VOICE OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
The National Federation of the Blind is not an organization speaking for the blind—it is the blind speaking for themselves.
Printed at 2652 Shasta Road, Berkeley, California 94708
JUNE 1969
THE BRAILLE MONITOR
Published monthly in braille and distributed free to the blind by the National Federation of the Blind. President: Kenneth Jernigan, 524 Fourth Street, Des Moines, Iowa, 50309.
Inkprint edition produced and distributed by the National Federation of the Blind.
EDITOR: Perry Sundquist, 4651 Mead Avenue, Sacramento, California, 95822. Associate Editor: Hazel tenBroek, 2652 Shasta Road, Berkeley, California, 94708.
News items should be sent to the Editor.
Address changes should be sent to 2652 Shasta Road, Berkeley, California, 94708.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
If you or a friend wish to remember the National Federation of the Blind in your will, you can do so by employing the following language:
"I give, devise, and bequeath unto NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND, a District of Columbia non-profit corporation, the sum of $ _______or "_____percent of my net estate", or "the following stocks and bonds: _______") to be used for its worthy purposes on behalf of blind persons and to be held and administered by direction of its Executive Committee."
If your wishes are more complex, you may have your attorney communicate with the Berkeley Office for other suggested forms.
AN OPEN LETTER TO MONITOR READERS FROM THE PRESIDENT
by Kenneth Jernigan
IT'S BEEN A GREAT YEAR ALREADY
GEM STATE BLIND MARK VICTORIES
by Jan Omvig
NEW KANSAS AFFILIATE PASSES WHITE CANE LAW
by Mary Ellen Anderson
OLD AFFILIATE—UTAH—SPRINGS TO LIVELY ACTION
WEST VIRGINIA MAKES GAINS
INDIANA RECORDS LEGISLATIVE PROGRESS
by A. Kay Padette
WASHINGTON STATE SCORES AT THE LEGISLATURE
by Wesley M. Osborne
"HE WALKS BY A FAITH JUSTIFIED BY LAW ..."
by Jacobus tenBroek
AUSTIN CHAPTER GOES ON EXHIBIT
by Kenneth Jernigan
BLIND MAN SUES FOR TEACHING JOB
by John Sibley
RESIDENCE LAWS OUTLAWED—VICTORY FOR THE NFB
THE GREEN - CAPPS CORRESPONDENCE
FEDERATION MEMBERSHIP—A TWO WAY STREET
by Kenneth Jernigan
PROGRESSIVE BLIND CONVENTION
by Gwen Rittgers
HELP FOR THE DISABLED
by Howard A. Rusk, M. D.
MEET OUR STATE PRESIDENT—NEIL BUTLER, AND OUR STATE AFFILIATE—IOWA
LIFT YOUR SIGHTS, BLIND SKIER SAYS
by Earl Marchand
RULING IN FAVOR OF BLIND TEACHERS
THE BLIND CAN'T DO CASEWORK!
by Jim Nyman
QUOTES FROM MY AFRICAN LETTERS
by Isabelle L. D. Grant
THE ROLE OF THE SPECIALIZED AGENCY IN THE REHABILITATION OF BLIND PERSONS
by Peter J. Salmon, L.L.D.
When we started the talking book issue of the Monitor last year, we began by sending multiple copies to every state and chapter president so that we would get quick and widespread distribution. As the months have gone by, the response to the talking book Monitor has been phenomenal. We now have approximately 2500 on the list. Consequently, we will no longer send multiple copies of the talking book Monitor to state and chapter presidents unless they request us to do so.
If you wish to receive more than one copy of the talking book Monitor (or for that matter, the braille or the inkprint edition) write to the Berkeley Office and let us know. Otherwise, if you are a talking book Monitor user you will receive only a single copy each month in the future.
by Kenneth Jernigan
As I write this letter to you we are approaching the South Carolina convention, which promises to be one of our very best. In fact, the Federation is now experiencing unparalled growth, enthusiasm, and accomplishment. The Idaho people tell me that they are chartering a bus for South Carolina. The same is true for Kansas. Iowa is doing likewise. Other states are talking of sending large delegations. This may very well be our largest convention in history.
Not only is our movement growing but a large percentage of the new members are college students and young people in their twenties. They bring to the movement a sense of determination and purpose which is making itself felt in every phase of our work. Advance indications are that the student seminar following the convention this summer will be even bigger than the one last year, and it is planned formally to organize a Teachers' Division of the National Federation of the Blind at the convention.
I have recently been working to prepare two records which have been sent to those receiving the talking book Monitor. One is a recording of last year's NFB banquet, and the other contains two NFB speeches. We have made extra copies of these records, and they can be had by writing to me or to the Berkeley Office. They play at 16-2/3 rpm and have a little more than forty minutes on each side. We hope to distribute them as widely as possible throughout the country and the world. We must do everything that we can to spread the word, and this is one of the best ways of doing it.
Speaking of records, I have been looking into the possibility of putting future NFB conventions on talking book records, and I think we can do it at a cost within reach of all who want copies. Something will turn, of course, on the exact length of each convention, but I think we can do the whole thing for somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 per set of records. We can, that is, if we make a thousand copies, and we certainly ought to do this. Not only will this give us a permanent and easily accessible record of the convention but it will, in effect, let every blind person in the nation and the world attend. Tapes of the convention currently cost much more than this, and not every blind person has a tape recorder. We are in the process of making a set of records for the 1968 convention as an experiment. If it works out well, proves to be practical, and receives good acceptance, we will make it an annual project. I have great hopes that it will be a success.
Recently I went to speak at a meeting in a neighboring state and found myself seated across the dinner table from the president of our local affiliate. We had never met before, and I began the conversation by asking him for his reaction to the releases I have been sending to state and chapter presidents. Imagine my surprise when he said that he had no reaction at all since he had not been receiving any releases.
It developed that my releases had been going to the former president of the chapter, who had been ill, and that the chapter was unaware that anything was coming out from National Headquarters. The business of keeping current on the names and addresses of state and chapter presidents is a constant problem. I suspect that it always will be.
For quite a number of weeks I have been sending a legislative bulletin to every state and chapter president in the country—that is every one I have on my list. I have asked that these releases be read at your chapter meetings. If this is not being done or if your chapter president is not on my list, I hope you will take action to see that the situation is remedied. Communication is the life blood of our organization, and if the membership is really to participate in making their voice heard, then they must be constantly and thoroughly informed of what is happening. Therefore, please let me know immediately (and I emphasize the word immediately) every time you have a change in the presidency of your local or state organization.
Along the lines of communication, you may be interested in knowing that I have sent out forty-five releases to the Executive Committee of the Federation since the first of the year in addition to the weekly legislative bulletins I have been sending to state and chapter presidents. The Monitor, of course, continues to be our principal link of communication and information. Although the talking book Monitor has only been in existence for a few months, we are now sending out approximately 2500 copies each month, and the list is growing daily. The braille and inkprint editions are also experiencing growth. If you know any person who would like to receive the Monitor, all you have to do is let us know. Also, if you are receiving more copies than you want or the wrong edition, please write the Berkeley Office and let us know so that we will not be duplicating or wasting effort.
As you know, our biggest legislative effort during the past few months has been the drive to pass the disability insurance bill. This is undoubtedly the biggest single legislative effort we have ever made, and it is paying off. At the time of this writing we have 100 cosponsors to our bill, and the momentum is continuing. If all of you will continue to write letters to your Congressmen and Senators and get your friends to do so, there is no doubt that we will win. In fact, we can and we must pass this legislation. It will mean more to individual blind people than any other single bill we have ever had before Congress.
Of course, this is not the only bill we are working to pass. Our overall legislative program for the 91st Congress was outlined in a previous issue of the Monitor. We are moving on a broad front to improve the laws affecting blind people.
We are also continuing to move on the legal front with contemplated court action on a variety of matters. These items will be discussed in detail at the up-coming convention in South Carolina, and I hope that as many of you as possible will be on hand to participate.
As you will see elsewhere in this issue of the Monitor, we are making break-throughs on a variety of fronts throughout the country. We have had broad legislative gains in many of the states, and we have a rising tide of enthusiasm and determination among the membership. Plans are actively going forward to organize a number of new affiliates, and I suspect that we will have at least one more state organized by the time of the convention.
Our movement is truly on the move, and nothing is going to slow its progress. As I said at the banquet last year in Des Moines, we as blind people all walk alone, but we will march together.
Legislatively speaking it's been a great year already—with more to come. Some state legislatures have short biennial meetings, some meet annually for a limited time, some hold sessions for most of the year. Whatever the length of their sessions, state legislatures all around the country are this year aware of a resurgence of activity and dedication on the part of the organized blind. The year is only one-fourth through and eight states have reported legislative successes. Some states have awakened from a kind of hibernation and with, encouragement and aid from NFB Headquarters, have been moving on a number of fronts—organization and program development being especially prominent. The rising tide of enthusiasm within the states and on the national level is becoming tangible. Success is not always immediately achievable. However, if the forward momentum can be maintained, progress in all areas of our interest is inevitable. Some of the victories set out in the following pages are the result of years and hundreds of man hours of work. But one has the feeling that it is the result of members working with their leaders that has provided the necessary "muscle" to attain success. Consequently, congratulations are in order to those who gave of themselves so that all blind people might move a step closer to achieving their proper place in our society.
During these first four months six states have adopted White Cane Laws: Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Utah, West Virginia and Washington. They join California, Iowa, New Mexico, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Nevada who passed it in their immediately preceding legislative sessions. These twelve states have adopted various versions of the law but all of them include the important policy statements which provide enlarged employment opportunities for qualified blind persons and protect the right of all to live in the world.
As you will see in the following reports, a variety of other programs were the objects of much activity in the states as well.
by Jan Omvig
At the annual convention of the Gem State Blind held in August, 1968, the Gem State Blind established legislative priorities for this session of the legislature. As many of you will remember, there were already ominous rumblings about state reorganization, reorganization which would abolish the Commission for the Blind, the Commission for which we had fought so hard, the Commission which had, at that time, had less than a year to prove its great value in improved and expanded services to blind people throughout Idaho. This movement toward reorganization dictated our first legislative priority, that of maintaining the Commission as an independent agency solely for the purpose of serving the blind.
We began our opposition to this move under the direction and able guidance of NFB President Kenneth Jernigan. First of all, President Jernigan debated the reorganization issue with a gentleman who was one of the strong proponents of reorganization. Secondly, in his remarks to the news media, Mr. Jernigan denounced any reorganization of the Commission under a larger agency as being in direct opposition to the best interests and welfare of the blind of Idaho. President Jernigan, in his address to the membership, suggested methods of combatting the suggested reorganization. He further suggested that the time to begin our efforts was right then, in August. Following the convention, we of the Gem State Blind and the Commission for the Blind, working together, set out to nip in the bud any proposed reorganization winch would include our Commission. We passed resolutions commending the Commission for its work and condemning any move to dissolve it and had these published. We wrote letters to our legislators to let them know of our wishes in this matter. In mid-October, Mr. Hopkins presented the case of the Commission to the legislative committee charged with the task of drafting reorganization bills, and, by mid-November, almost two full months before the opening of the legislative session, the Commission had been excluded from the reorganization proposal. To insure that the Commission was not included in later proposals, a careful watch was kept over all legislation introduced. At this writing we can report that these combined efforts have paid off—the Commission is still intact and shall remain so as long as we have the will to keep that which we have rightfully earned through our efforts in the past.
Our second legislative priority was to assist the Commission in obtaining its recommended budget. Again, our united effort came into play. Following the testimony of Mr. Hopkins to the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee, individual members of the Gem State Blind contacted legislators, urging their support of the full budget askings. Success again.
Our third legislative priority was to obtain the enactment of the Model White Cane Law. Jesse Anderson, Gem State Legislative Chairman, secured the introduction of the Model White Cane bill. Again, the combined support of the Gem State membership and Mr. Hopkins have been successful. The Model White Cane Law goes into effect in Idaho July 1, 1969. We can be proud of that which we have accomplished together. And, although the priorities established in August were numbered one, two and three, it must be obvious from the work done and the achievements realized, that in reality the number was one for all three of our legislative priorities.
by Mary Ellen Anderson
On April 1st, 1969, the Kansas Legislature passed the Model White Cane Bill, sending it on to the desk of Governor Robert Docking, who, in the presence of Sunflovver Federation of the Blind President, James Couts, signed the bill into Kansas Law.
Just how did Kansas come to enact the Model White Cane Law? The answer to this question lies in the joyous fact that on November 23, 1968, the blind of Kansas once again became part of the organized blind movement with the formation of the Sunflower Federation of the Blind, the National Federation's 39th state affiliate. At the first board meeting of the new affiliate, plans for the 1969 legislative season were mapped out. Top priority was given to securing passage of the Model White Cane Bill.
The plans laid, the work began. Legislative contacts were made. Senator Charles E. Hinchey (Democrat, Kansas City) agreed to introduce the bill. Senator Hinchey not only introduced the bill and worked tirelessly for its passage, but became a true friend of the organization. Other highlights in the drive to pass the bill include a massive letter writing campaign launched by Sunflower Federation members and the appearance of President James Couts before the Senate Committee for Federal and State Affairs.
We of the Sunflower Federation are thrilled with the adoption of this modern and progressive bill-of-rights for the blind. It is difficult to imagine a more perfect way to celebrate the resumption of Federationism in Kansas and to symbolize the progress we seek to make.
[Letter to NFB President Kenneth Jernigan from Kathryn Thompson, Utah State Association President]
April 15, 1969
President Kenneth Jernigan
National Federation of the Blind
524 Fourth Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
Dear Mr. Jernigan:
Your bulletins regarding our contacts with our congressional representatives should stir all of us to enthusiastic support and, at long last, we will do our part. It is sometimes very hard to get individual blind people to write these very necessary letters. However, I will enclose a request for letters in our convention bulletin which will be coming out very shortly. I hope it will be soon enough for support.
Our annual convention is always held in May and this year will be the 24th. It will be held at our State Center for the Blind which is at 309 East 100 South in Salt Lake City 84111. Donald W. Perry will then be our host for our two meetings on Saturday commencing at 10:00 a.m. and at 2:00 p.m. Our banquet and dance will also be held in our State Services Building. We would very much appreciate having a guest speaker from the Federation and inasmuch as we have had quite a bit of contact with Perry Sundquist regarding our legislative program this winter, we felt that we would like to invite him to be our banquet speaker and also to present any helpful ideas at our meetings from the Federation and the Monitor. We would like this fine informative voice of the Federation to reach more of our blind people. However, I and my board would like to leave it up to you as to our representative and will look forward to an early reply regarding this.
In our convention this year we are trying the panel method of reaching and involving our members. I am afraid that all too often we blind Utahans have just waited for some vigorous activity by someone else and have waited for them to just pour the good results on to our benefit. I hope to involve people and everlastingly stir them up to individual action for themselves. One panel is on employment of the blind in Utah, and the other is planned to interest our college students in participation in our organization. We hope to have this moderated by the vice president of the NFB Student Organization if he will come from Idaho.
We feel we have been very successful in our state legislative program this year. With the able direction of Jesse Anderson, chairman of our legislative committee with the active participation of all members of the committee, we were able to have passed and signed into law what we consider to be two very important bills. May I say that my attendance at the Des Moines convention last summer gave me an understanding of what might be done and crystalized my determination to do it. I feel sure that without that experience at the convention, this legislation would not have been conceived, let alone introduced and passed.
The first bill we introduced was the "Model White Cane Bill" taken from the NFB law and passed almost intact. We will make report of this to the Monitor in detail. The second bill really sprang from the NFB study of Utah's Welfare laws. When we saw how low we were on the list of average welfare payments to our blind recipients, we just had to start there. Our bill placed a floor of one hundred per month on "Blind Assistance" payments and gives some other benefits as well. We were able to obtain the support of the State Welfare Office on this but still didn't really expect it to pass this year but we met with the legislative committee in a hearing and were able to speak before the Senate and got our literature to accompany the bill and put all we had into the effort. It passed and was signed by Governor Rampton.
We feel pretty good about our two bills and thank Perry Sundquist and the Federation for their help. Mr. Urena presented this Welfare study at our convention last May but it was due to all the background I have mentioned that we attempted this effort. We thank everyone involved and especially I am so very grateful that I attended the Des Moines Convention. It was great and it fired the fuse as I have said.
Regarding the upcoming convention in Columbia, South Carolina, I do very much desire to attend and represent my state.
We are presently working on prizes for the convention and our chapters will participate as well this time, it appears. We plan to send some very lovely things made by our own blind.
I am enclosing a letter of invitation to Perry Sundquist in case you agree with our choice and to facilitate an early reply. We hope to have you, yourself when you can find it possible to get away and visit us here.
In some ways we are "babes in the woods" when it comes to organizational knowhow. We are anxious to find our way and join in the national effort as well.
I had meant to mention that one of my projects is building a Utah State Association and National Federation corner in our state library where information we have had to delve so hard to obtain, is readily obtainable and is kept up to date. Thank you for the inspiration in this also.
When you have had time to peruse this very lengthy and varied epistle, we will be looking forward to your varied reply. Thank you very much.
Sincerely yours,
Kathryn Thompson, President
Victor Gonzales, Legislative Chairman of the West Virginia Federation of the Blind, reports on the smashing victories won by his organization in the 1969 legislative session. Three very important bills were enacted by the Legislature and signed by the Governor.
First, Senate Bill No. 80 is the Model White Cane Law and brings to West Virginia the protection of this modern civil rights for the blind program.
Second, House Bill No. 676 requires all public buildings and facilities to be accessible to and usable by the physically handicapped. This is the architectural barriers statute.
Finally, Senate Bill No. 44 provides for the establishment of special schools and teaching services for exceptional children, including the visually impaired.
These are tremendously important legislative gains and the West Virginia Federation of the Blind is understandably proud of its accomplishments.
by A. Kay Padette
The State of Indiana joined the ranks of progressive states when The Indiana General Assembly passed the Model White Cane legislation exactly as it was designed by our beloved leader, the late Dr. tenBroek, and his colleagues and recommended by the National Federation of the Blind. The White Cane bill was introduced by State Senator Donaldson and Representative Adam Benjamin, Jr. of Gary. It was supported by the Indiana Council of the Blind, an affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind and several individual blind persons and their friends. The bill was signed by the State Governor on March 12 and will become enforceable on July 1, 1969.
By Resolution, the General Assembly asked the state colleges not to withhold recommendation of a blind person for a teaching certificate if such blind person is otherwise qualified. According to state laws and regulations, the graduating college or institution of higher learning must recommend every person applying for a teaching certificate in Indiana. Teacher education colleges and institutions often withhold such recommendation in the case of blind graduates. At present there are three legally blind persons teaching in the public schools of Indiana and most of them are graduates of colleges outside the state and have been recommended for teaching certificates by these colleges.
Another bill introduced by the Steel City lawyer, Adam Benjamin, Jr., to raise the present monthly amount of blind assistance, was passed by the Assembly but became the victim of a gubernatorial veto.
In view of the fact that the next session of the General Assembly will not be until January 1971, many persons on blind assistance will find it hard to maintain themselves in view of rising prices and inflation.
Indiana already has its program ready for the next legislative session. We propose, among others, to see the establishment of a commission for the blind; the transfer of blind schools from the Department of Institutions to the Department of Public Instruction; the establishment of an advisory committee on which blind people will serve based on a geographical distribution; the development of a modern orientation center; and the encouragement of general industry in the hiring of qualified blind persons.
by Wesley M. Osborne
The White Cane Bill was again introduced in the 1969 Regular Session of the State Legislature, as Senate Bill 277 and as House Bill 286. Both bills were the same except that the House Bill contained an additional employment clause.
Senate Bill 277 passed the Senate with only one opposing vote. It was referred by the House to its Public Health and Welfare Committee where it joined House Bill 286 which was also referred to the same Committee.
H.B. 286 was not released by the Committee but S.B. 277 was approved and given a do-pass stamp by the Committee. It was then held in the House Rules Committee because there was disagreement about Section 5 of the Act. When one of the Representatives sponsoring the White Cane Law who was also a member of the House Judiciary Committee became aware of this disagreement, he proposed that S.B. 277 be amended on the floor of the House and then be passed by the House. It was immediately released by the Rules Committee and it was amended on the floor of the House Another amendment on the House floor which failed (thanks to the fast action of Representative Farr) would have allowed any person to use a White Cane after the age of 70 years, with the same rights allowed the blind. Incidentally, we must watch out for this sort of attempted action throughout all of the States and see that the White Cane signifies that the person carrying it is legally blind. No person must be allowed to use a cane containing any white whatsoever, not even a single stripe, who is not legally blind.
The amended SB. 277 was passed by the House, and the Senate concurred with the House amendment and the White Cane Law was passed by both Houses.
The Governor vetoed Section 8 which required the annual proclamation and then signed the act within the legal signing period.
The White Cane Law as enacted by the 1969 State Legislature, combines into one law the former White Cane Law which was a part of the Motor Vehicle Law, and the former Guide Dog Law which was a part of the law against discrimination. It broadens and extends the provisions alike to the users of the White Cane and the Guide Dog. There still remains the misunderstanding of the unwritten Law of COMMON SENSE which is still in effect and applies to the pedestrian and the driver of a vehicle.
In signing the measure Governor Daniel J. Evans said: "This is a comprehensive act aimed at encouraging and enabling the blind, the visually handicapped and the otherwise physically disabled to participate fully in the social and economic life of the state and to engage in remunerative employment. I am fully supportive of the objectives of this legislation."
An Address by
Professor Jacobus tenBroek
President, National Federation of the Blind
[Delivered in 1955]
Nearly a century ago, in a case that has become a landmark, the chief justice of a New York Court wrote as follows:
The streets and sidewalks are for the benefit of all conditions of people, and all have the right, in using them, to assume that they are in good condition, and to regulate their conduct upon that assumption. A person may walk or drive in the darkness of the night, relying upon the belief that the corporation has performed its duty and that the street or the walk is in a safe condition. He walks by a faith justified by law, and if his faith is unfounded, and he suffers an injury, the party in fault must respond in damages. So, one whose sight is dimmed by age, or a near-sighted person whose range of vision was always imperfect, or one whose sight has been injured by disease, is each entitled to the same rights, and may act upon the same assumption. Each is, however, bound to know that prudence and care in turn are required of him, and that, if he fails in this respect, any injury he may suffer is without redress. The blind have means of protection and sources of knowledge of which all are not aware.
This resounding opinion is notable today for two oddly different reasons. On the one side it stands as a monumental expression of the modern view that the infirm and the disabled have a right, like any others, freely to travel the public streets and sidewalks. On the other side it is a rather startling revelation of that pervasive prejudice of earlier tunes that the sightless are different from others not just in degree but in kind—different even from those whose vision is "imperfect" or "injured". It must have been a comforting thought in those not-so-innocent days of charity—a thought not unlike that of the "nobility of poverty"—that the blind were gifted by a kindly Providence with wondrous powers which somehow magically balanced the ledger and made it unnecessary to be greatly concerned about their welfare.
But while this curious residue of unconscious prejudice blurs its message, the real significance of this judicial opinion lies in its straightforward rejection of an age-old discrimination against the visually handicapped. This was the assumption that the blind man's place is in the home or in the asylum, that he takes to the streets and public places at his own risk and peril, and that—in common legal parlance of the day before yesterday—he is automatically guilty of contributory negligence in any accident involving travel.
In effect, it was held by the courts that the blind were not only sightless but legally without legs to stand on. If they could not see, then they should not attempt to walk. In the eyes of the law, they were immobilized. Their right to be in public places, often conceded as a matter of doctrine, was stillborn.
That was not only the case a century ago; it was also very generally the case, despite the judicial opinion quoted above, as recently as a generation ago. It was exactly 30 years ago, in 1930, that the first legislative step was taken to free the blind from the rocking-chair in which the law still kept them shackled. For while the New York jurist of 1867 had granted the blind the right to walk abroad with the expectation that the streets and sidewalks would be kept in shape, nothing had been done since the advent of the automobile to enable the blind to leave those sidewalks and to cross those streets. It was expressly to provide a new right to be abroad in the new conditions of modern motorized traffic, that the white cane was inaugurated as a travel aid for the blind. This year we are celebrating, not only the 30th anniversary of that first step onto the highway, but the virtual completion of the campaign which it inaugurated. Today White Cane Laws are on the books of every state in the Union—and for the first time in modern history, everywhere in the land, the blind person truly "walks by a faith justified by law". The great and unique achievement of the White Cane Laws has been virtually to wipe out the automatic assumption of contributory negligence on the part of the blind pedestrian, and so to afford him a legal status in traffic, a protection not hitherto conferred.
The white cane is therefore a symbol of equality—and still more clearly a sign of mobility. Nothing characterizes our streamlined modern civilization so much as its atmosphere of rapid transit and jet propulsion. More than ever, in urbanized and automobilized America, the race is to the swift—until it almost seems that even the pursuit of happiness takes place on wheels. In the routines of daily living, as at a deeper social level, the keynote of our way of life is mobility: the capacity to get around, to move at a normal pace in step with the passing parade. In this race, until very recently, the blind were clearly lagging and falling ever farther behind. In terms of their physical mobility, as in the broader terms of economic and social mobility, this lag was long regarded as the permanent and inescapable handicap of blindness. But today the blind of America are catching up. Just as they are gaining social and economic mobility through the expansion of vocational horizons, so they are achieving a new freedom of physical mobility through the expansion of legal opportunities centering around the White Cane Laws.
For blind people everywhere, the white cane is not a badge of difference—but a token of their equality and integration. For those who know its history and associations, the white cane is also something more; it is the tangible expression not only of mobility, but of a movement. It is indeed peculiarly appropriate that the organized movement of the National Federation of the Blind should have as its hallmark this symbol of the white cane. Nor does this take away in any degree from the vital and continuing contributions to the White Cane Laws of the Lions clubs of America. The Lions have been, and are, staunch allies in the movement of the blind and companions on the march which began a generation ago. During the decade following the introduction of the white cane, statewide organizations of the blind began to emerge in numbers across the country, in the first wave of a movement which was climaxed by the founding of the National Federation in 1940. Through the adoption of the White Cane Laws, the blind have gained the legal right to travel, the right of physical mobility. And at the same time, through the organization of their own national and state associations, the blind have gained the social right of movement and the rights of a social movement.
This is a striking parallel, and an instructive one. For the right to move about independently within the states, which the White Cane Laws have steadily won for the blind in the courts, is intimately bound up with the right of free movement across state boundaries, which the organized blind are steadily achieving through the reduction or outright abolition of the residence requirements governing state programs of Aid to the Blind. In short, it is no empty phrase of rhetoric to say that the blind are "on the move". Thanks to the White Cane laws, they now move freely and confidently not just on the sidewalks but across the streets. Thanks to the legislative reforms instigated by the Federation, they are moving also more freely than ever from state to state, as need and opportunity dictate; they are moving upward, into new careers and callings; and they are moving forward, into the main channels and thoroughfares of community life. The blind of America walk by a faith ever more justified by law ....
I have said that the White Cane Laws enhance the freedom and confidence of the blind person by affording him a status of legal equality. But it is not, of course, the laws alone but the white cane itself which contributes to his confidence and self-sufficiency. This distinctive cane is several things at once: It is a tangible assist to the blind person in making his way; it is a visual signal to the sighted of the user's condition; and it is a symbol for all of a legal status and protection. Let us immediately concede, however, that the white cane is no magic wand or dowsing-rod, no substitute for sight and no guarantee of immunity against disaster. The cane cannot read signs or distinguish lights; it cannot traverse all areas immediately ahead and above, and even where it does it cannot make judgments for its user. In short, it is only a cane—not a brain. And finally it is, of course, not always and universally recognized by the sighted as the legal device of a blind person—although such recognition is already wide and rapidly increasing.
Despite all these necessary and obvious reservations, it is or should be indisputable that the white cane is an extremely effective aid to blind people in their daily movements. In fact, however, this conclusion is still disputed—and not by the sighted only but even by a few who are blind. No less a personage than General Melvin Maas, president of the Blinded Veterans Association and head of the National Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped, has now seen fit to speak out sweepingly against the white cane and all its works—including the White Cane Laws and the whole principle of White Cane Week. The white cane, says the general, is utterly valueless as a signaling device unless it is "elevated at least to the horizontal level," which "would present a real hazard to oncoming pedestrians." Apparently General Maas is suggesting that the blind person must point his cane horizontally ahead of him like a swordsman; what the laws provide, in terms of elevation, is rather that the cane be vertically raised and extended as far as arm's length. Again, according to the general, "the cane would need to be of such size and shape as to be readily discernible by drivers of vehicles " But this is surely no objection; obviously the cane ought to be as visible as possible consistent with its portability and convenience. General Maas indeed goes so far in his opposition as to argue that "many cane users do not now use white canes, but use collapsible metallic ones." What he does not say is that there is nothing about collapsible metal canes which prevents them from being colored white (like that which I am carrying today). Finally, the general "clinches" his case with the contention that "the volume and speed of traffic now makes dependence on the cane most hazardous." There is no doubt, certainly, that traffic hazards are greater today, for everyone, than ever before. But what is the inference? Should the blind then retreat once more to the rocking-chair and never venture forth? This is, to be sure, a viewpoint not yet dead among us; as witness the opinion of a Milwaukee district judge, just two years ago, that blind people should stay at home because they only endanger traffic by moving around by themselves. Would General Maas subscribe to that retrogressive doctrine? If, on the other hand; the blind are to be permitted to retain their hard-won right of independent travel, should they now be stripped of the paramount aid and legal protection they have gained?
There are two different questions to be settled here: one of fact and the other of right. The factual question is simply whether the white cane and White Cane Laws are, or are not, a genuine help to blind pedestrians and sighted motorists. On this score the evidence is clear and overwhelming. When, for example, the New York legislature was considering enactment of a state White Cane Law a few years ago, a questionnaire on the merits of the proposal was dispatched to several hundred chiefs of police, attorneys-general and safety officers in other states. A very high proportion took the trouble to answer, and the verdict was that White Cane Laws, when properly publicized and administered, are a definite and powerful help to blind and sighted alike. No one, of course, proposed them as a substitute for prudence and common sense on either side; but all agreed that in the presence of ordinary caution and in the service of judgment the white cane is unmistakably a good thing.
Some of the efforts to improve the usefulness and efficiency of the white cane, and to define its proper handling, are fascinating (if not always edifying) to recount.
A Milwaukee city attorney, for example, has proposed that all white canes should fly a flag in traffic—whether at full or half-mast is not revealed. A still more colorful suggestion has been made by a policeman who investigated the most recent traffic death involving a white cane. The carrier, he said, should be enabled upon entering traffic to press a button releasing a set of dangles, whose glitter would presumably attract the eye of the most inattentive motorist; when not in use, the dangles would politely recede into the shell of the cane. Still others have suggested that the white cane ought properly to be at least one and one-half inches thick to improve its visibility—a suggestion which will, no doubt, be happily received by all sightless weight-lifters.
Meanwhile legal minds have labored long and hard over the meaning of the term "raised or extended position" set forth as a requirement by the White Cane Laws of most states. Does "raised" mean, as one city attorney has proclaimed, "pointing upwards"? Does "extended" mean, as General Maas appears to suggest, pointing forward? And does the requirement involve both raising and extending the cane, simultaneously or alternately, in the manner of a drum-major? (If the cane in these circumstances also flies a flag and trails dangles, nearly all the elements of a one-man parade would appear to be present.)
There has been no less argument concerning the sanctions most profitably to be included in the White Cane Laws. Some states impose only civil sanctions, thus making it easier to secure the conviction of sighted offenders. Others make allowance for penal sanctions, including jail sentences; but this approach, while apparently more effective, automatically grants to defendants all the protections of criminal law, and by its very severity renders juries reluctant to bring in convictions against negligent drivers. Then, too, there is the question of the right-of-way to be accorded the blind user of a white cane. In at least one state his rights would appear to be virtually unlimited—even by such normal barriers as traffic signals. Illinois provides that "Any blind person who is carrying in a raised or extended position a cane or walking stick which is white in color or white tipped with red, or who is being guided by a dog, shall have the right of way in crossing any street or highway, whether or not traffic on such street or highway is controlled by traffic signals. The driver of every vehicle approaching the place where a blind person, so carrying such a cane or walking stick or being so guided, is crossing a street or highway shall bring his vehicle to a full stop and proceeding shall take such precautions as may be necessary to avoid injury to the blind person."
At least six other states impose the full-stop requirement universally insisting that non-blind pedestrians, as well as drivers, must heed the approach of a blind white caner and come to a stop when approaching or coming into contact with him. Such provisions as these would seem to make the blind pedestrian virtually all-conquering.
It should be clear that the legal symbol and physical helpmate of the white cane has not magically solved all the ambulatory problems of the blind. It cannot at a gesture convert a crazed motorist into a sane one; it cannot make the sea of traffic part at its command; above all, it cannot absolve the blind pedestrian from his civilized responsibility to move with prudence and ordinary caution: to speak politely, while carrying a big stick. Let us claim no more for the white cane and the White Cane Laws than is their due. The paramount right which they confer upon the blind pedestrian is not so much a right-of-way (for that is limited and contingent), nor even a guarantee of safe conduct, but simply a right of passage—the right to travel independently in public places, to move in the thick of things, with the confidence of legal status and the reasonable assurance of recognition. Before the era of the white cane, the blind man everywhere ventured forth at his peril and proceeded at his own risk; today "he walks by a faith justified by law."
Nearly a hundred years ago an American writer, Obadiah Milton Conover, composed a short poem which no blind person could then have read with conviction. This year, as we celebrate the anniversary of the white cane and the new-found independence which it signifies, each of us may affirm the poet's boast:
Alone I walk the peopled city,
Where each seems happy with his own;
O friends, I ask not for your pity—
I walk alone.
by Kenneth Jernigan
More and more of our local and state affiliates throughout the country are participating in exhibits at state fairs, county fairs, and similar events. This is a very effective way of getting our story across to the public. It is also a good way to stimulate interest among our own members. In this connection, I thought you might like to see the following correspondence. Paul Richardson is President of the Austin Chapter of our Texas affiliate and is one of our most energetic young leaders:
March 17, 1969
Mr. Kenneth Jernigan, President
National Federation of the Blind
524 Fourth Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
Dear Mr. Jernigan:
The Calvacade of Commerce has come and gone, and I believe our booth was relatively successful. We had a corner location and caught a good percentage of the crowd. IBM loaned us a Braille typewriter to demonstrate. We borrowed a paper cutter. We had Linda Allumbaugh's Perkins Brailler, and we had Wayland Houston's tape recorder and the oscilloscope which he built. The tape recorder was taken out of its case so people could see it and we had signs on both instruments as well as a television which he had repaired, indicating the work had been done by a blind man The people were impressed to see a totally blind woman cutting paper on a "dangerous" instrument, and the children were anxious to have me type their names on the Braille typewriter, which gave Wayland and me the opportunity to encourage their parents to take our local and national literature. We had a little of our literature left over, but so did the other exhibitors due to the foul weather. I hope to use the rest of it, however, in a candy sale.
Cordially,
Paul Richardson, President
Austin Association of the Blind
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March 31, 1969
Mr. Paul Richardson, President
Austin Association of the Blind
1318 B Newning
Austin, Texas 78704
Dear Paul:
I have your letter concerning the exhibit which your chapter put on at the Calvacade of Commerce, and it sounds as if you did a first-rate job. This is the sort of thing which changes the image of blindness, creates new opportunities for all of us, and stimulates the morale of the members. It is also the sort of thing that more of our chapters could and should do.
In almost every locality there is a county or state fair with booth space available. We can make available literature from the national office of the Federation, and this can be supplemented by whatever the local chapter has available or wishes to get mimeographed or printed. All of this leads to a demonstration of blind people in action.
I am sure that the public attitudes in your area have undergone changes as a result of this effort. Keep it up, and keep me informed of your progress.
Cordially,
Kenneth Jernigan, President
National Federation of the Blind
by John Sibley
[Editor's Note: Copyright 1968-1969 by the New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission.]
He is legally blind, but Anthony Cruz, a graduate student at New York University, insists that he is qualified to teach history in the city's public schools.
On Mr. Cruz's 35th birthday this week, a State Supreme Court justice demanded action by the Board of Education on his application for a license. The court gave the board 30 days to make a determination.
The board said it needed more time for study. Mr. Cruz's attorney, citing a 1967 state law, replied that a prospective teacher might not be denied a license "solely because of his or her blindness".
Although he is legally blind—his vision can be corrected only to 20/200—Mr. Cruz can read if he holds the printed page virtually against his nose.
The issue of a blind person's ability to teach reached the courts in 1964. After prolonged litigation, the Court of Appeals, the state's highest tribunal, ruled in favor of the Board of Education, which had refused to license a blind applicant. In 1967, the Legislature amended the Education Law to prevent school boards from refusing to license teachers because of blindness. That year, Mr. Cruz applied for a teaching license here.
He took a written examination November 20, 1967, an oral examination on January 20, 1968, and two physical examinations—on April 23 and June 10, 1968. Then, after waiting in vain for eight months, he sued the Board of Education for his teaching certificate. Lengthy correspondence with the board brought only assurances that it was trying to find appropriate positions for him and other similarly handicapped applicants.
Meantime, to make ends meet, Mr. Cruz is working as a runner for the Wall Street brokerage concern of Hertz, Warner & Co. He recently moved from the Greenpoint Young Men's Christian Association in Brooklyn to Judson Hall on New York University's Washington Square campus.
"I don't know where to go from here," he said yesterday. "Maybe what I'll have to do is drop graduate school and get a teaching job outside New York City."
Led by the National Federation of the Blind, the disadvantaged and the disabled of this nation won a smashing victory when, on April 21, 1969, the United States Supreme Court outlawed duration of residence requirements in welfare. It was the organized blind who first opposed these laws. It was the organized blind who sought and obtained their abolition in some blind programs, in rehabilitation programs, and others on the state and national levels. It has been the organized blind who have spearheaded the fight against responsibility of relatives, for exclusion of a portion of earned income from consideration as a resource in the aid grant, and for a presumed minimum grant. The list could be much longer, but these are the major areas of concern. And, as in today's decision, in these improvements in program, all the disadvantaged and disabled eventually share. For members of the National Federation of the Blind, it is indeed a day to remember. It is a day of satisfaction for those individuals who participate in the work of the organization at whatever level. And it is a day to be proud of our leaders who know that the National Federation of the Blind in working for the blind works as well for others in like circumstances.
Some organizations of the disabled, with the support of the organized blind, have been working in the past few years to reduce architectural barriers which keep their members from fully participating in the economic and social life of the community. The organized blind have been pursuing of late the passage of the model white cane law to extend their right to live in the world. But the greatest barrier to improvement of one's life has been the almost impenetrable wall built around the disadvantaged—whether just poor, or poor and disabled—of residence laws. These laws were designed to keep the poor in the place of their poverty—to protect the public purse, to provide a cheap and readily available labor force, and to provide a means of controlling these "vagabonds."
For many years the organized blind and their able leaders have been chipping away at this sturdy structure whose rough form was erected by the Statute of Labourers of 1349-51. However, it was in 1955 that the organized blind first cracked the polished face the passing centuries had added. In that year Professor tenBroek addressed the national convention of the Travelers Aid Society. The impact of this speech was tremendous. Entitled "The Constitution and the Right of Free Movement", it spelled out the history and restrictions of the then current laws. The Travelers Aid Society printed it. So did the National Federation of the Blind. Demand has continued to be heavy from teachers and students in political science, law, social welfare, civics, philosophy, sociology, and even by some engaged in public welfare.
As usual, however, the organized blind did not stop with oratory. Efforts on the state and national level continued the chipping process. Seven states—California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Mississippi, New York, and Rhode Island—over the years eliminated residence in some or all of their programs. The crack in the wall, steadily widened by the activities of the organized blind, became a breach to benefit all the poor when, on April 21, 1969, the United States Supreme Court declared residence laws a violation of the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the United States Constitution.
This occurrence is a strong answer to those critics who ask: "Why should the blind organize?", or "Why should the blind ask for policies and laws which apply only to them?" Those who work in the organization—local, state, national—know that the program activities designed seemingly only for the blind, in the end benefit all those similarly situated.
For those of you who have read the Braille Monitor regularly, and consequently know Dr. tenBroek's speeches and articles and the fine amicus curiae brief prepared by two blind attorneys, Bonifacio Yturbide, well known to California blind groups, and our own John Nagle, some of the Court's language may have a familiar ring.
In this case the Court finally put the invaluable constitutional right of free movement on the ground which should support it, namely, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It has used everything else in previous cases which touched on this subject, as it has in many civil rights areas, from the Comity to the Commerce clauses to trim, bind, or hedge this fundamental right of a free people. While the majority opinion is not strong on analysis or sources, it comes to the proper conclusions.
"[T]he Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment forbids Congress from denying public assistance to poor persons otherwise eligible solely on the ground that they have not been residents . . . . for one year at the time the application was filed." And in his concurring opinion Justice Stewart says: The law "so clearly impinges upon the constitutional right of interstate travel [it] must be shown to reflect a compelling governmental interest. This is necessarily true whether the impinging law be a classification statute to be tested against the Equal Protection Clause, or a state or federal regulatory law, to be tested against the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth or Fifth Amendment."
In his paper on "The Constitution and the Right of Free Movement", Professor tenBroek pointed out that "By universal practice, supported in many instances by judicial decisions, newcomers are denied for a time not only the rights which are deniable to non-resident citizens of other states but to the very rights which these latter may claim constitutionally. The new resident is subjected to length of residence requirements in almost every area in which his life touches matters of public interest or importance. He must wait for a period, sometimes a fairly long period, before he is eligible to vote or hold office; before he has the full use and protection of the courts; before he can enter and practice many of the professions and near professions; before he can sell insurance; and, above all, before he can secure public welfare aids and services including, of course, public assistance. On what basis can this discrimination between new residents and old residents be justified? Is the conception of a length of residence requirement as a prerequisite to essential rights and services merely a vestigial remainder of notions of locality and community dominant in an earlier period of history and geography?"
The majority of the Court agreed, at least as to residence that the discrimination could not be justified: "We do not doubt that the one-year waiting period device is well suited to discourage the influx of poor families in need of assistance. An indigent who desires to migrate, resettle, find a new job, start a new life will doubtless hesitate if he knows that he must risk making the move without the possibility of falling back on state welfare assistance during his first year of residence, when his need may be most acute .... Thus the purpose of deterring in-migration of indigents cannot serve as justification for the classification created by the one-year waiting period, since that purpose is constitutionally impermissible. If a law has 'no other purpose . . . than to chill the assertion of constitutional rights by penalizing those who choose to exercize them, then it [is] patently unconstitutional.' United States v. Jackson, 390 U. S. 570, 581 (1968)."
The three dissenters insist that the one year requirement is "insubstantial." Hunger, the need for a job, the desire to be independent are "insubstantial". The Chief Justice, writing for himself and Justice Black, dissents in a curious decision. While on the one hand insisting that Congress not only intended but has the right to impose residence restrictions so that the States would be encouraged, as he says, to provide new and enhanced welfare programs, he insists, on the other, that these residence restrictions should be imposed so "that the States would remain the basic administrative units of the welfare system and would be unable to shift the welfare burden to local governmental units with inadequate financial resources." The poor in those states now burdened with local control can only wish it were so. The effort to shift to the state administrative control can only be seen as an effort to relieve the property owner of his tax burden at the local level. If this could be done, we might be in line to put another chink in that wall that separates the poor from the rest of the community, for we do away in some small part with protecting those with property from the poor.
However, the Chief Justice's primary argument is that Congress, not the Court, has the power to impose or not to impose residence restrictions. Is this the same Justice who could not wait for the Congress to declare that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional in 1954? Where are the arguments now about the psychological impairment of deprivation caused by segregation? Residence laws certainly segregate the newcomer from the rest of the community in his constitutional rights, and, in the welfare the segregation has been at least one year in most cases. You will recall that in most programs it has been five of the last nine years. Justice Harlan, who also dissents, says that while he approves the doctrine of "compelling interest" which has been used by the Court in eradicating legal distinctions founded upon race, he does not approve of applying that doctrine to the restrictions of welfare residence rules. At least in this case, Justice Harlan believes that the black and the white are "equally" free to starve during the period of non-eligibility for relief.
Justice Harlan summarized many of the old, familiar arguments. The very fact that he does state them, is an indication that they have not yet given way. He contends: "Invalidation of welfare residence requirements might have the unfortunate consequence of discouraging the Federal and State Governments from establishing unusually generous welfare programs in particular areas on an experimental basis, because of fears that the program would cause an influx of persons seeking higher welfare payments .... To abolish residence requirements might well discourage highly worthwhile experimentation in the welfare field .... Residence requirements have advantages, such as administrative simplicity and relative certainty .... Nor do I believe that the period of residence required in these cases—one year—is so excessively long as to justify a finding of unconstitutionality on that score .... [I]t is evident that a primary concern . . . was to deny welfare benefits to persons who moved into the jurisdiction primarily in order to collect those benefits .... A second possible purpose of residence requirements is the prevention of fraud .... Third, the requirement of a fixed period of residence may help in predicting the budgetary amount which will be needed for public assistance in the future .... Fourth, the residence requirements conceivably may have been predicated upon a legislative desire to restrict welfare payments financed in part by state tax funds to persons who have recently made some contribution to the State's economy through having been employed, having paid taxes, or having spent money in the State."
So all the old and persistent ideas about protecting the wealthy against the poor are still with us. Under the leadership of the organized blind the wall has been breached—but it has not tumbled down. We must continue the chipping process. There are other areas of discrimination involved in residence laws which were not dealt with in this decision: the right to vote and hold office; to enter a practice or profession; to attend a school or college, among others. One of the most important questions for relief recipients and their families left unanswered, is what effect this decision will have on responsibility of relatives. Many state codes treat this subject differently for the poor than for the rest of the community.
Other groups are not well organized or do not have the expertise which the blind have developed since they began to fight for a better life for themselves and for more active participation in the mainstream of society. The leadership still rests with them. Fortunately, the National Federation of the Blind has entered upon a phase of growth and vigor which cannot help but benefit others.
Dear Mr. Editor:
It seems that Dade County, Florida is more progressive than New York City in respect to blind persons serving as jurors. One day, late last year I received a summons to appear for jury duty in the Criminal Court of Dade County for the week beginning December 16. An interested friend drove me to the courthouse on the appointed day, neither of us knowing what would be in store for me. To my surprise nothing was said by anyone from the bailiff right up to the judge, including the attorneys, about my blindness. The first day, Monday, I was not called to serve because there were enough panelists before me to fill the need. The rest of the panelists were asked to return on Wednesday, and so my friend and I drove again to the courthouse. In the afternoon my name was called and I was questioned by both the attorneys and seated. Since it was late in the afternoon the case was recessed to the following day, and my companion and I again returned, to the Justice Building. The jury was composed of four men and two women. My friend had to return home and I was left on my own. The other members of the jury took no special notice of my blindness, and assisted me only when necessary. My views and opinions were listened to and accepted in the same way as the other members. At the end of an hour's deliberation one member of the jury and I were able to swing to our side the four other members who held the opposing view at the beginning of the discussion.
After the trial was over, and while I was waiting for my friend to pick me up the defense attorney came over and spoke with me. During our conversation I asked him his opinion of blind jurors, mentioning the New York incident as a case in point. In his opinion blind persons would make better jurors in many instances than sighted persons, because they would not be swayed by appearance and could concentrate more on the actual evidence being presented.
This experience of mine carries the blind as a group another step forward in our never-ending battle against prejudice and misunderstanding, towards the goal of complete acceptance. You have my permission to publish all or part of this letter in the Monitor if you wish, and you may use my name if you so desire.
Fraternally yours,
Gertrude Sitt
[Editor's Note: Readers of the February, 1969 issue of the Monitor will recall an article entitled "Troubled Teacher in Alaska" which consisted of a letter from Mr. J. H. Trietsch of Anchorage, Alaska recounting his problems as a blind teacher with the school authorities. The following correspondence is pertinent to that matter.]
National Education Association
Northwest Regional Office
910 Fifth Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98104
March 14, 1969
Mr. Donald Capps, First Vice President
National Federation of the Blind
Dear Mr. Capps:
Recently a copy of the February issue of The Braille Monitor was forwarded to me, and the problems of J. H. Trietsch were brought to my attention.
May I assure you and the members of your organization, as well as the readers of the Monitor, that the United Profession is very much interested in the welfare of blind teachers, as they are in the welfare of all teachers. We have nearly one hundred blind teachers on the Pacific Coast and are quite proud of their fine teaching.
Please understand that we will do all that we possibly can for Mr. Trietsch.
Sincerely,
George S. Green
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March 24, 1969
Mr. George S. Green, Director
National Education Association
Northwest Regional Office
910 Fifth Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98104
Dear Mr. Green:
Thank you so much for your letter of March 14 concerning Mr. James Trietsch, 1408 10th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99501.
You cannot imagine how pleased we are that this case has gained your interest and support. I know that Mr. Trietsch will be grateful for your advice and assistance.
We extend to you on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind our sincere appreciation and assurance that it will be a pleasure to join hands with you in a common goal of assisting Mr. Trietsch.
Cordially,
Donald C. Capps, First Vice President
National Federation of the Blind
by Kenneth Jernigan
I have recently had an exchange of correspondence with one of our local affiliates. The subject matter and implications are such that I thought Monitor readers might Find it interesting. I have deleted all personal references, for what is important here is not who made the statements but the underlying attitudes and philosophy. Accordingly, the names of the officials of the local affiliate, as well as the name of the official of the American Council of the Blind, have been omitted.
March 14, 1969
Dear Mr. Jernigan:
The local chapter of the state affiliate is pleased to invite you to a luncheon-symposium which we are sponsoring in our city on May 17, 1969. The topic for discussion is: "The Socioeconomic Future of the Blind", and each panelist is asked to prepare a brief, concise report presenting the viewpoint of the organization and/or agency which he represents.
Following these presentations, there will be a brief session comprising questions and answers to and from the panelists.
Panelists included in the program are: Mr. Kenneth Jernigan, President of the National Federation of the Blind; Mr. Blank of the Bureau for the Blind and Visually Handicapped; Mr. Blank, President of the NFB state affiliate; Mr. Blank of the American Council of the Blind; and Mr. John Nagle, of the National Federation of the Blind.
We are anticipating statewide participation of our membership, and we are eagerly looking forward to your confirmation at your earliest convenience.
Details regarding time, place and other pertinent information will be issued upon notification of your attendance.
May we receive your prompt reply.
Very truly yours,
Chapter President
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April 1, 1969
Dear Blank:
I was pleased to have your letter but must confess that I found it rather surprising. The topic, "The Socioeconomic Future of the Blind", is a good one, but I fail to see what possible good could come of my appearing on a panel with a representative of the American Council of the Blind. In fact, I would hope that you would not consider inviting him at all. After all, you are a chapter of the state affiliate—therefore, of the National Federation of the Blind. Mr. Blank and the other members of the American Council of the Bhnd splintered away from our organization after very nearly bringing it to ruin. Under the circumstances a local chapter of the Federation could, it seems to me, be serving no good purpose by inviting Mr. Blank to speak to it. The decision, of course, is yours, not mine.
However, if Mr. Blank is to participate, then no representative from the national office of the Federation will be able to attend. I say this because I think nothing but controversy and problems would result. In any case I will not be able to come, but I have talked with John Nagle, and he could do so—provided, as I have indicated, that Mr. Blank is not on the panel.
I am sending a copy of this letter to Mr. Nagle, and he will be prepared to accept your invitation if you wish him to do so under the circumstances. You may communicate with him directly concerning the matter.
Thank you again for writing to me. I hope your luncheon and panel are a success.
Cordially,
Kenneth Jernigan, President
National Federation of the Blind
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April 23, 1969
Dear Mr. Jernigan:
As a member of blank chapter, of the state affiliate, I have been authorized by my local chapter to reply to your letter regarding the invitation we extended to the representatives of the NFB to our Seminar.
There are several points I would like to explain and clarify regarding the Seminar. First, there are remarks that should be made as to the Seminar itself. Our plans for the Seminar had their beginnings many months ago. It was and is our wish to have discussion between people of agencies and organizations for and of the blind. We desired, equally, a balanced and diversified panel to implement this discussion.
With that goal of a balanced and diversified exchange of ideas in mind, I will address myself to the issue of the invitations. We wanted originally the most prestigious people we could obtain from the public and private agencies to carry on a discussion with the representatives of the organizations of the blind. It is not our particular aim to have brother sit and agree with brother on all the issues. It is our aim to have discussion and debate between dynamic leaders of the blind in the field in order to achieve interest, enlightenment, information, and education to the audience participants. We wanted the participating gentlemen to address themselves to the topic at hand only. Any public remarks which would strongly deviate from the topic at hand would have been considered a discourtesy to the chapter. Conversely, I assure you, any desire to offend or embarrass anyone or any organization just does not exist. Most of our membership in the chapter was not even in the NFB at the time of the division between the Federation and what is now known as the Council. The dispute between the leadership of the above mentioned organizations is a matter we view with egregious indifference. In the light of the purity of our intention which we thought was obvious, we fail to appreciate the position regarding our Seminar taken by the leadership of the National Federation.
Because of a temporary breakdown in the internal communication between members of the chapter, an invitation to our seminar to Mr. Blank did not get issued. Had that invitation to Mr. Blank been issued, it would not have been withdrawn.
We regret that our activities were any cause for offence.
Sincerely,
Chapter President
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April 29, 1969
Dear Mr. Blank (Chapter President):
I have your letter concerning your seminar and must confess that I find its contents rather surprising. You seem to be taking the position that somebody or other (presumably the NFB President) was personally offended by your thought of inviting Mr, Blank to your meeting. You go on to tell me in rather sharp terms that if the invitation to him had been issued it would not have been withdrawn.
Let me present the situation to you as I see it. We are not dealing with personal but with organizational matters. You and your chapter are not impartial observers between the National Federation of the Blind and The American Council of the Blind. You are part of the National Federation of the Blind. Your actions cannot be taken in isolation but must be framed in the broader context of the total movement.
During the Second World War the United States was engaged in a conflict with Japan. If, during that conflict, a given American state government or city council had issued invitations with fine impartiality to the American President and the Japanese Emperor to come to a meeting to discuss affairs of the world, it is likely that one or the other would have declined the honor. Further, it might well be that the American President would have suggested some impropriety in the fact of the invitations at all.
But, you may say, the analogy is not altogether accurate since the NFB and the American Council are not actively in conflict. Let me suggest to you then, another analogy. In the mid-eighteen-hundreds the United States went through a bloody Civil War. If the South had made good its secession, it would have been desirable to establish peaceful coexistence to whatever extent possible, with the ultimate goal of true peace. Suppose, some seven or eight years after the conflict, the Mayor of your city had invited the United States Government to send a representative to discuss at a public meeting methods for improving citizenship in the nation. Further suppose that the Mayor had told the United States Government that it was proposed to invite representatives of the Confederacy to the same meeting to give balance to the panel. There might have been talk in Washington of some impropriety, not to say bad taste.
You and your members constitute a local chapter of the National Federation of the Blind—one, I might say, with a reputation for vitality and enthusiasm. Your chapter is respected and its views are respected. However, any local chapter (yours included) has obligations and responsibilities, as well as rights. As members of the NFB, you expect to receive the Braille Monitor and other publications of the Federation. You expect (and properly so) that you and your members will be assisted in time of trouble. You expect national officers and leaders, and officers and leaders from other states to provide consultation and help to you. You expect that an attack upon your chapter or discriminations against your members will be resisted, not merely by your own chapter but by all of us. In other words, you expect to be treated as part of the Federation family and to receive benefits accordingly.
This is proper, but it cuts both ways. The family has the right to expect that you will stand in solidarity with it—in bad times as well as good, in defeat as well as victory, in giving as well as taking. The family (or, called by another name, the Federation) has the right to expect that you will regard its enemies as your enemies, its friends as your friends; that you will be as considerate of the feelings, dignity, and integrity of the state and national leadership as of that of your own local chapter.
It makes no difference that you and your local members were not a part of the NFB ten years ago. This does not disassociate you from the past actions of the Federation—whether those actions were right or wrong, wise or foolish. In other words, the NFB must be your Federation, with all of the heritage which that implies, or it is meaningless.
Let me now return to the question of your seminar and invitations. As a chapter you are active and alive. This is good and as it should be. You decided to have a seminar and to invite a representative from the American Council of the Blind, the President of the National Federation of the Blind, and others. I believe you had not thought through all of the implications of that action. To say this is not to criticize you, for all of us have done (and doubtless will do again) things which we might not do on further reflection.
When I responded to your letter, I did not do so in anger or annoyance, but as a matter of Federation policy and of budgeting my time to get the maximum results from its use. If the President of the National Federation of the Blind had accepted such an invitation, it would have been impossible for him to have done so in his capacity as an individual member of the movement. The political and policy implications of such acceptance could have had considerable ramifications. Under the circumstances, your President (regardless of his personal feelings) would not have felt that he had the right to accept the invitation.
I repeat that I felt no annoyance at your original invitation and that I feel none now at your letter. I merely hope that when you examine my position and reflect upon the matter you will understand the reason for my actions and applaud their propriety.
Cordially,
Kenneth Jernigan, President
National Federation of the Blind
by Gwen Rittgers
California, Iowa and Kansas came to Missouri and participated in the convention of the Progressive Blind, April 11 through 13 at the Aladdin Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri found the sessions of the Progressive Blind convention entertaining, interesting and helpful. Manuel Urena and Perry Sundquist were representatives from the National Federation of the Blind. Manuel brought some of the students from the Iowa Commission with him and this always adds to the interest of the group. Friday evening was given over to the nominating committee meeting, and to the writing of resolutions. Manuel's help in the drafting of resolutions was requested and was gratefully appreciated. Manuel and Perry participated in the convention throughout, and it was always helpful participation. Also on Friday evening, numerous blind persons and their friends gathered in the hospitality room of the Progressive Blind. Saturday morning was given over to the business of the organization and the afternoon saw a fine panel of speakers. Again, the Progressive Blind donated a check for $25 as an affiliate gift to the national convention in Columbia; also donated fifty dollars each to the World Fund for the Blind, the International Federation of the Blind, and to the Dr. Jacobus tenBroek Memorial Fund. Perry Sundquist moderated a panel discussion on "Social Welfare and How it Affects the Blind". Dr. Gus Sally of Warsaw, and Mr. Joseph Hill, representatives from the Missouri State Assembly took part in this discussion. Miss Elva Hayes, director of the Kansas City Association for the Blind, spoke on new trends in work for the blind at the sheltered shop here; Larry Tittle, who had a corneal transplant told of how it is to see again; then V. S. Harshbarger, Chief of the Missouri State Bureau for the Blind spoke on sight conservation and training of the blind; Manuel Urena spoke of the youth movement in the NFB and talked on the Orientation in Iowa of blind persons; Mr. Harshbarger and Manuel discussed a comparison of programs for the blind in Missouri and Iowa.
At the banquet Saturday evening, there were 110 in attendance. Manuel Urena presented a special friendship award from the Progressive Blind to Gerry Clouse and her daughter, Sharron Duffy. This award was a specially designed pin with a charm of the mustard seed, cross, anchor and heart on each. The silver pin was presented to Gerry for her outstanding services to the blind, and a gold pin was given Sharron Duffy in appreciation for her efforts in the public appeals campaign of the Progressive Blind which raised enough money to purchase three IBM Braille typewriters for transcribers. Manuel Urena has an eloquence in presenting any kind of speech which is delightful for the ear to hear, and an enlightenment for the mind to grasp. Dr. Gus Sally was the master of ceremonies. He presented the Perrin D. McElroy Award to Gwen Rittgers, and he introduced the banquet speaker, our own Perry Sundquist. Perry's speech was based on the chronological existence of the National Federation, its aims, achievements and goals, and what Federationism truly means It was an outstanding speech from an outstanding speaker, and the Progressive Blind is grateful to him. Perry presented the Jacobus tenBroek Award to Carl Wyatt in recognition of his services to the blind.
Among the out-of-towners in the membership in attendance were six people from Joplin, and Vic and Xena Johnson of Gallatin. About twenty members of the Kansas Sunflower Federation were there, as well as several friends from both sides of the state line.
The following officers were elected: E. E. Busby, president; Tiny Beedle, vice president; Dr. Gerald Salter, treasurer; Polly Salters, recording Secretary; Gwen Rittgers, corresponding secretary; Carl Wyatt, finance chairman; George Rittgers, legislative chairman, and Kenneth Offut, member at large. E. E. Busby was elected as the delegate to the NFB convention in Columbia. Several other members of the Progressive Blind will travel to the NFB convention on the chartered bus of the Kansas Sunflower Federation.
by Howard A. Rusk, M. D.
[Editor's Note: Copright 1968-1969 by the New Yorks Times Company. Reprinted by permission.]
Almost daily for the next year Americans—through television and radio spots, newspaper and magazine ads and car cards—will be reminded that there are five million Americans with physical and mental handicaps who are in need of but not receiving rehabilitation services. This is a concerted, all-out campaign being conducted by the Advertising Council to make all Americans aware of the potentials of modern rehabilitation services for the physically and mentally handicapped.
The program is directed toward the handicapped themselves, with the theme "You Have Nothing to Lose but Your Disability". The project results from the findings of the National Citizens Advisory Committee on Vocational Rehabilitatiion, which found after a two-year study that public awareness of modern rehabilitation programs and their capacity to deal effectively with the problems of disability lags far behind technical advances in restoring disabled people to active lives.
The committee also commented that much the same could be said of the lack of awareness on the part of many professional groups and individuals, including physicians.
According to Miss Mary E. Switzer, Commissioner of the United States Social and Rehabilitation Service, there are 3.7 million to 5 million disabled men and women in the United States who could be rehabilitated into employment.
One thousand dollars of public funds invested in vocational rehabilitation increases by $35,000, the lifetime earnings of each person who is rehabilitated.
Unfortunately, the numbers of Americans who could profit by such services increase yearly. Last year, a new national high was set of 200,000 disabled persons rehabilitated into employment. At the same time, however, 300,000 others were newly disabled, thus adding to the backlog of persons not now being served. Much of the failure to reduce this backlog results from the fact that many disabled persons fail to understand they could be aided and do not know where to turn for help.
A 60-second "People in Windows" television film spot in the new campaign points out: "Pride, fear and confusion are stopping five million disabled people from getting the help they need. Some are living in the past. Others, disabled from birth, have no past. But most, with proper guidance and medical aid could learn to take care of themselves . . . and do a job that gives them the satisfaction, independence and dignity that each of us needs."
The television spot then appeals to disabled individuals or their friends to write to "HELP, Box 1200, Washington, D. C." When letters resulting from this and the other mass media reach Washington, they will be screened and referred to the appropriate state division of vocational rehabilitation office within the writer's geographical area.
A skilled rehabilitation counselor in that office will then get in touch with the disabled person to see what assistance might be given under the state-federal vocational rehabilitation program.
Developing the campaign, which millions of Americans will see within the next few months, is the New York advertising agency of Warwick & Legler, Inc. In devising the campaign, the agency had to arrive at a creative strategy in recognizing there are well over 100 kinds of physical and mental disabilities. They had to be sure that the disabled person seeing or hearing the message could not identify with any particular disability, since if he did the campaign would tend to focus on that particular disability to the exclusion of other kinds of disabilities.
The persons used in the television spots, display advertising and car cards are actual individuals with disabilities rather than actors. George C. Scott, the actor, is heard as the voice-over in the television and radio commercials.
Warwick & Legler has contributed all of its efforts in this campaign without cost to the Advertising Council, a private, nonprofit organization supported by business and advertising concerns. The communications media are being asked to contribute time and space to this voluntary rehabilitation campaign. The Advertising Council does not pay for this time or space nor the services of advertising agencies. Last year $352-million worth of space and time was contributed by America's mass media to all of the Advertising Council's various campaigns.
Public awareness of the potentials of rehabilitation in helping the disabled to help themselves have increased tremendously over the last few decades. Words like paraplegia, quadriplegia, multiple sclerosis and hemiplegia, which were unknown by the public two decades ago, are now generally understood by most people.
The objective of this campaign will be to make rehabilitation a meaningful term in the vocabulary of every American. This is essential if we are to reach our national goal of making rehabilitation services available to all of our disabled citizens.
[Editor's Note: In this month's installment of the series we take you to the Land Where the Tall Corn Grows.]
I was born in the small town of Nora Springs, Iowa, in 1929. My family later moved to Charles City where I attended the local high school and was graduated in 1946.
Ruby Okland became my wife in 1949. We have a son Michael, who is a senior this year at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines. Incidentally, we are especially proud of his athletic accomplishments in football; several colleges are interested in him for his "educated" toe. The Industrial Education Club at Iowa State University also presented him with the Outstanding Student Award in Iowa in the industrial arts field.
I worked as a laboratory technician and then as a statistician until 1960. (So far, this sounds like a typical life story.) Then, I became legally blind as the result of retinal hemorrhages. The sight in one eye had already been lost because of a retinal detachment earlier.
At this stage, my life took a considerable change—temporarily for the worse. Being forced to quit my job was a major problem. In August of 1960 I became the 18th student at the new Orientation Center for the Adult Blind of the Iowa Commission for the Blind—little did I anticipate what significance that would have upon my life.
It was while at the Center that I became involved in the organized blind movement. Along with learning the skills of Braille, independent cane travel, home economics and learning that a blind person can operate power machinery, I began to see the Vital importance of unified, concerted action on the part of blind persons for themselves. My first involvement was in the Des Moines Association of the Blind. In 1964, I became president of the Iowa Association of the Blind, and have been re-elected twice since.
Upon completion of the training at the Center, my training continued under the vending stand program of the Commission. This led to my becoming the first operator of the "Grill" in the Commission building. Undoubtedly many of you will remember what a modern food service operation is housed in the Commission Building. It was part of the convention tour this last summer. In 1965, a move was made to a larger cafeteria operation in the State Laboratory Building. Then, in late 1965, I took over the largest food service operation in the state—the State Office Building Cafeteria!
It was certainly some experience to go from three employees in a small operation to a medium-sized cafeteria with seven workers to twenty-two employees in a place serving 2,000 customers a day. My progress and increased income came about so dramatically because the Commission and the IAB together persuaded the state to allow blind persons to operate most of the food service facilities in state buildings. Of course, other operators followed me as I moved from one place to another.
At the 1967 NFB convention in Los Angeles, my fellow blind businessmen and women elected me secretary of the Blind Merchants Association of the NFB.
Over the years since leaving the Center, I have remained closely involved in its activities and those of the Commission. Each summer has found me working at the Commission's display at the Iowa State Fair. Attendance at countless dinners, exhibits, tours, and various activities has been a point of great importance for me, including active participation in the Orientation Alunni Association, which is an affiliate of the IAB and where I served as its first president for three consecutive two-year terms. Just the other evening, several other IAB members and I spent several hours in the Des Moines office of Mr. Neal Smith, our Congressman, discussing the NFB's Disability Insurance Bill (H R. 3782).
The IAB, which dates back to the early 1900's, was one of the first state affiliates to join the NFB The purpose, of course, is the same as the national organization with much emphasis put on promoting legislation affecting the blind. Again, Iowa was one of the first states to adopt the NFB Model White Cane Law. This year we are concentrating on a "little Randolph-Sheppard act", welfare legislation and supporting the askings of the Commission and the school for the blind. The major part of our fundraising is done through the sale of White Cane candy. The six affiliates and the individual members have done a tremendous job of selling this year with an anticipated profit of over $4,000.00—an increase of about $1400.00 over that of last year Our continuing policy is to send 50 percent of the profit to the NFB.
My experience as a blind Iowan, I think, serves as an example of what can and should be for all blind persons. The Orientation Center and the organized blind taught me the most important thing in this respect: "The average blind person, with training and opportunity, can do the average job in the average place of business".
Let us all continue to work earnestly and in whatever capacity toward the NFB goals of "Security-Equality-Opportunity".
by Earl Marchand
[Editor's Note: The following is reprinted from the Boston (Massachusetts) Herald Traveler.]
Oslo, Norway—For New Englanders who would like to take up skiing this year but feel they don't have the "stuff to learn how, here's a message of courage from a land where almost everybody skis.
"The impossible just takes a little more time," notes forty-four year old Erling Stordahl, a man who has been skiing for about twenty years. Stordahl is nationally admired in Norway for his skiing. Not because he is especially good at it—but because he is blind.
With Stordahl, a happy man, it has been not only a case of the blind leading the blind. This he has done over the years by encouraging blind persons from Norway, the United States and other countries to take up skiing and other activities that used to be the private domain of the sighted.
But Stordahl has also been leading the sighted to the achievement of a fuller life through his lecture-teachings both at home and abroad. "The blind can help the sighted to see in so many ways," contends Stordahl. "I try to break down the isolation of the handicapped and the handicap of the isolated." He explained that the sighted can become isolated from nature itself by not feeling life fully in the mad charge through life.
Stordahl became blind some thirty-two years ago at age twelve. For a boy who lived in the beautiful surroundings of Norway's mountainous Valdres district, this was a penetrating personal tragedy. "But I could still feel the sun and the wind on my forehead, hear the song of the forest, inhale the sharp smell of pine needles and sense the open space of a plateau, the nearness of a mountainside," said Stordahl, who is a poet and a musician, as well as a sportsman and businessman.
As the boy grew up, he ventured in darkness into the mountains near his home to experience life as best he could—and he found he could still live life fully.
Then in his twenties, with the help of a companion, he took up skiing and blazed trails now opened to blind people everywhere. Skiing for the blind is not the whirlwind dash down dangerous slopes, of course, but an invigorating cross-country trip over a specially-depressed course to keep the skiers on the trail. Each blind skier has a sighted companion to enjoy the adventure.
Next April 21, all Norway will view a national event—the Race of the Knights. Along a ten mile stretch across a rolling plateau, scores of skiers will make their run. Half of the skiers will be blind. National dignitaries from the king on down will view the contest. And there will be no losers. Win, place and show has no meaning here. "In the Race of the Knights," Stordahl explains, "everybody is a winner."
Not only does Stordahl serve his country and the world by the example he sets, but by his enterprises. He currently is building a unique health and sports center for the handicapped near his native Beitostolen. He already has some blind people there, teaching them skiing, horseback riding, soccer, etc. "The center is for building the body and learning to see with thought," Stordahl explains.
A panel on "Employment Opportunities for the Blind", was the outstanding feature of the 11th Annual Convention of the Virginia Federation of the Blind, held this year, April 25-27, at the George Mason Hotel, Alexandria, Virginia, with 111 enthusiastic participants.
Long years ago in Virginia convention planning, the Old Dominion State blind leaders felt there was a need to actually demonstrate that blind people in Virginia and environs were employed and operating successfully in the competative sighted world. The best way to show this, it was decided, was to include already-working blind men and women in the convention program, and to have them briefly talk about themselves—to tell how much sight they have, at what age they lost their sight, their education, special preparation for their jobs, how they got their jobs and how they do their jobs. And so the "Employment" panel has become an annual event in Virginia conventions and each year, all present agree that it is the convention high-point—and this was particularly true this year.
This year's "Employment" panel was moderated by John Nagle, the Federation's Washington Office Chief, and had as panelists: Chester Avery, Educational Specialist, Program Planning and Evaluation, Office of Education, HEW; John T. McCraw, Senior Recreation Leader, Handicapped Division, City of Baltimore Bureau of Recreation; Wesley Williams, dictaphone-typist, Children's Hospital, Washington, D. C.; William Reckert, Steno-mask stenographer, Department of Justice; and Gerard Arsenault, Rehabilitation Teacher, Virginia Commission for the Visually Handicapped.
Other program features were: A Federal legislative report by John Nagle; "What's on Your Mind?", with James Nelson and Don Capps answering questions about everything and anything about blindness and of concern and interest to blind people; "How the School Is Preparing Me for Life", a prize winning essay, was read by the author, Richard Barry, Senior High School student at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind, Staunton, Virginia: "The Blind in Korean Society", was discussed by James C. Hostetler, Director of Operations for Data Processing for the Christian Children's Fund, Inc. and former Director of CCF work in Korea; "Social Security Disability Benefits" was presented by Stanley B. Earl, District Manager of the Alexandria, Virginia Social Security Office.
More than one hundred Federationists and their families and friends were convention banquet attendants and listened to Don Capps, NFB First Vice President, giving the evening's address, and enjoyed entertainment provided by blind musicians.
Much organizational business was transacted at the Virginia 11th Annual Convention. Only one resolution, but an important one, was considered and adopted; reports on organized blind matters were read, talked about and approved; James Nelson was named Virginia State Legislative Chairman, Lydia Stupples was elected Corresponding Secretary to fill a vacancy, Rufus Benton was elected as a two year Board member, and Richmond was chosen as the site for the 1970 VFB Convention.
Dorothea Foulkrod and Robert McDonald, VFB President and First Vice President, will represent the organized blind of Virginia at the NFB Convention in Columbia, South Carolina later this year.
[Editor's Note: The following item is reprinted from the Pike County News, Pikeville, Kentucky.]
A verdict recently handed down by the Kentucky State Superintendent of Public Instruction ruled in favor of two blind teachers who were supported in their efforts to gain employment by the National Education Association's DuShane Fund for Teacher Rights.
The blind teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Persinger of Hellier, Kentucky, both certified to teach in the state, had not received employment in the Pike County schools in spite of the fact that they met all the legal requirements for service as teachers. Meanwhile, the county had employed teachers on an emergency basis, a measure which is to be used only when it is impossible to secure qualified teachers, according to Kentucky law.
Pike County Superintendent, C. H. Farley, in a written response to the Persingers' complaint last fall, claimed that the blind teachers were unable to carry on the normal duties of classroom teaching and that the school district could not use them as teachers. However, State Superintendent Wendell P. Butler ruled that "once a person is certified for a specific teaching position, it must be presumed that he is qualified until such time as it may be established that the teacher is unable to carry on the duties of the position or until such time as he shows cause for dismissal or certificate revocation."
The Persingers completed the prescribed curriculum for secondary school teachers at Georgetown College, which is approved by the Kentucky State Board of Education, and were certified in accordance with the Kentucky statutes and the regulations of the State Board of Education.
Both were certified for teaching an economics-sociology combination or biology in grades 9-12, and their certificates were also valid for teaching at seventh and eighth grade level. Both had previous teaching experience in another district. Mrs. Persinger had taught one year and Mr. Persinger for more than two years.
The State Superintendent ruled that the State Department of Education will not issue any emergency certificates which might be requested by the Pike County schools for positions covered by the certificates held by the Persingers so long as they have applied for these positions and remain unemployed.
Although he noted that information presented in the case was of "insufficient substance" to warrant the employment of emergency teaching personnel in preference to the Persingers, the State Superintendent, at the same time, credited the Pike County superintendent in acting in "accordance with his responsibilities as a school administrator as he understood those responsibilities" because many of the important questions in this case had not before been clearly answered or interpreted by previous court decisions.
The State Superintendent, in his decision, claimed that in the Persingers' case, "the question of the physical handicap of total blindness seems to be the single most important factor. But," he said, "the prevailing view in Kentucky is that in the teacher preparation process each person should be judged on his own merits rather than establishing any blanket rules which would exclude any class of handicapped persons."
Cecil J. Hannan, associate executive secretary for the 1.1 million-member NEA, pointed to a recent Los Angeles Times news service story about an outstanding blind teacher in La Puente, California, and declared that "teachers with handicaps must be given the same opportunity to prove themselves as any other certified teacher."
The DuShane Fund was established by NEA to ensure the fair and equitable treatment of all educators and to protect their professional, civil, and human rights. Assistance from the fund is granted to educators whose cases involve a serious violation of teacher rights, establish legal precedent affecting other members of the education profession, or concern the welfare of teachers.
(Editor's Note: Since the decision was returned, the couple referred to, Mr. and Mrs. Persinger, have been employed in the Kindergarten program at Lookout School.)
by Jim Nyman
[Editor's Note: The following article is reprinted from The Congressional Record, Organ of the Illinois Congress of the Blind.]
In October of 1968, Stephen Benson, board member of the Illinois Congress of the Blind, applied for and received permission to write a civil service examination for Case Worker Grade I in Cook County with the Department of Public Aid. A year earlier he had not even been allowed to write such an examination. Naturally, he passed; and on November 16, a Saturday, he went down and picked up his certificate as Case Worker Grade I. On Monday, he presented his certificate to the Department of Public Aid personnel officer and was told that the department could not accept it. Reason, as you might have suspected, is that Steve is blind. Steve wrote to the Civil Service Commission for Cook County asking for a review of his case and received a letter which was not an answer one way or the other but was interesting as a statement of policy. After stating that the Commission had received his request for a review, the letter went on: "Please be advised that it is our understanding that the Department of Public Aid has only two possible assignments for blind case workers and that these are filled at the present time. The Commission and the Department of Public Aid have agreed that you may be certified to one of these assignments as soon as a vacancy occurs in one of them." The two positions are filled by members of the Illinois Congress of the Blind; and the Commission and the Department of Public Aid have established and accepted a quota of blind employees. What is not clear is the basis on which they have established this quota. Is it possible that the department is organized in such a way that, out of the thousands of positions they have, only two are capable of being filled by blind people? On the basis of their extensive research into the nature of blindness, have they concluded that blindness will not permit a person to do the work involved in case work?
One of the officials who was too busy to see Steve when he presented his certificate was later contacted by NBC television news and stated that the work was too dangerous for blind people because of the areas where they would have to travel and also that the job involved a great deal of paper work. (The man interviewed on NBC television news was Mr. David Daniels who since that time has been appointed Director of the Cook County Department of Public Aid.) Since it is a known fact, beyond dispute and agreed to by all normally intelligent and reasonable people, that blind people do not have intelligence to overcome the problem of paper work, what else could the department do but to reach this quota? And besides, we're all aware that those who receive social welfare in Cook County are lying in wait to assault the first blind case worker who comes along.
After Steve had digested all this helpful information from the Civil Service Commission and the Public Aid people, he wrote once more for a review of his case. Two months later he still has heard nothing. Meanwhile, an official of the American Public Workers Association had already arranged a conference of Cook County, State of Illinois, and Federal personnel people to discuss ways of making public employment more open for disadvantaged groups. He agreed to present Steve's case to them for their consideration and possible action. As a result, efforts are at present under way to explore questions related to the employment of blind persons in public aid without discrimination.
Hopefully, in the very near future, a meeting can be arranged with representatives from the Illinois Congress of the Blind, Cook County, State and Federal personnel officials, and the American Public Workers Association. Tom Joe, who is chief consultant to the Office of Research of the California Assembly and a consultant to public welfare agencies throughout the United States, has agreed to participate in such a meeting. Tom is blind and has done much to facilitate employment in the public service in California for blind persons. Mr. Bert Michels from the Department of Health Education and Welfare has become interested in the question and is making efforts to gather relevant information with which to persuade the officials of Cook County that there really are more than two possible assignments for blind case workers in Cook County; and hopefully, this revelation will spread beyond this department to other Cook County agencies. There are blind case workers in places like Oakland, San Francisco and San Diego in California; and if the blind in Illinois can't handle the work, either we are a lot dumber or Illinois (particularly Cook County) is beyond redemption! Steve has a B.A. degree from De Paul University and has taught for two years in Gordon Technical High School and, like so many blind people who are well qualified to perform many jobs, he has been arbitrarily ,denied work because some official has stereotyped him into that corner marked "blind: so sorry but our quota is filled right now!"
Oh, incidentally, since we got the matter raised, Steve has been contacted by two agencies. The Division for Vocational Rehabilitation suggests that he go back to college and get a Master's degree. The apparent reasoning behind this suggestion is that it is more dignified to be unemployed with a Master's degree. The Illinois State Employment Service informed him that they believed there was an opening for a home teacher. We hope to report further on the Benson case in subsequent issues and at our general meetings. Hopefully, our next report will be more positive. It is to prevent this kind of arbitrary action that we need a Model White Cane Law, and we trust that the Illinois Congress of the Blind members will back our efforts in getting it through.
by Dr. Isabelle L. D. Grant
(Editor's Note: Last year Dr. Grant traveled extensively in the continent of Africa, promoting the cause of the organized blind movement and furthering the education of blind children. From time to time The Monitor will print these letters. The series begins with Mediterranean Africa.]
Casa Blanca is thrilling. The streets are noisy with every kind of conveyance, trains to boot, right into the city. It stretches along the coast line—a stretch of sandy beach, topped by lovely villas, skirted by the bluest of blue seas, according to a description which is on everyone's lips—"The sea is so blue!" The four-dollar-a-night second class hotel is nice—for its personnel is nice, courteous, understanding, and human. They take you for what you are, a lady with a white cane traveling alone, and they ask no questions—just treat you as they treat any other traveler. They don't ask if you want to know where the bed and the dressing table are in your room. They leave you to find that out, crediting you with that much intelligence anyway. Casa Blanca is the Santa Barbara of the Moroccan Coast, but it falls quite a little bit short of the dignity of the Spanish hacienda and the stability of the magnificent rocky California shoreline.
So, I preferred Rabat—Rabat, the old Moorish capital, Moorish, Moslem, medieval, compactly arranged on its many hilly slopes, with sidewalks difficult to gauge, for they were asymmetrical, steep, and winding. The fresh breezes from the Mediterranean kept Casa Blanca and Rabat cool, balmy and invigorating. The fruit stand down the street from the old-time Presidente Hotel, once first-rate, even with its tiny lift and its toilet 'way down the hall—seven doors down—around the corner'.
Everybody spoke French. No English! But strange as it seems, you just speak French too. It comes naturally, that is to say, if you just go on talking, answering, for the gist of the answer, of the necessary vocabulary is already in the question posed. You just fall into speaking French, for everyone talks to you, friendly, kindly, warmly—and you just answer back. Then you too ask questions, and that's conversation with Moroccans, and it happens on the street, in the market, at church, in the offices, even in the airport. One airport assistant was clocking off for the day. Would I accompany her in her car to the city? "Yes." She knew a nice, moderately priced hotel for two or three weeks. She would come to see me. She would call me up. But I had work to do so our friendship was limited to short telephone messages.
But what does this letter say about Morocco?
Writing letters in strange quarters is a chore; finding paper, envelopes, and then worst of all, a post office. An aerogram may be available or not. My typewriter usually finds a resting place on the dressing table with drawers blocking my knees, or on a knee-high coffee table, under which I have to fold my legs before proceeding to write. But that's all in the game.
Y.W.C.A.'s are not set up for Californians who like to turn on or turn off the heat. I recall London, where the radiator was high up on the ceiling, and no matter how many shillings I put in the slot there was no heat, for the hot air stayed near the upper reaches of the high ceiling, and I froze below on the floor. But Morocco was different and Y.W.C.A.'s did not need to be heated—but I shall have more to say about "Y's" later on.
Morocco had until recently over eighty groups of blind persons. Each group was out for itself, even undercutting its fellow blind group. This I liked. This was competition of the right sort, even in the sale of their brooms, brushes, mops and rugs. The social situation, I thought needed improvement, for blind persons were the second class citizens of the kingdom. They have no voting rights, they may not hold any position in the government, because of their blindness and not because of lack of ability. They may not travel alone on trains. I went alone anyway.
But amid the seeming dark outlook, I came across a group of young, forward-looking, blind men when I visited the Institut Mohammad Ali V. pour la Protection des Aveugles in Rabat. I also met with the Princess, sister-in-law of the king, who, following the medieval tradition of "Royal Patronage" of the blind headed up the association for the welfare of the blind under her protection. Charming, intelligent, capable, she did a noteworthy job of bringing the problem to the light of day, and was instrumental in founding an organization aiming at the acceptance of blind persons in society, as well as informing society of the potential of blind people. This is the stage at which work for the blind in Morocco finds itself at the moment. I took it as such, knowing that in time, development along much healthier lines was possible. The king has also given his royal sanction to this new group. Their first step was to approach the United Nations asking assistance in the form of a program such as was set up in Tunis. The representatives from the U, N. compiled a study of the Moroccan situation and submitted it to the U. N. Thus far this report is the property of the U. N. and I have been unable to secure a copy.
Laws for the welfare of the blind are non-existent, by and large. People did not seem to know what I wanted when I asked for laws pertaining to the welfare of blind persons. If indeed, there were any, they would naturally be a la francaise, of long standing, out-moded, and reminiscent of the days of French rule.
The director of the Institut is himself blind, well educated, a sociology major, with experience in Europe, in France in particular. There are about six blind lawyers in the country, I found, but these are really not lawyers but blind people who have only "studied" law, but not practiced it.
The vast majority of blind folks here, and I met with many of them, are basket makers and broom makers in sheltered workshops.
I felt that these wonderful blind people are far behind in their thinking from the "independence" of which I was talking, far behind my conviction that blind people must speak for themselves, out in open society. Two young blind men however, one preparing for English teaching, and the other for law seemed to grasp the fact that the blind needed to have a voice more than they had. It was exciting for me to hear Syed say that he knew that blind students should be learning English, for Morocco had to take its part in the economic world of today, if it was to survive. He thought there was no objection to Moroccans being tri-lingual, with their French, Arabic, and then English. Their geographical position called for this.
I urged too that every blind person should learn to typewrite in order to communicate with the sighted world around. But what about typewriters? I could, in my capacity as a visitor, go only as far as making recommendations to the local Peace Corps to come in with a few typewriters for the school. I liked this school, its pupils, their outlook, their individuality, and their ambition.
It was in Tunisia that I saw the delightfully attractive young blind bride, a telephonist in the Bureau of Mines, doing a splendid job of controlling her switchboard, typing up messages for her clients upstairs, brailling her personal notes, and looking forward to her wedding day in the course of the next few weeks.
Morocco is working on this development too. Talking books are being considered, and though the blind do not yet have the machines, that is just a matter of time.
Tunis is the capital of Tunisia, French of course. How it rained there; so hard that the traffic was held up, and the car could not pull in anywhere near the driveway. We walked, waded, and slid, but we arrived. It was worth it. One hundred and fifty blind men and women working on the Centre Agricole at Artisan, a United Nations project that set blind people up as farmers, trained them and sent them back to the villages to carry on their farming, or poultry raising. The fifteen Holland cows at the Centre intrigued me. I wonder if they realized that the folks milking them, cleaning out their byres, selling their milk were all blind! Are there cows that are blind, too? I do not know. Anyway these were happy bossies, for they gave delicious milk. The vegetable gardens produced in abundance and the blind folks were proud of their produce. They had even set up five centers throughout the city and surrounding area as co-ops for the sale of their products, and were these centers busy! "Cooperatives" they call them and the blind people were self-employed, enterprising, businesslike salesmen with a drive! The telephone in one of the offices of the cooperatives never stopped during the two hours I was there talking and drinking coffee. Their insatiable thirst for knowledge about the blind in America kept me busy too, for I was one against many, parrying the questions and answers.
Then there was the Alphabetization, which delighted me. Illiterates from the hinterland were learning to read and write, read pamphlets on agriculture, and write for more. Then there was the school for the little blind fry! How they recited their history to the visitor, whose French was a bit Scottish in accent, but they liked it, for there was no end to the questions—about America, of course.
And all of this Ber Cassa project is the work of one man, a sighted man, who sees that it is time to get away from our eighteenth century attitudes with regard to blind persons, and use their combined force in the promotion of humanity in general. The United Nations and the government of Tunisia stood behind him. This is the Tunisian Way.
In both Tunisia and Morocco, I strongly felt that the time was ripe for a National Federation of the Blind themselves. Blind people gave me the mandate. They have asked for copies of our constitution, and they wanted to know about the possibilities of the International Federation of the Blind. Granted that these ideas are still new to them, they have taken root and they will sprout. Cela va sans dire!
by Peter J. Salmon, L.L.D.
[Editor's Note: Dr. Salmon is Administrative Vice-President of the Industrial Home for the Blind, Brooklyn, New York and has given the Monitor permission to print his position paper.]
Two divergent service stands have been apparent in rehabilitation service to the disabled during the past decade: (1) the development and strengthening of specialized agencies serving one specific disability area, and (2) the establishment of programs serving several different disability groups under the same roof. Advocates of each of the two approaches offer compelling arguments to support their positions. Recently, however, the proponents of the multi-disability approach have held the center of the stage and have been more visible at conferences and in the literature. As a consequence, the single disability approach has not been presented as widely as the contending position. In effect, it has not received "equal time". Since conclusive evidence supporting either stand is not yet available, it is timely to restate the single disability viewpoint so that it may have an equal position in the market place of rehabilitation ideas. In view of the fact that the author and his staff are concerned primarily with blindness, the arguments presented in tins paper relate to programs for the blind. However, consultation with representatives of agencies serving the mentally retarded, the cerebral palsied, and other disability groups, revealed that many of the points made in this article apply equally well to disabilities other than blindness.
The field of service to blind persons has had the benefit of a tradition growing out of more than a century of experience with specialized agencies and services and a definition of blindness which is firmly imbedded in law, public understanding, and common acceptance. This differentiation from other disabilities by reason of history, practice, and definition has enabled the field of service to blind individuals to compare the values and limitations of both specialized and general agencies in serving blind persons. In this experience, it has been observed that the blind person tends to get lost in the "cracks'" when offered service by agencies carrying a general caseload. Almost invariably, he is assigned a relatively low priority in general agencies owing to the extensive time, skills, and costs needed to rehabilitate him. As in other disability situations, the severely limited blind person (the most typical type encountered in rehabilitation) usually is readied only after less complex rehabilitation problems are solved. On the other hand, the severely limited blind person is the main focus and central concern of the specialized agency. No one takes precedence over him and no effort is spared to help him improve his functioning ability. In conjunction with this focus, a clear definition of the disability of blindness aids this process through identifying clearly and objectively those individuals who qualify for the specialized agency program, avoiding, on the one hand, undue prolonged assessments and discussions prior to establishing eligibility for service, and, on other hand, the diverting of service to individuals with relatively marginal need for specialized help. Currently, consideration is being given to modification in the well-established definition of blindness which has served our field so well for many years, but, even here, the outlook is that a well-structured concept of blindness will emerge which will further delineate the sphere of interest of the specialized agency for the blind, setting it apart from other service institutions.
Rehabilitation workers serving blind persons must possess a body of knowledge so unique that it is not found elsewhere in the rehabilitation field, including:
1. The implications for rehabilitation of medical information concerning vision
2. The meaning of blindness to the individual
3. The psychosocial implications of blindness
4. The effect of blindness on the use of other senses and the techniques of developing and using the residual sensorium
5. The potential values and limitations of various types of residual vision
6. Problems of mobility, self-care, and communication generated by the blindness experience, and the means of overcoming them
7. Special legislation and rehabilitation resources designed to minimize the handicap of blindness
8. The social aspects of blindness, including its effect on interpersonal relations and group interaction in the family, the community, and informal relations
9. Special vocational barriers and opportunities for the blind
10. The potentialities of low vision rehabilitation services for blind persons with residual vision and hearing services for blind persons with problems in this area, especially in sound interpretation and localization
11. The use of new electronic aids and devices to reduce the handicap of blindness
12. Special placement problems concerned with blindness
The acquisition of this information must be deliberately pursued for the following reasons:
1. Without it, the professional worker is ill-equipped to provide optimum service to blind rehabilitation clients.
2. It is rarely possessed by workers in general rehabilitation agencies, as these workers have no compelling reason to acquire it.
3. It cannot be learned spontaneously. Generally, it is mastered either through special educational preparation for rehabilitation services in a specialized agency for the blind or a long apprenticeship in such an agency.
4. This vast body of knowledge constitutes a rehabilitation specialty in its own right. Support for this view is given by the current practice of designating a few counselor-training programs as specialized resources for the preparation of counselors for the blind. In recognition of the special character of the field and the special knowledge needed to function in it, most states in the Union have given the responsibility for the rehabilitation of blind clients to differentiated agencies for the blind. This recognition is also reflected in the fact that numerous private local agencies have been created in all parts of the United States to satisfy the special rehabilitation needs of blind persons.
In its work with individuals who are totally blind or nearly so, the specialized agency engages in a complex medical, audiological, psychophysical, educational, and vocational process to maximize the use of hearing and touch in everyday situations. The techniques for accomplishing this, developed only after many years of experimentation, research and experience, require extensive training. Learning to use touch and hearing as substitutes for sight in social situations, mobility, communication with others, and orientation to the environment is difficult and requires the use of specialized rehabilitation techniques and personnel. As a rule, general workers are not informed about these matters.
No amount of rehabilitation training fully compensates an individual for the loss of vision. Consequently, blind persons must be instructed in the most effective means of developing techniques that will reduce the degree of disadvantage that they suffer in social and vocational situations. In the first place, specific assistance must be given to compensate, insofar as possible, for the losses suffered by developing residual capacities. After that, the blind person must be helped to develop coping mechanisms specific to the blindness experience. Workers in general agencies, unfamiliar with these facets of the rehabilitation of the blind, tend to maintain unreal expectations of the blind client—which sometimes are too high and, at other times, too low. When this occurs, the blind person is not free to develop his potentialities and opportunities to the fullest. To achieve the most favorable rehabilitation results, the professional worker must have an intimate knowledge of specialized community resources, legislation, tools, techniques, and approaches. Generally, these are less well-known to general rehabilitation workers than to specialists in the field of work for the blind.
Attitude research suggests that many general rehabilitation workers maintain unfavorable attitudes toward blind persons that are frequently found among individuals who have had only limited exposure to blindness. The specialized agency worker is carefully screened, helped to evaluate his attitudes and to modify them, if necessary, and, as a last resort, to leave the specialized area if his attitudes constitute impermeable barriers to his effective work with blind clients. This does not occur in the general agency where the worker may react negatively to the blind component in his caseload without it being recognized, and, consequently, without his being helped to deal with his feelings. When negative attitudes toward blindness prevail in the general rehabilitation agency, they constitute a major deterrent to the rehabilitation of the blind. This is less likely to happen in the specialized agency, since both the agency and the worker are cognizant of a full-time commitment to the special group and maintain a special continuing concern in regard to the attitude factor.
As a group, general rehabilitation workers are unfamiliar with the special problems of energy utilization among the blind The degree of relaxation found in other clients is apt to be greatei than that found among the blind, since the latter must attend closely to the non-vital aspects of the environment most of the time for the sake of safety and to sustain their rclatedness to the world around them. Shut off from the vast amount of information provided by sight, they keep in touch with the world through constantly tuning in with the other senses. This process tends to result in tensions and social problems which often require special counseling approaches and treatment modalities. General rehabilitation workers have little occasion to learn about the impact of this situation upon personality development and organization, and they are unaware of the processes through which many of the responses of blind persons can be made automatic so as to provide release from the tyranny of unmitigated attention and strain.
Increasingly, the rehabilitation caseload in agencies for the blind is becoming predominantly multi-handicapped. Common rehabilitation complications include: mental retardation, emotional disturbance, hearing losses, orthopedic problems, neurological impairment, and cultural disadvantage. In serving this group, agencies for the blind are becoming even more appreciative of the values of specialized services. Unable to provide all the assistance needed by individuals with complicating disabilities, agencies for the blind are turning increasingly to specialized agencies in other disability areas—e.g., mental retardation—which have the specialized knowledge and methods required to rehabilitate individuals with these other problems. These experiences are confirming the belief that general rehabilitation services function best on behalf of clients with moderate or mild disabilities.
In instances of blindness with severe multiple disabilities, joint programs have to be established by agencies for the blind with cooperating agencies specializing in other disability areas. In some instances, these other agencies will take over almost complete responsibility for the blind client's rehabilitation since the blindness is subsidiary to the other disabilities as a barrier to the achievement of rehabilitation goals.
Although agencies for the blind lean heavily on the medical profession for the establishment of safe limits of physical functioning in many cases and for the supervision of certain medically-related activities, the rehabilitation of the blind is essentially a non-medical field. Throughout rehabilitation, since acute eye conditions usually are not the dominant element in the rehabilitation problem, the physician functions in relation to blindness as a co-equal with the behavioral science members of the rehabilitation team in a community-based program. Under these conditions the stress is upon a climate of health rather than illness and upon potentials for psychosocial functioning rather than upon overriding medical considerations. Consequently, agencies for the blind invariably follow a community-based model. In most cases, general agencies that use a medical model—e.g. rehabilitation centers affiliated with medical programs—tend to beless productive of satisfactory rehabilitation results with blind clients.
The specialized agency for the blind works with comparatively small groups of clients, not infrequently on a one-to-one basis. On the other hand, many general agencies deal with larger client groups using a staff-to-client ratio far in excess of two or three to one commonly found in specialized agencies for the blind. Under such conditions, general agencies are likely to be deficient not only in staff expertise in services for the blind but in the staff-to-client ratio as well.
1. Insofar as possible, the rehabilitation of blind persons should be entrusted to specialized agencies for the reasons noted above.
2. In areas which can support a specialized agency but which do not have one as yet, rehabilitation planning should lay the groundwork for such an agency.
3. In areas which cannot support a specialized agency, some of the values of a specialized agency should be obtained through residence programs at existing specialized agencies and/or through consultative and itinerant services flowing out of such agencies.
4. Specialized agencies should be given both financial and psychological incentives to work with groups of blind persons that currently are being neglected, including the deaf-blind, the aging blind, and the multi-handicapped blind.
5. Broad programs need to be established through which the lay and professional community are informed about the needs and potentialities of the disadvantaged blind groups. For example, in a current IHB project, supported by the Administration on Aging, it was found that most nursing homes and homes for the aging are unaware of the fact that a substantial proportion of their residents have serious vision problems.
6. Where blind persons are served by general agencies with the assistance of consultative or itinerant services, provisions should be made for environmental adjustments to facilitate daily living for the blind client. In accordance with the concept of the elimination of architectural barriers, the environments occupied by blind persons—residence, places of employment, recreation centers in general service agencies—should be analyzed for possible dangers and inconveniences. In turn, these sources of problems should be eliminated as early as feasible so that daily living can be as safe and convenient as possible for the individual blind person.
7. The integration of the blind person into the community is a goal, not a means. Thus, the best means to achieve integration is not necessarily immediate integration. As in most other disability areas, temporary segregation is often required to achieve initial adjustment and reorganization to be followed later on by gradual re-entry into the larger community. This process is not unique to blindness since it is practiced with the emotionally disabled, the mentally retarded, the deaf, and other groups. In these instances, as in the case of blindness, the specialized agency generally has a key role to play even after integration has occurred.
8. Specialized regional rehabilitation centers for blind persons should be established throughout the United States based upon population distribution. Since the proportion of blind persons is only approximately 2 in 1,000, the catchment area used with the blind should be larger than that used in other disabilities (usually about 200,000 persons). The area ultimately chosen should be large enough to justify the number and types of staff and the variety of facilities needed for a well-rounded program. In addition, however, almost every community of any size should have an effective information and referral service.
According to statistics recently released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, it costs $5,915 for a family of four to maintain a low standard of living; $9,076 to maintain a modest but adequate standard; and $13,050 to maintain a relatively high standard of living. These figures were for 1967. Since then inflation has increased the figures by about seven percent, with costs for the low-budget family rising most sharply. This means that to maintain even a low standard of living, each member of a family must have at least $1,479 in annual income. Yet at present, some 81,100 recipients of Aid to the Blind have an average annual income of only $1,095. This in turn means that needy blind persons are receiving $384 less than the minimum amount required to maintain even a low standard of living.
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At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Associated Blind of Massachusetts held in Worcester, Charles W. Little submitted his resignation as State Legislative Chairman, after many long years of effective service in this and other capacities. Charlie has just passed his eightieth birthday. It was voted to make him a lifetime honorary member of the Executive Committee. Thanks, Charlie, on behalf of all of us for a job exceedingly well done in behalf of the blind movement in Massachusetts and the nation.
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Two bills of interest have been introduced in the 91st Congress. H.R. 424, introduced by Rep. Wilbur D. Mills (Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee) would allow a disabled individual to deduct up to $600 for the actual cost of transportation to and from work. The bill defines a disabled individual as one who is within the legal definition of blindness or who is disabled by the loss of the use of one or more extremities rendering him unable to use ordinary public transportation. This bill also authorizes an additional $600 exemption for a taxpayer who is disabled and for a disabled spouse. H.R. 983, introduced by Rep. Hale Boggs, would authorize an additional exemption of $600 for a taxpayer supporting a blind dependent. At present the additional exemption for blindness is limited to the taxpayer himself and a dependent blind spouse.
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Dr. W. Laurens Walker, Superintendent of the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind, will retire June 30. Dr Walker is the grandson of the School's founder and the fourth generation to serve as Superintendent. He succeeded his father in 1931.
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Senator Lewis F. Sherman of Berkeley (California) has reintroduced a bill in the California Legislature proposing the formation of a State Commission for the Blind. "Even those persons who have had little contact with them," declared Senator Sherman, "can readily appreciate that the blind have very special problems, different from those with any other disability." The proposed seven-member commission would include three blind members who have been active in organizations for the blind The measure is being strongly supported by the California Council of the Blind.
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Blind singer-guitartist Jose Feliciano hosted a prime-time hour "The Feelings of Feliciano" on NFB on April 27. The famous soul singer recently garnered four nominations for the Grammy Awards, presented each year for the best recorded music.
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An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association describes a new operation for cataracts. In the usual removal of a cataract, the surgeon makes a big cut in the upper half of the cornea, a cut large enough so that the lens can be pulled out through it. In the new operation the surgeon pushes a tiny, hollow needle into the lens and then sends in vibrations with a high-frequency movement. This rapidly liquifies the lens, and the resultant fluid is then sucked out of the eye. The patient can be up and out of bed a few hours after the operation and with no restriction on his activities after the first post-operative day.
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The National Blind Golf Tournament will be held in Chattanooga, Tennessee this summer. It will be one of the biggest ever held. It is hoped to secure national television coverage, and to bring in nationally known entertainment personalities.
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Dr. Isabelle Grant was recently honored by the Glendale-Burbank Chapter of the California Council of the Blind "in recognition of meritorious service to the blind of California and the world in general in the field of education and teaching opportunities for the blind." Congratulations, Isabelle.
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A new electronic device that enables blind students to "speed hear" educational materials has been perfected by engineers at Bell Telephone Laboratories. The harmonic compressor permits the recording of a human voice at twice its normal speed. In the past, playing records at "double speed" produced nothing but high-pitched babble. Now, however, a person can hear and understand a 60-minute speech in 30 minutes—without any kind of distortion. The special device has been presented to the American Foundation for the Blind for use in its tape and disc programs.
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The Atomic Energy Commission, in cooperation with the American Printing House for the Blind, is publishing in Braille fifty booklets which provide knowledge about some phase of the science of atomic energy.
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The National Urban League recently urged President Nixon to abolish the present welfare system and replace it with a program guaranteeing a minimum income for all Americans. The League's specific plan, to be submitted later to the President, would be similar to a negative income tax previously urged by various governmental and business committees. Estimates are that a workable minimum income program would cost the Federal Government about $30 billion a year as compared with the present welfare cost to federal, state, and local governments of $5.5 billion.
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A Des Moines (Iowa) man who admitted robbing a blind man of $18 was sentenced to five years in the state penitentiary. The blind man was being guided by the robber from a bank back to the Iowa Commission for the Blind when he was knocked down and his wallet stolen.
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Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York has recently advocated drastic cuts in welfare funds in his state. He plans to tighten welfare requirements, reduce the state's share of home relief, further reduce the special grant system by which welfare recipients can apply for extra aid, and require newcomers to prove that they did not immigrate to New York solely for welfare. The Governor's proposals stem from severe fiscal problems of the state but his plans have drawn the wrath of New York City officials and leaders of welfare recipient groups.
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A bill to bring Indiana under the federal Medicaid program was passed by the Indiana House of Representatives and sent to the State Senate. It would provide a bare minimum Medicaid program to meet the federal requirements and avoid loss of $8 million a year in federal funds. The main effect of the measure to sorre 72,000 persons in Indiana now on welfare rolls would be to give them a free choice of doctors, dentists, hospitals or nursing homes. Benefits would be given only to those persons now covered by the state's existing welfare programs and would not cover the so-called "medically needy".
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A new regulation issued by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and published in the Federal Register requires states to make legal services available to a welfare applicant or recipient who desires such services in a fair hearing, and to continue the payment of assistance pending the outcome. The welfare agency will not be required to pay for these legal services if they are otherwise adequately available without cost. When a fair hearing is requested by the recipient because of termination or reduction of assistance, the welfare agency must continue assistance during the period of appeal.
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A new electric Braille range is being put out by the Admiral Corporation. It makes cooking easier and safer for the visually handicapped with the Braille control panel. The Braille range retails at the same price as the equivalent standard model.
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A bill introduced in the North Dakota Senate would double the amount that counties contribute to the cost of welfare. Some senators complained that the fifty-three counties in the state are not paying any attention to rising welfare costs because they don't contribute much to the program, even though it is at the county level where welfare cases are added to the rolls. In the last biennium, counties paid about 6.6 percent of the total welfare costs and this would be doubled under the proposed legislation.
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Two blind women are serving as technical advisors on a movie being filmed about eight blind persons who are the only survivors of a plane crash in a wilderness area. The title of the movie is "Against Heaven's Hand".
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Franklin Travel, Inc., 344 Suburban Station Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 has announced its "Holiday in Europe Tour 1969" for the blind. The tour leaves Philadelphia on August 11th and ends September 1st. Visits will be made to London, Zurich, Lucerne, Rome, Sorrento, and Paris. The total cost of the tour is $999. Any interested persons should contact Franklin Travel, Inc. directly, prior to July 10th.
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Recently several Federal agencies sponsored a one-day conference in Washington concerned with employment of the blind. The meeting discussed and explained employment opportunities available to qualified and efficient blind persons. A number of blind Federal employees related their work experiences. The conference included panel discussions by several Federal officials who work in the area of helping the handicapped. Government agencies who sponsored the conference included the Library of Congress, the Internal Revenue Service, the Veteran's Administration, the U.S. Civil Service Commission, and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
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The Staten Island (New York) Blind Society points out that the canteen at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital on Staten Island has served as a training and employment opportunity for the blind over the past twenty-eight years. Recently the hospital administration has decided to substitute vending machines in place of the snack bar in the canteen. The Blind Society is convinced that this will curtail the employment of blind persons at this location. The canteen was originally set up for the patients at the hospital, not for the personnel employed there. It has thus served not only as a source of gainful employment for the blind but has given inspiration to the merchant seamen and Coast Guardsmen who see other handicapped persons rehabilitated. Many blind persons have been able to obtain and manage stands of their own after the training they received at Public Health Hospital. It is felt that a change to vending machines would jeopardize the security of those blind persons presently employed at the canteen.
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There she goes again with her travels—Dorothea Foulkrod, President of the Virginia Federation of the Blind. In February she attended the Potomac Federation in Alexandria. Early in March she and her husband took off in a blinding snow storm for the Hampton Road affiliate in Hampton. Later in the month she visited the Tidewater affiliate in Portsmouth and was busy laying the groundwork for the establishment of a new affiliate in the Mathews-Glouster area. Keep up the good work for Federationism, Dorothea!
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[The following is reprinted from the San Pablo (California) News.] Recently, Pacific Telephone inaugurated a program to alleviate the tedious counting method of dialing used by the blind. Coordinated by Mrs Dorothy Blanchard, service advisor, the Customer Instruction group in the East Bay is teaching the sightless a touch system dialing technique which enables them to dial a telephone as fast as a sighted person. Although only one hand is used, touch dialing is similar to the touch system of typing. First, finding the finger stop, four fingers are placed in the dial openings, number 1 through 4 (little finger on the 1). The 5 is dialed by dropping the index finger down one opening. To dial through 0, the fingers are dropped to the bottom half of the dial. Again, finding the finger stop, fingers are placed in the 7 through openings. The index finger is moved up one opening to dial 6. When actually dialing, of course, all fingers are removed except the digit being dialed, allowing the dial to return freely.
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Helen Rumpel, an award winning Santa Fe artist, became sensitive to the desire of blind viewers to enjoy a painting first hand. Mrs. Rumpel's five year old son attends Los Ninos Kindergarten which Pauline Gomez, a long time Federationist, owns and operates. On Valentine's Day, she presented the class with a painting that both Pauline and her class can enjoy. A Dream Castle, abstract in nature, was produced from yarn, fabric and paper. She then painted it and refinished it with acrylic plastic. Pauline's Fingers were able to identify the castle structure and its towers.
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In an interview by Allan Cole for the Santa Monica (California) Evening Outlook, recently blinded Max Moore reports that "One of the things that bugged me was the time it took to record notes for study. I went to all of the local firms that manufacture tape recording devices to see if they had a simple way of operating their instruments." Nobody did. "I figured out the remote control thing," he said. "And took the idea to the companies. They said: 'That's a nice idea, but ....'" He then designed it himself, and not being able to find anyone to market it went about the business of establishing a firm that would. "That's when BEMCO was born." Moore got his friends together—mostly teachers and school administrators—and formed a corporation. Within weeks the firm had $50,000 sold in stock .... He has enough orders to keep the firm busy for months once the machinery is in place and the company opens officially for business.
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Clotic Ursuery of Orangevale, California is a blind electronics repairman at McClellan Air Force Base. He was recently selected as civilian of the month over more than 20,000 workers at the base. He won the Sustained Superior Performance Award for the speed and quality of his work in repairing such items as the complicated ultra-high frequency transmitter T-217 with which a person can select any one of 1,740 radio frequencies. [From a story by John Berthelsen in the Sacramento (California) Bee.]
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Neal Pratt staff writer for the Longview (Washington) Daily News reports that "Three out of the four practicing piano tuner-technicians in the Longview-Kelso area come from a small nonprofit institution there called the 'Piano Hospital and Training Center, Inc.' In fact, forty-nine cities in the continental United States and Hawaii and the city of Vancouver, B. C. have benefited directly from the 'Hospital's' piano service training for visually handicapped men."
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Courtland D. Perry 2d, a Maine assistant attorney general was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court last week. The occurence would have passed unnoticed were it not for the fact that in addition to his sponsor Perry was accompanied to the ceremony by his guide dog. Court officials said it was the first time in their memory a dog was permitted to enter the august courtroom of the nation's highest tribunal. [From the Boston (Massachusetts) Morning Globe]
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Charles Brooks is a blind Negro law student who hitch hikes to class at UCLA Law School which he attends on a scholarship from the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater. He lives in an apartment with another student—white—and likes to cook. His main side-line is electronic equipment in which he has invested more than $1500. He works on record changers, turntables, sterio component parts, and the like, for regular customers to help pay expenses. [From the L.A. (California) Herald-Examiner]
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AP reports from Dallas, Texas that blind Mike Underbill is a newsboy with a routine not unlike that of several hundred other newcarriers. Each afternoon he waits on a street corner for the sound of a Dallas Times Herald paper truck. When the newspaper bundles thud on the sidewalk, he goes to work inserting and rolling. Then he hefts the heavy sack over his shoulders and sets out on his route. With a cane and a photographic memory, he works his way through a three-unit apartment complex, depositing papers before the doors of 73 subscribers. Mike, 12, lost his sight two years ago. J. R. Dogget, city circulation manager for the Times Herald says: "Apartment complexes are the most difficult areas of all to serve. People are always moving in and out—and the doors are so close that a neighbor is always picking up the wrong paper .... During the time Mike has been making his rounds, the newspaper has received only two complaints about missing papers This is far below the usual number."