                       THE BRAILLE MONITOR
                            May, 1993



                    Kenneth Jernigan, Editor
                Barbara Pierce, Associate Editor


     Published in inkprint, Braille, on talking-book disc, 
                        and cassette by 


              THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND 
                     MARC MAURER, PRESIDENT 
 


                         National Office
                       1800 Johnson Street
                   Baltimore, Maryland 21230 

                             * * * *



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       articles for the Monitor, and letters to the Editor
             should be sent to the National Office. 

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made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: 
 

                National Federation of the Blind
                       1800 Johnson Street
                   Baltimore, Maryland 21230 

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THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION
SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND--IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR THEMSELVES


ISSN 0006-8829THE BRAILLE MONITOR
A PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

                            CONTENTS

                                                        MAY, 1993

TOURS IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
by Norma Crosby

NAC'S DECLINE CONTINUES: AN UPDATE

VICTORY FOR THE BLIND OF SOUTH CAROLINA
by Donald C. Capps

THE 1993 WASHINGTON SEMINAR: HARD WORK AND HIGH OPPORTUNITY

ENLIGHTENING THE SIGHTED
by Rebecca R. Long

THE KEY TO SUCCESS
by Joanne Wilson

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF READERS
by Peggy Pinder

THE RICHNESS OF LIFE: LIVING WITH A BLIND DIABETIC
by Marlene Curran

BRAILLE WORLDWIDE
by Fredric K. Schroeder

TECHNOLOGY AND THE REHABILITATION SYSTEM FOR THE BLIND: A
CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE
by Curtis Chong

BUILDING BRAILLE READING SPEED: SOME HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS
by Jerry Whittle

REFLECTIONS ON REHABILITATION
by Ramona Walhof

NEWSPAPER FOR THE DEAF-BLIND

BRAILLE RESEARCH CENTER OPENS AT APH
by Paula Penrod

SCENT OF A WOMAN
a Review by Ronald B. Meyer

RECIPES

MONITOR MINIATURES


     Copyright National Federation of the Blind, Inc., 1993[LEAD PHOTOS/CAPTION: In less than two months members of the National
Federation of the Blind will gather at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Hotel on
the grounds of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. As those who
attended the 1990 convention know, there is nothing in the world like Texas
warmth and hospitality. There is also great beauty in the Lone Star State.
Pictured above are the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, which provide great
loveliness to the city. Another beautiful spot is the Will Rogers Memorial
(below), which commemorates the famous and beloved cowboy philosopher. These
are only two of the many sights awaiting you in Texas this summer. If you
haven't made your reservation, do it today.]

                   TOURS IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
                         by Norma Crosby

     There isn't much time left until convention. If you haven't
already made your reservations, you had better turn to and get it
done. The telephone number for the Hyatt Regency Hotel at the
Dallas-Fort Worth Airport is (214) 453-1234, and the address is
Hyatt Regency DFW, Post Office Box 619014, International Parkway,
Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, Texas 75261. Consult the March issue
of the Braille Monitor for further details about room rates and
hotel amenities.
     Now it's time to make plans for the tours you'll want to
take during your free time in Texas. You can't leave these
decisions until you get to Dallas; there's a mid-June cut-off for
making tour reservations. So read this article and make your
plans. The Texans are waiting. Glenn Crosby, President of the NFB
of Texas, and his wife Norma have put together quite a list of
activities. Here's what Norma has to say about them: 

     The 1993 convention of the National Federation of the Blind
will, without a doubt, be the best ever. We've been making plans
for months, and I think we have pulled together a group of tours
and other hospitality that will make all who attend glad they
did.
     For starters we are planning a night of Texas fiddle music
on Saturday, July 3. This event will take place at the Hyatt
Regency. You will be able to get additional information about
this show when you arrive at the convention. But the fiddlers we
have chosen are champions, and they will show you a good time.
You will be able to dance or just hoot and holler. Then, for
those who crave pizza, conversation, and good loud music, we are
planning the pizza party to end all pizza parties. This grand
soiree will also take place on Saturday, July 3, at the Hyatt
Regency. Both these activities are calculated to get you on your
feet and moving, and they are just a warmup for all that will
follow.
     On Tuesday, July 6, we are taking you all to Bear Creek for
a Texas-style barbecue. Bear Creek is an excellent outdoor
facility, and we are planning to provide all the free beer you
can drink, along with lots of good Texas music and dancing. No
suits are allowed at this event. It is strictly casual, and jeans
are preferred attire. Tickets for the barbecue dinner will be
available at the convention. But remember that the music and the
beer will be provided compliments of the NFB of Texas. So come
and have a good time. Transportation from the hotel will be free,
and we want to see you there.
     Tour day comes along on Wednesday, July 7, and we have
planned a number of outstanding opportunities for you to get out
and see a little bit of Texas. Here is a short description of
each tour and information about pricing. However, I want to take
this time to ask that you purchase your tour package(s) in
advance. Only a limited number of tour tickets will be available
once we arrive at the convention. If you don't take the
opportunity to purchase your tickets in advance, you may not be
able to take the tour(s) you are counting on. The deadline for
the purchase of advance tickets is June 11. No request for
tickets should be postmarked after that date.

                      TOUR #1 - Las Calinas

     You'll find a tree-lined cobbled walkway reminiscent of
those in European villages. One level below the street the
walkway takes you along the Mandalay Canal, where you can enjoy
waterfront dining and a variety of unique shops and boutiques. If
you want to take a tour of the Mandalay Canal, you can jump
aboard a Venetian water taxi--cost, $1 round trip. You can also
visit the Mustangs of Las Calinas, the world's largest equestrian
sculpture. Located in Williams Square, this sculpture is composed
of nine larger-than-life mustangs galloping through a stream of
granite. If you want to know more about the sculpture, there is a
film in the west tower of Williams Square, depicting its seven-
year creation. Admission is free.
     So you can eat and shop until you drop, and while you're in
Las Calinas, ride the Area Personal Transit. This computer-
operated aerial vehicle carries more than forty passengers
throughout the Mandalay Canal and Las Calinas Urban Center.
Price: $10.

           TOUR #2 - National Museum of Communications
                 and Studios at Las Calinas Tour

     A tour of the National Museum of Communications traces the
history of modern communications through memorabilia, hands-on
exhibits, and thousands of vintage recordings and broadcasts.
This tour also includes a visit to the Studios at Las Calinas,
location for the filming of such hit movies as "Robo Cop,"
"Silkwood," "JFK," and "A Trip to Bountiful." Price: $20.

                 TOUR #3 - Six Flags Over Texas

     Terrific family rides! Sensational thrill rides! There's
something for every fun-seeker at Six Flags. The enormous Texas
Giant Roller Coaster has been rated #1 in the world by an Inside
Track reader poll. The roller coaster is in its fourth season at
Six Flags, and it's bigger, smoother, and faster than ever. The
whole family will enjoy the water rides such as Roaring Rapids,
and the list of rides goes on and on. But there's much, much more
to a day at Six Flags. 
     Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Foghorn Leghorn, and
other cartoon characters greet park visitors and pose for
snapshots. Exciting shows abound, including a new Batman Stunt
Show, featuring Batman, Catwoman, and the Penguin. And for the
very first time there's a glittering, fast-paced ice show in the
Southern Palace Music Center. Country music fans flock to the
toe-tapping music in the Crazy Horse Saloon, and Bugs Bunny stars
in his own production at the Looney Tunes Theater.
     There are delicious food and lots of great shopping,
including the most exciting Looney Tunes logo store anywhere. If
it's fun, you can find it at Six Flags Over Texas, and we hope
that everyone will join us for this tour. Price: $29.

                 TOUR #4 - Fort Worth Stockyards

     The Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District was
created in 1976 to preserve and protect the unique architectural
legacy of the stockyards. Through careful adaptive re-use the
area has blossomed into a distinctive and exciting attraction.
Restaurants, retail shops, hotels, saloons, and a museum now
welcome visitors from around the world.
     Stroll through history and enjoy the western atmosphere.
Discover why Fort Worth was a favorite of outlaw legends like
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Explore the Fort Worth
Stockyards and find out why Fort Worth is what you want Texas to
be. Price: $20.

                   TOUR #5 - Billy Bob's Texas

     On Wednesday evening you'll be able to visit the world's
largest honky-tonk. It's 100,000 square feet of pure pleasure. In
the old days cowboys came to Fort Worth to dance with the ladies
and listen to the music, and they probably had a drink or two.
Well, things haven't changed much, and when you come to the
convention, you shouldn't miss this totally Texas experience.
There's a rodeo arena inside this Texas-sized bar, and there are
forty-two bar stations, where you can wet your whistle, and
perhaps you can find a souvenir of your visit to Billy Bob's in
one of the retail boutiques that you'll find there. Do the Texas
Two Step or the Cotton Eyed Joe all night long. Price: $18.

       TOUR #6 - Dallas Alley in the West End Marketplace

     Visit any one of the exciting nightclubs you'll find at
Dallas Alley. Your tour price includes the cover charge for any
of the clubs. There are seven, including Alley Cats, a dueling
sing-along piano bar; Alley Oops!, a sports bar; Take 5, a top
forty dance club; Froggy Bottoms, a cozy bar featuring rock and
rhythm and blues; Bobby Sox, '50's, '60's, and '70's; Paragon, a
Eurotech contemporary dance room; and the Roadhouse Saloon,
featuring live country music.
     Of course, while you are at the West End Marketplace, you
might want to take the time to visit some of the other
attractions you'll find there. The marketplace is actually housed
in three buildings. Most of the clubs of Dallas Alley are in the
Old Coca-Cola Building. But there are a variety of retail shops
and restaurants in the remainder of the marketplace. You can buy
everything from antiques and rare autographs to flags and
fanciful fashions. There are restaurants and pushcarts serving
hamburgers, steak sandwiches, Texas gourmet wines and food,
fudge, cookies, fajitas, submarine sandwiches, pizza, and much
more. Price: $15.

                    TOUR #7 - Mesquite Rodeo

     You'll be treated to a fine Texas dinner and a wild rodeo on
Friday evening, July 9. Those who visited the rodeo in 1990 had a
wonderful time, and if you decide to be a part of this authentic
Texas event, we guarantee that you will too. So bring your boots
and hat and join in the fun. Price: $28.

                 TOUR #8 - The Cowboy Breakfast

     On Saturday, July 10, after you have spent an entire week of
fun at the Hyatt Regency, you can go out and enjoy some Texas
hospitality at a real horse ranch. We have made arrangements for
you either to ride a horse or to sit back and relax on a horse-
drawn wagon, and then you'll be fed a genuine cowboy breakfast,
cooked over a campfire. There are no fancy tables here. You'll
just pull up a bail of hay and commune with nature. Go back in
time to the days of cattle drives, and spend a morning as the
trail hands might have a hundred fifty years ago. Price: $26.95.

     These are the tours. So don't miss out by waiting too late
to purchase your tickets. Advance tickets are being sold at the
present time, and you may purchase tickets for as many tours as
you want by sending a check or money order to Eagle Tours,
Attention: Jackie Gotlieb, 1634 East Irving Blvd., Irving, Texas
75060.
     When paying for tours, you should include a note which tells
the tour company your name, address, and telephone number. You
should identify each tour you are purchasing by giving its number
and name, and you should specify the number of tickets you are
purchasing for each tour you select. You may select more than one
tour, but please give all the required information for each. Then
you can write a single check or money order to cover the entire
cost of all your tour tickets. Make checks payable to Eagle
Tours, Inc.
     In addition to the tours we are offering conventioneers, the
NFB of Texas will be running a shuttle all day for a couple of
days early in the convention and on Wednesday afternoon. The
shuttle will be making stops at both the east and west towers of
the Hyatt Regency, and then it will take a route which will allow
you to get off at several stops in the city of Grapevine. This
shuttle route is designed to give you access to restaurants, pet
food stores, a grocery store, and a pharmacy; and of course there
will be a stop that will allow you to stock up on any liquid
refreshment that you might need. There will be no charge to ride
the shuttle, and you will be able to find out more about it by
going to the NFB of Texas information tables in the east and west
towers of the hotel. Or you can call the Texas Suite. We'll also
have information about the shuttle there.
     Finally, if you want to go into Dallas or Fort Worth at any
time when the convention is not in session, you can contact a
company called Super Shuttle, which provides van transportation
to and from the airport. They can also arrange trips for a group
of people who want to visit a particular place. If you want to go
into either Dallas or Fort Worth, the cost for a ride on the
Super Shuttle is $15 each way if you travel alone. But, if you
can find six friends, you can rent an entire van for $90
roundtrip or about $12.86 per person to travel to either city and
back again. The folks at Super Shuttle also tell me that they can
work out special rates for other trips in the area. So you might
want to give them a call if you need to leave the airport. You
must make arrangements for most trips in advance. So you should
call them several hours ahead of time. We will have their
telephone number at the NFB of Texas information tables and in
the Texas Suite.
     There is a lot to do and see in Texas, and you shouldn't
miss any of it. We can't wait to see you. So plan to be with us
July 3 to 10. If you don't, you'll always regret it, and so will
we.


[PHOTO: Graphic line drawing of map of United States showing blackened,
shaded, and unshaded states (see article). CAPTION: States colored black have
more than one NAC-accredited agency. The shaded states are down to one NAC-
accredited agency. The unshaded states can boast a NAC-free environment.]


               NAC'S DECLINE CONTINUES: AN UPDATE
                        by Barbara Pierce

     In the December, 1992, issue we reported on the activities
of the National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the
Blind and Visually Handicapped (NAC) and its member agencies
during the first half of that year, as revealed in the June 30
list of NAC members printed in The Standard Bearer, its semi-
annual publication. The end-of-year report for 1992 is now
available and is equally interesting, if more depressing for NAC.
The first thing one notices is that NAC has moved from its tony
address on Madison Avenue in mid-town New York to E. 40th Street.
Though there may still be more than one employee in the office
every day, Ruth Westman, NAC's executive director, is now
apparently answering the telephone. 
     As we reported in December, at mid-year no new agencies had
been added to the NAC list, but observers had expected that the
December roster would show at least one addition, the Pittsburgh
Guild for the Blind. Dr. Richard Welsh, executive director of
that facility and president of the NAC Board, had assured the
Advisory Committee on Accreditation in February that his agency
could hardly wait to complete the accreditation process and
become part of the NAC family. But even though Dr. Welsh
periodically announces that the Pittsburgh Guild will soon be on
board, it is still absent from the list of NAC member agencies.
In fact, not a single new name appears on that list for all of
1992. 
     On the other hand, during the second half of the year nine
more NAC member agencies read the handwriting on the wall and
decided to sever their relationship with the accrediting body.
Some very distinguished names, indeed, were missing from the NAC
roster in December. Here is the list of agencies that exited NAC
during the second half of 1992:

Arizona State School for the Blind and Visually Handicapped
Arizona State Services for the Deaf and Blind
Lighthouse for the Blind of the Palm Beaches (FL)
Perkins School for the Blind (MA)
Division of Eye Care (ME)
The Lighthouse, Inc. (NY)
Aurora of Central New York
Central Association for the Blind (NY)
Milwaukee Area Technical College/Program for the Visually
Impaired (WI)

     That brings to fifteen the number of agencies which parted
company with NAC in 1992, leaving only eighty American agencies,
including one in Puerto Rico, in NAC's orbit. Over the months
that we have been reporting NAC's declining fortunes, we have
traced the erosion within the various categories of facilities.
Here are the data as of December 31, 1992, broken down by
category: 
     Of the seventy-one schools for the blind on the American
Foundation for the Blind's complete list, twenty-one (30%) are
currently accredited by NAC. Only thirty schools have ever
accepted NAC membership, which means that 30% of them have by now
had second thoughts and left. 
     Of the fifty-two state vocational rehabilitation agencies
(one in each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico),
only thirteen (25%) have ever affiliated with NAC, and only six
(12%) are currently on the NAC list. Moreover, 54% of the state
vocational rehabilitation agencies that were ever accredited have
now left the NAC fold. 
     Twenty-three of the eighty sheltered workshops employing
blind people listed on the combined National Industries for the
Blind and General Council of Workshops for the Blind rosters are
currently accredited by NAC. Considering that NIB has offered for
years to pay the costs of accreditation for any member workshop
willing to associate itself with NAC, this number is surprisingly
low. Half of the shops in this group of eighty have at one time
or another agreed to accreditation by NAC, which means that 43%
of the forty have now disaffiliated from NAC. 
     NAC did manage to reaccredit fourteen of its existing
members in 1992, and it extended the accreditations of eight more
for less than three years. Adding these two groups to the fifteen
agencies that bailed out, one can see that for the first time in
many years NAC did manage to deal in one way or another with all
of its member agencies up for review during 1992. 
     However, we are now a third of the way through 1993, and
it's time to consider what will happen this year. Here are the
names of the agencies whose NAC accreditation expires in 1993: 

Alabama School for the Blind
Foundation for Blind Children (AZ)
Arkansas School for the Blind
Lions Blind Center (CA)
Sacramento Society for the Blind (CA)
Center for the Partially Sighted (CA)
Miami Lighthouse (FL)
Visually Impaired Persons Center (FL)
Florida School for the Blind
Independence for the Blind (FL)
Georgia Industries for the Blind
Georgia Academy for the Blind
Savannah Association for the Blind (GA)
Illinois Bureau of Rehab. Services
Illinois School for the Blind
Wichita Industries for the Blind (KS)
Visually Impaired Center (MI)
Duluth Lighthouse (MN)
Royal Maid Assn. (MS)
Mississippi School for the Blind
Mississippi Voc. Rehab.
Kansas City Assn. (MO)
St. Joseph's School (NJ)
Catholic Guild (NY)
Guiding Eyes for the Blind (NY)
The Sight Center (OH)
Oklahoma Voc. Rehab.
Oklahoma League for the Blind
Volunteer Blind Industries (TN)
Texas School for the Blind
Industries for the Blind (WI)
Wisconsin School for the Blind

     That is the list of agencies making important decisions
about accreditation this year. It is vital that their staffs and
boards grasp both the precariousness of NAC's financial and
professional situation and the profound dissatisfaction of
consumers with its accreditation process. We already know of at
least one agency that will not appear on NAC's mid-year list in
1993. On January 25 of this year Dr. Nell Carney, former
Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration,
assumed her new post as Executive Director of the Mississippi
Department of Rehabilitation Services. One of her first decisions
was not to renew the Mississippi vocational rehabilitation
agency's NAC accreditation. Who knows what other absences NAC's
mid-year list will reveal. 
     Finally, here is the updated map of the United States
indicating the shrinking area with two or more NAC agencies, the
location of the states with only one NAC agency, and the growing
number of states that can boast a NAC-free environment. It is
worth noting that, of the sixteen states still having more than
two NAC agencies, there are now four states with only two. (Five,
if you count Mississippi, which you most certainly must.) These
are Arizona, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and now Mississippi.
The seventeen states with only one NAC member are Alabama,
Hawaii, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota,
Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota,
Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia. The following
nineteen states have no NAC-accredited agencies at all: Alaska,
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada,
North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont,
Virginia, and Wyoming. 


[PHOTO: Portrait. CAPTION: Donald Capps.]

             VICTORY FOR THE BLIND OF SOUTH CAROLINA
                       by Donald C. Capps

     Periodically state officials desperate to cut administrative
costs by streamlining galloping bureaucracy take aim at state
vocational programs for the blind, suggesting that they be folded
into some larger service-delivery agency. Through the years this
has occurred so often that we now have a clear record of what
happens when this so-called improvement is made: almost without
exception the quality and amount of service to blind people
decline. Blind clients get lost in the hordes of people with
other needs. The general rehabilitation counselors who find blind
people and their particular needs and challenges in their case
loads have less and less experience to draw upon in making
recommendations. 
     The hard and painful truth is that, while an independent
agency serving the blind is no guarantee of good service to blind
people, it is virtually impossible to provide good and
knowledgeable service without a fair degree of autonomy for the
agency. That is why the organized blind movement has always
argued forcefully that the independent commission for the blind
is the state rehabilitation agency model most likely to result in
genuinely constructive rehabilitation for blind people. 
     Twenty-seven years ago the National Federation of the Blind
of South Carolina, with four chapters and virtually no money, was
successful in its legislative struggle to establish an
independent agency to serve blind South Carolinians. For a number
of years after its creation, however, the Commission
distinguished itself neither by good service nor by willingness
to work with blind consumers of those services. Scandals rocked
the agency, and the Federation had its hands full trying to force
the Commission to provide adequate and appropriate services to
the state's blind citizens. Then, three years ago, following a
particularly messy period, Mr. Donald Gist was appointed
Executive Director of the South Carolina Commission for the
Blind. From the beginning he indicated his willingness to work
closely with blind consumers, and he established a good
understanding with Don Capps, President of the National
Federation of the Blind of South Carolina and the senior member
of the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the
Blind. Mr. Gist attends NFB national conventions, takes an active
part in NFB of South Carolina state conventions, and in every way
works effectively with the organized blind movement across the
state. 
     In recent months the bigger-must-be-better crowd in South
Carolina's state government has been studying ways of combining
all kinds of agencies in an effort, they allege, to make
government more cost-effective. Not surprisingly the Commission
for the Blind was one of the agencies that came under scrutiny. 
     Enter the National Federation of the Blind of South
Carolina. Today there are thirty-eight local chapters across the
state and a great deal of commitment to preserve the commission
structure, which is just beginning to produce the fruits of
cooperation and shared commitment to real rehabilitation of blind
people. Hundreds of blind South Carolinians and their friends
went to work. They wrote letters and visited their legislators.
They traveled by the van-load to the State House for critical
meetings and for the final vote in the House of Representatives.
This is the way Don Capps, writing in his weekly "Positive Note"
to state Federation leaders, summarized what happened next: 

Date: March 11, 1993
To: Executive Officers, Board of Directors, Chapter and Division
     Presidents
From: Donald C. Capps, President, NFB of South Carolina

     Another great, great victory at the State House! By an
overwhelming vote of ninety-eight to eleven the House of
Representatives adopted an amendment earlier today which will
keep the Commission for the Blind a separate and independent
agency. This is the result of the hard work and commitment of all
of you across the state who conscientiously and diligently
contacted your area legislators. This history-making success is
particularly important and significant at this time, as all
amendments introduced by various legislators to keep other state
agencies and commissions independent failed by a large margin. It
is significant that one of the agencies that wanted to stay
independent and separate, but failed by amendment, was none other
than the Department of Mental Retardation, under which the
Judiciary Committee wanted to place the Commission for the Blind.
     This most impressive legislative triumph is strong evidence
of the tremendous influence, prestige, and hard work of the NFB
of South Carolina. The amendment's chief author, and the 1992
recipient of the NFB of South Carolina's Distinguished Service
Award, Representative Joe Wilder, magnificently led the charge
for us. In his comments to the entire House, Representative
Wilder singled out the Federation for its work, stating that more
than sixty legislators had either signed on to the amendment or
given outright commitments to support it. 
     While the NFB of South Carolina, with its more than three
decades of legislative victories, certainly led the way, both
Earlene Gardner, chairperson of the Commission's Board of
Commissioners, and its Commissioner, Donald Gist, were most
helpful at all times. Last week, you will recall, I talked about
Representative Doug Jennings, Chairman of the Judiciary Sub-
committee on Constitutional Law, who did not vote with us today,
but in opposing the amendment was about as gracious as he could
be under the circumstances. 
     Immediately following the ninety-eight to eleven vote,
Federationists and others scrambled out of the gallery down the
stairs to the Rotunda area to celebrate quietly and to meet many
legislators who rushed out of the House to congratulate us and to
share in the victory. T.V. cameras from two television stations
were also waiting. 
     Immediately after our amendment passed, the House defeated
an amendment which would have lowered the salaries of
administrative law judges. I was told by one legislator that the
member who offered the amendment told him that, with the
Federation of the Blind behind the amendment, the entire House
would have voted to require that all legislative law judges be
blind. Another legislator, Chairman Billy Boan of the Ways and
Means Committee, who initially opposed our amendment, voted with
us today and commented that he certainly admired our politics and
would welcome that brand in his area. 
     Many of you this week endured a lot of inconvenience getting
up early to board vans and arranging for others to substitute for
you at your jobs. I'm aware of all of this, but I want you to
know that you made the difference in this memorable success. I
attribute the victory primarily to the strength of the
Federation's grass roots network in this state. Remember, placing
the Commission for the Blind under the umbrella system was
supported by the Governor's office, the Judiciary Committee, the
Ways and Means Committee, and the Speaker of the House. This huge
victory you made possible will send a clear signal that the rank
and file blind of this state do have political power and know how
to use it when we must. We know who we are, and we were not
willing to go back to the days of the Welfare Department. While
this legislation will be later considered by the Senate, our
victory today simply means that there is virtually no chance
whatsoever anyone will now tamper with the independence of the
Commission. I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for
your hard work and dedication.

     There you have the text of the March 11 "Positive Note"
written by Don Capps. A week later there was a little more to add
to what had already been said. Here are excerpts from the March
17 "Positive Note":

     On Friday, March 12, Odell Austin, President of our
Orangeburg Chapter, went with me to visit Senator Marshall
Williams of Orangeburg, who is the chairman of the powerful
Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Williams assured us that the
Commission for the Blind would remain independent and that we had
nothing to worry about. We also rejoice that our efforts on
behalf of the School for the Blind's remaining independent were
successful....
     Recently Commission officials, Earle Morris, and I met with
Senator John Drummond to discuss and secure his support for the
continuing independence of the Commission. Senator Drummond is
with us all the way and came up with a classic statement: "The
miracle of the Commission and the Federation working so closely
together is surpassed only by the Resurrection." Last week at the
State House the many Federationists in the House Gallery received
recognition from House members. Representative Harwell of
Florence spotlighted Jerry Bryant, Milton Tant, and Ronald
Benjamin. Representative Simrill spotlighted Lenora Robertson and
Gena Hannagen. Lobbyists and others were impressed with our
discipline as well as with our white canes and guide dogs. They
frequently suggested that we take the elevator to the Gallery,
obviously believing that we wouldn't be able to negotiate the
tricky stairs, but we never missed a step. When the ninety-eight
to eleven vote was announced, lobbyists shook our hands and
admired the results we caused. Several top state leaders
suggested that we compromise, but we knew what we wanted and
stuck to our guns. For four days we went to the State House and
patiently sat in the Gallery with our canes propped on the
balcony railing, where the legislators could see them well. Our
presence spoke more eloquently than anything else. Representative
Wilder and others know that, when they introduce a bill for us,
they will be backed by the NFB of South Carolina. When
Representative Wilder presented the amendment to keep the
Commission independent, he explained that some sixty members of
the House co-sponsored that piece of legislation. In his speech
Representative Wilder stated, "The blind of our beloved state
know who they are, and they do not want to return to the days
before 1966." It was a first visit for many Federationists in the
House Gallery, observing what we are told is democracy in action.
We will be back.


[PHOTO: Crowded room of people attending 1993 Washington Seminar. CAPTION:
More than 400 Federationists crowded into the Columbia Room for the briefing
that kicked off the 1993 Washington Seminar.]

                  THE 1993 WASHINGTON SEMINAR:
                 HARD WORK AND HIGH OPPORTUNITY
                        by Barbara Pierce

     By the late afternoon of Friday, January 29, 1993, it would
have been clear to an observer at Washington, D.C.'s National
Airport or Union Train Station that representatives of the
nation's blind community were gathering for some purpose or
other. If the observer had followed any one of these hurrying
travelers, he would have discovered that they were converging on
the Holiday Inn, Capitol, at 550 C Street, S.W., a few blocks
from Capitol Hill in the heart of the city. 
     By Sunday evening some four hundred people would be wedged
into the meeting room where President Maurer and other leaders of
the National Federation of the Blind outlined recent activities
of the organization and discussed the legislative agenda which
Federationists would be presenting to members of the U.S. House
of Representatives and Senate during the following three days.
More people would arrive by van and bus from surrounding states
on Monday and Tuesday for this important activity, but the Sunday
evening briefing is traditionally considered the kickoff of the
NFB's annual Washington Seminar. 
     By the time the briefing began at 5:00 p.m., hundreds of
Federationists had been working in the hotel and exploring
Washington for days. Sixty-five out of the hundred or so who
would eventually do so had already made the trip to Baltimore to
tour the National Center for the Blind and the International
Braille and Technology Center and had gone shopping for
literature and equipment in the NFB's Materials Center. Many more
had begun the weekend in group meetings and seminars at the
National Center for the Blind and had then traveled to the
Holiday Inn in time to take part in the Washington Seminar. 
     The largest single pre-seminar activity was the Mid-Winter
Conference of the National Association of Blind Students convened
at the Holiday Inn, Capitol. It began with a standing-room-only
party on Friday evening, January 29, where old friends were
reunited and newcomers were welcomed with enthusiasm. Mindful of
the crowded agenda the following day, the partyers slipped away
relatively early so that they would be fresh and alert for
registration at 8:30 and the conference opening at 9 a.m.
Saturday. 
     The program was perhaps the best the student division has
ever put together. Members of the National Association of Blind
Students will receive a much fuller report of the day's
activities in the Student Slate, the division's taped newsletter.
Every agenda item was lively and interesting, and division
president Scott LaBarre kept the program moving with wit and
firmness. Participants enjoyed it all. Perhaps the most
anticipated item was episode III of "The Young and the Skill-
less," the on-going saga of Charlotte Fox's struggle to live a
productive and fulfilled life despite the roadblocks thrown up by
an ignorant society. Several members and friends of the National
Association of Blind Students performed this latest episode of
Jerry Whittle's soap opera with high good humor and energy, and
the audience roared its approval when the play ended. Several of
the other presentations made at the January 30 conference appear
elsewhere in this issue. 
     One hundred forty-nine people took part in the Saturday
evening conference banquet. Fred Schroeder, member of the Board
of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind and Director
of the New Mexico Commission for the Blind, was the evening's
principal speaker. His address was warm and funny and touched his
audience deeply. 
     By early Sunday afternoon Mercury, the nerve center of the
Washington Seminar's material-distribution and data-collection
activities--named for the hotel meeting room in which it
traditionally is housed--was operating full tilt under the
efficient management of Sandy Halverson and her crew of faithful
workers. 
     An interesting commentary on the effectiveness of the
Mercury operation was provided Tuesday morning by a new member of
the House of Representatives who accidentally turned up in
Mercury looking for the meeting his secretary had scheduled with
a group of Federationists who were waiting for him in his own
office. When they finally got together, he commented that he had
never thought to see a group of blind people managing data with
such efficiency in Braille, and he was grateful that Sandy
Halverson could provide him with his office telephone number,
which he had not yet memorized. 
     Hard work efficiently carried out and deep camaraderie--
these are the hallmarks of the Washington Seminar, as they are of
the entire National Federation of the Blind. By Wednesday
participants were packing up and making plans to return home and
write the all-important follow-up letters to their Senators and
Representatives. The legislative work of the Federation for 1993
had just begun. As Federationists checked out of the hotel, they
promised to keep in touch and see one another in Dallas in July. 

[PHOTO: Portrait. CAPTION: Rebecca R. Long.]

                    ENLIGHTENING THE SIGHTED
                       by Rebecca R. Long

     Rebecca Long is a senior political science major at Gannon
State University in Erie, Pennsylvania. She has also become a
committed and perceptive Federationist, thanks to the Washington
Seminar. Here is her story as she tells it: 

     I was more than uncomfortable. It was my second day working
as an intern for Leadership Erie, a leadership program for adults
of the Greater Erie Community in Pennsylvania, and here I was at
lunch sitting next to the only disabled person in the group. Her
name was Judy Jobes, and she was blind. "Disabled": that is how I
thought of her at that lunch a little over a year ago. Now Judy
is one of my closest friends and my greatest mentor in my career.
She is anything but disabled. My understanding of blindness has
grown because of Judy but even more because of the National
Federation of the Blind. 
     My experience with the Federation began in January of this
year. I came home from class one day to find a message from Judy
asking if I'd like to attend a conference in Washington, D.C.,
during which we would talk to Members of Congress about issues of
concern to the National Federation of the Blind. I was hesitant
but decided not only to attend the conference but to drive the
six of us to D.C., since I would be the only one in the group
with full sight. My friends and parents were baffled by this
decision, dwelling on the burden they felt I was inflicting on
myself. However, the opportunity to watch the political process
in action shimmered before me, and I ignored the skepticism of my
family and peers. Being a political science major, I couldn't
pass up the chance to observe interest-group politics. Before the
trip I envisioned learning primarily about advocacy; I wasn't
thinking how much I could learn about blindness. Judy told me
that the experience would change my life, but I didn't understand
what she was talking about at the time.
     As I loaded luggage handed to me by my Federation
companions, I began to get concerned. How was I going to guide
all five of them at the same time? How much sight did each of
them have, and how was it going to help? What if I did or said
something that offended them? How much help was too much? How
much were they depending on me? All of these questions pass
through the mind of a sighted person when put in a situation
dealing with a group of blind people for the first time. Finally
I decided I couldn't worry about it, and if I did make a mistake
there would be about 500 blind people at the conference who could
let me know.
     Saturday there was a student seminar, and throughout the
whole morning I was disturbed. These blind students were upset
with the injustices of the educational system. It was clear that
they felt cheated of their right to be considered equal to
sighted students. I sat in the audience and thought to myself,
"These students may be intelligent, but you cannot ignore the
fact that they are blind and that blindness has to be considered
disabling." I couldn't comprehend what it was these students
wanted. By the time we sat down to lunch in the hotel restaurant,
I was completely annoyed with myself for not being able to
empathize with these students and the problems they were clearly
having. But during that meal I slowly began to understand.
     After being handed a Braille menu, I realized that the
waiters had assumed that I must be blind. After all, their
reasoning clearly went, why would a sighted person be interested
in attending a conference for the blind? Deep in conversation at
the time, I didn't acknowledge the waiter when he brought my
entree. Presumably in an effort to be helpful, he pushed the
plate I was eating from away and pulled the new one across to
rest in front of me. This simple act was so terribly patronizing
that I suddenly started to realize what these students wanted--to
be treated with decency and respect for themselves and their
abilities.
     For the next five days I was shoved into chairs, grabbed by
the arm, stared at, pointed to, and referred to (usually in a
hushed voice) as disabled. Those who realized I could see cast
sympathetic glances at me as if I'd been trapped into community
service or something worse. Even the assistants in Congressional
offices, many of whom had dealt with the Federation members
before, didn't realize how offensive it was when they looked to
me as a leader simply because I could see. In those six short
days I began to see blindness as less a tragedy and more a simple
albeit bothersome hindrance. I began to realize that Judy had
asked me to attend, not because the Pennsylvania group needed
sighted supervision, but because she knew that the experience
would be invaluable to me.
     The philosophy of the Federation was evident once I allowed
myself to see it: "Given proper training and opportunity, blind
people can compete on terms of real equality with their sighted
peers." The Federation's ability to organize is amazing; even the
legislative offices in D.C. noticed and commented on it. With
this kind of organization and efficiency brought to bear on the
problem, obtaining proper training for all blind persons is a
potential reality. The Federation does more than provide
training, advice, and support for its blind members; it
enlightens sighted people simply by the example set by those
members. The achievement of the Federation's goal of ensuring
that proper skills and attitudes are taught to blind people will
help to dispel the misconceptions about blindness that are held
by the general public. The organization has already done this for
me. 
[PHOTO: Joanne Wilson standing at microphone. CAPTION: Joanne Wilson.]

                       THE KEY TO SUCCESS
                        by Joanne Wilson

     From the Editor: At this year's Mid-Winter Conference of the
National Association of Blind Students the keynote speaker was
Joanne Wilson, member of the Board of Directors of the National
Federation of the Blind, President of the NFB of Louisiana, and
Director of the Louisiana Center for the Blind. The following
article is taken from her remarks: 

     When Scott LaBarre asked me to speak this morning, he said
the theme for the day was success and that I should talk to you
about how to be successful. So I want to tell you a story that
began in about 1880. It's the story of a boy named Newel Perry.
Newel, who was blind, became an orphan, and none of his relatives
wanted to take on the job of raising him. So he was sent to the
California School for the Blind, where a man by the name of
Warring Wilkinson was the superintendent. Mr. Wilkinson became
Newel's guardian and raised him at the school. 
     Early on Newel met another boy who was a little older. His
name was Cecil Smith, and Cecil took Newel under his wing and
began to show him around the school. Gradually, with Cecil's help
and guidance, Newel mastered the plan of the campus. He began to
recognize that despite blindness he could do and learn things
that he had always assumed were beyond his capability. And Cecil
Smith continued to act as his mentor. 
     In 1892 Smith, who was the son of wealthy parents, decided
to spend his final two years of education in a public high
school. Because of his family's social position, this was fairly
easy to arrange, but when Newel decided that he wanted to try the
same challenge, Warring Wilkinson told him that it was not
something that he could do. He asked the young man why he wanted
to go to public school and what his long-range plans were. Perry
replied that he wanted to go to college. At that Wilkinson
crushed the hope in young Perry by telling him that blind people
didn't go to college; they made brooms and caned chairs. 
     After hearing this news, Perry became despondent. His grades
fell because he had lost all interest in his academic work.
Wilkinson called him in for a talk and questioned him about his
decline from one of the school's best students to his present
sorry state. Perry responded that, if there was no academic
future for him, he saw no reason to bother studying. Warring
Wilkinson reconsidered his earlier pronouncement, and he and his
brother Charles, who was Perry's math teacher, then set out to
raise the funds necessary to send Perry to the local high school.
     Now Perry's sights were truly set on a college education,
but again people discouraged him from the attempt. In an effort
to strengthen his arguments in support of his dream, he wrote
letters to the seven most prestigious schools for the blind in
the country, asking whether they believed that a blind student
could do the work required for a university degree. Seven letters
came back from professional educators of blind students, and
every one said that Perry's dream was impossible. 
     But Newel Perry was not to be discouraged now. He finally
persuaded Wilkinson and others that he should have a chance for
an education, and eventually he earned not only a baccalaureate
degree but a doctorate in mathematics from a German university,
where he was discovered to be a brilliant mathematician. 
     Then began the heartbreaking job search. Newel Perry could
not find a single university anywhere willing to take a chance on
hiring a blind mathematician. He returned to the California
School for the Blind to teach math. In 1934 he organized the
California Council of the Blind, a group of blind Californians
dedicated to improving life for themselves and all other blind
people. Newel Perry devoted his life to this cause and to raising
funds so that deserving blind students could go to college. One
of Dr. Perry's students was Jacobus tenBroek, who founded the
National Federation of the Blind in 1940. He adopted and expanded
the founding principle of the California Council--that if ever
things were to improve for blind people, they would have to do it
for themselves--and applied it to the national scene. 
     Jacobus tenBroek surpassed his mentor, Dr. Perry. He became
a lawyer and found teaching jobs at both the University of
Chicago and the University of California at Berkeley. His protege
was Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, who in turn mentored President Marc
Maurer. In this chain I have described to you beginning with
Cecil Smith, each man has broken new ground. Small things build
on each other to make the big things happen. And none of us would
be in this room today if it hadn't been for Cecil Smith, Newel
Perry, Jacobus tenBroek, Kenneth Jernigan, and Marc Maurer. They
have constructed the base that has enabled you to attend public
high school and college. It all comes down to changing
expectations. 
     Expectations are funny things. For example, until the 1950's
everybody knew that a human being could not run a mile in less
than four minutes. Then Roger Banister broke that barrier, and
now there's a whole list of men who have run a mile in under four
minutes. But one person has to push the barriers back and set the
new standard before a new generation can surge through. Most of
us have to see that things can be done before we find the courage
to meet our own challenges. 
     Not too long ago Fred Schroeder was at the Louisiana Center
for the Blind doing some staff development for us. One of the
faculty said, "I do job development here, and I struggle all the
time with students who don't really want to go to work. How can I
motivate them to try?" 
     Fred's answer went right to the heart of the matter. He
said, "Take them to a local chapter meeting." 
     As I thought about what he said, I remembered what it had
been like for me as a teen-ager who was losing sight. I hated
being blind. I refused to associate with blind people or identify
myself as a blind person. I wouldn't use a white cane, so I spent
all of my time thinking about sight and worrying about what I
couldn't see. I had no time to daydream about the guy across the
street; I was busy worrying about how I was going to get through
the next day. I cried myself to sleep at night, and during the
day I spent all my time and energy straining to see or agonizing
because I couldn't. 
     Then I went off to become a student at the Iowa Commission
for the Blind, and I met Dr. Kenneth Jernigan. I learned lots of
things--skills that helped me compete with other students. But
most of all I learned that it is respectable to be blind, and I
learned to have confidence in myself as a blind person. 
     I enrolled in college and majored in elementary education.
In my senior year my advisor called me in to break the news that
they weren't going to let me student teach, which was the very
last requirement I had to fulfill in order to earn my teaching
certificate. I was practically speechless. I had a 3.8 grade
point average and had done every lab and taken every course
required. I demanded to know why they were doing this to me. 
     The professor explained that I was about to graduate, and I
wouldn't be able to find a job teaching, so it was pointless for
them to try to find a student teaching placement for me now. I
asked if they guaranteed other students jobs after graduation,
and she admitted that they did not but this fact was beside the
point. 
     I knew that this decision was unfair, so I turned to the
National Federation of the Blind. Dr. Jernigan went to work for
me. Through his contacts he opened an entirely new school system
to the university's student teaching program, and he found a
teacher who was willing to work with me. Three other student
teachers were assigned with me to fulfill their teaching
requirements in that school system, and the university is still
sending student teachers into that district. 
     If I had not been a member of the National Federation of the
Blind, believing in myself as a blind person and convinced of the
injustice of that professor's decision, I would probably have sat
back, feeling badly used, but ultimately coming to believe that a
blind person had no business in an elementary school classroom. 
     But it isn't just the skills of blindness and the self-
confidence to use them that the Federation teaches. You learn how
to organize--look at this wonderful seminar that we're attending
today. You learn your way around the political world and how to
get things done. You learn people skills. After all, this
organization is a people's movement, and it's a cross section of
the entire society. You learn to educate and advocate, and you
learn how to give and how to think. All of these things together
contribute to molding successful people. 
     But the most fundamental gifts that Federationists receive
from this organization are the skills of blindness in the context
of the Federation's philosophy. Neither of these alone is
sufficient to bring you success. I had a young man in my office
the other day. I asked him to tell me about himself since, having
flunked out of college, he was considering enrolling in the
Louisiana Center for the Blind. He said that beginning in the
second grade he had never read a word from a book or seen what
was written on the chalk board, but he had gone through school
and done well. He listened carefully and worked hard. He had
always wanted to go to college and was sure that he could succeed
if he just carried on with things as he had been doing them. But
it hadn't worked; he flunked out. Now he was at the Center to see
about acquiring the academic and personal skills of blindness he
clearly needed in addition to his self-confidence and good
philosophy. 
     That same day I got my monthly call from Jenny, who has
participated in several of our summer programs for blind
children. Her skills are great. She reads Braille well, and she
can travel pretty well anywhere she needs to go. But about once a
month Jenny calls me for reassurance: "What do I do when people
push me around in the cafeteria line, just trying to help?
There's a great big tall blind guy in my school, and they baby
him. Is that right? Should I insist on keeping my cane? What do I
do when they over-help me?" Jenny has the skills, but she still
needs assistance in sorting out her philosophy. Without the
framework of sound philosophy and good attitudes, Jenny's skills
wouldn't be enough to make her fully competent. 
     So we need an underlying structure from which to push off if
we are to become successful, and we need skills and confidence.
But we also need something more. If you put fleas into a covered
jar, for a while they will jump up and hit their heads on the
top. But after a few experiments they learn to jump just high
enough to avoid hitting the lid. After that, even if you remove
the lid, the fleas will not escape because they've learned to
avoid bumping their heads. 
     The same thing happens to a lot of blind people. There are
many forces that work to keep us in our jars. The rehabilitation
system, for one, often works to keep blind people in a safe and
familiar place. How many of us have had rehab counselors tell us
that those radical NFB members expect too much from blind people.
"You can't do that job; That isn't something that blind people
do." Disabled student offices--some of them are good, but many of
them work overtime to keep us in that little box. How about
family members? How many kids have heard parents say, "You can't
cook; you don't have to empty the garbage." The clear message is
that blindness keeps a youngster from learning the skills and
assuming the responsibilities that sighted brothers and sisters
take for granted. Friends and acquaintances keep us in the jar as
well. They say, "Let me help you; that's a busy street. I
couldn't do that without looking; you're wonderful, but I'll
finish it." 
     But the people who are most likely to keep us in our little
jars are ourselves. I think of a young man I knew a couple of
years ago. We were having a student seminar, and late in the
evening we got hungry and decided to load up a van and go out for
hamburgers. Everybody was talking about how hungry they were and
how much we were going to order when we got there. The restaurant
turned out to be fairly dark inside, and I realized that this
young man was not ordering with the rest. When I asked where he
was, I was told that he was out on the front steps. When I went
out to see what was the trouble, he told me that he just wasn't
hungry anymore. He clung to that story and never did go in
despite the fact that he had been one of the most enthusiastic
advocates for the hamburger outing. He knew and I knew that the
real problem was that he had retinitis pigmentosa, and he
couldn't see very well in dimly lighted places. He didn't trust
his blindness skills, and he was afraid that he would trip in the
dark restaurant and make a fool of himself. He sat outside hungry
in a jar of his own making because he was afraid to stretch. 
     It isn't easy to become everything you can. One of my
favorite stories is about Ryan, who was in our children's program
last summer. He's ten, and one day I asked him what he would do
to help blind people to get ahead. He said he'd form a company of
blind people and they'd have meetings. When I asked what they
would do at these meetings, he said they would make speeches to
each other and get together to do things that would help blind
people. He's a natural-born Federationist, isn't he? But one day
he and I were at an amusement park, and we went into a snack shop
for lunch. Ryan ordered a Coke and a hot dog, which cost $2. But
Ryan had only $1. The woman behind the counter took in the
situation. She looked at this little boy with his child-size
white cane and his single dollar bill, and she said, "That's all
right, Honey, give me your dollar; you can have the hot dog
free." I cleared my throat in the background, and Ryan looked
regretfully at the hot dog. Then he said, "That's all right. I'll
just take the Coke because I only have a dollar." 
     He carried the Coke outside. There he burst out, "Who made
up that rule; who made it up anyway!"
     I said, "What do you mean?"
     With great indignation he said, "That rule's all right
sometimes, but not when you're hungry!" 
     There are too many people who are ready to grab the rights,
but when it comes to the responsibilities that really stretch you
and enable you to grow in new dimensions, they don't want to
bother. It's tough when you're hungry. 
     But if it weren't for all the people who have gone before
us, all those who reached beyond and raised our expectations, we
wouldn't be here today. And if it weren't for all the things you
are going to do to help tomorrow's blind students, there would be
no hope for them. Scott asked me to talk about the key to
success. I think it is joining and working with the National
Federation of the Blind.

[PHOTO: Peggy Pinder stands with microphone in hand. CAPTION: Peggy Pinder.]

                 THE CARE AND FEEDING OF READERS
                         by Peggy Pinder

     From the Editor: One of the most valuable professional
skills a blind person can acquire and use effectively is managing
readers. The ability to recruit, hire, supervise, and fire people
providing this service is vital to virtually every blind person
who hopes to succeed in school or employment. Recognizing this
fact, the planners of the 1993 National Association of Blind
Students Mid-Winter Conference asked Peggy Pinder (Second Vice
President of the National Federation of the Blind, President of
the NFB of Iowa, and an attorney in private practice) to pass on
advice and opinions drawn from her experience during a number of
years of working with readers to absorb huge amounts of
information. It may surprise you, but it is sound and practical
advice for those who must get the most out of every hour of
reader time. Here is what she had to say:

     I have been asked this afternoon to speak about what I have
called in my own mind "the care and feeding of readers." It is an
important topic for all blind people. I'll begin by defining
accurately what we are talking about when we say that we as blind
people are hiring a reader. We are not hiring someone to read. If
that's what you think you are doing when you acquire a reader,
then I think you are starting with the wrong premise. In fact,
you are attempting to procure a method of acquiring information,
how and when you want it. So the commodity you want is
information in the package you define. 
     Most of my remarks today will be directed toward the paid
relationship because that is the ideal one. Someday you will be
paying readers in connection with your job, and you should get
practice doing the same thing while you are still a student. The
vocational rehabilitation agency in your state should cover the
cost of your readers while you are a student. When you hire this
information-acquisition tool, you are clearly in need of
something. In the contracted relationship you establish, the
other party (the reader) also needs something. Your first job is
to figure out what that is. 
     When you can say, "I am the blind person, and I want
information," and the other person says, "I am the reader, and I
want money," the matter is very clear and tidy. It is possible to
establish the contract with some other permutation if you wish,
but this one is ideal, because it gives you what you most want--
control. When you go into a reader relationship, you must
explicitly and implicitly establish that you are in control.
Failing to do so is the biggest single mistake that people make
in handling readers. They allow themselves to be convinced that
the reader's feelings and needs and desires are the important
ones in the relationship. If my reader wants to go to the
bathroom, of course I'm going to let her go. I believe that it is
important to be courteous to and considerate of people with whom
you are interacting, but the reader does not make the
determination about when and where and how fast and how long and
what; you do. And if you don't go into a reader relationship with
that firmly in mind, saying it explicitly and conducting yourself
as though you believe it, you will let the reader determine the
most valuable thing in the relationship--how much you are going
to get out of it. 
     This is true not only because you need a specified quantity
of information packaged at a given rate, but because you must
also learn how to hire, supervise, and fire readers. In college
you can make all the mistakes and learn the techniques in a
relatively painless situation. If you master all this by the time
you get out into the working world, you will have a leg up on
both your blind and sighted competition. The first advantage is
that you will know how to get information. You will never be
placed in a situation in which you can't get the data you need.
Sometimes information is difficult or impossible to scan using
today's technology. Most of the material I deal with, for
example, can't be scanned. It's handwritten, and there's so much
of it that I need to look at bits here and there. So the only
efficient way to access it is through human readers. For you as
for me, most of the material you will deal with for the rest of
your life is likely to require live readers, not computers. A lot
of technological development will have to take place over a
number of years before this situation is likely to change much. 
     So you need to learn how to interact with readers--find
them, train them, and get rid of them. But you also have to learn
that you can do it--not the Disabled Student Services Office, not
Mom and Dad, not the itinerant teacher, not your roommate, not
your boyfriend or girlfriend--nobody but you directs this very
important part of your life: the management and acquisition of
the information you need! If you come out of your degree program
having mastered this skill, you are set for life with one of the
most important techniques you will ever learn. Aside from the
confidence you will acquire by knowing that, if you lose one
reader, you can find two more, you will also be a skilled middle-
manager. Your sighted contemporaries don't have to learn to
manage their own time and that of others in determining how and
when they are going to study. They pick up a book and begin to
read. You have learned to deal with scheduling and control
issues. If you have mastered the supervision of readers and are
confident in your ability to do so, you can justify putting on
your resume that you have middle-management skills. 
     When the topic of obtaining readers comes up, most people
don't even talk about the things I've been saying here. They say,
"I can't get readers." Finding the readers you need is a full-
time job until it is done. Every time you lose one, getting the
replacement becomes a full-time job again. When I was in college,
I got readers by putting up notices on all the dormitory bulletin
boards. By the time I got them all up, I usually had more readers
than I needed. When I went into the working world, I didn't have
bulletin boards anymore, so I put ads in the newspaper. This
method also yielded me more readers than I could ever use because
with both techniques I swept so widely that I got plenty of
opportunities to pick and choose among the candidates myself. I
can absolutely guarantee you that, if you place a classified ad
in the newspaper, you will have to put an answering machine on
your phone line to notify people that you have already filled the
position. People are out there looking for jobs or hoping to earn
a little extra money. You want to find those people. Don't ever
make the mistake of under-advertising for a reader. 
     Personally, I would never take a list from a disabled
students services office or anywhere else. I want my readers to
know that I am the one who found them, that I outline the job,
and that I am the one with whom they have to deal. Not only is it
easier to control the situation if the reader needs the cash, but
it is a lot easier if he or she is your age or younger. I don't
find it easy to control readers older than I, and I never have.
I'm sure that is a pretty common phenomenon. There are
undoubtedly glorious exceptions, but probably not many,
particularly since younger people tend to be the ones who need
the most money. 
     As you can tell, I have never had trouble finding candidates
for my reading jobs. I begin by telling them what I want, and I
assess their reactions to what I have said. I usually give
readers a test; I hand them something to read. Almost no one does
a good job of reading that first time. I am more interested in
assessing their reactions to being given the book, to being told
to stop and go to another page. I am assessing their basic
reactions to the constraints of the reading discipline, their
interest in the money, and their responses to the little speech I
make them. I have developed it over the years, and it covers the
things that most people are daunted by and the errors that most
people make when they read to a blind person. 
     I tell them that I am not looking for someone to give me a
dramatic reading; if I want that, I'll buy a ticket to a play. I
do not want people to worry about their inflection. In fact, the
best readers I have ever had are those who read in almost a
monotone, because that is the fastest way for the human body to
emit information. It is true that a good speaker of English
automatically inflects at punctuation. You can't stop yourself
from doing it a little. I tell readers not to worry about making
sure to read expressively. Don't give me drama; give me data, as
fast as you can get it out. My fastest readers have learned that
they can read almost without moving their lips. 
     I often cite the example of the guy I had as a reader when I
was a prosecutor. When he was reading to me, people would come to
the door and stand there laughing. They would say to me, "You
can't understand him," and to him, "You're not even reading." I
just shut the door because he and I were perfectly happy; he was
reading as fast as he could, and I was listening as fast as I
could, and it suited both of us. He also had learned--as have all
my best readers--what I tell all of them to learn: the technique
of reading without having a clue about what they are saying. I
tell readers this because, if they know that it is a good idea,
they will develop the technique faster, and if I don't tell them,
it will upset them when it happens. I also tell my readers that
it is impossible for them to read too fast for me. When I read a
recorded book, I automatically double the playback rate. If you
can't understand books at a very fast speed, you should practice
doing so, because it is an invaluable skill for students or
working people who have lots of material to get through. 
     I also tell readers that I have heard every English word and
many foreign ones as well pronounced in every possible way. I
don't care if they don't know how to say the word correctly. If
it occurs frequently, I'll tell the reader how to pronounce it
because the mispronunciation will irritate both of us. But by and
large I really don't care how they pronounce the word if they
will just get it out. If they are really too afraid to take a
stab at it, I tell them to spell it and go on.
     With that little speech I pretty well get very good, very
efficient reading right from the start because I have touched on
everything readers are most afraid of. And I have told them what
my parameters are. Later on, if I have to say that a passage is
too dense for them to take at speed, they can slow down. It is
much harder to try to speed up a reader who has been used to
reading for you at a slow speed. Set your readers at a fast rate
first, and slow them down when you need to. 
     I have a few comments about specialized reading. I will take
just about anybody as a reader, if he or she can speak the
language. I would say that if you are taking a foreign language
course, you do need a reader with that specialized knowledge. But
in chemistry, mathematics, or symbolic logic, for example, you
can train almost any accurate reader who shows up on time to deal
with the special symbols. Yes, there is specialized knowledge
involved in reading such subjects, but don't assume that you
can't do the teaching. After all, you need to know what those
symbols mean. If you don't, you have to get the first reader you
have scheduled for the course to take the time to describe them
to you. You cannot afford to hire readers who already know the
symbols and take the attitude that you don't need to know what
they look like because the reader will take care of that part.
Your response to that attitude must be, "No, you won't. I'm
paying you to provide me with the information I want, and that
includes the symbols."   Don't ever fall into the trap of hiring
a knowledgeable reader in a particular subject who then becomes
your tutor as part of the reading responsibility. You are not
hiring for that function. If you need a tutor, hire one. Your
reader must always know that you are in charge: When I say skim,
you skim; when I say skip, you skip. Don't put up with pauses or
with comments like "Wait, this looks interesting." The other
thing you have to make clear is that you expect your readers to
read everything on the page unless you tell them to omit it. I am
certain that, if you lay down the guidelines I have just
described, you will have competent readers. 
     It is your job to schedule your readers in such a way that
you will always be able to get the assignments done. This may
mean that you will have to find some readers who can be flexible
and some who can allow you to increase the time on short notice.
You may need to establish the policy with some readers that you
can cancel an appointment at short notice. You should structure
things in such a way that, when you finish a class, you can sit
down and use the time following with a reader. You don't want to
have to go to an employer someday and admit that "my reader was
sick yesterday, so I lost that hundred-thousand-dollar contract
because I wasn't able to read the material." In other words, part
of mastering this management skill is learning to do multi-
layered scheduling with the option to cancel and scheduling
sufficient reader time with the option to increase the hours if
necessary. You never want to admit to a professor that you
couldn't complete an assignment because you didn't have a reader.
That is not a valid excuse. 
     If a reader is not working out for whatever reason, you will
know it right away. Remember, you are not locked into keeping him
or her; let such readers go. Never mind that you like the person;
fire him anyway. You can go out and have beers with him, marry
him, or do anything else you want with him, but don't keep him as
a reader! You have no responsibility to be nice to that person;
your job is to get information out of him. If you want to
socialize, do it in some other context, but do not ever fall into
the trap of thinking that you have to keep a reader because his
or her feelings would be hurt if you severed the reading
relationship. Your job is to get rid of poor readers and do it in
a civil and humane enough way that you can keep them as friends
if that's what you want to do. 
     All that I have said is true in some sense of volunteer
readers as well, but the difference is that they are being paid
in a form that is not the coin of the realm. Long-term volunteer
readers are either motivated by an impulse to be nice to a blind
person or fulfilling some requirement imposed by a church or
social organization. Either way, they are not responding to you
and the money you control. If you are absolutely compelled to use
volunteer readers, you must figure out what their motivation is
and find a way to turn it toward yourself in order to establish
personal commitment and response to you. It is still true that
everything I have said about paid readers is also necessary in
your relationship with a volunteer reader. Volunteers must read
everything on the page, respond to your directions, and get the
words out as fast as possible. And, if they don't, you have to
fire them too. 
     There you have what I know about readers and the way to
establish a good working-relationship with them, delivered as
quickly and concisely as I know how to say it. 




       THE RICHNESS OF LIFE: LIVING WITH A BLIND DIABETIC
                        by Marlene Curran

     The following article is reprinted from the Winter, 1992,
issue of the Braille Examiner, the publication of the National
Federation of the Blind of Illinois. Marlene Curran, whose
husband Patrick was a committed Federationist who died of
diabetic complications in November of 1991, addressed the 1992
convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois.
Her remarks were both moving and instructive. Here is what she
had to say: 

     Diabetes is only an eight-letter word, but if it enters your
personal world, it will be your lifelong partner. You should
treat it with respect, so you must accept it, research it, and
learn to control it. Don't let it control you!
     Don't be a closet diabetic; become a professional diabetic
with a positive attitude. After you were diagnosed with diabetes,
your first reaction was probably, "Why me?" along with being
scared. I know for a fact through experience that a lot of
doctors either try to scare you with the disease or don't tell
you enough about it. I'm still trying to figure out which way is
better.
     Before I was married, I knew Patrick was a diabetic. My
knowledge at that time, almost thirty years ago, consisted of
knowing that he had to have a shot every day, exercise, and watch
his diet. I believed that, if he did those things, he would be
okay. Like other people I thought insulin was a cure for
diabetes, but as I know now, insulin is only a treatment. Now,
almost thirty years later, I have to admit my ignorance. I should
have researched his chronic illness. I learned the hard way that
ignorance is not bliss; it is dangerous. Lack of knowledge will
only bring you closer to complications. I can tell you this from
my personal experience.
     I was married to a juvenile, brittle, type 1 diabetic for
almost thirty years. In case you're not sure what all this means,
a juvenile diabetic is one who becomes a diabetic between birth
and age nineteen. Brittle refers to a diabetic condition which
includes unpredictable swings in blood sugars. If I had known
then what I should have, I could have been more understanding
when Patrick became moody or ready for an argument. I thought he
was being difficult for no reason when in reality his blood
sugars were affecting his moods. He was a closet diabetic. He
kept information about his disease to himself. He didn't want
people to feel sorry for him or to watch him constantly and say,
"Are you supposed to be eating that?" or "Are you supposed to be
doing that?" In reality, he was a very independent and strong
person with a terrific sense of humor and a positive attitude
toward life. The first and most important thing for a diabetic is
to have a partner, family, or friend who will always be there for
you and who knows as much about the disease as you do. I admit
our marriage was not always a bed of roses, but we had a special
closeness and love for each other which, I might add, seems very
rare in today's world.
     Diabetes can strengthen marriages. Working together to
control diabetes can, in fact, bring a new closeness. The
enduring day-to-day love that comes from living through and with
problems together and helping each other play out whatever hand
you are dealt, trying to turn it into a winning one, is (though
it may not seem like it) one of the greatest gifts a couple can
be given. Our family and friends thought of Patrick and me as one
person, always together no matter what.
     Before Patrick started to lose his sight, it would take him
anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour to summon the courage to
give himself that shot. I'd like to add that this was in the
early '60's, before disposable syringes. The original ones had to
be boiled in water on the stove. As it got harder for him to see,
he asked me if I would mind giving him the shot. I admit I was
scared, but I learned, and the relief he got from not having to
do it himself made me feel useful and part of his life. 
     The day-to-day stress diabetics live with can build feelings
of guilt and anxiety because they remind us of a deeper fear, the
fear of diabetic complications. No matter how much you may try to
forget the possibility of blindness, kidney failure, amputations,
or heart disease, your mind remembers at some level that you are
at risk. Anything that suggests this risk becomes a further
stress. Stress definitely is a factor in high blood pressure,
which in turn contributes to the development of a number of
diabetic complications. Effective management of stress is an
important factor in any program to reduce the risk of
complications. Poorly managed stress has a major impact on the
health of everyone, not just diabetics. Stress is believed to
contribute to heart disease and hypertension. Although other
factors also play a role in any of these conditions, reducing
your stress level is likely to increase your chances of living
well.
     Almost every morning, as I prepared Patrick's lunch for
work, I would slip a love note into his lunch box, just to let
him know I loved him and was thinking about him. The guys would
always tease him (but I knew they were jealous). I also want to
stress how important it is to explain diabetes to your children,
when they are old enough to understand the illness. With
diabetics' frequent mood swings, you don't want your children to
think they may have caused the explosion.
     Only a person who was not devoted to his or her spouse would
say, my kids come first. My daughter knew, as soon as she could
understand, that anything I had to do for her father had to come
first. Throughout Patrick's and my life, we always kept her
informed of everything that was happening. Because of the
constant care I had to give to Patrick, he in turn gave quality
time to our daughter, never letting her feel that we loved her
any less because of the attention he had to get. Patrick and my
daughter Kimberly were very, very close, and she never regretted
coming second. Over the last eight years Patrick had three kidney
transplants, two life-threatening cases of pneumonia, congestive
heart failure, two leg amputations, and blindness. 
     I mention these complications, not to scare you or to say
all these things will happen to you, but to let you know of the
knowledge and experience I have. I am not a diabetic, a
professional, or a nurse. I have acquired all my knowledge and
experience from day-to-day living. Though I did everything in my
power to help make Patrick's life easier, I couldn't save him.
Patrick died November 29, 1991, after much suffering from his
second leg amputation and from being kept on a respirator.
Patrick was a saint on earth who never complained and who was an
example of strength, love, and courage for everyone who knew him.
He touched the lives of many people who drew from him his love,
patience, and positive attitude. All our family and friends think
he should be the patron saint of diabetics.
     Before Patrick died, we were trying to get together a
support group for Type 1 diabetics, age forty and older. We
wanted to pass along our knowledge, experience, and love to help
other diabetics who are beginning to face complications. Patrick
died before he got to see this happen, but I took a class from
the American Diabetes Association of Illinois and became
certified to head this group, which meets every Wednesday at my
house.
     It seems to me that losing one's spouse has to be the worst
pain any of us will ever face. But it becomes a total loss only
if nothing good comes from the pain. The good that has come from
Patrick's death is my ability to pass along my time, knowledge,
experience, and love to others so I can help them with their
problems. Some days my support group helps me more than I help
them. I also want to help them avoid the pain of complications by
assisting them to keep a closer watch on their diabetes and
preparing them for things to come. Of course, you all know about
the three most important disciplines a diabetic must acquire:
sensible diet, enough exercise, and good sugar control. From my
own personal experience I'd like to add two more that aren't
given much attention, but are very important. Controlling blood
pressure--I learned too late how very important this silent
killer is. If we had known then what I know now about blood
pressure, we could have been on top of things as complications
started to occur.
     I am told that many insurance companies will pay for a blood
pressure machine if you get a prescription from your doctor
stating that it is needed as preventive medicine for your
diabetes. This machine should be used side-by-side with your
blood sugar testing machine. This is the best advice I could ever
give you, because I see how our lack of knowledge about blood
pressure got Patrick into complications that we might have
avoided. We never had a hint of the high blood pressure until his
kidneys started to fail. As I understand it from doctors,
diabetics with severe neuropathy won't experience headaches or
other typical symptoms of high blood pressure.
     Patrick had a number of small heart attacks, which at the
time he thought were indigestion. He had no chest pains of the
kind I might have had. So please, if you remember one thing from
what I have said, please remember to watch and check your blood
pressure.
     The second point is to keep a journal. As a juvenile
diabetic remember that you used to get one shot of insulin a day
and take a blood test once a month. That management provided poor
control. In the early '80's more common access to glucometers
made it easier to test sugars as often as necessary, and doctors
discovered that two shots a day afforded better control. I'm
sorry Patrick couldn't have had the glucometer sooner. Just think
how much better control diabetics can achieve, therefore delaying
or slowing down diabetic complications.
     It wasn't until Patrick started to have kidney failure in
1983 that I began keeping a journal of his life. Each day I
recorded his sugars and blood pressure and kept notes of any
problem he might have that day. I divided the book into sections:
daily sugars, blood pressures, blood chemistries, hospital tests,
medications, hospitalizations, and complications. I never went
anywhere without my black book, which easily fit into my purse.
     We were always on top of the situation when he entered the
hospital or saw a doctor. Knowledge of his health status saved
him from repeated and unnecessary tests. When a doctor, and
Patrick had at least eight, asked whether he had had a specific
test, I referred to the journal and could immediately tell the
doctor the test date and result. This system saved a lot of time
for the doctors. Always being on top of things helped Patrick to
know he had control of his life. The journal also showed a record
of all of Patrick's medications.
     In closing I'd like to say thank you to fellow
Federationists Tony and Mary Burda; Steve Benson; and Ed Bryant,
the editor of the Voice of the Diabetic. They all gave Patrick
the courage and determination to move on with his life, knowing
he wasn't alone and that he had friends to help him with his
blindness. I know I still have a lot to learn about blindness,
and I hope to become a more active member of the National
Federation of the Blind.






                 ******************************
     If you or a friend would like 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,
1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230, a District of Columbia
nonprofit 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."
                 ******************************


[PHOTO/CAPTION: Fred Schroeder (right) talks with President Maurer on the dais
at the 1992 convention of the National Federation of the Blind.]

                        BRAILLE WORLDWIDE
                     by Fredric K. Schroeder

     The following address was delivered at the annual conference
of the California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually
Handicapped, March 14, 1992, by Fred Schroeder, Director of the
New Mexico Commission for the Blind, President of the
International Council on English Braille, and member of the Board
of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind. It was
first printed in the CTEVH Journal, Fall, 1992. Here it is: 

     Much is happening nationally and internationally concerning
Braille. Certainly we live in a time when it is getting more
emphasis, which has resulted in greater availability and
increased attention to instruction. Before cataloguing these
changes, we must recognize what is cause and what effect. When
discussing Braille, it is easy to focus on the changes that have
taken place. But all of this increased attention is the natural
outgrowth of a growing conviction that literacy represents
perhaps the most necessary tool if blind people are to live full
and productive lives. In other words, the desire of and for blind
people to function on terms of equality has driven the move
toward recognizing Braille literacy as a vital step toward their
meaningful integration.
     The activity surrounding Braille is in many respects
dramatic and encouraging. In 1982 an International Conference on
English Literary Braille Grade II was held in Washington, D.C.
The conference was the first of three organized by the
International Coordinating Committee on English Literary Braille.
In 1988 a second conference was held in London, England, at which
time it was determined that a permanent international
organization should be established to continue the work of the
Washington and London conferences. On May 30 and 31 and June 1,
1991, an International Conference on English Language Braille was
held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadian National Institute
for the Blind hosted the conference at its Lake Joseph Holiday
Centre. A primary goal of that meeting was to work toward
international cooperation among countries which produce English-
Language Braille. During this conference a new organization, the
International Council on English Braille (ICEB), was founded.
ICEB is headquartered at the Canadian National Institute for the
Blind. Its purpose is to provide a medium for international
cooperation among national standard-setting bodies on English
Language Braille.
     The creation of this new organization is encouraging both
from the perspective of the organization's stated purpose and for
what it represents in international cooperation. Through the
London and Washington conferences people representing standard-
setting bodies from throughout the English-speaking world came
together to discuss many of the problems of Braille today and
tomorrow. Coming together helped foster understanding among the
participants, in ways both important and insignificant. For
example, at the London conference I first learned that in the
United Kingdom the term "full stop" is used in place of our term
"period." Similarly, prior to the London conference I had never
heard the term "oblique stroke" and was surprised to learn that
our term "slash" was not universal. While these two examples are
themselves not significant, they speak to an important point. The
Washington and London conferences afforded an opportunity for key
decision makers to get to know one another and become familiar
with each other's customs and points of view. As well as reaching
consensus on important issues, lasting friendships were made
which were to form the cornerstone of true cooperation. Shortly
after ICEB was founded, the organization's purpose of promoting
international coordination and cooperation was put to the test.
     In October of 1991 the Braille Authority of North America
(BANA) decided to undertake a project to explore the
consolidation of its various codes (omitting music) into a single
unified code. This study came about as a result of a paper
proposing the idea of a single unified code, written by Dr. Tim
Cranmer and Dr. Abraham Nemeth. At the time that paper was
written, I was skeptical about whether the idea had merit. I must
admit that much of my skepticism came from my general suspicion
of change. In October, when Dr. Cranmer and Dr. Nemeth presented
their ideas to the BANA Board, I was surprised not only by my own
receptiveness to their ideas, but by the openness of the entire
Board to the concept of grappling with the complexities inherent
in such a radical change. This tremendously ambitious project
will be directed by a committee consisting of the members of the
BANA Board, Dr. Abraham Nemeth, Dr. Tim Cranmer, and Mr. Joe
Sullivan.
     As with the creation of ICEB, the BANA project is a striking
example of openness and cooperation. A commitment to greater
readability and ease of production is certainly a strong
encouragement for looking seriously at a major restructuring of
Braille. The cycle of cause and effect--forces for change causing
a shift in thinking and by so doing toppling the status quo--can
be seen in the BANA project.
     As I said, this project has important implications for the
fledgling organization of ICEB. One of its fundamental objectives
is to move toward greater consistency among the codes used
throughout the English-speaking world. If BANA undertakes a
project to explore a major restructuring of its code, then the
next logical extension would be to involve others in the process.
In December of 1991 Darleen Bogart, Chairman of BANA, and I
telephoned key decision makers in the United Kingdom to test the
idea of expanding the BANA project to create an internationally
acceptable unified code. 
     Since initially I had been skeptical about the idea, I was
amazed when the project was greeted with immediate interest. To
me the most dramatic implication of considering an international
code is that such an exploration would require all parties
involved to lay their respective codes on the table. I do not
wish to paint an unrealistic picture for you. We may not be able
to agree upon an international code. I do not know whether ICEB
will even be willing to undertake its exploration formally. For
that matter, I can not predict whether the BANA project will
yield a productive outcome in North America. Nevertheless, the
significance of these events and the cooperation they represent
is itself dramatic. The very movement toward increased Braille
literacy is a stimulus for change. It is part of the cause and
effect relationship which allows one action to build upon
another, setting the stage for progress. Other examples of this
increased move toward cooperation are evident internationally. In
March of 1992 a group from sixteen nations meeting in Zurich made
significant progress toward establishing an internationally
recognized music code.
     Here in the United States the Braille literacy movement can
be seen in many ways. Today ten states [the number has now risen
to fourteen] have adopted Braille bills--a public policy
statement about the legitimate role of Braille as a literacy tool
for the blind. Five years ago, when the first Braille bill was
introduced, the idea was controversial and sparked suspicion;
resentment; and, in some cases, open hostility. At that time
Braille bills were regarded as a condemnation of the education
system for blind children and hence were viewed as an attack on
professionals in the field of work with the blind. Today, only
five years after passage of the first Braille bill, the mood has
changed. In many states parents, educators, and adult blind
people are coming together, not to debate whether a Braille bill
should be introduced, but to collaborate on the best way to craft
the bill. In addition to the requirement that Braille be
considered by the IEP team, two other elements have surfaced in
more recent Braille bills. One is a requirement for competency
testing for teachers of blind children, and the other, which was
included in the Texas bill adopted in the summer of '91, requires
textbook publishers to make materials available in a machine-
readable format for easy translation into Braille.
     The stimulus for the introduction of Braille bills was a
shared conviction that our nation has produced a generation of
virtually illiterate blind children due to the lack of Braille
instruction. Many things contributed to this problem, not the
least of which was the mainstreaming movement itself. With a
nationwide shortage of trained teachers and children more widely
distributed throughout local schools, teachers were faced with
the very real problem of choosing print or Braille instruction
for a child they were scheduled to see only an hour or two a
week. The temptation to favor the print medium, with which they
were more familiar, was compounded by a mindset that presumed
print reading was superior to Braille. In the 1970's educators
came to regard Braille implicitly or explicitly as an antiquated
tool for reading. Many felt that new technology would make
Braille obsolete, so there was little motivation for teachers to
learn the code and even less to teach it.
     But a generation of illiterate children has stimulated a
counterforce bent on changing this direction before another
generation is lost. It is not surprising that we are now hearing
a call for better preparation of teachers as well as competency
testing to insure that those charged with the education of blind
children are themselves competent to provide instruction in
Braille reading and writing. Ironically, although fifteen years
ago the experts believed that technology would make Braille
obsolete, in fact the opposite has proven to be true. With an
increased emphasis on Braille, technology has been applied to the
problem, the effect being greater availability of Braille than
ever before.
     It is not surprising that increasing attention has been
focused on Braille literacy since literacy generally has become a
central topic in America today. The need for blind youngsters to
be literate is in many ways self-evident. Literacy for these
children, as for sighted ones, is vital to their competing
successfully in an increasingly demanding world market. A command
of the English language and the ability to read and write are
essential to everyone for effective communication. Yet as I
prepared for this afternoon's presentation, I had a sense that
for me as a blind person the importance of literacy took on a
dimension which transcended the readily recognizable importance
of being literate. I could not help feeling that the role of
Braille in my personal life and its absolute importance to me
were somehow connected to the cause-and-effect relationships
outlined earlier, which have resulted in the current emphasis on
Braille.
     I have a personal and deep-seated loyalty to Braille, not
simply because it affords me the ability to read and write. For
me Braille is part of my liberation from a debilitating mindset
and a body of beliefs premised on the assumption of limitation
and hopelessness. Braille allows me to organize my work, to jot
down an address, or to read a recipe; but it also represents the
tangible expression of the truth of the principle that, given
training and opportunity, blind people can function competitively
in society.
     When I was seven years old, I became legally blind. Over the
next nine years my vision gradually decreased. During this time I
was not taught Braille; however, this was also during the period
which has come to be known as the sightsaving era. This concept
was based on the belief that to use remaining vision would cause
it to decrease. For this reason I was not allowed to read print
while simultaneously being discouraged from reading Braille. The
real tragedy was that as a child I already had deeply ingrained
negative attitudes about blindness. I equated it with inferiority
and therefore wanted nothing to do with Braille or any other
skills which blind people use. As my vision decreased, I fell
into a pattern of believing that what I could not see, I could
not do. Blindness for me represented helplessness, and my fear of
blindness had prevented me from learning the skills which would
have allowed me to function. My lack of literacy meant that I had
no means by which to read and write, but additionally it
contributed to my fundamental feelings of inadequacy and
isolation.
     After becoming totally blind, I can remember a hospital
social worker bringing me a Braille watch. I vividly remember
struggling to distinguish the dots on the face of the watch and
finding it virtually impossible to distinguish between the hour
hand and the minute hand, but in a short time I had managed to
learn how to read my watch quickly and accurately and by so doing
experienced a sense of exhilaration. While I was not yet truly
reading, that experience sparked my recognition that as a blind
person I was not entirely helpless--dependent on those around me
for even the most basic information. Rather than representing my
most negative fears about blindness, Braille started to be a
means of liberation. For the first time I began to view my
limitations as stemming from my lack of training rather than from
my lack of eyesight. For the first time a technique associated
with blindness became a source of pride, and I began to
understand that perhaps I could function competitively as a blind
person using alternative techniques. 
     While I was in college, I had an experience which
represented a milestone in my life. In the fall of 1974 here in
Los Angeles, I attended a convention of the National Federation
of the Blind. There I was first exposed to blind people who were
living active, normal lives. I met blind people who were holding
professional jobs, buying their own homes, and raising families,
all of which I had believed were unattainable for me as a blind
person. Rather than fitting my preconception of what life as a
blind person must be, these men and women were living rich and
fulfilling lives, competing effectively in society. These were
people I could admire and whom I wished to be like.
     A man who stands out in my mind was Lawrence (Muzzy)
Marcelino. When I met him, he asked my name, and I can remember
his reaching into his pocket and pulling out a slate and stylus
to take down my address and phone number. This seemingly small
act was nevertheless significant in my life. Muzzy's use of the
slate and stylus represented literacy, but it also represented a
shaking off of societal stereotypes about blindness. Muzzy
believed he could function competitively and so quite naturally
put his beliefs into practice. I, on the other hand, was just
awakening to the realization that my fears and misconceptions
about blindness were driving my actions and hence were primarily
responsible for my inability to compete. Braille for me came to
represent literacy in my life with all the advantages normally
associated with literacy. The element that I regard as most
crucial is that Braille also came to symbolize tangible proof of
my ability to live a normal life.
     The decline in Braille use in our country over the past two
decades is nothing less than a tragedy. Children growing up
during this period have suffered lost opportunities by having
inadequate ability to read and write, compounded by an increase
in lowered self-esteem and diminished expectations. You in this
room have contributed in an important way to reversing this
trend, helping blind children reach their true potential through
the teaching and producing of Braille. Your efforts have helped
many attain literacy and, through it, increased opportunity. 
     In this room this afternoon is a young woman who grew up in
California and received special education services through the
public schools. Although she was diagnosed with retinitis
pigmentosa, the conventional wisdom of the time indicated that
she had too much vision to be taught Braille. By the time she
graduated from high school, she was no longer able to read print;
yet she had no alternate means of reading and writing. Through
ingenuity and hard work she managed to get through college with
good grades, while paying a severe price in damaged self-
confidence. Fortunately for her, she recognized her need for
training. After completing college, she entered the Louisiana
Center for the Blind for six months of intensive training in
Braille, cane travel, and the other skills of blindness. I
remember listening to a presentation she made shortly after
completing her training. After having read Braille for only six
months, she read Braille faster than she had ever been able to
read print. So Braille represented both literacy and freedom to
her.
     The movement toward increased emphasis on Braille is
gathering momentum; and, as with all social change, events are
driving other events. To understand the cause-and-effect
relationship which has resulted in today's Braille movement, we
must first understand that Braille symbolizes both literacy and a
change in our own attitudes about blindness. At first glance it
seems obvious that two decades of diminished literacy have
provided the driving force for today's Braille renaissance. Yet
exploring further discloses that the fundamental shift in our
attitudes about blindness has made diminished literacy for blind
people intolerable. If we expect very little from blind people,
then illiteracy, rather than a problem requiring solution, is
accepted as a natural situation, consistent with our low
expectations.
     The Braille movement today is not simply a response to the
condition of illiteracy. It is also the outgrowth of the very
positive influence of changing social attitudes. With increased
expectations for ourselves as blind people, we expand our
potential. As we believe we can do more, we naturally look for
the tools necessary to translate our beliefs into action. As
teachers and producers of Braille, you have seen the effects of
your labor in the lives of those with whom you have worked. As
your efforts result in increased opportunities, your positive
perception of blindness and expectations for blind people are
reinforced and expanded.
     This change in our conception of blindness gives meaning to
the Braille movement. It gives purpose to the new initiatives
aimed at greater literacy. The new spirit of cooperation
resulting in the adoption of Braille bills, the development of
NLS competency testing, and the initiation of ventures with
textbook publishers to make Braille more available to school
children is directly attributable to this fundamental change in
our conceptions. In North America it has led us to undertake a
project to study the idea of a unified literary and math code.
     We can see the same spirit of cooperation internationally,
and I believe it can be explained by the same cause-and-effect
relationship between increased expectations and greater emphasis
on Braille literacy. The momentum which has developed may well
result in a single internationally recognized literary and math
code. This same momentum has already brought us to the threshold
of an internationally agreed-upon music code.
     Throughout this process mistakes will inevitably be made.
Bad decisions will be reached which will need to be reviewed and
repaired. Some changes will make Braille more awkward and less
readable and will perhaps result in real harm to people. Yet the
momentum underway brings the promise of true progress. Many years
ago I remember being warned, "If you are not making mistakes,
then you are not doing anything." There will be problems as
progress is made, yet progress is clearly in evidence.
     Braille has allowed me to unlock many doors. It has helped
me attain literacy and enabled me to shake off doubt and
uncertainty in myself. For this reason I thank you for your role
in helping scores of blind children to acquire the tools to reach
their full potential. Collectively we are part of the cause-and-
effect relationship stimulating change. Self-confidence and a
changing perception of blindness must be nourished by the success
which comes from having the ability to put that confidence into
action. Your efforts and your dedication have touched countless
lives, sustaining the momentum in the cycle of cause and effect,
leading us closer to the promise of true integration for the
blind.


[PHOTO: Portrait. CAPTION: Curtis Chong.]

     TECHNOLOGY AND THE REHABILITATION SYSTEM FOR THE BLIND:
                     A CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE
                         by Curtis Chong

     From the Editor: Curtis Chong is President of the National
Federation of the Blind in Computer Science, and there are few
people in the country today with a better working knowledge of
the whole range of computer technology useful to blind people,
and none with more skill, patience, and creativity in assisting
blind computer users who find themselves in a technological
pickle. I know, because I've been there, and Curtis has
extricated me with speed, good humor, and common sense. He talks
and works with hundreds of people each year who are fighting to
make sense of the technological revolution for themselves and who
are struggling to persuade the rehabilitation establishment to do
what it should to assist them.
     In recent months he has twice been asked to address
gatherings of rehabilitation and technology professionals about
issues of particular concern to blind consumers. What follows is
first a letter Curtis Chong wrote to John Maxson, Associate
Director of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on
Blindness and Low Vision at Mississippi State University, when
Mr. Chong returned home after the most recent of these speeches.
It raises concerns that will undoubtedly become more frequent now
that Braille materials for such conferences are increasingly
available. Here is the letter:


                                          Minneapolis, Minnesota 
                                                    April 4, 1993

Mr. John H. Maxson
Mississippi State, Mississippi 

Dear John:
     Let me begin this letter by thanking you personally for your
efforts to arrange for someone from the National Federation of
the Blind to speak at conferences sponsored by the Rehabilitation
Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision (RRTC).
As you know, I have been privileged to represent the Federation
at two such conferences. The first took place last August in
Atlanta, Georgia, and the second in Seattle, Washington, March 30
through April 2. The theme of both gatherings was "Let's Not
Reinvent the Wheel." Both conferences were developed for an
audience consisting of rehabilitation professionals in the field
of work with the blind. The principal focus for both was
technology, both high-tech and low-tech. A fair number of
conference participants were themselves blind, and Braille
agendas were available for their use. I myself was provided with
a Braille agenda at both conferences, which brings me to the
reason for this letter.
     Last summer, at the Atlanta conference, I pointed out to you
and members of your staff that there were formatting problems in
the Braille agenda. I was told then that the reason for the
formatting problems was that the final printed agenda had not
been available until the last minute. At the time I let the
matter rest. I felt that the point had been made and that steps
would be taken to prevent a similar occurrence of the problem in
future conferences.
     You can imagine my surprise when I looked over the Braille
agenda for the Seattle conference and came across the very same
formatting problems so prominent in the Braille agenda for the
Atlanta conference. Here is an excerpt in print of how the
Braille agenda appeared:

   March 31, 1993
 Breakfast Keynote Session
 "Using Technology for
7:30 -- 9:00 Carl
 AugustoPlacement
  In The 21st Century"

 Session 1 Seahawks
9:00 -- 10:00 "Just The FAX:
 A Technology William
 Crandall
 Solution For Independence"

     As you can see from the foregoing example, titles for
individual program items are mixed with the names of presenters
in a way that makes the agenda extremely difficult to read. Such
errors would simply never have been accepted by anyone producing
a printed agenda. I find it more than a little insulting that the
producers of the Braille agenda allowed these errors to pass
without either comment or apology.
     I cannot understand why something as trivial as a properly
formatted Braille agenda should be so difficult to produce. There
is certainly no technological reason for the problem. Using a
computer equipped with Braille translation software, it is a
relatively simple matter to key in text by hand along with the
proper Braille-formatting commands. I know that there is at least
one staff member employed by RRTC who is blind and a Braille
reader. This fact makes it doubly surprising that conference
organizers would allow poorly formatted Braille agendas to be
produced and handed out.
     John, I know that I was not a conference participant per se,
merely a presenter. However, I am a blind person, a strong
believer in Braille, and someone who happens to know more than a
little about Braille translation systems. Braille agendas are, in
and of themselves, a pretty small thing to get upset about.
However, through its various conferences RRTC is sending messages
to the field of work with the blind. Most of those messages are
about accessibility for persons who are blind, technology that
fosters independence, job placement in the community on a basis
of equality, and productivity. The Braille agendas distributed at
the two RRTC conferences I attended reinforce the notion that it
is all right for the blind to receive an inferior product.
Personally I find this notion completely unacceptable.
     As I understand it, the RRTC acts as a training resource for
rehabilitation agencies throughout the country. I am told that
agencies for the blind send their technology specialists to your
program for training in technology. I would hope that the quality
of the Braille agendas produced by RRTC is not an accurate
reflection of the quality of the training it provides.
     John, as you can see, I am more than a little put out about
this business with the Braille agendas. When I first met you last
summer in Atlanta, I was heartened to discover that you were a
person who believed in the abilities of persons who are blind to
function as contributing and productive members of society. Your
initiatives to involve consumers in RRTC conferences is a
reflection of your belief in blind people. My strong statements
deploring the quality of the Braille agendas are not meant as an
attack upon you personally. In fact, now that I have brought this
matter to your attention, I feel sure that you will do everything
in your power to solve the problem. I look forward to hearing
from you soon.

                                                 Yours sincerely,
                                                     Curtis Chong

cc: Marc Maurer, President
     National Federation of the Blind
Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, President Emeritus
     National Federation of the Blind

     That was the letter Curtis Chong wrote to John Maxson, and
in addition to raising concerns about the low quality of Braille
materials at technology conferences, the letter describes the
composition and intent of the conferences at which Mr. Chong was
asked to speak. Here are the remarks that he delivered at the
Spring, 1993, RRTC conference on technology for rehabilitation
professionals: 

     On behalf of the National Federation of the Blind and the
National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science, I would
like to thank you for this opportunity to talk about the role
played by the rehabilitation system in providing technology to
persons who are blind. It has often been said that the age of
computers is upon us. This is certainly true in the workplace.
Today you can't get a job as a receptionist or a pizza order-
taker without knowing how to run a computer. Word processing,
accounting, and data base management and electronic mail systems
are commonplace in large and small offices. Any new employee
coming on board is expected either to be familiar with the
software used in the corporation or to master it quickly. The
blind job-seeker is subject to this requirement as well. However,
given the fact that computers are not originally designed to
produce Braille, speech, or magnified output, coupled with the
increasing use of the graphical user interface (more on that
later), the blind job-seeker is confronted by additional problems
which most potential employers are ill-equipped to handle.
     The federal/state vocational rehabilitation system is today
the primary source of funding and technical assistance for blind
job-seekers who need assistive technology for their employment.
This is not a trivial task. Literally millions of dollars have
already been spent on computers and related technology for blind
clients. Rehabilitation professionals who probably entered the
field because they wanted to "work with people," have found
themselves turned into rehabilitation engineers or technology
specialists, simply to keep up with the exponential growth in
computer use occasioned by the acceptance of the microcomputer in
the workplace.
     How has the rehabilitation system responded to the challenge
of the computer age? Is there enough technical expertise in the
field of work with the blind to deal knowledgeably and
effectively with employers about matters involving their computer
systems? Has the rehabilitation system provided funding for
technology whenever and wherever needed and in a timely manner?
Do technology specialists regard technology with unbridled and
unqualified enthusiasm or with pragmatism and good old-fashioned
common sense? In short, how has the system responded to the
technological needs of blind clients?
     The other day I came across an announcement for a
receptionist opening, posted by my employer, IDS Financial
Services. In addition to the usual statements about good
telephone skills, ability to get along with people, and so on,
the announcement stated that use of word processing and
electronic mail software on a Macintosh computer would be
required. How would your typical rehabilitation agency deal with
this potential opportunity? Here are some questions that
immediately come to mind:

1. Is there any screen access technology available that would
enable a blind person to use the Macintosh without sighted
assistance?
2. If such technology exists, does it provide output in
synthesized speech, Braille, or large print?
3. Which form of output is most compatible with the blind job
applicant's skills and abilities?
4. Is the technology compatible with the software that will be
used on the job?
5. Who will finance the technology?
6. Who is going to train the blind person in the use of the
technology, not to mention the word processing and E/MAIL
software that must be used on the job?
7. Who will install the screen-access technology on the
Macintosh?
8. Who will tailor the speech output, modify the configurations,
and write the programs that may be required to meet the needs of
the blind computer user?

     In this specific situation we are fortunate because there is
screen-access technology available for the Macintosh computer:
Berkeley Systems' outSPOKEN program. But somebody has to know
this before it can even be proposed as a possible solution. If
this is the first time that the corporation has ever hired a
blind person, it is not likely to know about outSPOKEN. And
suppose for a moment that the receptionist is required to use
another brand of computer--one for which screen access technology
is not available. Or suppose that outSPOKEN is not compatible
with any of the software that the receptionist has to use on the
job. Who will have the expertise necessary to develop
alternatives to solve the problem? Clearly in this regard the
technology specialist represents a valuable source of information
and technical know-how. Unfortunately there are not enough
rehabilitation agencies possessing the necessary technical
knowledge and understanding to deal with a problem of this
magnitude. Why?
     One reason is that rehabilitation agencies have tended to
hire technology specialists with a rehabilitation background who
have been forced to learn about technology as opposed to having a
natural aptitude for it. Another is that some rehabilitation
agencies have not recognized the importance of technological
know-how and therefore have no technology specialist on board to
deal with technological problems. In all fairness, even if a
natural technologist could be found, I wonder whether a
rehabilitation agency could afford to pay the going rate.
     If a successful job placement is to be achieved and if the
use of a computer is involved, it is vital to choose the correct
screen access technology, and it is critical that this technology
be compatible with the software that will be used on the job.
This is not an easy task. It requires an in-depth grasp of the
technologies that enable the blind to use computers independently
plus some knowledge and understanding of the software that will
be used on the job--for instance, the E/MAIL system, terminal
access system, or word processor. In today's world of local-area
networks, wide-area networks, and terminal-emulation systems, you
can't just connect two computers and expect them to talk to each
other. 
     The expertise required here has more to do with engineering
and software management than it does with specialties of job
adaptation and psychological behavior. Unless the rehabilitation
system can muster the resources to hire true technologists (i.e.,
individuals with backgrounds in engineering, computers, or
electronics), I am afraid that the field of work with the blind
will find itself slipping further and further behind, and
agencies for the blind will not be able to deal knowledgeably and
effectively with potential employers on matters of technology.
Sadly, the only real losers in these situations are the blind
clients who need employment.
     Let us now consider the question of who should pay for the
rather expensive technology that a blind person may need to do a
particular job. Today what seems to happen is that both parties,
the rehabilitation agency and the employer, dicker with each
other to try to get the other party to pay. The rehabilitation
agency is typically interested in getting the employer to
contribute to the cost of the technology and probably feels
morally obligated to do so in light of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA). The employer, on the other hand, having
never employed a blind person before and perceiving a financial
risk, tries to get the agency to pay for the technology. In the
middle is the blind person, who is interested only in getting the
job. If both parties, agency and employer, are sufficiently
intractable, nobody pays for any equipment, and the blind person
loses. Arguably the rehabilitation agency should be prepared to
purchase any required technology, particularly if (1) this is the
first job ever obtained by the blind client or (2) this is the
first time the prospective employer has ever considered hiring
someone who is blind. Once the blind person has proven his or her
ability to do the job, the employer is likely to be more willing
to purchase any technology that might be needed in the future. In
fact, the employer should be expected to purchase any required
technology after the blind person has proven his or her ability
to do the job. This is certainly in accord with the reasonable
accommodation requirements of the ADA.
     I want to talk with you now about the procurement process
and similar benefits. Together they have been used to delay the
purchase of badly needed technology. In Minnesota, for example, I
was involved in a case in which a blind law student required a
Braille embosser. There was no question that the embosser was
necessary. Yet his rehabilitation counselor had the temerity to
suggest that he go begging to the Lions Club for money because,
after all, the client was required to search for similar
benefits. After the counselor was persuaded by agency management
to go ahead with the purchase, the procurement process kicked in.
All we wanted to do was purchase a VersaPoint Braille embosser.
But the state purchasing system required that the embosser be put
out for bid. All in all, it has been four-and-a-half months since
the client first requested the embosser. You can be sure that he
still doesn't have it. The only positive thing that can be said
about this experience is that a job wasn't on the line.
     As chairman of the Committee on Assistive Technology of the
National Federation of the Blind, I receive a lot of calls and
letters from blind people who need technology to help them with
education or employment. A blind student needed a computer to get
a job as a programmer. A blind clerk-typist needed a portable
computer to help her advance on the job. A blind medical
transcriber needed a word processor to operate her transcribing
business at home. These people had a legitimate need for
technology but were denied funding assistance from their state
rehabilitation agencies. They felt it was better to incur a debt
of several thousand dollars than to go without the equipment.
Surely the rehabilitation system could and should have helped
these people.
     Blind students have a unique problem when it comes to
funding for technology. When I went to college some twenty or so
years ago, the only students who used computers were the computer
science or management information systems majors. If you could
use a manual typewriter, you could turn in a decent-looking paper
and receive a good grade on it. Today the word processor and the
microcomputer have come of age on the college campus. In many
instances, students are required to prepare their written
assignments on the computer. How is the blind student to compete?
     To their credit a growing number of colleges and
universities are installing speech output systems in their
computer centers so that blind students, like their sighted
peers, can write their papers using a word processor. This is
fine for many students. However, there are individual cases in
which purchasing a computer may be the best option for the blind
college student. Yet agencies for the blind in some states are
totally inflexible about the matter. In states such as California
and Michigan the agency simply will not, under any circumstances,
purchase computers for blind college students. By contrast, in my
home state of Minnesota, the agency for the blind has purchased
computers for some of its clients who are college students. In
one case the computer was an invaluable resource when it came
time for the student to work as a law clerk during the summer.
Using the PC that the state agency had obtained for him, the
student was able to link into the law firm's mid-range computer
system and work on documents prepared by others in the office.
     I promised earlier to talk about the graphical user
interface (GUI, as it has come to be known). There was a time
when you could count on most new PC-based software to run under
the Disk Operating System (DOS), and you could count on most
commercial software to display information using ASCII text.
Today that is no longer the case. More and more new PC
applications are being written to run under the Windows platform,
which utilizes the graphical user interface. The Apple Macintosh,
which came along well before Windows, already uses the GUI. So
does IBM's OS/2 Presentation Manager. All of these platforms are
enjoying growing popularity in the workplace. Everybody wants
applications that utilize client/server architecture and present
information using the graphical user interface. Fortunately each
one of these systems (Windows, the Macintosh, and OS/2) has some
means for independent access. I know for a fact that by the
middle of this coming summer there will be at least three screen
access programs for the Windows platform. However, the Macintosh
and OS/2 will each continue to have only one vendor for screen
access. And to add complexity to an already complex mess, there
is talk in the industry of having GUI applications running under
the Unix operating system, for which today there is no screen-
access technology. Those of you who keep up with such things have
no doubt heard about Sun workstations and the IBM RS-6000
computer.
     No access system for the GUI runs perfectly and without
problems today, and none of the access technologies available
will provide access to all GUI applications. How will the
rehabilitation establishment step up to the GUI challenge? Will
it wring its hands in frustration and yearn for a return to the
good old days? Or will it meet the challenge head on, hire
technically competent specialists, and learn about and influence
the development of access technology for the GUI? I hope that the
latter will come to pass.
     Whenever I talk to groups on the subject of technology, I
always try to put in a plug for basic blindness skills. It is
unreasonable, I think, to expect a blind person to operate a
computer with ease and proficiency without these skills. The
blind job-seeker needs to be able to travel independently, take
notes with ease, read and write efficiently, and handle printed
material with minimal difficulty. For many blind people this
means competence in the use of the white cane, proficiency in the
reading and writing of Braille, and the ability to acquire and
manage sighted readers. Without basic skills the blind computer
user will have great difficulty reading printed documentation,
taking notes about new software, and learning a keyboard layout.
Rehabilitation agencies must ensure that their clients receive
proper training in these areas so that, when a job opportunity
presents itself, blindness will not be a significant factor. My
experience indicates that a lot of work still needs to be done
here.
     As I hope I've made plain throughout this talk, this
business of technology for the blind is an extremely complex and
fast-changing affair, requiring new strategies and approaches
from the rehabilitation establishment. Computers and technology
are here to stay. Whether we like it or not, our society has
entered the computer age, and the blind are being swept along in
the tide. As consumers we want rehabilitation agencies to provide
the positive philosophy, the technical assistance, and the
funding required to enable us to maintain parity with our sighted
peers. We also want rehabilitation personnel to view technology
in its proper perspective. Technology, in and of itself, cannot
provide blind people with equal treatment and acceptance in the
community. Technology alone will not persuade reluctant employers
to open the door and take a chance on a blind employee. On the
other hand, technology has helped the blind to perform jobs that
twenty years ago didn't even exist. Technology has enabled the
blind to receive more Braille than ever before, and it has opened
the door to a vast array of electronic networks and bulletin
boards. The rehabilitation system, working in concert with blind
consumers, can meet the challenge.



[PHOTO: Jerry Whittle and student seated at table reading Braille documents.
CAPTION: Jerry Whittle works with student Roy Morris, who is learning
Braille.]

                 BUILDING Braille READING SPEED:
                    SOME HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS
                        by Jerry Whittle

     From the Editor: For those of us who were not taught to read
Braille efficiently as children or who did not become blind until
adulthood, there are three Braille-reading options. We can sit
around lamenting our bad luck and wishing that we could read
Braille the way President Maurer does during his banquet
addresses. We can learn a little Braille and use it gratefully
but with some difficulty--complaining all the while about the
frustration of not having Braille as a really first-rate tool of
literacy. Or we can set to and work on increasing our reading
speed on the theory that any increase will improve the usefulness
of Braille and our competitiveness in the job market and in life.

     Speaking personally, I have chosen the last alternative and
have been working to increase my reading speed for several years
now. Perhaps that is why I found the following article both
interesting and challenging. Finding the time to read 10,000
pages or more of Braille a year, as Jerry Whittle recommends,
sounds like a tall order to me, but I have discovered that the
more one reads, the faster the words slide past under one's
fingers, and I am already reading between ten and fifteen pages a
day. 
     Mr. Whittle teaches Braille at the Louisiana Center for the
Blind. He certainly knows what he is talking about when he gives
advice about increasing Braille reading speed. This article first
appeared in the Winter, 1993, edition of The Pathfinder, the
publication of the National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana.
Here is what Mr. Whittle has to say: 

     Over the past seven years I have had the opportunity to
teach over two hundred blind persons to read Braille. During that
period I have timed twelve students at rates of greater than
three hundred words per minute. Of course, all of these rapid
readers had been reading Braille since early childhood, and none
of them needed to improve speed; however, there were some
interesting similarities among many of them that are worthy of
noting. First of all, eleven of the twelve read with two hands,
starting the line with the left hand and finishing it with the
right. Meanwhile, the left dropped down to the next line to find
the beginning and start reading as soon as the right hand had
finished. Only one of the twelve read more than three hundred
words per minute using only the right hand. In fact, he read over
five hundred words per minute. One of these twelve read one
hundred sixty-nine words a minute when he entered the center. At
the beginning of his training he read with his left hand only,
but he moved both hands across the entire line and brought both
all the way back to the beginning of the next line, losing
approximately one second per line because of the inefficiency of
this method. We encouraged him to read the first half of each
line with his left hand, then track down to the beginning of the
next line while finishing the line with his right. Once he
started practicing this more efficient method, he no longer lost
that second on each line since he could pick up the next one with
his left hand as soon as his right had finished the last. As a
consequence he increased his reading speed from one hundred
sixty-nine to three hundred two words a minute before graduating.
     After years of teaching, it is absolutely clear to me that
the two-handed technique is by far the superior method. I
remember another student who read only sixty words per minute
when she entered the center. She read with only her right hand.
She also took the advice to begin using both hands, and she
increased her reading speed from sixty to one hundred twenty
words per minute in six months; however, I should point out that
she also read over three thousand Braille pages while she was a
student at the Louisiana Center for the Blind. 
     The number of pages read is an extremely important factor in
building speed. A large proportion of Braille readers read at a
rate of fifty to seventy words per minute. In order to increase
speed, once someone is reading at sixty words a minute or more,
he or she should read a minimum of ten thousand Braille pages a
year, two hundred fifty pages a week, thirty-five pages a day--
give or take a few pages. 
     Setting goals is another important factor in attaining good
or excellent reading speeds. I would suggest that one set page
goals per day. For example, I currently have a student who has
just finished Grade II Braille, and she is working diligently to
build speed. When she first completed the code, she began to read
a short novel, setting a goal of ten pages per day. She set aside
a certain time in the evening to accomplish this rather ambitious
task. During her first time test she read twenty-four words per
minute. During the next month she faithfully maintained her page
goal and even increased it to about fifteen pages per day. In her
last timing she read forty-five words per minute. Of course, some
of this speed resulted from her being able to pick up words more
rapidly from context, and this ability accelerated her reading
rate. Some of the improvement also resulted from her growing
ability to pick up the signs more easily through constant
practice and in general from her consistent hard work.
     I have noticed that most of the students who really work
hard attain a level of about sixty words per minute rather
quickly after completing the code, usually in two to three
months. Then the rate of speed levels off. This observation is
not based on a controlled study but merely on my observation.
What usually happens is that students are able to increase speed
rapidly because the faster they read, the more it makes sense to
them, and the more they pick up by context. For example, "Jack
and Jill went up the ...": it does not take a mental giant to
guess that the final word of this sentence will be "hill."
However, once the student has reached a speed that takes account
of contextual prediction, the rate levels off, and it then takes
reading a tremendous number of pages to continue to increase
steadily--at least ten thousand pages per year.
     The best readers at the Louisiana Center for the Blind who
knew no Braille before entering the Center have learned to read
at a rate of fifty to seventy-five words per minute in six to
nine months. The student in this category who attained the
greatest speed before graduation read at a rate of seventy-five
words per minute. That person read over eight thousand pages
during that six-month period. She actually stayed in her
apartment on many weekends and read Braille diligently. In other
words she approached her Braille reading as if it were a job.
     I would also suggest that those working to increase their
reading speed work on their Braille before becoming too fatigued.
If you are an early morning person, read early in the day. I know
a former student who arises at five o'clock in the morning to
read Braille before he begins to prepare for school at seven.
Others are able to read late at night and set aside the time to
do so. I also think it is important to read aloud during part of
this reading time so that one does not develop sloppy reading
habits. For example, when one reads aloud, it is hard to mumble
through words; one must be exact. Also, by reading aloud
periodically, one can begin to develop good reading techniques
for delivering speeches or for reading in public places, such as
church or before civic organizations. Additionally, reading aloud
enables one to hear how fast he or she is picking up a line or to
identify where any problems lie. I once had a student who was
timed at three hundred fifteen words per minute. When she read
aloud in public, she tried to read at that speed. She sounded
like she was on fast forward. While she attended the center, she
worked on improving her speech-making techniques. She tried to
slow down to a reading rate of about one hundred twenty words per
minute, and her speaking style improved tremendously.
Incidentally, President Clinton's Inaugural Address was read at a
rate of one hundred twenty words per minute, about the proper
rate for communication of ideas without losing one's audience.
     Another suggestion is to set a timer for five minutes and
read aloud during this interval. If you can finish a Braille page
in five minutes, you are reading at a rate of forty words per
minute. If you read two pages, your rate is eighty words per
minute. If you complete three, you are reading at a rate of one
hundred twenty words per minute. By setting a timer periodically,
one can see how much progress is being made, and the timer acts
as a very good motivator to read faster.
     In conclusion I would say that building reading speed
requires hard work and consistency. It does little good to read
thirty pages in one day and wait a week to read another thirty
pages. The reading must be done on a consistent, day-by-day basis
until a certain level of efficiency has been established. One
must approach the challenge of increasing reading speed in the
same way one approaches a job. Many students carry Dr. Jernigan's
and President Maurer's banquet speeches around with them on trips
in order to get in some reading in airplanes or in doctor's
offices. These Braille speeches are lightweight and quite
portable. It is amazing how much time one spends waiting, and
this time can be used to increase reading speed. Most important,
it is essential that one set high page goals, not necessarily
time goals. Ten pages per day is a better goal than one hour. The
two-handed technique is by far the best for optimum reading
speed. Find something that holds your interest. If you are just
beginning to read for speed, choose a book or magazine article
that is not too complicated and work your way into more
sophisticated reading material. Finally, read! read! read! Always
read with both hands, and set ambitious page goals for yourself.
If I can be of any further assistance in your quest to build
reading speed, please call me at (318) 251-2891.


[PHOTO: Portrait. CAPTION: Ramona Walhof.]

                  REFLECTIONS ON REHABILITATION
                        by Ramona Walhof

     From the Editor: One of the more disturbing habits of mind
for all of us in the blindness field is the tendency to fall into
the them-and-us pattern. We behave as though a chasm stretched
between service-delivery people and consumers or potential
consumers of those services. Our perspectives are necessarily and
appropriately different, but all of us are in the same
rehabilitation boat. If we fail to find ways of successfully
rehabilitating blind people, we will all sink together; on the
other hand, if dedication, innovation, and commitment to quality
service forge the cooperation that alone can create success, we
will all share in the victory. 
     Maintaining a balanced relationship in which honest
feedback, encouragement, and challenge are mingled in the correct
proportions is far from simple and requires good will and
openness on both sides. Every local chapter with a service-
delivery agency in its area, each state affiliate with its
designated rehabilitation agency, and all of us in the Federation
as a nationwide consumer organization dealing with national
governmental and private agencies must be intelligently engaged
in the struggle to make these relationships healthy and
constructive. 
     In the Summer, 1992, issue of The Gem State Milestones, the
publication of the National Federation of the Blind of Idaho,
Ramona Walhof reflected on this relationship and the role of the
organized blind movement in improving it. Here is what she had to
say:

     The National Federation of the Blind has often been charged
with being negative where rehabilitation services are concerned.
Some people have said that our members have been overcritical and
unreasonable on the subject. I have heard rehab officials in some
agencies complain that NFB banquet speakers from time to time
have been too hard on the rehabilitation establishment.
     All of this came to mind at our 1992 state convention as I
listened to Joyce Scanlan's banquet address. She reviewed the
life story of a blind man whom she had known as a child and who
now lives in Minneapolis. He makes his living selling pencils in
a shopping center. He is regarded by most people as a blind
beggar. Joyce described this man as both intelligent and a
failure. She reviewed the things he has attempted to do
throughout his life. While she recognized the difficulties for
other blind individuals resulting from the daily presence of a
blind beggar in a busy shopping mall, she also described the
difficulties faced by a blind person during the last sixty years.
When presented in personal terms as Joyce did, the history of
some blind people can be tragic and moving. The speech was well
delivered and thoughtful.
     All of this caused me to consider the question: who failed?
It was not just the blind man, although he certainly has done so.
But he is not the only failure. There have been many
opportunities throughout his life for someone to help him. He
received a poor education as a child and developed some peculiar
mannerisms. When he became an adult, no one helped him develop a
successful career. The blind man cannot avoid primary
responsibility for himself. But programs established to serve him
are implicated as well. And what about other blind people and
organizations of the blind? We all failed this man. Most blind
individuals who have succeeded did so because someone helped.
     When I first joined the National Federation of the Blind
back in the 1960's, what impressed me most was finding capable,
intelligent blind people helping others. I wanted to be able to
do as they did. I never dreamed the organization or anyone else
could make as much progress as has occurred in the past twenty-
five years. Consider some of the changes.

1. Far more blind individuals are employed by most rehabilitation
agencies throughout the country today, and the number continues
to increase.
2. The average blind person has a much better chance to learn to
become a good independent traveler, although we still have much
work to do in this area.
3. On the average, blind individuals get better support today for
vocational training and higher education, including reader
service.
4. Far more blind individuals are finding good jobs.
5. Families of blind children have more alternatives and support
than ever before.
6. Major pieces of legislation affecting rehabilitation,
education, employment, and general rights for blind people have
been passed.

     It is not possible to describe briefly the extent of change
for blind persons over the past thirty or fifty years. The
revolution touches every aspect of our lives. Neither is it
possible to consider the progress without becoming painfully
aware of the work left to be done. In every area blind people
still fall short of equality, acceptance, and understanding.
     The catalyst for change has been and will continue to be the
National Federation of the Blind. Our efforts affect every other
group doing work with the blind in the country and beyond. Most
rehabilitation agencies do not think about or understand how
different they are today from the way they were thirty or fifty
years ago and why. But there are some of us who have been here
long enough and who have watched the progress closely enough to
observe and recognize causes and effects.
     The history of the Idaho Commission for the Blind
demonstrates this development dramatically. The Commission was
created in 1967, and nobody doubts the reason why. Members of the
NFB, who had had few opportunities and little training, persuaded
the legislature to create the agency. Presidents of the National
Federation of the Blind of Idaho served on the Commission Board
from 1967 until 1984. Directors of the Commission for the Blind
have attended national and state conventions of the National
Federation of the Blind most years ever since. Commission staff
have sought advice from the Federation, and many have been
members. Commission board members have also relied on the
Federation's advice. The Federation has not run the Commission
nor tried to. Commission staff members have sometimes been
innovative and generally competent. Through the years there have
been changes in the relationship between the Commission and the
NFB of Idaho, but today there is generally a good working give-
and-take relationship. Neither thinks the other is perfect, but
there is certainly cooperation.
     It is important for us to remember that when any blind
person succeeds, it reflects on other blind individuals. When a
blind person fails, this is also true, to a greater degree than
we would like. Rehabilitation programs can provide much help and
often do. Sometimes they could and should do more, and sometimes
they do the wrong thing, because they underestimate the
capacities of blind people.
     The National Federation of the Blind will continue to
negotiate with rehab when we can, fight with rehab when we must,
advise rehab when asked, and influence rehab in every way we can.
Criticism--both positive and negative--is an important part of
the work of the National Federation of the Blind.
     We must continue to analyze what is happening to be sure
that the entire rehabilitation field continues to make progress.
Joyce Scanlan's banquet address helped me to do this, and that's
one of the things banquet speakers like to accomplish. As I work
with blind people as friends and colleagues and as I listen to
their problems and accomplishments, I cannot help reflecting on
the changes that have occurred and dream of the progress yet to
come.
     I have a lot of respect for some people who work in rehab.
For others I have none. It is impossible to lump all
rehabilitation personnel into one group. Still we the blind must
continue to work for better services. Collective action and
policy statements and comments from consumers do have an effect.
We must not simply engage in rehab-bashing, but doing nothing
would be equally harmful. 
     The blind have learned to speak and act for themselves
through the National Federation of the Blind. I am proud to be a
part of this movement. It appeared that scores of people present
at our recent state convention felt the same way. I hope to live
to see the day when there will be no more blind beggars.
Alternatives to begging and the training to pursue those
alternatives must become more plentiful for all blind people, and
our job in the Federation is to help bring all this to pass as
quickly as possible.


[PHOTO: Rocky Spicer seated at his desk (pipe in hand) with a manual
typewriter. CAPTION: Rocky Spicer sits at the typewriter. (Picture by John
Malmin/LOS ANGELES TIMES.)] 

                  NEWSPAPER FOR THE DEAF-BLIND

     Note: In recent years we have heard a great deal about
newspapers for the blind. Mostly these are talking newspapers--at
first the radio reading services, and more recently the ones that
are accessed by telephone and computer. Almost always, these
enterprises are billed (and often with some justice) as
pioneering efforts, but the pioneering is usually limited to a
given city or state.
     However, there is one newspaper for the blind (or, more
properly, the deaf-blind) which is absolutely unique. Titled Hot-
Line to Deaf-Blind, it goes throughout the world on a weekly
basis, bringing news in Braille to the deaf-blind. Its editor,
Rocky Spicer, is a retired public relations director of U.S.
Steel. He has edited Hot-Line since its beginning in 1964, and
has done so without financial compensation or very much
recognition. Monitor readers should be aware of this publication,
and any of our deaf-blind readers who want it should know how to
get it. It can be had by writing to: Mrs. Jean Dyon Norris,
Director of Operations, American Action Fund for Blind Children
and Adults, 18440 Oxnard Street, Tarzana, California 91356.
     Hot-Line is one of the programs of the American Action Fund
for Blind Children and Adults. It is sent without charge to those
who request it. In order to introduce Monitor readers to this
worthwhile newspaper for the deaf-blind, we thought we might
print most of the January 3, 1993, issue, which was a special
edition. Here is what editor Spicer had to say:

     It is customary of news organizations--newspapers, radio,
TV, magazines--to do a year-end roundup of stories they have
covered during the previous twelve months.
     With the exception of Labor Day weekend, Hot-Line was
published each week in 1992. That's 51 issues covering the major
stories in the news.
     The length of the stories and issues is dictated by
production facilities. But, in no way, can Hot-Line be called a
"news summary."
     As Hot-Line's only editor since it was started in November,
1964, as the original and only Brailled source of hard news to
the deaf-blind, it has been my policy to do the lead story of the
week in depth. Sometimes this takes the entire issue of three,
four, five, and sometimes six pages of double-spaced typewriting,
which Brailles out about two for one.
     The lead story in 1992's first issue, January 4, was on the
resignation of Mikhail S. Gorbachev as the last president of the
Soviet Union. It ran thirteen graphs. Other stories covered the
forming of the government of Georgia Commonwealth Republic; the
defection of Cubans to the U.S.; U.N. envoy Cyrus R. Vance's
declared breakthrough in the six-month-old Yugoslav war as
Serbian and Croatian leaders endorsed his plan for ending the
conflict; progress of a plan for a cease-fire in the twelve years
of fighting in El Salvador; and floods, which claimed 15 lives
and caused heavy damage in Texas. President Bush, as told in an
eight-graph story, began the longest foreign trip of his
presidency, with twenty-one U.S. business executives invited
along.
     The biggest story of the year was the U.S. presidential
election, beginning with the primaries and concluding with the
election of Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. Other big stories
were Hurricane Andrew; the rioting, burning, and looting in Los
Angeles after the trial of four L.A. police officers in the
beating of black motorist Rodney G. King; Irangate; Iraqgate; the
bogus check scandal in the U.S. House of Representatives; the
progress of the political fortunes of Ross Perot, eccentric Texas
billionaire, who ran, dropped out, and re-entered the
presidential race with enthusiastic grass-roots backing; the
marital difficulties of the British royal family; air crashes;
murders; space flights; the S and L scandals; AIDS; governmental
electoral changes; and coups throughout the world; the Haiti boat
people; the continuing fighting in Bosnia-Hercegovina and the
Balkans; the reductions in nuclear warheads pacts signed by
Presidents Bush and Yeltsin of Russia; the so-called tailhook
scandal, in which Navy and Marine Corps pilots allegedly
assaulted twenty-six women at a 1991 convention, leading to
resignations and firings of several military and civilian top
brass; the naming of a new black police chief in Los Angeles;
California earthquakes; rioting in India; President Bush's
sending 2,500 troops to Kuwait to counter Iraq's Saddam Hussein's
sabre rattling; President Bush committing some 28,000 American
troops to Somalia to spearhead U.N. forces; and the Christmas Eve
Bush pardons of former Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger and
five others of criminal prosecutions in the Iran-Contra case.
     Hot-Line to the Deaf-Blind, a Braille newspaper published by
the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, was
started in November, 1964. Until the first week of August, 1990,
it was published twice monthly.
     With the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, Hot-Line began
appearing as a weekly. It is distributed free to readers
throughout the United States and upwards of forty-six foreign
countries....
     In addition to individual subscribers, Hot-Line is sent free
to various libraries for the blind and government agencies for
the blind in the states and countries receiving it.
     When Hot-Line began in 1964, it was the original and only
Brailled source of hard news to the deaf-blind. 
     Hot-Line treats news fairly, with no taboos as to subject. 
Deaf-blind readers are interested in everything.
     Hot-Line was the idea of the late A. G. (Tony) Mannino,
executive Director of the American Brotherhood for the Blind.
Himself blind, Mannino recognized the need for news by the deaf-
blind, a need attested to by the hundreds of letters received
from readers.
     Each edition of Hot-Line carries news source credits. News
items are edited from newspapers, news magazines, wire
associations, and radio and TV. A one-time Los Angeles newspaper
man and retired public relations director of U.S. Steel
corporation, I have been Hot-Line's sole editor since the first
issue in November, 1964.
     I fell into editing Hot-Line when Mannino asked my late
wife, Jay, if she thought I would take the job. (Jay had since
1962 been a volunteer at what was then called the American
Brotherhood for the Blind and had originated the Braille Lending
Library and Braille pocket calendar.) Mannino first asked if I
would try to find a working newspaper man to edit Hot-Line, but
after asking several, I found that none would handle the job
unless it paid equal to newspaper wage scale. I agreed to take
the editing job at no pay on a temporary basis until Mannino
could find someone permanently.
     The top stories of the past quarter century-plus have been
covered. Among stories in back files of Hot-Line are: Vietnam,
Iran-Contra, Watergate, Nixon's resignation and pardon, national
elections and changes in government through the electoral
process..., the Iran hostages and attempts to rescue them, the
assassination of Robert Kennedy and his funeral train, campus
unrest, civil rights, ERA, natural disasters, floods, fires,
hurricanes, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, plane and train
crashes, murders, corruption in high (and low) places, politics,
mores, fads, fashions, narcotics and drug wars, the downing of
Flight 007 and the subsequent investigation, Exxon Valdez, the
Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings, Panama, and many others.
     On the twentieth anniversary of man's first landing on the
moon a collection of stories from Hot-Line on flights of Apollo
11, 12, and 13 was reissued in Braille book form and can be
borrowed from the American Action Fund's Braille Lending Library
in Tarzana, California. A print and Braille copy of the book,
titled Man Against Space, was sent to the Manned Spacecraft
Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The reply
we received said in part:
     "Have just finished reading The Man on the Moon special
edition of Hot-Line to Deaf-Blind. The content is both concise
and accurate, and the writing is particularly outstanding. The
copies have been forwarded to the astronauts, and you will be
hearing from them. We here at the Manned Spacecraft Center
appreciate the wonderful job you are doing for the deaf-blind."
     Hot-Line is sent to readers in Australia, Bangladesh,
British Honduras, Canada, Central Africa, Egypt, England,
Ethiopia, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan,
Kenya, Kerala, Korea, Malasia, Malawi, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria,
Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Republic of China, Republic of
South Africa, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden,
Turkey, West Indies, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and to the fifty U.S.
States and Puerto Rico.
     I have been a member of the Society of Professional
Journalists (Sigma Delta Chi) since 1937 and was president of the
Los Angeles chapter in 1966 when I conceived and established the
chapter scholarship for college journalists.
     I am a charter-honorary life member of the Greater Los
Angeles Press Club and a director (1961-83) and treasurer (1972-
73. As a current freelance writer, I am a contributor to the Los
Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Westways and The
Journalist and Horizons magazines.



[PHOTO: Portrait. CAPTION: Hilda Caton.]

              BRAILLE RESEARCH CENTER OPENS AT APH
                         by Paula Penrod

     Readers of the Braille Monitor will recognize the name of
Dr. Hilda Caton of Louisville, Kentucky. As a professional in the
blindness field, she has for years been a staunch supporter of
Braille and an advocate for its instruction and broad use.
Representing the American Printing House for the Blind, she is
working closely with the National Federation of the Blind on a
project to develop a new textbook for teaching Braille to adults,
which will be used in the Braille classes at the NFB training
centers. Center graduates will then be assigned Braille-reading
mentors to work with them to increase their Braille skills during
the first six months after graduation. Periodically during the
process the students' Braille skills will be evaluated. The
intent is to develop improved ways of teaching adults to read and
write Braille effectively. 
     Dr. Caton was elected to chair the Braille Authority of
North America (BANA) at its annual meeting, November 8 to 10,
1992, in Louisville, Kentucky. On the BANA Board Dr. Caton
represents the Association for the Education of the Blind and
Visually Impaired. She has been outspoken in her support for the
Braille bill that became law in Kentucky last year. Everyone who
knows and respects her is delighted at her election to leadership
on the BANA Board at this critical time. 
     Dr. Caton has also been appointed Director of the newly
established Braille Research Center at the American Printing
House for the Blind. The Center is now doing important research
about Braille. The following article about the Center was written
by Paula Penrod, Consumer Information Assistant at the American
Printing House for the Blind. Here it is: 

     Walking into the newly founded Braille Research Center (BRC)
at APH, one readily feels the excitement generated by Director
Hilda Caton and her staff. "It is an exciting time for Braille,"
commented Caton.
     "It is exciting because the BRC will now be able to do the
kinds of research that the Research and Development Department at
APH could not do. Not that they were incapable of doing so, but
much of the research needed falls into categories which federal
agencies have been reluctant to fund in the past. We will be able
to conduct research on such things as methods for teaching
Braille and the physical characteristics of the Braille codes,"
continued Caton.
     The BRC, in operation for only a few months (it opened
September 1, 1992), is already engaged in some detailed studies.
Perhaps the most extensive project is the work they are doing in
collaboration with the Braille Authority of North America (BANA).
This entails conducting most of the research related to the
development of a unified Braille code. [See the article by Fred
Schroeder elsewhere in this issue.] 
     Some of the information Caton and her staff will compile for
BANA includes a code comparison study of all English Braille
codes. For example, they will examine the British code and
compare it with the American code and then present their findings
and recommendations to BANA. Other areas for which they will
assume responsibility are the design of the unified code, the
evaluation plans, and the field testing of the code.
     Another project involving the BRC is the Linguistic Analysis
of Grade II Literary Braille. This study deals with the frequency
with which contractions occur in literary Braille, how frequently
contractions in the lower part of the cell are written in that
form and how frequently they are spelled out, and a word-length
comparison of words in Braille to those in print.
     "Huge linguistic studies have been done in regard to the
British literary Braille code, but relatively little has been
done regarding the American literary code. This study will also
help in developing the unified code because we will be able to
look at Braille contractions in relationship to their linguistic
function," said Caton.
     Delving into the plans of the BRC, Caton was asked about
future work the Center would like to tackle. "Some of the things
we're looking to do are:
      Developing a computer program for vision teachers that
will upgrade their Braille skills 
      Conducting a comprehensive nationwide study to evaluate
the Braille reading and writing skills of blind students and
adults
      Investigating how Braille is being taught and acquiring
information about the training of instructors."
     "We are willing to consider conducting research for other
organizations and individuals, if the work falls within the
guidelines of the center," said Emerson Foulke, Professor
Emeritus, University of Louisville, and BRC Advisory Board
member.
     The BRC will operate as a subsidiary of APH. While the
initial funding has been provided by the APH Board of Directors,
the Center will be funded primarily from gifts and grants from
private individuals and organizations. "Ultimately, we will be a
separate unit, but will operate under the auspices of APH," said
Caton.
     Caton is assisted in the Center by Beth Gordon, Research
Associate, and other APH personnel. "We think Braille is fun and
exciting. We need someone in the Center who feels the same way.
Certainly Gordon fits the description. And she has the
background," said Caton.
     Gordon has four years of experience teaching blind students.
She recently received a master's degree in vision from the
University of Louisville.
     APH's President Tuck Tinsley and Executive Vice-President
June Morris will serve as ex-officio members on the BRC Advisory
Board. Emerson Foulke; Philip Hatlen, Superintendent, Texas
School for the Blind; Dean Tuttle, Professor Emeritus, Northern
Colorado University; and Robert Winn, President, Hadley School
for the Blind, comprise the Advisory Board.
     While the curtain has just been raised on the new Braille
Research Center, Caton is satisfied at this stage. She does
admit, however, that she is looking forward to the time when her
crew increases in number so that they can pursue more endeavors
in a timelier manner.


[PHOTO: Portrait. CAPTION: Ronald B. Meyer.]

                        SCENT OF A WOMAN

                   A Review by Ronald B. Meyer

     Note: As most Americans doubtless know, the movie Scent of a
Woman has recently been much discussed. Produced and directed by
Martin Brest with script by Bo Goldman and Dino Rissi, it
features a blind character, Lt. Col. Frank Slade. Ronald B.
Meyer, who records the Braille Monitor and other materials at the
National Center for the Blind, has written a review of Scent of a
Woman. Here is what he has to say:

     "HOOahh!" Al Pacino blurts onto the screen as the oversexed,
heavy drinking, crude, and sexist Lt. Col. Frank Slade in a role
that recently won him an Oscar. Slade was blinded while juggling
hand grenades (pins pulled to make it more interesting), so
naturally he is a lonely, depressed bully to his niece and her
family--he calls them the "Flintstones"--and, naturally, he is
self-destructive--hence his drinking.
     It's the week of the Thanksgiving holiday at the venerable
Baird School, a New Hampshire prep school specializing in turning
boys into men of integrity and character. One of those boys,
Charlie Simms (played by Chris O'Donnell) sees a way to make
enough money to go home to Gresham, Oregon, over Christmas: a
local family needs someone to look after their Uncle Frank while
they escape for their own Thanksgiving. Charlie takes the job
after Colonel Frank--in an acerbic, angry interview in his dark
outbuilding apartment--is satisfied that Charlie has no pimples
on his face.
     But Charlie has troubles at Baird: He was witness to a prank
pulled by other students, a clique he aspires to join, and is
called on to name names by Headmaster Trask (played by James
Rebhorn), the target of the prank. Trask even attempts to bribe
Charlie with admittance to Harvard on graduation from Baird if
only he'll tell. Given the Thanksgiving holiday to think on it,
Trask tells Charlie that a disciplinary hearing will be held the
Monday of his return.
     After "the Flintstones" leave, Slade tells Charlie he needs
a "seeing eye dog" for a high-rolling adventure in New York.
Charlie balks, but the Colonel's overpowering personality
prevails. Slade takes Charlie's arm, unfolds his sternum-length
black cane, and takes off in first-class style for the Big Apple.

     SLADE: "Are you blind?"
     CHARLIE: "What?"
     SLADE: (shouting) "Are you blind?"
     CHARLIE: "Of course not."
     SLADE: "Then never grab my arm. I grab your arm."
     CHARLIE: "I'm sorry."
     SLADE: "Don't be sorry. How would you know?"

     But it isn't just an adventure, paid for by saved-up
disability checks, that the Colonel has in mind. Slade admits to
Charlie that the last of the three things he wants to do in New
York is blow his brains out with a .45 pistol.
     HOOahh! The Colonel takes Charlie to an expensive
restaurant, where they meet the beautiful Donna (played by
Gabrielle Anwar). Slade charms her and dances a fine tango. His
heightened senses of smell and hearing amaze the bumpkin student.
Later, Charlie and the limo driver wait at the curb while Slade
has a prostitute entertain him in a high-class brothel. He really
would rather have a woman he can wake up next to in the morning,
but this is all the Colonel thinks he can get as a blind man.
     Still later, the Colonel has Charlie help him crash his
brother's Thanksgiving dinner. If we needed any more evidence of
what a jerk Col. Slade is, and was before he became blind, his
boorish performance at this tense Thanksgiving dinner leaves no
doubt. At one point a nephew he has been baiting shoots back at
Slade, "Maybe God thinks some people don't deserve to see." Slade
leaps on him with a strangle hold, then deposits him, crumpled
and gasping, on the floor.
     The fun isn't over yet. Slade bribes a Ferrari dealer to let
17-year-old Charlie drive a floor model, but soon the Colonel
takes the wheel--just as he did with his own Ferrari in the old,
sighted days. With Charlie giving directions, they get up to 70
mph on New York City streets before a police officer stops them.
He doesn't notice the driver is blind. The Colonel turns on the
charm again. He says he left his license at the dealer's. The
officer lets them go with a verbal warning.
     We see throughout the movie the extent of the Colonel's
blindness skills: he walks no more than from a car to a building
unassisted; he reads not at all, not even talking books; he knows
how to drink--and he knows how to assemble and break down his .45
pistol in about thirty seconds.
     Yes, all vacations must come to an end--and though Charlie
has persuaded Slade to give up his ammunition so he can't shoot
himself, the Colonel didn't relinquish all his bullets. The boy,
having been taught by the older man, must now teach him that he's
not unfit to live, or unequal to the sighted. At the crucial
scene Slade asks for a reason to live.

     CHARLIE: "I'll give you two: You tango better and drive a
Ferrari better than anyone I know."

     Having learned the meaning of life, Slade has to return the
favor on Monday morning when he delivers Charlie to Baird School
and the disciplinary hearing. The Colonel appears as student-
advocate for Charlie, who refuses to inform on his fellows. This
makes Trask angry. But Slade rises and gives the assembled
multitude a speech in earthy language on the wealth of integrity
Charlie possesses, and how someone here (he won't say who, but
Trask shifts uncomfortably) tried to bribe Charlie into
repudiating that virtue.
     HOOahh! So Slade is a good guy after all? Maybe. But he's
not a very good blind guy. I was left wondering how his life
might change after he felt Charlie's face goodbye and walked up
the driveway to his lonely apartment, and his bottle, once again.
Has he lost his anger? Will he try to live a normal life now,
taking advantage of all that the blind can do regardless of not
having eyesight? He obviously has some spark of charm in him. He
does, that is, when he's not being angry at the world. Will he
quit bawling and get a life? Or will he stay a noisy, crude,
oversexed jerk? There were some small signs of reform: Outside,
after the disciplinary hearing, a woman shows some interest in
Slade in spite of his blindness and bluntness; and when he walks
up the driveway to his apartment, Slade actually speaks kindly to
his niece's playing children.
     The reaction of the motion picture academy could have been
predicted. Al Pacino, though nominated several times, had never
won an Oscar. This time he carried it home--though he also
carried home all those stereotypes with him. Indeed, I have heard
little but praise from the critics about Scent of a Woman. Even
Roger Ebert, who seemed so sensitive to the crude depiction of
blindness in Jennifer 8--where the detective identified a corpse
as a blind man because his fingers were worn down from reading
Braille--had nothing bad to say about the corrupted blind role
model in Scent. So Pacino was named "best actor," and considering
the limitations put on him by the script, perhaps he should have
got it. But the damage done to the public understanding of
blindness should win the writers "worst characterization of a
blind man."
     My companion to the cinema couldn't understand why I
objected to this story about one blind person. I explained that
until blind people are fully integrated into society on a basis
of equality with the sighted, this story can't be about one blind
person. That's because movies are one of the few schools in which
the general public learns about all blind people. The lesson of
Scent of a Woman is that all blind people are angry and socially
maladjusted while feeling inferior and suicidal.
     Some day we may acknowledge that that is occasionally true--
though blind people don't have a monopoly on such things--but
that will be the graduate course in blindness. The public is
still taking freshman classes.
     If I were making a rating scale for a movie dealing with
blindness, I might do it with canes and tin cups. The cane and
tin cup could be used in combination: four canes = excellent (a
must-see); three canes = good (worth a look); two canes = fair
(has problems); one cane = poor (not recommended); tin cup = old-
fashioned and custodial. On this scale Scent of a Woman, then,
would receive one cane and one tin cup.


                             RECIPES

     This month's recipes come from the Hoosier State. 

                          CHINESE TACOS
                          by Pat Howard

     Pat Howard is the wife of Paul Howard, President of the
National Federation of the Blind of Indiana. 

Ingredients:
1 pound cooked pork, chicken, or beef, minced
1/2 cup celery, minced
1/4 cup onion, minced
2 tablespoons dried oriental mushrooms, minced and soaked 
Dash white pepper
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 to 1 tablespoon curry powder
3/4 pound won ton wrappers
oil for deep frying

     Method: Combine meat, celery, onion, mushrooms, white
pepper, soy sauce, and curry powder. Mix well. Place 1 teaspoon
filling just off center of each won ton wrapper. Fold wrapper
over filling, forming rectangle. Pleat open edges and press to
seal. Fry in deep oil heated to 375 degrees until golden brown.


              CHINESE BARBECUED RIBS (SHAO PI K'U)
                          by Pat Howard

Ingredients:
1-1/2 to 2 pounds fresh pork spare ribs, cut crosswise into 1-
     1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Hoisin or chili sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons sake or dry sherry
1 small clove garlic crushed

     Method: Place ribs in shallow glass or plastic dish. Mix
together remaining ingredients and spoon over ribs. Cover and
refrigerate at least two hours. Remove ribs from marinade,
reserving marinade. Arrange ribs meaty sides up in single layer
on rack in foil-lined broiler pan. Brush with reserved marinade.
Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Brush ribs with
marinade. Cook uncovered, brushing occasionally with marinade,
until done, about 45 minutes longer. Makes about 42 appetizers. 

                          SHRIMP PUFFS
                          by Pat Howard

Ingredients:

Mustard-Soy Dip
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon water
1/2 cup soy sauce

Shrimp Puffs
1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, and minced
12 water chestnuts, diced
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon sherry
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
oil for deep frying

     Method: To make dip, mix vinegar, sugar, and mustard until
smooth. Add water to make a thick paste. Gradually stir in soy
sauce and mix well. Set aside. To make puffs, mix shrimp, water
chestnuts, flour, sherry, salt, and egg together well. Shape
mixture into 1-inch balls, drop into deep oil heated to 350
degrees and fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and
serve hot with mustard-soy dip.

                          SHRIMP TOAST
                          by Pat Howard

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pound fresh or frozen shrimp, shelled and deveined
salted water
6 ounces ground pork
1 tablespoon sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon MSG (optional)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup green onions, finely chopped
cornstarch
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 eggs
14 to 16 thin slices white bread
1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 cup oil

     Method: Soak shrimp in salted water and drain well. Chop
finely and mix with pork, sherry, soy sauce, salt, MSG, pepper,
green onions, 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch, sesame oil and 1 egg.
Mix well. Dredge each slice of bread in cornstarch. Shake off
excess. Spread shrimp-pork mixture generously over one side of
each bread slice. Beat remaining 2 eggs in bowl. Brush bread and
filling with beaten eggs. Sprinkle bread crumbs over filling. Cut
bread slices into quarters diagonally to make triangles. Heat oil
in deep fryer to 375 degrees. Slide bread, filling side down,
into hot oil. Fry until golden, then turn to brown other side
lightly. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot. Makes 56 to 64
appetizers.

                          PECAN SQUARES
                         by Pat Tussing

     Pat Tussing is the Secretary of the National Federation of
the Blind of Indiana.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1-1/2 sticks butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup pecans

     Method: Sift together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and a dash
of salt. Cream the butter, egg yolk, and vanilla. Blend in dry
ingredients until the mixture becomes a thick, sticky dough. Pat
the dough into a 9 x 13-inch pan. Whip the egg white with a fork
until frothy and brush across the surface of the dough. Arrange
pecans on top. Bake 30 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool and cut into
squares. 


                   EASY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
                    by John and Linda Stroot

     John Stroot is a member of the Board of Directors of the NFB
of Indiana.This recipe looks impossible to anyone used to reading
cookie recipes, but Linda swears that it not only works but is
delicious. She also says that once you try it you will never go
back to ordinary peanut butter cookies. 

Ingredients:
1 cup smooth or crunchy peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

     Method: Mix the three ingredients and drop by teaspoonfuls
on cookie sheet. Press down with fork. Bake for 10 minutes.
Cookies will seem soft when they first come out of the oven, but
after they cool, they tend to be a little crisp, so do not over-
bake.


                   * * MONITOR MINIATURES * *

**Recipes and Household Hints:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     "The Kanawha Valley Chapter of the National Federation of
the Blind in Charleston, West Virginia, is selling a 285-recipe
cookbook with 800 household hints. The cost is $12 for the print
(including shipping and handling) and $8 for the tape (which
includes shipping if one does not wish to have it sent Free
Matter). The cost is $6 if one chooses to have it shipped free.
Make checks payable to: KVCNFBWV and send to: Mr. Ed Greenleaf at
502 Piccadilly Street, Charleston, West Virginia 25302. If there
are any questions, his phone number is (304) 345-8998."

**Transcribed from Print to Braille:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     "Anyone wanting print materials transcribed from print into
Braille should call (717) 652-1175, or write: Cindy Durborow,
6035 Devonshire Road, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17112. Please
correspond in Braille or typewritten format."

**In Memoriam:
     We recently received the following note from Ronald Greene,
one of the leaders of the National Federation of the Blind of
Iowa:
     Friday, February 12, 1993, my mother, Marie E. Greene,
passed away at the age of ninety-one. She was just twelve days
from her next birthday. Since this information was not given at
the mini convention held in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday, March 20,
1993, and since I do not know whether this news was sent into the
Braille Monitor, I wanted to write this note to let you know of
this news and to have you put this notice into the "Monitor
Miniatures."

**Braille Proofreader Sought:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Are you looking for a new start with a new job in a warm,
sunny climate? If you're a proficient Braille reader, Braille
International, Inc., may be the answer.
     Braille International, Inc., a nonprofit organization
located in Stuart, Florida, is looking for two Braille
proofreaders to join its growing staff. Applicants must be fluent
in Grade 2 Braille, with strong grammar skills and good English
speaking abilities. Preference will be given to applicants who
are NLS certified, but certification can be completed later.
Proofreaders work in teams, so the ability to work closely with
others is important.
     The application process begins with a test to be completed
at home and returned by mail. Then, select applicants go through
a three- to five-day trial period at Braille International.
Applicants must pay their own airfare, but the organization
provides hotel, transportation, and meals. Financial assistance
is provided to help offset moving expenses after being hired.
Also, all costs incurred in moving for a job are tax-deductible.
     Braille International, Inc., is the nation's largest
literary publisher of Braille materials and the largest provider
of Braille to the Library of Congress. It also operates the
William A. Thomas Braille Bookstore, the only all-Braille retail
store in the nation.
     For more information call Sandi Lindsey, production manager,
toll-free at (800) 336-3142 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
weekdays.

**Appointed:
     Adrienne Asch, who is an active and thoughtful Federationist
living in Massachusetts and teaching at Boston University's
School of Social Work, was asked in early March to serve for two
months on the Health Care Reform Task force headed by Hillary
Rodham Clinton. Miss Asch is part of Workgroup Seventeen, which
is charged with developing the Ethical Foundations of the New
System. The thirty people in this group have expertise in either
theology or bioethics. They gather in Washington at least three
days a week and meet in the Old Executive Office Building on the
grounds of the White House. Miss Asch reports that, though
exhausting--workdays are always at least twelve hours long--the
experience is exciting and stimulating. She says that the
technological revolution has made her participation in the entire
demanding process possible. Each member of the workgroup brings
his or her own computer to each meeting so that during part of
the day everyone can write, edit, and review the work of other
group members. Because of this process people can give Miss Asch
disk copies of their material rather than print ones. This
procedure enables her to read the work of most of her colleagues-
-those, at least, whose computers are compatible with her own.
Congratulations and good luck to both Adrienne Asch and the task
force.

**National Church Conference of the Blind:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     The fortieth anniversary National Church Conference of the
Blind will take place from July 25 to 29, 1993, at the Ramada
Hotel in St. Paul, Minnesota. In addition to Bible studies, enjoy
talent time, seminars, tours, exhibits, and banquet. Braille and
large print hymnbooks are provided. For further information
contact the Rev. Frank Finkenbinder, P.O. Box 163, Denver,
Colorado 80201; or phone (303) 455-3430.

**For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     One Apple IIGS computer with 1.2 MB circuit board, 128K of
memory, two 3 1/2-inch disk drives, two 5 1/4 disk drives, one
RGB color monitor, one Slotbuster synthesizer, one Echo
synthesizer, numerous computer programs, numerous computer disks
(many of which haven't been used), one Epson LQ1050 dot matrix
printer, one large anti-static mat that the computer sits on.
There is about $8,000 worth of equipment here, but I will
sacrifice and sell it for $2,000. Computer is only three years
old and has had only moderate use. Reason for selling--I am going
into Braille transcribing and will have to use IBM equipment. I
do not need two computers, and I'd like to sell my Apple to
someone who can get some use out of it rather than let this
perfectly good equipment sit here going to waste and gathering
dust. If interested, contact Janet Cross, P.O. Box 86, 301
Randolph Street, Vardaman, Mississippi 38878; (601) 682-7748.

**Seedlings Braille Books Offer New Service:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Seedlings Braille Books for Children is pleased to announce
that the newest titles added to the catalog are Together Time
Books With Music by Kathy Poelker. Each set of Together Time
books for pre-readers comes with three print books with Braille
added, a musical read-along cassette, and parents' guide in print
and on cassette. Two sets are currently available.
     Teachers can encourage summer reading by providing students
with 1993 catalogs. Braille/print books are available at the same
price as the print version, and Braille books at one half the
cost of production. Seedlings Braille Books for Children can be
contacted at (800) 777-8552, as well as by fax at (313) 427-8552.

**Rarin' to Go:
     The National Federation of the Blind of Texas is getting
everything in order to host the coming national convention. The
affiliate recently conducted its annual convention and held off-
year elections, including the replacement of First-Vice President
Jeff Pearcy, who has moved to Ruston, Louisiana. The newly
elected members of the Board of Directors of the National
Federation of the Blind of Texas are Doris Henderson, First Vice-
President; Tommy Craig, Secretary; and Paul Reyes and Lola Pace,
members of the Board of Directors.

**Elected:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     The newly elected 1993-94 officers and board members of the
San Antonio Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of
Texas are Martha Laque, president; Sam Jackson, first vice
president; James Sofka, second vice president; Mary Donahue,
secretary; Belinda (B.J.) Lane, treasurer; and Beverly Wilson,
Malachi Troup, Manuel Gonzalez, and Scott Edwards, board members.
     Mary Donahue also reports that, in conjunction with the 1993
National Convention to be held in Dallas, the San Antonio Chapter
is holding a raffle. Tickets will be $1 apiece or six for $5. The
drawing will take place at the chapter's December, 1993,
Christmas party, and three names will be drawn. The prizes will
consist of $300, $200, and $100 gift certificates from J.C.
Penney's. Chapter members will be circulating around the exhibit
hall during the National Convention selling these tickets. So buy
your raffle tickets and enjoy yourselves in Dallas this summer.

**Standard Personal Bank Loans for Technology Now Available in
     New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Adaptek Systems and Marine Midland Bank of New York State
have set up a loan program designed to make it easier for people
with disabilities to obtain financial assistance to purchase
adaptive technology. Terry Martin, President of Adaptek Systems,
developed the concept for this special program. Adaptek Systems
is a New York-based company that provides products, services, and
support for all people with reading disabilities who reside in
New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
     Adaptek Systems is the exclusive marketing agent for this
very simple program. It consists of the following procedures: 1.
The loan applicant, who must live in New York, New Jersey, or
Pennsylvania, purchases products through Adaptek Systems. 2. The
applicant applies for a loan using Marine Midland's telephone
banking unit. A special toll-free 800 number will be set up
exclusively for this program. 3. Applicants must mention on the
loan application that they are purchasing adaptive products from
Adaptek Systems. 4. Marine Midland will reply regarding loan
approval within two business days. If the application is
approved, the applicant must go to the nearest Marine Midland
branch to sign the application and pick up the loan check. 5. The
applicant must submit invoices from Adaptek Systems before
picking up the check or, in the case of Xerox Imaging Systems
products, an order form that was filled out by Adaptek Systems.
6. If the applicant lives outside of New York State, he or she
must go to a Marine Midland branch in New York State to close on
the loan. It is that simple. Loan terms are standard personal
loans at competitive interest rates. 
     People interested in participating in this loan program
should call the toll-free Adaptek Systems number, (800) 685-4566,
to obtain additional information about this program.

**In Memoriam:
     We are grieved to report that on March 1 Musa Yamini, the
fourteen-year-old son of Ehab and Sabrina Yamini, died at the
family's home. The Yaminis are active members of the National
Federation of the Blind of Georgia, and Ehab addressed the 1991
convention about his beekeeping business. Ehab asks for
Federationists' prayers for Musa. 

**Recorded Hitchhiking Journals Now Available:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement: 
     Six sets of cassette-recorded journals, recounting the
author's adventures and reflections during hitchhiking journeys
in the U.S. and Canada (The Smokies, The Winter Trip, The North
Woods, British Columbia, Across and Back, and The First Key
West), are now available at an approximate cost of $5 a tape.
Those interested in receiving more information and an order form
may contact Rick Keller at P.O. Box 1171, Akron, Ohio 44309; or
(800) 854-5071.

**For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Toshiba 1000 portable personal computer with carrying case
for sale. Brand new battery. Compatible with most IBM software.
MS DOS Version 2.11. Equipped with an Artic Synphonix 235,
Version 3.04, Business Vision. Asking $500. If interested, call
Christine Hall at (505) 268-3895; or write 3404C Indian School
Road, N.E., Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106.

**Diabetes Conference:
     Sharon Gold, President of the National Federation of the
Blind of California, reported in the March 25 edition of "The
Clipboard," the affiliate's weekly publication, that "'Blindness
and Health Concerns` was the title of a seminar held at the
Burbank Hilton on Saturday, March 13. This seminar was hosted by
the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the NFB of California and was
funded through a grant from the Burbank Hospital Foundation.
Chapter President Donovan Cooper chaired the all-day seminar. As
far as Sharon knows, this was the first time in California that
medical professionals and consumers have gathered to discuss
common concerns of dealing with blindness.
     "Diabetes continues to be the leading cause of blindness.
For the newly blind diabetic, the usual fears that accompany the
loss of sight are often accentuated by the need to manage the
disease. Such important life-sustaining duties as monitoring
blood sugar, administering insulin, and marking prescriptions
require the immediate learning of new skills and some changes in
equipment and thinking. Of course the usual challenges of
managing life as a blind person occur as well. Therefore, the
seminar agenda also included discussions of mobility, Braille,
employment, etc." Congratulations to all parties for conducting
this important seminar.

**More New Chapters:
     We are pleased to learn of further recent expansion in the
Federation family. Sharon Gold, President of the National
Federation of the Blind of California, reports the creation of
the thirty-eighth chapter in the affiliate. The officers of the
newly formed Yuba-Sutter Chapter are Jake Johnson, president;
Joni Adams, vice president; and Bert Davis, secretary/treasurer. 
     Don Capps, president of the National Federation of the Blind
of South Carolina, also reports the birth of yet another new
chapter in his affiliate. On March 18, 1993, the Barnwell County
Chapter became the thirty-ninth in the ever expanding NFB of
South Carolina. The officers are Jeff Collins, president; Guy
Edwin Cooley, vice president; Violet Dozier, secretary; and Carol
Easterling, treasurer. 

**Attention Diabetics:
     Dr. Tim Cranmer, chairman of the National Federation of the
Blind's Research and Development Committee, reports that members
of the Committee recently participated in the design and
construction of a special cable to connect a glucometer to a
Braille 'n Speak. The Health Scan One Touch II glucometer is
available from your local drugstore, and the cable is available
from Blazie Engineering for $25. 
     When the glucometer is connected to the Braille 'n Speak
with the cable and both devices are turned on, every message that
appears on the display of the glucometer is spoken and slowly
repeated. Although this arrangement enables the blind user to
hear what is displayed during the blood test, it does not in any
way change the operation of the glucometer. 
     For more information about the Health Scan One Touch
Glucometer, contact your physician or pharmacist. For more
information about connecting the glucometer to your Braille 'n
Speak, contact Blazie Engineering or come to the R&D Committee
meeting on Wednesday evening during the 1993 convention of the
National Federation of the Blind.

**Elected:
     The San Diego Chapter of the National Federation of the
Blind of California recently conducted elections with the
following results: Norm Peters, president; Joe Lopez, vice
president; John Miller, secretary; Jackie Burcher, treasurer; and
board members, Ivan Weich and Valerie Miller.