The Braille Forum Vol. VIII July 1969 No. 1 Published Bi-Monthly by the American Council of the Blind Oklahoma City, Oklahoma * Editor: Ned E. Freeman 136 Gee's Mill Rd. Conyers, GA 30207 * Associate Editors: George Card 605 South Few St. Madison, WI 53703 Earl Scharry 5714 Ridgeway Ave. Rockville, MD 20851 * President: Reese Robrahn 329 Woodbury Lane Topeka, KS 66606 * National Representative: Durward K. McDaniel 20 E Street NW Suite 215 Washington, DC 20001 To inform its readers and to provide an impartial Forum for discussion. ***** * Editorial Assistant Loretta Freeman 136 Gee's Mill Rd. Conyers, GA 30207 ** ACB Board of Publications Chairman - Miss M. Helen Vargo 833 Oakley St. Topeka, KS 66606 Mrs. Harriet Fielding 3249 - D - St. Sacramento, CA 95816 Mrs. Alma Murphey 4103 Castleman Ave. St. Louis, MO 63110 Jack Lewis 770 Hemlock St. Macon, GA 31201 George Fogarty 2107 - 28th St. San Francisco, CA 94112 ***** ** Notice to Subscribers The BRAILLE FORUM is available in braille, large type and on tape, 7-inch, dual track, 3-3/4 ips. All requests, changes of address, etc., should be sent to the BRAILLE FORUM, 136 Gee's Mill Road, Conyers, GA 30207. Letters and material for publication should be submitted to the Editor or to one of the Associate Editors. True to its name, the BRAILLE FORUM presents varied viewpoints on many questions. The opinions expressed in the signed articles and letters appearing in these pages are those of the authors. They are presented for your information and consideration. No implication of approval or endorsement by the editors or the American Council of the Blind should be inferred because of publication in this magazine. ***** ** Contents The Braille Forum – July 1969 ACB Convention -- Last Call ACB President's Message ACB Is Growing, Growing, Growing ACB Convention Program to Date Computer Programmers' Seminar Social Security Disability Insurance Tax Help for Blind Opposed by NFB New Address for ACB Treasurer Selection of Clients -- Dr. Robert Scott The Internal Revenue Story Virginia Alumni Homecoming It Happened At The Florida 'Expo' More About Computer Programming Confusing?? -- Bonnie Byington A Well-Known Voice Is Silenced Imagine Me in the Congressional Record Listening Project Report Physical Fitness -- Lester Citron Look! No Moving Hands Loretta's Corner Happy People Are The Prettiest Things Letters From Readers Know Ye! Here and There -- George Card ACB Officers Directors ***** ** ACB Convention -- Last Call EIGHTH ANNUAL CONVENTION of the AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND Charlotte, North Carolina -- White House Inn July 16 -19, 1969 MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW WITH COPY TO Convention Chairman Ed Miller 2621 Chesterfield Ave., Charlotte, NC 28205 REMEMBER ALSO TUESDAY, July 15 in Charlotte *** First Annual Convention of the RANDOLPH-SHEPPARD VENDORS OF AMERICA *** INSTITUTE FOR BLIND LAWYERS Moderated by Professor T. Munford Boyd University of Virginia Law School *** SEMINAR FOR COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS ALL THIS -- AND THEN THE EIGHTH ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND SURELY YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS IT!! AND THE CLIMAX THE ACB POST-CONVENTION TOUR TO PUERTO RICO! ***** ** ACB President's Message On several occasions I have stated publicly that the so-called White Cane Laws of many states are inadequate, but for the most part they are adequate in so far as they generally do spell out the duty of drivers of motor vehicles with respect to the user of the white cane on the public streets and highways and in general the duty is sufficiently spelled out and sufficiently mandatory so that the failure of a motorist to observe the duty would constitute negligence. Of course the several White Cane Laws generally have no provision relative to the interference with or discrimination against the user of the white cane or dog guide in any public place or private place into which the public is invited. The blind person using a dog guide is frequently interfered with and discriminated against, especially in restaurants. It is clear, therefore, that such a proposed addition to the White Cane Laws is appropriate and perhaps even necessary to assure freedom of access and use of all such public places to the user of the white cane and dog guide. But beware of the so-called "Model White Cane Law" which is being widely distributed by the National Federation of the Blind, which it contends is a model substitute for all existing White Cane Laws. While the NFB sponsored White Cane Law makes provision for the prohibition of acts of interference and discrimination practiced against the user of the White cane and dog guide and therefore may be in that respect an improvement upon existing White Cane Laws, nonetheless, it is inadequate, defective and maudlin in other respects. Your attention is directed to that section of the NFB White Cane Law which defines the duty of a motorist upon approaching the user of the white cane or dog guide. Its language is as follows: "Shall take all necessary precautions to avoid injury to such blind pedestrian." It is well-established by all courts of the land that a criminal statute must be strictly construed and therefore must be specific and definite and certain and not ambiguous. The term "necessary precautions" thus used is so indefinite and so general that no user of the streets and highways could determine the nature and extent of his duty and could not therefore know when and if his action would be a violation of the law. It follows, then, that this provision of the NFB White Cane Law is meaningless and unenforceable because it would be declared unconstitutional as a criminal statute. Similarly, in the event of a Civil claim for damages for injuries sustained, the duty of the motorist under this provision is so general that it is rendered weak and thereby puts the claimant in a poor bargaining position on settlement out of court and in an unreliable position in obtaining an adequate award from a jury. In this regard, for instance, the present Kansas White Cane Law reads as follows: "Duties of drivers at intersections. Whenever a pedestrian is crossing or attempting to cross a public street or highway, guided by a guide dog or carrying in a raised or extended position a cane or walking stick which is white in color or white tipped with red, the driver of every vehicle approaching the intersection, or place where such pedestrian is attempting to cross, shall bring his vehicle to a full stop before arriving at such intersection or place of crossing, and before proceeding shall take such precautions as may be necessary to avoid injuring such pedestrian." In my personal experience as a lawyer and judge in Kansas, I know of no case in which an injured user of a white cane or guide dog has been forced into an inadequate settlement or was given an inadequate award of damages by a jury. I attribute this to the precise duty of the motorist prescribed in the Kansas statute. Moreover, the NFB White Cane Law provides that the cane to be carried may be predominantly white or metallic in color with or without a red tip. In line with a resolution proposed at the Atlanta convention of the ACB, it is my belief that the color of the cane should be limited solely to the color white, with or without the red tip. The driver of a motor vehicle on the busy streets and highways of today has little enough time to look after and affect his safe passage along, with and through bumper-to-bumper traffic without placing the additional burden upon him of seeing the user of a cane which could vary in color to a rather considerable degree under the wording of the NFB White Cane Law. If the color of the cane is limited to the one color of white, the driver of a motor vehicle would be greatly aided in seeing the same and therefore in perceiving his duty to the user of the same. One section of the NFB White Cane Law establishes the policy of the state and its political subdivisions with regard to employment of the blind, visually handicapped, or otherwise physically handicapped persons and actually has nothing to do with the subject of the act itself, namely the use of the white cane and dog guides by blind, visually handicapped persons. I hasten to add that there is nothing wrong with the inclusion of this provision in a white cane law, but I make the following observation and caution those who might seek passage of such legislation, that in many states it is a constitutional requirement that the title of any act adopted by the legislature must make reference to all matters which are the subjects of act. My point is, then, that in the states having such constitutional provision, care should be taken to see to it that the draft of the legislation submitted for adoption by the legislature meets this requirement. Early in April the Kansas legislature passed an improved White Cane Law which was introduced by Senator Hinchey of Kansas City. It provided that blind persons shall have equal access to public accommodations -- trains, buses, hotels and restaurants. However, at a committee hearing it was pointed out that the section which provided that drivers of cars "must take due caution" when approaching a person with a guide dog or displaying a white cane was considerably weaker than the original law passed in 1948. The committee amended the bill to make it a part of the old law and thus retained the stronger provision for protecting blind pedestrians. So I say, beware of the NFB "Model White Cane Law." It is not a model law. Its adoption in your state might very well give you a much weaker and much more ineffective law than you now have. The American Council and its National Representative stands ready to assist you in any way in effecting a better White Cane Law for your state. ***** ** ACB Is Growing, Growing, Growing President Robrahn reports that Durward McDaniel has been named ACB representative to the Commission on Standards National Accreditation Council. This is another important step toward broader representation by the blind on NAC. The recent NAC meeting in Dallas was attended by both Reese and Durward and they report, "We came away from the meeting confident that we had made some valuable contacts ... and further established a high esteem for the American Council." On a panel to present perspectives on accreditation, Reese was asked to serve in order that there would be representation of the viewpoints of the consumers or users of services of agencies for the blind. During the discussion he urged that NAC recognize the philosophy that the consumers of services, that is to say, the blind, must be involved all up and down the line in determining needs for services, and so forth; and that NAC make this philosophy an integral part wherever appropriate of its standards and accreditation and in its own organizational setup. "My impression was that my remarks were well received," he added. The American Council of the Blind is, indeed, assuming its well-earned place of importance on the national -- and international -- scene wherever work for and services to the blind are concerned. The recent changes in the com­position of the U.S. delegation to the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind brought the American Council and the Blinded Veterans Association into this important assembly. Up until this year the United States has been represented on the World Council, which came into being in 1949, by six persons from five groups: the American Foundation, the American Foundation for Overseas Blind, AAIB (Now the Assn. for the Education of the Visually Handicapped), the NFB, and the AAWB -- the latter holding two seats. Representatives from 22 service organizations and agencies, including HEW, Hadley School, Library of Congress DBPH, the Printing House, NAC, ACB, etc., attended a meeting in Washington on February 19 at the invitation of the U.S. Delegation to discuss changes in representation. The AAWB had indicated its willingness to yield one of its two seats in the interest of greater balance or representation and the AFOB acknowledged its position as an international organization rather than representative of this country. At the Washington meeting these two seats were definitely made available and were offered to the American Council of the Blind and the Blinded Veterans Assn., both of which accepted the privilege and responsibility. The official delegation to the World Council in New Delhi, India, in October, 1969, will include ACB President Reese Robrahn; Robert Barnett, AFB; Louis H. Rives, AAWB; James F.C. Hyde, Blinded Veterans; Russell Kletzing, NFB; Carl J. Davis, AEVH. ACB can be justly proud of such recognition. ***** ** ACB Convention Program to Date The May issue of the FORUM contained a summary of the substantial program items of the 1969 convention. Eric T. Boulter, President, World Council for the Welfare of the Blind, will appear on Friday, July 18, at 1:30 p.m., instead of the time previously announced. Dr. Fred G. Crawford, Director, South Carolina Commission for the Blind, will speak at 2:15 p.m. on Friday. Dr. James Bailey, a member of the Board of the North Carolina Commission for the Blind, who is an optometrist, will speak at 11:00 A.M., on Saturday, July 19, on the subject of optometry and improved vision. Mr. Samuel J. Cole, Superintendent of the Governor Morehead School for the Blind, will speak and present a short film at 11:30 A.M., Saturday, July 19. The establishment of physical fitness projects for blind persons has been rescheduled for 3:00 P.M., Thursday, July 17. This presentation will be made by Mr. Lester Citron, of Silver Spring, Maryland; Mr. Oral Miller, of Washington, D.C.; and a third speaker to be announced. The discussion for community service centers for the blind has been moved to 2:00 P.M. on Saturday, July 19. Bowlers and would-be bowlers are looking forward to the session and workshop at 9:00 P.M., Wednesday, where Oral Miller, President, American Blind Bowling Association, will preside. It is hoped that many who are interested in becoming active in organized bowling will attend. The Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America will have their own convention on Tuesday, July 15 at the White House Inn, in Charlotte. The Institute for Blind Lawyers, moderated by Professor T. Munford Boyd, will meet as scheduled at 1:00 P.M., July 15. Blind and sighted amateur radio operators will meet to form the ACB Service Net at 10:00 A.M., Wednesday. Except for the changes noted, program items will be as scheduled. This convention is characterized by the variety of special interest groups meeting in conjunction with the Council's general convention. All general convention sessions are open, and participation of interested blind persons is encouraged throughout. This will be a serious working convention, and the best talents and energy of all of us are needed to achieve our common goals. Make your reservations directly with the White House Inn, Charlotte, North Carolina; rates, $8 for singles and $12 for doubles. Send carbon copy of your letter requesting reservations to J. Edward Miller, Program Chairman, 2621 Chesterfield Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28205. ***** ** Computer Programmers' Seminar Plans are rapidly developing for the first ACB-sponsored seminar for blind computer programmers. While there will be representatives of supporting and allied professions, the emphasis and orientation of this seminar will relate directly to the participation of programmers themselves. The first session will begin at 10:00 A.M., on Tuesday, July 15, at the White House Inn, Charlotte. Sessions will continue through Tuesday afternoon and will conclude on Wednesday morning. Dr. S. Bradley Burson, Research Physicist, Argonne National Laboratory, will moderate the seminar. Participating specialists will be announced in a special bulletin to be sent to blind programmers whose names are available and to all others upon request. Dr. Burson has outlined the following tentative agenda which is subject to revision in the seminar: 1. Personal and academic qualifications for the applicant. 2. Training and education of programmers A. Vocational Rehabilitation's view B. Training Curriculum 3. Job Placement 4. Employee-Employer Relationship 5. On-the-Job Problems and Their Solutions 6. How to Cope with Programmers' Problems and Needs on an Ongoing Basis There are more than 250 blind programmers in the United States, and it is the belief of those who have arranged this seminar that practicing programmers can be mutually helpful to one another and very helpful to programmer students and other blind persons who are contemplating this career. ***** ** Social Security Disability Insurance At every opportunity ACB has advocated that proposition which has been known as the Humphrey Amendment, the King Amendment, and more recently, the Hartke Amendment. In the 91st Congress, Congressman Burke, of Massachusetts, and approximately one hundred other members of the House of Representatives have introduced this proposal which provides that blind persons having six quarters of social security coverage would be eligible for Social Security disability benefits without limit on their earnings. Supporters of this proposal have gained overwhelming support for it in the United States Senate. However, among the senior members of the Senate Committee on Finance who inevitably are part of the Joint Conference with the House, we are still weak; and we will have more to say about gaining their support in later issues. It is obvious that we must gain effective support in the House of Representatives if this proposal is ever to become law. Social Security legislation always originates in the House Committee on Ways and Means where the Burke Bill, H.R. 3782, and its numerous companion bills have been assigned. A list of the House Committee on Ways and Means appears at the end of this article. It is important that you and interested friends write to your respective congressmen and ask them to introduce an identical bill to H.R. 3782 if they have not already done so. You should also write each member of the House Committee on Ways and Means to request their support for this proposal. We are not concerned about who claims the credit for this measure. We are interested in getting results. An example of an effective letter to a congressman is provided from the following copy of a letter written by an ACB director to his congressman. It is reproduced here for your information and possible guidance. Dear Congressman ...: "I am writing you as one of your constituents to enlist your support for legislation now pending in Congress, which is of vital importance to people in the United States. I refer to H.B. 3782, Disability Insurance for the Blind, introduced by Congressman James A. Burke, of Massachusetts. ''Although H.B. 3782 may seem to be preferential to the blind, in reality it is an 'equalizer'. As a blind person myself, I can say that where a sighted man can walk, or take a bus, or drive his car, I must take a taxi. My groceries, drugs, and other items must be delivered to my door; and I must pay for this service. I could cite numerous other examples, but I am sure you have grasped my meaning. "H.R. 3782 is not a novel bill in Congress. In 1964, 1965 and 1967 the Senate passed this measure by overwhelming majorities, only to have the blind lose the benefits in Conference Committee. The original bill was drafted by the then Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, and his efforts were later undertaken by Senator Vance Hartke. "As a freshman congressman, we would like to see you dedicate some of your time to legislation of this type. I have read your Congressional Bulletin, and you indicate a sincere desire to aid in the welfare programs. I would be most appreciative if you would begin by introducing a companion bill to H.R. 3782. If you need any clarifying information, you may contact Mr. Durward K. McDaniel, the national representative of the American Council of the Blind, Suite 215, 20 E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., or Mr. John Nagle, national representative of the National Federation of the Blind, 1346 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. "Hoping that you will accede to this request, I remain, Sincerely yours, … * United States House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Wilbur D. Mills, Arkansas, Democrat Hale Boggs, Louisiana, Democrat John C. Watts, Kentucky, Democrat Al Ulman, Oregon, Democrat James. A. Burke, Massachusetts, Democrat Martha W. Griffiths, Michigan, Democrat Dan Rostenkowski, Illinois, Democrat Phil M. Landrum, Georgia, Democrat Charles A. Vanik, Ohio, Democrat Richard H. Fulton, Tennessee, Democrat Jacob H. Gilbert, New York, Democrat James C. Corman, California, Democrat William J. Green, Pennsylvania, Democrat Sam M. Gibbons, Florida, Democrat John W. Byrnes, Wisconsin, Republican James B. Utt, California, Republican Jackson E. Betts, Ohio, Republican Jerman T. Schnebeli, Pennsylvania, Republican Harold R. Collier, Illinois, Republican Joel T. Broyhill, Virginia, Republican Barber B. Conable, Jr., New York, Republican George Bush, Texas, Republican Rogers C. B. Morton, Maryland, Republican Charles E. Chamberlin, Michigan, Republican ***** ** "Tax Help for Blind Opposed" Des Moines, Iowa (UPI) -- The president of the National Federation of the Blind has urged elimination of double income exemptions for the sightless. Kenneth Jernigan, also director of the Iowa Commission for the Blind, Monday said the blind "have been saying for some time that we want the same treatment, rights and opportunities as other people." "If we have equal rights, we have obligations to carry equal responsibilities," he said. (From a recent issue of the Tulsa Tribune) ***** ** New Address for ACB Treasurer ACB Treasurer Fred Krepela has been busy moving his print shop, called The Ink Spot, to a new location out in Salem, Oregon. From the picture on the announcement of their new address, business is showing real progress -- larger quarters, better facilities, more convenient location. On behalf of FORUM readers and ACB members the FORUM sends congratulations to Fred and Lucile in their new quarters - The Address: Fred Krepela, Treasurer American Council of the Blind 241 State Street Salem, Oregon 97301 All of us are grateful for the way so many of our FORUM readers responded generously to support the work of the American Council. As promised by George Card in the May FORUM, the September issue will give special recognition to those who have made contributions. ***** ** Selection of Clients -- The Case of the Blind Robert Scott, PhD From SOCIAL PROBLEMS with special acknowledgement to Russell Sage Foundation and the NY Association for the Blind. By permission of the author. (The November '68 FORUM carried an article by Dr. Scott, Sociologist, Princeton University, titled "The Making of a Blind Man." A May issue of TIME magazine devotes several columns to a discussion of Dr. Scott's book, just released, "The Making of Blind Men." Could we say that the FORUM has actually scooped TIME?) The purpose of social welfare is to promote the social betterment of a class or group of people who are defined as disadvantaged, handicapped or deprived. ... It is believed that the form and content of such programs should be determined by the needs of the client. ... Welfare programs must rely upon the public for their support, whether through legislative appropriation or private fund-raising efforts. The availability of services depends, at least in part, upon the kinds of support which the benefactors of welfare are willing to provide. When the benefactors are the body politic, funds will ordinarily be made available for only those programs which the legislators believe are politically tenable to support. When the benefactors come from the private sector of society, the kinds of programs they are willing to support depend upon their personal conception of the nature of the problems and what they imagine constitutes a desirable and moral solution. In either case such conceptions are generally responsive to broad cultural themes and values, especially those of youth, work, hope, contentment and personal fulfillment. ... Ordinarily these factors will coincide when the client possesses valued cultural attributes (e.g. youth intelligence) and when valued cultural goals (e.g., employment, independence) are realistically attained for him. More often, however, these forces do not coincide; they may even conflict. ... From the point of view of organizational maintenance, it may be untenable to undertake extensive service programs for persons who, by virtue of their disability and other characteristics, may be unable to make productive contribution to the society, even though they represent a majority of those who need service programs. ... There are a number of significant facts about the blind population, which numbers close to a million. First a majority of them are elderly ... 17 percent of all blind persons are in the age group of 18-44, and only about 2 percent are children under 18. ... Blindness is much more common in women than in men, in all age groups; one half of all cases of blindness are among women 55 years of age and older. The adequacy and effectiveness of welfare programs can be judged in many ways. One such measure concerns their completeness; the degree to which they provide for all or most segments of the population in need. ... Workers for the blind argue that it is more worthwhile to supply services to those blind persons for whom there is the greatest expectation of success. ... If services for the blind roughly reflect the age and sex distribution of the blind population, then we can expect programs designed to meet the needs of those who are not expected to be self-supporting and more particularly of the elderly. Conversely, we would expect that only a small portion of those resources would be invested in programs for educating and training children and employable adults. An analysis ... reveals the situation is exactly the opposite. ... Only 9 percent of service agencies are concerned exclusively with elderly blind persons; 67 percent have programs intended primarily for children and employable adults. ... 134 separate agencies serve blind children exclusively and 395 have programs primarily concerned with vocational rehabilitation and employment. ... About 90 percent of agencies in work for the blind place exclusive or primary emphasis upon serving less than one third of the blind population; and only 9 percent are seriously concerning themselves with the bulk of blind persons. Another important fact ... existing programs are not geared to serve all blind persons in a given age group. Numerous services are available for the child who is educable, but there are almost no services for the multiply handicapped child. There are many services for the blind person who is thought to be employable but few for the one who is thought to be untrainable or for whom employment is an unrealistic goal. Recreation programs for elderly persons are located in the agency itself, so that only those who are mobile and independent enough to travel can take advantage of them. Elderly blind persons, the multiply handicapped, and unemployable are considered apart from the "real problem" of the blindness, because workers for the blind continue to employ archaic concepts in their service approach ... a general tendency to resist any innovation or change. In the history of this field, there has been a characteristic and stubborn resistance to the adoption of mechanical aids, educational devices or concepts which deviate from the status quo. ... Because the stigma associated with blindness may inadvertently rub off on workers for the blind, this field is unable to attract the top persons in social work, psychiatry, psychology, education, ophthalmology and rehabilitation ... Therefore, workers for the blind have traditionally had more intense commitment to the agencies they have built than to the persons whom they serve. (Editor's Note: Hopefully, Dr. Scott, there seems to be a brighter day dawning.) ***** ** The Internal Revenue Story (Excerpts from remarks made by B. Frank White, Regional Commissioner IRS, Dallas, at the Washington Conference on Employment of the Blind, Feb. '69) I suspect that the IRS Story is much the same as that of other employers. We have our prejudices. Prejudices we can ill afford because they keep us from realizing the working potential of the handicapped. We try to locate good applicants ... We show concern about the scarcity of skilled people in the tight labor market -- unaware that the qualifications we seek are well distributed among the handicapped and are largely untapped. General intelligence, meet and deal ability, sensitivity to the needs of others, judgment, innovativeness, loyalty, mathematical ability, leadership ability — these are some of the qualities that are just as apt to be found among the handicapped as among any part of our population. These qualifications can be located among the physically handicapped, including the blind, and among the environmentally handicapped, including minority groups and those trapped in poverty. ... Prejudice persists, but it is under heavy fire. We are beginning to write some new chapters in the utilization of human resources. ... One chapter had to do with women. ... IRS's world didn't collapse. Instead, a new source of talent was available. ... The newest chapter is the one on the blind. It has long been known among those who work with the blind that there are many more jobs blind people can do than those they cannot do. Most employers have not learned this. We in IRS are getting to know it through such efforts as the one at Little Rock where a little more than two years ago IRS began a pilot project to train taxpayer service representatives ... to help taxpayers with their problems. He needs knowledge of the tax code, empathy, skill in using a diagnostic problem-solving approach, tact and patience to cope with unhappy, perhaps indignant taxpayers: clearly, a demanding job. Proving that a blind person could do this required commitment to innovation within IRS and the cooperation and support of other agencies, state, federal and private — (from the Library of Congress and HEW, on down). Preceding this involvement was Little Rock IRS Director Fred Johnson's idea that the blind could be so trained — and this followed his conversation with an accountant friend who had lost his sight. The pilot project resulted in thirteen placements in two years. IRS now plans placement of up to 100 blind persons within three years. This pilot project does not demonstrate that placing the blind is no more difficult that an ordinary placement. Such placements are much more difficult and require commitment to principle and actions such as: Recognition that each employer has a social responsibility for the proper utilization of human resources; Willingness to provide the freedom to try out new ideas ... Significant happenings occurred earlier than the Little Rock project. In Washington, IRS has seven blind employees, two dating back to 1953; in Philadelphia, five; in New York, six; in Atlanta, four. The Phoenix District Office has four blind employees, two since 1960, and has the distinction of having the highest grade blind employee, a GS-11. Of the 43 persons in IRS proving the capabilities of the blind all are not Service Representatives. Their titles include attorney, economist, computer programmer, internal revenue agent, tax technician, etc. -- dispersed from Andover to Phoenix and from Aberdeen, South Dakota to Atlanta. The fact that 34 of these were appointed during the last two years represents a dynamic leap forward ... in the variety of positions and the levels of responsibility in which the blind are serving. ... IRS has made some dents in the prejudices and false concepts. It took a measure of organizational courage, but what a puny effort, really, compared to the courage a blind person has to muster to live successfully in an independent and socially responsible way. ... As employers we can, with some planning and effort, help to enrich the lives of the blind by matching their capabilities to our employment needs. ***** ** Virginia Alumni Homecoming The Virginia Alumni Association, Department for the Blind, Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind, will hold its annual homecoming reunion on September 21, 1969, at the Rocket Motel in Staunton, Virginia. A varied program of entertainment and recreation activities will be provided for members and invited guests. Reservations are imperative and should be made through Mr. Ray Hauser, 1609 North Augusta Street, Staunton, Virginia 24401. Room rates are $7.00 for singles and $10.50 for doubles. Reserved meals are priced as follows: breakfast $1.55; lunch $2.08; and dinner, $3.66. You may call Ray Hauser at area code 703, phone TU6-7175. Get your reservations in by September 1 and see all your friends and classmates in Staunton. ***** ** It Happened at the Florida 'Expo' (Laurene Gideons sent the following story written by Peggy Poor of the ORLANDO SENTINEL) The 1969 Florida Industries Exposition at Orlando may open a new and lucrative field of employment for the blind in the space age future. It happened here at Expo where, in the friendly festive atmosphere, exhibitors themselves wander about looking at others' displays. Between the snowmobile ... and the "instant" automobile bodies in fiberglass for wrecked cars is a booth where a group of people work on small shiny bits of metal which many visitors think at first are some new wrinkle in mod jewelry. They are components of electronics, and the workers are blind. They are apprentices in an Electronics Training Program at Daytona Beach, sponsored by the Florida Council for the Blind. A pilot project and the first of its kind anywhere, it is financed 90 percent by the state. Underway less than a year, it promptly placed in employment with Florida electronic concerns the first six graduates of its five-month course. Two of the second group, who will soon complete their course, have also been tentatively hired. From across the aisle, opposite the "instant cars" another exhibitor watched the nimble fingers of the blind apprentices with fascinated attention. Lee Robinson of TeleComp, Inc., Boca Raton, teaches at Florida Atlantic University and has been working on a project to instruct grade school children by computer. He is wildly enthusiastic about computer possibilities for all sorts of things. He "borrowed" two blind girls. They had demonstrated their speed and accuracy on a typewriter and were also demonstrating the highly developed sensitivity of their touch. Such delicate awareness could surely read the perforations on computer tape. It worked. ... In a trial demonstration the blind girls turned out a computerized portrait of John F. Kennedy. ***** ** More About Computer Programming (Suggested by a story in the BRAILLE MIRROR) Glenn Fishbeck taught his computer to talk braille and earned an award as one of Minnesota's two Vocational Rehabilitants of the Year. Computer coding by the blind did not originate with him, Fishbeck is quick to explain, but he took the idea, adapted it to Honeywell, Inc.'s machines and improved it so that it operates faster and more efficiently. With a professional career as his goal, Fishbeck was blinded in a hunting accident in October 1966. He enrolled in a computer programing course at the Electronic computer programming institute and in January 1968 returned to work at the Honeywell Aerospace Division as a computer-coder. "There are ways around most things," Fishbeck says. "You must become involved before you know what you can do. You may be surprised." "A program is a means of telling the computer what to do, when to do it, and what results we want printed out. With any computer you can give instructions in more than one language here. In this language one writes statements that are very similar to the common English sentence and, therefore, it is very easily understood by the reader." ... (The problem is recorded and then notes made in braille.) "Coding is the writing of the COBOL program and it is written in braille. Upon completion of the program, I read the braille, dictate it into the tape recorder, then type the program up on a conventional typewriter. A special program enters here to enable a blind programmer to obtain this listing in braille form. A braille conversion program will convert any printed material into braille by using one of the punctuation characters that are found on the printer. The three most commonly used are the period, comma, and apostrophe. I personally use the apostrophe on the Honeywell equipment. It is in the realm of this braille conversion program that I won my award. I improved existing programs by substantially increasing their efficiency and the accessibility of date." " ... The only modification to the entire system that is required by the blind programmer is the placing of an elastic band or rubber tape on the printer. This allows the punctuation mark to penetrate further into the paper, thereby raising a dot on the reverse side -- producing braille." (Editor's note: Mr. Fishbeck has been kind enough to supply the FORUM with a more detailed explanation of the basic difference between his braille program and others. We will be glad to supply a 3-inch tape containing this information to anyone requesting it.) ***** ** Confusing?? Bonny Byington, Wichita (In the KAB NEWS) The fellow who tells you that blindness is no handicap is indeed exceptional. On second thought he may be an exceptional liar. You've met the type: "Just a matter of adjusting," he tells you, and you ignore the bruise on his shin caused by an unsuspecting coffee table. "Yes," you agree, "It's just a matter of adjusting," and refrain from asking, "adjusting to or from what?" And another thing you don't ask is how much adjusting people around him have to do? It is helpful, for example, that the blind person has a sighted spouse. Blind persons "have it made," living in this electronic age. A tangled reel of tape makes reading some sort of an experience. But to get a little more technical canes that signal and "beepers" which read have certain advantages. Foremost is, they don't require a morning walk. Just the same, those electronic gadgets wouldn't care much if a blind fellow fell down and broke his dignity. A well-trained dog might prefer his master to chasing the neighbor's car. The real exceptional guy though is the one who sees just a little bit. He's a leader among the blind but man! how blind he is in the world of the sighted. After all, he'll ask, "How can you be halfway anything?" This is the boy who, if he takes a girl to a dance, recognizes her by the dress she is wearing or maybe by whether she's extra fat, skinny, short, or tall. If her dress is mass-production style, the social complications could be interesting. Maybe he can read a menu, but he can't follow hand motions directing him to a rest room. Then there is the one who reads braille, but bus signs, traffic lights, landscape and the like aren't hard for him to see. But the person who looks like a real fraud is the one whose vision varies from time to time. It is no real handicap to be blind or somewhere in between, the exceptional individual assures you, "Public understanding is the problem." You agree, because you understand the situation -- A little of everything, and some of it doesn't make sense, like how do you explain to someone else something you don't know what is. There are a few exceptional persons on this Earth, but it takes painful honesty to consider the blessings of blindness. Some of us would have amounted to less. Some would be worth more, but few of us would have received as much help from that logically confused "public." ***** ** A Well-Known Voice Now Silenced The. voice of Melva Owen, known and recognized by tape readers throughout the world, was silenced on Sunday, May 25, after months of suffering. Melva and her husband, Charles E. Owen, Jr., of Noel, Virginia, originated the Voicespondence Club in 1953 after taking over the operation of the original Wirespondence Club. Wire recorders, predecessors of the tape recorder, were first put on the market in 1946 and the Russian blockade of Berlin was responsible for the first recorded letter. John Schirmer, an employee of Webster-Chicago (WEBCOR) was worried about his mother and sister living behind the blockade and, through a US Air Force contact, recordings began to flow between Chicago and Berlin. Intrigued by the possibilities and anxious to share the idea with others, Schirmer persuaded Webster-Chicago to organize a club of recorder owners. This was done in 1950 and provided the first organized opportunity for people who'd rather talk than write. It was not until 1955 that the Club became especially concerned with its visually handicapped members and established a Fund to assist with their dues and supplies. Five years later this fund became the Tarver Memorial Fund with substantial support from Ways and Means for the Blind, Inc., Augusta, Georgia. "El" and Jackie Tarver were great-aunt and uncle of Hubert "Babe" Smith, founder and president of Ways and Means for the Blind, and bequeathed to him and his wife, Jewel, their spacious home on Heard Ave., Augusta. This is the same "Babe" Smith who made ACB's Tape Library Services possible as well as many other such services throughout the country. With his beloved helper no longer by his side, Charles Owen, Jr., has turned the greatly expanded operation of the Voicespondence Club over to Arthur Watkins in Long Beach, California. He will, however, continue to administer the Tarver Memorial Fund and Tape Library at his home in Noel, Virginia. ***** ** Imagine Me in the Congressional Record! "What do you know? I just got a call from my good lawyer friend in Marrietta, and he said he was looking over the Congressional Record and something kept telling him to look on Page 32 and there it was -- an item about me." It was our friend Palm (pronounced Pam) Banks of Decatur, Georgia on the telephone. "Just imagine me in the Congressional Record." Yes, there it was. Congressman Ed J. Derwinski, Illinois, quoted an article from the Hammond, Indiana TIMES telling about the Anselm World Tape Forum and its director Ruben Olsen, who is also active in the Indiana Recording Club. It was through this letter club that Pam became friends with Mrs. Raymond Sanders and, according to the item in the Record, "Mrs. Banks played Santa Claus to a children's home in Decatur, Georgia by distributing many pairs of socks knitted by Mrs. Sanders' mother in Indiana." Pam's lawyer friend is L.S. Cobb, an attorney, whose hobby is country music and tape recording. When we talked with him, he was getting ready to attend a session of the Renfroe Valley Tape group. Many Forum readers are members of tape clubs and watch for the mailman to bring them those small thick envelopes with messages from friends throughout the world, but few have more fun out of it than Pam Banks, who now has 70 tape friends in all 50 states. Pam lost her sight nine years ago, "But what if I'd gotten to where I couldn't talk?" she asks. "I have found a warm, wonderful world of friends reaching out to make family out of people." Taping is not Pam's only interest. Besides being one of the most active and beloved members of her church, of The Joy Club (for all handicapped persons), and of the Atlanta Chapter, Georgia Federation of the Blind, and adviser-consultant for all newly blind persons when they need encouragement, Pam does all her own housework to provide a home for her invalid husband. "Lonesome is not in my vocabulary," she says, "and all the publicity I've had lately is about to go to my head. But if it might help some folks, it's OK, I guess." ***** ** Listening Project: A Progress Report (From the New Outlook for the Blind. February 1969, used by permission) In July 1967, the Rehabilitation Services Administration gave funds to the Kansas Department of Social Welfare for an Innovation Project on improvement of listening efficiency in visually impaired individuals. The Project is now underway at the Kansas Rehabilitation Center for the Blind in Topeka. This report summarizes the Project's first year. Fifty-one subjects have so far participated in the project. Each has been pre- and post-tested. Eleven have completed classes. The testing shows an average rise of 17.45 from the pre-testing to the post-testing period, with an individual range of 0 to 44 percent. The test instrument used is the Brown-Carlsen Listening Comprehension Test. We are aware that this post-testing rise also measures the client's participation in the total Center program. Therefore, we have enlisted the services of the Northwestern Regional Rehabilitation Center for the Blind in Seattle, Washington to help determine how much a person's listening ability will improve when he participates in a program without listening classes. They have agreed to pre- and post-test about 100 clients during the next two years with the test instrument we are using, so that we can compare the two scores. This will enable us to further evaluate the effect that a Listening Program can have on the improvement of listening comprehension in the blinded adult. Each client of the Center participates in three hours of listening classes each week. They are aware that this is an innovation project and are eager to participate. Many report that they "feel" they have become more aware of the world of sound since participation in Listening Classes. Terminated clients have reported how amazed they are with their ability to remember names, lists and numbers better than before the classes. The Listening Project gets much of the credit. We are watching particular areas of development such as immediate recall, following directions and word interpretation as significant for vocational potential. The highest rate of progress seems to come in those who need the most help. The majority of those who made the lowest percentile scores on the pre-test seem to be making the most gains at post-testing. We have also found that the most progress seems to be in the area where the person originally showed the most weakness. During the coming year we will continue to teach, evaluate, research and refine classroom material and activities. We will become more deeply involved in abstract sounds and discrimination of same. At the end of next year we will have test results from the Northwestern Regional Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and be able to make further comparisons. -- Claudell Stocker ***** ** Physical Fitness By Lester Citron (EDITORIAL NOTE: This would be a good constructive activity for our local groups throughout the country.) "The blind and visually handicapped have no right to be physically fit. They may never run freely. They may never exert their full strength in fun or pleasure. They must lose their physical flexibility. The blind must walk in a typically blind manner. The blind must express their disability in every movement." At least that is what many parents and teachers seem to be saying if one can judge by what they are NOT doing. Schools, parents, and agencies usually concentrate on basic braille, education, vocation while physical education and training is almost entirely neglected. The handicapped child or adult, who is placid and demands little, is very often permitted to stagnate physically. It is the fortunate youngster who has the sort of family, or friends, who recognize the need for physical activity and will invite and urge the blind person to walk and run and take part in as many activities as possible. Being blind is no excuse for an undeveloped body. No blind child deserves to be characterized by a stiff-legged gait, flabby legs and arms, a reluctance to bend or stretch. Parents and teachers must be made aware that blind people are as capable of physical activity as are the sighted. They should know that blind people not only benefit from physical activity but find it just as pleasurable as the sighted do. Parents and teachers may have to take more pains in arrangement and supervision of these activities; they may have to exercise more ingenuity and aggressiveness in this, but the results are well worth the trouble. Returns on the resultant investments in the time and effort come in the form of better health for children and adults. Greater confidence in mobility and movement; heightened confidence in the ability to move and to accomplish; the retention of bodily flexibility. Blind people who have received physical education and continue to be active get more pleasure and fun out of life and living than do the sedentary and stagnant. It's true for the sighted people -- why isn't it true for the blind? The question arises -- how, where? Well, physical fitness and well-being like charity begin at home. The answers are not complicated. Walking is a fine exercise. Walk with your blind youngster daily and in all kinds of weather. Indoors: walk up and down stairs, if possible two steps at a time, to get him to stretch his limbs more freely. If you are ambitious: do a bit of jogging with him -- it will do you both good. Start off the day with a few calisthenics; the bending and stretching is needed for maintaining flexibility. Teach the youngster to hop on either foot, and both; buy him a skip rope and teach him to use it, gradually and with practice, and precision. There's a lot of exercise in a ball. Buy a large bouncy ball and teach him to bounce and catch, and then walk and bounce and catch. Bounce the ball into his hands and have him bounce it back to you. Bounce the ball in a circle and have him follow the sound, and then have him find and catch the ball before the bouncing stops. Install a chinning bar in a doorway and have him chin himself every morning or evening. Put him in competition with himself. Give him a sense of improvement as this exercise becomes more frequent. Get a can he can kick and find again and again. Cans make a beautiful sound and are an incentive to kicking, walking, orientation, and even running. The continued tinkle is an invitation to continued action. The irregular shape provides a teasing invitation to find for the next kick and the solid satisfaction of the terminal flying connection of can and shoe. Expose the blind to water -- safe, swimming water where it is shallow enough and the nearness of ladder, wall and hand­holds plus the reassuring nearness of friend or relative gives a solid sense of security. Place emphasis on fun and pleasure -- do not try to teach swimming. Let nature take its course; water can be fun and development all by itself. Safety and security first -- swimming later. Parents and relatives can organize physical fitness groups to expose the blind to physical and social experiences that might be difficult otherwise. People need the morale factor of other people, and through their joint efforts, much can be accomplished -- such as programs at the local YM or YWCA; opening school gymnasiums on Saturday mornings; hikes, picnics, swim parties, swimming lessons, calisthenic classes, dance groups, etc. The blind are people and deserve no less in rights and privileges than sighted people. A basic right is as good a body with as much capacity for health and accomplishment as any person with two good eyes. It is up to the sighted, parents, friends, teachers, relatives, and the blind themselves to see to it that the unsighted claim this right. ***** ** Look! No Moving Hands (The following information came to the FORUM from two sources -- MEDICAL TRIBUNE and MILWAUKEE JOURNAL) A new device being developed at the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago is expected to speed braille reading up to as much as 300 words per minute. Hardly as big as a portable typewriter, the machine presents a stream of braille characters on a moving plastic belt. The characters on the belt are erased once the reader has felt their import, and on its next pass the belt carries a new message. The text which the machine reads is contained on a reel of endless magnetic tape that can store the contents of an entire novel length book on a spool scarcely larger than a standard typewriter ribbon. Volunteer readers have achieved a speed up to 320 words per minute, probably due in part to the fact that the reader does not have to move his hand. The Argonne facility, financed by the Atomic Energy Commission, is descended directly from the World War II laboratory which spawned the world's first nuclear reactor in a squash court beneath the grandstand of Chicago's Stagg Field. There is nothing particularly nuclear about a braille reading machine except the personal interest on the part of Arnold P. Grunwald, a member of Argonne's reactor engineering division, who hopes the device will eliminate the need for cumbersome and costly braille volumes. When computer makers produced a machine capable of translating Chinese, the obvious spin-off was to apply the techniques to translation into braille. If braille text could be stored electronically on magnetic tape, the next step would be a machine that could convert the signals on the tape into actual dots. Last year Mr. Grunwald's project got the support of a grant from the U.S. Office of Education to perfect the machine and build two prototypes. The machine will have a variable speed control for the plastic band so that a reader could permanently increase his reading rate by gradually cranking up the speed. Cost of the machine is expected to be about $500. (A question from the Editor: If material is promptly erased, what of its value for study?) ***** ** Loretta's Corner The only thing I can say to you wonderful FORUM readers at this time is -- Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness, your thoughtfulness -- and your generosity. It was my hope to get a personal word to each one of you -- and I intend to keep on trying. Especially appreciated was the trip Ed Miller made by bus from Charlotte on Saturday to see his special friend, just in time. You have requested information: A visit to the doctor early in February, following a prolonged bout with flu, was our first warning. Immediate examination by a specialist proved serious; hospital tests and X-Rays reported "inoperable;" cobalt treatments were effective but a large blood vessel leading to the heart was involved; Ned was dependent on oxygen for a full month, but he was alert and not in severe pain up until almost the end. I now abhor the sight of cigarettes! I hope that many of you will be in Charlotte to help make this the best convention ever. A fine program is planned, one that should be interesting and helpful to everyone. A special request has come asking that the following be included in the FORUM, and since it is so beautiful -- may it occupy my corner? * In Memory of Ned Freeman There was a man in the fullness of life, who came upon a boulder in his pathway. His intellect, of superior quality, faced reality head-on. His ebullient spirit, like that of a flowing stream of pure, sweet water circled the boulder, then continued on its way to the Great Sea far beyond. And on his life's journey, through sunlight and shadows, over rocky land, down waterfalls, through singing pools of great depths, he called in his gentle, soft voice, sometimes with teasing laughter, to the spirits of others to join him on his adventure through an abundant life. Ned Freeman, President of the Georgia Federation of the Blind, and Past National President for the American Council of the Blind, our beloved leader, was that man. When Ned's eyesight failed some years ago, he used the boulder of blindness as a stepping stone into greater service for others, particularly for the blind. He learned Braille, and often traveled great distances with only the aid of his white cane and the touch of the Master's hand to guide him. Ned, a genuine friend to everyone, has crossed the Great Sea, and with a wave of his hand, has vanished from us. But his words, in the days he walked by our side and the times he spent with us, linger on and we are comforted by the reach of his soul. Our President lived in Conyers, Georgia, with his charming and devoted wife, Loretta. Each was fortunate in the choice of the other. Their home was blessed with two sons and two daughters. He is survived by these loved ones, and the families of his children, including twelve grandchildren. Someone has said, "a good man never dies," and we believe this will be true of Ned Freeman. For he was a good man. Even as he approached the twilight of life, a victim of lung cancer, he was thinking of others. He made all the necessary arrangements for his body to be given to the Research Laboratory at Emory University Hospital. His eyes were blind, but his soul had great vision. We shall not forget him. -- by the Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia Federation of the Blind. ***** ** Happy People Are the Prettiest Things (Suggested by an article in the Chattanooga Times-Post) Being able to see people for the first time was almost shocking to Miss Pauline Cook, who recently joined the world of the sighted after being blind for all of her 26 years. She always had been puzzled that a person might be pretty in the eyes of some and not in the eyes of others. Now she understood, having observed the scowls and smiles of society. "Happy-looking people are the prettiest things I've seen," she says. "I've always heard that roses were beautiful. And they are. But happy people are really the prettiest things." The scowlers have led her to think there was at least one advantage to blindness. "I couldn't tell what people were thinking. People tell you an awful lot by the way they look at you. ... I think the worst thing that could happen to a person would be for him to be intelligent and not be able to communicate. There is so much more to hear and say than there is to see." Miss Cook, who holds a degree in music and education from the University of Chattanooga, is a victim of toxoplasmosis, a disease affecting the retina. Several unsuccessful operations were performed, and doctors had ruled out the use of contact lenses. However, recent experiments of her own prompted her to insist that a local doctor fit her with contacts. "The first thing I ever saw was my doctor and his office," she said. Now she has seen flowers and beaches and trees and rivers; traveled to the beaches and the mountains and seen so many wonderful things. "I am sure the mountains that surround us here in Tennessee are the most beautiful I could find." ***** ** Letters from Readers Carolyn Carney, Bloomfield, CT -- I am a reader of your magazine for only a short time. However, I have found it interesting, enjoyable and beneficial. I would like to join your organization and do as much for it as possible. I am a graduate student at the University of Hartford and am studying psychological examining. I am now working on giving intelligence tests to sighted subjects. I have adapted the tests, the performance sections, so I can administer them. I have drilled holes in the blocks so I could tell them apart. I mark all the pictures in braille on the underside so I can distinguish them. ... I have learned, after many hours of practice, how to arrange the pieces in the picture assembly that I can present the material correctly. (With brailled directions) I can use the same manual standards for correcting as the sighted examiner. I have used a camera which was set for me to take pictures of block design, etc., so an experienced person could evaluate the answer and check my conclusions. My next step is to administer this test to see if there is significant difference. I would like to do research in the field of testing with the blind. I plan to start a series of experiments comparing blind and sighted subjects and hope to have them published in the APA Bulletin. (CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD WISHES TO CAROLYN!) Teresa Iglesias, Atlanta: Until four years ago I was an active business woman in New York. Now I am partially blind and living with my daughter in Atlanta. When I first came here I thought the world was coming to an end -- all I did was sit and think and feel sorry for myself. One day I heard over the radio about Community Services for the Blind. Wayne Edwards, Executive Director, came to see me, and in almost no time at all I was enrolled for courses in braille, sewing and mobility. I thought at first that I could never learn braille because of my age and because I had been out of school for so many years. I had to work very hard and do a great deal of studying, but I knew that soon I was going to read again. I was proud when my instructor, Bob Humbert, encouraged me and I started to live again. I finished the course in about 14 weeks and now I plan to take a correspondence course from the Library of Congress to further my knowledge of braille. Mrs. Catherine Goff, Augusta, GA: (Mrs. Goff, who has been concerned for many years with the sale of items made by the aged, the handicapped and the blind, proposes a Work Plan) "The Commercial Phase of the Rehabilitation Program is a Sales Service for the handicapped and the aged. Through it, they can reach the market with the things they are able to make. Sales depots can be set up a hundred miles or so apart and the work done in institutions and Home Industry programs can be brought into depots. This will not be a charitable organization but will be self-supporting. It can bring together the work that is being done and bring peace of mind to handicapped people." The following are recent requests for braille books. We do not recommend sending recorded material unless it is a special request -- and be assured the books are received and appreciated even though they aren't acknowledged. Remember, you can just re-address the envelopes containing your magazines. H.M. Mwagomba, Mwangolela V.H., Mkambalala Village, Post Office Karonga, Malawi, Central Africa -- I am a man of about 40 years, now a teacher, have just started my teaching this year. Please borrow me some books. K. Palaniappan, 6 Vengattachalasari St., Peelamadu Post, Coimbatthore Dist., Tamilnod State, South India. -- I am a boy of 14 ... in the eighth standard. I wish to improve my knowledge of English by reading books and magazines, writing my daily lesson, short stories, singing, swimming. T. Nanda, Son of M. Siddhalingappa, Magadi Taluk, Bangalore Dist., Mysore State, India -- I have just received your great magazine for which I am extremely thankful on behalf of our organization, Mysore Social Welfare Organization for the Blind located in Tumkur. I'd like to thank (you) from the top and the bottom of my heart for giving vast amount of help to the blind of the foreign countries. ... especially the American Printing House and the Hadley School and may God give them courage, strength. ... send comments and questions in braille. ***** ** Know Ye! It is with much sadness that we report the death of Otto Peterson on May 5th in the Kansas University Medical Center. Otto was a counselor with Division of Services for the Blind, Garden City, Kansas, and a devoted member of ACB. ACB members will remember him especially as the cheerful and enthusiastic Supervisor of Displays at the 1967 Wichita Convention. He and his efficient wife Faye spent many hours showing off the interesting array of aids gadgets, games, etc., which they had gathered for the occasion. Otto had just recently (FORUM March '69) announced the completion of Brailled Resource File, an ambitious project he undertook for the Midwestern Conference of Home Teachers. Faye may be addressed at 1108 East Spruce St., Garden City 67846. Jerry Hall, ACB's 1967 Ambassador, said "The Lord's Prayer" and "No Man is an Island," at Otto's memorial service. The Library of Congress, DBPH, has recently included MUSIC JOURNAL magazine in its collection of talking-book records. The JOURNAL features articles written by eminent musicologists, composers, and conductors of interest to both student and layman. The articles deal with such topics as the "pop" field and the role of music in history, therapy and education. Also included are reviews of books and records (classical, folk and opera) and news of concerts and music festivals. Eligible readers (certified handicapped or blind) interested in receiving MUSIC JOURNAL may write to Mary Mylecraine, Music Services Unit, DBPH, Library of Congress, Washington 20542. Blind persons in the New York Metropolitan area who are interested in subjects of cultural, intellectual, and social significance are encouraged to join the Topical Club. The club meets on the last Friday of each month from October to May at the Lighthouse, 111 East 59th St., but is not a part of that or any other agency. Meetings consist of a short business session, a featured speaker and follow-up discussion period; Speakers have represented Vista Volunteers, CBS Radio, the UN, the League of Women Voters, etc. and there are several social affairs. Those wishing to join the Topical Club should contact the President, Richard Barhold, 104-28, 42nd Ave., Corona, LI 11368. tel. (212) 898-6728. A new automatic dialer is announced by International Diversification, Inc., called PRESTODIAL. This patented disk memory system makes automatic dialing available, practical and easy to use. It allows a blind person to select any one of the 36 telephone numbers and have the unit automatically dial that number. With the aid of a braille typewriter the 36 names could be put on the face of the unit and to dial, the person would merely put the movable lever opposite the name and push the button. For further information write International at 4941 Tracy Ave., Kansas City MO 64110. "How to Build a Closed-Circuit Television Reading Aid" by John H. Kuck, is a 34-page pamphlet consisting of narrative, drawings and photographs, describing and illustrating the author's work. Mr. Kuck is a physicist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab., Maryland, and is interested in sharing this information with persons who may be able to benefit from his work and experience. The story, with description of the drawing, is being put on tape for FORUM readers who might be interested. Inquiries may be sent to the ACB National Office. With Joy I Called to You, a first book of poems by Louis J. Cantoni, has just been published by South and West, Inc. Dr. Cantoni teaches at Wayne State University in Detroit where he also directs the Rehabilitation Counseling Program. His poems have appeared in national and international quarterlies and in anthologies. He is the author or editor of several books and monographs and has published over a hundred articles in education, psychology, and philosophy journals, and in THE BRAILLE FORUM. Among other places his biographical sketch appears in American Men of Science and in the Dictionary of International Biography. The book costs $2.70 and may be purchased from South and West, Inc., 2601 South Phoenix, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901. George Card referred to a letter from Ann Landers in his "Here and There" for May and we don't know if he's responsible, but we have received copies of two answers that have appeared throughout the country. One was from our own Don Nold, editor of DIALOGUE, and we all know he could well sing out the talents and praises of his Jeri. The other was from Michigan's Congressman Robert D. Mahoney, father of ten, and he and his wife also are blind. Thanks to Ann Landers! Linda Podell, our young friend who secured her own job placement with Social Security in Baltimore is now in Israel having taken a job with the Israeli government. Linda is especially interested in Public Relations and in writing, so we shall be looking forward to hearing of her experiences in a faraway land. She says ACB will always have a special place in her heart and in her thoughts. Another pamphlet added to our Tape Library is titled "Visually Handicapped Workers in Recreation Services," the result of Work Conference held last June and sent us by Arthur Voorhees, AFB. ***** COME COME COME TO THE ACB CONVENTION IN CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – July 15-19th THE WHITE HOUSE INN MET MANY OLD FRIENDS AND MAKE MANY NEW FRIENDS ***** ** Here and There By George Card From the AFB NEWSLETTER: On December 3-5, 1968, two AFB staff members conducted a workshop at the Home and Hospital of the Daughters of Jacob, a residence for the aged in the Bronx, New York. The purpose was to teach selected staff members the basic techniques of helping the blind persons under their care become more independent. Previously, residents of the home who lost their sight were transferred to the hospital regardless of whether they had any other condition requiring hospital care. For the first time, this Home may be able to accept persons blind at admission. -- The AFB is negotiating with hospitals in the New York City area to determine a site for a three-year demonstration project entitled, "The Training and Placement of Blind Persons in Service Jobs in Hospital Settings." -­ The magazine EBONY is now available on 8-1/3 rpm recordings from regional libraries. The G.F.B. DIGEST reports that through the efforts of the Georgia Federation of the Blind and of its late beloved president, Ned Freeman, employees of the workshop (Georgia Factory for the Blind) will now receive full pay during sick leave absence, provided it extends over three days and there is satisfactory proof of illness. -- The G.F.B. Board, at its January meeting, voted to dissolve the organization’s credit union because the small amount of business did not justify the time and expense required to carry out its operation. All G.F.B. Credit Union members will be eligible to make loans and save through the Georgia League Credit Union. The G.F.B is awarding three $550 scholarships for the advanced training of those preparing to enter upon the teaching of blind children. The OHIO BULLETIN contains an editorial by Clyde Ross who reminds his readers that no one struggled harder than he did to prevent a split in the national organized blind movement but that now he has come around to the view that perhaps it is a healthy thing to have two national organizations striving to outdo each other in bringing about a better world for blind people to live in. "The ACB keeps the NFB on its toes and the NFB is a constant challenge to the ACB." In his final editorial James Hicks (sighted), retiring editor of the Washington State WHITE CANE, writes: "I have discovered that blind persons are as varied as are sighted persons o Mostly the blind have only their blindness as the common denominator; for the rest 9 they are people with problems, fears; desires, personalities, etc." -- It is hoped that S.B. 39, the bill which will prevent the State Department of Public Assistance from deducting Social Security increases from aid grants to welfare recipients, will pass in the current special session of the Legislature. From the Canadian Council of the Blind OUTLOOK: In Africa more than 1,000,000 persons are blind. Yet there is a traditional apathy toward blind people on the continent. To help counteract this apathy nine blind Africans -- three each from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda -- are to climb Kilimanjaro, the snow-capped "shining mountain" which at 19,340 feet, is the highest in Africa. This is not a stunt. Its prime purpose is to demonstrate to all Africa that "trained blind people have the mental and physical stamina to achieve exacting goals and to justify their place in the economic and social life of modern Africa." The entire cost of the operation is being met by collections made by British school­children. -- The Canadian National Institute for the Blind and member clubs of the Canadian Council of the Blind are again urging the Government of Canada to provide a cost-of-blindness allowance to all sightless persons from the age of 18 years -- this allowance not to be considered as taxable income. -- An unusual and complicated cornea transplant operation in Cape Town, South Africa, has been successfully performed. Mrs. I.J. Verster acted as her own partial donor. One of her eyes contained a healthy cornea but a dead optic nerve. The cornea was removed and transplanted to her other eye where the cornea was progressively failing but where the optic nerve was still functioning. A cornea from an outside donor was used to make the eye with the dead optic nerve appear as normal as possible although Mrs. Verster will never be able to see with that eye. From the March NEW OUTLOOK: Physicians in the Department of Ophthalmology of the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center are using a battery of electronic testing devices, which measure differences in electrical potential generated within the eye, give a complete profile of each cellular component of the retina. From PERFORMANCE: "Employers had courage when they took the chance of introducing the skillful handicapped among the skillful 'unhandicapped.' Their universal surprise was great when they learned that skill was skill no matter who had it. Workers in large factories were astonished to learn that the handicapped wanted no extra solicitude, favors or sympathy. An exciting study shows that many 'unhandicapped' workers lose their anger, hostility and pettiness when exposed to the radiant courage of those with limited physical ability ..." -- Lester L. Coleman, M.D. -- "It is not what you've lost, but what you have left, and how you use it, that counts." -- Harold Russell. From Cathie Skivers (ACB Board member): "California is fighting for the future of the blind. Our programs were all dumped into vocational rehabilitation on the 17th of February, and we therefore no longer have a division for the blind. ABC has joined with the California Council, and we are now fighting to establish a commission." From the ILLINOIS BRAILLE MESSENGER: There was a time a few generations ago when blind persons were considered unable to be gainfully employed at all. Then came a period when they were expected only to make brooms and tune pianos. In this age no generalizations can be made about what blind people can do. Some of the best success stories of all are those that tell how an individual, after losing his sight, goes on doing what he did before by applying a little creative thought and adaptation. -- This issue also reports that quite a number of residential schools for the blind are now promoting "Career Days." Parents and students are told about the many employment possibilities that today are opening up -- whenever possible by the blind individuals who have become successful in occupations and professions that were once thought entirely closed to blind persons. The students are interested in the careers which are described and request to hear more about preparation for employment, making applications, job training and college counseling. From the AAWB NEWS AND VIEWS: Five persons in Gainesville, Florida have had their sight restored by a new operation called EKP -- epikeraprosthesis -- which involves the gluing of a tiny plastic corneal lens to the eye surface. Dr. Antonio R. Gasset of the University of Florida College of Medicine developed the technique. From the California Blind Business Men NEWLETTER: Project SEE, of Los Angeles, has many exciting electronic devices in the experimental form or in process of development. One is an electronic retina, through the use of microelectronics equipment. This might substitute for the human eye, giving both day and night vision. They are working on tissue transplantation and nerve stimulation regrowth. They are working on a photo electric cell connected surgically to the visual cortex of the brain and powered by a generator. A microelectric T.V. camera may be used to transmit visual information through an electronic retina to the visual cortex. The Hippies don't know it yet, but this is what is really meant by being "turned on" and "tuned in." A number of well-publicized experiments have been carried on recently by prominent political leaders to find out just how it feels to try to exist on the prevailing food budgets in public assistance grants. Among these were the families of Senator Hart, of Michigan, and Lt. Governor Paul Simon, of Illinois. The Harts managed to last out the week, mostly on beans and corn meal, but the Simon family ran over its budget and declared that no family could obtain even the minimum requirements of a balanced diet on the meager food budget of Illinois. On April 21 the Supreme Court declared all state laws requiring a period of residence as a condition for receiving public assistance to be invalid. Some 40 states now have such laws. From LISTEN: The questionable belief that "a blind man can do no evil" caused a 46-year-old Brazilian with a record of 41 crimes, 20 escapes, 3 times shot and wounded in bouts with the police, to blind himself so as to end further temptation. The Reuters dispatch from Niteroi, Brazil, adds that now, with 22 years remaining of a 30-year sentence, the self-blinded prisoner is hoping for a pardon from Brazil's president. -- Harold McCloud of Brooklyn, N.Y., was blinded recently when he attempted to hold up a local beauty parlor. According to the N.Y. SUNDAY TIMES, the shop's owner picked up a jar containing a concentrated solution of lye and threw it in McCloud's face. -- The complete G & C Merriam Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary is now available in a four-volume large-print edition. -- This issue reports the sudden death of one of the nation's most widely known blind persons and winner of the Shotwell Memorial Award of the AAWB, Mr. Philip Harrison. He was a WW II veteran and served for many years as executive secretary of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind. -- The Clark Howell School in Atlanta, Georgia, went up in flames early this year and with it went one of the best collections of braille and large print school books in the country. In addition, equipment for producing material in braille, braille writing equipment, special teaching equipment, tape recorders, special relief maps were totally destroyed. Representing hours of work by volunteers, the collection was in large part unique and irreplaceable. -- Norman Smizer of Delair, N.J., became totally blind last year but is still building engines for midget race cars. He uses specially-designed equipment which is marked in braille. -- A 12-year-old Brighton, Mass., girl, who lost the sight of one eye and sustained injuries to her left leg and severe facial wounds because of a freak fireworks accident, has been awarded $169,000 damages. From WE THE BLIND: A rehabilitation program for South Vietnamese soldiers blinded in the war has been inaugurated at the National Rehabilitation Institute in Saigon. A blind American, Genevieve Caulfield, is credited with getting the program organized. Miss Caulfield, who is 79, has spent most of her life in work for the blind in the Far East where she has established schools for blind children in three countries. -- Scientists at Westinghouse Electric Corp. say they are perfecting an electronic system that someday could help the blind see. They are working on a way of printing electronic circuits on flexible material such as foil and paper which could lead to replace audial and visual nerves. -- Liberty Chapter (Philadelphia) is making a determined effort to have the Public Accommodations Code amended to forbid discrimination against the blind and physically handicapped. -- A group of Alpha Zeta members sent a truckload of farm animals to the manicured lawns of the Overbrook School for the Blind to be examined and fondled by the blind children, most of them city bred, and it proved to be a wonderful experience for these youngsters. "In local, state and national organizations of the blind, individuals who put forth the greatest effort seldom benefit directly. To me it is a glorious feeling to know that I have helped someone who will never be able to return a like amount of help. I have been helped by others whom I have never been able to repay." -- Clyde Ross. From PARADE: Jose Feliciano is 24. Blind since birth, he sings, plays the guitar and ten other instruments. He was born in Puerto Rico, reared in New York City, now lives in Orange County, Calif., in a $50,000 home with his wife Hilda. He reportedly earns $500,000 a year from television, personal appearances and his RCA Victor records. (It was he who gave the decidedly offbeat rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner" at the beginning of a World Series game last year, at the Academy Award presentations this year he sang the song which turned out to be the winner.) Two articles in the April NEW OUTLOOK FOR THE BLIND describe what will probably be the first really usable reading machine for the blind. It will have many of the characteristics of a computer and will not be portable. It will be set up in a special room of a public library or in some other special location, where blind persons can use it. It will emit sounds which will be recognizable as words but only 7200 words can be placed in its memory bank and so, when other words occur in the text they will be spelled out. ***** ** ACB Officers President: Judge Reese Robrahn, 539 New England Building, Topeka, KS 66603 1st Vice-Pres: George Card, 605 Few St., Madison, WI 53703 2nd Vice-Pres.: Vernon Williams, 217 Western Union Bldg., Aberdeen, SD 57401 Secretary: Mrs. Mary Jane Schmitt, 510 Tarrington Rd., Rochester, NY 14609 Treasurer: Fred Krepela, 241 State St., Salem, OR 97301 ** Directors Mrs. Catherine Skivers, 836 Resota St., Hayward, CA 94545 Floyd Qualls, 106 NE 2nd St., Oklahoma City, OK 73104 Dr. S. Bradley Burson, 917 Kenyon St., Downers Grove, IL 60515 J. Edward Miller, 2621 Chesterfield Ave., Charlotte, NC 28205 David Krause, 2121 P St., NW, Apt. 615, Washington, DC 20037 Fred Lilley, 7629 Dale St., Richmond Heights, MO 63117 Don Cameron, 724 S. Davis Blvd., Tampa, FL 33609 ###