus plants, sage brush, the weird apparitions of the Joshua trees, and palm-shaded oases; the bright colors of the painted desert; and finally, the rich variety of the California landscape -- and she writes long, poetic letters to her friends back home. Dad sees the road -- mile after mile of it -- the traffic, and, as night approaches, the motel signs. Fat old Aunt Minnie sees every likely looking roadside park in which to stop and eat some of the mammoth lunch she has prepared; and, after the lunch is gone, she is able by some unerring instinct to spot the restaurants along the route which serve the best meals. Teenager Dennis sees every car they meet or pass, noting its make, model, condition and state license plate. Julie, a social science major at the university, sees all the outward indications of the poverty or prosperity of every home that is visible on the road. The family is making the trip together, traveling the same road; each member is equipped with a pair of those wonderful God-given cameras that we call eyes, in perfect working condition; these cameras have been focused on the same area, yet no two members of the party have really SEEN the same things; no two will carry home the same memories of this cross-country trip. But suppose any one of these people were blind. With the possible exception of the teen-age auto enthusiast, I somehow feel that each would have seen the same things. For the eye only sees; it does not interpret. Mother's letters, though based on descriptions given by others, would be just as glowing and poetic; Dad, though no longer behind the wheel, would still be chiefly concerned with reaching his destination; food-conscious Aunt Minnie would still see to it that SOMEONE spotted the road-side park or the restaurant; and Julie would gain her information about how the people lived by questioning everyone she met. Who is to say, then, that the blind man, in his own way, does not SEE? Why should we insist that a blind person use some other word in place of "see" in conversation? The worker could say, "I'll be with you tomorrow"; the housewife, "I met Mrs. Edwards this afternoon"; the eager girl, "Let me feel it"; the social worker, "I understand"; and the farmer, "Never lived through such a hard winter!" But why should they? Man does not see with the eyes alone, but with the mind -- with a faculty which we shall call inner sight. It is with this inner sight that the blind man sees, just as it was inner sight that made the cross-country trip meaningful in a different way to each member of our motoring family. There are cases of brain damage in which, though the eyes function normally, their messages are not carried to the brain center where the faculty of inner sight interprets them. You might say these people are worse than blind; for, with two good eyes, they cannot really see. The blind person who carelessly uses the word "see" is not likely to think all this out every time he does so; yet, in his own way, he is seeing. Just as with the brain damage case, the message has to be carried to the brain by a different circuit before the inner eye can interpret it. When we understand something of this, we can see not only our blind friends, but ourselves and everyone around us with a clearer, truer perspective. ***** ** Hyde Park Corner Conducted by Earl Scharry "I just want the facts, ma'am." You probably have heard of the chain-smoker who had read one of the exposes of the dangers of smoking. A friend asked him what he thought of it. "Pretty horrible," he replied. The friend persisted, "Well, what are you going to do about it?" "I don't know," replied the enslaved one, "I've been thinking of giving up reading." There is always a strong temptation to refuse to recognize facts which may chafe some long-cherished prejudice or theory of ours. However, we believe that dispassionate observation of many facts unrelated to theories must precede generalizations. Therefore, the following observations are offered despite the fact that they may conflict with the observations of others made under other circumstances. Ever since I first heard the term "sheltered workshops" I have known that it is a nasty word. Yet, I have been somewhat frustrated in trying to ascertain precisely what is meant by the term and precisely what the characteristics are which make it so obnoxious. It has sometimes seemed to me that the term is one of those convenient single-hued epithets, such as "red" or "pink" or "reactionary," which enable one to damn with a word without the necessity for analysis. ACB will undoubtedly be called upon to take a position with respect to "sheltered shops." We may be called upon to call for their abolition, as has been done in other organizations of the blind, or to try to eliminate their objectionable features and to confine them to their proper functions. If such a position is taken, it ought to be a responsible one; and to be responsible it ought to be based on free and open discussion -- of all the facts and of all points of view -- not on dogmatism. As Raymond Maley observes in his column Perspective, "Derision is not persuasion, nor is it education." If the "sheltered shop" is indeed a harmful or obsolescent institution, it would be well to ascertain and designate the characteristics which make it so and to combat these rather than a vague and generic concept known as "sheltered shops." Shops without these objectionable characteristics would presumably be innocuous, and these characteristics would be equally reprehensible wherever found. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet -- a skunk as foul. Where Credit is Due. We might also find it more effective, as well as more enlightening, to learn if there may not be shops where these objectionable features generally attributed to sheltered shops are either avoided or held to a minimum and to give credit where credit is due. The characteristics of "sheltered shops" which I have heard most. frequently criticized are these: 1. They pay scandalously low wages behind the protective shield of the exemption to minimum wage laws which has been accorded to them. (We have heard of the classic example of the shop which pays as low as ten cents an hour.) 2. They rely almost exclusively on the pre-Industrial-Revolution handicrafts, such as broom making and brush making, which are traditionally the scraps from the industrial feast left for the blind worker. 3. They discourage the advancement of their workers into private industry by hoarding the more capable workers in order to keep up production and to balance the less productive workers for whom they are obligated to provide. I have had the opportunity to become familiar with only one workshop operation, namely, the Kentucky Industries for the Blind; and I believe that these criticisms are not applicable to this particular institution at least. The facts are these: 1. Wages, If should be remembered first of all that the wage scale in Kentucky is not as high as that in some of the more highly industrialized states of the country. The starting minimum pay for state hourly workers is 91 cents an hour, and this starting minimum wage is paid to all employees of KIB. Hourly workers at the shop can earn up to $1.17 an hour, depending on funds available, and most employees at present receive this maximum. In addition, there is an incentive bonus, which can increase the daily wage by as much as $2.00 additional. Some sub-contracting work is paid by piecework, and some workers have earned as much as $20.00 a day at this work. 2. Type of Work. During the past year KIB discontinued entirely its broom-making department, a goal toward which it has been moving for several years. Its work now consists almost entirely of sub-contracting for private industries. Ned Cox, the Manager of KIB, points out that there is little sentimentality involved in procuring these contracts. The manufacturers must be sold on the idea on the basis of dollars and business sense, and yet the deal must enable the shop to pay a fair wage and still not lose money. In spite of these difficulties, KIB has procured sub-contracts with five different firms for packaging and assembly work and in addition does a considerable amount of sewing on power machinery on the same basis. The most recent sub-contracted project has been putting decorative stoppers on whiskey bottles for the holiday trade, Last year five and one-half million units were processed in this work, and a number of new contracts have been obtained for the coming year. This work is paid for on a piece work basis, and though it is highly seasonal, it pays well while it lasts. The season runs from June or July well into December. 3. Opportunities for Advancement. KIB, as a department of the state rehabilitation program, is obligated to make provision for all persons referred to it. Consequently, it does get some employees who would be unable to meet the stringent production requirements of private industry. It also gets some workers who wish only supplementary part-time employment and some others who prefer the security of shop employment to the more rigorous competition of private industry. Nevertheless, every possible effort is made to find places outside for those capable workers who will accept them. In the past two years at least nine persons have left the shop for better paying jobs. Two have gone to the American Printing House for the Blind, two to a shop in Cleveland which is in a position to pay better wages, two have gone into training as attendants at an old folks' home and three have gone. to work for the city of Louisville. Since KIB is self-sustaining, loss of these capable workers does impose a hardship in replacing them; but Mr. Cox actively encourages and assists them to find better opportunities. His background and accomplishments enable him not only to refer workers to the rehabilitation department for placement, but also to use his own experience and contacts to help. He is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, which evidently does produce other worthwhile things in addition to national champions in basketball. He is a blind man himself and a highly capable one at that, so he is an outstanding demonstration to the public of what the blind can achieve. Before becoming manager of KIB, he was a highly successful placement man for the state rehabilitation program. In this capacity, he had a remarkable record of finding employment for the blind of Kentucky, which is universally recognized and applauded by them. In addition to its function as an employer of production workers, KIB also operates as a branch of the rehabilitation administration in training clients for travel and the use of modern power machinery and in accustoming them to industrial techniques and employment environment. It is also the agency responsible for the distribution and repair of Talking Book machines, 15 percent of its budget is appropriated by the State, and the remaining 85 percent must come from the business itself. The contribution of the State is used entirely for the training and Talking Book programs, so that the industrial program can be said to be 100 percent self-sustaining. I make no pretensions to over-all familiarity with conditions in workshops generally. However, I do believe that Mr. Cox and his associates merit commendation for their work and that their program might well be studied as pointing a possible way to a more modernized and rehabilitation-oriented system of industrial shops for the blind. ***** ** Here and There By George Card From the JEWISH BRAILLE REVIEW: "Two 'firsts' occurred in New York City this year affecting blind people: 1. One was organizing of a Blind Group (Blind Concessionaire Workers) into a Union (District 65; Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union; AFL-CIO) ... 2. The second first is that a contract was signed between blind employers (Concession Chief Operators of Stands in Federal and State Buildings) and blind employees. The employers refused to negotiate at first, but upon the advice of the Commission for the Blind, sat down with their workers and ironed out a contract. It provides a grievance machinery to settle peacefully, unwarranted firings and other disputes. Matters such as wages, minimum starting pay and whether the employers will contribute toward a welfare plan are all to be submitted to arbitration before the American Arbitration Association. ..." From the MONTANA OBSERVER: "... The conversion of the calculating machine which permits a greater range of mathematical operations to at least nine significant figures, has been announced by Science for the Blind, Haverford, Pennsylvania, at a cost of $125 prepaid for either electric or manual machines. Braille notation has been provided on both the keyboard and the recording wheels, and the wheel covers have been slotted to permit touch contact. Step-by-step instructions for their use are provided on magnetic tape." From the ILLINOIS OBSERVER: "Turkey Run Report: Gross receipts $2,147.53; expenses $420.65; profit $1,726.88; with half of this or $863.44 going to the Illinois Federation of the Blind. This is our annual contribution to our state organization to help in its work." From the HOOSIER STAR-LIGHT: "A relatively simple compound that blocks some viruses as effectively as antibiotics knock out bacteria was described recently to the American Medical Association. ... The anti-viral drug resulted in apparent cures in 87 cases of a virus disease known as herpes simplex keratitis, an infection of the eye cornea that causes the transparent tissue to turn opaque and develop blinding scars." Detroit blind persons will benefit from a "ThermoForm" type of braille printer presented by the (East Side) Detroit, Mich., club to the Detroit Board of Education. The device can print in two hours a book that formerly required three months to print. From the ABC DIGEST (Calif.): "Dr. Thomas Cutsforth, author and psychologist, passed away on Friday, November 30, of a heart attack." From the FLORIDA WHITE CANE: "From Punta Gorda, Fla.: Gordon Pitman, one of the blind students selected to take the first Russian translator's course at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., has finished high in the rankings and is now employed by the CIA as a Russian translator." From the January NEW OUTLOOK FOR THE BLIND: "Miss Anne Wittenbury, a practicing British blind physiotherapist, came to the United States to demonstrate how successfully a blind physical therapist can perform all aspects of physiotherapy. The United States Office of Vocational Rehabilitation was so impressed by the potentialities of physiotherapy as a career for blind people that it has requested the sending for six months to the U.S. of a number of qualified British-trained physiotherapists in order to convince the medical profession in America of the complete reliability of a blind physiotherapist." Beginning with the January issue, the NEW OUTLOOK will carry a column by Irvin P. Schloss, the American Foundation's legislative analyst, entitled "Up to Date in Legislation." Judging by the excellence of Mr. Schloss's initial article, the entire series will be worth much more than the annual subscription price of the magazine, $1.50 for the braille edition, $3 for the ink-print and $5 for the recorded edition -- American Foundation for the Blind, 15 W 16th St., New York 11, N.Y. From VIEWPOINT: Mr. L. Stevens begins his report of a meeting of the Board of Directors of the British National Federation of the Blind with the following rather whimsically worded sentence: "After over four hours steady discussion and argument, in tones ranging from the broad Scots-Irish of Belfast through the ripe accent of the Midlands to the nasal twang of the Cockney and the soft, modulated tones of the South, it is difficult for a 'new boy' to know what to put in and what to leave out. ..." The British Government is slowly getting ready to replace the traditional but very much antiquated coinage of the realm (pence, "thrupence," shillings, half crowns, florins) and equally confusing paper money, with a decimal system like ours. VIEWPOINT expresses great satisfaction over the fact that organizations of the blind are being consulted at every point and that samples of the proposed new coinage have been submitted for the critical appraisal of these groups. From LISTEN (Mass.): "... Noting that John Mungovan's term of office expires in July, 1963, the Associated Blind of Massachusetts (ABM) in an unusual move recommends that the popular director of the state agency (the Division for the Blind) be reappointed by the Governor of Massachusetts before the expiration date. ... The current ABM vote of confidence in Mr. Mungovan is not the first evidence of widespread approval given by blind persons and agencies for the to the veteran director's achievements as head of the Division. In 1953, when the then Governor Christian A. Herter indicated that he intended to replace Mungovan, the organized blind, individual blind persons and representatives of leading agencies joined in an unprecedented campaign to help the director retain his position. ..." The Springfield Chapter of the Associated Blind of Massachusetts officially opened its chapter house a few weeks ago. This was the triumphant culmination of a dozen years of dedicated strenuous effort by Newton Ottone and his fellow members. The Oklahoma Federation of the Blind announces the employment of a full-time field worker to actively assist in the carrying out of its statewide program. She is Wanda St. Clair of Tulsa, whom many of our readers know personally from her attendance at several national conventions. From the OAKLAND (Calif.) ORIENTATION CENTER ALUMNI NEWSLETTER: "The first eight months of 1962, the tenth year of operation as an Orientation Center for the Blind, has been a thrilling one for the placement of our alumni in new and exciting fields of endeavor." (The article then goes on to discuss these placements -- three teachers in public schools; one electronics engineer; one electronics technician; one housemother; the establishment of one lawyer in practice; one who has joined with two associates to form a partnership called "Communications Contact" to tape technical interviews at scientific conventions and conferences; one set up as a manufacturer of redwood garden furniture; one operating an answering service; two medical transcriptionists; one darkroom technician; one operating a car wrecking yard; one vending stand operator; and one social caseworker. Twelve of the above sixteen are totally blind.) From THE WASHINGTON STATE WHITE CANE: "... Medical scientists believe that nearly all those now destined to go blind could be saved by adequate research and prevention. Yet in 1960 expenditures for eye research in this country totaled as little as $6,000,000. In the same year, according to the U.S. Public Health Service, care, compensation, benefits and education for the blind cost an estimated $500,000,000." The ILLINOIS OBSERVER reports that on December 21, while they were visiting their former home town of Peoria during Christmas vacation, Bob and Alberta O'Shaughnessy were given a testimonial dinner and presented with a very beautifully framed scroll for outstanding service. From THE Washington State WHITE CANE: "... Someone in your state legislature is trying honestly to represent your district to the best of his ability and all of your legislators are presumably trying to do the best for all of your state. How can they know what is best for their blind constituents unless blind citizens and their friends tell these busy persons? A few spoken words at a committee hearing or written lines on a card or in a letter can help them make decisions, the importance of which they might not otherwise be fully aware." ... "On Jan. 9 a Seattle blind attorney, Arnold Sadler, dramatized the serious omission in state hunting regulations by buying a hunting license. The act was well planned to jolt the public into an awareness of the laxity of the law. Sadler is to be congratulated for alerting the public to the danger inherent in the fact that, if a blind person can buy a license within the law, certainly many potential killers, visually handicapped in various degrees, do buy them." From the TRIPLE "A" MOTOR NEWS: "The Auto Club Film Service has encouraged the practice of employing visually handicapped persons and reports that in practically all cases their handicaps have resulted in greater work concentration and efficiency. The employment of visually handicapped persons has proved to be a big advantage to the film processing laboratory which handles film for AAA members through the Auto Club Film Service. In a recent study it was shown that the laboratory's ratio of error was much less than that of other processors. The laboratory's dark room is staffed by sightless men who open the rolls of raw film, affix twin check numbers, splice the movie and slide film together for processing and start the film through the automatic equipment. It has been found that these workers can identify damaged film and torn sprocket holes much more readily than sighted employees. In this way defective film is discovered which would endanger other rolls going through processing at the same time." From the MONTANA OBSERVER: "Visitors to Hoover Dam like the new look which Nevada blind have given this pioneer reclamation multipurpose water resource development on the Colorado River. The Snackateria is Hoover Dam's first and only food and refreshment stand. Set against the canyon wall on the Nevada end of the dam, this new modern building has become a popular feature of the world-famous project. James Ellis of Boulder City, Nevada, who is blind, operates the concession. The blind have exclusive rights to operate the food concession at Hoover Dam." ... Braille readers can look forward to many enjoyable hours of arm chair travel and exploration with each edition of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, which is now available in our special medium." ... "Herb Lynn" (who is ACB State Membership Chairman) "will be on crutches for some time. Loose wet gravel underfoot gave way as he was stepping off a curb and the resultant fall occasioned a painful injury." ... "Miss Patricia Scholl, blind senior at Idaho State College, received two special honors in 1962: one as Outstanding Junior Woman of the College, the other a place in WHO'S WHO AMONG STUDENTS IN AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES. ..." The death of Ada Tiernan, formerly of Des Moines, Iowa, marks the passing of another pioneer in the organized blind movement. From the NEW OUTLOOK FOR THE BLIND (Feb.): "The Rehabilitation Center of the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind is now including three hours of fencing in each week of its 16-week course. Fencing -- the art and science of offense and defense with the sword -- is one of the many sports that can be taught to and enjoyed by blind persons, both male and female, young and old. Fencing with the foil in the classical French school is of multi-benefit in the habilitation of the congenitally blind and the rehabilitation of the adventitiously blinded person: it is invaluable as a general physical fitness program; it is an operative instrument for sensory reorganization and development; and it has an effective therapeutic value. ..." Washington (AP): "Marilyn D. Brandt of San Antonio, Tex., is the first blind volunteer accepted by the Peace Corps. The 23-year-old graduate of Southwest Texas State Teachers College has been assigned to a school for the blind in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic. She is fluent in Spanish and will teach braille and music. Miss Brandt took her Peace Corps training at the Experiment in International Living, Putney, Vt. " Bob McMullen, President of the Illinois Federation of the Blind, underwent surgery in January and will be confined to his home for perhaps several months. It is reported that he has lost 75 pounds and intends to lose more. While he is incapacitated, the state organization will be in the capable hands of Victor Buttram of Peoria, the first vice president. Mrs. Assunta Jackson of St. Louis, Mo., was guest speaker at the ninth annual membership meeting of the Oklahoma federal credit union, which was held in Oklahoma City On Jan. 20. Mrs. Jackson is president of the Missouri Federation of the Blind credit union and is a member of the ACB's Credit Union Committee. The Oklahoma credit union is the largest of the credit unions for blind persons in the U.S., having closed 1962 with $113,000 in assets. Dr. Munford Boyd, distinguished professor of law at the University of Virginia, resigned from the NFB Board of Directors last year and has now joined the ACB as an individual member. A letter from Carlos Erwin of Baton Rouge informs me that the board of directors of the Louisiana Federation has voted to defer affiliation with the ACB until next year but that our energetic state chairman, Mr. A.C. Weatherford of New Orleans has now enrolled some 30 individual members in our organization and eventual state affiliation seems assured. The Feb. issue of VISUALLY HANDICAPPED VIEWS contains an account of the tragic death of an outstanding member of the South Dakota Association's board of directors, Mr. Reuben Poppen of Beresford. Together with a blind friend from Minnesota he apparently became lost and the bodies of the two were found the next morning -- the victims of exposure to the extreme cold. Reuben's guide dog remained on duty and was found beside the body. The same issue describes a unique project of the Association -- a toy "library" established at the state school for the blind, with a letter from the wife of the superintendent telling how much the children enjoy these toys. From the NEW BEACON: "Mr. F. Abbot Ingalls, European Director of the American Foundation for Overseas Blind, has been decorated with the insignia of chevalier of the Legion of Honor for the service he has rendered to French national associations of the blind." ... "The BLIND AMICHI, a weekly newspaper published in Osaka, Japan, this year celebrates its 40th anniversary." ... "Brother Anselm Fracasso of the monastery of St. Anthony in Rio de Janeiro was ordained a priest on October 4 by Cardinal Camara. He is the second blind man to have been ordained in recent years in Brazil." ... "On October 25 last, the radio program 'What We Can Do' celebrated its 10th anniversary. It is broadcast regularly by one of the commercial stations in Rio under the direction of a member of the teaching staff of the school for the blind there. It is intended to inform the general public of the achievements and abilities of Brazilian blind." The blind people of Illinois mourn the tragic death of Mrs. Golda Sherman of Chicago, who was run down by a truck on February 12. She was one of the founders of the Illinois Federation. ***** ** ACB Officers and Directors * President: Ned E. Freeman 136 Gees Mill Road Conyers, Georgia * First Vice-President: Durward K. McDaniel Suite 305 Midwest Building Oklahoma City 2, Oklahoma * Second Vice-President: David Krause 4628 Livingston Road, S.E. Washington 20, D.C. * Secretary: Mrs. Alma Murphey 4103 Castleman Avenue St. Louis, Missouri * Treasurer: Reese H. Robrahn 210 Crawford Building Topeka, Kansas ** Directors Until 1966: George Card 605 South Few Street Madison 3, Wisconsin G. Paul Kirton Room 6327 Department of the Interior Washington 25, D.C. Delbert K. Aman 220 West Second Street Pierre, South Dakota Mrs. Marie M. Boring 1113 Camden Avenue Durham, North Carolina ** Directors Until 1964: F. Winfield Orrell 5209 Alabama Avenue Chattanooga, Tennessee Earl Scharry 186 Vernon Avenue Louisville 6, Kentucky Mrs. Mary Jane Hills 104 Longview Terrace Rochester 9, New York Robert W. Campbell 253 Stonewall Road Berkeley 5, California ###