The Braille Forum Vol. V May 1967 No. 6 Published Bi-Monthly by the American Council of the Blind Oklahoma City, Oklahoma * Editor: Ned E. Freeman 136 Gee's Mill Road Conyers, Georgia 30207 * President: Reese Robrahn 541 New England Bldg. Topeka, Kansas 66603 * Associate Editors: George Card 605 South Few St. Madison, Wis. 53703 Earl Scharry 264 Saunders Ave. Louisville, Ky. 40206 * Executive Office: Board of Publications 652 East Mallory Ave. Memphis, Tenn. 38106 To inform its readers and to provide an impartial Forum for discussion. ***** ** 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 ACB official news and programs, but its pages will also be available for free expression of views 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 Ave., 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 Do You Know An Ambassador? ACB President's Message Legislative Spotlight McFarland ACB Banquet Speaker At 69 and Deaf-Blind -- A Practical Nurse New Statistical Procedures Amendments to ACB Constitution Blindness and the Blind ACB Tape Chatter Advisory Council Indicts Welfare Programs Ned's Corner Happenings I Wish I Were Should We Have Radio Programs Especially for the Blind? Hyde Park Corner Here and There Letters from Readers Refugees from the Round File Partial Sight from Electronic Beep ACB Officers Directors ***** ** Do You Know an Ambassador? In the March issue of the FORUM a call was made for nominations for ACB's 1967 Ambassador. The time is short, but you may yet get your nominations to the judges on or before June 10, if you hurry. In order to qualify the recipient must be blind and be a citizen of the United States or one of its possessions. Candidates will be judged on the basis of service rendered exemplifying the blind citizen integrated into the total life of the community. Nominations should be sent to the Committee Chairman -- George Fogarty, 731 Faxon Ave., San Francisco 94112 -- with copies to each of the other two judges -- John P. Nelson, Montevideo, Minnesota 56265, and Miss Lovelia Hilty, 309 Van Buren, Topeka, Kansas 66600. ***** ** ACB President's Message It has been reported by many reliable sources that there exists in high places a strong undercurrent of resistance to the pressures exerted by the blind and for the blind to improve programs and services affecting the welfare of the blind. This resistance seems to stem from the belief on the part of some that the blind have somehow acquired more than their fair share of programs and special services. Apparently, this resistance is not manifested in efforts to cut back funds or curtail programs and services for the blind but rather, it is manifested in expressions of desires and efforts to upgrade existing programs and initiate new programs and services for other categories of disabilities. Whatever the underlying cause or reason for this trend, it should be recognized and dealt with tactfully by representatives of organizations of and for the blind who are charged with responsibilities which require communication and contact with legislators and government officials and administrators holding the purse strings or clothed with power to hold the line or extend or expand programs and services. There are those who theorize that this trend is but a small part of a disturbing total picture which is identified by them as the "sighted backlash"; that it is just one symptom of an ever-growing prejudice against blind people. I do not agree that there exists this "sighted backlash." Instead, it is my view that there are those, at long last, who are not willing to recognize the existence of a widespread prejudice against blind people on all levels of social intercourse. Long ago research and study established that prejudice against the blind is the least professed of all the prejudices, but the comparison the most practiced. It is concluded from this research and study that the vast majority of those who refuse to admit their prejudice against the blind do so because of the fear of the stigma that might attach by reason of a strong disapproval by society. To put it simply, this behavior results from thinking that goes something like this: after all, you can't condemn a blind man for being blind; he is but to be pitied. Yes, the prejudice exists now. It has existed always. Always some parents have exhibited prejudice against the blind suitor of their sighted daughter. Always some voices of discrimination have been raised against the blind man with a dog guide or a cane, or an unattended blind man, in restaurants hotels, and on public conveyances. Always some certification agencies have practiced discrimination against blind persons seeking certification as teachers. Always some employers have discriminated against applicants for employment who are blind. For, if this were not so, a high percentage of employable blind people would be gainfully employed. Some agency personnel practice discrimination against the very persons whom they claim to serve. Some blind people practice discrimination against their fellow blind, apparently believing themselves to be a notch higher than their peers. While prejudice and discrimination against the blind minority in our land is still widespread, inroads have been made and there has been many a breakthrough. There is some enlightenment in most quarters. Some progress and change is evident, but the way still is tortuous and uphill. Agencies have made their contribution to this progress but for the most part this progress must be attributed to organizations of the blind and to many blind individuals who have exhibited all the tireless effort and indomitable spirit of pioneers conquering a new frontier. If you have asked, why the organization of the blind, then I submit the foregoing as the reason that suffices. ***** ** Legislative Spotlight By Durward McDaniel, Chairman ACB Legislative Committee Box 1476 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73101 The 90th Congress has already produced an abundant crop of bills affecting blind persons. These range over the following general subjects: Public assistance Medicare Kerr-Mills medical assistance Vocational rehabilitation Air travel concession Free postal concession Tax incentive for employment Establishment of Eye Institute Income Tax deductions and exemptions Social Security eligibility and benefits You may obtain additional information on any of these bills by writing to the American Council at the above address. Without minimizing the importance of other legislation, we believe that the proposed Social Security Amendments of 1967 deserve the greatest attention at this time. The Council's representative presented its views on these proposals at the Ways and Means Committee hearing on April 11. The extension of Medicare benefits to disability beneficiaries is a part of the Administration's bill, H.R. 5710, and we can help to assure the realization of this valuable right by giving specific support to it. The key objective of all major organizations of and for the blind is the inclusion of the King Bill, H.R. 3064, in the Social Security Amendments of 1967. This is the old "Humphrey Amendment" providing benefits for blind persons having six quarters of coverage, with no limitation on earnings. In April, National Industries for the Blind added its support for H.R. 3064. Many Congressmen have introduced identical bills, and you should let your Congressman and Senators know of your interest in this proposal. It is significant that an increasing number of the pending bills on social security propose liberalizing on eliminating present earnings limitations. We are making progress on this very important objective, and every letter written in support of the King Bill, H.R. 3064, helps to hasten our success. Last month you received the Council's legislative bulletin on the Social Security Amendments of 1967. The volume of letters and telegrams in support of the Council's position has been very encouraging and impressive. Our Legislative Action Committee is growing rapidly, and we should like to add your name to the permanent list to receive all legislative bulletins. Other action bulletins will be sent when they are timely. You should begin now to write and encourage others to write the Senate Committee on Finance expressing support for the social security objectives of the American Council of the Blind. The Social Security Amendments of 1967 will affect millions of people, and you should enlist friends and relatives in our letter writing campaign to obtain improvements for the blind and others. Members of the Senate Committee on Finance are: Russell Long, Louisiana George A. Smathers, Florida Clinton P. Anderson, New Mexico Albert Gore, Tennessee Herman E. Talmadge, Georgia Eugene J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vance Hartke, Indiana J. W. Fulbright, Arkansas Abraham A. Ribicoff, Connecticut Lee Metcalf, Montana Fred R. Harris, Oklahoma John J. Williams, Delaware Frank Carlson, Kansas Wallace F. Bennett, Utah Carl T. Curtis, Nebraska Thruston B. Morton, Kentucky Everett M. Dirksen, Illinois ***** ** McFarland ACB Banquet Speaker A banquet address by Dr. Kenneth McFarland, one of the nation's foremost exponents of "The American System" and noted lecturer, educator, author, will be among highlights of the 1967 national convention of the American Council of the Blind. Convention sessions will open at the Broadview Hotel, Wichita, Kansas, July 19, and Dr. McFarland's address will be featured Friday July 21. He will speak to ACB through the courtesy of the American Trucking Association. He serves as guest lecturer for that group and for General Motors Corporation. He formerly was guest lecturer for Readers Digest. The demand for Dr. McFarland as guest speaker has caused him to be designated America's Number One Air Passenger, and he received a special flying award presented by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker. The four-day program, built around the theme, "Improving Tomorrow, Today" is designed to lend a sense of urgency to present day problems and to help assure the future. Miss Betty Girling, Director, School of the Air, University of Minnesota, will be included among the many outstanding speakers. Her topic will be "Are You Listening?" The problems, education, and accomplishments of those with partial vision will be discussed by Mrs. Gladys Foss, head of the program for partially seeing, Wichita Public Schools. A program "must" will be a panel discussion by persons with jobs or professions that are unusual or not normally performed by the blind. Lowell M. Ebell, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, Kansas Division of Services for the Blind, will serve as moderator. The multiple handicapped, new transcribing methods, and legislation will be included in other key program items. OTHER ATTRACTIONS -- A Credit Union Breakfast is scheduled for Saturday morning, July 22. It is hoped that all ACB members interested in the Credit Union movement will plan to attend. Otto Peterson, home teacher, Garden City, Kansas, is in charge of displays and exhibits. A number of items, ranging from telephone equipment to architecture, will be on hand. According to the tour committee, the tour will be a "white glove affair." The extremely thin gloves will be presented to passengers during the air-conditioned bus ride to the Boeing Company. The gloves will enable an inspection of a Saturn skin without causing it to be rejected. The gloves also will provide clean hands after a plaster pattern inspection of the new 737 transport. Materials will be brought to a specific location. Every attempt is being made to provide a comfortable, meaningful tour. The tour includes a visit to the Institute of Logopedics, a trip through "Cow Town," a re-creation of early Wichita, a barbeque, and a program by 150 enthusiastic teenagers. The cost of the tour will be kept low, thanks to the wonderful community cooperation. Bonnie Byington, convention chairman, said Kansans are trying hard to make 1967 ACB conventioners welcome. The Braille Association of Kansas, a volunteer transcribers group, mostly sighted persons, is helping with a convention information service for the convenience of guests. If possible, arrange to arrive early and stay late. The "Hi, Neighbor" reception hosted by the Wichita Association for the Visually Handicapped, Tuesday, July 18, 7:30 p.m., is a party you won't want to miss. It will be a chance to greet old friends and meet new ones. The Kansas Association for the Blind, convention hosts, are sponsoring a dance Saturday night, complete with live music. Plan to relax after those convention business meetings and be our guests. Make your reservations as soon as possible. Write directly to the Broadview Hotel, 400 West Douglas, Wichita, Kansas. Please specify for ACB convention, and send duplicate request to Bonnie Byington, 950 Drury Lane, Wichita, Kansas 62707. ***** ** At 69 and Deaf-Blind -- A Practical Nurse From the Herald-Whig (Quincy, Illinois) (Editor's Note: The pictures accompanying this article show Maymie Tuttle with her Braille writer as she prepares newsletters for other deaf-blind persons and Maymie caning a "Grandpa Chair." In a letter which accompanied the article, Maymie tells us that the job referred to as that of a "housekeeper" was actually practical nursing, since she was caring for an invalid. She also assisted with her patient's exercises after demonstration by a visiting nurse. She tells us further that the new surgical procedure which she underwent has materially improved her hearing, although she still customarily wears her hearing aid.) Mrs. Maymie Tuttle, 69, of the Mendon and Quincy, is deaf and blind, but the older she gets the more she finds to do. Six months ago she found employment as a housekeeper through a Herald-Whig classified advertisement. In her spare time she canes chairs for others and puts out a monthly braille newsletter for the blind-deaf people in the United States and Canada. She mowed her own lawn until three years ago when she had to give it up because her lawnmower played out. ... "I like people and I enjoy mixing with people," she said when interviewed while taking time out from her many duties. "When I was growing up I used to think it was difficult to have to work, but now I realize that I might be a burden today if I had not learned to work then." "Blindness didn't bother me, but deafness put me on the shelf." The years between 1932 and 1938 are described by Mrs. Tuttle as her dark years. She could neither see nor hear to communicate with other people. In 1938 she was fitted with a hearing aid and partial hearing was restored. Her dark years were cushioned somewhat because she had been prepared. In 1922 she was taught braille by a home teacher. In addition she was able to learn leathercraft, basketry, chair caning and braille music notation. After her husband's death in 1948 Mrs. Tuttle decided to visit relatives. She traveled alone to Tucson, Arizona, Old Mexico, Los Angeles, California, and Washington before returning home. "I didn't have any difficulty traveling," she said. "People on the bus were always offering to help." She made a return trip three years ago and appeared on the Art Linkletter show. "Mrs. Tuttle is a good example of a handicapped person who, with help, was not afraid to take that first step back to independence," said Lowell Sanborn, rehabilitation counselor for DVR. Sanborn has worked closely with Mrs. Tuttle for the past several years. In addition to providing vocational training, DVR provided her with a hearing aid in 1954, inner ear surgery in November 1966, and with the bone type hearing aid she now uses. During the holidays she made 21 pounds of candy for the invalid blind in Quincy nursing homes. Her newsletters to the blind-deaf include news gleaned from Paul Harvey radio programs, human interest stories and light items. The newsletter contains 12 pages of which eight copies are made. The letters are passed on and reach about 50 persons. ... Mrs. Tuttle isn't worried about the future. "Even though I'm sightless," she says, "I'll always keep my eyes open for the blind." ***** ** New Statistical Procedures It has long been felt that the reports issued by the Federal Rehabilitation Office and those from the several State agencies concerning the number of persons rehabilitated during the year have been both uninformative and mis leading. These reports have included the total number of cases "closed-rehabilitated" in the several disability groups but have failed to include the really important information concerning specific job classifications and range of income. True, some very broad classifications have been made but these have not really differentiated between minimal employment and placements which really reflect the capability of the client. Effective July 1, 1966, new regulations and reporting procedures were issued by the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration which, conceivably, will enable both State and National reports of the agencies to furnish more meaningful information. One of the deficiencies in the previous reports has been the failure to distinguish clearly between those cases which required retraining of the client before placement, those involved in "physical restoration," and those in which the client was able to return to his previous employment after counseling and perhaps orientation services. The new reporting form (R-300) requires a running case record for each client which shows the client's status at any given time and the exact nature of the services rendered. The information required is coded in such a way that it can be transferred to punched cards for computer processing. With this new system, it should be possible to include in annual reports full information which would enable interested organizations and agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and to offer suggestions as to possible ways to bring about more nearly complete rehabilitation for the individual client. Certain excerpts from the voluminous instructions are quoted herewith. Perhaps the most important statement in the entire document is this: "Criteria for Assessing Benefits Gained at Time of Closure -- The goal of the vocational rehabilitation program is to provide services necessary to render a handicapped person fit to engage in a gainful occupation, including a gainful occupation which is more consistent with his capacities and abilities." The new form R-300 "Case Service Report" is designed to accumulate basic information about each individual at various stages in the rehabilitation process, and will be used: (1) as a tool for measuring effectiveness of the rehabilitation programs at State and National levels; (2) in describing the operations of the program to the Congress and to State Legislatures; (3) in preparing estimates of the cost and to evaluate the effectiveness of proposed legislation; (4) for the dissemination of data on the characteristics of clients in the vocational rehabilitation programs; (5) to provide data on the operations and effectiveness of the program to various public and private organizations interested in the vocational rehabilitation of the handicapped; and (6) to provide specific answers to questions which are frequently raised on operations of the program. The new reporting system (Form R-300) July 1, 1966, requires recording and reporting every referral, at the time of referral, and for reporting on that individual when the referral action is completed, when the extended evaluation process is completed (if the individual was certified for extended evaluation), and when the case services are completed, whether rehabilitated or not. It also requires recording and reporting the reason for closure: from referral if not accepted for case services or extended evaluation; from extended evaluation if not accepted for case services; and from case services if closed not rehabilitated. It further provides, for the first time, a means for providing a quantitative measurement to the benefits provided the client if placed in extended evaluation and not subsequently accepted for vocational rehabilitation services; or if accepted for VR case services, to measure benefits regardless of the outcome (benefits codes). In brief, the new form is a comprehensive, standardized system of statistical reporting (by the counselor to responsible supervision) on the complete rehabilitation process, for every individual coming into contact with that process, from first referral to final closure. The new form requires information as of the time of closure concerning: VR Service Outcome (rehabilitated or not rehabilitated), Benefits Received Since Referral, SSDI Status, Number of Months on Agency Rolls, Type and Monthly Amount of Public Assistance, Work Status, Weekly Earnings, Occupation (Four-digit codes are provided, keyed to the third edition of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, Vol. I). ***** ** Amendments to ACB Constitution By Ned Freeman, Chairman, Committee on Constitution The ACB convention last July instructed the President to appoint a committee to study the constitution and bylaws, and to recommend amendments to eliminate ambiguities and confusion. As this issue of the Braille Forum goes to press only one suggestion has been offered. This is a minor change in the article relating to amendments and would stipulate that a proposed amendment shall be read to the convention not later than the day preceding the time of final action. The present wording of this section stipulates, "24 hours." It is the opinion of the Chairman that with the modifications and clarifications hammered out at Atlanta last year we have an excellent body of basic law to regulate our organization. However, if anyone has amendments to propose they should be sent to the chairman for consideration by the committee. The constitution provides that proposed amendments must be submitted to the committee on constitution and bylaws in writing not later than the first day of the annual convention at which they are to be considered. ***** ** Blindness and the Blind (Editor's Note: The March 27, 1967, issue of the Supermarket News published by Fairchild News Services, Inc., New York, contains an article covering more than half a standard newspaper page from which we excerpt the following.) Dr. Samuel Bradley Burson is associate physicist at Argonne National Laboratories, Argonne, Illinois. His achievements include a list of scholastic degrees in physics and law and research work with nuclear spectroscopy in the radioactive decay process of isotopes. Dr. Burson frankly admits: "I know I wouldn't have achieved the things I have if it hadn't been for my handicap." His handicap? Blindness -- resulting from a bullet in his head at the age of 15. "The biggest problem a blind person has to cope with is educating the people he associates with that he really isn't any different from anybody else," Dr. Burson maintains. Although most visually handicapped persons do not achieve such heights as Dr. Burson, many move up to positions of importance in fields in which they were previously operating -- or into new fields, despite their blindness. And many who were born blind also succeed in achieving comfortable standards of living. For instance, in Atlanta the office manager of a bedding company became blind while on the job a number of years ago and is still operating successfully "at the old stand." The manager of a gas line company became blind, has remained to manage the business with outstanding success ... and the owner and operator of a large music company is a man who was blinded in childhood but went on to build such a successful career that it is reported he is almost a millionaire. King Karpen, president and general manager of Aireloom Bedding Co., Alhambra, California, has for some 30 years pursued an active and successful business career ... most of that time without being able to read. A cutter-grinder operator at the Ford Motor Company plant in Cincinnati was blinded in an automobile accident in 1962. He returned to work at Ford eight months later as an assembler. He is doing fine. James C. Swail is a blind scientist with the radio and electrical engineering division at Canada's National Research Council in Ottawa. Mr. Swail is working on a radio compass to aid the blind in crossing to aid the blind in crossing wide open areas such as parking lots, etc., where landmarks the blind normally use are not available. He has developed several other instruments to aid the blind. He lost his sight at the age of four. Among widely known blind persons who are successful are Professor Thomas B. Benham of Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania, columnist Victor Riesel, pop singer Ray Charles, champion golfer Charles Boswell and pianist George Shearing. What is the attitude of employers toward hiring the blind? Do they regard them as limited in their abilities to perform, worth employing in certain types of jobs where they can do as well as the sighted ... or do they consider blind employees an unnecessary risk? Officials of the United States Health, Education and Welfare Department insist that, despite awesome difficulties posed by blindness, the number of jobs to which sightless persons can apply themselves is almost limitless. In the industrial area of the economy alone, they say, there are around 30,000 different jobs which the blind are capable of holding down. Most important, the officials stress, is the psychological aptitude of the subject. "You have got to find a job which suits the mentality of the blind person; a job to which he can respond with all the extra interest needed to conquer his disability -- otherwise, you are going to fail," they warn. The director of one of the agencies for the blind in Atlanta said: "There are few jobs the blind can't master with sufficient training and the will to learn ... the only trouble is with the general public and their concept that blind people are able only to sit and hold a cup." Chicago area retailers have taken on visually deprived or partially sighted employees with vouched-for abilities -- but the occasions have been few and far between. Department store officials seem to agree that there are relatively fewer opportunities for blind persons in retailing than in, say, manufacturing. Few are hired. And yet, State Street and outlying stores have hired blind personnel, thanks to the efforts of the Illinois Division of Rehabilitation, which tests, trains, guides and readjusts clients to the demands of society. The Chicago Lighthouse for the blind has 35 workers performing $150,000 worth of assembly processes each year for Western Electric, Automatic Electric and Hotpoint Companies, here, which accounts for one-third of its work done for diverse industrial firms. Robert Scott, employed by the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind as rehabilitation counselor, told Fairchild News Service that a "survey of various shoe factories conducted by us showed several jobs which could be performed by people with little or no vision. Mr. Scott, himself blind, said, We have placed over 300 blind persons in various jobs and haven't had a compensable accident in 14 years." In 1966 Cincinnati Association for the Blind employees put together 34 million in-flight packs for the Government for troop carriers; between mid-July and mid-November they assembled 4-5 million whiskey decanter tops for Schenley, Seagram and National Distillers Corporation; they do premium packaging for Proctor & Gamble, seam plastic drapes for Tex Style and assemble roller skate conveyors for Alvey Ferguson Co. The burgeoning field of automation has opened a whole new area of employment possibilities for the blind as computer programmers. "What cracked the field open for the blind is the ability of the high-speed printer to produce a readable braille without modification," says Dr. Theodore Sterling, professor of computer sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, who conducts a training program for the blind in this field. Blind computer programmers are being trained and hired for work in the Los Angeles electronics industry. International Academy, Brentwood, Maryland, started a computer programming training course last November and 14 blind persons are enrolled. Darkroom work in photography is a significant job area for blind persons, reported John B. Raithel, supervisor of employment services, Missouri Bureau for the Blind. Some 16 or 17 blind people are working in St. Louis hospitals developing X-ray film, he noted. In general, Mr. Raithel, who is blind himself, noted that over the past years resistance to hiring the blind among employers has lessened considerably. "They'll sit down and listen to you," Mr. Raithel commented, "and as for promotions, it's amazing how many employers will move them right along." Blind people have been able to prove themselves in the professions, he noted, citing teaching as a bright example. In merchandising, Rich's Atlanta employs two people who are legally blind ... Sears stores in Athens, Georgia, employs a totally blind telephone switchboard operator who handles the switchboard for the entire store and is said to do a beautiful job. And in East Dublin, Georgia, there is a blind policeman. ***** ** ACB Tape Chatter By John B. Sevier, Tape Coordinator 449 East 28th Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218 Hi, there! Just a few lines from your Tape coordinator to encourage all the individual Braille Forum readers, state and local affiliates, and individual legally blind members to drop me a line with specifics about yourself, your interests, and your recorder speeds so we can keep this club going as an effective voice of the blind on the local, state and national level, and as a means of making more friends and acquaintances among blind persons. First of all, I want to clarify something that I thought I had made clear previously: this club membership list is for all of you. Look it over carefully (November, March, and May Braille Forum) and send the first tape to any and all members that interest you. Only by being active can the club truly be your club, our club, not just my club. Also, Mr. Art Brown, Rt. #3, Harrison, Ohio 45030, has offered to send to all the ACB Tape Chatter readers free movie reels for your tape recorders; believe me, they are a real convenience and can save a lot of money in the taping hobby. Incidentally, Mr. Brown is editor of Tape Times, a publication for blind people, which is sponsored by the Southwestern Ohio Lions Clubs, and which he will be glad to mail to you (on tape) for a simple request to him at the above address. Now for the names, and let's make next month's list even longer. Okay? Mr. Hank La Bonne, 136 Chennault St., Morgan City, Louisiana 70380, interested in CB radio and general interests, also plays piano, has recording studio; he has dual and quarter track and four speeds on each. Mr. Durward K. McDaniel, ACB Legislative Chairman, 305 Midwest Bldg., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102, is interested in taping relative to legislation for the blind, but cannot take any additional tapes of a purely social nature. Mr. Stewart Rauscher, Rt. #1, Manchester, Pennsylvania 17345, is interested in country and western music and general topics. Mrs. Florence E. Verken, 1322 No. 24th St., Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53205, is active in the Wisconsin Council of the Blind, editor of a deaf-blind newsletter, and has two recorders, quarter track, three speeds. ***** ** Advisory Council Indicts Welfare Programs (Editor's Note: The following are excerpts from the report of the National Advisory Council on Welfare, Having the Power We Have the Duty.) On all counts and from all sources the weight of the evidence is incontestable: a major updating of our public welfare system is essential if it is to fulfill its assigned task of assuring a basic floor of economic and social security for all Americans. The remedies must match these indictments: 1. Public assistance payments are so low and so uneven that the Government is, by its own standards and definitions, a major source of the poverty on which it has declared unconditional war. 2. Large numbers of those in desperate need, including many children, are excluded even from this level of aid by arbitrary eligibility requirements unrelated to need such as those based on age, family situation, degree of disability, alleged employability, low earnings, unrealistic requirements for family contribution, durational residence requirements, and absence of provisions for emergency assistance. 3. The methods for determining and redetermining eligibility for assistance and the amount to which the applicant is entitled are, in most States, confusing, onerous, and demeaning for the applicant; complex and time consuming for the worker; and incompatible with the concept of assistance as a legal right. 4. The lack of adequate social services for families, children, young people, and individuals isolated by age or disability is itself a major factor in the perpetuation of such social evils as crime and juvenile delinquency, mental illness, illegitimacy, multigenerational dependency, slum environments, and the widely deplored climate of unrest, alienation, and discouragement among many groups in the population. 5. Neither the war on poverty nor achievement of the long-range goals implicit in a Great Society concept can succeed so long as the basic guarantees of a practical minimum level of income and social protection are not assured for all. THE COUNCIL'S RECOMMENDATIONS Only comprehensive nationwide protections can meet this challenge. The Council, therefore, recommends the addition of a title to the Social Security Act to provide in cooperation with the States, a new nationwide program of basic social guarantees on the following basis: 1. General Proposal The new program would require that adequate financial aid and social services be available to all who need them as a matter of right. To make this possible a new pattern of Federal-State cooperation is proposed. The Federal Government would set nationwide standards, adjusted by objective criteria to varying costs and conditions among the States, and assume the total cost of their implementation above a stipulated State share. The States would thus be freed to concentrate their efforts on meeting human needs, relieved of the ... present multiple Federal program requirements and the constant pressure to find new sources of State financing. The required components for participation in this new program are described below. 2. Assistance Standards A floor of required individual or family income would be established for each State in terms of the cost of a modest but adequate family budget for families of various sizes and circumstances as established by objective methods of budget costing. This would constitute the minimum level of assistance which must prevail in that State. 3. Eligibility for Aid All persons with availability of income falling below this established budget level would be entitled to receive aid to the extent of that deficiency. Need would be the sole measure of entitlement and irrelevant exclusions such as those based on age, family composition or situation, degree of disability, presumption of income not actually available to the applicant, low earning capacity, filial responsibility, requirements or alleged employability would not conform with requirements of this program. Provision for immediate emergency aid when needed would also be required. 4. Eligibility Determination Applicants for aid would establish their initial eligibility by personal statements or simple inquiry relating to their financial situation and family composition, subject only to subsequent sample review conducted in such manner as to protect their dignity, privacy and constitutional rights. 7. Legal Rights Entitlement to all benefits and services within this program would be protected by the following legally enforceable rights: (1) the right to apply and receive prompt, objective and impartial determination of eligibility for and provision of benefit or service, (2) the right to be given a fair hearing against unacceptable judgements, by an impartial appeals agent, (3) the right to representation in appeals, by an attorney whose services and costs would be compensated by the agency if not otherwise provided for, (4) the right to court review, and (5) the obligation on the agency to publicize the conditions of entitlement to all benefits and services. The right to services would be conditioned on the need for service rather than income level. ... 9. States' Share The State's share in the financing of this comprehensive program would be established each year on a total dollar basis determined by objective criteria related to its fiscal capacity and effort. 10. Federal Share For States operating under this program of basic social guarantees the Federal Government would assume the full financial responsibility for the difference in cost between the State's share and the total cost of the new program. This constitutes in effect a revolutionary reversal of roles of the Federal and State governments in the financing pattern. Under the present system it is assumed that the primary responsibility for determining the scope, level of benefits and financing of the various components of a public welfare program rests with the States. Under the new proposal national standards of performance would be recognized as calling for an equivalent national assumption of financial responsibility by the Federal Government. (The entire Advisory Council report is available on two reels of tape and may be borrowed from the Forum Editorial Office.) ***** ** Ned's Corner A detailed study is currently under way in each of the States seeking means of improving vocational rehabilitation in all areas and to all client groups. The announced goal is to make it possible to meet the rehabilitation needs of every person who is under a disability by the year 1975. Admittedly, an ambitious undertaking since the disabilities now recognized by VRA are not only the physical but the mental and social ones, as well. You may have noticed that there has been an explosive expansion of rehabilitation personnel in the past two or three years and this trend will apparently continue for the foreseeable future. The principal limiting factor seems to be a shortage of qualified personnel. The blind have always been a minority in the total rehabilitation picture and are becoming more and more so as the field expands. It is, therefore, essential that all of us who are concerned with better services and more opportunities for the blind should participate to the utmost possible extent to see that there is comparable improvement for our fellow blind. I believe the structure of this statewide planning project is essentially the same in each state, since the studies are being carried out under Federal grants. There is a planning and policy council with an executive staff and a citizens advisory committee. These are appointed and are made up primarily of business and professional people, some of whom are associated with organizations interested in various disability groups. They are, however, drawn from outside the rank of the professional rehabilitation workers. In a few cases representatives of your organization may have been included in either the council or the advisory council committee. Whether or not your organization is represented as such, may I suggest that you contact the chairman of the policy council or the advisory committee, or both, and arrange for participation in the discussions. One member of the Georgia Federation of the Blind was appointed to the advisory committee although he officially represents another agency. One meeting of the planning group has been held for organization, which meeting I was invited to attend, and I was assured that all suggestions and recommendations from our group or from any interested citizen would be given consideration. Letters are being written to the chairman of the advisory committee by a number of our members, suggesting needs which are currently unmet or criticizing present procedures. This is an opportunity which should not be overlooked, to let the voice of the blind be heard in a manner which can greatly benefit future programs. Where we must criticize, let us do so in as constructive a manner as possible. What is being sought from these surveys is suggestions for ways of improving the present program and of more fully meeting the need of the disadvantaged. ***** ** Happenings The Oral Hull Foundation for the Blind has announced its first organized program of social and recreational activities at its park near Sandy, Oregon. The story of how this 22-acre tract of land at the foot of Mt. Hood on the Sandy River has, in four short years, become a haven of joy and relaxation for blind people in Oregon is a thrilling one. The land was a gift from Mrs. Oral Hull and, under the guidance of George Howeiler, a group of interested men and women established the Oral Hull Foundation in 1963. ACB is officially represented on the Board of the Foundation and has been much interested in the progress made. With the cooperation of civic groups, benevolent individuals, youth groups, professional engineers, the Parks service, etc., and the work of blind persons themselves, Oral Hull Acres now has roads, shelters, water supply, gardens -- and graveled trails with directional and safety guide wires for the full enjoyment of the woodland beauty by blind guests. During past summers an annual picnic in the park was the Highlight of the year, but on July 1, this year, there will begin a six weeks program for groups of visually handicapped persons and their friends to spend a whole week in this beautiful spot. Vacationers from surrounding states will be welcome along with those from Oregon. The newly renovated club house will be available for those preferring to sleep indoors while tents will be available for others. Each group will purchase its own food at a local market, prepare its own meals, and wash its own dishes and have a joyous time! Anyone interested in spending a week at Oral Hull Park this summer should write to the Oral Hull Foundation for the Blind, Inc., PO Box 157, Sandy, Oregon 97055. *** The Detroit Statler-Hilton Hotel will be headquarters for the Piano Technicians Guild convention July 10-11. On the Sunday before, July 9, visually handicapped tuners will gather for special sessions including a program in the afternoon at which Dr. Robert Thompson, former AAIB president and currently Superintendent of the Michigan School for the Blind will speak on the significant factors affecting the status and success of the blind piano technician. The convention program includes a tour of the Leader Dog facilities located north of Detroit. Reservations should be made directly to the hotel. *** The twentieth annual tournament of the American Blind Bowlers Association, will be held, June 8-11, at the Algonquin Bowling Center, Louisville, Kentucky. This Center boasts seventy-two lanes, making it the largest establishment at which this tournament has ever been held. It is anticipated that nearly a thousand persons will attend, including participants from such Western leagues as Wichita, Topeka, Minneapolis. Tournamenteers will be able to choose from a variety of entertainment in addition to the dance featuring Gary Stonecipher's band: races at Miles Park, and excursion on the renowned Belle of Louisville, a tour of the American Printing House, Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, and a host of night spots serving refreshing mint juleps. Earl Scharry is ABBA's local league president and tournament co-chairman. Other ACB members active in planning and promoting the tournament are: Carl Dotson, finance chairman; Hazel Scharry, hospitality chairman; Lewis Cain, arrangements chairman. *** Invitations have been issued to a testimonial dinner honoring Dr. Peter J. Salmon for fifty years of "uninterrupted distinguished service" at the Industrial Home for the Blind, Brooklyn. This celebration will take place at International Hotel, Kennedy Airport, on June 1. *** We were happy to receive an invitation to the wedding of Mrs. Assunta Ann Jackson and Mr. Fred Clifford Lilley which was scheduled for April twenty-ninth at the Little Flower Church in Richmond Heights, Missouri. The FORUM is proud to take note of this as another ACB romance which blossomed at the Louisville convention. We extend our very best wishes for many years of happiness. Assunta has been with ACB from its beginnings and has been very active in the affairs of the Missouri Federation and in RITE. Fred is a member of the ACB Board of Directors and active in the Illinois Federation. Those of us who have observed this couple at recent conventions have been anticipating this announcement. *** Three tours especially planned for blind persons have been announced for this year. The first such tour took some 45 blind persons through Europe last fall and, from the reports we have had, everyone had a marvelous time. Special arrangements were made so that these tourists could examine famous sculptures and other objects of interest which are ordinarily "off limits." We are hoping to carry, in the pages of the Forum, a first-hand account of last fall's tour by one of the blind travelers. Watch for this in an early issue. Hawaiian Tour, June 23 -July 2, includes Pearl Harbor, Pineapple Fields, International Market, with Southsea native music, and many points of interest on the outlying islands. One of the highlights, of course, will be an evening Luau following a visit to the Governor's mansion. Cost from Seattle, $645.75, but this does not include all meals while in Honolulu. European tour will include Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Vienna, Munich, and several Swiss Cities. Among the highlights will be the Louvre, Paris Opera, a Dutch cheese factory, a porcelain factory in Copenhagen, the Vienna Boys choir, the passion play theatre at Oberammergau, and the Swiss Institute of the Blind. Tour cost will be $1,166.00 from New York, including all transportation, hotels and meals. A Ski tour to Norway next February is being planned for skiers and would-be skiers. The instructor will be a man who has had a great deal of experience in teaching the blind to ski. The all-inclusive cost is expected to be around $460. Further information and full particulars about any of the tours may be obtained from Mrs. Betty J. Hoffman, Evergreen Travel Service, Inc., P.O. Box 583, Lynnwood, Washington 98036. Be sure to take complete notes and let the Forum know how you enjoyed the trip. ***** ** I Wish I Were by Thomas Jerry Ashley (This is one of the winning entries in the Ned Freeman award contest at the Georgia Academy for the Blind.) I wish I were a tree, So I could stand and see, The beauties all around me. I wish I were the sky, So every bright day I, Would shine through and say, "Hi'." I wish I were a lake, An endless trail I'd make, Zig-zagging like a snake. I wish I were a pen, With which great men, Great stories might begin. There are many things I'd like to be, There are places I'd like to see, But I'll just make the best of me. ***** ** Should We Have Radio Programs Especially for the Blind? From the Florida White Cane Bulletin, via the Missouri Chronicle The "Monitor" Radio Critic of the New Beacon reports on the BBC Program for the Blind, "In Touch," that there are many aspects of blindness about which the fully sighted have woven a fanciful cloak, probably in an effort to explain away such of these aspects as are foreign to their understanding, and quite outside their experience. Unless you've actually climbed Everest, it's difficult to understand the people who do it, exactly why and how they do it, what powers of endurance, courage and mental application are involved. Nor, indeed, what they get out of it once they're there. In much the same way, unless you've experienced blindness, it's difficult to comprehend precisely what is involved! No one, of course, would volunteer for blindness merely to acquire knowledge of being blind -- hence the general lack of understanding. There are, therefore, no amateurs in blindness; only professionals. There may be beginners, apprentices if you like, but no amateurs. Whereas climbing Everest is a matter of choice, blindness is something you have whether you like it or not. You are, therefore, a professional whether you like it or not. Now although the blind look rather differently upon the various aspects of their blindness than do the fully sighted, I don't think anyone would quarrel with the fact that the professional blind are also professional listeners, but here again there isn't much choice. The standard of professionalism attained by the blind, however, in the business of living, is largely determined by the: professionalism of their hearing. The professional blind depend upon their ears in the business of living. So what? What's that got to do with broadcasts for the blind? Well, within these words lie both reasons for "In Touch" for the blind at all. In the first place, it can be rightly pointed out that radio for the blind might well confirm the general attitude of the sighted that the blind are "different." Give the blind special radio programs, and you make the blind themselves look special. Besides, if you feed information to the blind through radio programs, they might come to depend upon it, and not trouble to glean information the hard way, through other means of communication. Whereas radio features ABOUT the blind add to the experience of the sighted, and thus aid the integration of the blind into the community, radio for the blind might not only demonstrate publicly that they require unusual treatment, but might convince the blind themselves that they are a separate community. The opposing views to these, however, say that if all blind people are professionally so, then they are no different than any other professional section within the community, and, therefore, they deserve, and should demand, to be treated as would any other professional section. ... By far, the greater proportion of the blind population are unable to read Braille, and are, therefore denied access to the professional knowledge, education and instruction they require. Radio, making good use of the professional ears of the blind, is therefore the only mass-communication answer. ... Far from working against integration, radio for the blind should specifically aim at aiding integration, and should make readily available such information as is needed in this direction. If the programs were properly planned and produced, any casual sighted listener should see that, far from being "special" and "different," the way of life of the blind is perfectly logical, most unspecial and quite undifferent. ***** ** Hyde Park Corner By Earl Scharry Civics-a-la Grimm Brothers. This department has been for a long time in a state of suspended animation -- and it might have been supposed that it was decently buried in a Christian grave. However, we believe that the bit of misinformation we are about to report would cause even the most tranquil of ghosts to rouse and walk the earth in torment. There recently came to our attention a high school textbook, Civics in Action, which we understand is prescribed by the State of California board of education. We felt that this work was somewhat lacking in academic objectivity, but we were nevertheless pleased to find that a sizeable discussion of work for the blind was included. Our interest was only slightly dampened when we found that the main emphasis was on guide dogs and busywork, with no mention at all of cane travel, and productive or creative employment mentioned only as an occasional and only remotely possible development. However, our astonishment was almost beyond words when we came across this alleged statement of fact: "The federal and state governments also offer another, indirect, kind of financial aid to the blind. Blind people, even those who are self-supporting, do not have to pay income tax." Really now! We appreciate the fact that California is a land of many wonders in which fantasy is taken in stride, but we had never thought to see such a bombshell of misinformation so flippantly dropped in the midst of impressionable youth. We can only hope that when the flood of delinquent blind taxpayers begins, the Internal Revenue authorities will be understanding, and that the disillusionment which awaits today's blind civics students in California will not be so absolute as to destroy utterly even their belief in Santa Claus and the infallibility of the teaching machine. We may rest assured that late or very soon the blind student will learn that it was all a big joke and that some expert on second-grade fairy tales had wandered in and been permitted to try his hand at high-school civics. However, it is likely that most of the sighted students will carry through life the image of the blind as a pampered, privileged, non-contributing group which hypocritically seeks acceptance on equal terms. We hope that our sober friends in California will hasten to educate their state board of education. Echoes in the Ivory Tower. Last July we published in the Forum a report on the new Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Scientific Notation. We had supposed this subject to be one of the least volatile imaginable and scarcely likely to arouse more than most placid academic interest. To our surprise, however (and we must confess to our satisfaction as well), it elicited some frankly critical comments, which we here quote without comment, except a gentle reminder that this work was intended as a code, and not a teaching manual. One correspondent who wishes his name withheld observes as follows: "I do not share your enthusiasm for the new Nemeth Code. It may give an accurate transcription of the print text, but it is far too complicated. I was halfway through the second volume before I could write or even read the simplest third grade arithmetic problem. If I were a volunteer who had offered to transcribe arithmetic texts of the third and fourth grades, I would run screaming for home after the first four pages. "Why couldn't the code be graded according to the needs of the student and the material involved? Why should the elementary teacher be concerned with the difference between round, square or bold-face brackets, or with Greek and Hebrew letters, integral and differential functions, or the methods of writing chemical equations? "Tom Benham of Haverford College has a system of mathematical notation which in four or five pages gives you all you need to read or write the most complicated mathematical or physical expression. Of course, an elementary knowledge of the significance of the print symbols is required of the transcriber, but whose convenience is paramount: that of the transcriber or that of the blind reader? I am very strongly reminded of the controversy that so delayed the adoption of braille. The professionals were convinced that Moon or Boston Line were better because they looked like the print characters. They refused to listen to the blind students who told them that braille was easier to read than either of these line forms or even that sacred cow of the later professionals, New York Point." It should be obvious that the foregoing remarks came from one who is not illiterate in mathematical parlance; and from Jack Murphey, who has the faculty of making a refutation seem like a blessing, come remarks in a similar vein: "... I was still more delighted upon discovering that the code does truly open the door to a lucid presentation of higher mathematics in braille. But may God help the poor transcriber who tries to master the Code; it will surely take a person blessed with extraordinary fortitude, dedication and perhaps, optimism, to tackle such a formidable job. "Having just finished my first serious session with Volume I, the Code is still largely an unexplored wonderland for me, but my respect for Nemeth's ingenuity is boundless. Even so, I am already bedeviled by a strong suspicion that a blind student of math need not complicate his task with such minute understanding of the sighted student's textbook. At any rate, that was my experience during 15 hours of college math. The sad fact that my grades declined from a high of 99 (in Algebra) to a low of 80 (in the Calculus) was due, I am quite certain, to progressive deafness and not to my lack of knowledge concerning the proper way to write the problems on the board or in a notebook. Until it can be established that approved procedure is at least as important as the correct answer, I'd say that the Nemeth Code could easily prove to be an onerous burden to the average blind student in our elementary and secondary schools -- residential or other wise. Call me an opinionated old fool, if my thinking is reactionary, but I am unable to swallow the modern preachments to the effect that the blind must ape the sighted in order to achieve integration with the sighted world." ***** ** Here and There With George Card From the "Overseas News" column of the NEW BEACON (London): "One of the main causes of blindness in children throughout for the Orient" (says the annual report of the Hong Kong Society for the Blind) is vitamin deficiency. To combat this, the Lutheran World Service Milk Bar has served hot milk daily to children. The number of children becoming blind due to vitamin deficiency has decreased during the past ten years from 74.5% to 15.2%. ... From the Oklahoma Federation of the Blind NEWSLETTER: "The L.A.S.S. Federal Credit Union -- a credit union for blind persons in Oklahoma -- is the largest of its kind in the world. While most credit unions serve people in the same employment in a central location, the common bond of L.A.S.S. is blindness. It has paid 5% dividends on share accounts for several years ... Representatives of the Oklahoma League (closely affiliated with the Oklahoma Federation and which in recent years had carried on an extensive service program for the blind and has paid more than a half million dollars to workers in the shops it operates) and of the State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency have been visiting workshops and rehabilitation centers throughout the country to gather information about what is being done elsewhere. Traveling to these facilities were Floyd Qualls and Durward McDaniel from the League and five members of the agency. They visited facilities in Chicago, Minneapolis, Daytona Beach, Talladega, Jackson, Newark and New York City. The results will be reflected in applications made to VRA for federal matching money to improve and expand services and facilities of the League. ... The organized stand operators of Oklahoma expressed their appreciation to the A.C.B. for its help in the Oklahoma City Post Office controversy by a $50 contribution. ... Durward McDaniel, Chairman of the A.C.B. Vending Stand Committee, went to Washington late in February for conferences on both administrative and congressional levels ... Assembling the ink-print edition of the BRAILLE FORUM has been a project of the Oklahoma chapter for some time and the work has been made much easier by the gift of a heavy-duty stapler from the X.I. Chapter of the Beta Sigma Phi, in Midwest City. The X.I. Chapter also gave the League a fine quality microphone and stand to be used in their tape-recording program. ... Recordings for the Blind in New York City is establishing a master tape library. A 3-5year period is estimated for conversion to this program. It is estimated that students will no longer need to make arrangements for textbooks to be recorded a year in advance of their need." The organized blind of Ohio are deeply disturbed by a proposed routing of a heavy-traffic highway which would necessitate the condemning of a substantial part of the grounds of the Ohio School for the Blind and would also take 70 acres of its grounds from the state School for the Deaf. Clyde Ross points out that there is an alternate route available which would cost no more but which might not be so profitable to certain land interests. In an extremely well-worded and persuasive letter to state legislators, Clyde Ross employs some language which I think could be used in many other states with good effect: "In past years, Ohio has lost the benefit of millions of dollars in Federal money because our state legislature did not appropriate sufficient matching funds. The Ohio Council of the Blind must share the responsibility for this loss of funds because we did not convince you." As a part of the Cuban campaign of harassment directed against U.S. servicemen in Guantanamo, they have been denied the use of Cuban telephone facilities and as a result the cost of their long-distance calls home has risen disastrously. But two ACB members in Mobile, Alabama, have come to their rescue. Earl and Eileen Pendleton (the latter a former President of the Alabama Federation) have acquired powerful short-wave equipment during their years as ham operators and are now putting this equipment at the disposal of homesick youngsters in Guantanamo. They make relay connections to telephones in every part of the U.S. at a nominal cost and they have received a citation from a high Naval authority in recognition of this splendid service. From the BLIND ADVOCATE (London): "Ophthalmologists at Southampton Eye Hospital made a new advance in eye surgery by removing cataracts from the eyes of a seven-month-old blind baby and fitting him with contact lenses ... The first blind person to earn a Doctor of Law degree in Austria is Miss Helge Schilling, 28, blind since birth." From the Montana OBSERVER: "The taping of textbooks for students has expanded to the point where inmates at the state prison have not been able to keep up with the demand. Volunteers have therefore been recruited from the American Association of University Women; and these readers are especially valuable in recording math books and scientific material." After five years of splendid effort as editor of the Washington State WHITE CANE, Mrs. Helen Anthony is retiring and being succeeded by James Hicks. The latter will have to maintain a very high standard if he is to equal the performance of his predecessor. From the current issue: "Many kinds of blindness have been wiped out in the 2,560 years since a wise Indian named Susruta described couching for cataract by pushing the clouded lens of an eye aside with a needle to let some light in ... It was in 1268 A.D. that Friar Roger Bacon suggested in his Opus Majus that lenses might be useful for those with weak eyesight. This heralded in the age of eyeglasses." Greatly retarding our progress in the human race is our anatomical design that so aptly fits us for sitting down. From the Missouri CHRONICLE: "Nine young adults who came to St. Louis from seven states last September to learn computer programming are proving that habits acquired by the blind to compensate for their loss of vision give them unusual aptitude for working with computers. The demand for data processors is so great that all are confident they can step into jobs when they complete the course in June. An active blind person must remember exactly where he put things. The inside of the computer's memory is, from a functional point of view, no different from other parts of a man's environment. The blind person has a combination of skill and attitudes which the sighted person may also possess but seldom uses to the fullest extent ... Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Schroeer observed their 62nd wedding anniversary on February 6. We are sorry to report Mr. Schroeer spent the anniversary in Incarnate Word Hospital, St. Louis, convalescing from recent major surgery. (Mrs. Schroeer has served as state White Cane Week Chairman longer than any other blind person in the whole country.)" From the K.A.B. NEWS: "John Vanlandingham, formerly a student at the Kansas School for the Blind and a Washburn graduate, is now a Circuit Judge in Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona. ... Bill Lewis, formerly of Wichita, has been appointed psychiatric social worker at the High Plains Mental Health Clinic, Hays, Kansas. Bill received his Master's in Social Work from the University of Kansas and his B.A. degree from the University of Georgia ... Jerry Dunham, who was chief instructor for the Rehab. Center, is now director of Washington State Rehab. Center for the Blind in Seattle ... The average income for the 15 blind piano tuners in Kansas is now better than $800 per month ... Kansas has 12 blind teachers employed in public schools." From WE THE BLIND: "The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania renders a far-reaching decision enlarging legal protection to blind pedestrians ... 'With respect to the rights of a blind pedestrian, freedom of mobility is as much a fundamental right of American citizenry as freedom of speech. It is the duty of those engaged in operations on a highway to take reasonable care not to endanger those persons who might reasonably be expected to walk along the pavement, and that that duty was owed to blind persons if the operators foresaw, or ought to have foreseen, that blind persons might use the pavement ... It is foreseeable that blind people may make their appearance anywhere that the public is entitled to go ... A blind person is not bound to discover everything which a person of normal vision would. He is bound to use due care under the circumstances. A blind broom salesman, going to a place of business to solicit sales, is a business invitee to whom the property owner owes an affirmative duty of keeping his premises reasonably safe for business visitors such as the blind plaintiff and of giving warning of any failure to maintain them in that condition.' ... The lion's share of the credit for this landmark decision goes to Bill Taylor, blind lawyer of Media, Pennsylvania, who made the oral argument and who filed a brief which was a model of clear and forceful presentation and sharp legal analysis." The American Medical Association JOURNAL reports that an official of the Council for Research and Autogenic Training to Improve Defective Sight, Inc. (Los Angeles) was convicted of practicing medicine without a license and given a heavy fine. His organization advertised that it could arrest the development of cataracts and eventually make surgery unnecessary through treatment which consisted of a revolving bank of lights focused on a patient sitting in a motorized chair that whirled back and forth at $12.50 an hour. The repeal of the lien law, as it applies to public assistance to the blind, has long been a legislative goal of the Montana Association for the Blind. This piece of retrogressive legislation had been enacted in 1953 but last February Governor Babcock signed into law the MAB-sponsored lien repeal bill. It is predicted in many quarters that by 1970 Federal law will make the abolition of lien laws mandatory in all states. From the WEEKLY NEWS: "On Friday, March 17, the National Braille Press observed its 40th anniversary of service to the blind and deaf-blind. The first issue of the WEEKLY NEWS (founder F.B. Ierardi's first project) was mailed on that date. It has been published 52 weeks every year since, without missing an issue." From the NEW BEACON: "Greater London now has a service which blind people living alone have found extremely useful. For two guineas a year ($6) it provides 24-hour emergency service, and an advisory bureau and a discount buying plan. The emergency service covers plumbing, electrical repairs, the collection and delivery of prescriptions outside normal dispensing hours, and similar services. When a call is received, a trained employee may be sent and may remain with the subscriber up to an hour to attempt to rectify a problem or make a temporary repair. ... The agency has a list of trademen and repairmen whose services are available throughout the night at reasonable rates. The advisory and information service deals with inquiries about entertainment, travel timetables, legal advice, insurance, weather reports and the like. The discount plan applies to any make or brand of household furniture or appliances, the services of construction firms, decorators, house cleaners, gardeners, chimney sweepers, translators, caterers and many others -- all available by calling one telephone number." An individual who imposed only the restriction that his address not be divulged contributed $1,000 to the A.B.C., stating that he hoped it would help in the work he understands little about but that as a man who has lost a great deal of sight, he feels the organization is a help to persons like himself ... Lejour watches for both men and women, expansion band, 17 jewel, and pop-open crystal may be bought for $13.95 with a 3-year guarantee from the Continental Time Co., 36 W. 46th St., N.Y, N.Y. 10036 ... The Cross Word Puzzle Quarterly contains 30 puzzles and solutions in Braille and costs $1 annually. Write E.G. Brown, Librarian, Canadian National Institute for the Blind, 1929 Bayview Avenue, Toronto 17, Ontario, Canada. ... Over 1,000 blind switchboard operators are employed in Italy. ... LOOK magazine is now being recorded on Talking Book records and can be borrowed from the regional libraries. ... An experimental project in Almeda County, California, the only one of its kind in the U.S. -- involves an intensive and long-continued effort to find remunerative employment for blind persons who are on the Public Assistance rolls. The 3-year project is now at the half-way mark and rather remarkable results have become evident. The project has demonstrated, among other things, that motivation toward employment in this group is no less than in any other rehabilitation caseload, that this intelligence level follows the general curve of the normal population and that the efforts of the project are a timely reminder that social and rehabilitation services should be extended to all the blind and that the cost to society is greater when these vital services are withheld or are not available." Chicago, April 7, 1967: "George Shearing, blind jazz pianist, was barred from taking his guide dog, Leland, into a Chicago restaurant by a head waiter who observed the letter of the law Wednesday night. A city ordinance expressly prohibits dogs in retail food establishments without exception, but unwritten interpretation of the law does, in fact, except guide dogs. Herman Gittelson, a co-owner of the restaurant, later apologized to Shearing." From the N.A.P.H. PIONEER: "Deaf mutes are being hired as postal clerks and letter carriers, according to the Civil Service Commission, which has exempted them from the verbal part of its merit test. Federal Revenue Service is training blind persons to answer phone inquiries about Federal income taxes at this busy time of the year for that agency. Gives us a warm glow all over to know that 'Hire the Handicapped' is being heeded at the top of the national ladder." From LISTEN: "The field of public health in the U.S., including programs of rehabilitation, research and work for the physically and mentally handicapped, was dealt a severe blow in January by the death of the Hon. John E. Fogarty of R.I., a member of the House of Representatives for 26 years ... Byron M. Smith stepped down from the top spot at the Minneapolis Society for the Blind at the agency's 50th anniversary dinner in January. The National Industries for the Blind News reports that Smith was semi-retired and will continue his work at the agency as director of special projects. In the 26 years since he joined the society, Smith increased its workshop sales to the neighborhood of $1,000,000. Frank R. Johnson was appointed to succeed to the post of executive director. ... Technical research is moving with such speed that we shall soon be confronted with the need for making blind persons aware of the potential help available through these aids. It will also be necessary to provide blind persons with the aids and training in the use of them. In all probability, the new aids will not be such that they can merely be passed out to blind people for general use. These aids will not be such as one can buy in a department store. They will be fairly complex devices for use of blind people with special needs. All of these devices are centered on the need for returning to work or obtaining an education which will lead to work. They will be adjuncts to counseling, training, and placement provided under vocational rehabilitation services ... It was the lack of comparable data and meaningful statistics about blindness through the U. S. that led to the establishment of the Model Reporting Area which up to now has consisted of 14 states where accurate registers of blindness, showing incidence and causes, are maintained. Much concern in now being felt as to the future of this promising program since the announcement that Dr. Hyman Goldstein has been transferred to another federal agency. Those who attended the A.C.B. convention in Rochester, New York, will remember the brilliant address which Dr. Goldstein delivered at that time ... James Whitney, a blind drill press operator in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, has increased production by 10% greatly to the delight of Kenneth Tower, the company's owner, who admits he was a bit apprehensive at first about hiring a blind person." To many who have enjoyed the facilities at Sarasota, Florida, in past years, the following letter from Director Frank Moffett will be of interest. For some years the Houck Foundation did supply free motel accommodations for vacation periods to blind or handicapped persons. Experience showed they were used principally during the winter season and were idle most of the time during the remainder of the year. Such use was deemed insufficient to warrant a continuation of their use for that purpose. At present all of our facilities are loaned to many humanitarian organizations who make full use of them during the entire year, and none are available for vacation purposes." From the (April) Washington State WHITE CANE: "Free Remington electric shaver service is offered the blind by the Remington Electric Shaver division of the Sperry Rand Corporation anywhere in the U.S., but this must sometimes be called to the attention of local outlets ... A zoning map of Vancouver, Washington, made of various materials such as sandpaper, string, various textured fabrics, etc., was used by students at the State School for the Blind. It was made by students of a drawing and painting class at Hudson's Bay High School. ... Mrs. Evelyn Flett, 92 and blind for 14 years, turns out hand woven rugs with a professional's touch at Kettle Falls, Washington. She also plays a chord organ and is active in her church." From PERFORMANCE: "Donald M. Mailloux, despite almost total blindness, teaches all chemistry classes in Belfast High and has now been honored as Maine's Teacher of the Year. He is serving his 19th year as director of skiing for the Maine State Principals Association. ... Twelve states now provide special handicapped identification plates and overtime parking privileges for handicapped car owners. These plates cost nothing extra." ***** ** Letters from Readers Peter J. Salmon, Industrial Home for the Blind, Brooklyn, New York 11201 ... On Monday, February 27, 1967, President Johnson, in his welfare message to Congress, urged the creation of a National Center for the Deaf-Blind, with the following wording: "Among the most tragically neglected of our citizens are those who are both deaf and blind. More than three thousand Americans today face life unable to see or hear. To help reach the deaf-blind with the best programs our experts can devise, I recommend legislation to establish a National Center for the Deaf and Blind." The Industrial Home for the Blind and Vocational Rehabilitation Administration have been urging the creation of such a Center for some time, and we believe that a brief letter or wire from you to the President, thanking him for his thoughtfulness and his recommendation, will be most gratifying, both to him and to all of us. It would be most helpful, too, if the members of your board could send some word to him on this matter. May I urge you to write or wire him? (Editor's Note: It is suggested that copies of letters you write to the President in this connection be sent to the members of Congress from your area.) *** George Card, Madison, Wisconsin ... When Darlene and I were last visiting the R.N.I.B. in 1958, we were told that there were approximately 300 graduate blind physiotherapists in active practice in the United Kingdom and about the same number through the rest of the world. In Britain most blind physiotherapists practice as one half of a team --- the other half being a sighted physician who refers appropriate cases for physical therapy. The special equipment used is quite inexpensive. The first two years of training take place in the R.N.I.B.'s own school but the final year is spent at a regular college for the sighted. The opening up of this profession to the blind has been long overdue in the U.S. and should now be pushed with all possible vigor. *** Mike Sofka, 228 Jefferson St., Newark, New Jersey 07105 ... Joe Clunk's mobility article in the March 1966 Braille Forum was by far the best article I ever read on this subject. He did such a good job that I, as one who uses a similar cane and technique, could not find anything that he had left out. However, "Refugees from the Round File," in the January, 1967 issue, contains something that is causing me some worry. That "pre-cane" instruction is but one of the weird ones being given to blind clients by those highly trained peripatologists. When I asked an elderly one cane traveler why she moved so fast, and didn't this speed increase the possibility of her bumping into and even injuring other pedestrians, she replied, "My mobility specialist told me not to worry about that because they will see me coming and will get out of my way." One of my neighbors did see a cane traveler coming her way but could not get out of his way fast enough, and so she was slightly injured. An elderly aunt of a friend is still in the hospital with a broken hip and may never walk again because she was tripped by a cane traveler. The policeman on that corner wanted to question that blind man, but the lady didn't want to do anything about it. I just heard about another blind man who knocked down a fellow on crutches, and he too refused to make a scene. The ability to get about with a stick, be it a short one, long one, or something in between, is truly wonderful; but if we forget that others, including other handicapped and elderly persons, are also enjoying freedom to get about, and knock them down if they get in our way, we may someday be ruled off the road. -- Representative of the organized blind should certainly confer with those designing the peripatology techniques, as well as with the blind and sighted professional agency heads -- those highly trained specialists. *** Chuck Wilson, 409 E. 74th St., New York 10021 ... I am glad to receive the FORUM ... After reading "Computer Pioneers," I wrote to the Computer Systems Institute in Pittsburgh mentioning the article. I understand ACB has been in existence for five years and I never heard of it until the magazine arrived. *** Karen Eisenstadt, 40 Oxford St., Montclair, N.J. ... I work at the Mt. Carmel Guild, Newark, N.J. Naturally I am interested in any development in the field of working with the blind, as I do that all the time. Sometime ago I was given a copy in Braille of the Braille Forum and found it most interesting and informative. It made me curious to know more about the American Council of the Blind. I would like to see more issues and, if possible, to receive the Braille Forum. Any information you could send me about the magazine and what the American Council of the Blind does would be most appreciated. I am taking my master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling, and hope some day to work with the blind. Your magazine and your activities are something which would be most helpful to me in my chosen field. ... *** Helen Haynes, 217 N. E. First St., Rochester, Minnesota 55901 There are several reasons that prompted this letter to you, but maybe it was because I was a little homesick for the South. Yes, I was born and raised in Athens, Georgia and lived four years in Columbus Georgia but am here now, and have been since 1948. You can call this home, and like it, but there is always a longing for your native State, and sometimes it is more true than others ... I am the Conference Secretary of the Minnesota Conference Wesleyan Service Guild of the Methodist Church. This is the highest position that a woman can reach in the Conference. To keep up with the work there are letters to write, books to read, meetings to plan, and preside over, and a thousand and one other things that you do not realize until you are in the middle, so to speak. I should tell you that I attended the School for the Blind in Macon. I had a little vision then, but have absolutely none now. *** Victor Buttram, Peoriarea Blind People's Center, Inc., 2905 West Garden Street, Peoria, Illinois 61605. ... Giant fans can now obtain braille schedules of the 1967 season by writing to the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind, 1097 Howard Street, San Francisco, 94103. Having learned this, I contacted William McGill at the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind, 1850 West Roosevelt Road, Chicago, Illinois 60600, and suggested the idea of his organization making braille copies of the Cub and White Sox schedules. Bill did this and was quite enthusiastic over the result, for he received several hundred requests from Chicago area fans. Readers who live near a major league city and who are fans might consider writing to the appropriate agency in each city and suggesting that schedules be brailled and made available. The schedules, however, are brailled on a Thermoform machine and, of course, that plastic material costs a little over 3 cents a sheet so we should expect to pay a little something if necessary. Mr. McGill charged 50 cents a set for a Cub and White Sox schedule just to give you an idea although the San Francisco Lighthouse hasn't charged anything for their schedule. *** Miss C.L. Corbin, 3820 S. Archer, Chicago 60632 ... I would like to call your attention to a bill by Congressman Philip Burton, HR 335, introduced for the National League of Senior Citizens, Los Angeles, which provides a monthly payment to the aged, the blind, and the disabled based on the annual minimum wage. This bill would do much for the group of handicapped who are not able to work and have little or no income. ... I cannot understand why so little attention is given to the people who are not able to work. I think everyone who is able and can get a job should work. I worked as long as I could. If there are any jobs, let the young people have them. Give them every opportunity possible. It is a hard life to have to exist on public assistance. ... When I testified before the Advisory Council I urged that we have a high minimum and sign an affidavit once a year as do the war widows and other groups receiving pensions and other aids. ***** ** Refugees from the Round File Science for the Blind, Haverford, Pennsylvania, announces another electronic gadget for the benefit of blind technicians. "The Simpson 260 can be used to make a variety of measurements in electrical and electronic circuits. Ham radio operators, hi-fi hobbyists, radio and TV repair technicians and students can make accurate measurements as quickly and easily as a sighted person by connecting the meter, setting switches, turning the pointer until a null in the audible tone is found, and then reading the braille scale. This instrument is available from Science for the Blind, Haverford, Pennsylvania 19041 for the amount of $80." If interested, write to Science for the Blind for further information. Upwards of 5,000 blind persons throughout the 50 States will now be able to read Dialogue, recorded magazine for the blind, thanks to a 150 percent increase in the Library of Congress's annual purchase of subscriptions. Copies subscribed by the Library of Congress are distributed by their 34 regional libraries serving the entire nation. Because Dialogue is constantly kept in circulation, it is estimated that about 20 persons read each copy over a period of several months. At $25 per one-year subscription, the Library of Congress increase will total an appropriation of more than $10,000 annually. From NRA News, February 1967 -- Board members and staffs of state-wide rehabilitation planning projects getting under way in all the states convened in Washington January 25-26 for a meeting called by the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration. Welcomed by Deputy Secretary of HEW, Wilbur Cohen, VRA director Mary Switzer and NRA director E.B. Whitten, the group settled down to two days' hard work in connection with important responsibilities they have for planning state-wide rehabilitation programs to meet the needs of all handicapped people by 1975. Distribution of 100 prints of the NRA sponsored film, "The Hope and Promises," is now being completed. Plans are to have one print in possession of each general state rehabilitation agency, and another in a voluntary agency in each state which will agree to take care of scheduling. This film, telling the story of three handicapped individuals, had its first showing at the Denver NRA conference, where it was widely acclaimed. The film was produced under the general supervision of assistant NRA director A.D. Puth, by Carolyn Ramsey Productions. The Seventh Annual Conference of Blind Teachers was held on the California State College campus at Hayward, California, December 3, 1966. The following brief excerpts are taken from the report of this conference. The full account of this meeting may be obtained by writing to Mrs. Onvia Tillinghast, 80 Castro St., San Leandro, California 94577. The report notes there are now more than 60 blind teachers in California. Director of Placement at California State College, Dr. Eugene Clark, reported that during the next decade, according to projected reports, California will need 215,000 new teachers. If the present trend continues 65,000 - 130,000 out-of-state teachers will be hired in California during this period. More shortages exist in certain subject matter areas than others. For example, Business Education, English, Foreign Languages, Science Math Home Making and Girls Physical Education show teacher shortages, while other areas such as Agriculture, Art, Social Studies and Men's Physical Education show surpluses. ... An elementary school administrator, Mr. Ralph Chmelka, Principal of Starr King Exceptional School, Carmichael, and for several years the supervisor of a blind teacher, told of a survey he conducted among twenty of his colleagues to determine their attitudes toward the hiring of blind teachers. When asked if they would hire a fully credentialed blind teacher, fifteen said "yes," two said "no," two said "possibly," and one was undecided. Their main concern was the ability of the blind teacher to control a classroom, to use visual aids, to use the chalkboard, to point out things on a map, etc. Very few had interviewed a blind teacher, and they had no conception of how one would function in the classroom. Mr. Chmelka's advice to blind teachers: "In improving your own image I think it is very important that you make yourself seen and heard ... I would suggest that you interview as far and as wide as possible." ... Miss Lynda Bardis and Mr. Gerald Neufeld blind graduate students in the French Department at the University of California, Berkeley, discussed their respective positions as teacher assistants, their experiences in the University's study-abroad program, their applications for present positions and the effectiveness of their classroom procedures. It was pointed out that the recent audio-lingual approach to the learning of modern foreign languages ... is well adapted to the blind teacher. The story of man's venture into space is now being brought to the blind through a specially designed exhibit keyed to the sense of touch. Called "Enlightenment for the Blind," the exhibit was assembled by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in collaboration with representatives of agencies concerned with the education of the blind. It is available for booking in the United States. The display consists of five sections, or panels in which small-scale models, relief maps, diagrams and figurines are set out for palping by the sightless. As the visitor moves in measured sequence from panel to panel around guiderails, a recorded narration tells the story of flight from the Wright brothers' faltering takeoff at Kitty Hawk 63 years ago to the Mercury-Gemini orbital missions and the Apollo lunar exploration program. The recorded narration allows time for tracing the outlines of relief maps and diagrams, touching the scale models of space hardware and forming imagery of their configuration, size and relationship. This exhibit is being modified and updated in preparation for a tour beginning next September. Schools and agencies interested in booking this exhibit should write to National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C. 20546. We are grieved to report the death on Easter morning of John K. Neuschel, ACB member-at-large and a contributor to the Braille Forum letters column. John was inventor of the "Wyretred" winter tire and was founder and owner of Tire Wholesalers, Inc. of Richfield Springs. Much of his time in recent years was devoted to assembling material for "Uncle John's Scrapbook" which he distributed each month to a long list of blind and disabled persons. Our sympathy and best wishes are extended to his devoted wife, Lucille, who assisted him in all of his projects. ***** ** Partial Sight from Electronic Beep From the Miami Herald, March 19, 1967 Bobby Moses is blind, but if he puts on his glasses he can avoid trees, utility poles and holes in the sidewalk. The glasses have a sonar-like device in the frame that sends out sound waves, too high-pitched for humans to hear. If the waves strike an object, they bounce back to a receiver which turns them into a beep, beep, beep, sound that 18-year-old Bobby can hear. Each object gives off its own peculiar sound so that Bobby can tell the difference between grass and cement, and between a man and a tree. It takes a bit of practice. Bobby, a student at the Michigan School for the Blind, and Marshall Dean, 20, a student in Electronic Engineering at Lansing Community College, who developed the device, demonstrated the glasses this week at the Michigan State Library's Division for the Blind. Dr. Leslie Kay of London, England, came up with the idea of a sonar-like device to help the blind. His system uses a set of earphones and a device that looks like a flashlight which the blind person waves around to get soundings around him. Dean put the device into glasses frames "because a person uses his head as his directional scanning device anyway. And, this way, his hands are not encumbered with any device." In addition, he said, earphones which cover the ears prevent the wearer from hearing other sounds around him. ***** ** ACB Officers and Directors President: Reese H. Robrahn, 541 New England Building, Topeka, Kansas 66603 1st Vice President: Ned E. Freeman, 136 Gee's Mill Rd., Conyers, Ga. 30207 2nd Vice President: David Krause, 1616 18th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009 Secretary: Mrs. Alma Murphey, 4103 Castleman Ave., St. Louis, Missouri 63110 Treasurer: F.W. Orrell, 5209 Alabama Ave., Chattanooga, Tenn. 37409 ** Directors Mrs. Mary Jane Schmitt, 55 Queens St., Rochester, N.Y. 14609 R.L. Thompson, 104 W. Hanlon St., Tampa, Fla. 33604 Fred C. Lilley, 1155 W. 83rd St. Chicago, Illinois 60620 J. Edward Miller, 2661 Chesterfield Ave., Charlotte, North Carolina 28205 George Card, 605 S. Few Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53703 Vernon Williams, 217 Western Union Bldg., Aberdeen, S.D. 57401 Mrs. Catherine Skivers, 836 Resota St., Hayward, California 94545 Floyd Qualls, 106 N.E. 2nd St., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104 *** This sight saving edition was assembled and mailed by members of the Oklahoma City Chapter of the Oklahoma Federation of the Blind. ###