Retraction Requested
Retraction Requested
by Barbara Pierce
We recently received a request to retract
a statement made in the November, 1997, issue of the Braille Monitor. If we
become aware that an error has been made, we are, of course, eager to correct
it as soon as possible. If, on the other hand, we believe that our information
is accurate, we are equally emphatic in our refusal to retract. In any case,
the lead story in the November issue was a report on Tom and Mary Ann Sember's
Of Mr. Magoo, Disney and the NFB
Marc Maurer
Of Mr. Magoo, Disney,
and
the National Federation of the Blind
by Marc Maurer
At the 1997 convention of the National
Federation of the Blind, a resolution was adopted which demanded that The Walt
Disney Company refrain from producing a live-action film featuring the character
Mr. Magoo. Mr. Magoo is a bumbling, stumbling, idiotic character who makes
supposedly humorous mistakes because of his inability to see. As soon as he
Watch For Details
Watch for Details
From the Editor: Last December a
federal court jury handed down a decision that included what may well have
been one of the largest monetary penalties in history in a case in which no
personal injury was at issue. The suit was brought by Independent Living Aids
(ILA) against Maxi-Aids, two vendors in the blindness field. Preparing a report
on this important verdict will be a massive undertaking—the transcript
The Impact of Braille Reading Skills
Ruby Ryles
The Impact of Braille
Reading Skills on Employment,
Income, Education, and Reading Habits
by Ruby Ryles Ph.D.
From the Editor: As a society we
have become increasingly alarmed in recent years about the growing illiteracy
rate among our children and young adults. This increase is occurring, of course,
at the very time in our nation's economic life when the need for true literacy
One Family's Fight for an Appropriate Education
PHOTO/CAPTION: Cody Greiser
One Family's Fight for
an Appropriate Education
by Jim Marks
From the Editor: The following article
first appeared in the Spring/Summer, 1997, issue of the Observer, the publication
of the Montana affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind. Jim Marks
is a member of the organization's Board of Directors. Cody Greiser is a bright,
Changing Perceptions About Blindness
Changing Perceptions About
Blindness by the Hundreds
by E. Randy Cox
From the Editor: Randy Cox is an
active Federationist who lives in Utah. He is sighted, but he holds strong
and healthy views about blindness and blind people. This is what he says:
My first contact with a blind person
came when I was in high school. My father was assigned by our local church
to check routinely on a member of our congregation who was in his seventies
Challenging the Biblical Stereotypes of the Blind
Elizabeth Browne
Challenging Biblical Stereotypes
of the Blind
by Elizabeth J. Browne
From the Editor: Dr. Elizabeth Browne
is an active member of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and
a frequent contributor to these pages. As a professor of theology she recently
wrote a book that grapples with the Biblical portrayal of blindness. This is
what she says about the project:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our
My Undiscovered Future
My Undiscovered Future
by Kevin D. Ledford
From the Editor: Before the state
rehabilitation agency serving the blind of Missouri decided it would no longer
send Missouri residents to the Colorado Center for the Blind for rehabilitation
training in the skills of blindness, Kevin Ledford requested to be sent to
Denver for job and skills training. (See the July, 1997, issue of the Braille
Monitor.) By his own account he had been completely unsuccessful in keeping
Letter to Missouri's Governor
Kevan Worley
Letter to Missouri's Governor
by Kevan C. Worley
From the Editor: The preceding article
was an effective personal description of what the Colorado Center for the Blind
did to rescue one Missouri citizen from a life of disappointment and failure.
One might have thought that any state agency serving blind people or, in fact,
any state official would have been pleased to know that such an option was
Despite Blindness, Couple Sees Joy in Life
Despite Blindness, Couple
Sees Joys of Life
by Darci Smith
From the Editor: The following story
first appeared in the October 17, 1997, issue of The Michigan Catholic. For
those inclined to believe that only in recent years have blind people taken
their place in the communities as fully contributing citizens, this is a salutary
reminder that in every generation some blind people have managed to make a
considerable contribution. Here is the story: