[Reprinted from the Broadcaster publication of Blue Cross in Indiana]
Most of the dictated letters sent to Word Processing [division] for preparation touch the hands of Pat Maurer. A word processor since September 1974, Pat types the variables of the letters (name, address, date, et cetera) from the dictator onto her Redactron machine, which records them onto tapes. These tapes are then combined with basic form letter tapes to produce final letters.
This is Pat's first typing job, and, "I like it really well," she smiled. According to her supervisor, Mike Brown, "Pat is an excellent performer and usually exceeds one hundred per cent of her standards. She makes every effort to go above and beyond the normal workload and is always enthusiastic about it."
Born premature and weighing two-and-one-half pounds, Pat was an incubator baby for a dangerously long time. As a result, her retinas detached causing blindness. "I have about two percent vision, but, for all practical purposes, I'm totally blind," said Pat. "Occasionally, I can see shadows but can't really distinguish them."
Pat grew up near Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from Drake University in 1973 with a degree in elementary and special education. She taught reading to third, fourth, and fifth graders during the summers in the public-school system in Burlington, Iowa. "In the beginning I was hired for one 'trial' week with no pay to prove I could really do it. I guess they were convinced because they paid me from then on," Pat laughed.
People would ask Pat how she could teach reading, not being able to see. She explained: "I used Braille textbooks that exactly matched the children's workbooks, line for line. If a child had difficulty reading a certain word, I would just count over to that word and help him with it."
Pat also used flashcards with written words on one side and Braille on the other and made up a lot of games to help the children read. "I hired a student to help me with the paperwork—marking the workbooks and doing the grades. Discipline was not much more of a problem than for any other teacher. Some of the children tried to see how much they could get away with . . . but they do that in any teacher's class."
Pat's husband, Marc, is also blind. They met at a rehabilitation program and were married in the summer of '73. While Marc completed his education at Notre Dame, Pat taught a program for the visually impaired in the South Bend schools.
"We moved here last summer so Marc could begin his first year at Indianapolis Law School. I wanted to get away from teaching because I like my evenings free. But, since my husband is a student, one of us had to work, so I decided to see if I could handle a typing job. The Corporation hired me, trained me on the job, and it has worked out really well.”
"In the past, I've had trouble getting a salary equal to that of other people, but I didn't have any problems here. All the people have been really nice to me. At first, the girls did some of my work for me because they didn't think I was able to do it. But I changed their minds. Now no one worries about me. I'm treated the same as everyone else, and I like it that way."
Off the job, Pat reads a lot at the library for the blind, where Braille books and cassettes are available. Pat also enjoys cooking. Just recently, she entertained thirty people for dinner. "It was really an all-day affair getting ready for them, but it was worth all the effort."
Both Pat and Marc are active in the National Federation of the Blind. Marc is currently the president of the local affiliate, the Indiana Council of the Blind, a state-wide organization numbering about five hundred members. The organization works to change public attitudes about blindness and helps blind people become adjusted in jobs and daily living. The Council also works with legislation for the blind. "I really enjoy the group," commented Pat, "I feel I'm helping other blind people, as well as myself."
Pat explained her daily routine: "Our household is the same as everyone else's; it gets messy and has to be cleaned up, and we work just as hard at home as other people. In the past, we have had problems renting apartments—I guess some people think we are going to burn the place down. But in Indianapolis, we had no difficulty finding a place to live. They were very receptive to us."
Pat and Marc take the bus to work and school, and "We don't get lost anymore," she laughed. "It's just like anyone—after you learn the way it's easy. If we do get lost trying to go somewhere, we just ask someone for directions. People are usually more than willing to help."
Pat goes grocery shopping once a month. "I make out a Braille list, and one of the store workers goes around with me to help pick out items.” She also does all her own clothes shopping. "The clerks help me with colors, and I can usually tell the styles by feeling the clothes. In choosing what to wear, I have an advantage over my husband because I know what color each of my dresses is from the material or style. Marc's shirts and pants, which are harder to tell apart, are marked with Braille tags."
Pat uses a white fiberglass cane, almost as tall as she is, to help her navigate. When walking, she arcs it from side to side, always holding it about eight steps in front of her. "I don't usually find places by counting steps as some blind people do," said Pat. "My steps are not always the same length, so I would wind up in the wrong places. I learn the streets and find doorways with my cane."
"Crossing the street is easy. I just listen. When the traffic is moving in front of me, I know not to cross. When I hear it going beside me, I cross. Many people think that blind people have super hearing powers," commented Pat. "We just learn to use our hearing and develop it more than a person who can see. We learn to know things from their sounds rather than their looks."
Reflecting for a moment, Pat said, "You know, many blind people are hired to do mechanical jobs—jobs stressing the use of machines rather than the person's intelligence. I think other occupational fields should be opened to the blind, and opportunities broadened, so we can have the chance to prove our abilities. It's something to think about...."