The Braille Forum Vol. XVII December, 1978 No. 6 Published Monthly by the American Council of the Blind * President: Oral Miller 3701 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Suite 220 Washington, DC 20008 * National Representative: Durward K. McDaniel 1211 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Suite 506 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 833-1251 * Editor: Mary T. Ballard 190 Lattimore Road Rochester, NY 14620 (716) 244-8364 The Braille Forum seeks to promote the independence and dignity of all blind people; to stress responsibility of citizenship; to alert the public to the abilities and accomplishments of the blind. The Braille Forum carries official news of the American Council of the Blind and its programs. It is available for expression of views and concerns common to all blind persons. ***** ** Contents Notice to Subscribers Report from the ACB President Pocket Veto or Pen -- The Rehabilitation Act of 1978, by Reese Robrahn Major Provisions of the Rehabilitation Comprehensive Services and Developmental Disabilities Act of 1978, by Reese Robrahn Higher Education for the Blind and Braille Literacy, by Carlton Eldridge Attention, Handicapped Artists! The NBA Braille Book Bank Ship Ahoy!, by Josephine De Fini Index of Legal Materials Has Been Compiled Failure of the 1980 Census to Include Item on Handicapped Is Protested The San Francisco Subregional Library -- A Model for All?, by Harriet Penner Fielding NAC Holds Annual Meeting in Chicago ACB Affiliate News: South Dakota Convention In Memoriam Here and There, by George Card ACB Officers Contributing Editors ***** ** Notice to Subscribers The Braille Forum is available in braille, large-type, and two recorded editions -- flexible disc (8 1/3 rpm), which may be kept by the reader, and cassette tape, which must be returned so that tapes can be re-used. As a bi-monthly supplement, the flexible disc edition also includes ALL-O-GRAMS, newsletter of the Affiliated Leadership League of and for the Blind of America. Send subscription requests and address changes to The Braille Forum, 190 Lattimore Road, Rochester, NY 14620. Items intended for publication may be sent in print, braille, or tape to Editor Mary T. Ballard at the above address. Those much needed and appreciated cash contributions may be sent to the ACB National Office, 1211 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 506, Washington, DC 20036. You may wish to remember someone by sharing in the continuing work of the American Council of the Blind. The National Office now has available special printed cards to acknowledge to loved ones contributions made in memory of deceased persons. Anyone wishing to remember ACB in his or her Last Will and Testament may use the following language in a special paragraph for that purpose. If your wishes are more complex, your attorney may contact the ACB National Office. ***** ** Report from the ACB President By the time this report goes to press, the American Council of the Blind Enterprises and Services (ACBES) will have completed taking over the assets and operation of all the ACB Thrift Stores. The first full month of almost complete operation by ACBES has been very successful, and while there are seasonal variations in business, we have reason to believe that this new business arrangement will start improving ACB's financial position significantly within the next few months. ACB Treasurer James Olsen is supervising fiscal operations from Minneapolis, and I am confident that his report to the ACB Board and the ACBES Board in St. Louis the weekend of December 9-10 will be encouraging. However, it will not eliminate the need for ACB to continue looking elsewhere for financial assistance if it wishes to expand services to its members. At various times in the past, I have heard from ACB members complaints that ACB as an organization is not sufficiently aggressive or energetic as a consumer advocate organization. I have always made it a practice to point out that financial limitations, among other things, have been greatly responsible for our inability to do many things we would like to do. However, it is true also, that many members have simply not been aware of many of the consumer-oriented activities of the American Council of the Blind. While it would be impossible to list everything which ACB has done as a consumer advocate organization within the past two months, reference to only a few will show that ACB's voice, though not as loud and demanding as some organizational voices, is listened to in a wide range of areas of interest to the blind. For example, within the past month alone, ACB has been asked to endorse and support grant proposals in Milwaukee and New York City concerning the development of special medical school courses and the service needs of visually impaired college students. Also, ACB has been represented effectively at the meeting of the planning committee for the Helen Keller International Congress (to be held in Boston in 1980), the National Conference of Librarians Serving the Blind and Visually Impaired (sponsored by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped and held in Washington, D.C.), and the subregional meeting of the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind (held in New York City). By the time this report is published, a representative of ACB will have participated in the annual meeting of the Braille Authority of North America, and another ACB representative will have attended the first meeting of the national advisory committee of a Virginia corporation which has been awarded a Federal contract to survey and evaluate the program of the Rehabilitation Services Administration for the blind and visually impaired. Even a partial listing of recent ACB activities and accomplishments would not be complete without mentioning the active role which ACB played, both directly and in coalition with other organizations, in helping to get the Rehabilitation Act Amendments passed by Congress and signed by President Carter. Only two days before the bill would have been vetoed by means of a pocket veto, active ACB members called countless ACB members and affiliates throughout the country, urging them to call and send telegrams urging President Carter to sign the bill. In short, while ACB does not attempt to claim credit for every worthwhile action taken in connection with the blind, its members may be proud of it for the active, responsible, persuasive, influential, and articulate organization which it is. Oral O. Miller, President ***** ** Pocket Veto Or Pen -- The Rehabilitation Act of 1978 By Reese Robrahn The Rehabilitation Amendments of 1978 was one of the 97 bills passed t by the Congress and sent to the White House for the signature of the President during the waning hours before adjournment of the 95th Congress. During adjournment of the Congress, the President may follow one of three courses of action. He may veto a bill in writing; he may take no action on a bill for a period of ten days, which results in what is known as a "pocket veto"; or, of course, he may sign the bill and it becomes law. The rehabilitation bill that came out of the Conference Committee, while a far cry from either of the bills introduced in the Senate and the House, is none the less a very progressive measure and carries with it a very substantial increase in total authorizations over the next four years. Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, had announced publicly during floor consideration of the Senate hill that he would recommend to the President that the Act should be vetoed. While the measure was on the President's desk, the President announced his plan for curbing inflation, after having vetoed several other bills on the grounds that they were inflationary. And then, the Office of Management and Budget came forth with its recommendation for veto of the Rehabilitation Act. Thus, gloom and doom was the picture for the Act. As each of the ten days ticked by, concern and fears for the fate of the measure mounted, for there was a definite threat of the pocket veto. The American Council of the Blind, cooperating with the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities, and many other organizations and advocacy groups assisted in launching a campaign of letter writing, sending telegrams, and calling by telephone to the White House and the President, urging the signing of the legislation. Reese Robrahn, representing the American Council and the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities on the Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, secured the support of the organization. Clarence Mitchell, General Chairperson of the Leadership Conference, addressed a letter to President Carter strongly urging that he sign the Act. A copy of Clarence Mitchell's letter, together with a personal note, was forwarded to Secretary Califano. At a meeting of top leaders of the Leadership Conference and the Secretary a few days later, Reese Robrahn inquired of the Secretary what his present position was on the measure, and he responded that he had sent a message to the President recommending that he sign the Rehabilitation Act. He added that the letter from Clarence Mitchell and the Leadership Conference had figured heavily in his consideration of what his ultimate position would be. Thousands of messages were generated during those last few days. Word came that a coalition of state governors had mounted a lobbying force again the bill, which only served to spur us on to greater efforts. As late as the tenth day, a teen-age girl from Massachusetts placed a call the President and the White House permitted the call to go through to the President at Camp David, where he was at that time. As late as that Monday morning, the tenth day, he stated that he had not yet made his final decision as to whether he would sign the Act. A vigil of perhaps 200 people gathered in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, at mid-afternoon and stayed until the deadline hour of midnight that last day, Monday, the 6th November. It was with a great collective sigh of relief and a broad smile of joy that received word early Tuesday morning that the President's signature was on the bill, H.R. 12467, the Rehabilitation Comprehensive Services and Developmental Disabilities Act of 1978, Public Law 95-602. ***** ** Major Provisions of the Rehabilitation Comprehensive Services and Developmental Disabilities Act of 1978 By Reese Robrahn The Rehabilitation Act passed by the Congress and signed by the President on November 6, 1978, includes amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended in 1974, new provisions, and amendments to the Developmental Disabilities Act. This important legislation is the result of many, many days of hearings conducted by the House Committee on Select Education and the Senate Committee on the Handicapped during on 1975, 1976, and 1977. The final Act adopted by the Congress follows most closely the provisions of the House measure drafted by the staff of the House Subcommittee on Select Education, chaired by John Brademas, Democrat, of Indiana. However, authorizations for all programs were substantially reduced by the House-Senate Conference Committee from those initially adopted by the House measure. The following is a summary by subject of the major provisions relating to rehabilitation. It is not intended to be a full analysis and summary of the bill and does not make reference to any provisions relating to developmental disabilities. 1. The Act authorizes expenditures of funds for basic vocational re habilitation services, to be distributed to the states by formulae predicated on population and per capita income, in amounts not to exceed the following sums for the next four fiscal years, subject to cost-of-living increases or decreases: In millions of dollars, for fiscal year 1979, 808; for 1980, 880; for 1981, 945; and for 1982, 975. These authorizations constitute an approximate one-third increase from the present level of funding. 2. Authorizations for Innovation and Expansion grants for the 1979-1982 four-year period range from $45 million to $60 million, an increase of 100% from the present level. 3. The Act expands the Client Assistance Program to include assistance in enforcement of rights, and eliminates the restriction in the number of such programs, and authorizes expenditures of note less than $3.5 million for each fiscal year. 4. There is created the National Institute for Handicapped Research within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, to encourage, plan, and coordinate research relating to the needs and problems of handicapped individuals and to disseminate research information throughout all Government departments and agencies. Authorizations for the new Institute range from $50 million for fiscal year 1979 to $100 million for fiscal year 1982. 5. The Act provides for the utilization of telecommunications systems to improve delivery of services, which includes radio reading services for blind persons. 6. There is a mandate for the provision of rehabilitation services to children of school age and for adults who are over the age of 60. It provides for such services to handicapped children of pre-school age, also, and for research and evaluation of employment potential of handicapped persons. 7. There is authorization for an expanded program of training of rehabilitation personnel, ranging from $34 million in fiscal year 1979 to $50 million in fiscal year 1982. 8. Section 314 of the Act provides for the establishment of regional pools of readers to furnish reading services to blind persons who would not otherwise be entitled to such services, such as reading services furnished as a part of vocational rehabilitation plan. Section 315 and 316, respectively, provide for interpreters for deaf persons and for recreation programs for all handicapped persons. 9. The Act creates a National Council on the Handicapped, the membership of which shall be composed of handicapped individuals, service providers, representatives of organizations of handicapped persons, and persons engaged in research relating to the needs and problems of handicapped persons. This Council is empowered to advise and review and to participate in the making policy. 10. The measure expands the membership of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, created under Section 502 of the 1973 Act, requiring appointment by the President of eleven members from the public, at least five of whom shall be handicapped persons, together with the heads of ten specified departments and agencies of the Federal Government or their designees, including the Department of Justice. This Board is given authority to enforce its orders through civil action in the courts in order to bring about compliance with the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968. And the Act expressly gives authority to the Board to establish standards and guidelines relating to barrier removal and in the furnishing of technical assistance. 11. The legislation confers upon handicapped persons the same rights, remedies, and procedures established for racial, national origin, and religion minorities under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and for women under the Education Amendments of 1972, including recovery of back pay and attorney fees. 12. Within the Department of Labor, the Act creates a Community Service Employment Pilot Project for employment of disadvantaged handicapped persons, authorizing expenditures of $35 million for fiscal year 1979, ranging upward to $100 million by fiscal year 1982. 13. In addition to the above, the Act provides for projects separate from those referred to above for the training and employment of handicapped persons in industry and business and in the establishment and operation of commercial enterprises. 14. For the first time in Federal legislation, except for pilot or demonstration projects, there is the mandate for the provision of independent living services for handicapped persons who have no immediate potential for a vocational goal, and services for older blind persons. The authorization for these programs for fiscal year 1979 is $80 million, which is increased to the sum of $200 million by fiscal year 1981, and there is provision for such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 1982. The Braille Forum in future issues will carry articles providing readers with specific information about those programs in the Act which have particular interest to visually impaired persons. If you wish to receive a copy of this legislation, you may request the same from a member of Congress in your state or district or from the Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Ask for Public Law 95-602. ***** ** Higher Education for the Blind and Braille Literacy By Carlton Eldridge It was in 1832 that the young French educator, Louis Braille, invented a form of tactile communication which was the to rescue the blind of the world from illiteracy and give to them the means of emancipation, through education, from a tradition of social exile as long as the history of mankind itself. For more than one hundred years this medium of communication was assiduously taught to blind persons the world over, that is, until the advent of the recorded word. Since that time, braille, once heralded as the greatest gift to the blind, has been neglected or virtually abandoned by many educators and workers for the visually impaired, and a generation of young blind must certainly find themselves plunging ever deeper into an illiteracy as afflictive as before the work of this great innovator. Most frightening is that those who have the most to lose, the young aspiring blind student and the newly blinded adult seeking rehabilitation, are quite unaware of the seriousness and of the consequences of this dereliction. We do not dismiss the great boon of the talking book, the tape recorder, and the reader. The magnitude of these aids is obvious in greatly expanded horizons and a means of perusing a mass of material otherwise unavailable because of the very bulkiness of braille and the impracticability of transcribing the world's literature for a limited number of readers. However, it is unthinkable to permit the spoken word to entirely replace braille. It is a psychologically proven fact that the average person will retain only about ten percent of the knowledge he acquires, and this retention is in a continuing recession. It is inconceivable, then, that blind students would not avail themselves of any means of personal literacy which would obviate, even in part, dependence upon an undependable memory, miles of electronic tape, and unnecessary re-reading of text by a volunteer or paid reader. To "cram" for a semester examination by means of ten miles of plastic ribbon, when forty pages of notes in braille would do the job, is without logic. To tape a lecture is understandable if it is later compressed into braille notes. However, much time may be saved by taking braille notes during a lecture or class. This can be done very unobtrusively with a simple slate and stylus using thin, soft paper on a pad. Furthermore, valuable time can be saved and memory sustained if notes are taken directly from a recorded book or from a reader. It is beyond comprehension that a sighted graduate should leave his university with a trunk filled with books and note folios, which are easily referred to by merely being opened, while a blind student leaves with hundreds of cassette tapes illegible until electronically activated. Let us hope that, at least, he has sufficient knowledge of braille to attach identifying labels. Many university teachers have expressed real concern about the lack of independence of their blind students. Some have complained of awarding grades which they felt were not truly earned. Such professions as formal music, law, linguistics, mathematics -- are exact disciplines. It is the rarest genius who can boast unerring recall of music notation, legal phraseology, vocabulary and word forms, and mathematical formulae. Highly educated and eminent blind scholars have refined the braille code to accommodate the many and varied professions successfully pursued by visually impaired persons. This system has also been adopted to the major language groups. There are excellent braille printing plants throughout the world. Volunteer groups and individuals will transcribe material (on request), in the United States, through the Library of Congress. Books already "hand-copied" and collected by central agencies will be duplicated for the student. Universities and colleges have volunteer reading groups -- but again, let us be sure that copious notes in braille are taken, so that this reading may not have been in vain. We are aware that there are blind persons in many professions who have attained success without braille proficiency. As these are the exception, there is stronger argument that the tool of literacy could bring a higher degree of success to the majority of the blind, who are not the exception. For the young blind to learn braille within the framework of formal education is as natural as for a sighted child to learn inkprint, and just as essential. For those who experience loss of vision in adult life, complete rehabilitation cannot be realized without the capability of reading for one's self. Our libraries have many proud readers of braille books and magazines. There are a few, who, because of physical or neurological difficulties, cannot master this competence. For them, the recorded word is an accepted alternative. Any blind person who desires to achieve braille literacy can have access to instruction by a teacher in a public or private agency. Any rehabilitation office can put them in contact with such a teacher. The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., or the American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, Kentucky, can provide the material by which the student may be self-taught. Also, there is the internationally known Hadley (correspondence) School for the Blind, Winnetka, Illinois, which provides (free) courses in braille reading and writing. There are ACT and SAT tests for college admission in braille, large print, and recorded form. In the case of braille and large print, literacy is required and the blind student is measured equally with his sighted fellows. As regards the recorded form, through special privilege, he merits the dubious distinction of illiteracy, which, because he is "blind," might not be a factor in his acceptance for collegiate study, but would definitely preclude acceptance of a person with sight. Hence, in the highest circles of scholarship, unequal education for the blind is awarded official recognition and sanction, while a century and a half of toil and ingenuity, on the part of braille scholars to provide for the blind a means of equal education has gone for naught, through neglect or an erroneous belief that modern invention is infallibly synonymous with progress. There are between 5,500 and 6,000 legally blind students in the universities and colleges of this country at this time. It is estimated that no more than fifty percent of them use braille effectively. Yet the variety of ways in which braille can be used for the benefit of the student is almost limitless. There seems to be a growing mentality on the part of many educators of the blind to dismiss or discount the gravity of the question of braille literacy. There are no implicit or enforced guidelines used by rehabilitation agencies to screen or prepare likely college candidates.Thus, it is the individual student, himself, who must bear the responsibility for his readiness for collegiate study. A blind student contemplating higher education should approach this task dynamically. He must acquire as many tools, aids, resources, and as much background as possible. His goal is not to be an average or even a good student. He must be outstanding. He must be prepared to spend long hours in studying, note-taking, hand-copying pertinent material, researching, reviewing -- always doing more than is required. His primary tool is braille literacy; his aid, his braille notes; his resource, his braille libraries, tape recordings, and his reader. If neither the student nor the agency for the blind have fulfilled their obligation, the universities must intercede. They have a legal obligation to blind provide equal education, even though this means deferring admission to a blind applicant until he is functionally literate. Exception may be made for those few who, because of other disabilities, cannot learn braille, and for those who can read the printed page with or without visual aids. The inventive genius of Louis Braille can enable a blind person to attain a fullness of life that would otherwise have been impossible. To meet a colleague on his own ground with notes in braille, or a class with a book in hand, is the most dynamic means of gaining due respect and confidence and of advancing the opportunity for realizing equality of professionalship. Accolades here should be showered upon those many visually impaired persons who have made local, national, or international reputations, whose success stories betoken ingenuity, imagination, inspiration, and perspiration. These include musicians, scientists, mathematicians, attorneys, historians, writers, entrepreneurs, educators ... Recognition should also be given to those students now in our universities, who are using braille effectively and achieving academic excellence. Finally, credit should also be awarded those enlightened preparatory schools and teachers still providing the young blind with the primary tool for equal education -- namely, braille literacy. (Author's Note: Carlton Eldridge, for 45 years (30 years in a college) has been a teacher of music for sighted students -- choirs, voice, opera, ear-training, sight-singing, and music history, plus the pursuance of a concert and oratorio career, as a soloist, encompassing universities and colleges in the northern and western states and Canada -- all through the use of braille. His library of press braille reference material and music scores has accumulated to about 100,000 pages, many of these personally hand-copied. Before his teacher would accept him (in 1929) at a major university, he had to prove his competency as a braille music reader. During these years, many inquiries have been received from universities concerning blind music students often preparing for "practice teaching." These students had little or no proficiency in braille music reading. They were being taught primarily by "rote" or sitting in class or choir "empty-handed" trying to "soak up" what they could from their sighted confreres. One candidate said that, in his practicum, the students helped and corrected him when his memory failed. It was suggested that these candidates interrupt their studies while they developed proficiency in the braille code. This suggestion was seldom followed, and the student graduated functionally musically illiterate.) ***** ** Attention, Handicapped Artists The National Committee, Arts for the Handicapped, is conducting a nationwide search for adult handicapped artists willing to become involved in planning and implementing arts programs. A booklet of short descriptions of handicapped artists and their work will be compiled. Anyone wishing to contribute may request a questionnaire from the Committee at Suite 801, 1701 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20006. It is important to contact your State Arts Agencies, Regional Coordinators, and Regional Organizations to let them know that you are interested in accessible arts programs. In order to meet the needs of the blind population, we need to be represented and feed in our special knowledge. If you need information to contact the Arts Committee of your state or region, call or write the ACB National Office for names, addresses, and phone numbers. ***** ** The NBA Braille Book Bank For the blind college student, the campus bookstore offers little help, and the library shelves carry few, if any, textbooks in braille. The college student's braille books are provided by volunteer agencies -- especially the National Braille Association's Braille Book Bank. The National Braille Association is a service organization with more than 2,500 members, dedicated to the improvement of volunteer transcription services to the visually impaired. In addition to its direct services to braille readers, NBA seeks to improve and standardize volunteer transcription of books into braille, tape recordings, and large type through a program of publications, workshops, and consultative services. Working through local philanthropic, religious, and service groups, NBA members produce a significant percentage of transcribed books used by the blind and partially sighted in all areas of education. The Braille Book Bank (BBB), located in Rochester, New York, is a prime source for textbooks in braille for blind college students throughout the country. The BBB, established in 1963, provides a central source for textbook beyond the high-school level, including career materials. More than 300,000 braille pages are produced by this volunteer-operated facility in a single year. Without question, braille fills many special needs. College courses, especially in the sciences, mathematics, foreign languages and music, place a premium on braille. Technical material requires repeated reference to formulae, graphs, etc., and only braille provides the student with maximum freedom to refer, study, and review at his own learning pace. The Braille Book Bank contains master copies of textbooks which have been transcribed into braille by volunteers certified by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress. From the hand-transcribed master copies, volunteers produce thermoform duplicates. Each year new books are added to the collection and outdated ones are removed from the shelves. The Braille Book Bank welcomes letters of inquiry concerning titles not listed in its catalogs, as new titles are constantly being added. The Braille Book Bank is completely non-profit. All production is performed by volunteers, and a portion of the costs is underwritten by donations and grants to the National Braille Association. This permits the BBB to send each braille book to the student at a price well below its actual cost. Listings of books in the collection, with ordering instructions, are contained in BBB's several catalogs: the Textbook Catalog, the Music Catalog, and the General Interest Catalog. Copies of these catalogs, in print or braille, are available free of charge upon request from NBA Braille Book Bank, 422 Clinton Avenue, South, Rochester, New York 14620. Other NBA services of special interest to braille readers include the following: The Braille Technical Tables Bank provides thermoform copies of its more than 300 hand-transcribed mathematical, technical, and scientific tables. For further information, write NBA Braille Technical Tables Bank, 31610 Evergreen Road, Birmingham, Michigan 48009. The Reader-Transcriber Registry accepts non-technical, non-textbook print materials to be brailled on personal order from readers. Transcriptions are done by Library of Congress certified transcribers when they are not occupied with local assignments. For further information, write NBA Reader-Transcriber Registry, 5300 Hamilton Avenue, No. 1404, Cincinnati, Ohio 45224. NBA is happy to announce establishment of a new service for the braille transcription of college-level textbooks, the Braille Textbook Assignment Service (BTAS). Braille assignments will be made only to Library of Congress certified braillists. Although this program is on a field-test basis, NBA anticipates fulfilling the needs of many college students throughout the country. A principal aim of the service is to provide a clearing house, a single place a student can request help after he has exhausted local transcribing groups, a single place where transcribing groups and unaffiliated braillists can report their availability for assignments. Students needing textbooks brailled are urged to contact the BTAS chairman, Mrs. Martin Slawsky, 16 Knob Hill Road, Loudonville, New York 12211. ***** ** Ship Ahoy! By Josephine De Fini (Reprinted from ACB of New York State Newsletter) During the spring of 1975, Arthur Wohl and I decided that it would be nice to take a vacation. After giving it some careful thought, we came to the conclusion that a cruise to Bermuda would not only be fun, but would be fairly easy for totally blind couples to handle. We consulted a travel agent in order to make the necessary arrangements for booking. Within a couple of days following our first visit to the travel agent, we learned that two out of three possible cruise lines had rejected us on the basis that we were a blind couple. The third line, the Home Lines, had agreed to take us provided we would pay $100 more per person for accommodations which, in their estimation, would be safer and more conveniently located aboard ship. Several days later, we were informed by the Home Lines that they would only accept our bookings if we were accompanied by a sighted escort. We were not only angry, but extremely hurt by this kind of treatment. It became clear to both of us that some kind of legal action would be necessary, or this kind of discrimination would continue. Each of us in turn visited the Division of Human Rights and filed complaints against Home Lines. In addition, Arthur initiated a visit to the New York Civil Liberties Union and managed to interest them in our case. This is the very first discrimination case on behalf of physically handicapped people that the New York Civil Liberties Union had agreed to defend. For the past three years, numerous phone calls, letters, and legal briefs have traveled back and forth amongst the Division of Human Rights, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the lawyer representing the Home Lines. There were a number of court dates, some at which Arthur and I were present and others at which we were not. Approximately one year later, the Commissioner of the Division of Human Rights decided in our favor and the Home Lines were instructed to book us accordingly. However, the Home Lines did not agree with this decision and appealed to the Division of Human Rights Appeal Board. More than a year passed. We waited. More telephone calls, briefs, letters, and arguments were presented on both sides. Finally, the Division of Human Rights Appeal Board supported the Commissioner's decision. Once again the Home Lines had lost. Once again they were instructed to give us proper bookings. In addition, each of us was awarded $500. The Home Lines people were stubborn. They would not relent. They then turned to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York State and presented their arguments. At last, early in March of 1978, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York State ruled in our favor. It appears that the Home Lines finally got the message. They did not appeal. Alas! A landmark at sea the first case of its kind in New York State to have been tested and won! All aboard for those of you who wish to take a cruise this coming summer or any other time! We'll be glad to have someone test this decision and see whether or not it holds water. Unfortunately, this victory has a bitter-sweet taste -- sweet because we achieved our goal, and bitter because of the way we had to win. ***** ** Index of Legal Materials Has Been Compiled The American Blind Lawyers Association, with the assistance of the Tulsa County (Oklahoma) Bar Auxiliary, has compiled a central legal index system as an aid for blind attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. This is known as the Geritt Smith Van Valkenburg Legal Index, which is being funded by the Thomas and Frances Leach Foundation. Mrs. Thomas Witt Leach became interested in this project after seeing a televised account of the Association's 1975 national conference. The Tulsa County Bar Auxiliary will continue to update the index by searching for legal subject matter which is on cassette, open reel, braille, or disc. The Van Valkenburg Legal Index is not a library or a collection of materials. It is a series of indices telling where such material can be located. If you have any of the aforementioned material or know of someone who does, please contact the Tulsa County Bar Auxiliary at 3545 E. 51st Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135. It will be necessary for the Tulsa County Bar Auxiliary to have the title, author, publisher, publication date, and subject matter. In addition, the Auxiliary will need to know in what form the material exists (braille or tape), how many volumes or tapes are involved, where the material is located, whether it can be loaned to readers, and if there is any charge to borrowers or whether there are any lending restrictions. If you would like to donate any such material to the Van Valkenburgh Legal Index or make use of the existing index, contact the Tulsa County Bar Auxiliary at the address listed above or call (918) 743-4094. Anyone who would like to have additional information on the American Blind Lawyers Association should write to the Tulsa County Bar Auxiliary, which will forward all inquiries to the Association. ***** ** Failure of 1980 Census to Include Item on Handicapped Is Protested (Reprinted from ARISE, October 1978) Help for Retarded Children, Inc., of Cleveland is leading a protest of the Census Bureau's failure to include in the 1980 census form an item which would provide information on the needs of disabled people. The association noted in a letter to the bureau director that the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and its amendments call for non-discrimination against the handicapped in federally funded programs, and that the nation has a long history of such discrimination. In that light, HRC said, "it is vitally important that the 1980 census not only contain a question which would identify this population by census tract but also provide specific information as to the degree of their disability, their housing needs, their social service needs, their transportation needs, etc." The letter said this kind of information is vitally important for federal funding problems which require equal opportunity for the handicapped, and noted that every federal department and agency is now developing regulations to comply with Section 504 which would bar discrimination within the agencies and in the programs they fund. The letter continued: "Currently the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has a variety of programs which require identification of handicapped and disabled people by census tract in order that they might access community block grant funds. "Efforts on the part of agencies such as ours to access funds for disabled and handicapped people from local planning departments which are utilizing community block grant funds has led to a situation where they claim they are unable to have this information and that it was not included in previous census questionnaires." The result, said the association, "is that handicapped and disabled people by virtue of not being able to identify themselves by census tract are deprived of federal funding, and this, in fact, is an act of discrimination." The letter noted that HUD's Office of Independent Living for the Disabled has estimated that more than 17% of the population is disabled, and added: "Suitable questions on the 1980 census would be able to confirm this, identify these people and the degree of their handicap, and enable handicapped and disabled people to take advantage of various funding programs." ***** ** The San Francisco Subregional Library -- A Model for All? By Harriet Penner Fielding The recipe for a good, piping hot Subregional Library Casserole is: (1) the "Chef" librarian has to be young, enthusiastic, and not afraid to add new ingredients to the old basic recipe; and (2) all ingredients must be blended carefully. Ms. Leslie Eldridge, sensitive, pert and attractive, is the "master chef" who has the San Francisco Subregional casserole ready to serve to the 900 visually impaired and physically handicapped library patrons of San Francisco City and County. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a Master's degree in Library Science, Leslie is an employee of the San Francisco Public Library System, in charge of its Talking Book Division, under the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped program. A review of past operations of the San Francisco Subregional Library will put the present librarian's work in better perspective. In 1970, the San Francisco Library agreed to take on the distribution of talking books to the 50 handicapped readers who had been receiving their reading materials from the Sacramento Regional Library. A quarter-time librarian was assigned to handle the task from a stuffy, small room in a remote corner of the main library. The talking books were sent directly to San Francisco by the producers (the American Printing House for the Blind and the American Foundation for the Blind). No cassette books were handled locally. It was anticipated that San Francisco would be a "no growth" situation, as there were so few borrowers. However, in the next five years, the list of San Francisco Library patrons grew to 600, still without cassette books. It became evident that adequate service could not be maintained from the small room allotted to the Talking Book Division, and obviously, personal visits to the crowded mail order room were not encouraged. Then in 1975, "Chef" Leslie Eldridge came on the scene. She was put in charge of the Talking Book Program, spending half of her time on that program and half on the county jail's book project. With one assistant, Leslie served her 600 patrons as best she could, sending books plucked from stacks stored under desks and tables in the tiny room. This was certainly not the kind of library service she had been trained to deliver. In her opinion, there was no reason why visually and physically handicapped persons should be deprived of the library services enjoyed by the sighted public. Furthermore, many of her borrowers were San Francisco taxpayers, whose taxes were part of the San Francisco Public Library's budget. So Leslie stirred the Library Casserole vigorously and brought it to a rolling boil by obtaining a substantial grant of funds through the Library Services and Construction Act. Library officials had seen a need for a specific location where a collection of video tapes and films could be stored and distributed, and a portion of the grant was to be used for this purpose. In November, 1977, after months of careful planning, and blissfully unaware of the trauma they would suffer in June, 1978, the San Francisco Public Library opened its brand-new Communications Center. The Center shares a lovely old San Francisco building with Presidio Branch Library at 3150 Sacramento Street, San Francisco 94115. The Library Casserole now has an ideal mix of ingredients -- visually impaired and physically handicapped persons, well blended with sighted readers of print books and sighted viewers of video tapes and films. Although access to the building for those in wheelchairs is difficult at present, this is among the first facilities in San Francisco to be adapted for the handicapped under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Ramps and an elevator are to be installed in the near future. The interior of the building has been remodeled so that the Talking Book Division occupies half of the main floor, and talking book machines and cassette players are stored and repaired, when necessary, in the basement. Shelves are marked in braille for browsers. There is a comfortable reading room, with a talking book machine plugged in and ready for use, and braille magazines for those who wish to read them. Now a program had to be developed which would justify the existence of this special library. There had been resistance from visually impaired persons whose idea of adequate library service was the old "mail order" concept. But there had also been strong support from others who were aware of the many informative and educational services good libraries can and do render to patrons. Here are some of the innovative programs planned and instituted by Ms. Eldridge which make the San Francisco Subregional Library tops in the nation: First, there is "Bay Area Soundings," a monthly cassette magazine sent to nearly 400 subscribers without charge. Each issue contains articles on California and Bay Area politics, education, entertainment, and travel, taken from West Coast magazines and Sunday newspaper supplements. "This is something handicapped persons, especially the visually impaired, cannot get through the National Library Service," says Leslie, "and they need to know about everything that goes on in the state and community in which they live." Then came the voters' pamphlets on cassette. The conscientious visually impaired voter had hitherto had great difficulty in getting the lengthy technical information on ballot propositions read. Sometimes the temptation not to vote at all because of this problem got the better of the handicapped voter. Prior to the November, 1977 and June, 1978 elections, visually and physically impaired Patrons of the San Francisco Subregional Library received the State and City voters: pamphlets, clearly read onto cassette. Thus, all had the privilege for the first time of listening to the tapes in private and making voting decisions therefrom. In-person participation is increasing from week to week because of "in-house" programs such as afternoon and evening poetry readings, which are well attended. Of interest to young adults were the speakers who described white-water rafting and mountain climbing for the visually impaired. Ms. Eldridge has a 30-minute weekly radio program called "Library Line," during which she gives book reviews and discusses the coming programs to be held at the library. Her program is carried on Broadcast Services for the Blind, the radio reading service sponsored by Blind San Franciscans, Inc. On the drawing board is yet another much-needed service. Leslie and a CETA employee of the Talking Book Division are preparing 2,000 flexible discs on "What to do in Case of Fire." She has been working with the San Francisco Fire Department on this and has been able to get funding of $1,000 for the project from the local Zellerbach Foundation. "The sharing of the library facility by the sighted public and the visually impaired is paying special dividends. It's wonderful to see a blind and a sighted individual together talking enthusiastically about favorite authors and books," says Leslie. "Sighted individuals are learning, to their great surprise, that blind people don't lose their marbles when they lose their sighted, and blind persons have changed their ideas about the sighted community." But -- the future of this unique subregional library is in jeopardy! With the passage of the Jarvis-Gann Initiative (Proposition 13 -- Taxpayers Revolt) in June, 1978, most California cultural institutions, including libraries, face either extinction or drastic cuts in operating budgets. The San Francisco Public Library System is operated through the use of funds derived from property taxes. Although they are operating on a minimal budget for this fiscal year (1978-79), prospects for continued operation after this year are dim, indeed. This, of course, includes the Subregional Library, as all of its financial support comes from the regular library budget. None comes from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped -- only the books -- which does seem passing strange. This would apply to all California subregional libraries whose financial support comes from property taxes. What is going to happen? Must we go back to the original, impersonal distribution centers? The public relations gains made by the visually impaired will be lost. The suggestion has been made by local talking book librarians and patrons that subregional and regional libraries be unified into a single Federal service, with standardization of services and funding nationwide, with librarians and other library employees to be employed under the Federal Civil Service program. Since the California taxpayers revolt seems to be spreading to other states, the existence of all subregional and regional libraries must be solved in the very near future. Should not the National Library Service Advisory Committee investigate this? ***** ** NAC Holds Annual Meeting in Chicago The National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped held its annual membership meeting on November 4, 1978, at Chicago's O'Hare Hilton Hotel. This public gathering of NAC members and supporters highlighted a weekend of activity that included meetings of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. The Illinois Federation of the Blind, an ACB affiliate, served as one of the host organizations for the NAC meetings this year. As in previous years, members of the National Federation of the Blind picketed the hotel. A number of them, in fact, attended the membership meeting on Saturday afternoon, thereby helping to refute the NFB charge that "NAC meets behind closed doors." The year 1978 was a time of significant achievement for NAC. The number of accredited agencies grew from 67 to 74, and ten organizations were re-accredited during the year. Some 121 volunteers, including 18 blind persons, serves as members of on-site teams, more than twice the number serving in 1977. While NAC's Commission on Accreditation was busy with this large volume of activity, the Commission on Standards was also making significant progress. Its project to revise the standards for residential schools and public-school programs for blind children was completed. The project director, Dr. Geraldine Scholl of the University of Michigan, presented a detailed and informative report, sketching major features of the new standards Dr. Scholl commented on the impact of Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, on educational programs for blind students. This group, with its distinct communications and mobility needs, constitutes about 1% of the handicapped students in public schools in the United States, and only 1/10 of 1% of the total public-school population. It is vitally important that the relative smallness of this student population is not permitted to minimize the importance of the special education services to which it is entitled. A note of optimism characterized this year's NAC meetings. The accreditation movement is growing both in size and in quality. This hopeful outlook was apparent in the report of President Louis H. Rives, Executive Director Richard W. Bleecker, and those chairing various commissions and committees within the organization. Among the new members elected to NAC's Board of Directors is Oral O. Miller, President of the American Council of the Blind. He joins several other ACB members who have served the National Accreditation Council in various capacities. Important challenges remain for the months and years ahead, but the accreditation movement, to which the American Council of the Blind has given its constructive support from the beginning, has made important advances during the past year. ***** ** ACB Affiliate News * South Dakota Convention The weekend of October 20-22, 1978 saw the largest gathering ever of members of the South Dakota Association of the Blind in the Corn Palace city of Mitchell. Friday evening was devoted to meetings of the Board of Directors and various committees. Old and new members enjoyed the evening social and dance. Saturday morning, the Great Plains Chapter of AAWB conducted a four-hour recreation and activities workshop which involved most of those attending the convention. Activities ranged from horseback riding to bicycling, to beep ball, to golf; various table games and handicrafts. Concurrently with the recreation workshop, South Dakota's licensed vendors held their annual meeting. Keynote speaker for the vendors was Don Cameron of Tampa, Florida. In his address, Cameron told the vendors, "The future of your program is in your hands." Cameron stated: "The recent Randolph-Sheppard Amendments have provided the tools for vendors to control their destiny and offer them the opportunity to grow to any heights their imagination will permit." Saturday afternoon a lively panel discussion on advocacy and consumer involvement was held. Panel moderator was ACB's First Vice President, Delbert Aman. Panelists included Ed Murray from the American Foundation for the Blind, Jules Cote, Superintendent of the South Dakota School for the Visually Handicapped, and Richard Johnston and Ray Isernhagen from Nevada. The panel discussed the need for consumer involvement, how can consumers become involved, and what are the positive effects of consumer involvement. Following this panel, the annual business meeting was held. The Gadget Committee reported distribution of 131 items, at a cost in excess of $1,400. First-time delegates to the 1978 convention of the American Council of the Blind in Salt Lake City gave an enthusiastic report stressing the level of dedication and professionalism exhibited throughout the special-interest meetings and during ACB itself. They enthusiastically urged more of the members to attend the ACB convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in July of 1979. The following were elected to office: President -- Dawn Brush Aberdeen; Vice President -- Rochelle Foley, Vermillion; Secretary -- Mary Ann Kattke, Redfield; Treasurer -- Al Dermer, Pierre. Saturday evening featured the annual banquet, with Senator Frances "Peg" Lamont from Aberdeen as speaker. Senator Lamont spoke of her numerous concerns regarding the aged and the handicapped. She particularly discussed the needs of the deaf-blind and the need to maintain a residential school separate from the school for the deaf. The 66 persons in attendance at the banquet made this the largest banquet in recent memory. ***** ** In Memoriam Those who have attended ACB conventions over the past several years will remember Dorothy Pofcher, wife of ABLA member and past president Philip Pofcher. The Pofchers were unable to attend either the 1977 convention in Miami Beach or the 1978 convention in Salt Lake City because of Dorothy's illness. She passed away on November 13. In addition to being Phil's "right hand," Dorothy was here and there and everywhere -- running errands, pouring coffee, helping anyone and everyone, whenever and wherever she could. John P. Patterson, of the 80, of Buffalo, New York, died on October 13. He was a long-time member of the American Council of the Blind and the American Blind Lawyers Association. Blind since early childhood, Mr. Patterson was chairman of the New York State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped and had served as a member of the five-man Commission since 1948. A graduate of Buffalo Law School, he served nearly 43 years with the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, advancing from clerk to head of the Civil Case Division. "His example has been a great inspiration to me over the years," reflected ABLA member and recent Harvard Law School graduate Scott Marshall, "and he will be missed." ***** ** Here and There By George Card Press: A new prescription drug called "Timoptic" (brand name) or "Timolol Maleate" (generic name) has been produced by Merck-Sharp-Dohme and is claimed to be very effective in controlling the internal pressure which causes the pain and damage in glaucoma. An added advantage claimed for this new treatment is that it does not cause blurring of vision, burning or irritation of the eye, or night blindness, common side effects of other drugs. From ACB of New York State Newsletter: From the University of Minnesota comes the news of preliminary experiments showing that the injection of insulin-producing human pancreas cells will be carried to the liver, where they will survive and thrive, at least temporarily, and produce insulin. If perfected, this simple transplant technique could spare diabetics the blindness and severe blood vessel damage that many now suffer. The insulin molecule itself also is being carefully studied and perhaps can be modified so that one day diabetics can be treated wholly effectively or perhaps even cured. Los Angeles, AP: Rodney Christensen is entrusted with training Pacific Telephone Company employees in the art of defensive driving, although he has never driven, never seen Freeway traffic backed up bumper to bumper, never watched traffic lights change. Christensen is blind. Prior to teaching the class, he had to go over some things which would be second nature to someone else; for instance, the left turn. After it was explained to him, he had to picture the whole movement of traffic in front of him. He studied the textbook in braille and learned it by heart. From HOOSIER STARLIGHT: Following his recent performance in the National Stadium in Jamaica, well-known blind singer and composer Stevie Wonder decided to give the amount he had received to the Salvation Army's School for the Blind in Kingston. He made a personal presentation of the check for $108,000, which will be used for a gymnasium, sports field, and swimming pool. ---- In the second national championship meet for blind athletes held recently, John Bowman of the Indiana School for the Blind own six medals, including two gold. ---- The University of Notre Dame will soon have on display a large textured map of the campus for the use of the blind and visually impaired. The map, made of five grades of sandpaper, rubber car matting, mesh screens, foam rubber, electrical wire, and eighteen other materials, was made by recent graduate, LeRoy Courseault, as a special project suggested by the University's Committee for the Physically Handicapped. Glasses with tiny, built-in camera lenses and prisms are helping 126 legally blind persons in America and abroad to see well enough to drive, get about unassisted, and watch television. By slipping a thin lens over the end of the mini-binoculars, users can see well enough to read and write. Dr. William Feinbloom, New York optometrist and inventor of the spectacles, demonstrated them recently in an interview with UPI. The four-ounce glasses have tubes nearly two inches long and about one inch in diameter protruding from the center of the regular-shaped lens. Each pair must be custom made at a cost of $1,500 to $2,500. From The White Cane Bulletin (Florida): In the month of April, the Miami Area Eye Bank received a pair of eyes from a two-day-old baby and a pair of eyes from a 102-year-old man. During that same period, the youngest recipient was six months old and the eldest was 84 years old. The great increase in eyes received this year has been the result of the certified funeral directors putting forth a tremendous effort. Some of these directors have been so impressed with the program that they have joined Lions Clubs. ---- The deaf-blind may now wear a ring that is hooked up to a hearing aid which picks up doorbell vibrations, according to the ham operators' World Radio News and the Royal National Institution for the Blind in England. Boston, UPI: Harvard University biologists have found a way to use bacteria to manufacture insulin -- a step which could eventually lead to simpler treatment for diabetics. Several other U.S. research teams are reportedly within months of getting bacteria to produce the human form of insulin. A reader sends a clipping from an Albuquerque paper containing a follow-up report on an experimental project reported in this column several years ago. For the first time, a miniature electronic device which is a spinoff of nuclear weapons technology has been used to produce normal insulin levels in a diabetic. The miniature pancreatic pump is being developed by physicians at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and physicians at Sandia Laboratories. Physicians are now at work on a one-inch-square pump, powered by batteries of the same type used in cardiac pacemakers. The pump will have a miniature computer that can be re-programmed for different doses of insulin at different times without removing the device from the patient's body. Sidney Harris tells us that the complete musical works of Handel fill 100 volumes, nearly as much as the total bulk of Bach and Beethoven combined. From The Periscope (Mississippi Council of the Blind): it is Blind): Mississippi Industries Blind now has a satellite in Greenville, and it is understood that additional satellite plants may be opened soon, possibly in Meridian and on the Gulf Coast. The opening of the satellite plant significantly extends the scope of services to the blind provided by America's largest workshop for the blind. The MAB News (Michigan) reports that the lack of a central store of braille materials is greatly hampering many blind school children. The mother of three visually impaired children stated that some even leave school before braille textbooks which have been ordered months in advance become available. A Federal law now requires that national organizations that are registered as charitable, non-profit organizations must have a resident agent in each state. Time will tell what such an involvement will entail. Any small business wholly owned by one or more handicapped individuals is eligible for a handicapped assistance loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Among the criteria are that the handicap must be of a permanent nature and that the experience and ability of the owners must be such that the business can be operated successfully enough for the loan to be repaid from its earnings. Write U.S. Small Business Administration, Washington, DC 20416. An editorial in Visually Handicapped Views, newsletter of the South Dakota Association of the Blind, could well be, the final word on a highly publicized controversy: "Dealing in innuendos and half-truths that loudly proclaim the rights of blind people to have their white canes with them at all times, there occurred last summer a farcical and mob-like demonstration by hundreds of blind persons and their sympathizers. It brought embarrassment and shame to the rest of us. No mention was made of the fact that only the long, straight canes were involved in the rules of the airlines which required that these be surrendered during flight, nor that folding or collapsible canes can be carried in the pocket or in the seat receptacle. A few weeks later, some thousand blind people traveled to Salt Lake City, almost all by air, without incident. It is high time we fold our canes and focus our attention on the real issues of our time." Here is one of the little gems which Xena Johnson digs up for her column in The Missouri Chronicle: Frisky, a 17-year-old dog, and Muffin, a 9-year-old black Persian cat, grew up together. When Frisky went blind a couple of years ago, Muffin became his eyes, nudging him around household obstacles. Then one ay Muffin wandered off and Frisky became so disconsolate and depressed that he refused even his ice cream. The owners of the two pets have offered a $50 reward for the return of Muffin. From Views and Ventures (Virginia Commission for the Visually Handicapped): A smaller, more technically advanced and less expensive version of the Kurzweil Reading Machine, the Desk Top KRM, has been developed by Kurzweil Computer Products. The company considers the new model to be as significant and dramatic an advance in reading technology as the Kurzweil Reading Machine itself in 1975. The new machine is less than one-third the size of the previous model, only slightly larger than an attache case, and it is readily portable. The cost has been reduced from the original $50,000 level to $19,400. The U.S. Association for Blind Athletes will hold its 1979 national championships at the University of Washington, Seattle, during the last week of March. Competition will be conducted in swimming, track and field, wrestling, gymnastics, and goal ball. More information may be obtained by writing Don Banford, USABA, 217 9th, N., Seattle, WA 98109. Don Galloway, former Executive Director of the Governor's Council of the Handicapped, Denver, Colorado, has been appointed Peace Corps Country Director in Jamaica. Galloway, 40, who is blind, is the first handicapped person ever to be appointed to head Peace Corps programs overseas. According to the Department of State, he is one of the highest-ranking handicapped persons ever to be appointed as an official U.S. representative abroad. There are approximately 110 volunteers serving in Jamaica in the areas of agriculture and rural development, business and public management, health, education, urban development, and public works. ***** ** ACB Officers * President: Oral O. Miller, 3701 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 220, Washington, DC 20008 * First Vice President: Delbert K. Aman, 115 Fifth Avenue, S.E., Aberdeen, SD 57401 * Second Vice President: Robert T. McLean, 2139 Joseph Street, New Orleans, LA 70115 * Treasurer: James R. Olsen, 6211 Sheridan Avenue, S., Minneapolis, MN 55423 ** Contributing Editors George Card, 605 S. Few Street, Madison, WI 53703 Elizabeth M. Lennon, 1315 Greenwood Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49007 ###