The Braille Forum
Volume I January 1963 Number 4

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

Fireside Chat, by Ned E. Freeman

American Council of the Blind Convention

Former HEW Secretary Speaks Out

"What Matter Who Gets Credit" 

Separate -- But Not Equal, by Ned Freeman

A Few Ideas About Blindness, by George Howeiler

Braille Rally Set to GO!

AAWB 1962 Convention, by Juliet Bindt

Kansas Association Convention, by Reese Robrahn

ESAB Convention Report, by Paul Kirton

NCFB Convention, by Connie and Ed Miller

An Administrator Takes the Initiative Toward Cooperation

An Important Development

Hope School Expands 

The City of Hope, by Mary Jane Hills

The World Council, by John Jarvis

The American Printing House for the Blind, by Imelda Yuhr

The Talking Lion, by Ned Freeman

Notice 

Hyde Park Corner, conducted by Earl Scharry

Johnny is Learning Braille, by Arthur Lown, Ed. D.

Here and There, with George Card

ACB Committee Chairmen

ACB Officers and Directors

*****

** Fireside Chat
By Ned E. Freeman, ACB President

MY FRIENDS -- The man who, to me, will always be THE PRESIDENT introduced the "Fireside Chat" concept into the American political scene and always began his talks with the above words. I hope I shall not be considered presumptuous if, to this extent, I follow the Rooseveltian tradition. The Editors of the BRAILLE FORUM have allocated these two pages in the magazine to me so that I may express some of my thoughts to you and ask you to share your thinking with me. 

I am troubled by some of the things that I have been reading lately. According to these authors, "everybody" has rejected the idea that there are absolute standards of morality, truth, beauty or behavior. Everything is supposedly "relative" and the "right" thing is whatever most people are doing, The "good life" consists in the accumulation of more things, more comforts, and more leisure -- and leisure is most properly occupied in spending more money on sports, entertainment and extravagancies. 

Perhaps I have been living in my ivory tower out here on the farm; perhaps I have been talking to the wrong people; maybe it's because I live in what used to be called the "Bible Belt"; but I don't find people really believing this sort of thing. It is true that most of us live as though the entire economy depended upon our individual effort to buy, to spend, to waste to the maximum. And too many of us behave as though we felt that whatever others are doing is all right for us, provided it isn't illegal or we can get around the law. But are we really merely the creatures of the social order in which we live? 

As for myself, I believe that the old-fashioned virtues of honesty, thrift, industry, chastity and temperance are still valid criteria for behavior. I believe that there is a great deal of satisfaction in a job well done for the sake of the pride of accomplishment. I believe that MAN is something more than a producing-consuming unit in a statistical table. I believe that the GOOD LIFE is a composite of love, beauty, service and faith which cannot be weighed or measured but whose value is above rubies. 

Is "everybody" really everybody? Or are they just a few fuzzy thinking would-be intellectuals to whom only the material is real?

***

Elsewhere in this issue will be found a list of the chairmen who have been appointed to head the various ACB committees. If we are to make progress toward our goals it will be due to the work of these committees. Some sixty individuals have been appointed to serve with these chairmen but we still need the ideas and support of the rest of you. Any of the chairmen will be happy to receive ideas or suggestions in this field or offers of assistance. Each of you is urged to write to them.

*****

** American Council of the Blind Convention

Start now to make your plans to attend the 1963 ACB Convention in Chicago, July 19-21. Unusually attractive accommodations are awaiting you at the Hotel St. Clair which is located on Ohio Street just off Chicago's famed Michigan Boulevard. All rooms are air-conditioned, and most will be of the apartment type with refrigerator and stove. Special rates to those attending the ACB convention are: Single, $6; Double, $10; Twin, $11. Please make your reservations directly with the Hotel St. Clair, Ohio Street, Chicago 11, Illinois, as soon as possible and send copy to Robert McMullen, 2048 West 69th St., Chicago 36, Illinois.

*****

** Former HEW Secretary Speaks Out

(Editor's note -- The following is an excerpt from an address by Arthur Fleming, now President of the University of Oregon, which appeared in the September issue of The New Outlook for the Blind.) 

I wish that Congress had under consideration a proposal that: The Federal government specify as it did in the Kerr-Mills Bill, that no state can qualify for federal funds in the welfare field if it imposes a residence requirement in connection with the use of such funds. 

We must make it abundantly clear that those who participate in welfare activities are not responsible for the nation's failure to cure social ills on which welfare activities focus a merciless spotlight. We must, of course, in season and out of season do everything we can to combat what Secretary Ribicoff very properly refers to as the "myths" on which so many of the observations relative to the welfare activities are based. When confronted with the myth that "public assistance is designed for chiselers," we must be ready to point out that about 5.5 million of the 7.25 million people on public assistance are children, or the aged, or the blind or the seriously disabled, and that every study that has been made of public assistance shows that the number of fraudulent cases is very small. When confronted with the myth that "the aid to dependent children program causes illegitimacy," we must be quick to point out that illegitimacy accounts for only 20 percent of ADC children and that only one out of every eight children of illegitimate birth -- or 13 percent -- is receiving assistance through ADC.

But at the same time we must also point out that what many persons refer to as public welfare problems are, in fact, social problems that cry aloud for constructive solutions. There is an unemployment problem in this country today, and it is not going to be solved by our demanding that persons on public assistance go out and hunt for non-existent jobs. ... We are playing the role of hypocrites when we pound on the table and demand that the "ne'er-do-wells," as some call them, go out and get jobs and then turn our backs on them when they knock on our doors. There is a problem of some persons in our population not being capable of holding jobs, but that problem is not going to be solved by referring to them as shiftless and lazy. ...

*****

** What Matter Who Gets Credit
By Lion "Blackie" Hall

(From The Lions Whiskers, published by Lions Club of Springfield, Jacksonville, Florida, June 18, 1962.)

... After a few announcements, Lion Fred Hafer turned the mike over to Gordon Haygood of the Florida Council for the Blind, who acted as MC. Each of the officials made a speech praising each other for hiring Miss Mary Inez McCollough (blind fifth grade teacher). In fact, this mutual admiration society produced such a haze of happiness that ye bulletin editor was a little confused in finding the facts, but he got 'em and here they are:

Miss McCollough asked J. Kersey, Principal of the J. Allen Axson Elementary School, for a job as a teacher. He, with great courage and forethought, passed the buck to the "big shots" in the school administration, and that got him off the hook. Then, since he was sure that Miss McCollough would be turned down since she was blind, he hired another teacher to take her place. When Miss McCollough returned with her application approved, he hired her and fired the other teacher he had just hired.

For this outstanding act of courage, J. Kersey was presented a framed citation by Mr. Haygood, accompanied by flashing TV cameras and great applause. And this dumb editor still can't understand why! 

Miss McCollough then took the mike and, with her charm and personality, won the hearts of all the Lions present, all of whom wish her success and happiness in her chosen career.

*****

** Separate -- But Not Equal
A Report by Ned Freeman

Much has been heard in the last few years about the inequalities of the separate facilities provided for white and colored people. In most cases the complaint has been on behalf of the Negroes -- and justly so. In the field of services for the blind in Georgia, however, the shoe is on the other foot. There is nothing now in the state to compare with the services provided the Negro blind by the Metropolitan Atlanta Association for the Blind. 

This eighteen-year-old organization has a rehabilitation record which may not be surpassed in the nation. Its staff is especially proud of the fact that six graduates of its rehabilitation and orientation center are now teaching in the Atlanta Public Schools. These teachers are not now considered blind. Surgery or other restorative treatment arranged for through the MAAB has given them a usable degree of vision. This, of course, is the unusual. However, each week about one hundred blind individuals take part in some phase of the activities available here. Over six hundred clients and members of their families were reached in some way through this program last year. Nearly two hundred persons are now gainfully employed in sheltered shops and vending stands, other small businesses, in darkroom technicians' jobs, domestic work, sales, packing, the above teaching positions and others. 

This outstanding program is under the direction of Dr. P.J. Wood, blind Negro, who founded MAAB in 1943 at a meeting in a local church attended by about twenty blind and sighted persons. He came to Atlanta from Alabama where he had founded the Alabama Association for the Blind in 1922. Dr. Wood received his early education in schools for the blind in Tennessee, Kansas and Texas. He holds a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University and received both his B.A. in Sociology and his Doctorate from Paul Quinn College in Texas. 

In his humility Dr. Wood insists that the success of his venture is due entirely to the wholehearted support and cooperation of the entire community -- white and colored alike. He has established a fine working relationship with the Department of Public Welfare and the Georgia Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. 

At the time of our visit about thirty clients were in the MAAB rehabilitation and orientation center reading Braille, practicing with slate and stylus or braille writers, weaving, etc. Lunch, which had been prepared by the ladies of the home management class, was just over; and those of the class who had not been involved in the cooking were cleaning up. Dr. Wood assembled the members of the thirty voice choir who happened to be pre sent at the time to sing for us. They presented an excellent program and seemed to be having a mighty good time. They quite evidently enjoyed themselves as much as we enjoyed listening. The singing was led and accompanied by a music teacher from the Atlanta City Department of Recreation, who comes twice a week. And another member of the City Recreation staff teaches recreational and social skills. 

One point which is strongly stressed throughout the program is that these people live in a sighted community and must learn to take their place in it. They are not taught to play cards or checkers or to dance with other blind people but to participate in every phase of daily living as members of a group with sighted folk. 

Citizenship training is another very important part of the activities at this center. There are daily discussions of current events, newspaper editorials and other informational material. If a person comes to the center who is not a registered voter, he is given instruction and encouragement to become one. This service is also extended to all the adult members of his family. It is safe to say that this community constitutes one of the best informed and most active groups of voters in the entire metropolitan area. Largely because of them the three counties surrounding Atlanta have the largest number of registered voters in the nation. Small wonder that the city and county authorities are so willing to cooperate! 

An active summer camp program is carried on including cooperation with YMCA, YWCA, Camp Fire Girls, and Boy and Girl Scouts, where children participate fully with their sighted companions. 

Two five-and-a-half-month courses of intensive rehabilitation are conducted each year with eight students in each class under the sponsorship of the State-Federal Vocational Rehabilitation program. In addition to the usual communications skills -- braille, typing, etc. -- the students are taught the use of handwriting. This is a very important status symbol and psychological aid, especially in view of the fact that many of these persons have all their lives used an "X" in signing their names. A reasonable facility in the use of braille is insisted upon, not only for its intrinsic value to the individual, but also because of the increased feeling of self-confidence and independence it gives him. 

A typical day at the center begins with devotions and current events. The morning sessions may include physical fitness, crafts, sewing, group recreation, or group singing. In the afternoon such topics as braille, penmanship, typing, cooking, religious education, spelling and English, demands of daily living and club meetings are scheduled.

Throughout the year recreational programs include art exhibits, moonlight picnics, and parties on all special days, such as an Easter Egg hunt, etc. 

The MAAB also sponsors a Thrift Club which operates on the general principle of the Christmas Savings Club in most banks. 

A well trained, full-time professional staff of eight including Dr. Wood conducts this program. The only adverse comment that can be made is that all of the staff except for the Director are sighted. This is due, of course, in large part to the unavailability of qualified blind persons for these jobs. The unrealistic physical requirements and other restrictive regulations of some colleges make it extremely difficult for a blind person -- and especially for a blind Negro -- to obtain the training necessary to qualify for a position of this type. 

About half of the MAAB's $50,000 annual budget is supplied by the United Fund. The balance comes from rehabilitation tuition, appropriations from city and county governments, and voluntary contributions from civic organizations and individuals. The MAAB conducts no fund-raising campaign, but several of its clients participate in the United Fund Appeal and are considered among the highest producers. Incidentally, all profits from the sale of items made by participants in the program go to the individual. Two small piece-work contracts also add to the income of the individuals involved. 

This year MAAB services have been extended to cover all five counties which now comprise the Greater Atlanta metropolitan area. Students in the rehabilitation classes come from all over the state. Those from out of town board in nearby homes approved by the Association's staff, and the members of these families constitute a real part of the training given. They meet every week for a conference with the staff. There are also weekly conferences with the sighted members of the families of blind clients. 

We feel that the Negro blind are to be congratulated on having such a fine progressive rehabilitation and orientation facility available to them. It is high time that a similar program be established to serve the white blind of Georgia -- and there is hope that it will not be long -- otherwise we might have to appeal to the Supreme Court!

*****

** A Few Ideas about Blindness --
Some Old, Some New
By George L. Howeiler

(From a speech delivered at a seminar held early in 1962 by the Oregon Council of the Blind.)

All of us, I am sure, are very much interested in the many problems which confront blind persons in their efforts to achieve a satisfactory social and economic status within their respective communities. The fact that we are assembled here today attests to that. We are interested to know how others are meeting these problems, what the private and public agencies are doing to assist them and what we as a group or as individuals can do to help in the good cause. We are interested for our own personal reasons, yes; but we are also interested because we have a sincere desire to advance the social and economic interest of the blind in general. While we recognize and appreciate the fact that a great deal has been done here and elsewhere to raise the social and economic standards of blind persons, we are also aware that the task is unending and that much remains to be done. To exchange ideas among ourselves at this seminar is our purpose. To discuss them, accept some and reject others, and to translate them into appropriate action is our goal. To toss a few of them out to you this afternoon is one reason I am here.

As a point of beginning, I should like to state that in my opinion the success of a blind person -- indeed, of any person -- in achieving a satisfactory status within his community depends in large measure upon three main factors. They are: (1) adequate personality adjustment, (2) thorough training, and (3) ample opportunity. I refer to them as the PTO formula for successful living. If the individual is weak with respect to one of these, his chances for becoming a productive member of society will to the extent of his weakness be reduced. On the other hand, given strength in all three, the probability of his succeeding is greatly enhanced. Let us examine, then, each of these factors in its relation in order to determine what we can do to strengthen them and thus enhance our chances for the attainment of the goal that we in this seminar have uppermost in our minds.

As I explained to my high school students years ago, there is really nothing so very mysterious, intangible or complicated about thing we call personality -- at least so it seemed to me. Quite simply, personality, I told them, is merely the impact in varying degrees of the habits one has acquired throughout the years. If such habits are for the most part positive and good ones, then the individual possessing them will reflect a positive and good personality. If he has, for example, good working habits, good speech habits, good grooming habits; if he has the habit of cheerfulness, of patience, of friendliness and kindliness; if he has, in short, acquired a preponderance of all those time-honored and time-tested virtues with which we are familiar, then he will almost certainly have what it takes to make an adequate adjustment to just about any new and trying situation with which he may be confronted. 

If this is true for people in general, how much more important does it become to those who have a visual handicap? Blindness is for the most of us a very frustrating condition. We are frustrated in moving about. We are frustrated in finding things that have been misplaced. We are frustrated in selecting the proper tie for our suit or the right amount of salt for our stew. That is, we are unless we have developed the necessary know-how and techniques to overcome the frustration and have repeatedly practiced them to where they have become a part of our habits of system and detail. 

It is rather difficult for most persons to make an adequate adjustment to a sudden and disastrous change of circumstances such as the loss of a loved one, the loss of one's material resources, the loss of a limb, the loss of sight. Some are unable to do so and, in extreme cases, withdraw from the overwhelming situation by resorting to alcoholism or a psychotic flight into unreality or even to total self-destruction. Others will endeavor to cope with the situation by becoming overly aggressive, that is, by giving vent to outbursts of rage, by kicking the chair that happens to stand in the way, by blaming someone else, by finding fault with this and that, sometimes even by committing assault and battery or more serious crimes. 

For example, let me tell you about an old schoolmate of mine. He was a bright fellow, well-built, very capable. Although totally blind, he traveled all over the area and without the use of a cane too. He was a very likable fellow when he was in a good mood, friendly and cheerful; but he was downright obnoxious when he wasn't, which was quite often; and those around him during such times would avoid him. He would fly off the handle at his teacher or he would find fault with the food or with the entire school. In fact, he refused to finish his last year of high school at the school for the blind and attended the local public school -- which was all right and everyone thought so. He seemed to enjoy quarreling, and he would often give way to some inner urge to come over to Portland during the rush hour period and proceed deliberately to bump into pedestrians on the street, knocking them helter-skelter as though they were bowling pins. Perhaps he imagined himself to be a football tackle, I don't know. I do know that one such trip to Portland with him was enough for me. And, while he has always been able to make his own way, he has not measured up to his potential. Indeed, he has fallen far short, and I am sure that this is in large part due to this personality defect. 

By way of contrast, let's now take a look at another example. About twenty years ago I think it was, a fellow over in eastern Oregon suddenly felt that he could no longer carry on under the blows that fate had visited upon him. First, he had lost his mother. He had lived with her all his life, had provided for her and was extremely devoted to her. Shortly after her death he lost his sight. He was, I think, about forty at the time. What did he do? No, he did not complain of his misfortune. He did not manifest any untoward resentment or engage in any overly aggressive conduct or resort to alcohol. He simply went to bed and stayed there. When I visited him about seven years ago as a representative of the Oregon Commission for the Blind, he was still there. The farthest he strayed from his bedroom in the nursing home where I visited him was, according to the matron of the home, to the dining room and to the bathroom. He rejected all help. He even refused to bother with a radio. He told me simply that he wished to be left alone. 

I believe that all of us who do not see or who see imperfectly manifest such reactions in varying degrees. Our blindness is very frustrating. Frustrations build up tensions, and tensions have to be dissipated or there is trouble. Most of us are inclined to withdraw from them, to retreat from the situation which engendered them. Sometimes we go on the offensive and relieve ourselves of them by sheer temper tantrums or other overt behavior. In either case the tension is removed, but we can hardly consider its removal in these ways as constituting an adequate personality adjustment. 

How does one make an adequate personality adjustment, you ask? Probably that question should be left to those who know a great deal more about such matters than I do, namely, the psychologist, the orthopsychiatrist and, in serious cases, to the psychiatric physician. All I can suggest is that a person needs to look at his situation and himself objectively. He needs to face up to the reality of blindness, to recognize it for the severe handicap that it is and then do something about it in a constructive way. He needs to engage in group activities and to share with the group his anxieties, his fears, his frustrations, his problems and his aspirations. He needs to participate not only in blind groups but in sighted groups as well. He needs to develop his wholesome habits and get rid of those that are undesirable. He needs to use his talking book machine, to study braille and apply it, to enroll in a correspondence course at the Hadley School for the Blind, he needs to consult with his state agency and to avail himself of its services. He needs to strike a happy balance between the tendency to withdraw from his situation and the desire to attack it vainly. He needs to take that chip off his shoulder so that someone can put a friendly hand in its place. He needs to be less concerned about being regarded a deviate in society and more about being considered an ingrate. In short, he needs to be ever mindful of the many details of daily living which are essential to the development and maturation of every citizen, sightless or otherwise. 

While the matter of adequate personality adjustment is basis to the overall success of visually handicapped persons, no less so is the matter of adequate training. Indeed, the two are part and parcel of the same thing. They are as closely allied as the well-known chicken and egg. They are as indispensable to each other as the violinist and his instrument in the rendition of a Mozart concerto. How could it be otherwise? How could there be any adequate adjustment, for instance, without adequate training? On the other hand, how can there be adequate training unless there is adequate personal adjustment? 

I am now referring not to vocational training but to all training. I am thinking of the education of the blind child down at Salem or in the public school system of Portland, Medford, Hathway or wherever such a child may be enrolled. I am thinking of the newly blinded adult who is receiving training from one of the visiting teachers of our state agency and another who might be attending classes at the Piano Hospital in Vancouver, the Electronics School for the Blind in Omaha, the Industrial Home for the Blind in Brooklyn. In other words, I am speaking about academic, social, ethical, recreational, physical, vocational and any other kind of training as it pertains to the blind; for it is all important, and I know that it is all important and interesting to us.

... And, finally, I think that our state school and our state agency might do well to devote more time, money and effort with respect to the matter of travel training. This is an area which needs a great deal of attention, for too many of us are too dependent upon others simply for the reason that we are either unable or unwilling to travel by ourselves. Whether we should use a long cane or a short one; a cane with a red tip or red, white and blue, for that matter, does not concern me. I use all the aids I can, if you wish to know. I have a short cane and a long one as well as a collapsible cane. I use them for different purposes. I also have a dog, which I use for still other purposes. I use people when I need them, but a per son needs to know how to use people just as much or even more than he does in using a cane or a dog. There are times when I cross a highway for a package of cigarettes without any aid to the great concern of those who keep an eye on me while I do it, I might add. My point is that we should not get bogged down m arguments over small matters of technique but do something about the big problem itself -- that of travel training.

... And so we come to the remaining factor in the trilogy of success, namely opportunity. In a sense it is the most important one of all; for, without it, there can be no success. One may have made a most creditable adjustment to his situation. He may be able to travel independently, to meet the requirements of daily living entirely adequately, to have a rational and positive outlook as to himself and the social structure in which he lives. He may have received the finest training and the highest honors that an institution of higher learning or some other school could confer upon him; and yet, if the opportunity to apply his education does not present itself, the goal which he has set for himself remains unattained, and discouragement waits upon him.

However, to those of you who have felt the heavy presence of discouragement, and especially to those of you who might be feeling it now, let me counsel you to take heart. The door to opportunity is not closed to you, although it must sometimes seem otherwise. There are opportunities awaiting you with the dawn of each new day, if you will only recognize them. Let me just mention a few of them.

First of all, there is the opportunity for you to learn about and adjust yourself to the facts of blindness. You have available to you the services of your own state agency, information available from the American Foundation for the Blind, the fine recorded books from the Library of Congress, to mention but a few. There is even a correspondence course available to you, free of course, from the Hadley School, dealing with the care of the eye and similar material from the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness if you are interested. 

Secondly, there is the opportunity to receive personalized instruction in the reading and writing of braille, in problems of personal grooming, in housekeeping, etc., from the visiting teachers of your state agency. While geographical and other considerations sometimes make it difficult for the individual to reap the full benefit of such instruction, it should be encouraging to know that it is available to him if he wants it. 

Third, there is the opportunity to receive assistance in the form of vocational guidance, counseling and training. While vocational opportunities are difficult to come by for most blind persons, they occur more frequently than it appears. Indeed, I once had a placement agent tell me that his main problem was not the finding of job opportunities but rather the dearth of qualified blind persons to take advantage of them. Luck is always on the side of the person who is prepared. If the blind person will prepare himself adequately and is willing to make the effort to meet the standards required, and if the agency is doing its job, then eventually the right opportunity will come along.

... And finally above all, there are the opportunities that present themselves during the course of affairs in one's community. If one cares to do so, he can have the opportunity to participate in civic organizations. He can teach Sunday School. He can be a member of the church choir. He can call on sick friends. In short, he can do a host of things which the average sighted person does as a citizen of his community if he knows how to go about doing them.

Nevertheless, there is much that can and should be done, in my opinion, to increase social and economic opportunities for the visually impaired. The fact that less than one-fourth of our employable blind are gainfully employed is cogent testimony of that.

... Finally, in conclusion we as individuals must conduct ourselves at all times in such manner as to bring credit rather than discredit on the visually handicapped as a group. We are a group with a common denominator -- blindness. We are all, figuratively speaking, in the same boat together. If someone foolishly rocks that boat or upsets it, we all must suffer. 

And let us not fall victims to our own self-pity, to discouragement, to personal bickering. And let us not withdraw ourselves from the struggle that is ours or stagger forth like a nearsighted Don Quixote in search of imaginary enemies. Instead, let us look at ourselves as we are, ordinary human beings who happen to be handicapped through loss of sight, willing to accept that handicap and to move forward in spite of it. Let us make the best personal adjustment we know how and avail ourselves of the best training we can get. Let us not overlook any opportunity to improve ourselves and the community in which we live. And, as we move forward as individuals and as a group, let us always remember that we too are our brothers' keepers.

*****

** Braille Rally Set to GO!

(Reprinted from ACTION, published by U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce)

You have heard of sports car races called rallies. Well here is a new approach. 

The second Indiana Braille Rally was held May 6. One hundred sixteen youngsters from the Indiana State School for the Blind served as navigators for the sports car drivers from the Lily Motor Club and six other sports car clubs in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. The children were assigned to sports car entrants on the basis of a special drawing. 

Instruction Cards in Braille are handed to each of the children one minute before the rally starts. The drivers are completely dependent on the young navigators who must read the route information on the Braille cards to determine the road course. 

Indiana State Police assisted the drivers in checking all safety equipment to be used on the 75-mile course, which took about three hours to drive. 

Race drivers participated in the presentation of awards to the winning navigators at the Trophy Dinner. The motor clubs are contributing trophies to the top ten places. Also suitable mementos were provided for all the young blind navigators. After the Trophy Dinner, the drivers and navigators returned in a motorcade, with police escort, to the blind school.

"The Braille Rally has given the youngsters a year-round incentive to study Braille," states Durward Hutchinson, Superintendent at the blind school.

"Braille still can't be beat for reference and is still the best means for making personal notes," states Mr. Hutchinson. "The rally provides a prestige value for studying Braille, as it gives the blind youngster who has learned his Braille, a distinct advantage while serving as navigator for the driver."

*****

** AAWB 1962 Convention
By Juliet K. Bindt

(From a report of the convention of the American Association of Workers for the Blind held in Cleveland, Ohio, in July.)

... This convention, more than many others, got right down to details on many problems, which was most helpful. A statement of policy was adopted that indicated a great deal of progressive thinking, and in which it proclaimed itself to be a social action group.

One of the most surprising facts was that the Leader Dog School had trained a double amputee to use two artificial legs and then to use a guide dog to assist him in his business of serving vending machines. The dog led him, and he pulled behind him a wagon with supplies. 

Norman M. Yoder, ... has directed research on blind persons in rural and professional occupations and can supply braille and disc recorded copies of this material. 

Hadley School for the Blind, Winnetka, Illinois, displayed some new free correspondence courses on spelling, letter writing and business. They are short and seem very practical. Material is in braille. 

It was brought out that it is now no longer necessary to defer surgery until cataracts ripen. Research is being done upon the chemistry which causes cataracts, and it is hoped that diet may avoid cataracts. New methods have been found for preserving corneas longer, and research hopes to find substitutes for the human cornea. It is believed that a million and a half people in this country have ocular pressure that might easily lead to glaucoma. It is estimated that about half of these will actually develop glaucoma. Regular checkups are encouraged. It is now believed that glaucoma is a constitutional weakness, and so relatives of persons with glaucoma should have regular checkups. Research is also being done on substitutes for the human eye. The first of these might be a skin refractor that would pick up light waves and transmit impulses to the brain. The federal Department of HEW now has as part of its services to the states a section devoted to putting into practical use the great variety of research now being undertaken. 

There was a lengthy discussion on the great variation in the definition of blindness. Hawaii considers almost anyone who has to use glasses for reading as legally blind. In Minnesota a person is considered legally blind if he has 20/60 visual acuity but a bad prognosis. Pennsylvania's definition is based on the loss of visual function. Most definitions are geared to employment possibilities. Many felt there should be different definitions based on different types of service. ... It was suggested that States' Services for the Blind should consider the discontinuance of a driver's license because of poor vision as a referral. There is a growing trend toward using the term "visual impairment" for "blindness." It seems necessary to educate ophthalmologists to make referrals ... 

Only eleven states have specialists for the education of visually handicapped children. Five other states have part-time workers. It was recommended that the definition of blindness for children should differ from that for adults. Instead of being based on "acuity," it would be based on capacity and efficiency as related to versatility. 

AAWB will hold its 196 3 convention in Seattle, July 2 L-26, and its 1964 convention in New York, July 25-31. This meeting will be immediately followed by the meeting of the World Council for the Blind in New York. 

It was suggested that blind persons operating vending stands where there are employee organizations would do well to contribute to these organizations rather than fighting them. A report was given about a man who had his vending stand in a trailer that could go wherever business was best. 

One whole session was devoted to a better understanding of the deaf­blind and programs for their rehabilitation. It started with a 13-minute film, "There is a Silver Lining." This describes the complete program of rehabilitation and recreation for the deaf-blind at the Industrial Home for the Blind, Brooklyn, New York. ... The Florida Council for the Blind is initiating a program similar to our orientation center for the deaf-blind in northeastern United States ... and the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind is already planning something like it. ...

... Apparently the Library of Congress has found a great lack of blind proof readers, and so an increasing number of sighted proof readers are being certified and hired. ...

The Legislative Committee report urged the federal government to retain categories in public assistance and felt that it should provide basic income and medical care, but that it is indefensible for "an employed person" to have to receive public assistance. It was urged that the use of the means test be minimized. AAWB urged that there be no liens on property, no responsibility of relatives and no residence requirements. It was stressed that sheltered workshops should not offer terminal employment for capable workers. 

It is encouraging to note how much closer the AAW B philosophy is coming to that of the organized blind. 

Joseph Clunk ... said that he had never placed a "blind man," but that he had placed many capable workers "who were blind" ... 

... The American Printing House for the Blind ... has brailled a catalog of books brailled by volunteer transcribers, and these catalogs may be borrowed from regional libraries for the blind. It now is putting out a new plastic braille writer that will sell for about $45.00, which is a cross between their Hall writer and the Perkins brailler. ... 

The American Foundation for the Blind now has a braille edition of its catalog of special aids and appliances for the blind. Next year it will be directing over a million dollars' worth of research, and only one tenth of this represents AFB funds. 

"Overtones" is a new braille magazine for musicians is sued quarterly for fifty cents a copy by the New York Lighthouse for the Blind, 111 E. 57th St., New York City. ...

*****

** Kansas Association Convention
By Reese Robrahn

The Kansas Association for the Blind, Inc., held its annual convention at the Allis Hotel, Wichita, Kansas, on October 5, 6 and 7. Principal speakers participating in the convention program were: the Honorable Frank Carlson, senior Senator from the state of Kansas, banquet speaker; Blanche Dougherty, Field Representative of the American Printing House for the Blind, speaking on the work of the Printing House; and Durward K. McDaniel, speaking on credit unions. Other speeches and prepared discussions dealt with the subjects of optical aids and education and vocational training of the blind.

A motion was adopted to postpone for one year any decision concerning affiliation with the American Council of the Blind and that members of the Kansas Association are encouraged to become members at large of the American Council of the Blind. A motion was passed unanimously instructing the Board of Directors to take the necessary steps to create a credit union. 

The Townhouse Hotel at Kansas City was selected as the 1963 convention site. 

There were 150 persons in attendance at the convention.

*****

** ESAB Convention Report
By G. Paul Kirton

The tone of the sixth annual convention of the Empire State Association of the Blind was set at a reception for members and guests given by the host chapter in Rochester, New York, the night before the convention. Clyde and Lucille Ross were somewhat surprised to discover that one of the major purposes of the party was to celebrate their thirty-third wedding anniversary. 

The convention was in session Saturday, Sunday and Monday, September 1-3. Each morning was devoted to state business; each afternoon to program items, and each night to entertainment. The Saturday afternoon program primarily consisted of a panel discussion dealing with the problems inherent in obtaining and retaining membership. The participants were Frank Lugiano, President of the Pennsylvania Federation of the Blind; Clyde Ross, President of the Ohio Council of the Blind; and Tony Parise, President of the Staten Island Blind Society and ESAB Recruitment Chairman.

The Sunday afternoon program was devoted to the problems involved in preparing for, obtaining and retaining employment. Tony Cimino, Counselor at the Batavia School for the Blind, explained the problems of counseling and training blind students in a residential school for their future role as productive members of society. He pointed out the difficulties faced due to the lack of interest on the part of rehabilitation counselors in aiding students to obtain summertime employment. Without such assistance, it is practically impossible for a student, either in a residential or a public school, to participate fully in a work experience school credit program. Commissioner Mary Louise Nice, New York State Commission on Human Rights, discussed the organization and operation of the Commission and stated that the Commission would undoubtedly have to be expanded if blind people were brought under its jurisdiction. She emphasized the problems common to minority groups and explained the Commission's role under New York state law in solving such problems. Dr. Robert France, Professor of economics, University of Rochester, discussed the social and economic implications brought about as a result of automation and its effect on blind people, especially in the area of training of the young and retraining of the aged worker.

Saturday night conventioneers were given the opportunity to tour Rochester and its famous midtown plaza. The convention banquet was held Sunday night, with the versatile Bob Dinette acting as Master of Ceremonies. Members and guests were honored by brief remarks from State Senator Thomas W. LaVerne. The banquet address was given by Leland W. Sanborn, Superintendent, Batavia School for the Blind. Following the banquet there was a well-attended dance.

The outstanding highlights of the business session were the decisions to promote legislation prohibiting discrimination against applicants for employment, tax credit to employers of blind workers, abolition of relatives' responsibility for aid to the blind recipients and the establishment of a committee to investigate further the possibility of a state-wide credit union for ESAB members.

*****

** The NCFB Holds Its Annual Convention
By Connie and Ed Miller

(Editor's note -- This article is reprinted from the December issue of Touch and Know, published by the Mecklenburg County Association for the Blind of Charlotte, North Carolina.)

The convention was held in the Jack Tar Hotel in Durham, N.C., on October 27 and 28, 1962. The attendance was very good, and immediately you could sense that the membership came ready to work hard and to contribute a real part in the future plans of the Federation.

The Federation adopted a franchise group insurance policy in which the active membership can participate.

Mr. Ralph Caskey, President of the NCFB Credit Union, reported on credit union activities in the afternoon session. Mrs. Doris Holt, teacher from the School for the Blind in Raleigh, and Mrs. David Krause, teacher from a public school in Washington, D.C., conducted a panel discussion on teaching blind children. Mr. Earl Jennings, Counselor with the Vocational Rehabilitation Division of the State Commission for the Blind, talked to the convention on rehabilitation of the blind.

Mrs. David Krause of Washington, D.C., spoke to us on national legislation for blind persons. These speakers were most generous with their time and answered the many questions which were directed to them in a straightforward manner.

We had a lovely banquet, at which Ed Miller of Charlotte served as master of ceremonies. Mr. Ned Freeman of Conyers, Georgia, was guest speaker. He left us with much food for thought along the line of how we can meet the challenge of blindness. He was a real inspiration to us. Numerous prizes were awarded to those who were holding the lucky ticket stubs.

Out of the Sunday morning business session came two resolutions to be presented to the legislature in 1963. The NCFB also resolved that we would set a goal toward which we shall work in our fund raising: That of assisting blind parents in the education of their sighted children. The unity among the membership was most outstanding throughout this convention.

The 1963 convention site is Wilson, N.C. All of you are hereby issued a cordial invitation to attend.

*****

** An Administrator Takes the Initiative Toward Cooperation

(Editor's note -- The letter printed below was written by Arthur M. Dye, Jr., Executive Secretary of the Mecklenburg County Association for the Blind in Charlotte, North Carolina, to J. Edward Miller, also of Charlotte and a member of the North Carolina Federation of the Blind. The letter was read at the 1962 convention of the NCFB, and the convention acted affirmatively on Mr. Dye's request. This letter is published with the permission of Mr. Dye and Mr. Miller and serves to demonstrate the enlightened and progressive attitudes of one administrator of a private agency serving blind persons.)

October 12, 1962

Mr. J.E. Miller
2621 Chesterfield Avenue
Charlotte, North Carolina

Dear Ed:

This is to confirm our recent conversation concerning an advisory committee for the Mecklenburg Association for the Blind.

We would like to ask the North Carolina Federation of the Blind to appoint a Chairman and a Committee of from 5 to 7 persons to serve as a continuing Advisory Committee to the Mecklenburg Association. The Federation may, of course, choose members of the Committee on any basis you might see fit, however, we would prefer that the Chairman be a local person, although the members of the Committee need not be local if they will be able to attend meetings regularly. We would prefer that no one who is presently engaged in full-time work with some Agency serving blind persons be on the Committee, as these people already serve in a somewhat different relationship. Finally, we would prefer that both blind and sighted persons be considered. Basic to our philosophy is the belief that persons should be evaluated on some basis other than their visual acuity. We resent employers who refuse to hire persons simply because they cannot see, and in the same manner we feel we have a right to resent the reverse kind of discrimination. Our feeling is based on a philosophical belief that unnatural special privileges emphasize disability and make our job of selling the ability of visually handicapped persons harder. 

We can see many advantages for the Mecklenburg Association in having such a Committee. In the first place, there are many people who are members of the Federation who have studied services for visually handicapped persons for many years. We would like to take advantage of their experience and knowledge. Secondly, we are trying very hard to avoid a paternalistic approach. We do not want to look down on people with a visual handicap as helpless people who depend on us, but as co-workers in the vineyard. Finally, this would give us an opportunity to go over our program in detail with intelligent and competent persons and would not only cause us to think through what we are doing, but would give us a means of interpreting what we are doing to visually handicapped persons. 

I would be most grateful if you would raise this matter at the next meeting of the North Carolina Federation of the Blind. I hope the Federation will see fit to pass a resolution outlining in detail how the Committee should function and appointing the individuals to serve.

Very best wishes, 
Arthur M. Dye, Jr., Executive Secretary
Mecklenburg County Association for the Blind

*****

** An Important Development

Employment possibilities for the blind in Federal Civil Service were broadly extended by the enactment of legislation approved August 29 providing for reader assistants for blind employees. Such assistants will be classed as federal employees but without compensation or other benefits of federal employment. A blind employee may select his own assistants subject to approval of the employing agency. The reader-assistant may be a volunteer, be paid by the employee himself, or be paid by a non-profit organization. Preliminary rules and regulations for the administration of this Act have already been announced by the Civil Service Commission under which employing agencies of the federal government will have wide latitude in the utilization of the services of qualified blind persons who must take their chances on a competitive basis with sighted people in the positions classified as available for both blind and sighted.

*****

** Hope School Expands

Experts assured Dr. Charles M. Jordan, of Springfield, Ill, that a school for the multiply-handicapped blind child could not succeed. Nevertheless, after spending ten years of frustrating effort to find a place where his own multiply-handicapped blind daughter could be helped, Dr. Jordan established the Hope School in May of 1957. Its purpose was to provide an education based upon activity and experience for blind children between the ages of 3 and 18 years who, by reason of other handicaps -- either physical or mental -- were not suited for education in any other school for the blind. Financed by money put into the project by Dr. and Mrs. Jordan and contributions from friends, the "pilot project," a two-story frame building for four to six children and a small staff, started to prove the experts wrong. Today, 4 1/2 years later, the Hope School is the only institution of its kind in the United States. This is true despite the fact that there are an estimated 20,000 children in this country who are blind and have other physical handicaps. Accommodating 15 students in their present quarters at 815 S. Fifth St., the school will soon expand its facilities to provide an education for up to 100 children. Fifteen acres of Lake Springfield land have been leased for the construction of two one-story residential buildings as a start with more buildings to be built as funds are available.

*****

** The City of Hope
By Mary Jane Hills

(Editor's note -- The information for this article is taken from a news bulletin published by The City of Hope, National Labor Council, Philadelphia.) 

When one thinks of the AFL-CIO, his thoughts automatically turn to the labor movement and to its related problems. However, the AFL-CIO together with its auxiliaries throughout the United States has undertaken a project worthy of both comment and commendation. With the help of this organization an idealistic dream has become a reality; and, as a result, thousands of people have been served, and medical science has benefited. 

It frequently is said that the state of California claims credit for many "firsts." Certainly the City of Hope, AFL-CIO medical pilot project, can be considered one of California's outstanding "firsts." The City of Hope is located in Duarte, California, and was originated in 1913. From 1913 to date it has grown from two tents located in a barren desert area to 90 acres of modern hospital and laboratory facilities. No patient leaving the City of Hope has ever been presented with a bill. 

The City of Hope is national and non-sectarian. Patients receiving care there, it is felt by the administrators, are entitled to the finest medical care available, regardless of limited economic circumstances. This is an example of social justice in action. 

As a medical pilot project, treatment at the City of Hope is limited to the mystery diseases of the medical profession -- leukemia, cancer and diseases of the heart, blood and chest. 

The purposes of a pilot medical center are to guide and lead in the field of patient care, research and education. The record of this particular pilot project speaks for itself. 

With regard to patient care, the administrators of the City of Hope believe that each and every patient should be accorded the same treatment. Patients are allowed to order from menus, and all rooms are equipped with TV and radio. An integral part of the City of Hope is Hope Village, where patients from all over the country may live together in modern comfortable apartments while being treated. A parent participation program was originated in 1954. Parents are welcomed by the staff, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, doctors, and nurses so that they may be with and help in the daily care of their children while their youngsters receive attention in the City of Hope. Even parents of children who never recover seem to be better equipped to face life once again and to have gained greater emotional strength as a result of this experience. The parents participation program is continuing under a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.

The medical profession has already benefited from the research program at the City of Hope. Researchers there have opened the way to body enzymes as diagnostic tools. They were the first in the world to make hemoglobin under test tube conditions; were first to reverse, even partially, the damaging effects of arteriosclerosis in animals by chemical means, thus suggesting possible prevention of heart attacks by blocking cholesterol formations. They originated a trap door procedure in breast cancer surgery saving considerable time in such operations. They demonstrated how tiny blood platelets, so vital to blood coagulation, are formed; were first in the United States to use cesium 173, a new radioactive source for daily cancer treatment. They discovered a chemical in the brain and spinal cord pointing to new progress against convulsive disorders. They were the first to construct a total body radiation chamber utilizing massive radiation as another weapon against malignancy. They initiated a new advance in the area of organ transplantation and helped to determine that chromosome patterns at birth indicate possible occurrence of inherited maladies later in life. 

In 1960 the Institute for Advanced Learning in the Medical Sciences made it possible for doctors, both elderly and promising youngsters, to pursue their studies in the specialized fields at the City of Hope. They may write, lecture or experiment free from academic and administrative duties. Information gained by physicians in this unique City is disseminated at international seminars and conferences. 

What are the prerequisites for admission to the City of Hope as a patient? They are very few. One of the basic principles of the City of Hope is that a patient should not be pauperized as a prerequisite for admission. Patients are admitted on the basis of medical and economic eligibility and the availability of beds. To gain admittance, a patient must be recommended by a private physician to ensure that the individual falls within the medical scope of the City of Hope. Anyone may seek medical assistance if he is unable to afford the complete cost of treatment at a private medical facility. When discharged, the patient's physician may continue to consult with members of the staff at the City of Hope. 

The City of Hope is governed by members of active AFL-CIO auxiliaries throughout the country. Delegates from the auxiliaries are elected to attend biennial national conventions held in Los Angeles. At the biennial convention a board of directors for the City of Hope is elected which, in turn, elects officers who carry out convention-approved policies and programs.

Currently the New York State Union Label and Service Committee is establishing a medical scholarship to be given so that some young medical hopeful may study at the City of Hope. To raise money for the scholarship fund, attractive perfume sprays are being sold. The perfume manufacturer is exceedingly cooperative since a member of his own family received medical treatment as a result of this unique pilot project. These lovely perfume sprays sell for two dollars; however, only seventy-five cents goes to the manufacturer. The other dollar and twenty-five cents is a contribution to this medical scholarship fund. Anyone interested in purchasing these perfume sprays may contact Milton T. Wagner, 253 Rosedale Street, Rochester, New York. Anyone interested in more information about the City of Hope may wish to write directly to: City of Hope, 202 W. 8th St., Los Angeles 14, California. 

It is unfortunate indeed that much of the sensationalism devoted to labor scandals by the press could not have been directed at the City of Hope, a project at which the Labor movement can and does point with pride.

*****

** The World Council
By John Jarvis

(Editor's note -- John Jarvis of London, England, is Secretary-General of the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind.)

The World Council for the Welfare of the Blind is an international association composed for the most part of delegations representing its member countries, which now number more than forty. The manner in which each country appoints its delegation varies widely in accordance with the great variation in the structure of work for the blind in different parts of the world. Some countries are fortunate enough to possess a national council which can act as the appointing body, while in others a single group plays such a dominant role in our work that it feels competent to undertake this responsibility. The World Council prefers to have nothing whatever to do with the appointment of its national delegations and is simply informed of their names and addresses so that they can be added to its membership list. I frequently receive letters in the form "would you please note that so-and-so has replaced so-and-so as a member of the delegation from such-and-such country," whereupon I merely amend my membership list accordingly. 

These national delegations, together with the Council's associate and honorary members, form its general assembly; but, since this meets only once in five years, much of the work of conducting the Council's business between these infrequent meetings is entrusted to an Executive Committee appointed at the conclusion of each assembly to act for the ensuing five-year period. The great majority of the members of this Executive Committee consist of the representatives of the various regions of the world — not of agencies or other organizations within our member countries, nor even of representatives of particular countries in their region, but of that region as a whole. It is true of course that in the election of their regional representatives, for which all members of national delegations in the region are collectively responsible, every effort is made to strike as fair a balance as possible so as to ensure the best representation of all parts of the region. During the general assembly separate meetings of all the national members from the various regions are held for the purpose of nominating their executive members for the next five years. The names are transmitted to the nominations committee of the assembly which includes them in its report to the assembly, where their adoption is confirmed. 

In the case of the North American region, which extends from the Canadian arctic to the Panama Canal, our members in the countries concerned decided at the general assembly in Rome in 1959 that the five persons whom they were empowered to appoint to the Executive Committee should consist of three from the United States, one from Canada and one from a Spanish-speaking country. At that time Mexico was the only such country that was a member of the World Council, and it was then so deeply in arrears with its dues that it seemed almost certain that its membership would shortly be withdrawn, which indeed it had to be. Exceptionally, therefore, a fourth person from the United States (Mr. George Card) was nominated by majority of his fellow delegates in the region to serve on the Executive Committee either until Mexico came once more into good standing or until some other country in the region joined the World Council. 

When vacancies on the Executive Committee occur between meetings of the general assembly, a postal ballot is conducted among all members of national delegations m the region to fill them. 

Early this year two such vacancies had occurred in the North American region -- one because Mr. Card was withdrawn from the U.S. delegation and could not therefore fulfill the condition that all regional members of our Executive Committee must be members of their own respective national delegations -- the other vacancy because of Mr. Hulen Walker's withdrawal from the U.S. delegation. Col. Baker, since he is President of the World Council and therefore its senior member in the region, conducted the ballot, as the result of which Mrs. deStahl from Guatemala, which recently joined the Council, and Mr. Max Woolly of the U.S. were elected by majority vote. Mr. John Taylor, who was a member of the U.S. delegation at the time of the postal ballot, was eligible at that time to represent the North American region on the Executive Committee of the World Council. He took part in the postal ballot to fill the two vacancies but was not himself elected.

Since the conducting of this postal ballot both Mr. Perry Sundquist and Dr. tenBroek have contested its validity, both in correspondence and in a personal appearance by the latter in Hanover at the time of the meeting of the World Council Executive Committee in August of this year. Their representations were fully considered, but the Executive Committee saw no reason to deny the validity of the postal ballot; and the Executive Committee therefore unreservedly endorsed its President's action in having conducted the ballot.

A number of other decisions taken at the Hanover meeting may be of interest to Forum readers. The World Council will not itself publish editions of its braille music manual in foreign languages but will not withhold its approval from any country wishing to publish it.

The present Technical Committee of the World Council is being enlarged by the cooperation of specialist panels in the fields of sound recording and reproduction, mobility devices, braille production, reading machines other than talking books and vocational aids and appliances. The possibility that the American Foundation for the Blind and the Royal National Institute for the Blind in London might combine their resources to operate a permanent international technical and information bureau is also under active study. 

The World Council Committee on Professional and Urban employment has produced a brochure for potential employers of the blind which is now receiving wide international circulation. Its Committee on the Prevention of Blindness is working actively to ensure that the worldwide interest engendered by the World Health Day campaign this year will not be dissipated, thus rather that it will have served to forge a permanent link between the medical, the welfare and the governmental administrative elements in work for the blind in all countries. 

Following the Executive Committee meeting, Hanover was the scene of the third international conference of educators of blind youth, which dealt almost exclusively with the urgent need of the emerging countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America and laid firm foundations for increasing assistance to these countries from countries having more experience and more highly developed programs in this field.

*****

** The American Printing House for the Blind:
Its History, Functions & Growth
By Imelda Yuhr

(Editor's note -- Mrs. Yuhr is a graduate of Nazareth College at Louisville, Kentucky. She has served as a stereographer at the American Printing House for the Blind, has done remedial teaching at the Kentucky School for the Blind and is now employed as head librarian at St. Xavier's High School in Louisville.)

The American Printing House for the Blind is the oldest national private agency for the blind in the United States, founded on January 23, 1858. Today it is the largest publishing house and manufacturer of special devices for the aid of the blind in the world. It is unique in that, on the one hand, it is a segment of industry, manufacturing products solely for the use of the blind, and employing the best and most efficient methods of industrial production, and, on the other hand, it carries on its business on a strictly non-profit basis. It is not only the textbook printery for the whole United States, but produces materials determined by the special needs of blind people and the work in their behalf. 

During the first sixty years of its existence there was considerable confusion and uncertainty among educators of the blind as to the best system of embossed printing. Four systems were developed and introduced into different schools throughout the country. The "type fight" which resulted incited feuds among workers for the blind as violent as those of the Kentucky Hatfields and McCoys. Not until 1918 was the uniform system of Braille notation officially adopted for the blind of the entire United States. 

The printing of books and publications for the blind has never been an inviting field so far as private enterprise is concerned because the demand involved has been of a very limited character. The State of Kentucky became a pioneer in dealing with the subject. 

Actuated by the request of those in various sections of the United States who recognized Kentucky's wise and progressive policy in dealing with problems of the blind, and unable to secure in an adequate or satisfactory manner books and apparatus for the use of its own sightless youths, the State, through its General Assembly by the Act of January 20, 1858, provided for the establishment of the American Printing House for the Blind at Louisville. 

Out of its own resources and without contributions for the purpose by any other state or territory, the State of Kentucky procured the necessary site of six and one-half acres on Frankfort Avenue in Louisville, built the necessary structure and supplied the equipment for carrying on the work of the institution. 

In 1865 the State of Kentucky contributed to the Printing House the sum of $5.00 for every blind person in the State and additional income was secured by various means from other states. The American Association of Instructors of the Blind in 1876 appointed a committee to memorialize the Congress of the United States regarding the financing of the movement to publish books for use in the schools for the blind. In 1879 action was taken by Congress providing $10,000 a year to perpetuity for the purpose of "aiding the education of the blind in the United States of America through the American Printing House for the Blind."

This Congressional Act of 1879 does not permit use of Federal appropriations for the erection or leasing of buildings, nor does it permit any profit from books or tangible apparatus furnished for the blind pupils of the country. It has been the policy therefore to do certain work other than that for the schools at a fair profit to take care of necessary expansion and replacement of machinery. 

In 1883 the original portion of the present building was erected and for the first time in the history of the world, a supply of embossed books was assured the blind. 

During the years that followed many improvements and additions were made possible by appropriations from the State of Kentucky, and the Government appropriation was increased. Its character as a nationally managed and nationally useful agency is thoroughly established.

The main business of the Printing House is the publication of textbooks and supplementary reading matter and the manufacture of apparatus to be used in the schools for the blind of the United States. 

Books are selected by a Publication Committee of the Board of Trustees. The Committee seeks from the superintendent of schools for the blind recommendations of books needed and after careful study selections are made. The cost of embossing in Braille on metal sheets, printing, binding and distributing copies of any book is so great relatively as compared with ink print publishing that exceptional care must be exercised in the choice of books to be produced. 

The books are first embossed on metal plates and proofread. These processes require great skill and accuracy. Then the plates are corrected, printed, bound and prepared for market and shipping. 

The first function of the Printing House is to serve best the needs of blind children in securing their education. From the beginning it was concerned with improvement of methods and increasing facilities in its work. The Trustees favored experimentation, looking to greater efficiency, but maintaining quality was a primary consideration. As early as 1908 the Printing House announced, at the meeting of the American Association of Instructors for the Blind, a beginning of printing on both sides of the paper. In 1928 a successful printing of interpointed Braille was attained in its publication of a book for the Braille Circulating Library of Richmond, Virginia, and later in the year by the issuance of the magazine "The Reader's Digest." 

"Only books can free the blind," said Louis Braille. The printing of books was the primary concern of the American Printing House for the Blind. Today three types of books are published.

The large type ink print books are used by children whose vision is too poor for ordinary type. A survey in 1940 revealed that some 30 percent of children classified as blind could better be educated through use of ink print books in large type from 1/4 to 1/2 inches in height, than through Braille. Last year 50, 000 large type books and pamphlets were produced. 

The Braille books are embossed by means of a stereotyping machine that has six keys and a spacer, similar to the Braille keyboard. When the keys are struck, they punch out combinations of dots on their zinc or aluminum plates. The plates with thousands of raised dots are proofread and then corrected by means of hammers and metal punches. Then they are pressed onto paper. 

The talking book is a great boon for those who never learned Braille. For instructional purposes it is used as a supplement to Braille books. In 1935 serious attention was given to the problems involving the production of the Talking Book as part of the regular services in the institution. Now it has grown from a small recording studio to a major activity of the institution. 

In September 1928 permission was received from Mr. DeWitt Wallace, owner of The Reader's Digest Association, to publish a limited number of copies of THE READER'S DIGEST in Braille each month for school children. These Braille editions of THE READER'S DIGEST created a tremendous interest not only on the part of school children but also many adults, and shortly thereafter the Printing House undertook, by direct mail, a public solicitation for the purpose of supplying this outstanding magazine on a national basis to the blind. From this small beginning a circulation of approximately 4,000 Braille editions per month has developed, and 3,500 Talking Book editions. Generous contributions from every state in the Union and many foreign countries now make it possible for every blind person who is really interested to receive a personal Braille edition of THE READER'S DIGEST. 

Thus the foundations for the very large magazine department of the Printing House were laid. Today it is one of the major projects of the institution. It now produces 70 Braille magazines (including eight weeklies), eight Talking Book periodicals and one ink-print magazine (a professional journal for educators of the blind). 

Realizing that one important blank spot in the lives of the blind was their up-to-date knowledge of current events, the publishers of NEWSWEEK got together with the Printing House in a joint venture that resulted in the first NEWSWEEK Talking Magazine coming out in January 1959. The ink-print copy of NEWSWEEK is received in Louisville about noon on Monday, typed, electroplated, proofread and completed by Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday the NEWSWEEK Talking Book is shipped, the same day it is available on newsstands throughout the country. The 30 regional libraries report they could use many more copies. The head of the Division of the Blind at the Library of Congress as a result of a recent survey found an average of ten blind people enjoy each copy of NEWSWEEK. 

A Music Committee consisting of three Trustees, chosen biennially, is charged with the selection of music. The first embossed notes were used in 1858. In 1918 a code system based on Braille dots was adopted. Musical notations have been developed expressing practically every musical character. Listings and music for virtually every instrument or combination by composers from Aaron to Zitterbach are available. A simple item like Beethoven's Minuet or Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor (160) are available. Bach's exhaustive collection "The Well Tempered Clavier," 48 preludes and fugues in two books, is the largest musical item printed in Braille. It runs 803 pages and costs $48.20. There are more than 500 code symbols in music. 

Professor B.B. Huntoon made the first map in 1936. It was the first the world had ever seen or the blind touched with seeing fingers. Maps revolutionized teaching of geography in the blind schools. The map was hand carved on wood, elevations indicating mountain ranges and grooves, rivers. The states or countries were fitted together like a jigsaw and could be examined for size and shape. They were colored which helped the partially blind. By 1950 maps were moulded from plastics and for the first time world globes in relief were put on a production basis. 

Besides these helps to the blind the Printing House also manufactures appliances, including Braille writers, slates, etc. Graphic Aids to Mathematics, plastic rulers, erasers, Braille clock faces, construction sets, games and many other items are manufactured. 

Because of the American Printing House the city of Louisville is known throughout the world. Through its circulation on books and magazines blind people in Siam, Sweden, South Africa, Greece, Japan and other countries can now "see" a new world through their fingers. The art of instructing the blind has been profoundly influenced in this and other countries by the aids manufactured at the Printing House. 

A training program for operators in the stereotyping department is constantly under way. Representatives from New Delhi, Mexico, Japan and Bolivia have come to the Printing House for training. The operation can be mastered in a few months, but it takes about two years for an operator to acquire the speed and accuracy desired. 

The American Printing House employs the blind whenever possible. A blind consultant helps with the trainees and in deciding questions that come up in the embossing of certain books. There are blind proofreaders employed for the Braille and talking books, some are typists and others work in the bindery. The concession stand is also operated by a blind man.

The American Printing House for the Blind supplies textbooks for all the schools for the blind in the United States and its territories. 

The largest and most costly single publication for the blind was the recent edition of the World Book Encyclopedia. The Field Foundation, which is a philanthropic organization founded and endowed by the late Marshall Field, donated $115,500 to cover the cost of the original plates plus a subsidy for the printing and binding of the first 250 copies. This complete work consists of 145 oversize volumes. 

The Printing House is a purely philanthropic means of serving the blind through a publishing house which is different from any in the country. Kentucky receives no advantage over any other state or territory for having founded the institution and having contributed so generously to its creation and operation. It should feel justly proud of its achievement.

*****

** The Talking Lion

An excellent recorded magazine is being prepared and distributed under the auspices of the Lions Clubs of Illinois. This magazine, on four ten-inch records, appears quarterly, and is devoted primarily to a discussion of the accomplishments of blind people, their activities, and other matters of especial interest to blind people. All of the editors of this magazine are themselves blind, and therefore speak of the problems associated with blindness from first-hand experience. 

We feel that this magazine can be of great value, especially in helping the newly blinded to make the necessary readjustment in their thinking and way of life. Throughout, the emphasis is upon the fact that blind people can and do lead normal, happy and useful lives. We would like to see this magazine made available to every newly blinded person throughout the country. 

In order that the circulation of this magazine may be increased to a nationwide basis, contributions from interested persons and organizations, especially Lions Clubs, are sorely needed. We would request you who are Lions to try to get your local Lions Club to support this worthwhile program. 

It is suggested that these of you who would like to receive this magazine contact your local Lions Club. It is also available through your regional Talking Book Library. 

Correspondence should be addressed to the Talking Lion, Inc., 3204 Grove Avenue, Berwyn, Illinois.

*****

** Notice

The New Jersey Foundation for the Blind would like to know if there is a particular print magazine not now available in braille, on tape or disc that should be reproduced on tape. Print or type the name of that magazine together with your name and address on a post card only and send it to the Tape Committee, New Jersey Foundation for the Blind, 46 Franklin St., Newark 2, New Jersey. 

Please read this notice at your club or association meetings, as our aim is to reach as many blind persons as possible.

*****

** Hyde Park Corner
Conducted by Earl Scharry

(Your comments are solicited for this column. They may be informational or entertaining or even controversial. We do not shun controversy, so long as it is conducted with dignity and with an effort at objectivity. The objectivity may not be as extreme as that demonstrated by a certain notable who was riding on a train and whose attention was called by his companion to a flock of sheep along the right of way. The companion remarked, "Those sheep have recently been shorn." The objective gentleman scrutinized the sheep carefully and then opined, "They appear to have been -- on this side." Likewise, it may appear to you that this corner has been converted into a private estate. Not so! It is open to anyone who has something important to say and who will take the trouble to write it to us.) 

Why Johnny Can't Read Braille. The other day the mother of a second-grade youngster in a school for the blind commented to us that she was very much concerned over the fact that her son seemed to be simply unable to master braille reading. She said, "Maybe Johnny is dumb, but I never thought he was that dumb." (We know Johnny quite well, and he is far from dumb.) She then went on to express the opinion that it's a mistake to try to teach children braille contractions in the beginning before they have mastered the alphabet. We were interested, because we have long suspected that there is something radically wrong with the methods -- and particularly with the textbooks -- used for teaching braille. 

We are aware that in broaching this subject we are trespassing in a domain that has been pre-empted by the professionals. Yet we feel that the professionals often become bogged down in the morass of their own specialized concepts and are loath to depart from their own traditional methods. In addition, professionals in a given field are all too prone to apply their concepts in an area where they are fundamentally inapplicable, and there is nothing quite so inept as an "expert" floundering in alien waters. In this instance, principles which may be valid in teaching sighted children to read print have been uncritically applied in the teaching of braille. We submit that the two processes are entirely different and require radically different methods. 

What has happened is that the more enthusiastic advocates of the integration of blind children into the public schools have converted the movement into an almost neurotic denial of the very existence of any difference between the blind child and the sighted child. The blind child must use the very same textbooks that are used by his sighted peers, even though they may be pathetically inadequate for the blind child's learning needs. The print book may be (and usually is) enriched by many pictures which engage the sighted child's interest and make the words meaningful. The blind child must use the selfsame book, even though the words are dull and meaningless without the pictures. It may be feasible to teach the sighted child to recognize a word at a glance, but the blind child must read a character at a time. Yet if the print book introduces words like "and," "the," "will," "with," "can," "above," etc. on the first few pages, the blind child must learn their contracted forms before he has learned the letters which comprise them. 

It would seem that what is needed is a reading program especially de­signed for braille pupils which would introduce them to the complexities of braille in a systematic and orderly manner, progressing from the simple to the more difficult material -- in braille. We believe that it would be a relatively easy matter for some agency to apply for an OVR grant to study this problem and to devise a set of reading textbooks especially designed for the teaching of braille to the blind child. We can only wonder why, in heaven's name, it hasn't been done!

*****

** Johnny Is Learning Braille
By Arthur Lown, Ed.D.
(Itinerant teacher of the blind in the Atlanta Public Schools)

1. In the more progressive classrooms the methods for teaching braille are indeed based in part on research findings with sighted children. One such finding is that a child learns to read, not at a given age level, but when he is physically and mentally ready to read. It is possible for a child to learn to read before first grade; he usually learns during first grade, often in a later grade, and occasionally never. The day will come, hopefully, when the readiness factor will be as much accepted as variation in readiness for walking and talking now are. Goodlad points out that in most classrooms the levels of achievement vary as much as five years; thus, in many second-grade rooms some children perform at kindergarten level, while one or two may read a fourth-grade book. Good instruction and suitable textbooks, then, are not all that is required for teaching reading.

2. A second contribution of research for sighted children has increased reading speed in braille. In the 1930s the "look-and-say" method of recognizing most words as wholes was substituted for the practice of examining individual letters of each word. Whereas we first-grade students in the thirties spelled our way through one or two Beacon readers, now it is not uncommon for a beginning reader to cover twenty-five books during the first year.

If a blind child can be taught that "w" means "will," it obviously slows his speed to have him read the word in its uncontracted form. He can be taught later how to spell will if indeed he does not discover the spelling from reading the word hill which cannot be contracted. As for the symbols for "and," "of," and "with, " and for syllables such as "er"; these become an extension of the alphabet. If the alphabet contained several hundred letters instead of 26, all of us would learn the entire thing. Furthermore, to teach a child in the first grade the letters for "and" and later to teach that a single symbol means the same word wastes time for child and teacher. Krebs points out that the purpose of contractions in braille is to speed reading as much as to save space. Even so, the braille reader is still out-distanced by the print reader. In braille one hundred to two hundred words a minute is average, but in print some adults have achieved twelve hundred or more words a minute.

3. Perhaps as a reaction against teaching blind beginners to "Look, look," two staff members at Perkins wrote primers which appeal to non-visual experiences such as the smell of breakfast and the fun of dressing. In schools for blind only, this material may be appropriate by itself, but where blind children are taught with the sighted it should be used as enrichment. Careful modifications of the standard primers allow the blind student to enjoy the same reading material as his classmates. The books are covered with material which is interesting to the touch; words are written in ink above the braille lines so that mother or a classmate can read along with the child.  Frequently tiny objects such as a twig or a nut or even a bit of fur are mounted on the braille page in place of the picture in a regular primer, thus appealing to the sense of touch. For pictures that are more difficult to represent, the teacher makes the braille words come alive with vivid description. The desire of the blind child to read the same material as his classmates is sufficient incentive.

Better methods can be developed through additional research spurred on by public interest. We must continue to learn from the research for sighted children, but we also look to such institutions as George Peabody College for Teachers for continuing specific research in the teaching of braille.

*****

** Here and There
With George Card

Mr. George Keith, former head of Wisconsin's public assistance program used to describe the attitude of the man-in-the-street like this: "Everyone on welfare is getting too much except my Uncle Charlie, who isn't getting enough."
 
From the OHIO COUNCIL BULLETIN: "H.R. 12452, if adopted, would make Talking Books available to quadriplegics; there are about 1,000 of these in the U.S. …  Governor Michael V. DiSalle has appointed Clyde E. Ross to a six-year term on the Ohio Commission for the Blind. There are now three blind and three sighted members. It is doubtful if any other state has granted this much representation to its blind. ..."

From the August ZIEGLER: "Ancient man devised some startling modern forms of heating. The Romans, for instance, used a kind of floor-panel radiant heating 2,000 years ago. ... When the Chinese found that gas issuing from crevices would burn, they built altars and temples above the crevices, using the gas to heat the rooms."

From the RECORDING FOR THE BLIND, INC., NEWSLETTER: "Gerald McCollum, blind student from Ashland, Mass., graduated second in his class of 225 at Phillips Academy, Andover, with special honors in science and mathematics. Prior to this, he won first prize of $500 in competition with 600 students from 175 schools in an examination in chemistry. ..."

The Washington State WHITE CANE reports that the federal Department of Health, Education and Welfare has made a national grant of $208,527 toward the cost of a new rehabilitation center for blind, to be located in Seattle and to serve the territory bounded by Alaska on the north, Nevada on the south and Montana on the east.
 
From the BLIND ADVOCATE (England): "A start has been made at Alton Road, Roehampton, on the building of 60 flats for letting at low rents to retired blind people or couples one of whom is blind. Each flat will be self-contained, but the building will incorporate a restaurant which can also be used as a club room. ..."

THE MONTANA OBSERVER, in reporting an unusually successful summer school session for the adult blind (which is sponsored and largely supported by the Montana Association for the Blind), states that the Bozeman Lions group not only made a generous contribution toward the cost of the session but in addition purchased a bus, which it presented to the Association. This bus was used to transport the students to Yellowstone Park for their annual tour of this scenic wonder. Park guides provided vivid word pictures of the spectacular scenery. 

The Mertz Foundation, 1 Prospect Ave., Port Washington, L.I., N.Y., has announced a new free service to the blind which promises to further close the gap between the magazine reading available to blind and that available to sighted people. This service, known as Choice Magazine Listening (CML), consists of a monthly issue of two 12" 16 2/3 rpm discs containing readings from such magazines as the ATLANTIC, HARPER'S, NEW YORKER, CAROLINA ISRAELITE, and SATURDAY REVIEW. Some of the finest editorial and feature writers are among the contributors and the selected readings will cover almost every subject of current interest to people who want to keep abreast of the times. The present offering covers twelve issues without charge. 

The Lighthouse for the Blind, 1850 West Roosevelt Road, Chicago, announces a special eight-weeks summer program for blind students entering college in the fall. The guidance, training and experiences included in the areas of personal adjustment, social demands, and academic work afford the blind student an opportunity to familiarize himself with situations which may be affected by his blindness or by his concept of himself as a blind person. Tuition for the program is $320 with minimum living expenses estimated at $35 a week. 

H. Smith Shumway, head of the Wyoming Division of Services for the Blind, received the annual achievement award of the Blinded Veterans Association for 1962. Mr. Shumway is himself totally blind.

John Eckhardt, Box 134, Route 2, Cheyenne, was elected President of the Wyoming Association of the Blind, at its 1962 convention, which was held at the summer camp sponsored by the Wyoming Lions. 

Col. E.A. Baker, blinded in the First World War and one of the great pioneers in blind welfare, retired on June 30, 1962, as Managing Director of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind after many years of service. His successor is Arthur N. Magill. Col. Baker is the President of the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind and has occupied that office since the WCWB was founded. 

From LISTEN: "The nation's first psychiatric clinic for the treatment of blind children who are emotionally disturbed or mentally retarded has been opened in New York City under the auspices of the Jewish Guild for the Blind." ... "A regional rehabilitation service for deaf-blind persons, offering unprecedented opportunities to the doubly handicapped, is being established at the Industrial Home for the Blind, Brooklyn, New York, under the sponsorship of the federal Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) which has authorized a grant for this project. Basically, the project will expand the Brooklyn agency's widely known services for the deaf-blind to include all states of the eastern seaboard from Maine to North Carolina. From Perkins School for the Blind, whose own program for the education of deaf-blind children is world-famous, Dr. Edward J. Waterhouse, Director, says: "Few things in recent years have given me so much satisfaction as learning of these plans.' Stressing the special needs of deaf-blind persons, Dr. Waterhouse points out that 'every element of independence much be planned for them, and for each step toward independence the deaf-blind person requires special training'."... "On June 15 M. Anna McGuire retired as Director of the New York Commission for the Blind. Dr. Peter J. Salmon presided at a testimonial dinner held in her honor and among the many speakers who lauded the New York career woman for her important contribution to social welfare and to work for the blind were Rev. Thomas J. Carroll (Director, Catholic Guild for the Blind (Mass.) and Editor of LISTEN) and Louis H. Rives, Chief, Division of Services to the Blind, OVR." ... "H-231, adopted by the Massachusetts legislature, would prohibit the rejection of applications for life insurance on the basis of blindness. Heretofore such applications have been automatically rejected." ... (A recent decision of this state's Supreme Court declares that the exemptions formerly granted to blind persons and veterans on their real estate taxes are unconstitutional.) ... (Harold Russell, famed armless veteran whom many of us heard at the New Orleans convention of the National Federation of the Blind in 1957, has been made vice-chairman of the President's Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped.) ... "A four-week training program to teach X-ray processing to blind persons has been set up by a blind technician, William Smith, of Long Branch, New Jersey." ... "Mary E. Switzer, Director of OVR, received the 1962 Shotwell Memorial Award of the American Association of Workers for the Blind." ... "Mrs. Annie B. Johnson (retired North Carolina social worker) was the recipient of the Alfred Allen Award." ... "A special scientific convocation in which four of the world's leading biologists and biochemists participated marked the opening of the new $2,000,000 building in Boston housing the Retina Foundation's Institute of Biological and Medical Sciences. Described as a 'research center of the future,' the building was designed to provide 'optimal working conditions for the team of scientists and doctors whose integrated approach to problems of biology and medicine has already made significant contributions to a better understanding of the normal and diseased body and in particular the eye.' The Retina Foundation began operations in 1950 with a staff of two. It now has a staff of 70. During this period the percentage of successful treatments of detached retinas (now the 4th most important cause of blindness in the U.S.) has increased from five percent to 80 per cent, but Dr. Charles L. Schepens, Belgian-born scientist, believes that surgery is merely a patch job. Only increased research into the causes of retinal detachment can lead to the prevention of this blinding eye disease. ..."

THE HORIZON, monthly organ of the British National League of the Blind, reports that blind students in Russia who qualify for university raining not only receive double the government allowance granted to sighted students but, upon graduation, are automatically awarded the services of a government-paid private secretary — which opens many professional jobs to them that they would not otherwise be able to obtain.

After many years of effort, the blind of the United Kingdom have finally been granted an income tax concession -- the first 100 pounds ($280.00).

Excerpt from Lloyd Robertson's report of the convention of the American Council of the Blind in the NORTH DAKOTA PROMOTER: "Since the convention was held in St. Louis, Mo., we were again treated to some real fine Missouri hospitality. This, however, so far as I was concerned, is the only similarity between this year's (1962 ACB) convention and last year's (convention of the National Federation of the Blind at Kansas City in 1961). Everyone attending was given the right to vote and express his opinions without fear of being penalized for his point of view. This was a very hard-working convention, out of which came a fine constitution and by-laws and many good, worthwhile resolutions. The ACB has a purpose and a goal and, with the leadership and drive of its many capable and dedicated men and women, will be a truly great national organization representing all of the blind everywhere. ..."	

At its recent convention the Kentucky Federation of the Blind elected Mr. Robert E. Whitehead, 40 University Place, Louisville, to succeed Harold Reagan as its President.

THE Florida WHITE CANE reports that the Rev. Calvin Williams, active blind member of the Tallahassee Chapter of the Florida Federation of the Blind, has been appointed to the five-man policy making Board of the Florida Council for the Blind -- which is the state agency. ... From the same issue: "The new Administrative Procedure Act, which became operative this year (1962), provides that if a citizen's rights are trampled on by any agency, he will have redress. Each agency must file every rule it has in force with the Secretary of State by June 30. Such rules will cover any issue arising. Furthermore, the legal authority for every rule must be cited. Any affected person has a right to a public hearing when his rights, duties, privileges or immunities are at stake in an agency proceeding. Furthermore, he must have advance notice, and the agency must make a transcript of the testimony and resulting order. The law establishes the right of the citizen to go to court if he thinks a rule is unjust. ... "At the 1962 FFB convention it was announced that members of the Florida Optometric Association would give a free. examination and refraction prescription to any low-vision blind person belonging to the FFB .... Ned Freeman was a speaker at this convention; the new Ft. Pierce Chapter was awarded its charter; and Larry Thompson was re-elected state president. The resolutions adopted were, in this writer's opinion, the most outstanding he has ever known to come out of a state convention. They would be well worth reproducing here if space were available. This issue also reported the first conviction under Florida's white cane traffic law -- the guilty driver was fined $150 and given a 30 days jail sentence.

The September ZIEGLER reported that, at the AAWB convention of the American Association of Workers for the Blind last summer, a prototype of a new compact braillewriter, mostly plastic, was displayed. It is hoped that the writer, which is expected to sell for around $45, will be on the market in about six months.

From LISTEN: "Another milestone in the program of the Industrial Home for the Blind has been reached this past summer with the termination of broom-making activities in its workshops ... Foremost among factors influencing the decision was 'the changing picture of the vocational training and employment needs of blind persons,' highlighted by the increasing opportunities for employment of blind workers in competitive industry. Sheltered workshops, at one time the chief source of employment for blind persons, have gradually changed their objectives to keep pace with the modern emphasis on placement of handicapped workers in regular industry. ... Clients who are capable of working in industry should not be served in the shops, except for possible training or temporary work programs. Consequently, IHB workshops are now employing only blind persons with other disabilities so severe that entrance into industry is highly unlikely ... Broom manufacture now tends to suggest dependency and traditional methods of meeting the needs of blind persons. ..."

From the September NEW OUTLOOK: "Dr. Richard S. French, former superintendent of the California School for the Blind and author of FROM HOMER TO HELEN KELLER	and other works on blindness, died on June 11 in Berkeley, Calif." ... "A team from the California School for the Blind placed sixth in California and 83rd nationally in the Annual National Mailographic Handicap Tournament conducted by the American Junior Bowling Congress. They competed in a field of 2,330 teams in the senior boys division. This is the first time a team of blind bowlers has placed in the top 100 at this tournament which draws entries from more than 16,000 teams. Almost all of the other bowlers participating in the tournament have normal vision." ... "The Lighthouse (New York Association for the Blind) has discontinued the crafting of baskets as a means of developing manual dexterity, persuaded that better methods exist. The action thus marks the end of an era in which basket making and blindness were often synonymous." ... "Dr. Ralph G. Hurlin, of the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness, now estimates the rate of prevalence of blindness as 2.14 per thousand population. Therefore, the estimated number of blind persons in the United States as of July 1, 1961, was 392,500.

Freeman to Robrahn, October 31. "It makes me very happy to send you the enclosed check for $25 from the Conyers Lions Club. This is I believe the first organization to become a 'sustaining member' of the American Council. ..."

From the MONTANA OBSERVER: "Many will welcome with enthusiasm the establishment of a braille music section in the Library of Congress. This became a reality under a law signed by President Kennedy on October 9. Items from the collection of braille musical scores can be borrowed by blind musicians, blind students and teachers of the blind by writing to Mr. Robert Bray, Director, Division for the Blind, Library of Congress, Washington 25, D.C. Within the year (1962), a civil service job opportunity will be open for some blind person with a knowledge of music and the Braille music code, to instruct sighted volunteers. Persons interested should promptly request notice of announcements for this position from the above address."

Harold Campbell, former President of the Montana Association for the Blind, and a delegate at the conventions of the National Federation of the Blind from 1956 through 1961, died in Billings on November 3. The end came as a release from great pain, for he had been a victim of cancer. Throughout the Kansas City convention of the NFB in 1961, he consistently cast his vote with the reform minority.

Richard Kinney, deaf-blind Assistant Director of the Hadley School, has just published an attractively bound edition of poetry -- which has received warm praise from Robert Frost, LOOK, NEWSWEEK and Ralph Hodgeon. It is called HARP OF SILENCE. Autographed copies can be obtained by writing directly to Mr. Kinney, 723 Elm Street, Winnetka, Ill. Price $3.00.

At the convention of the Missouri Federation of the Blind during the weekend of October 27, retiring President Alma Murphey completed four years of extremely able and forward-looking leadership. During her administration the organization grew steadily with the addition of 1nany new chapters. She was succeeded by G. Arthur Stewart, 2314 Virginia Ave., St. Louis 4, Mo. We wish the new president all the best.

The September issue of the Washington State WHITE CANE magazine contained an extremely interesting article on a recent technical development which will greatly facilitate certain delicate eye operations performed through the use of the diathermy needle.	The problem involved the development of a special coating for the needle which would insulate it against the high temperatures necessary for complete sterility and against certain corrosive chemicals. It was predicted that this development will also be a great boon to delicate surgical operations performed in other parts of the human body.

Ground was broken on Sept. 28 for the $465,000 Northwest Rehabilitation Center for the Blind in Seattle, Wash. It is expected the building will be opened next June.  

From the October NEW OUTLOOK FOR THE BLIND -- About 40,000 blind persons, in addition to their dependents, are now benefiting under disability provisions of the social security law. Those who are totally blind (five percent or less in the better eye) are automatically entitled to the disability "freeze." But all visually impaired persons under Social Security coverage must prove inability to secure substantially gainful employment. About 9 out of every 10 visually impaired claimants are found to be disabled under the foregoing requirement. Only 7 out of 10 claimants in other categories have qualified. "Although the law does not specify an absolute dollar limitation on the earnings of disabled beneficiaries, we have found there is a close relationship between the amount of earnings and the substantiality of work activities ... When employment results in annual earnings that exceed $1,200, we usually find these earnings associated with substantial activities warranting denial or termination of benefits. ... But, if the salary paid to an individual includes a subsidy, only the earnings attributable to the individual's productivity will be considered in evaluating his ability to perform substantial gainful work. ..." ... "The Industrial Home for the Blind and The Brooklyn Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor announced jointly on August 1st the consolidation of the services and facilities of these two old and respected agencies for the blind." ... "On July 26, the merger of Philadelphia's two largest agencies for the blind: The Philadelphia Working Home for the Blind and the Philadelphia Association for the Blind, was announced ..."

The untimely death of Dr. Francis J. Cummings, Executive Director of the Delaware Commission for the Blind, has brought sadness to those who knew him. He was undoubtedly one of the most enlightened, liberal, progressive and humane administrators of blind welfare programs. He was a past president of the American Association of Workers for the Blind and served for many years as chairman of its legislative committee.

The American educational scene presents few, if any, situations more incongruous than in the eight states where the attempt is still being made to educate both blind and deaf children in the same school. Communication between the two groups is inevitably at a minimum. The sign language used by the deaf is meaningless to the blind and the spoken word employed by the blind carries no message to the deaf. The emphasis invariably is placed on the education of the deaf segment because it is always the larger group. Originally such schools were combined because the population was so small that there were not a sufficient number of either blind or deaf children to justify separate schools but certainly this is no longer true in such states as Florida, where the population has multiplied phenomenally. The combined school at St. Augustine is now filled beyond its capacity and there is a long waiting list. A million and a quarter dollars has been appropriated, (though not yet released) for an addition. Our friends in the Florida Federation of the Blind see this as a golden opportunity to obtain a separate school, thus making an addition at the present site unnecessary. They are carrying on a vigorous, all-out campaign of public education, with at least a fair chance of success.

From the December NEW OUTLOOK: "A laboratory at the Hopkins Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute will be the largest in the world devoted to a coordinated scientific effort in the prevention of blindness and will carry on the greatest research attack ever launched against blinding diseases."

At its annual convention last autumn the New Jersey Council of Organizations of Blind elected a new President, Mr. Myles Crosby, 32 E. Englewood Avenue, Englewood, N.J. George Burck declined to run for any office this year.

Eight of last year's blind graduates from California's colleges have obtained teaching jobs -- seven in California and one in Chicago. This information comes from Miss Onvia Ticer of California.

The deaths of two former chapter presidents have been noted in the ZIEGLER MAGAZINE -- Louis Herkamp of Indianapolis, Ind. and George Tierney, of Westfield, Mass.

BOY'S LIFE magazine published by the Boy Scouts now is available in braille from the Clovernook Press, 6900 Hamilton Ave., Cincinnati 31, Ohio, at an annual subscription rate of $5.

By an overwhelming vote on October 14 the Oklahoma Federation of the Blind, at its annual convention, authorized its board of directors to apply for the organization's affiliation with the American Council of the Blind. The O.F.B. is one of the older and more powerful state organizations of the blind in the U.S.

My first direct experience with solid dot braille came with the	receipt of the October issue of the NEW BEACON, published in London. The paper used is very thin and this, of course, will greatly reduce the bulk of braille magazines and books using this type of embossing, but I found it definitely more difficult to read. It further decreased my already snail-like braille reading speed.

I was surprised and very much pleased this week to receive from my regional library the recorded December issue of HOLIDAY magazine. This is surely a splendid addition to the recorded periodical literature available to those of us who read mostly with our ears.

The October issue of AEROSPACE	MEDICINE contains a set of criteria adopted by all U.S. airlines which are to be used in deciding whether or not a handicapped person is to be accepted. Blindness is not specifically referred to but the acceptance of "non-ambulatory" passengers is apparently left to the discretion of the initial carrier. Once accepted, other lines to which he may transfer are bound to transport him.

The new address of Bob and Alberta O'Shaughnessy is 609 N. Allyn, Carbondale, Ill. Bob gave up his vending stand in Peoria and is now attending the University of Southern Illinois part time. During the balance of each day he is employed by the Illinois agency for the blind to train future blind stand operators. Bob's major will be business administration. As co-chairman of the American Council of the Blind's Membership Committee in Illinois he has outdistanced all others in the country in signing up new recruits.

Friends will be saddened to learn of the death on December 19 of Mrs. T.C. Hill (Estelle). Both Mr. and Mrs. Hill are charter members of the North Carolina Federation of the Blind and of the American Council of the Blind. Thad C. Hill is President of the Durham Federation of the Blind.

** ACB Committee Chairmen

Audit -- Robert McMullen, 2048 W. 69th St., Chicago 36, Ill.

Constitution and By-Laws -- R.L. Thompson, 104 W. Hanlon St., Tampa 4, Fla.

Convention 1963 -- Robert O'Shaughnessy, 609 N. Allyn, Carbondale, Ill.

Convention 1964 -- Mrs. Mary Jane Hills, 104 Longview Terrace, Rochester 9, New York

Credit Union -- Durward K. McDaniel, Suite 305 Midwest Building, Oklahoma City 2, Okla.

Deaf-Blind -- Boyd C. Wolfe, Jr., 74 N. Huron Avenue, Columbus 4, Ohio

Education -- Robert W. Campbell, 253 Stonewall Road, Berkeley 5, California

Employment Opportunities -- Edward Hill, 7810 E. 53rd Terrace N., Kansas City 61, Mo.

Finance -- F. Winfield Orrell, 5209 Alabama Avenue, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Legislation -- G. Paul Kirton, Room 6327, Department of Interior, Washington 25, D.C.

Membership -- George Card, 605 S. Few St., Madison 3, Wis.

Orientation (Person to Person) -- George L. Howeiler, P.O. Box 366, Sandy, Ore.

Overseas Relations -- James Jennings, 1739 Que St., N.W., Washington, D.C.

Publications -- Miss June Goldsmith, 652 E. Mallory Ave., Memphis 6, Tenn.

Public Relations -- David Krause, 4628 Livingston Road, S.E., Washington 20, D.C.

Resolutions -- John Luxon, 6250 Ashton, Detroit 28, Mich.

Sheltered Workshops -- Peter Campbell, Granite Springs Road, Rt. 2, Yorktown 23, N.Y.

*****

** 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

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