Large Type Edition The Braille Forum Vol. XIX January, 1981 No. 7 ACB Files Suit Against Secretary of Education Fair Housing Amendments Die in Face of Republican Filibuster Published Monthly by the American Council of the Blind Mary T. Ballard, Editor ***** * National Office: Durward K. McDaniel National Representative 1211 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Suite 506 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 833-1251 * Editor, The Braille Forum: Mary T. Ballard 190 Lattimore Road Rochester, NY 14620 (716) 244-8364 ** Contributing Editors George Card 605 South Few Street Madison, WI 53703 Elizabeth Lennon 1315 Greenwood Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49007 ** ACB Officers * President: Oral O. Miller 3701 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Suite 236 Washington, DC 20008 * First Vice President: Delbert K. Aman 115 Fifth Avenue, S.E. Aberdeen, SD 57401 * Second Vice President: Dr. Robert T. McLean 2139 Joseph Street New Orleans, LA 70115 * Secretary: M. Helen Vargo 833 Oakley Street Topeka, KS 66606 * Treasurer: James R. Olsen 6211 Sheridan Avenue, S. Minneapolis, MN 55423 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 ACB Officers Report from the ACB President, Oral O. Miller Last-Minute Push for Fair Housing Bill Fails, by Kathy Megivern Reaching Out, by Mimi Winer ACB Files Suit Against Secretary of Education St. Louis, Gateway to the West -- 1981 ACB National Convention, by Assunta Lilley Reese Robrahn, New Executive Director of ACCD IRTI Markets Products for the Handicapped Educating the Blind of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow, by Will D. Evans But You Can Feel It, by Emil B. Fries -- A Book Review, by Don Galt Talking Machine Center to Aid Blind Lawyers in Justice Department ABLA Legal Index Has a New Home, by Durward K. McDaniel Supreme Court Agrees to Review a Section 504 Case, by Kathy Megivern Works of Art Sought From the Archives: Freedom in Association, by Arnold Sadler AT&T Accepts Challenge of Hiring the Handicapped Here and There, by Elizabeth M. Lennon Notice to Subscribers ***** ** Report from the ACB President Oral O. Miller I would like to begin this report by wishing all readers of The Braille Forum a very happy and prosperous New Year! I am confident that 1981 will be another successful and growing year for the American Council of the Blind. The leadership training seminar which ACB conducted in New Haven, Connecticut, in mid-November, 1980, was a tremendous success! Not only did it attract ACB members from all of our northeastern affiliates, but it also attracted prospective members from three states in which we currently do not have affiliates. Membership development activities have already begun in one of those states, a small one in the middle Atlantic area, and plans are already made for membership development activities to begin in the others early in the new year. Encouraging and important though these developments may be, one exceptionally gratifying result of the seminar came to light only yesterday (December 12, 1980) when a seminar attendee from New York City called to inform the ACB National Office of the outstanding progress she has made in recent weeks in convincing the public library in her community that it should do much more to make its services available to the blind and visually impaired and in arranging for improved service to the handicapped by local transit authorities. She explained that she would never have had the confidence to attack these problems or the knowledge needed to approach them properly if she had not attended the New Haven seminar. Calls such as hers prove that we are on the right track with our leadership training seminars. By the time this issue of The Braille Forum is in the hands of many of its readers, the next ACB regional training seminar will have taken place the weekend of January 23-25, 1981, in Oakland, California, for ACB members and friends in the far western states. I am pleased to report that members of the recently revitalized Nevada Council of the Blind will be present in Oakland. Within recent months, the Nevada Council of the Blind has increased its membership and its service objectives tremendously, and I hope to report further on the Nevada situation in an upcoming issue of The Braille Forum. During my comments in the last issue of The Braille Forum concerning my recent trip to Russia, I indicated that the people of Russia were generally unaware concerning events throughout the rest of the world, due to the virtual blackout of objective information concerning international events. In the large hotel where I stayed, it was impossible to buy newspapers or magazines from the free world, and it was also virtually impossible to pick up radio broadcasts from the free world. I expected to receive little information concerning international events while in the USSR, so I took with me a good short-wave radio. However, many of the pre­scheduled wave lengths of western stations (such as the Voice of America) were quietly jammed. Try as I might, I did not know until returning that the Philadelphia Phils baseball team had won the baseball World Series or even survived the National League playoffs. There was a considerable amount of English-language broadcasting of international events on Radio Moscow, but almost all of it was unbelievably slanted or deliberately misleading. For example, a report from Afghanistan described the invasion by the Russian army there as merely the efforts of loyal Afghan military forces to put down "counter-revolutionary radicals." The involvement of hundreds of thousands of Russian troops was described as "assistance requested by the Afghan Government." A favorite source of anti-American information or information that was at least very uncomplimentary about the United States was American newspapers and American newscasts. The concept of reporting the bad news (about such things as unemployment, racial discrimination, civil strife, etc.) along with the good news is simply not recognized in the USSR, where the government-controlled press reports only those things which are viewed to be favorable to the Russian Government and political philosophy. While in the USSR, the presence of a large military force was obvious at all times. For example, the two people who met the plane on which I flew into Moscow were not the usual civilian airline agents, but two soldiers carrying guns. Throughout our visit, we routinely saw many times more soldiers and other military personnel on the streets than would be seen in any city in the U.S.A. (even those cities located near large military bases). Of course, it is very expensive to maintain such a large army, and much of the cost is borne by the Russian citizenry in the form of unavailable consumer items. That is, in downtown Moscow we actually saw long lines of housewives waiting to buy bread for that day, and we visited (without the specific knowledge of our Russian guides) one grocery store at approximately noon on a Saturday in which we saw exactly four items being sold -- chicken, fish, cookies, and salt. There were literally no other items in the store. We noticed, also, that the Russian citizenry could not shop at the gift shops in the hotels because those shops will accept only foreign currency, which Russian citizens are not supposed to possess. One American observer who visited Moscow's main department store reported that a pair of shoes costs two-thirds of the average salary for one month. In view of the foregoing and the information contained in last month's issue of The Braille Forum, I believe it is now clear why I indicated that we in the U.S.A. have extra reasons for being thankful that we live where we do. I would like to bring to your attention again the new rules governing the prestigious Ned E. Freeman award for the article of the year in The Braille Forum. The new rules were published in the September, 1980 issue of The Braille Forum, and they state, in part, that the deadline for the specially written material must be submitted by March 31, 1981. If you are interested in entering the writing competition for this outstanding award, which includes a cash prize of $100, and if you do not still have a copy of the rules, contact the Editor of The Braille Forum, Mary T. Ballard, whose address appears elsewhere in this issue. In a magazine such as The Braille Forum, there simply is not space for us to report every legal or civil rights victory won by a blind person with our assistance. However, from time to time some cases virtually demand to be reported, and I am, therefore, pleased to mention the case of Scott v. Department of the Army. A separate article concerning Ms. Scott's victory appeared in the December, 1980 issue of The Braille Forum, so I shall merely mention at this time that it was directly through the assistance of the American Council of the Blind and its National Staff Attorney, Kathleen Megivern, that Ms. Scott prevailed in an employment case in which her employer wanted to dismiss her because she, as a visually impaired person, could not perform her duties precisely as demanded by her supervisors. During litigation she was ably and vigorously represented by Kathleen Megivern, to whom we give our commendations and a tip of the hat. Cases such as this re-emphasize the value of an action-oriented membership organization such as the American Council of the Blind. ***** ** Last-Minute Push for Fair Housing Bill Fails By Kathy Megivern Nearly two years after the Fair Housing Act Amendments were first introduced, the struggle to secure final passage came to an end shortly before noon on December 9, 1980. The Washington Post called the last-minute effort for passage of the bill the "liberals' swan song" of the 96th Congress. Supporters of the bill, which included provisions adding handicapped people to the coverage of the Fair Housing Act, had been trying for months to have the legislation brought to the floor of the U.S. Senate for a vote. It passed the House of Representatives earlier in the year. Finally, during the last days of the "lame duck" session, Majority Leader Robert Byrd (D., WV) set the bill for debate. The motion to proceed to consideration was immediately met by a Republican-led filibuster. Despite one successful vote to close off the filibuster, opponents of the bill, led by Senator Orrin Hatch (R., UT), were able to tie up the Senate with hours of debate. Behind-the-scenes negotiating began in earnest, and one compromise after another was made by supporters of the bill in the hope that an agreement could be reached. At one point, it appeared that settlement was near, but when it came time for a final vote to prevent yet another filibuster, supporters of the bill were six votes short of the sixty needed for cloture. So many compromises had been made by supporters that some began to wonder if in fact the bill would still be of much value. Most of the provisions affecting the handicapped, however, remained intact, and as one lobbyist noted, in the final analysis it was handicapped people who lost the most when the bill died. Despite the good-faith efforts of the bill's supporters, led by Floor Manager, Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D., MA), to reach a compromise, it became evident that Senator Hatch and others would settle for nothing less than a serious weakening of the existing law. On the final vote to prevent another filibuster, certain Senators who had voted a few days earlier to cut off the debate switched their votes. An examination of the shifts shows that the old coalition of southern Democrats and conservative Republicans which blocked so much civil rights and social welfare legislation in past years appears to have re-emerged. Key Democrats who changed their votes were Bentsen of Texas, Boren of Oklahoma, Heflin of Alabama, Huddleston of Kentucky, Johnston and Long of Louisiana, Morgan of North Carolina, and Nunn of Georgia. These votes were seen as crucial in the defeat of the bill. Just before the final vote took place, Senator Howard Baker (R., TN), who will be the new Majority leader in the 97th Congress, promised that fair housing legislation will be a priority early in the next Congress. "A good bill, not just a bill in name only," promised Senator Baker. But any such legislation would have to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will be headed by Senator Strom Thurmond (R., SC). It appears that, despite this promise by the moderate Republican leadership, such civil rights legislation will have little chance of success in a committee headed by Mr. Thurmond. In addition, it has been reported that Senator Thurmond, along with Senator Alan Simpson (R., WY), was considering an amendment to delete from the bill the provisions protecting the handicapped. Thus, it seems unlikely that handicapped citizens will fare any better in Senator Thurmond's committee than the traditional civil rights causes. ***** ** Reaching Out By Mini Winer First the good news! I was delighted to read in The Braille Forum (September, 1980 issue) of an active desire on the part of the American Council of the Blind to reach out to the broad population of those who are not totally blind or fully sighted -- that group of people with low vision who are sometimes called the partially sighted. I was delighted, too, to read that ACB wishes to be more involved in direct services that it may have been in the past. Your desire to serve a wider population of those who need help is to be commended. Now the bad news! Although attempts have been made to serve the non-legally or non-totally blind population (and ACB, along with its affiliate, the Council of Citizens with Low Vision, is the first national organization of the blind to make this attempt), a large portion of the target population has been missed. There is a vast difference in needs between those who have either been totally blind or partially sighted (with stable eye conditions) for most of their lives and the large group of people who have once had normal or stable vision and are now losing their sight. A person with progressive eye disease (or sudden loss) does not consider himself to be a "citizen with low vision." He thinks of himself as someone who is losing his sight. Going blind! The needs of people like this (and I am one of them) must be properly addressed if national organizations of the blind are ever to attract us in large numbers. Who are we? We are people with diabetic retinopathy, driving our cars today and perhaps totally blind tomorrow. We are people with retinitis pigmentosa -- slowly, slowly becoming legally or totally blind, maybe this year, next year, or never -- hiding our loss as long as possible so we can hang on to that job we still have, or perhaps feel more acceptable to our neighbors. We are older people with senile macular degeneration who gradually find we can't read any more. Some of us have optic neuritis or glaucoma, and a few of us have gone suddenly blind from accident or disease. At this stage in our lives, many of us are not ready to receive what blind or low vision organizations as they now exist have to offer. It's fine and important to work for educational, attitudinal, and legislative changes, but that's not where we are at. Our whole world has changed -- or is changing -- from a sighted one to an unknown future. We are dealing with loss, change, readjustment, and more loss. Our immediate needs are finding out about talking books, low vision aids, mobility, disability insurance, etc. In plain words — SURVIVAL! There is usually no energy left in this phase of vision loss to participate in the activities of the organized blind or their low vision affiliates. Let me add that this phase can continue for a long, long time, depending on the nature and speed of the visual loss as well as the basic personality structure of the person involved. If you of the "old guard" (and by this term I mean people totally blind or partially sighted who have had stable conditions for most of their lives) are to reach the rest of us, you are going to have to understand our needs and meet those needs more appropriately. We feel isolated and unknowledgeable. Legislative changes will help us in the long run, but right now we need supportive groups, rap sessions, buddies, training, and basic information. I discussed this problem with Durward McDaniel at the time of the formation of the Council of Citizens with Low Vision, but I do not think I made myself clear enough. I have also briefly discussed the situation with past and present presidents of the Council of Citizens with Low Vision, Dr. Samuel Genenski and Marvin Brotman. I told them that the CCLV was doing fine work, but that it did not seem to be reaching the people who could benefit most -- people new to the system and in various stages of losing their sight. I have viewed with interest the new ACB Parents group. Their concept of sharing -- both feelings and information -- is a good one, and perhaps that affiliate will reach out to some of us in an appropriate way. As for other organizations -- I have worked with the national Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation as a member of their Human Services Advisory Board. They, too, recognize the special problems of those of us with progressive sight loss, but they have not been able to deal with the problems adequately. Both the National Association for Visually Handicapped of New York and Dr. Genenski's Center for the Partially Sighted in Santa Monica, California, deal with the problems of progressive sight loss to some extent, but neither agency is a direct consumer organization. Several members of the National Federation of the Blind have told me that we need only be inconvenienced. This may be true for them. However, they fail to recognize that I and others like myself are dealing with more than a single loss. Those who have once had eyesight and start to lose it must learn to cope with multiple losses and consequent readjustments. Some of these losses can include: employment, friends, spouse, aesthetic enjoyment, and communication skills. (Braille, for example, so easily learned by the congenitally blind youngster, can be a total enigma or a painfully slow method of reading, at best, for the 80 percent of us who lose our sight as adults.) Those of you who are congenitally, totally blind have not had to deal with sight loss, and those of you who have had stable eye conditions for many years (whether partially sighted or blind) may only dimly remember the multiple losses and stresses that accompany losing one's sight. The "old guard" needs to share its backlog of experience and wisdom with us, and we who are new to the sight-impaired world need to make our needs better known. As a supplement to this article, I have prepared a discussion of model self-help techniques that some of us with progressive sight loss have found useful in helping people like ourselves to gain back feelings of independence and self-worth. For -- only after "getting it all back together" for ourselves are we able and ready to join forces with the organized blind who know the system so well and have the strength to strive for the necessary changes in that system. Our suggestions, in a slightly different format, were originally given to the National Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation to help them get started with programs of a similar nature. We hope that by sharing these ideas through the pages of The Braille Forum (the supplementary article will be published in an early issue), the American Council of the Blind can be a vehicle for spreading coping techniques to others who are losing their sight. We also hope that some of these ideas, which have helped many of us, will be utilized by local ACB chapters throughout the country. It has been our experience that an organization which can reach out to people with new sight loss, by helping them to help themselves, will also be an organization that will make gains in its own ranks -- now and in the future. ***** ** ACB Files Suit Against Secretary of Education The American Council of the Blind has joined with several organizations and individuals in a lawsuit filed against the Secretary of Education and other Government officials. The suit has been filed for the purpose of compelling these officials to fill the ten full-time positions in the Bureau for the Blind and Visually Handicapped, as mandated by the Randolph-Sheppard Act Amendments of 1974. The other organizations joining ACB as plaintiffs are the Affiliated Leadership League of and for the Blind of America, American Foundation for the Blind, the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind, the Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America, and the D.C. Committee of Blind Vendors. Individual plaintiffs include the officers of RSV A and two vendors from the District of Columbia. The 1974 Amendments to the Randolph-Sheppard Act directed the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare to "assign to the Office for the Blind and Visually Handicapped of the Rehabilitation Services Administration of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare ten additional full-time personnel (or their equivalent), five of whom shall be supportive personnel, to carry out duties related to the administration of the Randolph-Sheppard Act." Since the Rehabilitation Services Administration was transferred to the New Department of Education in May, 1980, the hiring of those persons became the ultimate duty of the Secretary of Education and, more directly, the responsibility of the Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Not only have these additional positions never been filled, but in fact, since the transfer of RSA, the over-all number of positions assigned to the Bureau for the Blind and Visually Handicapped has been reduced from 17 full-time permanent positions as of May 3, 1980, to 11 full-time permanent positions as of the time the lawsuit was filed. It is the belief of the plaintiffs bringing this suit that the failure to fill the positions required by the Randolph-Sheppard Act Amendments has resulted in the inadequate fulfillment of the goals and objectives of those Amendments. In addition to the obvious harm to vendors and potential vendors, the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind believes that its member agencies have suffered impairment of their ability to function effectively on behalf of their blind and visually impaired clients. The suit was filed in Federal District Court for the District of Columbia in mid-December, 1980. Included in the relief requested by plaintiffs are the following two orders: (1) that defendants be required to fulfill their legal obligation and hire the ten additional full­time employees for the Bureau for the Blind and Visually Handicapped; and (2) that defendants be required to restore to the Bureau the number of positions assigned there as of December 7, 197 4 (in addition to the newly filled positions). It is the hope of ACB and the other plaintiffs that if the Government officials are finally compelled to fulfill their legal obligations, the Randolph-Sheppard Act Amendments of 1974 may begin to be more properly administered and the vending facility program may have the opportunity to grow as intended by those Amendments. Acting as "Of Counsel" in this suit are Durward K. McDaniel, National Representative, and Kathleen Megivern, Staff Attorney, of the American Council of the Blind. ***** ** St. Louis, Gateway to the West 1981 ACB National Convention By Assunta Lilley Did you know that in the early days of America's expansion westward, St. Louis was the jumping-off point? Also, did you know that St. Joseph in Missouri was the starting point of the Pony Express? These are only two of the historical events depicted in the large underground museum which is part of the Jefferson Expansion Memorial Park, where also rises the famous Arch overlooking the mighty Mississippi River. This is intended to pique your interest in the 1981 national convention of the American Council of the Blind coming up next July. The Host Committee has already held several planning sessions, one with ACB President Oral Miller at the Chase-Park Plaza, the convention headquarters hotel. There are many things to do and see in St. Louis, and it will be difficult to leave enough time for the regular convention sessions. Convention dates are Saturday, July 4, through Saturday, July 11, which includes the time for pre-convention activities of the special-interest affiliates and organizations. However, since there is so much to do and see, you might decide to spend the summer here. Imagine these attractions: The Admiral, the world's largest riverboat, with day and evening excursions; the Huck Finn and the Becky Thatcher, both boats named after well-known characters familiar to Mark Twain readers; and the Goldenrod showboat, where you can witness the old-time melodrama. Here you will have your chance to hiss and boo the villain and cheer the hero who rescues the damsel in distress. We promise to involve people whom we all know so that we can boo the villain and cheer the hero -- though we may find it difficult to find a damsel in distress! St. Louis is the home of Anheuser-Busch, the largest brewery in the world, and the famous Clydesdales. For the baseball fan we have the baseball Cardinals, and across the Mississippi there are two excellent horseracing facilities. St. Louis is well-known for its many ethnic restaurants, and we promise to furnish you with a list of these, along with the price range of their menus. These are some of the things we have in mind to plan for you, and there are more. We hope soon to have more detailed information on entertainment plans, as well as information about the Chase-Park Plaza, situated across from Forest Park. Should you have any questions to ask or suggestions to make, you may contact me, Assunta Lilley, 7629 Dale, Richmond Heights, MO 63117; phone (314) 781-4925. Or you may contact the newly established office of the Missouri Federation of the Blind, 2683 Big Bend Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63143; phone (314) 647-3647. ***** ** Reese Robrahn, New Executive Director of ACCD At its meeting on December 14, 1980, the Board of Directors of the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities named Reese H. Robrahn as that Coalition's executive director, to succeed Dr. Frank Bowe, who had resigned earlier. Dr. Bowe had been in that position for the past four years. Many will remember his speech at ACB's 1977 convention. Braille Forum readers and ACB members know well that the American Council of the Blind is one of the participating organizations in ACCD, working with other people on issues of common interest for more than five years. Reese, who is known and remembered well as an ACB past president and until this appointment as ACB's Director of Governmental Relations, was secretary of ACCD for the past three years. We all wish our esteemed colleague well in his new major role in behalf of blind and handicapped people. Another ACB member, Joseph Fallin of Oklahoma, was elected to the position of secretary of ACCD because of Reese Robrahn's appointment. ***** ** IRTI Markets Products for the Handicapped Innovative Rehabilitation Technology, Inc. (IRTI), is a new California company recently formed by Mr. Vito Proscia, for seven years Vice President of Sensory Aid Programs for Telesensory Systems, Inc. A primary purpose of the company is to create a more efficient marketing system in order to improve upon the dissemination of products to the handicapped, and eventually to become involved in employment development activities for the disabled with industry. IRTI's first products to be marketed are aids and items which have day-to-day utility for the blind and visually impaired. Product lines will be expanded as the company grows. The company is pledged to prompt service and competitive pricing. For example, now being offered at the low price of $57.95 is the "Talking Time" electronic Digital clock by Sharp Electronics. Price includes shipping charges and cassette instructions. Among other products currently being offered are braille watches, Audocron chime clocks, a sound-oriented LCD quartz wristwatch, the Silva braille compass, tactile illustration kits, a wide-angle mobility light, and Hycor folding canes. In addition, IRTI is a Sony dealer and sells Sony cassette recorders, radios, and other products at discount prices. One of the featured products is Maxel cassette tapes at very attractive prices. All these products and more are described in a cassette catalog, available for $1. MasterCard and Visa orders are accepted by phone or by mail, personal checks and COD orders are also accepted. For further information or to place orders, write or call Innovative Rehabilitation Technology, Inc., 375 Distel Circle, Suite A-11, Los Altos, CA 94022; telephone (415) 965-8102. ***** ** Educating the Blind of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow By Will D. Evans, Superintendent, Kentucky School for the Blind (Editor's Note: The following address was given at the 1980 convention of the American Council of the Blind in Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. Evans, one of the very few visually impaired residential school superintendents in the United States, graduated from the Kentucky School for the Blind and from Atherton High School in Louisville under an early form of cooperative mainstreaming. For twelve years he served as a teacher at KSB, for four years as a dormitory program supervisor, for a year as principal, and for the past six years has served as superintendent.) ... One might hear that the residential school for the blind is dead. But I would like to tell you that it is not! We certainly do not rest on our laurels of what happened in the past, to say what all we did do. But we must become aggressive at the schools to look for new ways to serve the visually impaired students that we are charged to serve. The American Foundation for the Blind recently initiated and may very well have completed a study concerning the roles of residential schools in the United States. They invited several superintendents and administrators from these schools to help them prepare this report. I think they found that there is no specific role, there is no one role, for the residential school. It has many roles; it has many models; and it depends upon the location, the organization of the school, the organization within the state. I am anxious to see this particular study because I think it will denote some of the activities, some of the progress, some of the programs that schools are doing to make their influence felt in their state and in their area. Let me tell you a bit about KSB. We are part of the Department of Education in Kentucky, a part of the Bureau for the Education of Exceptional Children. And I feel — our staff at KSB feels -- and I believe the staff in the Department of Education feels -- that KSB is an important part, an integral part, of the educational system in our state. We work together; we work cooperatively. And I believe this is the way that it must be. No longer can the residential school stand by itself, pulling students one direction while local school districts and others pull them in other directions. We must work together. Our school this year served to evaluate local educational agencies with the Bureau of Education for Exceptional Children. Our school provides student evaluations for local educational agencies. We share materials. We serve as resource consultants for IEP meetings. We are an important part. We feel we are. We know we are. Kentucky School for the Blind, in developing a procedure and a process for our IEP's (Individual Education Plan) may have done it in a way that no one else did, but I believe a very successful way, in that when it became law that IEP's be set up, of course we had many students enrolled in our school. We took those students, when feasible; we went back to the local educational agency, back to the local school district -- (And, by the way, in Kentucky there are 181 school districts; we have some 55 school districts represented in our school.) We went back to the local school district and developed the educational plan with the parents. We continue on an annual basis to review these plans, inviting the parents to come to our school, inviting the local educational agency -- and when they cannot come, using the conference phone -- so that families continue to be involved in the development of the educational plan for their students. At that time, and each time, it is determined whether or not KSB is in fact the most appropriate place for that student to be educated. We provide a pre-school conference each year that allows families of blind and visually impaired young children to attend our school for a weekend to learn some of the skills that they need to more adequately work with their students. These conferences allow for state department personnel and others to come and to assist the families in knowing what their rights are, so that they understand that this is not a recruitment process for our school. But we feel that by knowing the Kentucky School for the Blind as a parent and as a student, it can serve as a standard for them to judge the quality of the program in their local school district. Oral mentioned mainstreaming and asked that I make some comments on that; specifically talked about the success of mainstreaming. It's very difficult to talk about whether it's a success or not. It would be very much like is education a success. Whether or not mainstreaming is a success depends upon the individual student. Students' needs differ from student to student. And you may also recognize that students' needs differ from time to time. It seems to me that the bottom line is quality program, and we feel that we at KSB have a quality program. We feel that we can assist local school districts in providing a better program if they wish to have one. "Least restrictive environment" is another term. To me this is not a geographic question. This is not a question of education with non­handicapped students. It's merely a question, where can the job get done. If some of the time is at KSB or a residential school rather than a local school, then so be it. In Kentucky we feel we are creating the kind of cooperative effort that if a student needs to spend a year, a week, a day, twelve years at the Kentucky School for the Blind, he may do so. He may transfer in, and he may transfer out. We accept students on September 1; we accept students on May 1. We find that this is the way to go with it, and we have found some success with it. Multi-handicapped programming in residential schools is a fact. I do not think that it is something to be afraid of. KSB has a program for deaf-blind children and multi-handicapped visually impaired children. We have had a program for them since 1974, and it has continued to grow, to get better. And actually, procedures, teaching techniques that have been developed for working with multi-handicapped children and staff that have been trained to work with multi-handicapped children transfer easily and can be very beneficial, using those same techniques in working with blind children that are not multi-handicapped. We find that too often students originally labeled as multi-handicapped may not be, and they need an opportunity to prove themselves so that they can proceed to whatever levels their potential will allow them. Such techniques as individualization, task analysis, record keeping, all of those techniques and procedures that sometimes we felt were for the multi-handicapped are good processes for any student. A question often asked is: Does multi-handicapped children in your school lower your standards? If a school is individualized so that the needs of all the students are being met, it does not lower the standards any more than does having a first-grader attend school in the same school with a senior lower the senior's standards. Do you find an average between all the students in the first grade and all the students as seniors and say that our school has a standard of sixth grade? Now, if you meet the needs of the individual students, the senior college bound can be getting a good education, as can the multi-handicapped child of age six or seven. We are continuing to work on an important area that Oral mentioned: career and vocational education. There are some factors that I think are important for it to be a success in school. One is early intervention -- early intervention with training of hand skills, developing good attitudes about work, a spirit of independence, daily living skills; providing a variety of experiences -- such things as simulated work stations, student employment -- so that the student has an opportunity to be exposed to many opportunities, many activities; so that proper plans can be made with him, by him, with his family, with adult services for the blind. Two programs at KSB, not certainly unique to us, but two that I am particularly interested in and proud of -- Oral mentioned that I had an opportunity as a student at KSB to attend a local high school. For a few years we have re-instituted some of those opportunities. This past year we had students in three vocational schools in Jefferson County. We had students in other schools in Jefferson County. We found tremendous cooperation from the school system -- providing transportation for our students from KSB to the vocational schools early in the morning, bringing them back to our school at noon to finish their day. And in this way our students got an opportunity to be exposed to vocational opportunities that they could never have gotten at our school alone. Education is human beings working with human beings. It is not an assembly-line process. We must remember, we need to create a warm environment; we need to care. We need to teach love. These cannot be ignored. And recently I came across a quote that I'd like to close with. I think this is significant for teachers, for educators, for parents, for friends, for co-workers. And it's this: "You can survive on acceptance, but you've got to be cherished to flourish." Thank you. ***** ** But You Can Feel It By Emil B. Fries (Binford and Mort, 414 pages, $12.50) Review by Don Galt (Reprinted with permission from The Piano Technicians Journal, June, 1980. For a number of years Mr. Galt served as technical editor of the Journal and is a very respected member of the Piano Technicians Guild.) How do you go about reviewing an autobiography, and particularly the autobiography of someone you have known for many years? And again, particularly one in which the author tells of his lifetime experiences in a profession with which you are thoroughly familiar? How can you be sure you are being completely objective as a reviewer ought to be? How can you certainly avoid confusing what you are reading with what you already know? These questions fill the thoughts of the bemused reviewer until it dawns on him that they are not important, because he finds no conflict between what he already knows and what he is reading. Besides, most readers of this review are also acquainted with the profession, and a great many of them also know the man. But You Can Feel It is the story of a successful life. Emil Fries has lived his way through and around the obstacle of failing eyesight to achieve independence and success in the practice of an important vocation. He also has trained and inspired scores of other people to achieve the same independence and success themselves. How he did it is what this book is about. The style of writing is as forthright as the man. The wealth of remembered detail drawn from the author's well-ordered mind is a reproach to those of us who have trouble finding notes on our cluttered desks. Fries leads us through a rather spartan boyhood with his Danish-born parents and their other children in the Okanogan Valley of Washington. It is a lifestyle with which few of us can now identify. It is also a lifestyle in which is rooted the author's stubborn refusal to be defeated by later troubles. When failing eyesight made it impossible for young Emil to do the required work in the country school, his formal education was interrupted for five years. That hiatus ended when a conscientious and sympathetic teacher began giving him special attention. This led indirectly to his enrollment in the Washington State School for the Blind at Vancouver, and to new horizons. Training in braille opened new doors, and the specialized professional atmosphere of the state school helped to nurture the expanding social adjustment of the apt and eager young man. With the piano tuning skill learned at the school, Fries later financed his college career at the University of Washington, where he earned a degree in education. In the succeeding years, his two-faceted career of practicing and teaching the art of piano service work has been pursued with outstanding success. The Emil B. Fries Piano Hospital and Training Center continues to thrive as a monument to this career. The author's personal account of his life experiences is told with frankness and good humor. Some of the story lies between the lines, as he is not one to dwell unduly on the problems encountered. Rather, what comes through is his enthusiasm for their solutions. The fact is nowhere more apparent than in his selection of the title, But You Can Feel It. In this, he quotes his mother's response to an early complaint that he could not see something he had been sent to find. He writes, "Positive thinking became the cornerstone of my little school. I hope that by my example, my values and priorities have instilled in students a wider outlook on life, with a determination toward steady improvement in workmanship. My mother's advice ... became the foundation for my piano skills and through my teaching enabled many to equal or surpass me in working by touch." Fries' purpose in writing this book goes far beyond the mere wish to tell a story. For him, counseling and inspiration have always been as important a part of teaching as the impartation of skills and information. In this book, he presents his philosophy of teaching which is so inseparately bound up with his philosophy of life. It is his hope that he can contribute to the success of others whose work is the education of the visually handicapped by sharing his own extensive experience. No mere theorist, he recounts a number of case histories showing that his philosophy works. The ultimate proof of the author's purpose is in the fact that he intends that the profits from the sale of the book be placed in a scholarship fund at the Piano Hospital and Training Center. This is a warm book and anecdotal. For me, it fulfills the wish expressed by the author in a flyleaf note in my copy, "It is my hope that this book will give readers a clearer understanding of the visually impaired, especially those who service pianos." I hope it will do the same for you. (But You Can Feel It is available at a cost of $12.50 per copy from Emil B. Fries, 2001 E. Eighth Street, Vancouver, WA 98661.) ***** ** Talking Machine Center to Aid Blind Lawyers in Justice Department (Washington -- Dec. 6 -- UPI) Blind Justice Department lawyers are now being provided with talking machines that convert print and computer data to automated voices. On Wednesday Attorney General Benjamin R. Civiletti formally dedicated the Department's Andrew Woods Sensory Assistance Center, which is equipped with $50,000 in electronic devices to allow sightless lawyers to fully research and prepare their cases. Candice Aviles, the project's coordinator, said the facility included the first such equipment to be marketed. She said that a blind Department lawyer "can do research, read cases, look up statutes on his own. He doesn't need a reader." The Center was named after Andrew Woods, a blind civil rights lawyer in the Department who helped design the Center before he was stricken with cancer and died in February, 1979. Construction of the Center was speeded under Daniel Meador, former Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office for Improvements in the Administration of Justice, who became blind after being named to the post by former Attorney General Griffin Bell. In a brief ceremony outside the Center, Mr. Civiletti said the new machines provide "a hint of the future." The equipment scans typewriter print or computer impulses and produces audible words. "Not only are they marvels of technology, but most important," he said, "They will allow us more in the future to utilize the full talents of men and women who are visually handicapped whose talents are not being fully used now." The equipment in the Center, which is available for use by about 78 blind employees, including nearly a dozen lawyers, includes the following: - A "Talking Terminal" invented by Peter Maggs, a University of Illinois law professor, that hooks up to Juris, the Justice Department's computerized law library, and speaks the material aloud at the push of a button. - An LED-110 Braille Printer Terminal, which provides the same access to legal research, but prints out the material in high-quality braille. - The Kurzweil Reading Machine, invented by Raymond Kurzweil, President of Kurzweil Computer Products of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is programmed to read any of 200 typewriter faces. - A Digicassette, a cassette recorder capable of recording many volumes of braille on a single cassette. It interfaces with a typewriter, either printing braille material or converting it to regular type so that those with normal sight can quickly read the products of blind attorneys. (Editor's Note: Andrew Woods was an active member of the American Council of the Blind and of two of its special-interest affiliates, the American Blind Lawyers Association and the National Alliance of Blind Students. At the time of his death while still in his 20's, he was also a member of the national board of the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities. Quoting from a tribute to him in the April, 1979 issue of The Braille Forum: "He fought vigorously for the rights of all people -- handicapped and non-handicapped, black and white, Americans and non-Americans. One of his greatest dreams was to see America become totally accessible to all individuals." The Andrew Woods Sensory Assistance Center is, indeed, a significant step in the fulfillment of that dream.) ***** ** ABLA Legal Index Has A New Home By Durward K. McDaniel Several years ago, the American Blind Lawyers Association, in cooperation with the Auxiliary of the Tulsa County Bar Association, established a legal index of recorded and braille law materials as a national reference service for visually impaired students, lawyers, and judges. Because of the substantial support given to ABLA and to the legal index project by Mrs. Frances Leach of North Dakota, the legal index was named after her grandfather, who was an attorney. Thus, it is officially named the Geritt Smith Van Valkenburgh Legal Index. Late this summer, ABLA's president, Norman Case, completed arrangements for the legal index to be housed and maintained as an ongoing service at the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in Oklahoma City. Librarian Ms. Carol Baker now has the responsibility for the legal index. This will continue to be a national service. The library's address is 1108 N.E. 36th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73111; telephone (405) 521-3514. ***** ** Supreme Court Agrees to Review a Section 504 Case By Kathy Megivern For the first time since its decision in Southeastern Community College v. Davis, the United States Supreme Court has agreed to review a case brought under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The case, University of Texas v. Camenisch, is on appeal from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Walter Camenisch was a deaf graduate student at the University of Texas who requested that the University provide sign language interpreter services. When the school refused, Camenisch brought suit under Section 504. Both the District Court and the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Camenisch, and the University of Texas appealed to the Supreme Court. The questions presented to the Court by the University are as follows: 1. Did the Court of Appeals misconstrue the Supreme Court's decision in Southeastern Community College v. Davis so as to require the University to provide "auxiliary services and affirmative action under Section 504" and assume the financial and administrative burden of providing an interpreter? 2. Was the Court of Appeals correct in holding that there is a private cause of action under Section 504? 3. If such a cause of action is found to exist, must the handicapped plaintiff show that the Federal financial assistance received by the institution was intended to support the particular "program" in which that plaintiff is enrolled? In deciding in favor of Camenisch, the Court of Appeals reviewed the Supreme Court's Davis decision in the narrowest light possible. They held that the Supreme Court never intended to bar relief for all handicapped people in future cases, and they found the facts in Camenisch to be different enough to justify a much broader ruling. The University of Texas, however, argues that the Supreme Court's decision in Davis was meant to remove any obligation, especially any financial obligation, from recipients such as colleges and universities. In their petition to the Supreme Court, the University recognizes only the narrowest of duties imposed by Section 504: "While under Davis a university might be required to permit a blind student to tape record lectures where the practice is otherwise forbidden, or to permit a deaf student to use an interpreter in the classroom (at the student's expense and which was allowed by the University in this case), no financial obligation can be imposed on the University by virtue of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973." While the Supreme Court in its Davis opinion seemed primarily concerned with the health and safety aspects of a deaf person becoming a registered nurse, Justice Powell hinted at the problem of the financial burdens which might be imposed by Section 504. This concern is carried to the extreme by the University of Texas, and their argument is summed up with these words: "It is patently evident that Section 504 imposes no financial liability upon those covered by the Act, and the Court of Appeals' decision in this case is erroneous." The other two issues raised by the University are procedural in nature. The question of whether an individual has a right of action under Section 504 is one on which most courts of appeals have agreed. The Supreme Court specifically reserved judgment on that question in the Davis case, so it would seem that they will have to deal with it once and for all in this instance. If no private right of action is found, then they need go no further with interpretations of Section 504, since they will have ruled basically that Mr. Camenisch has no right to pursue his complaint in court. The third question raised by the University is one which could have serious implications for other civil rights movements as well as the handicapped. The assumption has been that any Federal financial assistance makes an institution a recipient and, therefore, subject to laws such as Section 504 and Title IX (prohibiting discrimination based on sex). The argument made by the University of Texas would mean that no matter how much Federal aid may have been received by various programs and departments, if the specific program in question did not get the Federal dollars, then it would not be covered. For example, if Federal money had been received by every department on campus except the English Department, and it was the English Department which refused to provide an interpreter or a reader, that refusal would not be covered by Section 504 and there would be no recourse under Federal law. As support for this view, the University cites the Trageser case as well as a case arising under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The fallacy with this argument is that those courts have construed the coverage narrowly because of statutory language in Title VI which specifically says that it will apply only if the Federal financial assistance was for a stated purpose. No such language appears in Section 504, and there is no reason to assume that the argument is analogous. It is obvious that the questions raised by the Camenisch case go to the very heart of Section 504. A negative determination on any one of these three questions could render Section 504 meaningless. But, conversely, a positive ruling by the Supreme Court would be of major significance to handicapped Americans. it will be months before any opinion is issued by the Court in this vitally important case, but The Braille Forum will carry further reports in future issues as briefs and other documents are filed by the parties. ***** ** Works of Art Sought The Sister Kenny Institute will have an opening of its International Art Show by Disabled Artists in Washington, D.C., to herald the beginning of the International Year of Disabled Persons. The show will open February 24, 1981, at the General Services Administration Federal Building in Washington and will run for one month. Northwest Airlines will fly all the art works to Washington and will sponsor an opening reception. The Sister Kenny Institute is looking for works of art, other than paintings, created by disabled artists; i.e., sculpture, weaving, macrame, etc. If you would like your art works included in the Washington show, please contact: Sandi Gordon, Special Projects Coordinator, telephone (612) 874-4482, as soon as possible. ***** *** From the Archives This month's reprint contains what is probably the tersest, yet most comprehensive and unrelenting statement of the psychological causes in the ongoing disintegration of the National Federation of the Blind and the consequent creation of the American Council of the Blind. The speech from which this article is excerpted was made when the unity of the "organized blind movement" was coming into a doubtful time. Two months before at the Santa Fe convention, Durward McDaniel, Marie Boring, and Dean Sumner -- all prominent NFB members at that time -- had been summarily removed from the governing Executive Committee. Many of the people who had been active in the NFB viewed this move with great concern and philosophical doubt. There were many issues of fact and points of contention, some of which have been discussed previously in this series of articles. By far the most important questions, however, were those of philosophy and overall structure. For example: Why could not the NFB or its affiliates function democratically? What component was missing in the organization that precluded membership participation? The following article is an explanation of these causes to a local affiliate at that time. Undoubtedly, many similar statements were being made around the country to large and small affiliates alike. It bears many fascinating marks from the 1959 period and shows basic problems within organizations of the blind. Most notable is the polarization which was so prominent at the time between "social clubs" and legislative or "action" organizations. An even more insidious tendency was to allow a very few persons to hold all of the power in each affiliate. The author of this speech, Arnold Sadler, was at the time president of the Washington State Association of the Blind. His activity with organizations of the blind began when he helped to form the Occupational Research Club, dedicated to finding new jobs for the blind. After a visit from A.L. Archibald in 1949, this club affiliated with the Washington State Association. From that time forward, Sadler was deeply involved in the NFB. He attended his first national convention in Oklahoma City in 1951. Though never officially appointed to the Board, he was in attendance at many NFB Board meetings which were closed to the general membership at that time. In 1958 he accepted the presidency of the Washington State Association. Soon after, he was also to join the Federation Free Press Association and to align himself with the forces of reform within the Federation. With the purge at Santa Fe, it became apparent to him that the potential for reform was very slight. Also, the Washington State Association was very split over the question. Therefore, Sadler chose not to actively seek another term in 1959. In leaving the presidency and the Association, he delivered the speech which is excerpted below. Its warning is pointed; its tone uncompromising. Many key members of the Association followed Sadler out of the Association during the next year. However, it was not until 1971 that they and others were able to gain the strength to form the Washington Council of the Blind. Sadler is a charter member of ACB as well as WCB. ** Freedom in Association Keynote Address of President Arnold Sadler, Delivered at the 1959 Convention of the Washington State Association of the Blind (Reprinted from The Braille Free Press, November, 1959) Nowadays the term "freedom" is used loosely by dictator and democrat alike. Nevertheless, it is still the most important concept we have in society. Without social cooperation, no civilization of any kind would ever have been possible. Without freedom, there would be no such idea as dignity of the individual — probably no WSAB. The degree to which freedom is effective is directly dependent upon the degree of emotional maturity of the members of the association in question. This is equally true in the family unit, in the United States of America, and in the WSAB. The principal characteristics of maturity are responsibility, productivity, and goodwill. Conversely, inability to face reality, failure to resolve frustrations, blaming others for one's troubles, feeling hurt when criticized, hostility, hero worship, self-deprecation, and never laughing at one's self are just a variety of ways of saying "emotional immaturity." Emotional immaturity is a personality disease. Throughout history it has destroyed or brought low every human association. In this country today this disease is more prevalent than all the physical diseases combined. In this atomic age, it threatens mankind itself. Examination of one or two symptoms of this disease will serve to illustrate the whole. Of hero worship, for example, Henry A. Bowman has said: "Hero worship is normal in early adolescence. It is part of the process of emotional growth and of breaking away from parents; but it should be a transitional stage. When it remains as a permanent component of behavior and personality, it indicates immaturity." Virtually every ancient and medieval democracy failed because some popular hero was put into power, kept there term after term, given more and more power, until the people themselves no longer participated in their government, and their hero became their dictator. In our times, we have our Hitlers and Mussolinis. Our own closest squeak was President Franklin D. Roosevelt ... The actual existence of serious emotional or personality disturbance in the U.S. is estimated to run as high as one in six in the normal population. Among the handicapped, and particularly among blind persons, it runs to a large majority. Family, friends, even the general public, with their over-solicitousness, over-protectiveness, avoidance of demand, and similar coddling practices, tend to keep the blind child from maturing and to push the blind adult back into immaturity. These influences are very insidious. Little wonder most of us feel we are something special, to be treated gently, waited upon, worked for, fought for, given something for nothing. Little wonder, too, that we blame the sighted world when these things do not happen. Now just a few examples of how this affects our organization. Two of our locals which followed the hero worship pattern lost their active membership to splinter groups and became pink tea societies. At least two others have had bitter internal struggles with the same problem. Still another has forced resignations of members who democratically differed with the ruling clique. Those of us who were at Santa Fe this summer witnessed the pathetic spectacle of our national president, who is a hero among the organized blind, ask and get from his intellectually prostrate worshipers a purge of his critics on the Executive Committee and a modernized "sedition act" threatening expulsion against those who criticize in future. Whether such degeneration can be stemmed cannot now be answered. Here at our own conventions, year after year, we see delegates, whose expenses are paid for representation, come unprepared and let their favorites do their thinking for them. Year after year we hold our own convention after the national so that we can find out from our leaders what to think and what to do. This, I submit, is childish self­deprecation. In the early days, we and the national both had to fight for recognition and status. Although no longer necessary, the national still immaturely conducts its public relations with a chip-on-the-shoulder attitude. We, on the contrary, have for some years been able to sit down with our agency people in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect, discuss our problems, express our differences, and work out solutions. In this particular, our Association has grown up magnificently. ... In summary, then, we know blind people do suffer from lack of social acceptance. The immature, hostile term for it is "discrimination." By in large, we reap as we sow. If we continue to feel, singly or in association, that we should be pampered, partied, special privileged, taken care of, excused from our own conduct, all just because we are blind, we'll continue to be treated like the children we are. When we face up to the demands of adult social living, do our part, show goodwill, in short, earn our freedom, we'll "wonder where the yellow went." ***** ** AT&T Accepts Challenge of Hiring the Handicapped (Reprinted from The Seeing Eye, Summer 1980) Charles L. Brown, Chairman of the Board of American Telephone and Telegraph, made a statement in a recent issue of Disabled USA in support of the employment of the disabled. He cited "the unique abilities that disabled persons can bring to their jobs." Facing the technological challenges of the 1980s, Mr. Brown said that, "Every agency concerned with handicapped persons, both public and private, can support programs with research, information, and other resources." An example of that technological research which promises to open employment opportunities for blind telephone operators is currently being tested by the Bell System. Telephone operator consoles which process incoming calls by using a combination of audible and braille signals are being tested in Sacramento in a trial which will run through November. Jay Rochlin, Policy Supervisor of Affirmative Action at AT&T, notes that, "This is not a trial to prove if the blind can use the equipment, but to determine if the equipment can function as it is intended." Mr. Rochlin cites two earlier trials in Palo Alto and Little Rock which tested the use of two separate systems, one audible and one braille, and "proved that blind people can be as successful in this job as their sighted peers." AT&T, pleased with these early results, contracted with Telesensory Systems, Inc., the designers of the audible system, to combine their system with the braille one designed for the Arkansas trial by MIT. The resulting system uses the best features of both, allowing a blind person to use the standard operator's console with an adapter to receive incoming signals both audibly and in braille. The new system, called TIPS (Traffic Information Processing System), allows a blind operator to perform all of the tasks of a sighted operator. "One of the biggest advantages of this system," says Mr. Rochlin, "is that the use of adapters enables either a sighted or a blind person to use the same console." This avoids the expense of setting up special positions exclusively for the blind. The early success of the TIPS system is evidenced by two of the operators who are currently employed at Southwestern Bell in Little Rock, Arkansas, the site of the first trial with the braille adapter. Ann McDaniel, one of the original operators in the trial, was trained on the new device at the Indian Hill Bell Lab in Illinois and mastered the use of it in less than a day. She continues to work at the original console. Miss McDaniel, a graduate of the Seeing Eye, is measurably successful at her job. Mr. Rochlin reports that she works at 120% of the office average, with an accuracy rate of 98%. Working with her at Southwestern Bell is a second blind operator who works at 117% of the office average, with a 97% accuracy rate. At the conclusion of the Sacramento trial, if the system is determined to be effective, the process of making the TIPS system available to all Bell offices will begin. According to Mr. Rochlin, "After Bell Labs works on necessary alterations and dispenses training and employment information, probably sometime in 1981 we will begin to employ large numbers of blind people to use this equipment." There is no doubt that instituting the use of the TIPS system will begin to fulfill Charles Brown's call to business and technology to open the way for disabled employees. Mr. Rochlin says that this system "is another example of how rapid technological advances can provide employment opportunities for disabled people that were previously impossible." ***** ** Here and There By Elizabeth M. Lennon From VISTA Newsletter (Visually Impaired Secretarial Transcribers Association): On May 1, 1980, ACB and VISTA member Roseanne Diehl, a secretary in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., received the Attorney General's Service Award, the highest award given by the Department of Justice. Later on in May, she received an outstanding rating and superior performance award. A charter member of VISTA, Roseanne has served as board member and secretary, has chaired various committees, compiled the Employment Bank as well as the recipes for VISTA's voice­indexed cookbook, "Coffee Klatch Nibbles," helped with fund-raising, and is always on hand when someone is needed to do almost anything. From The Guild Approach (Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind): The first blind runner to participate in the City of Pittsburgh's Great Race was Fred Siget, a computer programmer. Some 12,000 men, women, and children took part in the 6 1/2-mile event, which wound through city streets, ending in downtown Pittsburgh. An accomplished downhill skier and neophyte water skier, Siget trained for the race for several months. Ambitious to finish in under an hour, his time was 56.9 minutes. Recording for the Blind, Inc., is planning a complete library reference service, with a computerized catalog of its recorded books. All titles on a specific subject in its master tape library will be identifiable in a matter of minutes, according to RFB's Annual Report. This service will be invaluable to students and professionals preparing research papers or working on professional projects. Until now, it has been the policy of RFB to record only complete books, but the possibility of recording selections from professional or scholarly journals for research is being investigated. From News and Views (American Association of Workers for the Blind): Secretary of Education Shirley Hufstedler has named Dr. Larry Scadden as Deputy Director of the National Institute for Handicapped Research. Scadden has been director of the Rehabilitation Division of the Bureau for the Blind and Visually Handicapped, Rehabilitation Services Administration, since December, 1979. -- "Challenge of the '80s: Implementation Through Participation" is the theme of the 1981 conference of the AA WB, to be held at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Canada, July 19-23. To highlight the International Year of Disabled Persons, representatives from the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind, North America-Oceania Region, have been invited to participate. A new terminal system for two­way transmission of braille messages over public telecommunications is described in Hoosier Starlight (Indiana). The device is being tested at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. This system may be linked to conventional telephones to allow deaf-blind persons to receive and transmit braille messages. LeRoy F. Saunders, Executive Director of the Oklahoma League for the Blind and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Council of the Blind, was recently elected for a two-year term to the chairmanship of the General Counsel of Workshops for the Blind. The Council is comprised of the more than 100 workshops associated with National Industries for the Blind, which supply products and services to agencies of the Federal Government under the provisions of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act. A $30 million, three-phase community for care of the deaf, deaf­blind, and deaf multi-handicapped was recently dedicated at Westerville, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, according to Programs for the Handicapped. Partially funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Phase 1 consists of a four-story, 106-unit apartment complex and a 100-bed nursing home, emphasizing care of the elderly. The apartment complex features specially designed living units and an advanced communications system, including braille adaptations, closed-circuit television, and special doorbell and emergency signals. Both the apartment complex and the nursing home are now operating at full capacity and waiting lists have been established. From Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness (American Foundation for the Blind): Boardman C. Wang, of the Department of Anesthesiology, New York University School of Medicine, is a crusader against medical error. Because many containers of different medications look alike and may be confused by persons who cannot read the labels clearly, Wang believes that manufacturers should make bottles in different sizes, shapes, and colors for different drugs. In addition, he would like to see the bottles embossed with the shape of the part of the body the drug acts upon (e.g., a heart or a kidney). "God has given us five senses -- we can use touch on the outside of containers," said Wang, explaining his proposal. The 1980 recipients of the Migel Medals, awarded annually by the American Foundation for the Blind for outstanding service to blind persons, went to Josephine L. Taylor, Bureau for the Handicapped, U.S. Department of Education, and to Morton Pepper, a New York attorney, former president of the Jewish Guild for the Blind and currently Vice President of the National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped. Ms. Taylor received the professional award in recognition of her 50-year career in education of the visually impaired. Mr. Pepper's award is in recognition of his long years of volunteer activity in behalf of blind persons. From The Matilda Ziegler Magazine: Scheduled for completion in 1981 is the world's first "Flying Eye Hospital." A DC-8 jet airliner is being converted into a complete ophthalmological/surgical suite, fully equipped to do laser treatment, corneal transplants, and ultrasound examinations. The aircraft, which will be used to teach surgical techniques to eye doctors in all parts of the world, was the brainchild of Project Orbit, Inc., a non-profit corporation affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. The plane was donated by United Airlines, and the project is being funded by the U.S. State Department's Project for International Development and by gifts from private foundations, corporations, and individuals. From NBA Bulletin (National Braille Association): The Guild for the Blind (Chicago) has established a new service called Phone Notes for Chicago's Blind consumers. Phone Notes consists of a special telephone number connected to a 15-minute, pre-recorded message. The special weekly sales at Chicago's three top supermarket chains are given five days a week, and the remaining time is used to provide highlights of the evening television listings. Persons interested in initiating such a service in their own community may obtain further information by contacting Marie Porter, Guild for the Blind, 180 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60601. From Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness: A new laser beam treatment for glaucoma which halts loss of vision (but does not restore vision already previously lost) may provide an alternative to surgery, according to an article in Diabetes Forecast. The technique involves the use of a laser to make a hole in the iris, thus reducing eye pressure. -- Marijuana has been in the news lately because of its ability to lessen intraocular pressure and therefore be used in the treatment of glaucoma. Now organic chemists Howard Deutsch and Leon Zalkow of Georgia Tech, Atlanta, have discovered a marijuana extract without the psychoactive ingredient that seems to be able to lower eye pressure. They hope that with further testing, they will be able to isolate a compound that can be used in eyedrops for persons with glaucoma. ***** ** 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 bimonthly 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 James R. Olsen, Treasurer, c/o ACB National Office, 1211 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 506, Washington, DC 20036. You may wish to remember a relative or friend by sharing in the continuing work of the American Council of the Blind. The National Office has available special printed cards to acknowledge to loved ones contributions made in memory of deceased persons. Anyone wishing to remember the American Council of the Blind in his or her Last Will and Testament may do so by including in the Will a special paragraph for that purpose. If your wishes are complex, you or your attorney may wish to contact the ACB National Office. ###