The Braille Forum Vol. III May 1965 No. 7 Published Bi-Monthly by the American Council of the Blind Oklahoma City, Oklahoma To Inform Its Readers and to Provide an Impartial Forum for Discussion * Editor: Mrs. Marie M. Boring 1113 Camden Avenue Durham, N.C. 27701 * Associate Editors: Ned E. Freeman 136 Gee's Mill Road Conyers, Georgia 30207 Mrs. Mary Jane Hills 33 1/2 Edmonds St. Rochester, N.Y. 14607 George Card 605 South Few St. Madison, WI 53703 * Executive Offices: 136 Gee's Mill Road Conyers, Georgia 30207 ***** ** 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 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 divergent points of view. ** Notice The Braille Forum is available in braille, inkprint and on tape. Miss June Goldsmith, 652 E. Mallory Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee 38106, should be notified of any change of address or of any person desiring to receive the braille or inkprint editions. The tape edition may be obtained from Mr. Ned E. Freeman, 136 Gee's Mill Road, Conyers, Georgia 30207. Letters and material for publication should be submitted to the Editor or to one of the Associate Editors. ***** ** Table of Contents ACB President's Fireside Chat Underground Fighter to be Banquet Speaker Social Security Benefits for the Blind, By Durward McDaniel Another ACB Romance Flowers Rules for a Chapter President Nonsectarian Tapes Available The "Blind Image" -- What Is It? Can It Be Improved?, By R.L. Thompson Needed: More Blind Social Workers, By Jack C. Lewis Get Your White Cane Into the Picture, By Ned Freeman Embossed Maps Now Available Announcements Services to the Blind in the USSR, By Frances Clay Rehab Supports Blind Teachers, By D.C. MacFarland NCATE Replies, By Rolf W. Larson Blind Bowlers Tournament Announcement, By David Krause Blind Man Who Doesn't Curse Fate, by K.S. Sitaram The Place of Work for the Blind Within the Framework of the Rehabilitation of the Handicapped, by John Jarvis Letters from Readers Here and There, by George Card Officers and Directors ***** ** ACB President's Fireside Chat My Friends: Having just returned from spending three days at the Sheraton Hotel in Louisville, I am more than ever anticipating a wonderful convention of ACB at that hotel in July (21-24). The host group, the Associated Blind of Kentucky, is going all out to make this the best convention yet. While in Louisville, I had an opportunity to discuss plans with Will Routh, President of ABK, Carl Dotson, Local Arrangements Chairman, and Earl Scharry, Program Chairman. Just as an example of the cooperation we are receiving from the hotel management -- the Midwest Conference of Home Teachers was in session at the hotel. While talking to Mr. Howard, manager of the Sheraton, I mentioned that it might be advisable to braille the buttons on the automatic elevators and the outside of the elevator doors as was done at Rochester. This was about ten o'clock in the morning, and when the morning session adjourned at noon, the braille indications were already on the elevator buttons and on most of the floors. More about the convention plans will be found elsewhere in this issue of the Forum. It was a great pleasure to meet so many home teachers, many of whom are ACB members, and even more of whom are regular Forum readers. Two features of the MCHT program were outstanding. Mrs. L.P. Howser brought a group of her fifth-grade students from the Kentucky School for the Blind to demonstrate the use of the Cranmer abacus. These young people had only been using this calculating device for about five months. Nevertheless, Mrs. Howser dictated a long series of two-, three- and four-digit numbers to be added, and as soon as she had finished giving out the last number, almost every hand in the group was raised to indicate that they had the answer. The same thing was true with subtraction, even though some of the problems she gave were deliberately tricky and even ran into the millions. These young people were equally rapid and accurate with multiplication and division. Those in the audience, including Tim Cranmer and Fred Gissoni, both of whom have been working with the abacus for four years or more, found themselves severely pushed to try to keep up with these youngsters from the Kentucky School. A session demonstrating the use of the abacus is scheduled for our convention this summer. Although this will be vacation time at the school, it is hoped that arrangements can be made for some of these young abacus experts who live in the Louisville area to demonstrate their skill. The other outstanding feature was Tim Cranmer's demonstration of a British-made, ultra-sonic guidance device. This instrument is about the size and shape of a two-cell flashlight, powered by a nine-volt transistor battery, with the output going to a small ear-plug similar to those used with transistor radios. The sounds produced by reflections from objects in the path of the beam vary according to the distance, texture and character of the object. Mr. Cranmer, who is director of the Division of Services to the Blind in Kentucky, has obtained 17 of these travel aids for use in the program of training and evaluation. He has promised to give us further information and a report of the experiences of his trainees using the device at our ACB Louisville convention. Be sure to make your plans now to attend the ACB convention. It promises to be the best ever. I hope to see you there. Faithfully yours, Ned Freeman ***** ** Underground Fighter to Be Banquet Speaker A former member of the Dutch Underground in World War II, an athlete, a lawyer, and a preacher will speak at the annual banquet of the ACB convention in Louisville, July 23. All of these characteristics are combined in the person of Dr. Arie D. Bestebreurtje (when we learn how to pronounce this name, we will let you know). Dr. Bestebreurtje is reputed to be a very witty as well as inspirational speaker. The title of his address will be "Nuclear Giants -- Spiritual Dwarfs," and we are assured that his speech will have a definite bearing upon our organization. Our speaker was a parachutist and a member of the Dutch Underground during the war, and as a parachutist he was with those who liberated Anne Frank's father; he has about every decoration from England, France and America, including two Purple Hearts. He later came to America and practiced law in New York before beginning his studies for the ministry. He is now pastor of the Calvin Presbyterian Church in Louisville. In addition to all of these accomplishments, he was speed-skating champion of Switzerland and a participant in many international track events. He was rated as one of Europe's top-notch milers. Presiding over the ACB banquet will be our genial host, the president of the Associated Blind of Kentucky, Will Routh. Also featured on the banquet program will be the presentation of the Ambassador Award to some upstanding blind person. The price of the banquet will be $4.00 including tax and gratuities. A choice of either fish or turkey will be available. Don't forget the Early Bird Mint Julep Reception which will be held Tuesday evening, July 20. We expect to have as our guests on this occasion a number of employees of the American Printing House, who produce your braille and talking book magazines. The serious work of the convention will begin at two o'clock Wednesday afternoon, July 21. Governor Edward T. Breathitt has tentatively accepted our invitation to meet with us and will welcome the convention to Kentucky and to Louisville unless a special session of the legislature should prevent his attendance. Other plans for the convention were outlined in the March issue of the Forum. The Thursday afternoon and evening tours include the Printing House, "My Old Kentucky Home," dinner at the famous Talbot Tavern, and the musical production "Stephen Foster Story." The cost of this tour will be $7.50. A detailed program of the convention will appear in the July Forum, but be sure to make your plans now to be there. Room rates at the Sheraton Hotel will be $7.50 per day for single rooms and $11.00 for double rooms. All rooms will be air-conditioned. The hotel has excellent eating facilities at reasonable prices, and there are other nearby establishments to serve our members. Let's all go to Louisville July 21 through 24! ***** ** Social Security Benefits for the Blind By Durward McDaniel Reference is made to mx article in the January, 1965, issue of this magazine entitled "Insurance Against Blindness," in which what has come to be known as the "Humphrey Amendment" was explained. The American Council of the Blind is making an all-out effort to obtain the enactment of this proposition (explained again below) in the 89th Congress. Our chance for successful enactment of this much-needed amendment has been greatly enhanced by the introduction of S. 1787 by Senator Vance Hartke of Indiana and nineteen other Senators whose names appear in this article. (More than 20 additional co-authors added their names later making a total of almost 1/2 of the Senate.) The strategy is to persuade the Senate Finance Committee to incorporate S. 1787 into the Administration's Medicare Bill, H.R. 6675, which has passed the House of Representatives and is before the Finance Committee for consideration as we go to press. Failing this, we must persuade the Senate as a whole to do the incorporating of S. 1787 into the Medicare Bill which is certain of passage. Each reader is urged to write or wire his Senators immediately in support of this legislative objective and to enlist blind and sighted friends and organizations to do likewise. If your Senator is a member of the Senate Finance Committee letters and wires to him will be of the utmost value. If your Senator is one of the authors of S. 1787, a letter of appreciation will be proper and helpful. In any event, your Senators will vote favorably only if they know your wishes. The support which all of us expressed for the Humphrey Amendment last fall was effective in obtaining the introduction of S. 1787 as is clearly shown by Senator Hartke's remarks printed in the Congressional Record of April 13, 1965: "Mr. President, today I introduce a bill to liberalize the provisions of disability insurance under the Social Security Act for the benefit of the blind. This is the same bill which was introduced in the 88th Congress by our distinguished colleague then the majority whip and now our presiding officer, Vice President Hubert Humphrey. That bill, S. 1268, I was happy to offer in the Finance Committee as an amendment to the social security bill of last year, H.R. 11865. While it was not adopted by the Finance Committee, it was subsequently introduced by its author as a floor amendment and was adopted by the Senate on September 3. It was taken to conference by Senator Long as floor manager of the bill, but, of course, it was lost when the Congress adjourned without reaching agreement on the bill last year. "Mr. President, it has been my privilege to introduce and work for many measures for the benefit of the blind during the years since I first came to this body in 1958. Such legislation has been one of my special interests, and I would be pleased in any case to offer this legislation today. But it is a special pleasure to do so at the express request of the Vice-President whose election removed from him the opportunity to present the bill again as he would otherwise have done. "Indeed, he addressed me in a letter dated November 29, 1964, asking that I carry on the promotion of this legislation in the 89th Congress. I am glad to be able to do so not only on my own behalf and his, but also on behalf of the other Senators whose names appear as co-sponsors of the bill. "At the time Senator Humphrey presented the amendment to the social security bill, which the Senate adopted as I have said, he made a statement explaining its provisions and purposes. Rather than offer a paraphrase of that clear presentation, I request unanimous consent that the words of Senator Humphrey at that time may appear at this point in the Record as an explanation of this bill. "There being no objection, the statement was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: "Mr. Humphrey. Mr. President, my amendment would liberalize the Federal disability insurance program for persons who are now blind -- and, perhaps even to greater importance -- it would make disability insurance payments more readily available to more persons who become blind at the time when blindness occurs. "My amendment would do the following: "First. It would incorporate the generally recognized and widely used definition of blindness into the provisions of the disability insurance law; that is, blindness in central visional acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses, or visual acuity greater than 20/200 is accompanied by a limitation in the field of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees. "Second. It would allow any person who meets this definition in visual loss, and who has worked in social security covered employment for a year and a half -- six quarters — to qualify for disability cash benefits. "Third. It would allow persons who meet the above requirements in measurable sightlessness and length of time in covered employment to draw disability benefits, and to continue to draw them, so long as they remain blind -- and irrespective of their income or earnings, if they are fortunate enough to be employed. "This amendment seeks to make the disability insurance program a true insurance program against the economic catastrophe of blindness, against the economic disadvantages which result when blindness occurs in the life of a workingman. "Under present law, a person who is blind and unable to secure social security covered work for five years, cannot qualify for disability insurance payments. Reducing the present requirement from 20 to 6 quarters would be a much more reasonable and realistic requirement for people who, though oftentimes well qualified for gainful work, still encounter much difficulty in obtaining any work at all. "Under existing law, a worker who becomes blind but has not worked for five years in covered employment is denied the sustaining support of disability insurance payments at a time when his whole world has collapsed, when disaster has terminated his earnings and diminished his earning power, and he is faced with surrendering dignity and self-pride and applying for public or private charity -- hardly a sound basis upon which to rebuild a shattered life; hardly the basis for instilling self-confidence and reviving hope -- so essential as the first step in rehabilitation and restoration to normal life and productive livelihood. "Under existing law, a person who is blind and earns but the meagerest of income, is denied disability insurance payments on the ground that even the meagerest earnings indicate such person is not disabled -- or sufficiently disabled, in the eyes of the law -- to qualify for disability payments. "As a matter of fact, Mr. President, the economic consequences of blindness exist, and they continue to exist, even though a blind person is employed and earning, and these economic consequences are expensive to the blind person who has the will and the courage to compete in a profession or a business with sighted people, who must live and work in a society structured for sighted people. "Adoption of this amendment would provide a minimum floor of financial security to the person who must live and work without sight, who must pay a price in dollars and cents for wanting and daring to function in equality with sighted men." The members of the Senate Finance Committee are: Harry Flood Byrd of Virginia Russell B. Long of Louisiana George A. Smathers of Florida Clinton P. Anderson of New Mexico Paul H. Douglas of Illinois Albert Gore of Tennessee Herman E. Talmadge of Georgia Eugene J. McCarthy of Minnesota Vance Hartke of Indiana J. W. Fulbright of Arkansas Abraham A. Ribicoff of Connecticut John J. Williams of Delaware Frank Carlson of Kansas Wallace F. Bennett of Utah Carl T. Curtis of Nebraska Thruston B. Morton of Kentucky Everett M. Dirksen of Illinois The twenty authors of S. 1787 are: Vance Hartke of Indiana Thomas H. Kuchel of California Jennings Randolph of West Virginia Phillip A. Hart of Michigan Joseph M. Montoya of New Mexico Maurine B. Neuberger of Oregon Everett M. Dirksen of Illinois Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island Joseph D. Tydings of Maryland George S. McGovern of South Dakota Ralph Yarborough of Texas Daniel B. Brewster of Maryland Winston L. Prouty of Vermont Thruston B. Morton of Kentucky Gale W. McGee of Wyoming Wayne Morse of Oregon Eugene J. McCarthy of Minnesota Warren G. Magnuson of Washington Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii Milton R. Young of North Dakota Clearly, the achievement of this additional security will be a major contribution to the economic independence of the blind and it is certainly worth our maximum effort when it will count for the most -- let the letters and wires commence. (send all mail to the Senate Office Building in Washington) ***** ** Another ACB Romance Flowers ACB members Jearldine Noeller from Kansas and Don O. Nold of Illinois happily announce their engagement. Jeri received her ring on April 16, and they are planning to be married late in June. They will make their home in Berwyn, Illinois. Don and Jeri met at the ACB convention held in Chicago in 1963, and except for a few visits and the 1964 convention when they were together, they conducted a "Tape Romance." Jeri is past president of the Kansas Association and was the first recipient of the ACB Ambassador Award. Don is editor-in-chief of Dialogue magazine and will be in charge of the Wednesday evening panel, "Something For You To Take Home," at the ACB convention in Louisville. Prior to this development, Miss Noeller had planned to take some advanced studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. At this writing, the summer plans of this happy couple are still somewhat up in the air -- as are they! ***** ** Rules for a Chapter President From the Washington State White Cane: ... The president must, first of all, know and understand the objectives of the local membership and of the state association. It is his duty to see that the general public, as well as the local membership, understands these objectives and the general purpose of the organized blind movement. Standing committees should either be appointed or elected to administer these objectives. ... The president should not only coordinate the activities of the standing committees but call a meeting of their committee chairmen to plan the programming for a period of three or more months in advance. Programming should be designed to point out and emphasize the benefits that all blind people may receive as a result of the social and economic welfare programs promoted by the organized blind. The social aspect of programming should not, of course, be overlooked. One of his first duties to the membership is to delegate a certain amount of responsibility. The president must be very careful not to assume all responsibility himself. Much of it should be delegated to committees or the assembly of the whole. He should, however, assume certain responsibilities himself as executive. He should make sure that the standing rules of his organization begin with: "Harmony, courtesy and equality." If he applies these few common rules and provides a well-balanced programming, his first duties to the membership and to the public will be fulfilled. ***** ** Nonsectarian Tapes Available Mrs. Chris A. Pope of Atlanta, Georgia, has a number of tapes containing nonsectarian Christian Bible lessons, talks, etc., which she would like to make available to any of our readers who may desire to borrow them. Arrangements have been made to circulate these tapes from the Conyers, Georgia, office of the American Council of the Blind and they will be sent postage free without charge. Anyone desiring to borrow any of the reels listed below should write to the American Council of the Blind, 136 Gees Mill Road, Conyers, Georgia 30207, listing the titles desired. Reel 1: The Call to Christian Discipleship; God's Abundant Grace; Life According to the Spirit; Victory Over Death. Reel 2: Christian Home Life; Life in the Body; Practical Christian Life; The Church's Gospel Reel 3: The Church's Worship; God's Plan for the Government of Man; God's Redemptive Work; A True Picture of God Reels 4 & 5: Prayer Reel 6: Preparation of the Church; Power of the Church Reel 7: Problems of the Church; Prayer Reel 8: Isaiah Reel 9: Revelations Reel 10: Revelations Ten Reels: The entire King James version of the New Testament, read by Dr. Manford George Gutzke Reel 21: Galatians; Oil & Wine; Great Benediction (recorded from radio messages) by Dr. Donald G. Barnhouse ***** ** The "Blind Image" -- What Is It? Can It Be Improved? By R.L. Thompson (Editor's note: The following article was reprinted from the Florida White Cane.) His neighbor, Joe, said, "You're lucky because the government gives you a check every month because you are blind. Why should I employ the blind in my place? They already have enough income from the government, so I give out the jobs I have to persons who need work and do not get a government handout." There are many neighbor Joes who echo these sentiments but do it silently. The fact is that nearly everyone pictures the blind as recipients of government handouts and special privileges -- just because of their blindness. This is a picture drawn and enhanced by government welfare programs for the blind. He was not receiving a government handout at all, but rather paying income taxes. He was working every day and was fully sustaining himself and his family. His neighbor Joe should have known this; perhaps he did, but he still thought his blind neighbor was getting a government handout in addition to his earnings. Many blind persons have similar experiences at the hands of a neighbor or acquaintance, or sense that these feelings exist. Why do blind people receive government welfare? It is because some are too old and sick, in addition to their blindness to think of trying to again earn their living. Some are going through a long period of retraining and adjustment to their new-found blindness but are healthy, ambitious, and aim toward full employment. Some are unemployed or underemployed, such as those working for sweatshop wages in community-supported sheltered workshops for the blind. Even though all these different categories of blind people often receive government welfare, they are on welfare for different reasons and not because of blindness alone. Welfare statistics make no distinctions between these different groups. So how can the public be blamed for getting the image that all blind are on welfare for the same reason. The government could improve this image so that the public would be aware of the different reasons why blind people in need are forced to receive government handouts. 1. The unemployed blind should receive unemployment checks in order to help them over the hump and meet their minimum financial needs. This would include those blind who find themselves scandalously underpaid in sweatshop conditions as workers in sheltered workshops for the blind, often supported by United Fund or other publicly solicited money. 2. Those blind going through a period of adjustment and retraining because of the onset of blindness should receive student aid and scholarship checks to help them over the financial hump. 3. Only those blind who are too sick, too old, or feel unable to work for mental or psychological reasons, should continue receiving welfare checks as they do now. Perhaps if these changes were made his neighbor Joe or your neighbor Joe would begin to get the right image of "the Blind." This is as I see it. ***** ** Needed: More Blind Social Workers By Jack C. Lewis New and broad opportunities are rapidly developing for the blind in the field of social work. At present it is estimated that 80 percent more professional social workers are desperately needed to meet the overwhelming demands being made by private and governmental agencies throughout the country. The automated age is providing a better than ever standard of living to those who have the good health, good fortune and education to retain or gain employment. Those millions of unfortunate people who do not possess the educational, geographical and physical advantages are finding themselves a burden on society. The social costs of the automated age are inestimable. Governmental and private organizations throughout the country are being created to counteract these growing social problems. These agencies are finding themselves without the qualified personnel to cope effectively with this national threat. There are at present more than 50 accredited schools of social work throughout the nation which are striving to develop the trained men and women needed to meet this enormous demand. Social workers with master's degrees are needed in practically every facet of service organizations. Mental health clinics, departments of public welfare, mental hospitals, public schools, marriage counseling services and old age centers are just some of the many organizations which are in immediate need of trained social workers. Our graduate schools of social work are finding it impossible to meet the overwhelming demands of these agencies. In order to attract more and more qualified people into this profession, hundreds of agencies are offering substantial "free grants" to enable the student to defray the living expenses incurred while in training. The range of variations of the grants offered by these agencies is substantial. For example, the state mental hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia, is willing to pay over 300 a month for a student while he is in his graduate training. In return for this "free grant" the student will be obligated to return to the hospital in Milledgeville to work after graduation. Generally, agencies which provide such grants require that the recipient agree to one year of employment after graduation for each year that financial assistance was provided. The availability of grants is proving successful in attracting capable students into this profession. Nevertheless, the need is far from being met. At Florida State University, where this writer is presently enrolled, all of the 104 first-year students who are working toward their Master of Social Work degrees (MSW) are receiving some type of grant. The amount of these grants varies from $1500 for 12 months of graduate study to over $5000. Of these 104 students, two of us are legally blind. There are already numerous blind social workers in this country. The prejudicial attitudes which too often prevent capable blind people from obtaining competitive employment are almost nonexistent in this profession. The qualifications are high. The potentials are unlimited. Social work has proven to be the most unrestricted field for "educated blind people." Blind social workers are now employed in VA hospitals, traveler's aid societies, mental hospitals, rehabilitation services, and in many other kinds of service agencies. These blind men and women have not only paved their own way for successful employment, but also, they have paved the way for all other qualified blind who wish to enter this profession. Why don't you take advantage of this golden opportunity? What does one have to do in order to gain admission to an accredited school of social work? First, it is absolutely necessary that one have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. One's major in undergraduate school is secondary, although studies in the social sciences are helpful. This writer obtained his bachelor's degree in business administration. Since practically all graduate schools of social work commence their sequential study programs in September, one should apply immediately. This is particularly significant because applicants begin competing for the available grants months in advance of the time of enrollment. Florida State University's School of Social Work has graduated numerous blind in the past. The faculty and administration extend themselves in helping to overcome the inevitable obstacles imposed on a sightless student. For example, many of you are more than aware of the difficulties that a blind student experiences in obtaining reliable readers. How many times have we had readers to drop us like a hot potato when it was time for a test, resulting in our performing poorly? Believe it or not, reading arrangements are no problem at FSU's School of Social Work. Perhaps this questionable statement should be clarified. Each student receiving a grant through the graduate school is given a work assignment in conjunction with his financial assistance. Dean Coyle E. Moore simply assigns several of these students as readers. This writer had eleven students whose duty it was to read two hours weekly. Other students were available as needed. These readers proved most reliable. First, a student entering this profession is naturally concerned and considerate toward his fellow students. Secondly, since these readers are assigned to this task by the dean, it is to their advantage that they perform their responsibility satisfactorily. The qualifications for admission are rigid. It requires approximately 20 months of conscientious study to earn a MSW. Age is no obstacle. In the first-year graduate program, the ages vary from 20 to 50. If you have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college, and if you are convinced that you have the ability and sincere interest to pursue this demanding profession, it is advisable that you apply immediately. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The free grants available are limited, so write soon. Send your letter to the Department of Social Welfare, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla. to find out what accredited schools of social work are close to you, write the National Association of Social Workers, 2 Park Avenue, New York 16, New York. ***** ** Get Your White Cane Into the Picture By Ned Freeman Quite a number of state and local groups took advantage of the governor's proclamation of White Cane Safety Day to obtain news coverage for the White Cane Safety law and publicity for their own organizations as well. If your own group was not among these, you are missing an excellent opportunity. A few examples are given here to show what can be done with a little initiative and individual effort. Perhaps some of these ideas will prove beneficial to you in planning next year's WCSD activities. Since writing the report which appeared in the November Forum, copies of proclamations have been received from two additional governors, Governor Faubus of Arkansas and Governor Rhodes of Ohio. This brings the grand total of proclamations or official statements to 31. Ed Schultz of Little Rock, ACB's Arkansas membership representative, was present at the governor's office when Gov. Faubus signed the White Cane Safety Day proclamation in the presence of news reporters and photographers. A picture showing Ed with his white cane and the governor holding up the proclamation was circulated widely throughout the state together with the news story. He also made TV appearances and made two or three radio spot interviews which were broadcast. The wires of the Arkansas Press Association carried a news release concerning White Cane Safety Day to local papers throughout the state. Mrs. Lydia Harris, secretary of the Jackson Chapter of the Oregon Council of the Blind, reports two TV programs devoted to White Cane Safety over separate stations in the Medford area. One of these featured four members of the chapter, each emphasizing some aspect of traffic safety for blind persons. The Jackson chapter has developed a wallet-size card giving the provisions of the Oregon White Cane law which is being widely distributed through the local Traffic Courts, District Courts, State License Bureau, High School Driver Training Classes and by members of Lions Clubs. This card is printed on light cardboard 3 1/2 inches wide by 3 3/4 inches long and folded in the center with the printed matter inside. The front cover of this folded card bears the following message: "National White Cane Day, October 15, 1964; distributed by Jackson Council of the Blind, Medford, Oregon." Eva Smyth of Honolulu reports that two major radio networks carried several spot announcements on October 15 dealing with White Cane Safety Day and sent us the clipping of the news story as carried in the Honolulu Advertiser. Dr. T. Munford Boyd of Virginia sent us the following 15-second spot as released to radio stations there: "Our Governor's Highway Safety Committee reminds motorists that Virginia law requires a motorist to come to a full stop for a pedestrian extending or raising a white cane. This means the pedestrian is blind and wishes to cross the street." In Pennsylvania the signing ceremony in Governor Scranton's office, which was given full news coverage, included our good friend Bill Taylor as well as representatives of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind and the Pennsylvania Lions Council. At this time, Governor Scranton said, "It is easy enough to sign proclamations, but what counts is what we succeed in getting done with them." ***** ** Embossed Maps Now Available From the Hoosier Star-Light: With the international situation almost daily in a state of crisis, many blind persons may wish that they had reference maps for keeping tabs on the critical points in the world. If you are such a person, you will be interested to know that the Supply Division of the American Foundation for the Blind has embossed maps available for you. The maps come in a set of 14. Each of them measures 16 inches by 19 1/2 inches. Europe, North America (including Central America), South America, Asia and Africa are represented by two maps each, one topographical and the other political. The remaining maps combine both features for the Middle and Far East, Indonesia and Australia. The maps are of plastic washable material. They are marked with braille symbols which correspond with braille key. The catalog code number is GES63, and the price for the complete set is $12. ***** ** Announcements Michigan blind are going to have the opportunity to have a week at Camp Echo, operated by the Salvation Army, August 6th to the 13th. This camp is located at Lakeville, Mich., about 20 miles northeast of Pontiac, Mich. The cost is very nominal. The total cost for each adult is $10 plus 50 cents for insurance; children accompanied by their parents are free. Reservations accompanied by the cash should be sent to Mrs. Mildred Hamby, 27859 Dartmouth, Madison Heights, Mich. 48071. A fine program of entertainment has been planned, and the cost stated above includes everything. Buses will leave the Salvation Army headquarters in Detroit at noon on August 6th. The fare is 70 cents. Those wishing to drive may do so. *** The Argosy Recording Club for the Blind announces the following service to the blind -- the ability to record, on tape, textbooks and inspirational material for blind students in our nation's high schools and colleges. The method and procedure to be followed for this volunteer service is as follows: (1) Forward textbooks and tape, with covering letter, specifying the order in which the books are to be read. Tapes may be purchased from the Braille Press at cost price, $1.75 per 1800 ft. reel. (2) Address all material as follows: Mrs. Frances F. Patterson, Chairman Volunteer Recording Services National Braille Press, Inc. 88 St. Stephen Street Boston, Mass. 02115 Due to the heavy volume of requests for semester work, blind students should forward their textbooks as soon as possible -- after inquiring from their teachers what their next semester's books will be for their academic purposes. Most teachers are happy to cooperate with requests of this type. ***** ** Services to the Blind in the USSR By Frances Clay (Frances Clay is Assistant Professor of Social Work and Associate Director of Field Work, School of Social Welfare, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.) As a social worker planning a brief visit to Moscow in August 1964, I tried unsuccessfully to find out in advance whether the profession of social work as we know it exists in Russia. I therefore arrived in Moscow on a Sunday night with a simple tourist visa and the prospect of seeing the sights for a few days with an Intourist guide. On Monday morning, however, I discussed my interest in social welfare with the guide, a young woman who spoke excellent English, and she immediately placed a phone call to the Central Intourist Office. Her efforts resulted in an appointment on Thursday morning at the Office of Social Security of the Russian Federation. Our guide, Taya Serduykova, my travelling companion, Louise Blackwell, and I were warmly greeted by A.V. Levshin, assistant director of the Research Institute of the Social Security Department, and his English-speaking aide, Miss Maria Khevnova. The room in which we met was spacious, bright, and immaculate; and on the cloth-draped table, around which we sat, were several bottles of orange cider which Miss Khevnova served in crystal goblets. Mr. Levshin pointed to the chair where Eleanor Roosevelt had sat on one occasion. Her chair remained vacant during our conversation. Mr. Levshin, talking through the two women interpreters, answered all my questions and freely discussed the total social security program, which includes services to blind people. It became clear immediately that the Soviet Union has no profession which is exactly equivalent to social work in the United States. I also learned early in the interview that little or no attention is given to emotional problems of the blind, ill, or aged. Strong emphasis is placed upon production, which means training and rehabilitation. This is true throughout every aspect of Russian life. The emphasis is upon work. And even now, in scanning the USSR Social Security Information Booklet, I read: "Work, as any doctor will tell you, is a great healer." Almost everybody in the Soviet Union works. The "almost" allows for vagrants who, according to Mr. Levshin, are given short shrift and told to get out of town. A majority of the blind adults in Russia today, I was told, lost their sight in World War II. These veterans, as well as adults who lose their sight on the job, receive pensions which they continue to draw after they are rehabilitated and take jobs. Pensions and salaries are small, by our standards, throughout Russia. The minimum wage in the USSR now is 30 rubles (about $30) per month, but this is to be raised next year to 45 rubles. I learned that some pensions are as low as 7 rubles per month. At any rate, according to Mr. Levshin, the social security program is gradually being strengthened. Just as in the United States, there is a shortage of trained people to carry out the various programs and it is necessary to rely on untrained employees and volunteers. Blind workers have a six-hour work day and get a paid vacation of one month each year. They pay no taxes, ride free on city transportation systems, and are entitled to preferential treatment at the free vacation homes which are provided for pensioners throughout the Soviet Union. All blind children are required to attend special schools, where equipment is suited to the degree of their blindness. In school, boys and girls are given technical training and after school, if further training is needed, they may go on to a training factory to perfect a trade. Although all services originate with the government and the government owns all industry, the services to the blind are decentralized through regional "societies for the blind" which control schools, training centers, and industries for the blind. According to Mr. Levshin, the societies for the blind operate about 275 factories in the Russian Federation for the employment of blind people. These factories produce a variety of goods, from electrical fixtures to furniture, offering jobs to highly skilled blind workers who are paid accordingly. Out of the profits of the factories, the societies direct the construction of special housing for the blind and maintain nurseries, kindergartens and summer camps for children of blind parents. Theoretically, of course, the services being described here are available to all blind people in the USSR, but Mr. Levshin is the first to admit that the social security program is far from having achieved its full goals. In view of the grave hous­ing shortage throughout Russia, for instance, it is no secret that thousands of people, including the blind, are living in miserable, unsanitary situations. And when one remembers that the state owns and directs everything and that bureaucracy, leading from the Kremlin throughout the vast Soviet Union, is not only cumbersome but becomes less and less efficient in the hands of less competent employees in the rural areas, then it is obvious to the experienced social worker that the Russian program for the blind is more a goal for the future than a realistic fact of today. On the whole, it is a commendable goal. Although the major educational emphasis for blind children and adults is on technical training, there is growing interest in preparing unusually gifted blind people for the professions. In order to do this, of course, Russia had to develop its libraries for the blind, which educators know cannot be done overnight. At this time there is a central library for the blind, with approximately a thousand small branch libraries throughout the Union. A major effort is underway to increase the number of books published in braille each year. Lev Pontryagin is cited as an example of great achievement by a blind person. Pontryagin lost his sight as a child, but he is now a mathematician, a member of the Academy of Sciences, and a Lenin Prize winner. Other prominent blind people are: V. Tikhomirov, Ph.D. in geology and mineralogy; M. Margolin, a designer; and E. Asadov, a poet. Old age pensions for the blind must be earned. A blind woman at the age of 40, if she has worked 10 years, is entitled to an old age pension; men are eligible at 50 providing they have worked for 15 years. One wonders what happens to 40- and 50-year-old women and men if they have not worked. Undoubtedly they must depend upon their children or other relatives whose average income is 70 rubles (about $70) per month. Theoretically, the societies for the blind operate recreation centers for the blind, but the observant traveler sees readily that such a goal has not been reached throughout the country. It is no doubt true in Russia, as in almost any country, that the blind person living in the largest urban areas has access to benefits which are not available to the rural dweller. The shortages of recreational facilities, housing, and transportation, as well as food and clothing, which burden the huge population of Russia, must certainly work serious hardships upon the blind. And I, as a social worker, feel that the Russian failure to work with the emotional problems of the blind is a major deficiency in the total program of services to the blind. In general, there is a tendency among the authorities to deny that anybody in Russia does not want to work, or to deny the emotional problems which may interfere with training and work potential. One must conclude that the blind person who is emotionally unable to work, unless he is a veteran or lost his sight on the job, is simply left to survive as best he can. On the other hand, there is much to be said for the pervasive philosophy that every person, including the blind, can be independent and productive and that every person should have an opportunity to be a productive member of society. History indicates that the Russian people have always been willing workers with little opportunity to produce. Today the opportunities are being offered and the people are still willing. It is a fact that almost everybody works, according to his skill and capacity, including the blind, the aged, and the otherwise handicapped. ***** ** Rehab Supports Blind Teachers Dear Mr. Freeman: Thank you for your letter of February 3, 1965, to Mr. Bledsoe enclosing copies of two resolutions which were adopted by the American Council of the Blind at its convention in New York last July. We are currently in touch with the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education and will do our utmost to lend all possible assistance in obtaining a favorable statement of reply to your resolutions. As a part of our overall approach to the training and placement of qualified blind persons, we are continually urging colleges and universities, as well as public school officials, to give positive consideration to the training and employment of blind persons as teachers of sighted students. We are presently sponsoring a project at Georgetown University for the development of methods and techniques wherein blind persons can teach languages to sighted individuals. The following excerpt from an affidavit filed with the New York Association for the Blind by Mr. Louis H. Rives, in his capacity as Chief of the Division of Services to the Blind, is, we believe, an excellent statement of our position: "C. One of the major responsibilities of my position as Chief of the Division of Services to the Blind is to determine what positions can be performed on a competitive basis by blind people. It is our policy to recommend the employment of blind persons only in jobs where blindness will not be a bar to their full performance of all aspects of the employment. The study of the performance of many blind persons, teaching sighted students in elementary and secondary schools, gives me a sound basis of knowledge upon which to base my conclusions. "On a national basis, we currently estimate the number of teachers within the legal definition of blindness who are employed as regular elementary or secondary school teachers to be over 200. This estimate includes only those blind persons teaching sighted children in public and private schools. "We are convinced that a blind person applying for a teaching position should be judged on an individual basis for each teaching assignment. The fact of the disabling condition of blindness must be taken into account in matching each individual with the teaching job to be performed. Thus, a blanket or arbitrary ruling excluding individuals from teaching positions because of blindness per se is not in accordance with sound professional personnel placement practices." D.C. MacFarland, Ph.D., Chief, Division of Services to the Blind. ***** ** NCATE Replies (Editor's note: Regular readers of the Braille Forum will recall an article by Milton Alford in the May 1964 Forum concerning the difficulties encountered by certain applicants for teacher training or certification. These difficulties were attributed to standards promulgated by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. The ACB convention at Rochester adopted two strong resolutions directed toward this problem. The following is the reply received from NCATE.) Dear Mr. Freeman: Thank you for your recent communication with our office. You may rest assured that I will bring your resolutions to the attention of the Council members. Our standards state only that we expect individual schools to select potential teachers in terms which they think are desirable and defensible. We do not make statements either for or against the blind, the lame, or any other group. We shall be most happy, however, to cooperate with you in making sure that institutions understand that we take no stand whatsoever against blind students entering teaching. Thank you again for being in touch with us. I shall convey the full meaning of your communication to all of the members of the Council. -- Rolf W. Larson, Director, National Council For Accreditation of Teacher Education ***** ** Blind Bowlers Tournament Announcement By David Krause The American Blind Bowling Association will hold its 18th annual national championship tournament in Washington, D.C., May 27-31, 1965. Nearly a thousand blind bowlers from all sections of the country are expected to participate. The Statler-Hilton Hotel in Washington will be tournament headquarters, with the bowling itself taking place at the Shirley-Edsal Lanes in nearby Virginia. A hospitality room serving free refreshments will be open in the Statler-Hilton throughout the tournament, and a gala dance with a live band and valuable door prizes will highlight the Friday night festivities. While the deadline for submitting entries has already passed, anyone who might be interested in getting a blind bowling league organized in his own locality is invited to attend as an observer. For special rates and reservations contact the Statler-Hilton directly. ***** ** Blind Man Who Doesn't Curse Fate By K.S. Sitaram (This article appeared in the October 14, 1964, issue of the Oregon Daily Emerald.) When I entered his house one evening last March, Wilbur Harrison said, "NAMASKAR," with hands folded, in the typical Indian way of greeting. He showed me a chair and began to speak to me. I was a student in search of a room, and a friend of mine had directed me to Harrison. At first sight I could not believe that he was blind; he worked with the accuracy of one with sight. I saw him dialing the phone without any difficulty. "Your Friend told me you were looking for a room?" he said. "Yes. Do you have one?" "I have one up here. Please take a look. If you like it, you are welcome." * Piano Tuner He showed me the room. I liked it and occupied it the same day. Since then I have had a growing interest in this blind man, who takes such a great interest in life. I have seen many blind men idling away their time in arm-chair criticism of men and matters and cursing their fate for their blindness. But for this man 24 hours are not sufficient in a day. Harrison's profession is tuning pianos. It is amazing to see him at work. One evening I returned from the school and there was no one in the house. The transistor radio which he had placed in the kitchen over the stove was gone. Everything seemed to be strangely silent. There were some other changes too. Some things seemed to be missing. I feared that some burglar had entered the house during our absence. I called out to him several times. When there was no reply, I did not know what to do. A few minutes later I heard some noise in his office. I had not seen his office until then. Now I suspected someone else was in there. When I opened the door of this office, to my amazement I found him in front of an old piano and working with its hundreds of complicated parts. He was so deeply absorbed in work that he did not hear even when I called him at the door of the room. The radio was playing some soft music. When I told him that I had called him several times he was apologetic, saying that he had been carried away with his work. * Political Interest Another day he asked me, "Did you read that article in the Digest by Nixon?" He was referring to an article he had read in the Reader's Digest which was printed in braille, specially for the blind. He was so much interested in the San Francisco Republican convention and its keynoter that he recorded Governor Hatfield's speech completely. He set the tape recorder himself and recorded the speech with such interest that someone might imagine he was a candidate himself. On another day he was ready with his tape recorder set before his radio and was waiting for a program. He said, "A friend of mine is to be interviewed on the radio. I am recording it." Harrison is adept in his profession. Once I asked him, "How do you find the defects in the pianos you repair? Since you are blind, do you have any difficulty in working on all those strings and keys?" * Educating the Blind "No difficulty at all. A defective piano doesn't sound right," he replied and continued, "If I can't find out what the defect is, with 14 years of experience, I should quit tuning pianos." He believes that radio could be of great help in educating the blind as TV could be for the deaf. He listens to the programs of the local educational station. A graduate of the University, Harrison studied journalism and radio-journalism for his BA. He remembers that there were a number of tapes in the University library when he studied there. He was sorry to say the tapes were taken out of the library for lack of space, since he felt they would have been useful to the blind students on the campus. He has worked in various capacities since boyhood. Immediately after he graduated in 1940 at Eugene, war broke out. He was trained in a defense school and worked in the machine shop of an aircraft factory at Portland. There he operated a machine press and a drill press. After that he switched to a mattress factory at Salem, then to a furniture factory, and finally to pianos. In 1945 he studied in the piano-tuning school at Vancouver, Wash., and settled in Eugene in 1949. * Blind Are Capable Having lost his sight in his childhood, he knows the hardships of blind students and blind adults. As the elected president of the Emerald Council of the Blind, he is striving to improve the conditions for educating and employing the blind. Blind men, he believes, are just as capable as other men, and given suitable education and training, they make good workers. He cites the example of Jim Sharp, who lost his sight recently and was then trained and employed by U.S. Plywood in Gold Beach. He is assisting in drafting an amendment to legislation relating to the blind. The old legislation, called the Sheperd­-Randolph Bill, (sic) gives priority to the blind to set up snack bars in public buildings. The committee working on the amendment feels the law should be more effectively enforced; they feel that there are instances where deserving blind men are not being given preference. * Varied Interests Another amendment he is working on would increase the state allowance to the blind from the presently allotted $1,000 to $1,500. Harrison's interests are varied. He is learning Esperanto, a language which is supposed to become the universal language. He is taking correspondence courses in this language printed in braille. As a licensed radio operator, he passed the federal examination for the license with a speed of 20 words per minute. The minimum required is 13 w.p.m. He is single and keeps his own house efficiently. I am writing this pen-portrait of the man not to imply that he is a celebrity, but only to reveal that in a not-so-remote corner of this great country lives a man who, though handicapped, is making life interesting for himself and others. In the customary American way, he thinks nothing is impossible. He is a fine example to youngsters with the great initiative he takes in the affairs of the world. ***** ** The Place of Work for the Blind Within the Framework of the Rehabilitation of the Handicapped By John Jarvis (Editor's note: John Jarvis, who is secretary-general for the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind, delivered the following paper at the General Assembly of that organization in New York City on August 7, 1964.) As recently as 20 years ago, few would have appreciated the relevance of the subject of this panel to work for the blind, for work for the blind had been developing for a century and a half with very little recognition of the needs or the aspirations of other handicapped people. A number of sporadic attempts had, of course, been made to link it with work for the deaf, usually in the educational field: efforts which were, in my view, doomed to failure since they were based more on administrative convenience or on ill-conceived theory than on any real and proven identity of interest between the two groups. If any lesson for the future needs to be drawn from these attempts, it is surely that our work has its own very distinct identity, which must always be respected even when, in certain sectors, it is incorporated into the wider setting of work for the handicapped. Between the two World Wars, some countries, particularly at government level, began to think in terms of such incorporation. An outstanding example is that of the United States, where such an approach led eventually to what is now the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration. Happily its leaders have never lost sight of the distinctive character of work for the blind, but have always provided machinery designed to ensure the continuing development of our work. Even if they had been tempted to ignore it, Joseph F. Clunk, their first head of Services to the Blind, would never have allowed them to do so. Indeed, he set a pattern of regard for it which continues to this day in the person of Louis H. Rives, the present distinguished holder of that office. During his reign the influence of this administration has extended far beyond the frontiers of the United States in the form of most welcome support for such projects as rural training and resettlement of the blind in India and an experimental talking book service in the same country, the placement of the blind in the textile industries of Israel, and so on. In Czechoslovakia, too, where the handicapped themselves have, within a remarkably short space of time, organized into a national union, the distinctive needs of the blind component of that union have never been forgotten. The broad aim of this union is to press the government for the introduction of a wide range of services and the right to administer them itself in the interests of all its members. The latest instance of this is the decision to provide residential rehabilitation for the newly blinded quite separate from similar arrangements for other handicapped groups, though with full recognition that these are of equal importance. In the United Kingdom, the pioneer organizations responsible for the spectacular development of industrial employment of the blind during the past two decades (notably the Royal National Institute for the Blind) were obliged to fight a long and worthy battle to prevent this work from being submerged in the general field of resettlement of the disabled. They did not transfer it to government management until they were assured, beyond any reasonable doubt, that its distinctive character would be permanently preserved. A number of factors contribute to this separate identity of work for the blind, whether it be conducted without regard for other work for the handicapped, or in the increasingly close cooperation with the wider field which now seems to be the likely setting for it in the immediate future. Some are inherent in the work itself. The braille magazine and the talking book have little value to the totally deaf man who has sight enough to read normal print, and the guide dog is of no value to the lady with no legs. In rehabilitation the medical aspect is of practically no specific consequence, for artificial eyes have by no means the same function as substitutes for vision as do synthetic legs or hands in relation to mobility or manual competence. Other factors lie in the sphere of the relations of the blind with the rest of mankind, and demand an amount and a continuous intensity of public education to counteract the strongly held but so often mistaken assumptions of family members, prospective employers and the public generally, that loss or absence of sight deprives the blind person irrevocably of so much that, in fact, he or she can still perform little of value. All this, and much more evidence which must be springing to the minds of everyone in this assembly as they attend this session, leaves me in no doubt of the urgency of preserving the separateness of our work, in whatever context we are called upon to operate, whether as home teachers in some remote village or as administrators of United Nations programs. And not only is it separate, but it is still right out in front, in many countries and in many of its aspects, as compared with what has so far been done for other handicapped groups in the community. Not only, then, is our work possessed of its own distinctness, but its place is also one of leadership and example, built on more than a century of solid achievement. Surely none of us would wish for a moment to deprive other handicapped men and women of any of the fruits of our victories which they can appropriately enjoy. Nevertheless, it seems to me that our prime concern at this assembly, am in all our day to day activities in our own countries, is to preserve that leadership for continuing to drive forward to new conquests for the blind, and to keep our work in the vanguard of rehabilitation without stopping to look over our shoulders to see whether the deaf or the physically handicapped, or some other group, have overtaken us in this aspect or in that. This does not mean that our experience should not always be readily available to our colleagues whenever it might be of some value in the advancement of their work. Indeed, I would hope that the literature in which we record our successes and our failures, our conference reports and our professional journals, will be offered to them whenever they wish to use them. I hope also that our colleagues will be given constantly increasing opportunities to see at firsthand what we are doing, and that this may help many of them to do much better work for other handicapped people. But surely we ought not to relax our endeavours in our own particular field. This changing world is continually creating new and difficult problems for the blind. The best work for the blind is that in which the maximum number of these problems are solved with the minimum delay after their first appearance. In the long run I believe our own leadership and example will do far more, not only to raise the level of our own work to a decent minimum standard everywhere, but also to leaven the whole loaf which we all have to share. We ourselves still need more and better rehabilitation centres for the blind, more diversified training courses and employment services for the blind better recreational facilities and more comfortable living arrangements for the blind, more comprehensive social services of all kinds to help the blind; and I would imagine that one of our main reasons for associating our countries with the World Council and for taking the time and trouble, and incurring the heavy cost, of traveling to New York is that we may all help one another to provide more help for our blind people throughout the world. Neither St. Dunstan's nor its civilian counterpart in Torquay, nor Father Carroll's centre in Massachusetts nor Migdal-Or in Israel, would ever have attained their present quality of service if they had not been allowed to devote themselves to the particular problems of the blind. Nor can they, and other centres like them in the emergent countries, go on to still greater achievements unless they continue to concentrate on the particular problems and needs of the blind and resist any attempt of tidy-minded administrators or of misguided experts to persuade them to disperse their efforts in a vain attempt to be all things to all the handicapped. The German Federal Republic would not now count its blind telephonists by thousands and its stenographers by hundreds if they had been trained in the same classrooms as other disabled people. In these new days we have to take part in the formulation and in the operation of new administrative relationships, but let us start by getting them right. We know we can no longer count on our governments to confine their assistance to the blind alone, nor would this be desirable nor ethical; but we must be ever watchful that they do not simply rob Peter to pay Paul. Peter and Paul may often have to make joint representations to them to safeguard the interests of both. Sometimes we may even have to represent Paul's needs as well as Peter's in order to elicit any attention to the needs of either, as in the case of our present negotiations with UNESCO, where our claims would be neither heeded nor met unless we were to speak on behalf of all handicapped children. But what I think we must never do is to accept, without further negotiation, a situation in which Peter receives nothing because Paul might ask for a share as well. This is the main argument which still robs us of any success in our repeated endeavours to secure, on international rail journeys and on the airlines, those facilities which so many of us already enjoy when using our national surface transport because its authorities had never even heard of Paul when Peter asked for them. Only if the distinctive needs of our own group are never overlooked, and only if we continue to exercise that measure of leadership and example which has been our contribution for so many years, shall we deserve any place within the general framework of work for the handicapped. Let us maintain and strengthen our identity and our leadership, and so retain our place of honour! ***** ** Letters from Readers To the Editor: I no longer wish to receive the Braille Forum as I am getting the Braille Monitor, the magazine put out by the National Federation of the Blind. I support their views and their seven-point amended code. Since I am an advocate of their policy, I feel it is a waste of time for you to continue sending me the Forum. Would you please remove my name from your mailing list. Thank you. -- Garold McGill, 2220 Kentucky Avenue, Fort Wayne, Ind. *** To the Editor: It was such a pleasure to receive a copy of the Braille Forum yesterday. I was glad to have a copy of my article again, but I was even gladder to see a copy of your magazine and to learn of the many avenues it opens to those who use its services. As time goes on and I learn more about material available for the blind, I am astonished! The blind have made such strides that they can hardly be considered handicapped any more. Thank you for thinking of me. -- Margaret Avery, 207 Tennessee St., Bolivar, Tenn. *** Dear Mr. Freeman: I am writing this to toss out a ball which I hope some imaginative soul with means will catch and run with. There has been a lot of talk in other years about the need for more good magazine fiction of the type appearing in the slick publications to be made available to braille readers -- something to replace our loved and lost "all story magazine." For those who use tape and talking book machines a real attempt has been made to fill this void, and I believe the science fiction enthusiast now has a braille publication, Galaxy. The need still exists, however, largely unmet. But what I want to talk about is something a bit different. I think in time someone will come up with this short-story publication; but I have felt a need that perhaps others have -- or do they? That's what I'd like, through this letter, to find out. As you know, I write when the spirit moves -- mostly things of an expository nature, and poetry. Back in school I used to try my hand at short stories. I spent a year at Perkins shortly before the demise of their paper, the Goat; and during that year, hardly a month went by without some literary offering from me, generally fiction, appearing in its pages. I wrote my heart out that year, perhaps because I knew my flights of imagination would gain a ready audience. Since that year, however, my attempts at story writing have totaled all of two! Now I find myself experiencing a resurgence of interest and desire to turn my imagination loose on paper; but what's the fun of writing a story to stow away in a drawer? Oh, sure, there are the big publications to send these brainchildren to but suppose you are, like me, one of those people who write primarily for emotional release with no thought of "slanting" the writing for this or that market? The thing I would like to see is a braille publication in which writers could, within certain limits, of course, turn their imaginations loose and be as "way, way out" as they wished, gaining practice in the process along with the constructive criticism and encouragement of readers, in preparation for trying their wings in the literary market. Youngsters, in some of the residential schools, have such an outlet in their school papers; the Braille Poets' Guild has a publication strictly for blind poets; and the deaf-blind have The Skylark; but what I would like to see is a free-for-all kind of thing in which there would be no dues, no age limits -- any blind person could participate -- with perhaps a competition every so often to spark incentive. Perhaps this is a way out; but somehow I feel there are a number of blind people over this land with stories inside that cry to be written, who would welcome this kind of audience. I haven't the means to start such a project, but would be glad to help with the editing should such a thing ever get started. I should like to hear, by braille, tape or through the pages of the Forum, what others would think about such a publication. -- Mary Walton, 1508 Jewell, Topeka, Kansas 66604 *** My dear Mr. Freeman: I want to tell you how much I enjoy the stimulating and provocative articles in the Braille Forum. The American Council of the Blind is my type of organization -- aggressive and progressive. It offers a new deal, a fair deal, an equal and just deal for the sightless. In conception, it is the embodiment of the Great Society and the New Frontier. Its legislative program is geared to the needs of the blind not to the organizations which serve the blind. Like the Negro, the sightless deserve, demand and are entitled to civil rights -- the right to equal employment with the sighted, the right to conduct their affairs unmolested, the right to enjoy those cherished principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed by the Constitution to every citizen regardless of race, color, nationality, age or handicap. I wholeheartedly support the resolutions of the 1964 ACB convention and its legislation presently pending before Congress, namely, H.R. 11865 and the legislation entitling disabled dependents to social security benefits regardless of whether or not the person on whom they are dependent is eligible. In connection with H.R. 11865, I have dispatched letters to Senators Kennedy and Javits urging passage of this legislation and have urged my friends and relatives, both sighted and sightless, to write to their senators and representatives and do likewise. But letter writing will not enact legislation as has been proved in the past. More concrete action is needed if H.R. 11865 is to become law. I strongly suggest that the American Council of the Blind, at its 1965 convention, endorse a full-scale march on Washington similar to the one conducted by civil rights leaders in 1963. The American Council of the Blind is a young, dynamic, vigorous organization which champions equality for the blind. From its ranks will come the Martin Luther King who will construct the foundation, pave the road and lay the groundwork for better opportunities for the blind. -- Susan Zisselman, 1956 51st Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11204. *** To the Editor: Many of us have been concerned about the problems faced by blind persons in obtaining insurance. It has been my experience and that of many of my blind friends that we are expected to pay a higher rate or the same rate on insurance premiums though we do not receive the same benefits in case of accident. If there are any Forum readers who know of insurance companies that will issue policies to blind persons at the same rate as sighted persons to those of us who do not see and also give the same benefits, we would appreciate having such information. If this problem seems to be typical over the country, I believe that we should attempt to get legislation which would make it possible for blind persons to obtain insurance which would give the same benefits as those received by sighted persons at the same rate. I shall be glad to hear from any Forum readers on this matter. -- L.T. Barrett, Sr., 2118-D Everitt St., Greensboro, North Carolina 27401 ***** ** Here and There By George Card From Visually Handicapped Views (S.D.): "The South Dakota Service to the Blind reported a new record in returning blind persons to useful, self-sufficient lives during the last biennium. Eighteen of the blind rehabilitants are now homemakers twenty-nine are salaried workers, three are employed in sheltered workshops, seven are self-employed, and six are in small businesses." From the Ohio Council Bulletin: "Some time ago we were warned that hospitalization policies and insurance policies in excess of $500 would be stricken from our Aid to Blind grants. In Summit, Stark, Mahoning and Lorain Counties, we are getting reports that much more than hospitalization and insurance is being cut from our AB grants. We are told that this is part of the austerity program of the state government. At the same time, our legislators are now receiving $8,000 instead of $5,000 a year. Cabinet officials and judges got a $2,000 to $4,000 a year raise. There is a bill in the legislature today to increase the governor's salary from $25,000 to $50,000 a year. Another bill in the legislature would give a $40 a month raise to all state employees across the board. We are one of the richest states in the nation, and we will be richer; but we are going to save $200,000 a year by cutting AB grants and reducing the administrative cost by dumping aid to blind, aid to aged and aid to permanently disabled into one pot. Does it make sense?" From the Hoosier Star-Light: "Now they have come up with a new and equally useless item to save — beer-can tabs! Through the years, the Seeing Eye has worked consistently to quell these false rumors, apparently to little avail." From The Blind Advocate: "An alarm clock, specially designed for the deaf-blind, has been produced by the research department of St. Dunstan's. The 'clock' is a simple time switch that can be set to the nearest quarter of an hour up to 12 hours. It is housed in a wooden case and coupled with a special vibrator placed under the pillow. The time switch is brailled in the same way as a braille watch to simplify setting." ... This issue describes a new device to enable a deaf-blind person to become aware of the ringing of his doorbell. Mr. A.R. Sculthorpe, secretary of the National Deaf-Blind Helpers' League, who is totally deaf and blind and in whose home a pilot installation was made, considers it to be "an unqualified success." A transistorized hearing-aid receiver is carried by the deaf-blind person and may be clipped to a dress or worn in a breast pocket. It is connected not to an earpiece but to a vibrator unit little bigger than a modern costume jewelry type ring, worn on the finger. The pulses from this are easily felt by the deaf-blind wearer, who knows immediately that someone is at the door. Because the frequency used is so low, no interference is caused to radio or television sets. The American Eye Bank Association estimates that there are 35,000 blind people in the United States who could be benefited through corneal transplant operations if only enough usable corneas were available. New York AP: "It is estimated that, if all services were figured in at the going rate of pay, a housewife could bill her husband annually for an average of $8,285." From Listen: "Instruments and devices designed to aid blind and deaf-blind persons in mobility, communication and other areas are being tested and assessed at a newly established center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. John K. Dupress, director, states that in the past lack of proper screening, testing and redesign has caused potentially valuable devices and ideas to be discarded. ... The executive secretary of the American Association of Workers for the Blind, Gordon B. Connor, Ed.D., has submitted his resignation and on September 1, 1965, will leave the post he has held for the past three years. ... Barnard Levin, a pioneer in the formation of the Associated Blind of Massachusetts and one of the state's most prominent blind citizens, died suddenly in his home in Brighton on January 1 at the age of 81. ... Joseph Del Signore, 51, was judged to be mentally retarded and was committed to an institution when he was 21. After 30 years Mrs. Rachel Saganov was assigned to his ward as a nurse. She won Del Signore's confidence and was the first to break through the barrier of his double handicap. He was discovered to have a high degree of manual dexterity and above average intelligence. After a course of training at the Brooklyn Industrial Home, he is now happily employed in a workshop in Cambridge, Mass. ... " Many friends and co-workers for the blind throughout the United States will mourn the passing of Anthony E. Septinelli on February 11, 1965, in Sacramento, Calif. In 1943 he joined the California Rehabilitation Program and, at the time of his sudden death, was administrator of the Business Enterprise Program. He had built this into one of the most outstanding of such services in the whole country. Tony was a charter member of the American Council of the Blind. His director, Andrew Marrin, writes: "Tony was the first blind counselor to be hired by the California program and made an outstanding record as a placement counselor for the blind. Throughout· his entire life as a blind person he gave of his time freely to voluntary activities on behalf of the blind." From the Washington State White Cane: " No one can help me unless I want to help myself. All excuses must be left behind. All weak tendencies to dependence on others must be acknowledged and abandoned. I must want, more than anything else, to be a whole person .... Lyle von Erichsen, eminent blind lawyer and former president of the WAB, had a heart attack during December, was in the hospital for several weeks, but has recovered sufficiently so that he is now back at his desk ..." From the ABC Digest (Calif.): "We learn with sorrow of the passing of an old friend -- Winfield S. Rumsey, executive director of the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind, formerly on the staff of the American Foundation. I learned to know him during the Ceylon meeting of the Executive Committee of the World Council in 1958. The following year Paul Kirton and I were closely associated with him at a workshop conference at Bedford Springs, Pa. He had been scheduled as a featured speaker at the ABC spring convention in April. The assembling of the print edition of the Braille Forum is now an official project of the Oklahoma Federation's Oklahoma City Chapter. From New Trends in Hiring Practices (Calif.): "The Modesto Junior College campus in Modesto, Calif., was the November 21, 1964, setting for a conference which was attended by blind teachers and guests from New Mexico, Oregon, Canada and California. Mrs. Onvia Ticer Tillinghast, blind teacher of sighted children in San Lorenzo, Calif., stated that a recent survey showed 49 blind teachers in the public and private schools of her state. However there are many more credentialed and qualified teachers who cannot find teaching positions because they are blind. Many administrators refuse to interview blind prospective teachers. One of the major functions of the blind teachers' conference is to make administrators aware that there are blind teachers, that it is legal for them to hold credentials, and to ask that they be considered for employment. The conference also serves as an in-service workshop to discuss techniques, ideas, and experiences. Dr. Isabelle Grant said that we are far behind West Germany, Scandinavia, Poland, Yugoslavia and the USSR in the hiring of blind teachers. "Devices and Techniques Used by Blind Teachers" and "Materials and Services for the Blind Teacher" may be obtained free by writing to Mrs. Onvia Tillinghast, 63 Dutton Ave., San Leandro, Calif. ..." Following the example of the organized blind in Detroit, a second city, St. Louis, now has a daily three-minute recorded program which can be heard by dialing the proper number. This enterprise is sponsored by RITE (one of the three St. Louis chapters of the Missouri Federation), and the initial work was carried on by the late beloved Bill Jackson. After his untimely death, it was taken over by Roy Zuvers. Thus, on Sunday the dates of future symphony concerts, plays and other coming attractions are announced. On Mondays the emphasis is on department store bargains. On Thursdays weekend grocery specials get the attention, etc. On February 8 Arthur and Viola Schroer of St. Louis, Mo. -- charter members of the Missouri organized blind movement -- celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Viola has been doing a tremendous job as state publicity chairman for lo these many years. (Courtesy of Missouri Chronicle.) Excerpt from the March 21 Board of Directors meeting of the South Dakota Association of the Blind as reported in the Visually Handicapped Views: "Howard Hanson (director of Services to the Blind) reported that he was currently accepting applications for a mobility instructor and would be conducting interviews for this position later in the spring. Vernon Williams reported that the Bell Telephone Company had authorized a one-charge installation fee for the telebraille switchboard and that arrangements were currently being made to install a switchboard in the Minneapolis Society for the Blind in Minneapolis for the purpose of a continuing training program. Both Vernon and Howard reported that prospects appeared good for the success of the switchboard throughout the country." From the Nebraska Observer: "H.R. 929 is the number of the current bill to amend Section 403 (b) of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to permit the granting of free transportation to guides or guide dogs accompanying totally blind persons. Write your congressmen. .. Girl explaining her problem with her boyfriend: 'Trouble is, he likes me just the way I am -- single.' ... Sweet young thing to auto mechanic: 'Please fix my horn. My brakes don't work.' ... A good many men still like to think of their wives as they do their religion, neglected but always there." A letter from Maymie Tuttle of the Quincy, Ill., chapter, of Mendon, Ill., contains the sad news of the sudden death of Mrs. Richard Kinney -- the wife of the famous deaf-blind assistant director of the Hadley School. She was a bride of only a few short months. The letter also discusses a continuance of the joint meetings of the Quincy chapter with the Hannibal, Mo., chapter which is across the Mississippi. Hannibal entertains in March and Quincy reciprocates with a picnic in August. Maymie also mentioned the tragic death of the young lady who was to have been the Illinois alternate to the 1965 ACB convention. Pete Campbell, public relations man with Guiding Eyes for the Blind, who has attended our last three conventions and is a charter member, visited Madison on April 9, and we enjoyed having him in our home that evening. Pete told us that Marie Boring has enrolled for guide dog training in May with his organization. A group on the campus of the University of Little Rock prepared a series of three tape-recorded broadcasts on the rehabilitation of the handicapped. The second one dealt with rehabilitation of the blind and was distributed nationally by the American Foundation. Apparently, no responsible staff member bothered to listen to the tape before it was issued. After describing in glowing terms the splendid progress made by blind rehabilitants, the speaker added sadly -- 'But there will always be a few blind beggars and piano tuners around." The AFB is embarrassed and is trying to recall as many of the tapes as possible. Floyd Qualls of Oklahoma writes in the Braille Piano Technician that he may still have some claim to respectability because he has a little insurance business on the side. From the Oklahoma Federation Newsletter: "At the board meeting on March 6, the chairman of the Membership Committee reported that the OFB now has a voting membership of 669 and about 95 associate members." For a number of years the Montana Association for the Blind has been trying to persuade the state government of the urgent need for home teacher services. The MAB has gone so far as to hire a home teacher on a part-time basis from its own treasury but has been unable to continue this indefinitely. Now at last the State Legislature has appropriated a sum sufficient to employ one home teacher on a two-year pilot basis, and there is good reason to hope that, after the need has been demonstrated, the service will be continued and perhaps extended. From Chemical Week (March 6): "At Jacksonville, Fla., the Glidden Corporation's Organic Chemicals Division hired six blind persons a year ago on the premise that they would make good taste-and-odor judges of synthetic flavoring and perfume chemicals. These people have proved four times more effective in assuring product uniformity than have comparable panelists with unimpaired sight, says Glidden. The panelists are possibly the first employees hired by a major corporation "because of their blindness rather than in spite of it. …" Katherine LaFlame, former president of the Rochester, N.Y., chapter, and an ACB charter member, passed away in February. A neighbor of mine has a Hall braillewriter just three years old that has never been unpacked from its carton. It cost $65, and she will take any reasonable offer. From Horizon (London): "Doctors are puzzled by the fact that 50 survivors of the cyclone which struck Ceylon last December have become totally blind. Medical authorities think that it could have been caused by salty mist being injected into the eyes by high velocity winds. It is pointed out that the impact of the wind current on the eye would be as penetrating as a needle thrust." ***** ** ACB Officers and Directors President: Ned E. Freeman, 136 Gee's Mill Rd., Conyers, Ga. 30207 1st Vice President: Durward K. McDaniel, Suite 305 Midwest Bldg., Oklahoma City 2, Oklahoma 73102 2nd Vice President: David Krause, 4628 Livingston Rd., SE, Washington, D.C. 20032 Secretary: Mrs. Alma Murphey, 4103 Castleman Ave., St. Louis, Missouri 63110 Treasurer: Reese H. Robrahn, 308 Columbian Building, Topeka, Kansas 66603 ** Directors * Directors Until 1966: George Card, 605 S. Few Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53703 G. Paul Kirton, Room 6327, Department of the Interior, Washington 25, D.C. Mrs. Marie M. Boring, 1113 Camden Avenue, Durham, North Carolina 27701 * Directors Until 1968: F. Winfield Orrell, 5209 Alabama Avenue, Chattanooga, Tenn. 37409 Mrs. Mary Jane Hills, 33 1/2 Edmonds St., Rochester, New York 14607 R.L. Thompson, 104 West Hanlon St., Tampa, Florida 33604 Fred C. Lilley, 1155 West 83rd St., Apt. 216, Chicago, Illinois ###