                       THE BRAILLE MONITOR

                     September-October, 1988

                    Kenneth Jernigan, Editor


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


              THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND 
                     MARC MAURER, PRESIDENT 
 


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                   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

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THE BRAILLE MONITOR

PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

                            CONTENTS
                                          September-October, 1988

                     CONVENTION ROUNDUP 1988
                        by Barbara Pierce

                      PRESIDENTIAL REPORT 
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND 

         DISTINGUISHED TEACHER  OF BLIND CHILDREN AWARD

                     JACOBUS tenBROEK AWARD

                     1988 SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS

               PREPARATION AND THE CRITICAL NUDGE
An Address Delivered by MARC MAURER President, National
Federation of the Blind  At the Banquet of the Annual Convention,
Chicago, Illinois, July 7, 1988

                 BLIND EDUCATORS RECEIVE AWARDS

                      BRAILLE AS I FEEL IT
                     by T. V. (Tim) Cranmer

     WHY DO THEY HAVE TO BREAK EVERYTHING by Charlene Groves

               OF ADMINISTRATORS, ETHICS, AND THE 
NATURE OF SCHOOLS FOR THE BLIND
                       by Barbara Cheadle

                   OF ELEVATORS, McDONALD'S, 
AND THE SPEED OF BRAILLE

      BLINDNESS: THE MEANING OF THE METAPHOR by Zach Shore

 AIRLINES, FAA ARE BLIND TO DISCRIMINATORY RULES by Mike Deupree

              I AM BLIND AND A GENUINE HORSE TRADER
                         by Dan Crawford

                DIABETES WITHOUT HIGH BLOOD SUGAR
                  by Robert C. Dinwiddie, M.D.

      CLAUDELL STOCKER TO HEAD BRAILLE DEVELOPMENT SECTION 
AT THE NATIONAL LIBRARY SERVICE FOR THE BLIND AND PHYSICALLY
HANDICAPPED

     IF YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN, OR IF YOU BELIEVE YOU CANNOT...
                      by W. Harold Bleakley

               A THOUGHT-PROVOKING RESOLUTION AND 
AN ISSUE WHICH IS NOT YET SETTLED

                  GINGER BEEF AND OTHER THINGS
                       by Kenneth Jernigan

Monitor Miniatures

  RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE  NATIONAL
FEDERATION OF THE BLIND 
JULY, 1988

       Copyright (c) 1988 National Federation of the Blind
                     CONVENTION ROUNDUP 1988
                        by Barbara Pierce

For several years Steve Benson, President of the National Federation of the
Blind of Illinois, predicted that the 1988 National Federation of the Blind
Convention at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago would
break all records for attendance and set new standards for fun, fellowship,
and breadth of dining and recreational opportunity.  He made promises
and took bets.  By July 9 it was clear that he had made a clean sweep.  The
largest, most exciting, and most profoundly satisfying convention the
Federation has ever had was history and had become a part of the heritage of
the movement.  Well over 3,000 conventioneers filled three hotels, and just
under 2,500 of them went through the lines to register as convention
attendees. Approximately 2,000 shared the excitement and fun of the banquet
emceed by Dr. Jernigan.  And bus loads and
boat loads of Federationists sallied forth on tours and theater expeditions
Wednesday afternoon and evening.  Yet, behind the drama (and underlying the
fascinating substance of all the activity) the Convention was
at its heart once again what it always is for each of us: the inspiration and
challenge that strengthen us for the year ahead and the embodiment of the love
and support that give us the courage to stand together in the name of justice
and truth in the year ahead.
The Hyatt Regency was a beautiful and formidably large headquarters hotel for
the forty-eighth annual convention.  Fountains splashed into a lagoon on the
plaza level, and at almost every hour of the day or night chamber groups or a
pianist provided music for diners, strollers, and those standing in the lines
at the hotel registration desk.  By two days before the beginning of the
convention these hotel registration lines had become so dense that Hyatt
officials were circulating among the throngs of cheerful Federationists to
offer champagne. Outside, Chicago was celebrating its ethnic diversity with  A
Taste of Chicago,  an unbelievable array of foods from every corner of the
world.  Hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans came to sample, and Federationists
swelled their ranks at least, before the Convention actually went into
session.
It has become traditional for parents and educators of blind children, as well
as hundreds of other interested blind adults, to gather all day Saturday of
convention week for a seminar.  This year's theme was  On the Road to
Independence: What Parents and Children Need
to Know About Blindness and Independence.   More parents and teachers than
ever before gathered to learn from professionals and experienced blind people
so that they can guide their blind children toward productive and independent
lives.
That evening the Illinois affiliate kicked off the week's hospitality
with a sock hop, which shook the Hyatt to its considerable foundations.  Brian
Johnson acted as the disk jockey, and he saw to it that everyone present would
not soon forget this form of fun, resurrected from the Fifties.  Sunday was
filled with registration, exhibits, and committee and division meetings.  At
the end of the first hour, nearly 500 people had registered and by two o'clock
Sunday afternoon more people had passed through
the lines than had ever before registered during an entire Sunday.  The final
number for that day was 1,824.  The figures continued to break records
throughout the week.  Illinois registered 193 members as part
of its delegation.  The first five states all had more than 120 delegates in
attendance, and the top ten each had more than 75 people registered.  The
exhibit hall this year had a particularly fine range of products, literature,
and food.  Nowhere in the country can a blind person learn so much so quickly
about so many aids and appliances as in this week-long extravaganza.  The
tenBroek Fund's Elegant Elephant Sale netted more than $1,200 this year, and
many affiliates and chapters raised funds with the help of eager
Federationists.  One of the most novel items for sale was a baseball cap
bearing the NFB logo and playing the chorus to  Glory, Glory Federation.  
Everyone was grateful to discover that the purchasers were never able to
organize themselves so as to burst into song simultaneously.
The most welcome new item for sale in the Federation section of the exhibit
hall was our new post card.  With a very attractive line drawing
of the National Center for the Blind pictured on the front, this
standard-sized card is available in unlimited quantities at twenty-five cents
apiece from the National Office.  Using these cards is an excellent way to
spread the word about the National Federation of the Blind.
Fourteen committees and divisions  conducted meetings on Sunday.  The Dog
Guide Committee took the necessary steps to become the National Association of
Dog Guide Users, National Federation of the Blind our newest division.  The
Resolutions Committee debated a number of resolutions, twenty of which reached
the floor of the convention. In addition,
one resolution (88-101) came to the convention floor through the Board
of Directors. As always with Sunday afternoon and evening, the frustration lay
in having to choose which meetings to attend.
The annual pre-convention Board of Directors meeting took place this year on
Independence Day, a fitting time for the week's activities to move into high
gear.  The Board meeting began with the pledge to the flag, followed by the
unison reading of the NFB Pledge.  The text of this pledge is found on the
reverse of the NFB membership card and is an important summary of the duty,
commitment, and pride of every Federationist.  It reads:
 I pledge to participate actively in the effort of the National Federation of
the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to
support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its
constitution. 
Steve Benson welcomed everyone to Chicago at the beginning of the
Board meeting and noted that members of the Illinois convention committee were
all wearing white hats for easy identification.  He presented hats to Mr. and
Mrs. Maurer and Dr. and Mrs. Jernigan.  He then read a document from Governor
James Thompson proclaiming July as National Federation of the Blind Month in
Illinois.
Mr. Maurer then presented a red, white, and blue Associate ribbon
to each Federationist who had recruited fifty or more members-at-large
(Associates) during the past year. In ascending order, the winners of the red,
white, and blue ribbons were:
11. Patricia Munson, California, 55 Associates; 10. Michael Floyd, Minnesota,
56 Associates; 9. Mary Ellen Jernigan, Maryland, 58 Associates;
8. Verla Kirsh, Iowa, 64 Associates; 7. Norman Gardner, from Idaho most of the
year and now from Arizona, 89 Associates; 6. Karen Mayry, South Dakota, 106
Associates; 5. Marc Maurer, Maryland, 135 Associates;
4. Tom Stevens, Missouri, 152 Associates; 3. Frank Lee, Alabama, 160
Associates; 2. Kenneth Jernigan, Maryland, 161 Associates; 1. Bill Isaacs,
Illinois, 187 Associates. We have a long way to go in this program, but it was
gratifying to see that the top six recruiters had all found more than one
hundred people to become our Associates in this movement.
The desire to increase the number of those next year wearing red, white, and
blue ribbons next year burned even brighter in the crowd
as the eight $100, one $400, and one $600 prizes were drawn and presented. 
Each recruiter had one chance to win a prize for each Associate he or she had
recruited.  The results of the drawing illustrate that there are many reasons
to recruit Associates, and not all of them altruistic.  The winners of the
$100 prizes were:  Rubin Salato, Arizona, 3 Associates; Verla Kirsh, Iowa, 64
Associates; Betty Hendricks, California, 18 Associates; Peg Benson, Illinois,
4 Associates; and Al Maneki, Maryland, 14 Associates. Three of the $100 prizes
were won by Frank Lee of Alabama, who had recruited 160 Associates. The $400
prize was won by Tom Stevens of Missouri, with 152 Associates; and the $600
prize was won by JoAnn Becker of Massachusetts, with 43 Associates. The Board
of Directors then voted to conduct a similar contest in the coming year with
one notable change.  Each recruiter's name will go into the box for the
drawing as many times as he or she has Associate dollars divided by ten.  This
means that everyone will have the maximum number of chances to win, so there
will be no advantage in recruiting three $10 Associates, for example, instead
of one $30 Associate.
Monday afternoon and evening eighteen committees and divisions conducted
meetings and seminars.  Hospitality that night was enlivened by the annual
Celebrity Auction, sponsored by the Merchants Division.  Again this year the
lightning-tongued Duane Gerstenberger acted as auctioneer.  On Tuesday morning
the Honorable Eugene Sawyer, Mayor of Chicago, welcomed the delegates and
presented the key to the city to President Maurer.  Dr. Jernigan then
introduced Euclid Herie, Managing Director of the Canadian National Institute
for the Blind and Vice President of the North America Region of the World
Blind Union.  His address,  Children of Minor Wives,  was an eloquent plea to
the blind everywhere to struggle for first-class citizenship.  Again this year
the roll call included every state in the nation and the District of Columbia.
As always, the afternoon session began with the Presidential Report.  All of
us look forward to this moment in the Convention because, after a year of
patrolling our own sector of the barricades, this report
reviews, however briefly, the entire battle during the preceding year. 
Encouragement and rededication surged through the audience as President Maurer
reminded us all of what we have accomplished this year and pointed to the road
ahead.  His report is reprinted elsewhere in this issue.
Following the Presidential Report, three members of the Illinois delegation to
Congress addressed the Convention.  They were Representative Lane
Evans,  Freedom for the Blind: Let's Make It Happen ; Representative Charles
A. Hayes,  Equality for the Blind: The Future Is Now ; and Representative John
Edward Porter,  A Message of Hope: A Platform of Opportunity for the Blind. 
While he was at the podium, Congressman Porter (after an exchange with Dr.
Jernigan) promised to cosponsor H.R. 3883, the Air Travel Rights for Blind
Individuals Act. Within forty-eight hours the Congressman had delivered on his
promise. This, too, is what happens at Federation conventions.
Next, Gary Wunder, President of the Missouri affiliate and member of the NFB
Board of Directors, addressed the Convention.  He works as a computer analyst,
and his topic was  The Blind Analyst and the World of Computers.  
Federationists never tire of hearing
the stories of our members who have been given a chance, often grudgingly, and
have demonstrated again that the blind can and do succeed as working,
tax-paying citizens.
The final agenda item Tuesday afternoon was:  The Blind of the World in
Collective Action.   Several distinguished guests from around the world
addressed the convention.  David Blyth from Melbourne, Australia, (Chairman of
the East-Asia Pacific Region of the World
Blind Union) outlined briefly the conditions facing the blind in Australia. 
Wimon Org-Amporn, Consultant to the Foundation for the Blind of Thailand,
spoke movingly of the efforts of his group to win services and rights for the
blind of Thailand, where less than four percent of blind children can be
educated.  Mrs. Geraldine Braak, President of the Canadian Council of the
Blind, arrived that evening and spoke to the convention later in the week.
Tuesday evening saw the now traditional reception, during which Federationists
had an opportunity to meet members of the Board of Directors and this year's
class of scholarship winners.  The evening ended with a spectacular dance,
complete with a sixteen-piece big band that provided three hours of
unforgettable dance music.
The Wednesday morning session opened with the report of the Nominating
Committee and the election.  Earlier in the week Richard Edlund (President of
the NFB of Kansas) had announced that he would not stand again for election as
Treasurer, ending a distinguished and colorful term of fourteen years as a
national officer. Mr. Edlund's work, especially
in helping to organize sheltered shop workers, has been vitally important, and
all of us are grateful for his contributions through the years and his
continuing dedication to the movement.
Those elected as national officers (terms are for two years) were:  Marc
Maurer, President, Maryland; Diane McGeorge, First Vice President, Colorado;
Peggy Pinder, Second Vice President, Iowa; Joyce Scanlan, Secretary,
Minnesota; and Allen Harris, Treasurer, Michigan. Elected to the Board (also
for two-year terms) were: Steve Benson, Illinois; Charles Brown, Virginia;
Glenn Crosby, Texas; Bob Eschbach, Ohio; Frank Lee, Alabama; and Ramona
Walhof, Idaho.  Mrs. Walhof (one of the long-time leaders of the movement) is
new to the Board. She now serves as President of the NFB of Idahom and before
that, she was the Assistant Director of Job Opportunities for the Blind
Program.
Six Directors (Donald Capps, South Carolina; Joanne Fernandes, Louisiana;
Priscilla Ferris, Massachusetts; Betty Nicely, Kentucky; Fred Schroeder, New
Mexico; and Gary Wunder, Missouri) were not up for election since their terms
do not expire until 1989.
Dr. Geerat Vermeij is a nationally renowned marine biologist teaching at the
University of Maryland at College Park. His address,  To Sea with a Blind
Scientist,  was an inspiration to each of his listeners.  He described
graphically how he has met the various challenges facing him, and he
underlined the importance for all blind people of learning and depending upon
Braille.
The convention devoted the remainder of Wednesday morning to the ever more
critical issue of air travel and the blind.  Dr. Jernigan began the
presentation with a rousing statement of the Federation's position.  Neil F.
Hartigan, Attorney General of Illinois, next reviewed his state's efforts to
insure the rights of disabled people.  He has written to Illinois airport
personnel and police to warn that there is no state or federal law limiting
the seating of blind passengers.  He has also urged all of the other states'
Attorneys General to take like action.
Finally, Matthew Scocozza, Assistant Secretary for Policy and International
Affairs of the federal Department of Transportation (DOT), outlined his
department's proposed rules for implementing the Air Carrier Access Act.  The
audience was courteous, but tough questioning followed his address. It was
clear to all that DOT has ducked the underlying question in the exit-row
seating struggle namely, that it is a question of civil rights, not safety. As
Mr. Scocozza spoke, Federationists who have been arrested on airplanes filed
across the stage and stood behind him, each wearing a card stating the date of
arrest, just as is done in police mug shots.  Mr. Scocozza's speech and the
questions that followed will be reprinted later. The blind in the lineup were
not down-and-outers or radicals but substantial citizens and community leaders
a deputy mayor; several executives; attorneys; a college administrator;
professors; a congressional assistant; students, homemakers, and business
people in fact, a complete cross section of the social and community
leadership of the nation.
In Mr. Scocozza's speech and the discussion which followed, it was
clear (as is so often the case) that the federal Department of Transportation
was attempting to play games and practice deceit. Mr. Scocozza kept
telling us that he was in our  corner  and that we were  preaching to the
choir,  but he was unwilling to give a straight answer to questions concerning
the right of the blind to sit in exit rows in planes. The audience was not
impressed with the sophistry that the new DOT rules would prohibit
discrimination by saying that no blind person could be denied the right to sit
in an exit row but that, purely as a matter of safety, no person who was
unable to see could sit there. There was an overwhelming sentiment that if the
blind are
to be barred from such seats, it would be more honest and more palatable if
the Department of Transportation would just say so in straightforward
language. Finally, Mr. Scocozza sought to avoid responsibility by this
statement:
 I would mention that I am a politician; and as you know, on January 20th,
1989, I'm out of here if not sooner. Any particular rule
with exit row seating is going to take a long time to promulgate probably a
year or so, two years at a minimum, because of the amount of attention and
comments that are going to be submitted. I encourage you all to stay as active
as you are and to make sure that all good guidance that you can give the
Department and the FAA continues. 
The audience did not appreciate the attempted flim-flam or the condescending
advice to  keep up the good work.  Indeed, the truthfulness of Mr. Scocozza's
assurances can be measured by the fact that even as this is being written
(less than two months after the convention) the FAA has already submitted for
approval proposed rules to the Office of Management and Budget rules which
would bar the blind (no, not the blind but just those who cannot see) from
exit row seats on airplanes.
Thursday morning, July 7, began with a panel discussion entitled  Developments
and Trends in Programs and Opportunities for the Deaf-Blind.   The
participants were Martin Adler, President of Helen Keller Services
for the Blind; Boyd Wolfe, Chairman of the NFB Committee on the Deaf-Blind;
and Mary Ellen Reihing, Assistant Director of Job Opportunities for the Blind. 
Mr. Adler reviewed the history and programs of the Helen Keller National
Center.  Mr. Wolfe made an impassioned plea for everyone (but particularly the
professionals) to consult the deaf-blind before formulating policies
concerning them, and Miss Reihing underscored
Mr. Wolfe's remarks by describing her own experiences in making friends and
working with many deaf-blind people.
Frank Kurt Cylke, Director of the National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped, summarized the activities of NLS during the past year. 
He called special attention to the collections of Braille music and Braille
maps, which are both as nearly complete
as NLS can make them.  He also announced that NLS, the Canadian National
Institute for the Blind, and the Cornell Ornithology Laboratory will produce a
bird song tutorial next year.  This will be available to borrow or to
purchase.  It is always a pleasure to hear from Mr. Cylke and to reaffirm his
healthy working relationship and friendship with the organized blind movement.
One of the liveliest program items of the Convention was the address
of Tom Deniston, Acting Director of the Architectural and Transportation
Barriers Compliance Board.  As an experienced military pilot for many years
before being injured in Vietnam, Mr. Deniston stated categorically that in the
exit row controversy,  The issue is not safety; the issue is stereotypes. 
Following Mr. Deniston's presentation was a discussion of  Policies and Trends
in Rehabilitation: a Report from the Rehabilitation Services Administration.  
Sue Suter, Acting Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration
of the federal Department of Education, told the audience (with typical
federal optimism) that the RSA is working to increase the options and
opportunities for training and advancement for disabled people; and although
no one doubted her good intentions, it is equally true that nobody expressed
any great hope that rehab's performance will make any dramatic improvements.
Regardless of who is in power (Democrat or Republican, liberal or
conservative) the massive flood of paperwork and promises seems to flow
majestically on. James Gashel, NFB Director of Governmental Affairs, next
spoke about  Rehabilitation from the Consumer Point of View,  and as usual,
his views were straightforward and devoid of nonsense as
he analyzed such jargonized federal rehabilitation concepts as  similar
benefits,  eligibility, and means tests in the world of rehabilitation service
delivery, or lack thereof.
The final program item of the morning addressed one of the most pressing and
disturbing problems facing the blind today.  Its title was  Literacy for the
Blind at School and Work.   Barbara Cheadle, President of the Parents of Blind
Children Division, and Ruby Ryles, teacher
of visually impaired youngsters and mother of a blind son, emphatically
expressed the views of the audience with their condemnation of the way reading
is taught (or not taught) to blind and partially sighted children today. 
Their articulate presentations clearly impressed the third member of the panel
(Dr. G. Thomas Bellamy), Director of Special Education Programs of the Office
of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services of the United States
Department of Education.  In his remarks, Dr. Bellamy proposed that (by
focusing on the quality of special education, analyzing what happens to the
disabled after they leave school, and trying to build a consensus across the
entire special education community) we will achieve improved literacy for the
children we are concerned about. Many in the audience thought that increasing
the literacy of the blind might be a better way to improve the quality of
their education than the procedure outlined by Dr. Bellamy, but everybody
agreed that the discussion and exchange of ideas had been useful.
The Thursday afternoon session opened with  Disability Insurance and SSI:
Programs, Trends, and the Future,  which was presented
by Michael Carozza, Deputy Commissioner for Policy and External Affairs,
Social Security Administration. Mr. Carozza agreed with the Federation's
conviction that rehabilitation today is not working for blind SSI
and SSDI recipients, and he said that the Social Security Administration is
working to find ways of enabling blind recipients to return to the work force
in significant jobs.
In recent years the National Federation of the Blind has sought ways
to illustrate our conviction that our philosophy (coupled with dedicated,
talented leadership) will result in successful rehabilitation.  Dr.  Jernigan
demonstrated the truth of this belief over a period of twenty years as
Director of the Iowa Commission for the Blind.  Today three state affiliates
of the Federation have established rehabilitation centers, and one state has
enabled a skilled Federationist to revolutionize its commission for the blind
programs.
Four panelists described their programs Joanne Fernandes, Director of the
Louisiana Center for the Blind; Joyce Scanlan, President of BLIND, Inc. in
Minneapolis; Diane McGeorge, Director of the Colorado Center for the Blind;
and Fred Schroeder, Director of the New Mexico Commission for the Blind. 
Several students from these programs also spoke.  Just to know that somewhere
in the country today at least some students are receiving the training that
all of us should have had uplifted the spirits of everybody who heard this
thrilling panel.  Perhaps the single most influential commentator on radio
today is Paul Harvey. At times in the past he has questioned the capacity and
abilities of the blind, but when he accepted our invitation to address the
National Convention, he carefully read and studied our literature and
performance. He listened with great attention to the remarks of
the panel concerning training centers for the blind, working to rehabilitate
blind people effectively, and he came to the podium and demonstrated that he
had understood what he had read and observed. Particularly, he demonstrated
that he has come to respect the National Federation of the Blind and what we
stand for. His words were stirring and his presence powerful.  Hearing him
address the convention was an unforgettable experience. A few days later he
devoted a considerable segment of his nationwide broadcast to a commentary on
our organization and its goals and accomplishments.
The afternoon session ended with an address by Candace Von Salzen, head of the
Philanthropic Advisory Service and Vice President, Council of Better Business
Bureaus.  She reviewed the role of the CBBB and PAS in providing information
to potential donors to charities, and she commended the Federation for its
effective work to improve the lives of blind people.
Again this year the banquet (held on Thursday evening) was the high point of
the entire convention.  The food was delicious; the crowd was spirited, and
the program was electric.  Dr. Jernigan acted as master of ceremonies, and it
was clear that he enjoyed the job as
much as the audience enjoyed his chairing.  He had not emceed a Banquet since
he assumed the presidency in 1968, so most of us had only heard recordings of
his wit and masterful control of this exciting event.  It was memorable to
watch him at work and share in the fun of the occasion.  Twenty-six
scholarships were presented, and Mildred Rivera, a third-year law student at
the University of Pennsylvania, received the $10,000 Ezra B. Davis Memorial
Scholarship presented by the American Brotherhood for the Blind.  Her moving
remarks are reprinted elsewhere in this issue.  The Jacobus tenBroek Award is
not presented every year, but in 1988 the organization did bestow its highest
tribute upon Jacquilyn Billey, President of the NFB of Connecticut.  She
received a standing ovation and an out- pouring of joyful recognition for her
contributions.  For the second year we presented the National Federation of
the Blind Distinguished Teacher Award for outstanding instruction of blind
children.  The recipient was Evelyn Riggan, who works with blind children who
are six and under, in the Portland, Oregon, public schools.
The moment for which we had all been waiting finally arrived, and President
Maurer came to the podium to make the 1988 banquet address,  Preparation and
the Critical Nudge.   We have come to expect that the banquet address will (by
turns) amuse, anger, sadden, and challenge us.  President Maurer's speech did
all these things, and more. It placed our ongoing struggle for justice,
respect, and equality in the context of social and historical perspective.  
We who
are blind, organized throughout the land, have the strength and purpose to
change the course of history,  President Maurer said,  at least our own
history.  We believe that it is our responsibility to make it happen, and we
accept the challenge with the full knowledge that the moving force is and must
necessarily be the National Federation of the Blind.   The banquet address is
printed in full elsewhere in this issue.
The Friday program is traditionally the business session of the Convention. 
Dr.  Jernigan made the financial report, and delegates looked hard at the
funding challenges we face.  Allen Harris, Chairman of the PAC (Pre-Authorized
Check) Plan Committee, announced that as of the close of the convention, 1,201
people had joined the Pre-authorized Check Plan, an increase of 145.  During
the Convention fifty-one people signed up for the Deferred Insurance Giving
(DIG) Program, bringing the value of those insurance policies to just under
six and a half million dollars.
James Gashel, NFB Director of Governmental Affairs, reviewed legislative
activity of interest to the blind during the past year and looked ahead to
coming matters of importance. The remainder of the Friday session was devoted
to consideration of resolutions and other business.  On Saturday morning, July
9, the convention concluded with the Job Opportunities for the Blind (JOB)
seminar.
And so the 1988 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind came to a
close.  The magic of the experience is still strong in those of us who were
there.  Truly it was the biggest and best Convention we have ever had.  Many
who came to Chicago, expecting to miss Denver next year because of expense,
distance, conflicting schedules, or some other unimportant peripheral left
vowing to be there even if they had to walk. If you have never attended an NFB
Convention, you may not understand this attitude. If you have attended one,
you do
not need an explanation. So it is on to Denver a new year of challenge and
hope; twelve months of opportunity to live our Federationism on
a daily basis and make life better for the blind; and a Rocky Mountain,
mile-high convention in 1989.
                      PRESIDENTIAL REPORT 
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND 
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 
July 5, 1988
The past year has been one of astonishing growth and tremendous unity.  Twelve
months ago (at the time of my first report to you), I observed that the spirit
of commitment and the harmony in the National Federation
of the Blind had created a close-knit, powerful, effective force.  Today, it
seems to me that the dedication of our members and the determination we share
are even greater.
We have often said that if the public understood the real meaning
of blindness, much of the discrimination we face would be solved.  However,
public education (capturing the attention of over two hundred million people
in America and raising their consciousness so that we as blind people are
recognized as normal, productive, active, independent human beings) is no
small task.  Shortly after our last convention, the address delivered there by
Dr. Kenneth Jernigan entitled  Air Travel and the Blind:  What is the Problem,
What is the Solution  was published in the  Wall Street Journal,  the 
Washington Post,  and  USA Today.   With this one article, we reached over
five million people.  The text of Dr. Jernigan's remarks occupied at least a
full page in each of these newspapers, and our message was not cut, rewritten,
or edited to suit somebody's mythological image of what we as blind people are
like.  Rather, Dr. Jernigan's powerful and incisive commentary, charging the
airlines with violations of federal law and discrimination against blind
passengers, was carried without modification.
The reaction was immediate and overwhelmingly positive.  Hundreds
of letters and phone calls came in response. There were a few (a very few)
hostile reactions primarily from the airlines themselves.  But the vast
majority of those who responded are with us.  Perhaps the best way to
capsulize the reaction is by telling you about a telephone conversation I had
with a lady in Oregon.  She told me that she had not been aware that blind
people faced discrimination.  She thought the behavior of the airlines was
completely irrational, and she wanted to know how to help.  She said something
to this effect:   If
I had only known about this, I would have been prepared to do my part.  But I
had no idea.   This lady's comments show that one of the principal tools of
the airlines (the scare tactic) can only work if the public is prevented from
having the facts.  The more we write, the more we speak, and the more we act
to bring this problem into the open, the greater will be our progress.  Once
the public understands, much of the discrimination we face will be solved. 
And, the  Wall Street Journal,  the  Washington Post,  and  USA Today  are
only the beginning.
After this wide-spread publicity, dozens of newspapers and magazines and a
number of interview programs sought information about blindness from the
Federation.  These requests continued to come in a growing crescendo.  In May
of this year one of the featured segments on the Travel Channel, a syndicated
television production, was an extensive interview dealing with problems faced
by the blind in air travel.  I went to New York for the program.  The person
interviewing me was knowledgeable about the Federation and the irrational
behavior of the airlines toward blind passengers.  Our message of ability and
independence the philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind was
carried nationwide to an estimated fourteen million homes.
Last December I was invited to make a presentation at the John F.  Kennedy
School of Government at Harvard University.  I addressed faculty and students
about the most serious problems faced by the blind.  The remarks made by those
who participated in the symposium were recorded for later broadcast on
National Public Radio.
Then, there is the University of Chicago Law School. In March of this year
that institution, well-known for its legal scholarship, hosted a presentation
about blindness and the law.  I carried the message
of our Federation to that meeting a message of ability and independence.  The
response at Harvard and the University of Chicago was good.  With every public
service announcement on radio and television, with every newspaper article,
and with every seminar and public appearance a few more individuals understand
our situation a little better; and the discrimination which might have
occurred will either not happen at all or at least be diminished.
The influence of the National Federation of the Blind, along with our
reputation for getting things done, has spread not only to every corner of
this country but to other lands as well.  During the past year we have had
visitors at the National Center for the Blind from many parts of the world,
including:  Canada, Wales, Japan, Korea, Australia, and Spain.  The president
of the Swedish Federation of the Blind, accompanied by nine other members,
stayed at the Center for two days.  After examining the programs and
philosophy of the Federation at our headquarters, these Swedish
representatives of the blind traveled to Louisiana, where they met with
leaders of the National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana who are operating
a center for the blind there.  The beliefs of the Federation are not just
theory or half-formed hopes.  They work.  They are practical.  The National
Center for the Blind in Baltimore and the Federation affiliates throughout the
country are the tangible embodiment of the philosophy we preach and the
progress we are making.  Those who have come to visit during the past year
have received not only a visible demonstration of our tangible
accomplishments, but also a healthy dose of Federation spirit and philosophy
as well.
And it is not just at the National Center for the Blind that things are
happening, but everywhere in the land.  Federationism is a living force, which
is changing what it means to be blind.  During the past year there have been
seminars in state affiliates throughout the country, and we are also
establishing an increasing number of training centers for the blind.  Since
our convention last year in Phoenix, we have started training centers in both
Colorado and Minnesota.  When these are added to the programs which we were
already operating in Louisiana, New Mexico, and elsewhere; the impact is more
than visible.  It is decisive.  Later in this convention these training
programs will be discussed, but for the present let me only say that this is
one more illustration of Federationism in action, of the quality of life for
the blind being made better because of the National Federation of the Blind.
A few weeks before Thanksgiving Dr. and Mrs. Jernigan traveled to London to
attend meetings of the officers and Executive Committee of the World Blind
Union.  As president of the North America Region, Dr. Jernigan serves as an
officer of the world organization.  From that meeting we learned about legal
complications which threaten to retard the development of computer technology
incorporating a Braille keyboard.  Furthermore, Dr. Jernigan was informed that
there are those who propose substantial revisions in the Braille code.  If
some of their proposals were adopted, the current system of Braille would
become obsolete.  We cannot permit Braille to be redesigned out of existence,
and we cannot allow spurious claims to stand in the way of inventors who are
creating Braille keyboard computer devices.  The National Federation of the
Blind has taken steps to ensure that Braille is not killed in the name of
progress, and we will not tolerate retarded development of Braille keyboard
computer devices because of some legal sleight-of-hand.
Of course, the major question considered at the London meeting was the future
of the World Blind Union.  What will that organization be?  How much
participation should the National Federation of the
Blind have in it?  Will the World Blind Union be dominated by unrepresentative
minority groups, and what will this mean to the whole organization?   The
World Blind Union meets this fall in Spain.  Dr. Jernigan will lead our
delegation.  After the meeting, we will be able more precisely to decide how
much participation will be beneficial to our movement.  We have been as active
this year in dealing with civil rights matters in the courts as we have ever
been.  Douglas Lee is a resident of Springfield, Illinois.  Last September he
was beginning his third
year at the University of Illinois as a computer engineering major.  Doug
received one of our Merit Scholarships in 1986.  He thought he would use this
scholarship, in the amount of eighteen hundred dollars, to buy a computer,
which he needed for his studies.  When rehabilitation officials in Illinois
learned about the scholarship, they told Doug that he could not spend it as he
wished.  The counselor said that the money must be used for tuition and fees. 
Even though he needed the computer, agency officials told him that he couldn't
spend his own scholarship money for it.  Instead, they said he had to pay it
to the college so that charges to the agency for the blind would not be as
high.
Doug's gross income for 1986 was twenty-nine hundred dollars less than two
hundred fifty per month.  If he could not get the computer, Doug would likely
remain untrained and unemployed.  We helped him
with an appeal, and I doubt that I need to tell you the result.  Douglas Lee
kept his eighteen hundred dollars, and he was not deprived of rehabilitation
services because of it.  If you consider the responsibility of the
rehabilitation agency, and the massive amounts of money that are provided each
year by the federal government and the states, you will easily understand why
cases of this kind should never have to be brought.  Those in rehabilitation
are expected to find a way to help get people into school not keep them out of
it.  The purpose is to assist blind people to find employment  not prevent
them from having it.  If Doug Lee had been fighting this battle on his own,
the outcome would most certainly have been different.  However, we will not
tolerate shoddiness, covetousness, or bureaucratic Mickey Mouse.  We believe
that blind people should have an opportunity for a decent education, and we
will not let the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services keep us from
having the chance.  That is why we have the National Federation of the Blind.
Earlene Hughes is a blind mother, living in Delaware, with three small
children.  She asked for our help recently during a child custody dispute with
her former husband.  He was preparing to demand custody of the children
because  he is sighted and Earlene is blind.  We got involved when a local
social services agency began to insist that Earlene's fitness as a parent
should be reviewed by counselors from the state agency for the blind.  Working
with Earlene's attorney, we convinced the social worker that relying upon a
qualified expert (a professional who has been involved with blind people
throughout
the country) would be better.  The social worker agreed, and the president of
the Human Services Division of the National Federation of the Blind reviewed
Earlene's situation and prepared a report for the court.  The president of
that division, Betsy Zaborowski, (incidentally a blind person) is a licensed
clinical psychologist.  The report we supplied to the court and the work we
did with Earlene and her lawyer have been effective.  The arguments about
blindness did not work.  Custody was not awarded on the basis of vision or the
lack of it.  Earlene's
three children still live with her, and they will continue to do so one more
reason for the National Federation of the Blind.
Kristen Knouse is a totally blind champion equestrian competitor.  She is a
student at Rutgers University and a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show
Association.  Last spring Kristen took first place in her region and was
slated to go to the national championship competition at Singing Wood Farm
near Laurinberg, North Carolina.  Only hours before she had planned to leave
for the national tournament, Kristen was notified that the owner of the farm,
where the competition would
be held, was absolutely opposed to having a blind person participate.  The
Board of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association had been persuaded to
agree.  They said that Kristen could not ride.  With the backing of the
Federation (and because she is a spunky lady), Kristen went anyway.
Hazel Staley, the president of the National Federation of the Blind of North
Carolina, is a person to be reckoned with. When she learned that quick action
was needed, Hazel picked up the phone and called Shelby French, the owner of
the Singing Wood Farm.  It was he who had persuaded Association officials to
black ball Kristen on grounds of blindness.  The conversation between Hazel
Staley and Shelby French settled matters Kristen would be back in the saddle. 
She took fourth place in the national event.
As parents have grown to expect quality education for blind children, the
problems in obtaining it in the public schools have increased.  One example is
the case of Darrell Shandrow in Tucson, Arizona.  Darrell's mother Betty came
to last year's convention on very short notice and learned that her son (who
is blind) has certain rights guaranteed by law.  Darrell was being educated at
the Arizona State School for
the Blind.  Neither he nor his parents were happy with this placement.  The
educational opportunities at the school for the blind are simply not as great
as those available elsewhere.  So, he wanted to attend public school. 
Inasmuch as Darrell is an honor roll student, he felt certain that there would
be no problem.  But the school system made it clear that a blind student would
not be welcome.   The school for the blind is there for the education of blind
children,  they seem to say,  so why should we bother? 
At the time of our last convention, there had been a hearing and two
appeals.  At each stage of the proceedings the decision had been unfavorable. 
We told Betty we would help her with further action.  So we went to court.  A
suit was filed in the United States District Court for Arizona.  That
litigation has now been concluded.  Beginning in September, Darrell Shandrow
will be attending the public schools near Tucson.  The school district (which
had earlier refused to educate him) will be paying all of his transportation
and education costs.  Although it has been delayed, Darrell Shandrow will have
an opportunity for a better education because of the work we have done.
Another blind student is Charles Cheadle.  His parents are known to
Federationists throughout the country.  Barbara Cheadle is the President
of our Parents of Blind Children Division, and she edits Future Reflections,
our magazine for parents and educators of blind children.  John Cheadle works
at the National Center for the Blind, in Baltimore.  Their son Charles is ten
years old.  The public school system for Baltimore County has refused to teach
Charles Braille.  Furthermore, officials at the school not only refused to
teach it, but even refused to discuss the matter.  They reacted as though the
thought of teaching Braille
to a blind student with a little remaining vision was almost immoral.  The
philosophy of these officials, in the Baltimore County Public School System,
is representative of the most negative beliefs about blindness.  Of course,
Baltimore County is not unique.  This negative philosophy can be found in many
school districts, and it is all too often evident in gatherings of 
professionals  who are supposedly teaching the blind.  They believe that
Braille should be taught only as a last resort.  They believe it even when
print is clearly not working.  And very often, they are not willing to be
shown that their beliefs are inaccurate especially when those doing the
showing are blind.  An appeal to obtain Braille instruction and materials for
Charles Cheadle is now being taken through the  due process  procedures
available under Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children
Act.  We intend to win that appeal, even if it means carrying the matter into
the courts.  We simply cannot continue to allow the schools in this country to
deny literacy to our children.  Sometimes the question is employment. 
Sometimes it is training.  In this case,
it is the right to read read which encompasses both and more.  Although school
officials would not verbalize it exactly this way, their argument is at the
basic level.  They don't think blind people are able to do anything
worthwhile, so they believe that education for the blind is irrelevant.  If
they were honest enough to admit it, they think that blind people can't amount
to anything anyway.  Therefore, it
is a waste of time to try to teach them.  But of course, their understanding
is completely at variance with the truth.  Blind children are as bright, as
capable of learning, and as productive as any other students.  In the case of
Charles Cheadle, we intend to make this clear.  Those officials in the
Baltimore County school system have something to learn, and we of the National
Federation of the Blind intend to do the teaching.
The power of the Federation, and the positive influence it has had in the
lives of individual blind people is exemplified in our work
on matters involving Social Security.  Consider the broad picture.  The Social
Security Act has several unique provisions in both the Disability Insurance
and Supplemental Security Income programs that apply only to the blind.  They
reflect the particular circumstances faced by those who become blind.  These
special rules have not been adopted by accident.  Someone had to bring them to
the attention of Congress and officials in the Social Security Administration. 
This task has been done (and done effectively) by members of the National
Federation of the Blind.
Blind persons receiving Disability Insurance can earn up to seven hundred
dollars per month (after allowed deductions) before their benefits are
terminated or suspended.  This earnings ceiling increases with the cost of
living.  Disabled persons who are not blind are limited to monthly earnings of
no more than three hundred dollars.  That amount has not increased in several
years.  Seven hundred dollars a month in earnings is not very much, but it
certainly beats three hundred.  Now we face a challenge.  A report by a Social
Security Disability Advisory Council has recommended that the earnings ceiling
for disabled persons be raised to $490 per month and that the earnings ceiling
for blind persons be lowered (that's right,  lowered ) to the same figure. 
The idea, they say, is to achieve equity.
We have opposed the recommendation to lower the earnings ceiling for
the blind.  On May 26th, I appeared before the Social Security Subcommittee of
the House Ways and Means Committee.  Among other things, I explained that the
work incentives in Social Security should be increased, not lowered.  Consider
the blind who are age sixty-nine or older.  For them there is no earnings
limitation.  This should be the case for
all blind people.  The restriction on earnings should be removed altogether. 
That would encourage blind people to work.  The ceiling on earnings has
the opposite effect.  Those who are afraid that they might lose benefits stay
home.  This deprives them of income and prevents the employer from receiving
the services of a productive worker.  Seven hundred dollars a month in
earnings is not much, and the Disability Advisory Council wants to cut it even
further and they do it in the name of equity.  However, the National
Federation of the Blind is alert and ready to resist this recommendation.  Our
proposal would put blind people to work.  That result is far more desirable
than the situation which now exists, and it embodies a much more even-handed
equity.
On another front involving Social Security, we have now formally proposed
legislation to allow blind persons a choice of rehabilitation programs.  By
law Social Security pays for rehabilitation services provided to Disability
Insurance or Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries.  However, payments
can only be made to state rehabilitation agencies.  If you want Social
Security help, your only choice is the state agency.  Congressman Harold Ford
of Tennessee is the sponsor of a bill which would change all that.  He will be
speaking at this convention later
in the week.  His bill is H.R. 4273.  In that legislation we are proposing
that blind people be allowed to choose public or private rehabilitation
agencies.  Each blind person would be free to design and pursue an
individually chosen course of rehabilitation.  There would no longer
be a take-it-or- leave-it plan dictated by a rehabilitation counselor.  With
enactment of this proposal by Congress, we would be able to create the kind of
client-centered rehabilitation service program which is most likely to be
responsive to the needs of the blind.  If we do our work well, we can make it
happen.  And when rehabilitation has changed, the reason for the alteration
will be the National Federation of the Blind.
As usual, we continue to have our normal complement of Social Security cases
involving overpayments, back payments, and the like.  Joe Byard, a leader of
our Maryland affiliate, was charged with an overpayment exceeding thirteen
thousand dollars.  Our research shows that he does
not owe the money.  We are helping with an appeal.  The special provisions of
law that apply to the blind and the expertise of the Federation will be
present to assist in the proceedings.
Deborah Strother lives in Ruston, Louisiana.  She filed a claim for
Supplemental Security Income benefits in April, 1986.  Included in
the claim was a request for a  plan to achieve self-support.   The Social
Security Administration ruled against her without considering
her self-support plan.  A hearing was held, and her claim was denied.  That's
when the Federation got involved.
Our contacts with the Social Security Administration, in Baltimore,
were instrumental in this case.  Deborah's circumstances had changed.  She was
clearly eligible for Supplemental Security Income even while she was appealing
the denial of her prior claim.  But Social Security would not accept a new
application as long as she was appealing.  We intervened, and Deborah got her
checks.  Then we went on to press the Social Security Appeals Council to order
another hearing so that the plan to achieve self-support might be considered. 
We won that round, too.  Deborah has now had her second hearing, this time
with assistance from the National Federation of the Blind.  Suzanne Bridges,
in Louisiana, and Jim Gashel, in Baltimore, have worked together on this case. 
The decision should be issued shortly, and we expect it to be favorable. 
Deborah Strother should be paid the Supplemental Security Income benefits to
which she is entitled back to the date of her original application.  In this
case (as in so many others like it) the outcome would clearly have been
different had it not
been for the existence, support, and involvement of the National Federation of
the Blind.
Then there is the case of Jimmie Myers.  He lives in North Carolina.  We
started helping with his Social Security claim about two years ago.  Jimmie
was not receiving Disability Insurance benefits at that time even though he
was blind, not working, and  fully insured.   In other words, he met all of
the requirements for a blind person to receive Disability Insurance checks. 
But the money was not coming.  The Social Security Administration was not
paying Jimmie because they said he had become ineligible several years
earlier.  They asked him to repay an alleged overpayment of fifty-four
thousand dollars.  First, we went to work to get his Social Security checks
reinstated.  When
this was done, we started on the problem of the alleged overpayment.  This
part of the case is still pending, but we expect a favorable outcome there,
too.
In case anyone doubts the value of our organizing and working together,
perhaps the following facts about a Social Security case will help to put
things in perspective.  Because of the size of the monetary
award in this instance, I will not disclose the name of the individual. 
However, the person who sought our help was a blind vendor.  There are some
special disability insurance provisions that apply to blind vendors.  They
have been described most recently in the May-June  Braille Monitor .  It pays
to read the  Monitor. 
In this case the Social Security Administration alleged that there
had been an overpayment of benefits in the neighborhood of six thousand
dollars.  Because of the alleged overpayment, checks had been stopped.  When
we looked at the case, we determined that the individual was still eligible
and had been eligible for several years.  We took an appeal, and we won.  When
people ask you what the National Federation of the Blind does, tell them about
this blind vendor.  The money that had been withheld by the Social Security
Administration came earlier this year.  The total amount is over one hundred
fifteen thousand dollars.  Steve Fort is a blind person living in California. 
He began receiving adult disabled dependent child's benefits from the Social
Security Administration in August of 1971.  In 1985 he was informed that,
because of his work activity, entitlement to benefits had ceased in 1983 and
that he had received overpayments in the amount of nine thousand one hundred
ninety-two dollars, which he must now give back.  In the initial hearings Fort
was not represented by legal counsel or otherwise so
he did not contest the fact of the alleged overpayments.  Then, Sharon Gold
(President of the National Federation of the Blind of California and of our
lawyers division) became involved.  As might have been expected, the judge has
now ruled that there is good reason to believe that Fort was not overpaid,
that he may still be entitled to payments,
and that the matter must be reconsidered by the Social Security
Administration.  This case illustrates again the value of our collective
action, joint effort, and specialized administrative and legal expertise.  It
was Jim Gashel's research and writings, coupled with Sharon Gold's courtroom
ability and determined work, which tipped the scales in Fort's favor.  The
case is not finished, but it will be.  We will follow it through to a
successful conclusion, and the reason for the success will be the shared
know-how and continuing work of the National Federation of the Blind.  Justice
for the blind is not simply a matter of getting the right laws passed or the
proper amount of public good will.  It requires constant work, collective
action, a caring spirit, and a knowledge of when and how to do what.  In
short, it requires the National Federation of the Blind.
We continue to work on vending cases.  The arbitration hearing in the case
involving Melvin Barrineau and the South Carolina Commission
for the Blind has now been completed.  Don Capps (our formidable president in
South Carolina) has been instrumental in this case from the beginning and now
serves on the arbitration panel.  Peggy Pinder is the lawyer on the case.  The
South Carolina Commission for the Blind is requiring all of the road-side
vendors (but nobody else) to sell the specific brand of soft drinks that the
Commission dictates.  Melvin believes that this policy violates the
Randolph-Sheppard Act and is just plain wrong.  We agree, and we expect a
decision from the arbitration panel vindicating the right of blind vendors to
operate their businesses independently and without arbitrary rules,
restrictions, or limitations.  Dennis Groshel is a blind vendor in Minnesota. 
He operates vending machines at the Veterans Administration hospital in St.
Cloud.  Last year the Veterans Administration threatened to terminate the
vending facility contract that it had with the Minnesota state agency.  This
would have put Dennis out on the street with no business to run.  We helped
the Minnesota Attorney General's office bring a suit in the federal courts. 
Our efforts were successful.  Almost exactly a year ago, an injunction was
granted, and Dennis was protected.
During the past year we have continued to participate in proceedings this time
before an arbitration panel.  Jim Gashel is serving as one of
the members.  The Veterans Administration is claiming that all veterans
hospitals (more than one hundred and fifty of them) are exempt by law from the
Randolph-Sheppard Act.  Therefore, the outcome of this case will have national
significance.  If we had not been organized to meet the challenge, the
opportunities for blind vendors in veterans hospitals (opportunities worth
several million dollars) would have been eliminated.  But we are organized, we
are knowledgeable about the rights of the blind, and we know how to take
action.  We will not let the rights of Dennis Groshel (or other blind people
like him) be trampled or ignored.  That is why we have the National Federation
of the Blind.
There has been a great deal of activity relating to the airlines during the
last year.  At this convention there will be an extensive discussion
of the rights of blind people to fair and equal treatment on the airlines. 
Because we will be covering it thoroughly later in the week, I will not review
the details of our airline battle with you.  However, I should note that
federal officials, airline personnel, and many others are finally learning
that the blind will not go away; and we will not be treated as second-class
citizens.  Although the battle has been hard, we do not stand alone.  There
are hundreds who have offered their support from airline pilots, to business
executives, to members of Congress and senators, and to state attorneys
general.  The airlines have been big enough and brutish enough to have it
their own way much of the time, but they have not understood clearly what we
are or what we mean to do.  The organized blind movement is absolutely
steadfast and rock-solid determined.  We welcome those who have come to stand
with us in this fight for rationality and freedom.  And we invite the airlines
to do the same.  If they refuse, they must be brought to recognize the
equality of the blind.  There is simply no other choice.  Airline officials
will deal with us on terms of equality.  We have asked for no more, and we
will accept no less.
One of our characteristics as a federation is that we never become
discouraged, and we never give up.  The Laurie Eckery case demonstrates
exactly what this means.  Laurie Eckery is one of our leaders in Nebraska.  In
1977, (eleven years ago) Laurie applied for a job at the Bishop Clarkson
Hospital in Omaha.  Officials at the hospital wouldn't consider her because of
blindness.  So, Laurie filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights.  It
took the Civil Rights people several years to investigate and make an initial
ruling.  However, that decision was finally made.  The letter of findings said
that Bishop Clarkson Hospital had violated Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act.  But this decision was only the first step.  The hospital said Section
504 did not apply to employment.  When officials at Bishop Clarkson Hospital
learned that they were wrong about this, they tried something else.  Even if
employment discrimination is prohibited by this law (they said), 504 is not
applicable in this particular case.  That argument too was settled early in
1988. After all of these delays, the case of Laurie Eckery is back on track. 
Recently the Office for Civil Rights declared that the hospital owes Laurie
back pay.  The hospital wants to settle for two thousand five hundred dollars. 
In view of the ruling of the Office for Civil Rights, this offer is
ridiculous.  We intend to try to recover the full amount owed, and we will
take the matter to court if necessary.  The decision of the Office for Civil
Rights is that the full amount of damage for the discrimination practiced in
1977 should be paid.  The amount due is over one hundred thousand dollars.
The growth of the Federation can be seen not only in our activities throughout
the nation but also at the National Center for the Blind.  Our organization is
large and complex.  Despite our growth (perhaps because of it) most of our
work is done by volunteers some of them at
our headquarters, in Baltimore, and many more throughout the country.  In
order to accomplish all that we do, we must rely on volunteer help and the use
of technology.  There is an example of this in my own family.  My wife
Patricia is now spending almost full time at the National Center for the Blind
on a volunteer basis, and much of her work involves the operation of a
computer.  We are heavily computerized with over thirty Leading Edge computers
in use.  They may be operated independently or combined to form a computer
network.  The network is jam-packed with centralized memory, high- performance
printers, and other devices of the modern era.  Approximately three-quarters
of a mile of computer cable is used to connect the pieces.  Without this
machinery, and without the dedication of those who serve the Federation at our
National Office and around the nation, we would not be able to produce the
amount of work we have come to expect from the National Federation of the
Blind.
Last year I reported to you that the volume of material we were handling had
been increasing at a tremendous rate.  Circulation of aids, appliances, and
materials was up more than twenty percent over what it had been the previous
year.  During the past twelve months our growth has been at an even faster
rate.  Last year we circulated (for the first time)
over a million items through our aids, appliances, and materials program. 
This year the number is over a million and a half.
The remodeling at the National Center, which we discussed last year, to
establish a substantial kitchen and dining facility, a Braille
and Technology Room, a Records Management Center, and recording studios has
been completed.  Renovations are now being made to replace the elevators and
upgrade the second floor.  This work, along with other repairs, should be
completed sometime before the end of the year.  The facilities at the National
Center for the Blind are already superior
to any others available in work with the blind anywhere in the nation.  When
the elevators have been replaced and the second floor put into shape, we will
have completed renovation of all the space in the main building at the Center. 
Because of the dramatic expansion of our programs,
part of the space on the second floor will no longer be rented.  Instead, we
will use it ourselves.  Last year we remodeled much of the area
on the fourth floor of our building.  Fifteen new offices were constructed. 
However, the challenges we face and the work we are constantly called upon
to do has grown at least as fast as the physical facilities we occupy. 
Therefore, we must build at least some more office space in our building.
For the first time the  Braille Monitor  is being recorded in our own studios. 
As I consider the  Monitor,  I am astonished at our progress as a movement. 
The  Monitor  continues to grow along with the Federation.  In 1985 we were
producing approximately eighteen thousand copies of our magazine each month. 
Today the number is approaching thirty thousand.
Even with all of the legal cases I have outlined today, there are still others
which should be brought.  Which of the airline cases
will break the pattern and signal the beginning of the end of discrimination
against blind passengers?  A few years ago the Albanese case shifted the
balances for blind vendors throughout the nation.  The lawyer handling that
case was Bill Gleisner.  Not only is his legal training very good, but his
commitment to the movement comes from the heart.  I am pleased to tell you
that during the next year Mr. Gleisner will be handling legal matters at our
national office.
The rate of our expansion is evident in all of the statistics (and
in dozens of other ways).  We have added more staff, built new offices, and
expanded our programs with such rapidity that the rate of our growth is a
source of real pride.  The satisfaction we feel in our accomplishments means
commitment.  The National Federation of the
Blind is the organization we make it.  If we intend to multiply services and
broaden our influence, we must be prepared to find the resources to meet the
demand.  Not only do we have an increased  Monitor  circulation, more aids and
appliances, dozens of legal cases, and more technology available to the blind;
but we also have all of the other programs we have come to expect as a matter
of course.  During the past year over seven thousand five hundred presidential
releases have been distributed, and the Job Opportunities for the Blind
program has issued more than twelve thousand JOB  Bulletins.  The  Voice of
the Diabetic,  the publication of our Diabetics Division, has been sent to
more than twenty-five thousand people.  The  American Bar Association Journal 
has been distributed through our national office by the National Association
of Blind Lawyers.  More than twenty-one thousand radio and television spots
have been circulated for broadcast.  Over ten thousand copies of  Future
Reflections,  our magazine for parents and educators of blind children, are
published for each issue of the magazine.  And of course, there are
newsletters from other divisions and affiliates throughout the country. 
Thousands of students have received the newsletter of our Student Division. 
Our scholarship program has reached more people than ever before; and the
activities of our student members at Harvard, Yale, the University of Chicago
Law School, Michigan State, and dozens of other institutions show
the effectiveness of this program.  Then, there is our work with members of
Congress, our activities with the Social Security Administration, and our
cooperative relationship with the Library of Congress.
All of this and more makes up the daily program of the National Federation of
the Blind.  Ours is truly a large and complex organization, and we achieve
astonishing results.  However, as our activities become more diverse, we must
not lose contact with the essentials.  We are
a people's movement.  Our building, our computers, our expanded office space,
and the rest of it are an indication of a trust.  We must use that which has
been given to us to make the lives of blind people better.  And our activities
must bring results.
Last March a call came to the National Office.  It was reported that a woman,
Betty Moore, who is eighty-three years old, had recently become blind.  While
she was in the hospital, her daughter came and asked Betty to sign a paper. 
The paper was a power of attorney.  For some time Mrs. Moore remained
completely unaware of nature of the paper she had signed.  Only later did she
learn that her own daughter had withdrawn all the money from her bank accounts
and had put her house up for sale.  When Mrs. Moore went to the courts of Ohio
to seek retribution, the judge said that she was blind.  He insisted that a
guardian be appointed to take charge of her affairs, and he scheduled an
examination to determine whether somebody should be put in charge of her.
I was asked if the National Federation of the Blind could help.  We could, and
we did.  The perceived image of blind people as incompetents was there in the
courtroom.  The result of this erroneous perception was that Mrs. Moore lost
many thousands of dollars and almost lost her home.  It was only saved at the
last minute.
However, the view of blind people as helpless wards is demonstrably wrong. 
Our experience shows it, and our innermost beliefs about ourselves proclaim
it.  At my request Peggy Pinder began immediately with an investigation.  Then
we assisted in preparing for the legal battles.  Already, a great deal of
progress has been made.  The tentative decision of the trial court judge that
Betty Moore requires a guardian (not only
for her property but also for herself) has been reversed.  The misappropriated
property must still be recovered, but there is no longer any danger that a
misguided judge will authorize both the property and the person of Betty Moore
to be handed over to the custody of a court-appointed guardian.  Blindness may
not be used as the means for somebody else to control our possessions and our
lives.  There has never been a time when this should have been permitted, and
we will certainly not let it begin in 1988.
As I consider our progress during the past twelve months, I am proud of what
we have done and how we have behaved.  We have kept faith
with the traditions of those who founded and built our movement with Dr.
tenBroek, who brought the Federation into being; with Dr. Jernigan, whose
wisdom and leadership continue to guide and strengthen us today as they have
for almost forty years; and with all the others who have put their hearts into
making the Federation the caring, determined, gentle, tough-minded
organization it is.  In my work I have felt the warmth and trust you have
given me, and I have tried to behave in such a way that you would be glad you
gave it.  Sometimes my efforts have failed to bring the results that I hoped
to achieve.  But I have always tried to keep our mission and our goal clearly
in mind.  We in this organization have made a promise you as members, and I as
President.  No matter what comes, we will meet it with firmness and
determination.  We are stronger today, better organized, and more deeply
committed than we have ever been.  This strength and dedication is testimony
to our members who have given whatever was needed and served whenever called. 
As I look ahead, I know that we will face challenges which will demand from us
all the faith and judgment that we possess.  However, I feel genuine security
and peace, for I have come to know the members of our movement.  We will not
lose heart, and we will not fail.
Finally, let me say only this:  I am deeply grateful for your goodwill and
support.  I need them.  For my part, I will work as hard as I know how with
all the resources that I have to ensure that our promise is fulfilled.   That
is my commitment and my report.
                     DISTINGUISHED TEACHER 
OF BLIND CHILDREN AWARD
In 1988 the National Federation of the Blind established the  Distinguished
Teacher of Blind Children  award. Mrs. Ramona Walhof, who chaired the
selection committee, made the presentation at the convention banquet on
Thursday evening, July 7. She said:
 We have talked a lot about the education of blind children at this
convention. We have talked about the problems and there are problems. But
there are also teachers who are working to solve the problems. It seems
appropriate for the National Federation of the Blind to recognize those
teachers of blind children who are doing good jobs.
 For the first time this year the National Federation of the Blind
has selected from all the teachers throughout the country one distinguished
teacher of the blind. This is our way of recognizing and congratulating this
teacher for optimistic expectation and tough instruction of blind students. In
our culture teachers of blind children are still the role models for both the
children and their families. The teachers
have tremendous influence (whether for better or worse) on young children.  As
we do with scholarship winners, we bestow upon this teacher not only an award
but also our greatest gift, ourselves and our Federation.   We advertised for
nominations and applications, and we received
many. Some of you have heard from the woman we chose. She made a presentation
earlier in the week at the meeting of the Parents Division, a presentation
which was well received. She has attended as many of our meetings as she could
this week. Sitting with the Oregon delegation, she has shared with us this
convention. I urge you to get acquainted with our Distinguished Teacher.
 Evelyn Riggan works with children six and under, primarily in the Portland,
Oregon, public schools. She has taught at three schools for the blind Utah,
New Mexico, and Oregon. She has also taught in an itinerant program in eastern
Oregon as well, and she is building a very strong program in Portland.
 The Distinguished Teacher of Blind Children Award includes a check for $500
and a plaque. The plaque reads: `Distinguished Teacher of Blind Children
Award, presented to Evelyn Riggan for her outstanding dedication, service, and
talent from the National Federation of the Blind, July 7, 1988.' 
Following this presentation by Mrs. Walhof, Evelyn Riggan spoke:   It is
indeed a pleasure for me to be with you. When I was contacted if my name could
be placed in nomination for this award, I was told that I would need to share
something about my philosophy of education, and I would like to comment very
briefly on that to you.
 I wrote something like this. The following are attitudes that I carry into my
work with adults, with children, with the blind, and with the sighted. I
believe that everyone has the right to be respected, to be curious and
explore, to make mistakes, to laugh and have fun, to live independently, and
to make choices. And along with rights come responsibilities. Everyone has the
responsibility to take care
of one's own self, family, belongings, and world to take the consequences of
one's own actions and inactions to respect other persons' property and rights.
It is the teacher's role, along with the family, to facilitate experiences,
mold self-discipline, stimulate thinking, build a sense of self-worth, promote
common sense, and provide instruction and skills to gain independence and
self-sufficiency.
 It was twenty-nine years ago that I met my first blind child when I was a
regular classroom teacher in a fourth grade public school class. I think I had
only seen two blind people before that time in my whole life. Jannie, who was
my fourth-grade student, was expected
to do everything that all the other kids do. She had already had Braille
instruction. This was the fourth grade, period. She had her books,
and she did very well. I have, of course, worked with many blind children
since that time and my aims and my objectives are still the same.

 It is with honor that I accept this award as a representative of all of the
teachers who are committed to having our blind children become
self-sufficient, socially assured, well-functioning adults in our community.
Thank you all. 

                     JACOBUS tenBROEK AWARD
One of the high points of the 1988 convention of the National Federation of
the Blind was the presentation of the Jacobus tenBroek Award, which occurred
at the banquet on Thursday evening, July 7. Steve Benson, who is President of
the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and who chaired the selection
committee, said:
 The Jacobus tenBroek Award is the highest honor which the National Federation
of the Blind can bestow upon one of its members. It is presented only
occasionally. Its recipients must demonstrate outstanding character. They must
exhibit extraordinary leadership. They must be dedicated to our philosophy and
to carrying out our mission the achievement of equality, security, and
opportunity for all blind people.

 The recipient of this year's award must (as Dr. Jacobus tenBroek did) extend
himself or herself beyond the routine and do those things that in the long
haul make a significant difference in the lives of blind people. Beyond that,
the recipient of this award must love his or her fellow blind people. The
Jacobus tenBroek Award Committee for 1988 has selected a person who meets
these standards. This year's recipient is a leader a person who has earned
national respect.  This person has worked hard to carry our message to the
public and to blind people. The 1988 recipient has been involved in the growth
and development of local chapters and state affiliates all across the nation.
Her (it is a woman) sensitivity, patience, quick wit, and aptness of thought
are extraordinary.
 She is one of us who was recruited in the 1970's. She takes seriously what
she does within and for the NFB. She knows that what happens
to blind people in California affects people in Louisiana, Minnesota, Florida,
and Maine. Tonight's recipient of the Jacobus tenBroek Award sees her work in
the Federation with a national perspective. I am speaking about a woman whose
background is in education, vocationally and avocationally. College students
acclaim her. State presidents revere her. Members cite her as an example of
what a Federationist should aspire to become. The Jacobus tenBroek Award
Committee for 1988 has selected as this year's award recipient a person who
lives east of the Mississippi and north of the Mason-Dixon Line whose
spirit and work on behalf of all of us transcend political and geographical
boundaries.
 Tonight I am pleased and privileged to present the 1988 Jacobus tenBroek
Award to Jacquilyn Billey, President of the National Federation of the Blind
of Connecticut. The inscription on the plaque reads :

National Federation of the Blind Jacobus tenBroek Award - Presented to
Jacquilyn Billey for your dedication, commitment, and sacrifice on behalf of
the blind of this nation. Your contributions must be measured not in steps but
by miles, not by individual experiences but by your impact on the lives of the
blind of this nation.Whenever
we have asked, you have answered. We call you our colleague with respect.  We
call you our friend with love. - July 7, 1988
 
 Jackie, it's yours! 
Jacquilyn Billey, who was taken completely by surprise, responded
as follows:
 Thank you so much, fellow Federationists. I had as much fun as everyone else
trying to guess who they were talking about east of the River. I came to my
first convention a few years ago, and I have been given many things by this
organization. I have come to a place in my life where I can start to give back
some of the things that have been given to me from the Federation. The time is
right in my
life to work harder than I have ever worked before. Thank you so much.  Dr.
Jernigan, who was master of ceremonies at the banquet, concluded the
presentation by saying:  Jacquilyn, if anybody ever deserved that award, you
do. 

                     1988 SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS
The 1988 convention marks the fifth year in the expanded scholarship program
of the National Federation of the Blind.  Since 1984 the Federation has been
awarding twenty or more scholarships each year to outstanding blind students
throughout the nation. Each winner has received both a cash grant and a
convention scholarship, enabling him or her to
attend the NFB convention and learn first-hand about the Federation.  Our 1988
convention in Chicago was by far the largest gathering of blind people ever to
be held anywhere in the world. One of its most distinctive features was the
high proportion of young people in attendance.  Children, students, young
professionals, and young men and women seeking work and ideas for careers all
came in large numbers, plunged into convention activities, and added a zestful
enthusiasm to the mix that was this year's convention.
The scholarship chairman started counting. By the end of the week, she had
found in attendance at the convention at least forty-four scholarship winners
from the previous four years.  These men and women are now moving into
leadership positions in their local chapters, their state affiliates, and the
national movement.  Scholarship winners serve as chapter presidents; as state
officers; as important organizers of affiliate seminars; as presenters at many
division and committee meetings at the national convention; in leadership
positions in the National Association of Blind Students; in innumerable jobs
in the exhibit hall, the registration line, and the convention hall itself;
as organizers of parties and fundraisers at state and national conventions; as
associate recruiters, PAC contributors, and DIG policyholders;
and in all the other roles necessary to make a grassroots organization staffed
by volunteers from its own membership work smoothly, continuously and
nationally.
Part of our history of the last four years has been written in the names of
those forty-four men and women who are former scholarship winners.  Some now
work. Many continue their studies.  All have committed themselves to making
opportunity for their fellow blind men and women through the Federation.  They
stand for achievement.  They stand for hard work.  They stand with us in our
march to the future that we will fashion for ourselves.
Again this year the Federation presented a broad array of valuable
scholarships.  Here, in the words of its participants, is the presentation
ceremony which occurred at the 1988 banquet:
Dr. Jernigan: One of the important things we do in the National Federation of
the Blind is to present scholarships.  The people who have received our
scholarships in the past have gone on not only to make distinguished records
for themselves but, as a group, they have also distinguished themselves in
working in this movement and with their fellow blind.  We have a good group of
scholarship winners this year.
Peggy Pinder: Tonight it is my privilege once again to introduce to you the
1988 class of scholarship winners.  This year's class, as Dr. Jernigan says,
is an especially fine one. Their youth, both in age and spirit, are
invigorating and exciting.  Their questions, their commentary, and their
reactions during this week have been enlightening and will serve as a spur to
even higher achievement to all of us in
the National Federation of the Blind. But, most of all, these twenty-six
scholarship winners their aspirations and their firm intention
to succeed stand for something fundamental to the National Federation of the
Blind: the quality of hope.
Today, in convention session, we discussed illiteracy and unemployment, the
twin shackles that the blind are trying to loose.  Those shackles symbolize
our past, but this convention and these winners symbolize our future and the
real hope for blind people in this country.
These twenty-six men and women, taken as a group, stand out as achievers, as
successes in their chosen fields of study, and predictably as successes in
their chosen careers.   It gives me great pleasure this year to introduce to
you these twenty-six scholarship winners.
I will begin with the first class of scholarships, National Federation of the
Blind Merit Scholarships. There are eight of these scholarships, each in the
amount of $1800.
Brian Mark Buhrow - California.  Brian will be a freshman in the fall at the
University of California at Santa Cruz, where he intends to study toward a
degree in computer science. Brian intends to become a computer programmer.
Cara Ann Dunne - Illinois. Cara will be a freshman in the fall at Harvard
University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she intends to study foreign
languages and international business, first at the bachelor's and later at the
graduate level.
Dorothy Nani Fife - Hawaii.  Dorothy will be a second-year graduate student at
the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. She is taking a graduate degree in
special education and will teach special education children.  Claudette
Fletcher - New Mexico.  Claudette is currently in a master's degree program at
New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, where she plans to write a thesis
on the subject of why counselors helping the blind never seem to get us jobs. 
After earning her master's degree, she intends to earn a doctoral degree in
clinical psychology.  Carmen V. Necega - Florida.  In the fall, Carmen will be
completing her senior year at Florida International University in Miami, where
she is earning a degree in social work, after which she intends to seek
employment in the field of social work.
Michael J. Riley - Indiana.  Michael will be a sophomore in the fall at St.
Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana, where he is taking a bachelor's
degree in mathematics and business.  Michael intends to be an accountant.
Darryl L. Thomas - Oklahoma.  Darryl will be a senior in the fall at
Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where he
is studying criminal justice and journalism. Darryl is also considering a
career in law or law enforcement.
Beth Watson - Maine.  Beth will be an entering freshman in the fall at the
University of Maine at Orono, Maine, where she intends to take a degree in
biochemistry.
Before announcing the next award, I should remind you that we of the
Federation are all collectively the donors of many of these awards,
the ones entitled National Federation of the Blind Merit Scholarships.  We are
privileged to have in the audience with us tonight the donor of the Francis
Urbanek Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is in the amount of $1800 and
is restricted to a high school senior entering
college in the fall.  As a scholarship committee tonight, we are especially
proud to give this award to a South Carolinian, also the home state of the
donor.
April Jeffcoat - South Carolina.  April will be a freshman in the
fall at Newbury College in South Carolina. Her interests are many including
the studying of education, the studying of journalism, the study of English,
and the study of Spanish.
The next scholarship is the Melva T. Owen Memorial Scholarship in the amount
of $1800.  This scholarship is restricted to undergraduate students.
Heidi Michelle Sherman - Minnesota.  Heidi will be a Sophomore in the fall at
the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where she is studying Russian area
studies and German. Heidi will be leaving shortly in about a week for a trip
to Yugoslavia, where she will be serving as a guide and interpreter.
We are also privileged this evening to have with us (and  have had with us for
the entire week) the donor of the next scholarship, the Frank Walton Horn
Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $2,000. This scholarship is endowed by
Cathy Randall's mother and stepfather in honor of Cathy's father, and we are
especially honored to have those with us this evening who remember and honor
his name through this scholarship. Cathy serves as First Vice President of the
NFB of Illinois.  The donors request that the scholarship be given, if
possible, to someone interested in architecture or engineering.
Darren J. Haddeland - North Dakota.  Darren will be a sophomore in the fall at
the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks, where he is studying geological
engineering.
We are also privileged to have with us (and have had with us for the entire
week) the donor of the Ellen Setterfield Memorial Scholarship, a new
scholarship this year, given by Roy Landstrom of Renaissance Agencies, Inc. 
This donor has restricted the Setterfield Scholarship
to students at the graduate level in the social sciences. The Setterfield
Scholarship is in the amount of $2,000.
John T. Bundy - Oregon.   John is currently a candidate for his Ph.D.  degree
at the University of Oregon in Eugene, after which he intends to be employed
as a clinical psychologist in a hospital or university setting.
The next seven scholarships are also entitled National Federation of the Blind
Merit Scholarships. Each of these is in the amount of $2,500.
Linda Goodspeed - Massachusetts.  Linda is currently in the master's degree
program in the College of Communications at Boston University, where she is
studying medicine journalism. Linda has recently received a promotion in her
employment to the position of senior editor at the magazine for which she
works.
Kimberlie Fae Hoffman - South Dakota.  Kim will be a sophomore in the fall at
Trinity Bible College in Ellendale, North Dakota, where she is studying
elementary education.
Sue Ellyn Premo - Wisconsin.  Sue will be attending Virginia Commonwealth
University in Richmond, Virginia, in the fall, where she will be a first-year
student in the graduate program studying toward a master's degree in public
administration.
Esther Alexandra Rhee - Indiana.  Alex will be a sophomore in the fall at the
University of Chicago, where she is studying towards a degree in economics.
She may then take a master's degree in business administration or possibly a
law degree.
Victoria Renee Vaughan - Pennsylvania.  In the fall, Vickie will be a
first-year law student at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.  Rosalind
Wilcox - Iowa.  Rosalind will be a first-year graduate student in the fall
right here at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she intends to study toward
a degree and later work in the field of art therapy.
Barbara (Bonnie) M. Zoladz - New York.  Bonnie is a graduate student and
intends to earn her Master's degree in clinical nutrition at Cornell
University and then to earn a certificate as a registered dietitian.  She
intends to teach and counsel diabetic children and their parents in the
management of the disease of diabetes.
The next two scholarships are both entitled Howard Brown Rickard Scholarships. 
Each of these two scholarships is in the amount of $2,500. The donor of these
scholarships asked that they be given to persons studying in the fields of
law, engineering, or the natural sciences in order to encourage blind people
to go into areas that are not always thought of by the blind.  I must say
that, in the years I have been in the Federation, there didn't used to be a
lot of us, but there are getting to be more and more and more.
Ralph Charles Brian Imlay - Missouri.  Ralph will be entering his third year
as a medical student at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas
City, Kansas.  His particular interests include organ donor programs and
treatment of the victims of child abuse.  Eileen M. Murray - Virginia.  Eileen
will be a junior in the fall at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Richlands,
Virginia, where she
is studying toward a degree in animal science. Eileen intends to be and you
can count on it a veterinarian.
The next scholarship is the Hermione Grant Calhoun Memorial Scholarship, also
in the amount of $2,500. This scholarship is restricted to female students
only, and its donor (the late Dr. Isabelle Grant, who was
a long-time member of this organization) is still remembered and beloved by
many of us. The scholarship goes this year to:
Melissa A. LaGroue - Alabama.  Melissa will be a freshman in the fall at
Birmingham Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama. She intends
to study for a B.A. and then a master's degree in education. She hopes to work
in special education and also has an interest in music therapy.  Again, I
would remind you that the donors of the next three scholarships are in this
room. They are three scholarships entitled National Federation of the Blind
Merit Scholarships, each in the amount of $4,000.  John A. Miller - Nebraska. 
John will be a freshman in the fall at Stanford University in California,
where he intends to take a degree in electrical engineering.
Jennine M. O'Reilly - New York. Jennine will be a second- semester senior at
the State University of New York at Albany in the fall,
where she intends to earn a bachelor's degree in business and marketing.  She
intends to earn a master's degree in business administration and work in the
field of marketing.
Annee Worsham - Washington State.  Annee will be a freshman in the fall at
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington.  She intends to study languages and
hopes to become an interpreter. I understand she is thinking of studying
Spanish and maybe Japanese. She also indicates that she'd like to be an
ambassador one day, and you can count on that, too.
Our final scholarship this evening is in the amount of $10,000. The
scholarship is entitled American Brotherhood for the Blind Ezra Davis Memorial
Scholarship and, again, many of the donors of this scholarship from the
American Brotherhood for the Blind are here in this room this evening. I will
first announce the name of the winner and as she comes forward, tell you a
little about her. Keep in mind that
this winner, the $10,000 scholarship winner, has also earned the privilege of
speaking briefly to the entire convention.
Mildred Rivera - Pennsylvania. Mildred earned her bachelor's degree at Cornell
University and is about to enter her third year of law school at the
University of Pennsylvania. She is working this summer as an intern for a law
firm in Los Angeles, and you can tell that they count on her. They keep
calling, trying to find her here.  But despite their calls, I can tell you
that Mildred has been paying attention and actively participating in our
convention this week. It is a great pleasure and a personal privilege for me
to be able to introduce to you for a few words our Brotherhood scholarship
winner of 1988, Mildred Rivera:
 It is a great honor and a privilege to address the convention, Dr. Jernigan,
and President Maurer. I think the one thing I can tell everyone here is what
the Federation means to me. I can sum it up in one word. It means freedom
freedom from oppression, freedom from prejudice, and freedom from our own
fears. What Dr. Jernigan and President Maurer and all the Federationists in
this room have done for all of us is to create a better country to live in,
where we will have more opportunity. I knew that before I came here; I knew
it. But I learned it in a different way as I came to the convention and met
all of you wonderful people that live the Federation and the philosophy that
we teach. I just want to thank you for teaching me that the philosophy is a
reality.
 I especially would like to thank my state president from Pennsylvania, Terry
McManus, and I want again to thank all of you wonderful people.   And, Mr.
President, I'd like to say to you that you have my commitment and my word that
this investment that you have placed in me will not be wasted, that I will do
anything in my power to let the philosophy live and let freedom ring for the
blind people of the United States of America. 
Peggy Pinder: There you have them, ladies and gentlemen, our twenty-six
scholarship winners. Scholarship winners, I have a few words to say to you. 
We have honored you this evening, and we have given each
of you a cash scholarship. We have also given each of you a scholarship to
come to this convention and the opportunity to get to know the Federation.
I have something I want to say to you in closing our 1988 scholarship program.
We have given you something much more than money. We have
given you something far more valuable to us, something far more precious,
something that took far longer to get, something we give, with free will and
delight, to each and every one of you. We have given you
our organization. This week we have given you our time. We have talked with
you; we have worked beside you; we have laughed with you and partied with you.
This week we have given you our knowledge about blindness and the way that
this country can be made better for all blind people through the Federation.
We have given you for forty-eight years our efforts to improve the lives of
all blind people in this country. We have given you this week a treasure that
we have treasured ourselves and hope that you also will treasure.
Like you, the National Federation of the Blind works hard. Like you, the
National Federation of the Blind achieves its goals. Like you, the National
Federation of the Blind simply doesn't give up until we succeed. And like you,
we are building for tomorrow.
We have built the Federation with each other, and we have built it with hope.
We look forward now to building not only for you, but with you. We have built
well. We are proud of the gift we give you. We offer you our organization with
pride. Take it with pride. We offer it to you with love. Take it with love. We
look forward with pride in our organization and you, and with love for all
blind people, to building that future together that we are destined to share. 
Building it with you will make us all stronger.
Congratulations, scholarship winners, and we'll see you next year in Denver.
Dr. Jernigan concluded the ceremony by saying:  Congratulations to all of you
scholarship winners. Both you and we are winners as a result of this day's
activities. 
               PREPARATION AND THE CRITICAL NUDGE
                    An Address Delivered by 
MARC MAURER 
President, National Federation of the Blind 
At the Banquet of the Annual Convention
                 Chicago, Illinois, July 7, 1988


Lord Bolingbroke once said that history is the teaching of philosophy by
examples.  Each historical figure is remembered for expressing in action a
certain philosophy.  The important moments in time have become significant
because of actions taken by individuals which have represented specific points
of view.  However, those events which
have helped shape the course of history have had more than one element.  There
are competing philosophies each seeking ascendancy.  The educator Lewis
Mumford wrote that in human experience there are singular moments when the
merest nudge can move mountains and change the course of history.  These
points in time are critical, because it is only then that the balances between
compelling, competing ideas alternate philosophies can be changed by concerted
effort or individual acts of courage.  At such times, as Andrew Jackson
observed, one human being with courage makes a majority.
These critical points in history do not occur by happenstance.  They must be
created deliberately, and with strenuous effort.  A philosophy which has
guided a government or shaped the mental processes of a
social order cannot be fundamentally altered easily or simply.  Regardless of
the seeming spontaneity and suddenness of an event, no philosophy which
competes with the established norm can be fixed in the hearts
and minds of a society without an accumulation of advance preparation.  Only
with such preconditioning can a new social balance be reached.  But
after the old order has been sufficiently challenged that a new equilibrium
has almost been achieved, a small choice (a simple decision or the lack of it)
may determine the course of a life or the destiny of a people.  Change
ordinarily evolves over hundreds of years, but when a fundamental difference
in the way we view the world comes quickly (even though necessarily with a
considerable amount of advance preparation), the shift in our thinking is
called revolution.
These principles apply not only to societies and governments but also to
individuals and social movements as well.  A change in direction often takes
place not because the governing institutions have had
a change of heart, but because the pressure brought to bear by individuals
organized for collective action has added the necessary impetus.  The critical
point for the reordering of basic values is (regardless of appearances) never
reached individually or spontaneously.  The times are right for revolution
only when individuals have organized to create the social climate which will
permit it.  Even when events follow one another with such rapidity that a
fundamental alteration is made
in a relatively short time, the causes can be found much earlier.  Slavery was
legal in the United States in 1861.  Four years later, after a war had been
fought, the Thirteenth Amendment (prohibiting slavery) had been ratified. 
However, the seeds of the change are discernible
almost a hundred years earlier in the slavery provisions of the Constitution,
adopted in 1787.
We express (each and every one of us) our philosophy in the actions of our
daily lives.  As a movement we declare our principles not only in the words we
use but also in the steps we take to put those words into practice.  The
individual act contributes to the totality.  The philosophy of a movement is a
composite.  It is the combined hopes
and dreams of thousands of individuals but it is more than that.  It is a
shared ambition, a collective determination.
The philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind is simple and (at least
we are sometimes told) revolutionary.  We believe that blind people, organized
throughout the land, have the strength and purpose to change the course of
history at least their own history.  We believe it is our responsibility to
make it happen and we accept the challenge, with the full knowledge that the
moving force is, and must necessarily be, the National Federation of the
Blind.
The conviction that we the blind have not only the ability to determine our
own future but also the right to do it the right to be the principal
architects of the programs and activities which affect our lives is the very
essence of our movement.  It is the central
thread which has run through the Federation from the day of its beginning. 
When the National Federation of the Blind came into being in 1940 under
the leadership of Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, the doctrine of self-determination was
an unquestioned given.  This same spirit of independence has been the prime
factor in the building of the Federation from the forties
to the present.  The faith (in fact, the certainty) that our own actions can
dramatically change the opportunities available to us a faith and a certainty
so eloquently proclaimed in the speeches of Dr. Kenneth Jernigan originally
brought us together, sustains us today as a movement, and will give us the
strength we need for the battles
of the future.  Without this unshakable core of belief and knowledge, we would
cease to be the powerful movement which we are and simply become one among the
many who attempt in this way or that to assist the blind.  As it is, we are
unique the strongest force in the affairs of the blind today.  We are the
National Federation of the Blind.
Implied in the thesis that we are responsible for our own destiny is an
alteration in the traditional role of the blind.  All segments of society the
blind, agencies serving the blind, and the public as a whole are involved; and
when we have completed our work, each of us (and each component of the social
order) will be different.  Some time ago I received a letter from a disabled
graduate student who asked that I provide him with incidents involving
disability and humor for a college research paper.  His request said in part: 
____________________
I am a graduate student at Arizona State University.  At present I
am involved in a research project and would appreciate your assistance.  I am
looking at the dynamics involved in humor and disability.  I am seeking jokes,
cartoons, or personal accounts about the experience of being disabled.
Part of my interest in humor and disability stems from the fact that I have
been disabled for twelve years.  During this time I have found numerous
situations in which humor has turned possible disaster into something I could
put behind me.  I feel that I cannot be the only one to use humor in such a
manner and am asking others to share their experiences with me.
____________________
Perhaps the writer of this letter does not believe that the blind are a
minority.  One phenomenon associated with many minority groups
is that the individuals comprising those groups often become the objects of
humor.  There are ethnic stories and racial slurs.  There are also jokes about
the blind.  However, the humor is not really humor, and it demeans both the
teller and the listener both the majority and the minority. It is always a
put-down, and often an excuse.  There are some who will argue that raising an
objection to a little humor is overreacting.   Surely,  they will say,  you
would not want to be oversensitive.  Those who are unable to find humor in a
situation take themselves too seriously.  Being able to laugh at yourself
demonstrates a sense of inner security.  Those who cannot do this are touchy,
insecure, and without a sense of humor. 

To which I say, nonsense!  Let those who say that a little innocent
fun at the expense of the blind is harmless (and perhaps even admirable)
consider the program  Saturday Night Live.   On March 5th, 1988, this comedy
show carried a skit depicting a blind man being interviewed about his
blindness on a television talk show. This ostensibly humorous routine contains
one of the most dismal and dreary accounts
of blindness I have ever heard.  Blindness is the overwhelming characteristic
in the man's life.  Nothing else really matters.  Notice that in the midst of
the gloom and the twisted mockery there is yet the positive language of hope
which only makes matters worse.  In the Middle Ages it was considered amusing
to decorate blind men's heads with donkey ears and make them fight at county
fairs.  The ears are absent, but the jeering and public ridicule are still
with us on  Saturday Night Live.   Here are excerpts from the broadcast.  The
dialogue begins with the talk show hostess:
____________________
`You've still had a fulfilling life, right?'
`Doing what,' the blind man replies, `listening?  Listening to a sunset? 
Didn't they tell you, honey, I'm blind.  Okay?  Hello?  Blind.  Where are
you?  Can't see you.'
`I understand that.  But given everything, isn't blindness just one
more obstacle to overcome?'
`Yeah, right.  I'll tell you what.  Why don't you try it for about
a day and a half?'
`I'm sure it's very challenging, but what about the positives?  Your
other senses are heightened, aren't they?'
`Oh yeah, yeah.  They're great.  I can smell a little better now.  That really
comes in handy on the subway every day.  Not to mention the hearing, of
course.  Yeah.  So let's figure this one out.  Let's see, I can hear crickets
chirping a little louder than you can, and you can see?  Yeah, that sounds
fair.  That's a fair trade-off.  Thanks, God!'
`You're a little bitter, Hal.  No doubt about it.  But you haven't let this
stop you from leading a normal life.'
`Well, yeah, I'm pretty much dead in the water, I'd say.  Mostly I just hang
around the house and drink a lot of beer.  That's about it.'
`You know something?  You're a horrible man.  Do you know that?  A
few weeks ago we had a blind horseshoe pitcher, and he was just wonderful. 
[Here the talk show hostess breaks into tears.]  And then we had a blind
sky diver, and he always managed to adapt, and he got out there in the world 
'
`Well they're insane.  Okay, honey?  They've got no grip on reality.  Guys,
you're blind, okay?  Calm down.  Stop embarrassing the rest of us.  I don't
understand it.  What do you people want from us, anyway?  Do you want us to
perform for you!  Is that it?  I'll tell you what.  Why don't I just do a
little dance for you!  Blind man dancing.  Okay, is that good?  All right. 
I'm sorry.  I'll think of something to say that's nice for blind people. 
Okay?  Something like, okay, if you go blind, it's not so bad. You get a nice
tax thing, a little deduction there, and oh yeah, you can look right at an
eclipse.  That's no problem.'
____________________
That is what millions of people heard and saw less than six months ago on 
Saturday Night Live ; and far from being funny, it
is disgusting; it is sick; and it is a straight-out lie.  Blind people (we are
told) get a tax deduction.  We drink a lot of beer and
sit at home.  Even those of us who are successful (a success, it should be
noted, which betokens insanity) have only been able to succeed
by engaging in some sort of recreational pursuit.  The responsibilities of
citizenship, the participation in community activities, and the holding of a
job are not even considered.  If this is what passes for humor, forget it. If
this is what we are supposed to cultivate to prove we are adjusting, we will
remain unadjusted and write a new script.  We don't control the air waves; but
we recognize a lie when we meet one, and we also know enough to avoid being
conned into being satisfied with second-class status on the grounds that we
have a duty to demonstrate a so-called sense of humor.  Again I say, forget
it!  We have put behind us the donkey ears of the Middle Ages and the donkey
tails of  Saturday Night Live.   We have thrown off the pathos and bitterness,
the dejection and gloom, and the passive docility which have traditionally
been expected of us.
Instead, our mood is one of hope, accomplishment, and the joy of discovery. 
We know that with reasonable opportunity we can compete on terms of full
equality in society, and we also know that with reasonable opportunity the
sighted can come to accept us for what we are.
What is required is a redirection of public attitudes and beliefs and
remarkable as it may seem, one of our principal areas of effort must be with
the very governmental and private agencies which have been established to help
us do the job.  The sad truth is that the agencies often have worse attitudes
about us than do the members of the general
public. They portray us as helpless and inept.  An issue of the  Journal , a
District of Columbia newspaper, tells of a teen-age girl who wanted to help
the blind.  Influenced perhaps by the attitudes of those who work at the
agency where she volunteered, she decided to write a cookbook for the blind. 
Sometimes misconceptions about blindness are veiled and hidden, but not this
time.  This is the way the article describes her work:
____________________
Cooking hurts when you're blind.  It is a vexing daily chore for America's
eleven and one-half million blind and visually impaired populations, according
to the American Foundation for the Blind.  For many of them,
it is a frustrating and defeating stumble around the kitchen for sustenance
conducted dimly or in total darkness by people who long to be as
self-sufficient as the rest of sighted America.
That's why seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Warshawsky plucks our heart strings
with the recent publication of her Braille and large-print cookbooks for the
blind.
The high-school student from Shaker Heights, Ohio, took two years to write and
design her cookbook, only part of a busy schedule of study and volunteer work
at her local Society for the Blind.
[The article continues with quotes from the student.]  `I couldn't get  The
Miracle Worker  out of my mind,' said the high school senior, in a telephone
interview.  `I saw the movie in the second grade, and it changed me.  It made
me see how we could help the blind by just taking some time to think about
them, to work with them a little.
`So [the article continues] in ninth grade this idea comes to me,' she
explained.  `I saw how the blind people I volunteered for had such a terrible
time with food.  It's so frustrating and dangerous in the kitchen for them;
they solve the problem of eating by getting
into a rut, sticking to apples, lunch meats, and sandwiches; and malnutrition
is a real problem for many of them.
`But what really excited me,' she recalled, `was all this new food that can be
easily prepared, food that is nutritious and hot, the kind of foods blind
people once had when they could see.' ____________________
So the article says, and it is hard to know how to respond to such
a messy mishmash of misinformation.  Has this student really met blind people? 
What influences were brought to bear to teach her that the ordinary kitchen is
for the blind a dangerous and frustrating place, a veritable minefield of
terror and booby traps?  How did she conclude that malnutrition is a serious
problem for those of us who are blind?  Did the local agency for the blind
(reinforced by the American Foundation for the Blind) give her the impression
that blind people stumble around
the kitchen, feeling defeated?  No matter how it came to be, the
misunderstanding of blindness has now been learned.  A book has been written
containing the most blatant misrepresentations about blindness.  Opportunities
which might have been available will never be and it has all been done in the
name of helping the blind.  Instead of this half-baked collection of underdone
ideas, we prefer reality and a more positive
view of our prospects and possibilities.  We reject this gloomy assessment,
along with the bitterness and blight traditionally associated with blindness. 
Rather, our mood is one of hope, accomplishment, and the
joy of discovery.  We believe that we who are blind, organized throughout
the land, have the strength and purpose to change the course of history at
least our own history.  We believe it is our responsibility to make it happen
and we accept the challenge, with the full knowledge
that the moving force is, and must necessarily be, the National Federation of
the Blind.
A company calling itself Safe-E-Scape of Tampa, Florida, writes to tell us
that it has devised a set of burglar bars, which are most appropriate for the
blind.  These bars, which fit on the inside of
the window, have a locking mechanism, which is opened without a key.  In
writing to me Safe-E-Scape says:   We feel that this product can be very
important to blind people everywhere and of every economic and social level. 
We are, of course, a for-profit concern and are first seeking customers who
(we feel) most need and will best accept our product. 
That is what they say, and I ask you:  Why are these burglar bars particularly
appropriate for the blind?  Why more for us than for others?  Are we less able
to protect our property than the ordinary sighted citizen?  Is there a
concerted effort by criminals to seek out the homes of the blind?  As far as I
know, the property of blind people is not more valuable than the property of
the sighted.  Or, is the reason for selling this product to the blind
contained in the fact that there is no key?  If the blind are more helpless
than others, there is a need for greater protection.  But the very
helplessness
of blind people contains inherent disadvantages.  Those who are helpless may
misplace a key (or worse still) may not be able to use it even
if it is not lost.  These notions are all contained in the advertisement for
the special burglar bars for the blind.
And they are also contained in a bill considered by the House of Delegates of
the 1988 Maryland General Assembly.  The bill (which embodies the inherent
assumption that the blind and other so- called  vulnerable groups  need
special, segregated laws to protect them) was entitled  An Act Concerning
Crimes Against the Elderly and Vulnerable.   The language of this legislative
measure leaves no doubt as to what is meant by those who are  vulnerable.   It
says, in part:  ____________________
The maximum sentence allowed by law for commission of any crime of violence
may be doubled for commission of that crime of violence against a person who
is: (1) 60 years old or older; (2) Blind; (3) Paraplegic; or (4) Quadriplegic.
____________________
According to this bill, if you are blind, you are more vulnerable
(in fact, twice as vulnerable) to crimes of violence than other people are. 
But our experience teaches us otherwise.  Blindness does not
mean that keyless burglar bars or extra legal protection is required.  We are
able to live in the world as it is.  I am pleased to say that the bill for the
vulnerable died in the Maryland legislature.  The
views of the Federation helped kill it, and we hope that the misunderstandings
about blindness which it represented are also on the way to being killed.
In our organizational efforts and our daily activity our mood is one of hope,
accomplishment, and the joy of discovery.  We believe that we who are blind,
organized throughout the land, have the strength
and purpose to change the course of history at least our own history.  We
believe it is our responsibility to make it happen and we accept the
challenge, with the full knowledge that the moving force is, and must
necessarily be, the National Federation of the Blind.  Traditionally those who
seek to tell the story of blindness exaggerate
and distort.  They tell us that blindness alters the mental processes that we
who are blind are characterized by heightened sensitivity, extreme joy, and
deep gloom.  There is, for instance, the report some time back in  People 
Magazine concerning a blind child who became so depressed while attending a
school for the blind that he forgot how to smile.  He had to be taught how to
move his face.
However, as we know from our own personal experience, blindness and depression
are not necessarily synonymous.  Nor (as we can testify) does blindness carry
with it some of the other peculiar results, weird side effects, and odd-ball
associated characteristics which some have claimed. In the book  And There Was
Light  by the blind author Jacques Lusseyran, we find this astonishing
passage:   Shortly after I became blind, I felt indescribable relief, and
happiness so great it almost made me laugh.  Confidence and gratitude came as
if
a prayer had been answered.  I found light and joy at the same moment, and I
can say without hesitation that from that time on, light and joy have never
been separated in my experience. 
To which one is tempted to respond:  Yuk!  One blind person could not move his
face; the other felt relief and happiness.  The only way I know to reply to
such fantasy is by calling on the poets.  If memory serves me, James Russell
Lowell said something to this effect:

____________________
 Here comes Mr. Poe with his raven, 
 Like Barnaby Rudge; 
 Three-fifths of him genius, 
 And two-fifths sheer fudge. 
____________________
I would agree with Lowell, but I would change the ratio.
National Industries for the Blind, the agency which distributes millions of
dollars worth of government contracts to sheltered workshops for the blind,
has recommended that a special sandpaper-type material be attached to the
floor in buildings where blind people walk.  The blind (or so National
Industries for the Blind apparently believes) cannot effectively get around by
any other method and should follow the sandpaper to find their way.
Then, there is the opinion of a researcher into low vision, reprinted some
time ago in an issue of the  Architectural Record .  As
you might expect, the findings of this researcher are couched in terms of
architectural barriers.  However, the conclusion reached is, to say the least,
astonishing.
____________________
One of the most difficult architectural barriers faced by partially sighted
persons [the publication says] is locating a rest room in
a public building and determining whether it is for men or for women.  This
problem can be easily solved by affixing panels to rest room doors in such a
way that visually impaired persons can readily identify
the facilities.  Those on men's rest room doors should be an equilateral
triangle with a vertex pointing upward, and those on women's rest room doors
should be a circle.  The edges of the triangle should be one foot long, as
should be the diameter of the circle, and all panels should be one-quarter
inch thick.  The color and gray value of these geometric figures should be
distinct from the color and gray value
of the doors.  [I interrupt to ask you to disregard the hidden Freudian
pornographic symbolism contained in this treatise and to say that
there are other (possibly even better) ways of determining which bathroom is
which.  But back to the article.]
If this were done [it continues] even the totally blind could touch the edge
of a panel and easily determine whether it is straight or curved.
____________________
As I ponder this report, I confess to a certain curiosity.  Are the geometric
shapes intended to represent the people involved  men triangular with straight
edges, vertex pointing upward; and women circles with lots of curves?  It is
embarrassingly suggestive.  Let me simply leave it at this:  although it is
often important to find a bathroom, most blind people seem to manage; and I
believe it is a foolish and overdramatic exaggeration to describe the matter
as one of the most important problems faced by the blind.
Shortly before last summer's National Federation of the Blind convention an
item appeared in the  Honolulu Advertiser  which declared that there are
characteristics of blindness which are advantageous in marriage.  Here is the
item in full:
____________________
Marriages among blind people last longer statistically than marriages among
people with good eyesight.  Or, so our Love and War man has been informed.  He
doesn't doubt it.  It's common knowledge that the
blind tend to be better lovers than the sighted.  For two reasons:  1.  It's
quite comfortable for them to communicate with their hands.  2.  And, they
make love with inner visions of each other, which remain forever as they so
desire.
____________________
So there you have it.  You may have been under the impression that
blind people were just like everybody else except that we can't see.  Not so! 
We have the ability to communicate with our hands and besides, there is that
special inner vision which we conjure up when making love. When reading this
piece of so-called news from the  Honolulu Advertiser , I wondered where the
reporter got his information.  In my experience with thousands of blind people
(some of whom have attended conventions of the National Federation of the
Blind), I have reached
the conclusion that the mating patterns of the blind do not vary substantially
from those of the larger society.  Let any reporter interested in field
testing come to this gathering of blind people from throughout the nation.  I
suspect that the research will show that we have about the same experience
(and the same attributes) as others just as loving, just as bad, just as
wonderful.
The Queen's University of Belfast has a program for teaching the blind about
dentistry and oral hygiene.  There is even a kit with models and tape
recordings.  The brochure has this to say about the course.

____________________
The Queen's University of Belfast Touch Tooth Kit has been developed by the
Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry within the University.
It is a complete dental health programme for the visually impaired.

It includes the smells and sounds of the dental surgery, large models for the
student to feel what he is learning, and a complete set of Teachers' Notes to
lead them through an up-to- date programme of dental health education.
____________________
Why anyone would want to experience the smells of dentistry without
being compelled to do so is something I can't understand.  Why a university
should think that blind people need the sound of the dentist's drill, the
spicy aroma of tooth decay, and the feel of a deteriorating molar is beyond
comprehension.  Perhaps the designers of this course have concluded that the
psychological stresses for blind people have been too great.  Consequently,
they may have decided that the blind are abnormally interested in the bizarre. 
How else can the existence of this dental education program for the blind be
explained?  Why
is the ordinary dental hygiene program not enough?  Most of the blind people I
know have teeth, and the toothbrush is not an unknown quantity.  I venture to
say that blind people are as aware of dental hygiene as the sighted are.  If
the message were not so destructive, it would be amusing.  The basic
assumption is that blindness necessarily means diminished ability, that we do
not have the capacity to learn with the ordinary tools in the usual way.  As
with so much else, we reject this assessment.  Rather, our mood is one of
hope, accomplishment, and the joy of discovery.  We believe that we who are
blind, organized throughout the land, have the strength and purpose to change
the course
of history at least our own history.  We believe it is our responsibility to
make it happen and we accept the challenge, with the full knowledge that the
moving force is, and must necessarily be, the National Federation of the
Blind.
Agencies for the blind have been established to provide services to blind
people.  However, the actions of the officials of some of these agencies
frequently represent the most difficult problems that we face.  It is
unfortunately too often true that the agencies established to serve the blind
create more problems than they solve more than would have existed if they had
never been there at all.
Last year a supervisor in the vending program of the Division of Eye Care of
the Department of Human Services of the State of Maine sent a written
directive to all blind vendors in the state expressing her opinion that the
blind are not only incompetent but at least as immature as small children. 
Here, in part, is what she said:
____________________
It has come to my attention recently that some of you are not aware of the
guidelines for operators regarding dress and hygiene.  Although this is not a
formal dress code, excessive deviations deemed by the program supervisor to be
detrimental to the image which we want to convey of viable small business
people in the community will be noted and may become part of a corrective
action procedure.  [I interrupt to say that this portion of the document seems
clear enough.  There is no formal dress code.  However, if you do not follow
the informal dress code, action will be taken against you.  But back to the
text.]

Jeans are permissible as long as they are in one piece, clean, and fit
properly.  [Again, I ask:  Why were such instructions given?  In
the vending program, blind vendors are supposedly operators of independent
small businesses.  Is it proper for a state official to send a memorandum to
licensed vendors telling them to wash their jeans?  What does it mean if a
state official thinks it is necessary to instruct an entire class of people
that the pants they wear should be in one piece?  These are the directions
ordinarily reserved for small children or the mentally defective.  However,
this is not all that the state of Maine thinks should be addressed to
independent blind vendors in its program.]
Clothes should, of course, [the document continues] be clean and
complimentary.  Beyond that, the clothes you are wearing should not be
provocative in any
way, by this I mean that there should not be a lot of bare skin showing
(shoulders, low necklines, et cetera), fit should be good without being tight,
proper undergarments should be worn, midriffs should not be bare.  We are
operating public businesses, not the bar at the country club.
I already mentioned [this official continues] that clean hair (washed several
times each week) is essential.  Hair style should be attractive and neat,
whether long or short.  This means that regular hair cuts are expected, no
matter what style you've chosen.  Facial hair is acceptable as long as beards
and mustaches are trimmed and clean.  Men should shave every morning unless
they can demonstrate that their facial hair growth is not visible over longer
periods.
In order to eliminate unpleasant body odors, [this supervisor's letter
goes on] a shower or bath each day and the use of deodorants is imperative. 
Hands should be washed with soap and water frequently and fingernails must
be clean.  Most people need to wash their hair at least every other day,
especially in this type of environment.
____________________
Remember that this state official is talking to people who are supposedly
operating their own businesses.  Although much of the substance of her
directive is objectionable, the primary problem is in the tone and the spirit. 
Of course, one should wash one's hands and wear clean underwear, but the
condescending tone of the order is intolerable.  Is it any wonder that the
blind of the state rose in condemnation of such statements?  Within a few
weeks the directive of the vending supervisor was rescinded.  The reason for
the change is not hard to find.  The members of the National Federation of the
Blind of Maine had taken concerted action and had said,  Enough!   The result
is indicative of what is happening throughout the country.  Our mood is one of
hope, accomplishment, and the joy of discovery.  We believe that we who are
blind, organized throughout the land, have the strength
and purpose to change the course of history at least our own history.  We
believe it is our responsibility to make it happen and we accept the
challenge, with the full knowledge that the moving force is, and must
necessarily be, the National Federation of the Blind.  Sometimes there are
incidents which underscore with dramatic force the urgency of the work we do
and the magnitude of the task still left for us to accomplish.  Recently a
person flying from Baltimore to Indianapolis on USAir, found a paper attached
to his ticket.  It said  unaccompanied child.   Written across the face of the
document was the word  blind.   There were spaces on the form to indicate who
would be responsible for the traveler, both at the origin and destination of
the flight.  The person flying that day was the president of the National
Federation of the Blind.  I was that person.  I had been classified
automatically in the same category as small unaccompanied children.
Less than two months ago a totally blind woman, Shelia Marque, called to ask
for the help of the Federation.  She has been blind for less than a year.  Her
husband is a custodian at the First United Methodist Church in Chanute,
Kansas.  The Marques live in the country with their three children, and Mrs.
Marque is a student, studying elementary education, at a nearby college. 
Although she has qualified for student teaching, there has been no placement. 
Faculty members at the university tell her that it is not possible to find a
teacher willing to work with her.
Sometimes Mrs. Marque rides into town with her husband.  While he performs
custodial duties at the church, she explores the town and practices with her
cane.  When the travel is finished, she returns to the church to wait for her
husband to complete his tasks.  Mrs.  Marque called because of what happened
to her when she wanted to attend a funeral in the church. She was told by
officials of the church that she should not be in the building because it was
bad publicity to have a blind person on the grounds.  She called us to ask if
someone could do something about this discrimination.  As she said,  I
have been blind for less than a year, and all I have faced are setbacks.   And
where, one wonders, shall the blind worship if not at church?  Where, indeed!
What a picture!  The blind are ridiculed on  Saturday Night Live.   We need
separate burglar bars and cookbooks.  There should be special laws to protect
us.  We forget how to smile and must be taught to
move our faces or alternatively, we smile constantly and are surrounded by
light.  We must have sandpaper on the floor to guide us, and circles and
triangles on the bathroom doors to intrigue and inform us.  We must be told
when to change our underwear and wash our hands.  We need to be taught the
smells of the dentist's office.  We make good lovers because we know how to
use our hands and have inner visions.  And finally, we are not even permitted
to come to the church.  Is this a picture of gloom and despair?  Not at all.
We are better off today than we have ever been before.  We recognize the
prejudices and misconceptions which we face, and we are organized to do
something about them.  The fact that we understand and catalog does not mean
that we feel bitterness, defeat, or despair.  When we identify these
injustices and bring them into the open, the very fact of doing so begins the
process of change and improvement.  Yes, many of the governmental and private
agencies are negative in their outlook and are still mired in the past, but
others (a growing number) are working with us in progress and partnership. 
And increasingly throughout the country we are establishing training programs
of our own to serve as models and touchstones.
Likewise, although the media and the public at large are still characterized
by outworn notions and lack of information about the true nature of blindness,
the progress toward enlightenment and change has been amazingly rapid, and it
continues at an accelerating pace.  More people today are with us than against
us, and the balances are constantly shifting in our favor.  Invariably when
the press and the public understand, they are with us.
But we do not need to rely on logic and statistics to see what we are
achieving.  Look about you!  Never before in the history of the world has such
an assemblage as we have in this room tonight been brought together.  In the
presence of this determined, united multitude, can you doubt our ultimate
success?  In the final analysis our future will be what we determine it to be
what we are willing to work, plan, and sacrifice to make it be.  We can ask
for no more, and we can accept no less.
There are critical times for a nation, a social order, an individual, or a
movement times when a nudge or a single act can make the difference.  But no
such critical time has ever occurred without extensive advance preparation. 
The final act may precipitate the event, but
the act cannot occur without all of the others which went before it.  Which
step is more important the first or the last?  The answer, of course, is that
neither is more important.  Both must be taken for either to be significant or
at all memorable.  And there are also the steps between the ones we are taking
now and have been taking through all of the years since the National
Federation of the Blind was established.  Changes in the social fabric can
only be made after individual effort has created the climate and prepared the
way, and in the complexity of present society individual effort is lost unless
it is joined in concerted action.  This is a lesson we have learned well and
we have also learned the value of the first step, and patience, and the long
view.  And something more!  We have come to understand the importance (indeed,
the necessity) of knowing when
to refuse to wait, when to reject patience, when to say no to delay the
courage and judgment to insist that freedom and opportunity must be now, not
tomorrow!  All of this comes with the maturing of a movement, and every
movement must either mature or die.  We have no intention of dying.  Rather,
our mood is one of hope, accomplishment, and the
joy of discovery.  We believe that we who are blind, organized throughout
the land, have the strength and purpose to change the course of history at
least our own history.  We believe it is our responsibility to make it happen
and we accept the challenge, with the full knowledge
that the moving force is, and must necessarily be, the National Federation of
the Blind.
The philosophy of our movement is expressed in the individual actions of each
of us and make no mistake!  Act we will!  Our prospects have never been as
bright; our determination has never been as strong; and our goal has never
been as clear.  My brothers and my sisters, let us march together to the
future!
                 BLIND EDUCATORS RECEIVE AWARDS
In 1986 board members of the National Association of Blind Educators, a
division of the National Federation of the Blind, voted to establish a  Blind
Educator of the Year Award.  The idea seemed sound.  When all the applications
started pouring in, it was abundantly clear that there are many, many
excellent blind educators in this land of opportunity for all. Blind educators
are working from the preschool arena to the graduate level in universities.
Not only are the blind teaching, but we are also administering, working as
teacher aids, and participating in all areas of education.
In 1987 Pauline Gomez was chosen as the first  Educator of the Year.  Miss
Gomez was looking for work during World War II and soon realized that, with
many women working and no adequate child care available for many working
mothers, she should start one of the first preschools. Pauline wondered how
parents would feel about leaving their young children in the hands of a blind
woman, for the blind had not taught the sighted before this time in New
Mexico. Parents had known Pauline, and they had no fears, so she took one room
in her house and began her school.
As time passed, many parents wanted their preschool children taught
by Pauline, so she was forced to add an addition to her home to accommodate
all the children. Then, Pauline had to hire other teachers to assist with the
overwhelming number of new children. Pauline was in the position of having to
educate the new teachers in her methods of teaching while at the same time
doing all of the administrative tasks involved in building, maintaining, and
operating a school.
The National Association of Blind Educators awarded Pauline the first award,
for she demonstrates to all the world that a blind person can, indeed, be
exceedingly capable.
The second  Blind Educator of the Year  award was given in
1988 to Fred Schroeder. Fred trained as an elementary teacher, a teacher of
the blind, and is presently working on a Ph.D. in the field of education.
Fred began his career as a cane travel teacher. He was one of the first blind
persons to hold this job, since some professionals in the field of work with
the blind feel that the blind cannot teach the blind the use of a white cane.
Fred proved them all wrong.  Some years later a job opened up in his home
town. In this job he oversaw the education of blind children in the public
school system.
The results of his labors are on many slides for all to see his excellent
work. Because the blind children all learned Braille and the skills of the
white cane, they thrived, both in and out of school. With these skills and the
confidence in their abilities as blind children, they were able to compete on
terms of equality with their sighted peers.
For many years there had been talk that Fred's state needed a commission for
the blind. With work from the New Mexico affiliate of the National Federation
of the Blind, the commission is now a reality. Fred Schroeder is the director.
Now, all the blind in his state have the chance to learn the skills which will
allow them to succeed.
We in the National Association of Blind Educators congratulate these two
excellent educators, for with their fine work they are showing
the world that, with the skills we teach in the NFB and great self-faith,
opportunities for the blind are boundless.
Who will be the next, the third,  Educator of the Year?  Only time and 1989
will answer that question. But thanks to the long, hard work of Dr. Jacobus
tenBroek and Dr. Kenneth Jernigan and many others, the blind have the chance
to participate fully in the field of education.  

                      BRAILLE AS I FEEL IT
                     by T. V. (Tim) Cranmer
Let's hear it for Braille! Hurrah! Hurrah!
If you are among the thousands of satisfied Braille readers who think the best
thing to do about Braille is sing its praises and urge everyone else to do the
same, if you are under the impression that nothing is wrong with the Braille
we have and we had better let well enough alone, then you could be asleep at
the switch. While you have been relishing your reading, our good-intentioned
keepers in the establishment have been making mischief with the  Braille
codes,  with the result of creating a Braille babel you may rather not know
about.  Take a look at where we are today in the world of Braille codes, and
you'll see why NAPUB (the National Association to Promote the Use
of Braille) and prominent individuals of all persuasions are beginning to
speak out for intelligent improvements.
The first thing to recognize is that, like it or not, Braille has always been
more than a little unstable. Braille symbols and rules for their use have been
adopted from time to time. The details of the big and little changes made to
the  codes  in the last fifty years I leave to the others to report. History
may be important to an understanding of the present, but it is not a talent of
this writer to examine the history of Braille. More to the point of this
article, I call attention to the present Braille dilemma:
It is no accident that I feel the necessity of using the plural when
I talk about Braille today. That is because we no longer enjoy a single
reading and writing tool based on an alpha-numeric system that can be
referenced by the single word  Braille.  We have managed to fragment our most
valuable communication tool into (among others) literary code, mathematics
code, computer code, textbook code, and (with less formal adoption) magazine,
poetry, and other formats. None of these codes is sufficient for use in
writing about everything of interest to an educated lay public. Some may argue
the point, but the fact is that the Braille Literary Code, the fragment of
greatest interest to most of us, is woefully inadequate for transcribing into
Braille such general interest publications as the  Wall Street Journal,
Science News,  the  Reader's Digest , or the daily newspaper. Furthermore,
attempts to produce these and many other materials in Braille today require
those publishers who undertake to produce
our books to translate the printed page into a special language, wherein print
symbols are interpreted into English words inserted into the text.
The best known example of this nonsense is the spelling out of words like 
plus, minus,  and  equals , when these symbols are shown in print. People in
my age group still think of the Braille  en  sign as plus and the Braille  in 
sign as minus.  Not so anymore. The fact is, the Literary Braille Code, which
is used to emboss most of our Braille material, does not include characters
for these and several other symbols that would be required faithfully to
emboss Braille editions of the magazines I have mentioned.
Of course, I know the plus, minus, and equals signs are available in the
Nemeth Code of Mathematics; but that code, as it is, is not used for
reproducing popular literature. That's for the math buffs.  Simple solutions
come to mind to remedy the deficiencies of the Literary Braille Code. It's
tempting to suggest ways to improve literary Braille, but I think this would
be treating the symptom with a Band-Aid while ignoring the bigger problem a
fragmented system of overlapping, sometimes conflicting, codes which
collectively are called  Braille.  Fragmented Braille impedes learning.
Imagine the plight of the adult who loses his sight through accident or
disease and finds himself in a rehabilitation center, where he may stay a few
weeks or months.  He knows how to read print. He is now introduced to Braille.
He must learn that many of the things he takes for granted when it comes to
reading print must be abandoned to learn Braille. Such things as the single
quote and the double quote are used for feet and inches respectively and
follow the digits to which these units apply in print. But Braille requires
the reversal of the order, as well as changing the symbols to equivalent
abbreviations. All other measurements (like temperatures cited in the weather
forecast or in a cookbook; distances mentioned in track, swimming, or
marathons; or anything else) become an absurd exercise in unlearning. Now,
tell our hypothetical student that he can't read or write such simple
arithmetic as 2+2=4 without exiting one code and invoking another. Now, go
back to the original code and start teaching our hapless blind friend (who may
still be struggling with the problems of regaining his self-esteem as a
person) that before he can read even a page from his favorite magazine, he
needs to learn a bunch of arbitrary word forms, contractions, and
context-sensitive symbols. Do all of this, and you should prepare to accept
failure more often than not.
It's no better for the would-be teacher of the blind in a residential or
public classroom. The graduate student preparing for a career in special
education receives inadequate instruction in Braille. It's
not because the need is not recognized. It's just such a major undertaking to
teach or learn Braille that every possible excuse is trotted out to minimize
attention to the subject or ignore it entirely. The most popular excuse for
giving short shrift to the study of Braille is that it is of limited use, and
it's dying out.
By contrast, sighted students learning to read are not overwhelmed by a
plethora of multipurpose symbols. They learn to recognize upper case and lower
case letters, numbers, and a rather limited set of punctuation marks. Having
done so, they are prepared to read practically anything they are likely to
encounter in newspapers, books, or magazines.  If the sighted student develops
an interest in some technical field, a few new symbols required for the
specialty may have to be learned, but he or she will not have to accept new
meanings for familiar symbols which can only be interpreted by the context in
which they are found.  A sighted person with no more than grammar school
literacy can cope with materials produced in the popular press. It should be
the same for the blind reader.
Change is ever with us and oh, how we hate it. A few weeks ago I received
notice that my favorite word processor has been improved with three hundred
new features. I'm eligible for an updated version for a very small fee. My
reaction was strong and immediate: No thanks.  I'll keep what I have and know
how to use. Three hundred new features just means three hundred more things to
learn, hundreds of pages to read, and I don't need all that. I haven't learned
all of the functions of my present version, but this may not be a good analogy
for our present problems with Braille. No one, to my knowledge, is offering
three hundred or even a dozen fixes for the literary Braille code.  In fact,
there is no clear direction for change beckoning us. We have
no science to show us the way to the future developments in communication
tools for the blind. We are no longer moved by personal intuition or
missionary zeal to create a new Braillle code or greatly enhance the present
one.
When Braille is changed (notice I didn't say  if ), it must come as a response
to a widely felt need for change in a direction, clearly forged through debate
within the blind community.  Here is my starting premise:
We desperately need a unified Braille code (just one Braille) a single code
capable of reproducing anything and everything that can be found in print
directed to an educated lay reader. This code must provide one-to-one
correspondence to the set of symbols currently available to publish in print
materials addressed to a general public.  It should be noted that I am here
advocating a notational unity between Braille and print not to be confused
with consistency in format, font, and style.
Is it not reasonable to ask that our Braille code provide facility for
producing all of the symbols on a QWERTY keyboard, including the shift of all
keys? Shouldn't we be able to produce the same symbols as those provided by
the most popular computer keyboards? Shouldn't we have a character set to
match the ninety-six printable characters included in the ASCII code? As of
now, these simple requirements can be met only by resorting to three codes
computer, literary, and mathematics.
Furthermore, I submit that extensions branching from the basic unified code
should not be allowed to introduce symbols, formats, or rules that conflict
with the one Braille code. Put in the language of the scientist, any code
devised for mathematicians, chemists, physicists, or any other discipline must
include the basic code as a subset.
In devising a unified Braille code, all elements that currently enjoy
universal meaning to Braille readers and that are retained in a unified code
must keep their current meaning. This recommendation is made
to ease the transition from the fragmented world to the unified Braille code.
It should be obvious that not all present contractions can or should be
retained.
All decisions affecting code symbology, format, or rules must be based on such
factors as learnability, teachability, and readability to the exclusion of
consideration of bulk or cost.
From the time man learned to utter the first word until the present complex
system of language, the tools for writing and recording thought have undergone
continuous change. Language and print changes have accelerated in our
lifetime. New words have come into the language to enable us to talk about
modern social, economic, and technical developments. As language changes, so
must the written discourse of our times. Those of us who depend upon tactile
symbols to record our thoughts must not accept a written notation frozen in
the comfortable past. Nothing lasts forever, not even our beloved Grade Two
Braille.  If change is inevitable (and I believe it is), it should proceed on
a course set by the combined wisdom of blind people everywhere. Join the
debate! Discuss the problems and glories of Braille with your friends and
acquaintances, and contribute to the thinking en masse
by sharing your opinions with NAPUB and the rest of us through letters and
articles for the NAPUB newsletter and the  Monitor . Together we can shape the
future of the written language of the blind. 

     WHY DO THEY HAVE TO BREAK EVERYTHING by Charlene Groves
When I went to first grade (it was in a sighted school with sighted children),
we were told that we could each have only one piece of paper at a time and
that we must use that piece before we could come and get another. (I used
Braille paper, of course.) Each boy and girl was responsible for getting his
or her own paper unless our teacher decided to appoint somebody to hand out
paper to the rest. And even then, we were still only allowed to have one piece
at a time.
Our teacher seemed to feel (and perhaps she was right) that we would waste the
extra paper if we were permitted to have more than one piece.  But this did
not give us the opportunity to develop judgment and the responsibility for
planning, even when we had an assignment that would obviously require several
pages. But those were the rules; and being only children, we accepted them as
a matter of course since that was how things were.
Then one day toward the middle of the year we had a new teacher, a most
remarkable teacher. We were allowed not only to take more than one sheet of
paper at a time but were also encouraged to take paper back to other people in
our row when they needed it. We were pleased with the new sense of freedom and
responsibility.
But then one day my counselor from the state agency for the blind happened to
enter the room just as a girl from my row handed me a piece of Braille paper.
My counselor immediately demanded to know why I wasn't getting my own paper.
It made no difference to her that the girl had also brought paper to sighted
children in the row. Nor did it make any difference when it was explained that
I also brought paper to the people in the row when the occasion arose. Even
when our teacher explained to her how the system worked and the sense of
sharing and responsibility which it developed, it did no good. Nor did it help
when I repeated the explanation when the counselor took me to a separate room
to give me a lecture.
I was told that under no circumstances was I ever again to allow a sighted
person to do for me anything that I could do for myself. Didn't I realize that
my laziness and lack of assertiveness would inevitably make life harder for
other blind people? Didn't I know that it was
my job to show the world what blind people could do? Didn't I understand that
if I allowed sighted people to bring me my paper, everybody in my class would
assume that I couldn't do it for myself?
She brushed aside my faltering attempts to talk about sharing, responsibility,
and development of judgment. After all, I was only a little girl.  From now
on, she said, I wasn't to allow any sighted person to help me. I got the idea
that if any sighted person should try to help me, or even ask if I needed
help, I was to be as sharp and unpleasant as I could so that they would not
make the same mistake again. When I tried to tell her that I didn't think this
was a nice way to live and that I didn't want to act that way, she told me
that I had to remember that I was blind and that this was how blind people had
to live. She let me understand that if I persisted in my dependent and
maladjusted behavior, she would talk to my parents about sending me away to a
school where they would teach me how to learn to be blind.  I was only a
little girl, and I tried to do what she said.
Two days later my mom got a call from my teacher. My teacher wanted to know
what was going wrong at home which had caused me to be so sharp and nasty for
the last couple of days. Fortunately my mom soon had things straightened out.
She said that I didn't have to live that way and that I should always check
with her and Dad before doing anything that I thought was wrong that any of my
counselors told me to do.  In the meantime my counselor was busy dealing with
my teacher. After all, the counselor was from the state and was an expert in
the field of blindness. My teacher was only a public school teacher without
specialized knowledge. It was intimated that the state agency could cause
problems if the counselor's advice was not followed. After all, she was a 
professional.  From now on I was to do everything for myself, especially
getting my own paper.
So my teacher did what she was told. Yet, being both a sensible and a
compassionate woman, she was unwilling to have me singled out as the only one
in the class who had to get my own paper. So from that day on, we had to go
back to the old system. Each boy and girl got his or her own paper no sharing,
no responsibility, no developing sense of judgment.
That was a long time ago. Perspectives change, and I am no longer a little
girl but I remember, clearly and vividly. And I wonder about the damage and
the power and the unfilled void.
               OF ADMINISTRATORS, ETHICS, AND THE 
NATURE OF SCHOOLS FOR THE BLIND
                       by Barbara Cheadle

 Barbara Cheadle is the President of the Parents of Blind Children Division of
the National Federation of the Blind, and Sandra Kelly is President of the
Parents of Blind Children Division of the NFB of Maryland. 

As most Federationist know, Richard Welch, Superintendent of the Maryland
School for the Blind, has not been to say the least friendly to the NFB. Those
who faithfully read the  Braille Monitor  should be very familiar with his
attitude toward Braille, the NFB, and blind mobility instructors. To put it
succinctly he doesn't like them.

With that background, you can imagine how astonished I was when I received a
call some time in mid-April from Del Simmons, the librarian and a long time
staff member of the Maryland School for the Blind.  She told me that she had
entered nine students in our NFB  Braille Readers Are Leaders  contest. Her
students were anxious to hear about the results of the contest, and she wanted
to know when the winners would be announced.
It so happened that the NFB of Maryland was planning to give special awards
and recognition to all the Maryland contestants at our upcoming May 14, 1988,
parents of blind children seminar. In addition to the national prizes,
certificates, and ribbons the NFB of Maryland was awarding attractive wooden
plaques to all of the Maryland contestants, as well as cash certificates to
the top readers. We really wanted to let the kids know how important it was
for them to keep reading and to be proud of reading Braille.
Of course, I immediately told Mrs. Simmons all about the seminar and
our plans for recognizing the students. We were mailing our announcements
about it and the Maryland School would get one, too, I told her. I also
suggested that I could mail out the information directly to the parents if she
would tell me who they were. She declined and said she would notify them. (The
contest rules require that the name and address of the parent be given on the
entry form, so we did get most of the names and addresses later.)
Two more times before the seminar we called and reminded Mrs. Simmons about
the date and asked if any students were coming.
Then, we received a letter dated May 11, 1988, from Mrs. Simmons.  She said
that the invitation had come  a little late  and that the parents either had
other commitments, or that the students lived too far away and it was 
inconvenient for their parents to bring them in.  Then she asked us to send
her the prizes so she could present them to the students at the awards day
ceremony in June.
Of course, we knew that the excuses were just that excuses. She had been told
about the event a month in advance and had received follow-up calls and an
announcement through the mail. Also, at least six out of the nine Maryland
School for the Blind contestants lived in Baltimore or one of its suburbs.
As it turned out, one of the school's students did attend the May
14 recognition ceremony. However, he had never received any information about
it from the Maryland School for the Blind. We had done our own mailing, and
that was how he learned about it. Although this behavior seemed unprofessional
and not in the best interest of the children,
it was hardly fair to hold Mrs. Simmons totally responsible. Dr. Welch's
attitude and conduct toward the NFB as well as his notions about Braille have
been such that it was noteworthy that she had entered the students in the
contest in the first place.
But we had one more possibility. It was a long shot, but Sandy Kelly called
Mrs. Simmons back and explained that we (she and I) would be pleased to bring
the prizes over and present them to the children
at the school awards ceremony. (The contest rules clearly state that,  Prizes
will be personally awarded, whenever possible, by representatives of the
National Federation of the Blind. )
To her credit (and somewhat to our surprise), she agreed. However, it turned
out that there were at least two award ceremonies, and we had just missed one
of them. But we could still come to the Newcomers Unit awards ceremony on the
9th of June.
When we arrived at the school for the blind that day we were cordially (if
somewhat nervously) greeted by Mrs. Simmons. She seated us with the others who
were handing out awards (we were the only non-staff persons there). The
program listed the Braille awards as the last item of the day. Mrs. Simmons'
name was listed with it, but our names and the sponsors of the Braille contest
(NFB Parents Division and NAPUB) were not listed. Later, when we were
introduced by  Mr. Dennis Duda (the master of ceremonies and one of the school
administrators), he simply referred to us as some people Mrs. Simmons had here
to help present the awards. He obviously didn't know anything about the
contest or who we were.
Mrs. Kelly and I noticed several things of significance. First of all, of
course, we noticed that the programs were not available in Braille. With the
money and technology the school has, making up Braille programs should have
been no problem. We could only conclude that no one thought Braille, and/or
the students, teachers, and others who used Braille, was or were important
enough to bother with Braille programs.
The next thing we noticed was that there was only one student who carried a
cane. He did not use it during the ceremony. (The totally blind students used
the partially sighted students as sighted guides.) To his credit, though, he
unfolded it and used it after the ceremony
as he and his parents were leaving. From some conversation we overheard, and
the fact that no other students were using canes, we got the distinct
impression that using the cane inside the building was not a practice his
teachers had encouraged.
We were also surprised that Dr. Welch was not present. Not only was he absent,
but no one made any comment about why he wasn't there, or conveyed his regrets
at being absent, or gave any message from him at all. We wondered just how
important he thought all of this was.
Among the awards given were the mobility awards. Although there were many
awards given in such categories as music and recreation, only two mobility
awards were given. Somehow, we had expected that at least one of them would
have something to do with improvement or advancement in independent mobility
off campus, or maybe best cane technique, or even improvement in on-campus
travel. But we were way off base.  The two awards given were to the wheelchair
student who had shown the most improvement, and the student who had
demonstrated the most advancement in the use of his residual vision. (No
mention was made
of the cane, nor did he carry one though he clearly had very little residual
vision.) Of course, we had no problem with the wheelchair award, but we really
wondered what kind of  independent  travel these kids were getting if no one
merited an award that had anything to do with excellence in traveling with a
cane.
Finally, we had our turn. We gave our speeches then handed out the plaques and
certificates. In addition to our awards, Mrs. Simmons had made up certificates
for the students who had participated. There was a good response to our
speeches  at least, there was from the parents who attended. The staff seemed
either nervous and very uncomfortable, or plainly puzzled.
Mrs. Kelly and I had little doubt that if the NFB had not sponsored
this contest for Braille readers and if a librarian hadn't been concerned
about motivating her students to read, the Maryland School for the Blind would
not have made any effort to recognize and encourage their Braille readers.
The emphasis at the ceremony was unquestionably on such things as music and
recreation. Academics, reading, literacy, and independent travel simply
weren't priorities.

                   OF ELEVATORS, McDONALD'S, 
AND THE SPEED OF BRAILLE

As  Monitor  readers know, the National Association to Promote the Use of
Braille (NAPUB) and the National Federation of the Blind Parents of Blind
Children Division sponsor the  Braille Readers are Leaders  contest each year
to encourage literacy among blind children. Some of the educators in the
field, not being fluent in the use of Braille themselves, tend to discourage
its use. Contrary to what these people say, Braille can be read at hundreds of
words per minute, and many blind persons throughout the country are doing it
every day.
On June 8, 1988, Barbara Cheadle (President of the NFB Parents of Blind
Children Division) and Sandra Kelly went to the Maryland School for the Blind
to present Braille Readers are Leaders awards. Mrs.  Kelly said:
____________________
In 1968 I was a graduating senior from the Maryland School for the
Blind. Awards were presented in the gym, and at that time one's proficiency in
Braille did not merit special recognition.
Over the years the advent of the computer caused special education program
administrators and others in the field of work with the blind to re-examine
the need for Braille and its real relevance to blind persons. Their
conclusions were neither accurate nor positive. They said rapid reading speeds
could not be attained; Braille was tedious and slow. Give a blind person a
cassette player/recorder and eventually a computer, and all his problems would
be solved.
Fortunately the National Federation of the Blind, the largest consumer
organization of blind persons in the country, established the National
Association to Promote the Use of Braille, NAPUB. It is this special interest
group, along with the Parents of Blind Children Division of the National
Federation of the Blind, which sponsors an annual  Braille Readers are Leaders 
contest to encourage and challenge blind students at all grade levels to
develop Braille skills of which they can be proud. Had such a contest been in
existence while I was a student here, I'm sure I would have entered as often
as I could, and I'd have done well. I appreciate more now than I ever thought
I would the level of independence I've had as an adult because of those
skills.
To the parents who are here today: You can help your Braille readers become
leaders in their communities and workplaces not only by helping them enjoy
reading and developing appropriate applications for Braille at school and at
home but by giving them opportunities to meet successful blind role models. I
realize that several on the staff here are blind.  Blind children need to know
about blindness outside the school grounds, for the time will come when
they'll leave this campus as I did twenty years ago. There were blind teachers
here, too, when I was a student.  But it wasn't enough. Sighted children have
an opportunity to observe sighted adults in a variety of work and play
situations; blind children deserve equal treatment and opportunity.
The National Federation of the Blind and NAPUB are proud to recognize the 1988
participants in the  Braille Readers are Leaders  contest by awarding plaques,
certificates, and in two instances $25.00 gift certificates for aids and
appliances purchases from the National Center for the Blind.
We're glad for the opportunity to make these presentations, and hope that some
of you will become interested in other activities of the Parents of Blind
Children Division, NAPUB, our Student Division, and the NFB. In addition to
meeting positive blind role models, you'll learn about scholarships and
employment and that it is respectable to be blind.
____________________
After Mrs. Kelly had spoken, Mrs. Cheadle said:
____________________
What do elevators, McDonald's, a bank machine, and a new microwave
oven have in common?
Answer: Braille
If you go into any McDonald's restaurant today you can get a Braille menu on
request. It is common, downright ordinary in fact, to find Braille markings on
elevators. A bank machine I use at a local supermarket has you guessed it
Braille instructions taped on the side.  And even six years ago, I was given
the option of getting a Braille manual when I ordered my microwave oven.
More than ever before in our history, Braille is available to the blind on a
common everyday basis.  And just as important, the public accepts Braille.  To
the public, Braille is just the normal method of reading and writing for the
blind.
Tragically, just as we are experiencing a breakthrough in the availability and
common acceptance of Braille among the public, we are also experiencing a
dramatic decline in the percentage of blind students who are being taught
Braille.
We are now in a position of having more Braille, but fewer and fewer students
who have the skill to take advantage of the new and greater opportunities for
independence and employability that this increase in Braille offers to the
blind.
What could we do about it?  The National Association to Promote the
Use of Braille and the National Federation of the Blind Parents Division got
together in 1984 to see what we could do to reverse this trend.  We just
couldn't let the coming generation of blind and partially-sighted children
suffer the consequences of illiteracy.  For the truth is,
if you don't have a complete, flexible, and portable system for personal
reading and writing that you can rely on throughout your lifetime, then you
are illiterate.
One of the projects we embarked upon in our fight for literacy for the next
generation of the blind was the National Federation of the Blind  Braille
Readers are Leaders  national Braille reading contest for children in grades
kindergarten through twelve.
And that is why we are here today; to honor the students at the Maryland
School for the Blind who have participated in the 1987-88 fourth annual NFB 
Braille Readers are Leaders  contest.
All of you those of you who entered the contest, I mean whether you read 5
pages or 10,000 and yes, we have contestants who have read 10,000 and more
pages are leaders, are winners.  You
are because you have chosen to throw your lot in with the some ninety-nine
percent of the rest of this country who are literate; you have chosen to be 
normal. 
Yes, the technique is a little different.  You read with your fingers and I
read with my eyes.  But it is only a minor difference.  After all, the
Japanese use a different technique, too.  They must learn literally thousands
of characters, and they read in a column from the top to the bottom of a page
and from right to left.
Yes, I am here today to honor you for your participation in this contest, but
I am also here to make a pledge to you.
The National Federation of the Blind, the National Association to Promote the
Use of Braille, and the NFB Parents of Blind Children Division will do
everything in our power to see that you have more Braille available to you now
and in your future than has ever been available to the blind before.
We pledge to work to create a positive atmosphere and acceptance of Braille as
a normal, legitimate method of reading and writing. We pledge to create more
opportunities for independence and employability of the blind so that you can
fully utilize the Braille skills you are learning. We pledge this to you.
Your job is to prepare yourselves to take advantage of these opportunities. 
Keep reading and improving your Braille skills.  But even more importantly,
believe in yourselves.  It is  normal  to read Braille.  It is respectable to
be blind.
Let me leave you with a quote from a book I recently read.  The main character
is a blind boy.  At the very end of the book this is what he says:
 I'm not embarrassed about being blind.  It's just different.  Everyone is
different in some way, and that means we're all the same, too.  Get it? 
      BLINDNESS: THE MEANING OF THE METAPHOR by Zach Shore

 Zach Shore is one of the rising young leaders of our movement.  He won an NFB
scholarship at the 1987 national convention in Phoenix, and since that time
his writings have appeared in this publication.  Here he is again, and the
order of placement of his article in the contents is not accidental. 

How often do we hear such expressions as  blind faith,   a blind guess,  and 
blind to the truth?  We all use these and many similar sayings without ever
giving them a second thought.  But what do they really mean; what are we
actually saying?
Recently I submitted an article to my school newspaper entitled,  Stop Placing
Blind Students Behind the Language Barrier.  Unquestionably, the headline
needed to be shortened. Since the article dealt with
a shortsighted and foolish university policy which allowed blind students to
waive their foreign language requirements solely on the basis of blindness, my
editor changed the headline to read,  Blind to the Language Barrier. 
What the editor had unwittingly done was to equate blindness, the physical
condition, with a  metaphorical meaning of mental incompetence and lack of
foresight. He suggested that those who lack physical sight also lack
intellectual dexterity. The headline really said that the makers of this
policy, whom the editor called blind, were foolish.  In other words the blind,
who do not possess sight, do not possess foresight either.
Of course, the editor had no intention of suggesting any such thing.
It never occurred to him that the headline would be offensive to anyone. 
That's because metaphors of blindness have so subtly crept into our language
that we never stop to consider their true meanings.
To put the matter into perspective, consider this scenario. A group of friends
are out to dinner, and one of the friends is Jewish. When the waiter brings
the check, one person in the group who is not Jewish casually says,  Hey, this
bill is too high. I think our waiter
is trying to Jew us out of some money!  The speaker has associated Jews, the
ethnic group, with qualities of greediness, thievery, and an overall lack of
integrity. Imagine how offensive this would be to the Jewish dinner companion.
Yet, the speaker had no intention of offending anyone. He was simply using an
expression so common to him that he never once thought about it.
In the case of metaphors of blindness, the word blind can often be replaced
with words like  mindless  and  unintelligent .
For example,  blind faith  is really an unintelligent or uneducated guess. And 
blind to the truth  is another way of saying  unable to know the truth.  To
ask,  Are you so blind that you can't see what's happening here?  expresses
the sentiment,  Are you so stupid that you don't know what's happening here? 
All
of these common sayings illustrate how our language associates blindness with
ignorance and, therefore, the blind with the ignorant.
But there are some references which do not equate blindness with ignorance. 
Take the case of an angry baseball fan. After the umpire makes a bad call, the
fan yells out,  That blankedy blank ump is blind!  Clearly, this is an
offensive statement to any self-respecting blind person simply because it is
so inherently negative and demeaning.  However, the fan has said exactly what
he means to say; that is, that the umpire lacks the physical characteristic of
sight, which is exactly the characteristic which the blind lack. The fan may
well wish to imply that the umpire is also stupid and incompetent, but this is
unclear. The disgruntled fan has called the umpire literally blind, but not
metaphorically blind, and therefore incompetent.
The metaphorical meanings of the word  blind  encompass everything from
shortsighted to stupid, from ignorant to mindless, and from foolish to
incompetent. This is how society has perceived the blind. How else do you
suppose such expressions have come about? Why do we not say  Jew faith,    a
black guess,  or  deaf to the truth?  It is because the blind were, and still
are, viewed in a unique way, different from that of any other minority group.
They
are thought of as both literally and metaphorically blind. The demeaning
metaphor is yet another obstacle which society has placed in the path of the
blind, but which the blind will overcome on their way to equal status with the
sighted.

 AIRLINES, FAA ARE BLIND TO DISCRIMINATORY RULES by Mike Deupree

From the Monitor Editor: Who says the press and the average member of the
general public can't understand what we are talking about when we say that the
airlines are giving the blind a raw deal and behaving like chumps? The tide
has turned, and the momentum is building. I have never met Mike Deupree, but
I'd like to. He sounds like a fellow with some sense and not just a head full
of prejudice and preconceptions.  If you tell me that I might not feel that
way if he didn't agree with me, I reply that that only proves that the blind
are human. But I go on to say that certain things have the ring of truth and
common sense.
Besides, how about you? How many times lately have you called somebody stupid
for agreeing with you? Be that as it may, here is what Mike Deupree says in
his July 16, 1988, column in the  Cedar Rapids,  Iowa,  Gazette. 

There's another controversy under way involving Federal Aviation
Administration rules, and this time it's almost entirely unnecessary. It
involves seating restrictions applied to handicapped or disabled passengers.
No, I'm not insensitive to the needs of those passengers. I'm insensitive to
the needs of the airlines and the bureaucrats. The reason the controversy is
unnecessary is because with very few exceptions there's no reason to treat
these passengers differently.
The primary issue in the news now involves blind people. Not surprisingly,
Peggy Pinder of Grinnell is smack in the middle of it. The lawyer, former
state legislator, and officer of the National Federation of
the Blind was hauled off a Midway Airlines flight in March for violating the
airline's policy on seating blind people.
She says it was because she's a smoker and wanted to sit back in the smoking
section instead of near an exit as airline rules require.  The airline says it
was because she didn't listen to a special safety briefing for disabled
passengers. In either case, the point is the airline's special policy about
where blind people must sit.
The Midway case is somewhat unusual, because it is more common for airlines to
specify areas where handicapped passengers are not allowed to sit, rather than
where they must sit. On many airlines handicapped people may not sit next to
an emergency exit. In fact, another NFB officer was arrested for violating
such a rule on a United flight last year.
Midway's rule is easy to evaluate: It's bad. It is designed to protect the
handicapped person by putting her closer to an exit. That shows good
intentions, but the airline is dealing with an adult here. If she wants help,
give it to her. If not, leave her alone. It's her
life. If the airline was really worried about her well-being, it wouldn't let
her smoke.
The United rule is another matter. It assumes handicapped persons are unable
to deal with the emergency process and could thus endanger not only themselves
but other passengers as well. That's a much stronger argument, and it gets
into a touchy area.
Quite frankly, as an airline passenger, if I could choose the people sitting
in certain seats the ones in the cockpit, certainly, and maybe the ones by the
emergency exits, too I'd pick people who
have full use of at least five senses. But I don't think you can automatically
assume a blind person is incapable of opening an emergency exit. In fact, if
the lights were out or the cabin were filled with smoke, I'd rather put my
life in the hands of someone who was used to being sightless. In any case it
would depend on the individual; although I've never met Peggy Pinder I've read
enough about her to believe she would be competent not only to open the hatch,
but maybe to land the airplane if necessary.
In fairness to the intent of the rulemakers, let's be honest: Some blind
people couldn't handle the escape mechanism. But let's be honest again:
Neither could some Presbyterians, some Purdue fans, and some veterinarians.
On the other hand, virtually any intoxicated person would be bad news in such
a situation, but have you ever been on an airliner where they refused to serve
alcohol to the people sitting in the exit row? Me neither, and if there were a
problem, I'd much rather see that exit seat filled by a blind Presbyterian who
went to Purdue vet school than by some sot who's been guzzling bourbon all
day.
Besides, who knows how those door gadgets work, anyway? I used to think I did.
As everyone who has flown commercially knows, there comes
a time prior to takeoff when they reassure nervous passengers by modeling life
vests and reading a checklist of pre-death procedures. Passengers are supposed
to follow along on a little plastic card.
In years past, these cards had the instructions written in two or three
languages, and you could get a rough idea of how things worked.  This system
has been improved, so now there are not written instructions at all, just
pictograms, which are equally incomprehensible in any language. It is all very
egalitarian and internationally nondiscriminatory, and I think if they gave
the pictograms to the blind people and Braille cards to the sighted ones, it
would be equally informative. So who cares who sits where?
Oh, all right. There should be some restrictions. I don't think people who are
almost certainly physically or mentally incapable of handling
the emergency system children, for instance, or paraplegics should be seated
there. But I don't know any serious person who is arguing that they should be.
In most cases the rulemakers ought to let handicapped people sit where they
want and get on with solving problems that are far more likely to affect the
average passenger. They could start with little kids who sit behind you and
kick the back of your seat all the way from Chicago to Los Angeles. Now,
that's a really serious problem. 

              I AM BLIND AND A GENUINE HORSE TRADER
                         by Dan Crawford

 Since a considerable part of this issue of the  Monitor  is devoted to
matters concerning the 1988 NFB convention, it seems worthwhile to go back a
year and print an excerpt from the 1987 convention, which was held in Phoenix.
The item is interesting, and it is as relevant today as it was at the time it
was presented on Thursday morning, July 2, 1987. Here it is the story of a
blind man in the horse trading business, Dan Crawford from Estill Springs,
Tennessee: 

Good morning. I'm proud to be here. Remember I'm a handler of horses, not a
public speaker, so bear with me. I'm blind and I am a genuine horse trader and
have been for twenty- five years.
How did I become a horse trader? Well, I'm not sure. I'll try to give you a
brief history of how I got into the horse business.
I was born in Garden Prairie, Illinois, in a farming community and raised on a
dairy farm that my parents operated. I lost my left eye at the age of five and
only had ten percent vision in my right eye.
I attended the Illinois Braille and Sight Saving School in Jacksonville
through my sophomore year. And I guess everybody at Jacksonville could have
predicted my future. I used to slip away to the local stable
and eventually got caught and got in trouble. So from then on my future was
definitely predictable.
At the end of my sophomore year I transferred to Belvedere High School.  And
it was during my junior and senior years of high school that I really started
working horses.
I was very fortunate in that my father was an excellent horseman and able to
teach me a lot. I also associated with qualified horse people, as well as
excellent veterinarians and farriers.
I never will forget the first horse that I trained for money. I was offered
$35 to ride this horse, and back in those days $35 was a lot of money, so I
jumped at the chance. Believe me, I needed every dollar.

From then on, horses started coming in for training on a regular basis.  And
between training horses, helping to milk cows, and going to school I kept
quite busy After graduation I still continued to train horses.  By then I'd
upped my rate to $50 a month.
Then the horses still continued to come in for training. I attended college
for a while and worked horses on the side. Eventually I upped my rate to $100
a month. And people still continued to send me horses.

About this time I incorporated a new aspect of the horse business.  I started
buying untrained horses and training them for resale. I found that I could
make far more money than I could training them for their owners. And so I
continued this practice.
Then, I took a factory job working for the Green Giant Canneries, but I still
worked horses on the side.
And it was about this time that some of my friends and I decided that we'd
like to rodeo a little bit. We started roping and tying a little bit with Mom
and Dad's dairy cows. Needless to say this did not make my mother too happy.
And about the same time one of my friends got hold of a real outstanding
bareback bronco. One of the times I had my pride hurt the most was when this
bronk bucked me off, kicked me in the head, and knocked me out for eight
hours. Unfortunately, all of this was documented on complete color film.
Well, enough about my rodeo days. I still continue to train horses.  About
this time I realized that there was more money to be made in strictly buying
and selling horses because there was far less chance of getting my bones
broken. So I continued buying and selling horses.

But this didn't put enough bread on the table, so I took a better factory job
at Belvedere Products, where I worked as an upholsterer.  Fortunately the two
jobs seemed to work quite well together that is, for a few years. Eventually
the horse business got big enough that I had to give up the factory job.
At this time I might add that while I was working at Belvedere Products, I
lost the remaining sight in my right eye. I was twenty-seven years old, and I
wondered if I'd still be able to continue the horse business.  Somehow I just
knew I could.
In some respects it was easier continuing the business after I lost my sight
than before. During the last couple of years of seeing, I found my sight was
actually more of a hindrance.
The strange thing was that all this time that I was buying, selling, and
trading horses, I never thought of it as a career or anything to base a future
on just something to while away time and keep myself busy. I was probably
thirty years old before it dawned on me:  Well, I'm probably born to be a
horse trader and probably will be the rest of my life.
And so I still continue buying and selling horses. But I also started buying
and selling saddles and horse trailers. I found that the three seemed to work
quite well together.
And so I practiced this for a few years and traveled around the country having
a good time. But in 1975 a big change came into my life. I met my wife to be,
Sue. Sue and I were married. When were we married, dear? February 14, 1976.
Sue and I... Sue has really been a valuable asset in this business.  She has
curtailed my traveling and held a pretty tight rein on my expenditures
especially those geared around good timing. Sue does all the paperwork and
does pedigrees with our stud books.
At this time I might add that we specialize in the Arabian horse.
And I will have to admit that I am just a little bit prejudiced toward the
Arabian although, in fairness, we have owned some outstanding quarter horses,
appaloosas, thoroughbreds, Tennessee Walkers, and a few Morgans, as well as a
few other breeds. But our business is basically geared around the Arabian.
The next major change in our lives occurred in 1981. We moved away from
Illinois and into Tennessee on a twenty-acre farm near Estill Springs. Estill
is located exactly half way between Nashville and Chattanooga on Interstate
24. Our farm has four stock-filled ponds.  We have in our ponds catfish, bass,
and crappies, as well as we have a year round spring fed creek.
So I thought perhaps when we moved to Tennessee that I might retire from the
horse business strictly relax and fish and have a good time. But as things
will happen, they don't always work out that way.  When I moved from Illinois,
I sold every horse that we owned. But a good deal came along with some horses,
and before I knew it, we were back in the horse business bigger than ever. We
had to build a new barn to expand our facilities. And if all goes well, we
hope to build a new house this year. It's about time. Sue deserves one.

I often have people tell me they think it's just amazing the way I handle and
get along with horses. And they wonder if I think other blind people could do
the same thing. And my answer is immediate.  Yes.
If I were a young blind person and wanted to get into the horse business,
there are ways in which I feel this could be accomplished. I would
start buying and selling saddles and bridles and other related accessories. 
It would take approximately six months to a year to learn most of the horse
equipment. But hopefully this would be a way the beginner could start to meet
competent and qualified horse people and also a way for the beginner to start
his or her education in becoming a genuine horse trader.
To become a horse trader it's a long drawn out process. It's just like going
to college. It's going to take from three to five years
to completely understand and learn the horses' anatomy and comformation, as
well as various good and bad points about the horse, as well as studying up on
pedigree.
So that is why I think I would start handling horse-related accessories.  This
would bring in a source of income while learning the business.

Again there is no reason why other blind people can't become genuine horse
traders. The horse business is a multi-billion dollar business.  And ninety to
ninety-five per cent of the people who get into the business fail. Now I know
that may seem hard to believe. Let me assure you that it is true. Therefore,
there is money to be made for the remaining five percent. So I say if you are
at all interested in becoming a horse trader, go for it.

                DIABETES WITHOUT HIGH BLOOD SUGAR
                  by Robert C. Dinwiddie, M.D.

 (This article appears in the Summer, 1988,  Voice of the Diabetic,  the
publication of the Diabetics Division of the National Federation of the Blind.
Since diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness in the United States
today, it is necessarily a matter of concern and interest to the members of
the organized blind movement. Here, in the words of an eminent specialist, are
facts which may surprise you.) 

When most people think of diabetes, they think of high blood sugar.  Indeed,
most people with diabetes do have elevated blood sugars. To be more precise,
however, those people have  diabetes mellitus .  This term is derived from the
Greek word  meloi,  which means honey. This has obvious relevance to the
elevated sugar levels in most diabetics' blood and urine.
There are people with diabetes, however, who have perfectly normal blood sugar
at all times. These people have a less common type of diabetes called 
diabetes insipidus . Like those with diabetes mellitus, people with diabetes
insipidus pass abnormally large amounts of urine, but the urine is  insipid, 
i.e. without taste.
To state it more clearly, the urine in patients with diabetes insipidus is
very dilute, because diabetes insipidus is a disease in which the urine cannot
be concentrated.
In a normal person who is deprived of fluid, urine volume decreases, and the
urine itself becomes more concentrated. This occurs as the body attempts to
retain as much fluid as possible. Normally with fluid deprivation, a hormone
called vasopressin (or antidiuretic hormone)
is secreted from the brain through the pituitary into the blood stream. 
Vasopressin acts on the kidneys to retain water, leading to the production of
a concentrated urine. Diabetes insipidus can result from deficiency of
vasopressin or from kidney diseases in which the kidney does not respond to
vasopressin. There is no abnormality of blood sugar in diabetes insipidus. As
long as one ingests enough fluid to replace urinary losses, diabetes insipidus
is a rather benign, if inconvenient, disease. When a person with diabetes
insipidus cannot ingest enough fluid for some reason, large volumes of dilute
urine continue to be passed and severe dehydration can occur.
In rare instances, diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus can occur in the
same person. In fact, this unlikely occurrence has affected one of the staff
of  Voice of the Diabetic , Cheryl McCaslin.  Actually, diabetes mellitus and
diabetes insipidus do occur together slightly more often than would be
expected by chance alone. This association is known as Woolfram's Syndrome. It
includes not only diabetes mellitus (DM), but also a form of blindness, optic
atrophy (OA) and deafness (D). Woolfram's Syndrome is also known by the
acronym DIDMOAD Syndrome.  It is quite unusual but is interesting in at least
two aspects. First, frequent urination can persist despite good blood sugar
control because of the coexistent diabetes insipidus. Second, it can explain
the unusual occurrence of blindness in someone with diabetes mellitus for less
than ten years.  The usual type of severe diabetic eye disease takes at least
ten years to develop.
Diabetes insipidus is much less common than diabetes mellitus. Woolfram's
Syndrome is even less common, but unfortunately someone has to have even the
rarest of diseases.

                    CLAUDELL STOCKER TO HEAD 
BRAILLE DEVELOPMENT SECTION 
AT THE NATIONAL LIBRARY SERVICE 
FOR THE BLIND AND PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED

Under date of August 10, 1988, the National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress issued the following press
release:
____________________
Claudell Smith Stocker has been appointed head of the Braille Development
Section at the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress. The appointment will be effective in
September.
The Braille Development Section, which is part of the Materials Development
Division, is responsible for providing course materials for training and
certifying volunteer Braillists in the literary, mathematics, and music codes
and in Braille proofreading.
As head of the section, Mrs. Stocker will work with Braille teachers
throughout the country, as well as with organizations providing Braille
materials or concerned with the promotion of Braille as a reading medium.
In addition to duties related to training and certification, Mrs.  Stocker
will be responsible for planning and direction of Braille research and
development and uses of new technology.
Mrs. Stocker comes to NLS from the Kansas Rehabilitation Center for the Blind,
bringing twenty-eight years' experience in teaching communications skills,
particularly Braille, and in research on methodology. She has served as
coordinator of volunteers and has, for the past three years, been coordinator
of the overall teaching program.  She is the author of four textbooks:  Modern
Methods of Training Braille  (American Printing House for the Blind,
Louisville, Kentucky);  Listening for the Visually Impaired  (Charles Thomas
Publishing Company, Springfield, Illinois);  A Remedial Primer for Teaching
Braille Reading  (State of Kansas, Rehabilitation Center for the Blind,
Topeka, Kansas); and  Braille Writing Simplified  (unpublished).  She  has
also published numerous articles and papers, served on a variety of committees
and task forces, and conducted workshops for professionals in several states.
Mrs. Stocker received a bachelor of science degree from Our Lady of Victory
College in Fort Worth, Texas; has done graduate work at Washburn University,
Topeka, Kansas; and has received graduate training from the Menninger
Foundation in Topeka.
NLS provides recorded and Braille books and magazines for blind and physically
handicapped readers through a network of cooperating libraries throughout the
country. Many of the network libraries use volunteers certified in Braille
transcription by NLS to produce special materials for patrons.
____________________
This announcement by NLS brings to an end a prolonged search which had lasted
for many months to find a replacement for Richard Evensen, whose tragic death
left a vacancy in the position of head of the Braille Development Section of
the National Library Service. Mrs. Stocker, a member of the National
Federation of the Blind, is highly respected and should make valuable
contributions in her new job.

                    IF YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN, 
OR IF YOU BELIEVE YOU CANNOT...
                      by W. Harold Bleakley

 As most Federationists know, Harold Bleakley is President and principal owner
of AIDS Unlimited, Inc. Alternative Independence Devices and Services. He is
also an active member of the Baltimore Chapter of the National Federation of
the Blind of Maryland. 

Henry Ford said it. While he was not one of our great American philosophers,
he was right when he said,  If you believe that you can, or if you believe
that you cannot, you are probably right.  Unfortunately all too many blind
persons who are interested and otherwise suited to go into their own
businesses miss an excellent opportunity because they believe that they cannot
succeed in their own business. They believe the myths.
The figures tell a sad story. Here they are. The number of blind persons in
their own business, as a percentage of the blind population, is pitiful when
compared to the number of seeing people in their own businesses, as a
percentage of the general population.  U.S. News and World Report  states that
there are about fifteen million small businesses in the country. This is
slightly more than six percent of the population of approximately 240 million.
Even when vendors under the Randolph-Sheppard program are counted, there
probably are not more than about 5,000 blind persons in their own businesses.
This is about one percent of the estimated 500,000 blind persons in the
country. While the Randolph-Sheppard program is a most fruitful source of
employment for blind persons (because of the state control of locations and
equipment, management control, and other factors), it is difficult to consider
the average vendor as an entrepreneur. However, if we do not include vendors
in the count, what is left is far less than one percent of the blind
population. Those are sad statistics. What is wrong? Too many blind people
believe that they cannot succeed in their own business, because they believe
the myths.  One of the myths they believe is that there are not opportunities
today. There were business opportunities, lots of them, in the  good old days. 
But there is not much around today. The truth of the matter is that there are
more business opportunities today than ever before in history. There are more
products on the market, greater diversification of products, more
manufacturer's representatives, more wholesalers, more retailers, more service
businesses, and more people.  Years ago  were not the  good old days. 
American business has blossomed since World War II. In the last recession more
businesses were founded than those that went bankrupt, and most of the
businesses started were small businesses. So much for that myth.
And then there is the myth about big business, that big corporations have
taken over, that you cannot make it unless you are a giant. There are people
who actually believe this, and so they believe they cannot succeed in their
own business. It is exactly the reverse. The American business landscape is
dotted with small businesses, not big businesses.  Most of the new products
come from small businesses. Well over half of the American business payroll
comes from small business. Most new jobs are created by small business.
And then there is the money myth. You need a large amount of capital to start
your own business. Certainly there are types of businesses that require
enormous amounts of money a steel mill, for example.  There are other types of
businesses that need moderate amounts of money to start. Then there are many
types of businesses that require very little money to start. While there are
many other instances, a good example would be starting a manufacturer's
representative business.  Space does not permit, at the present time, a
detailed discussion of how one goes about establishing a manufacturer's
representative business. For now, suffice it to say there are thousands of
such businesses across the nation. The number is growing; the concept has
great potential; and, generally, very little money is needed to start.  Also,
there is the question of how you start. That, too, can make a big difference
in how much money you need. All too often people jump in with a big splash
plush facilities, a lot of space, lots of personnel, fancy equipment. That
takes money and drains the available cash fast at the very time when sales
income is the lowest. The businesses that start in the garage or basement are
legion. Think of all the fruit stores and laundries where the owners live
above or behind the store. Aids Unlimited started in my home. The den was the
office, and the dining room and living room were the warehouse. We grew. It
got to the point where I almost needed a map to get from the den to the dining
room table. Now, of course, we have rented office and warehouse facilities.
There are other less important myths and myths within myths. The biggest,
saddest myth of all is,  I believe I cannot do it because I am blind.   I
believe I cannot be a manufacturer's representative, an industrial
commissioned sales agent, an equipment or business broker, or succeed in this
business or that business because I am blind.  If we are interested and
otherwise suited for going into business for ourselves, this lack of
confidence is the greatest factor holding us back. In believing in the myth
that we cannot succeed in business because we are blind, we have actually come
to believe the myth that most of society believes about the blind. It is
tragic to see that so many of us on the one hand complain about the attitudes
of society toward the blind and on the other hand act out society's myths. The
truth is that if we carefully select the type of business we want to go into
(and everyone, blind or sighted, should select carefully), blindness has
nothing to do with success. The way you handle a particular function may be
different, but all the functions of business management can be handled
efficiently without vision. Customer discrimination on the basis of blindness
is not an item of any consequence. It is far different than when you apply for
a job on somebody else's payroll.  When it comes to going into your own
business, as in so many situations in life, it looks to me that, even though
he was not one of our great philosophers, old Henry Ford was right when he
said,  If you believe you can, or if you believe that you cannot, you are
probably right. 

               A THOUGHT-PROVOKING RESOLUTION AND 
AN ISSUE WHICH IS NOT YET SETTLED

Resolutions are the policy-making vehicles of the National Federation of the
Blind, and usually the process is quite clear-cut. A resolution will be
presented, discussed, and then voted up or down; and although the matter may
again be introduced at a later time, for the moment it is settled. Not so with
Resolution 88-21, which was introduced at this year's NFB convention by Rami
Rabby.
It was not so much a resolution as an indictment of the present system of
education of blind children. It called attention to the fact that the term 
least restrictive environment,  which is mandated by Public Law 94-142, is
being used to promote the very opposite situation; that many educators are
confusing geographic proximity with true integration; and that sitting at the
next desk to a sighted child does not necessarily prevent the blind child from
having social isolation or an inadequate education. The resolution caused
prolonged debate and serious soul searching.
Ultimately it was defeated not only in the resolutions Committee but also by
roll call vote on the floor of the convention. But the size of the vote does
not tell the story, for many of those who voted on the winning side had mixed
feelings and cast their ballots with troubled hearts. Hardly a person could be
found who would say that the present system is working. In fact, there was
virtually unanimous agreement that it is bad, extremely bad. Then why did the
resolution lose? Some felt that while it pointed out the problem, it did not
offer a satisfactory solution. Others felt that such a new approach (yes, new
not old) should not be adopted too precipitously that it needed more study,
more discussion, and more refinement. Still others felt that (regardless of
the resolution's merit and even conceding its correctness) its provisions
would have no chance of acceptance throughout the country at the present time
and that it would only serve as a vehicle for our opponents to attack us.
Yet, with all of these reservations, everyone agreed that the resolution
spotlights a problem which must be dealt with. Braille is deliberately being
de-emphasized in the education of blind and visually impaired children; skills
are not being taught; and concepts of the inferiority of the blind are being
sanctified and institutionalized by the very schools which should be teaching
the opposite. Whatever the final form of the policy and plan of action which
we adopt, the problem demands attention and solution. Between now and the
Denver convention next year all of us should think about it and be prepared to
deal with it. Here is the resolution, not as Rami Rabby originally presented
it to the Resolutions Committee but as it was revised and defeated on the
convention floor:
____________________
WHEREAS, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142) is
founded on the principle that every handicapped child in the United States
shall be provided a free and appropriate education in the  least restrictive
environment;  and
WHEREAS, this principle has been generally interpreted to mean that, merely by
placing a disabled child in a regular public school classroom alongside
his/her nondisabled peers, the environment automatically becomes less
restrictive; and
WHEREAS, this attachment to physical mainstreaming as the paramount objective
in the education of blind children has led to the virtual demise of programs
in which blind children are instructed and trained in groups; and
WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has always believed that the
quality of a blind child's education is determined not so much by  where  the
child is taught but rather by  what  is taught and  how  intensively that is,
whether or not the child is trained to develop a positive attitude about
blindness, a healthy self-image as a blind person, and a self-confident,
independent, resourceful, and problem-solving approach to life, as well as the
basic skills of blindness, such as the use of Braille and the ability to
travel with a cane, and to view these alternative techniques as efficient
tools for success in today's society; and
WHEREAS, after observing the Education of All Handicapped Children Act in
action since the mid-1970's, the National Federation of the Blind has reached
the conclusion that the principle and practice of physically mainstreaming
blind children (no matter what) have, for the most part, failed; and
WHEREAS, this failure is conspicuously reflected in the large numbers of blind
high school graduates who, throughout their educational careers, were 
physically  integrated but  socially  outcast, who consequently become
inassertive, passive, and psychologically ill prepared to interact as equals
with their fellow graduates, and who are woefully lacking in those basic
skills of blindness which would otherwise have enabled them to compete head-on
with their sighted peers, both in college and in the work place; and
WHEREAS, as more and more blind children are born into, and grow up in,
two-income families, it is not in their best interest to have career-oriented
mothers and fathers sacrifice their need for self-fulfillment through work and
instead spend their most productive years bickering and arguing in endless
parent/teacher conferences, administrative
hearings, and court appearances, in an heroic effort usually fruitless to
convince teachers and principals to treat their blind sons and daughters as
normal children and to instruct them effectively in the alternative skills of
blindness; and
WHEREAS, it is the view of the National Federation of the Blind that, if
mainstreaming is ever to have the slightest chance of succeeding, it is at a
minimum absolutely essential that blind children be fortified with positive
attitudes toward themselves as blind people and with the basic skills of
blindness,  before  they venture into the competitive arena of the regular
public school; and
WHEREAS, we believe that the sharing of ideas and information, common
experiences, effective responses to negative public attitudes and practical
solutions to blindness-related problems; the development
of a strong sense of normalcy and a positive self-image; and the cultivation
through, for example, team sports of that competitiveness, team spirit,
and strategic way of thinking which are so crucial to later success in the
world of work can, almost by definition, only take place in group settings,
with the involvement of sizable numbers of blind children; Now, therefore:
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in convention assembled
this eighth day of July, 1988, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, that this
organization call upon Congress, school boards and principals, the teaching
profession, and all parents of blind children to redirect their attention away
from the physical location of a blind child's education and toward its
intrinsic substance and results, and to recognize that, in terms of the
preparation of blind children for life as blind adults, it is  group 
instruction of blind children rather than  individual  instruction of each
blind child within the potentially unfriendly and frustrating atmosphere of a
public school which, in fact, constitutes the  least restrictive environment; 
and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, without in any way endorsing the poor
equality of the residential schools for the blind as we know them, the
National Federation of the Blind work toward the establishment of a nationwide
network of specialized educational centers for blind children, whose precise
location and character may vary, depending on local circumstances and
conditions for example, public programs versus private initiatives; city-wide
day centers versus residential or semi-residential facilities drawing students
together from largely rural areas but whose purposes would be to evaluate the
readiness of blind children for mainstreamed education and, if necessary, to
train them until such time as they may individually be prepared, in their
attitudes and competencies of blindness, to move to a regular public school
and to compete on an equal footing, both academically and socially, with their
sighted peers, in their own neighborhoods; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind, both as a
national body and through its state affiliates, continue and redouble its
efforts to enhance the substantive quality of blind children's education under
this new system, by pursuing the following strategies, among others:
A. Counseling the parents of blind children and advising them of the benefits
of early attitudinal and skills training and of the significance of delivering
that training in group settings.
B. Assisting and guiding the parents of blind children in the ongoing
reinforcement of positive attitudes and effective skills, within the family.
C. Conducting educational programs and seminars for special education
teachers-in-training.
D. Monitoring and pressing for the improvement of the quality of programs
offered by the proposed educational centers for blind children, and of
subsequent services in the public schools, and
E. Establishing our own educational centers for blind children, which would
serve as national and international models in the field of special education.

                  GINGER BEEF AND OTHER THINGS
                       by Kenneth Jernigan

Ordinarily I appear in these pages as  Monitor  Editor, and sometimes as the
author of an article, but on this occasion I want to deal with cooking or,
more precisely, the creation of recipes something which I dearly love to do.
Two or three years ago Mrs. Jernigan and I went to a Jewish wedding, and the
beef was just about the best I had ever tasted. I hunted up the host, who
hunted up the chef, who told me how he did it. It had to do with a marinade,
in which he had partially immersed the meat, turning it now and again. I liked
the recipe, but I thought I could improve it and, at least to my taste, I
have.
This is what you might call a sort of all-purpose marinade. Mrs. Jernigan and
I use it for beef, pork, and fish. We boil mushrooms in it. We make gravy of
it. I'm sure it would be good with chicken, vegetables, and (for all I know,
though I have never tried it) desserts, stir fries, or mixed drinks. It might
even work as hair tonic, liniment, shoe polish, cleaning fluid, or a remedy
for the flu. Be that as it may, here it is for whatever you choose to do with
it. Use it at your own risk. We make no guarantees and assume no
responsibility for the results.
When I use this recipe I usually multiply everything by four or five so that I
will have some to use and some to keep. If I am preparing beef or pork, I put
a gallon or two into a large bucket or pan and totally immerse the meat,
putting a plate or bowl on top of it if necessary to hold it down. I then
refrigerate it for twenty-four hours, remove the meat, and either cook it or
freeze it for future use. Frozen, it will keep very nicely for months or
years, perhaps because of the potency of the marinade. Anyway, here is:

 Ingredients: 
4 cups soy sauce
2 cups dry sherry (Dry Sack preferable)
1/2 cup ground ginger
(Yes, I know it sounds like a lot, but that's how much to use.)
1/4 cup liquid smoke
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
(Old Bay is a Maryland spice. If you can't find it, maybe you should
substitute a couple of teaspoons of McCormick Season-All and a teaspoon of
chili powder. If you can't find the Season-All, then you might simply want to
leave this ingredient out, or have a shot at something else.)
2 cups sugar
1 cup honey
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper

 Method: 
Stir thoroughly; immerse the meat; and prepare for pleasure.

                       Monitor Miniatures

**Elected:
Mary Main writes: The Stamford Area Chapter of the NFB of Connecticut held
elections at its meeting on June 11, 1988. The following officers were
elected: President, Louis Pape; Vice President and Recording Secretary, Judy
Murphy; Treasurer, Keith Perrin; and Corresponding Secretary, John Padilla.

**Pack, Bike, and Ski:
We have been asked to carry the following announcement:  I have a 10-speed
Schwinn tandem racer bike, cross- country skis and poles and lady's size 6
boots, a five-piece like-new set of American Tourister hard-sided luggage, and
a brand new Panasonic phone with 10-number memory capability. I'll take the
best offer. If interested, call (212) 239-1474 or write Maureen Young,
Manhattan Plaza, 484 West 43rd Street, Apt. 17-N, New York, New York 10036. 

**Jumbo Brailler:
Enabling Technologies has announced the introduction of the Jumbo Romeo
Brailler, which produces material in large dots (jumbo Braille).  For
information contact: Enabling Technologies Company, 3102 S. E.  Jay Street,
Stuart, Florida 34997, (407) 283-4817.

**Baha'i Material Available:
We have been asked to carry the following announcement:  Brailled, large
print, and recorded material on the Baha'i Faith and its teachings is
available free. Material can cover the general history and teachings of the
Baha'i Faith, as well as specific topics, such as Life after Death,
Fulfillment of Prophecy, and Concrete Steps to World Peace.  To receive
material or for more information, write in any medium to:  Baha'i Service for
the Blind, Post Office Box 463, Ludington, Michigan 49431. 

Elected:
Karen Mayry writes: Recent elections of the NFB of South Dakota Black Hills
Chapter will have the following slate of officers serving until June, 1989:
President, Eilene Tscharner; Vice President, Shirley Bredenkamp; Treasurer,
Sandy Hansen; and the following Directors: Joe Bollwerk, Alec McHugh, Hazel
Fuerstenau, and James Stubbart.

**Sell:
We have been asked to carry the following announcement:  For Sale Visualtek
Voyager XL, model XL-5. Includes 19-inch monitor with stand, user's manual,
cables, covers, original packing, complete. Perfect condition.  Cost $2,925,
asking $1,900. Contact: Turner Varcoe, 1322 Simwood Place, Jackson,
Mississippi 39211; telephone (601) 362-6265. 

**Astrology and Poetry:
We have been asked to carry the following announcement: Braille Pen Pal Wanted
Rakesh Sood lives in India. He and his three brothers are blind. He is
twenty-eight, a college student, and is studying economics. His sister and
brother-in-law have an electronic business in Stamford, Connecticut, and he
hopes to come to this country one day soon. He is interested in music,
astrology, and writing poetry in Hindi. He would like to improve his English
by exchanging Braille letters with someone who has similar interests. I think
he would appreciate any suitable Braille books or magazines that can be
spared. His address is: Rakesh Sood, 8/4 Thanderpuri, Roorki, U P India.

**Recovering:
As Federationists know, Gene Parker (wife of E. U. Parker of Mississippi) had
a gall bladder attack at the 1988 convention in Chicago and had to go to the
hospital for surgery. She is now home, and E. U. writes:

 It was a great convention though I didn't get to all of it.  I guess I'm just
writing to tell you that Gene is doing fine. That seems to be an interest of a
lot of people over the nation according to my phone calls. Pat Eschbach was a
real lifesaver. Of course, everybody was extra nice and helpful, including the
Illinois delegation. I was shocked at the interest the hotel personnel showed.
Two or three assistant managers called before we left to ask about Gene, and
everybody from the housekeeper to the telephone operators took a personnel
interest.  We finally got home on the evening of July 13. 

**Catalog:
We have been asked to carry the following announcement:  LS&S Group's latest
catalog contains descriptions of more than 800 products many of them new of
particular interest to visually impaired and blind people. For a free, large
print 1988/89 catalog call LS&S Group, Inc.  (toll-free): (800) 468-4789.
Illinois residents call: (312) 498-9777.  If you prefer a voice-indexed
cassette catalog, please send $3.00 to LS&S Group, Inc., Post Office Box 673,
Northbrook, Illinois 60065.  Your $3.00 will be refunded with your first
purchase. 

**Elected:
We recently received the following communication: On May 25, 1988, the Capital
Chapter of the NFB of New Hampshire held elections. New officers are as
follows: Donna Maglin, President; Helen Hutchins, First Vice President; Albert
Constant, Second Vice President; Sherrie Pinfield, Secretary and Corresponding
Secretary; and Vi Constant, Treasurer.

**Blind Industrial Workers of America:
The Sheltered Shop Division of the National Federation of the Blind has
changed its name to: Blind Industrial Workers of America, Division of the
National Federation of the Blind. The new officers are: Charles Erickson,
President; Premo Foianini, First Vice President; Ken Staley, Second Vice
President; Susan Munck, Secretary; and Jim Skelton, Treasurer.  Board Members
are: Glenn Crosby, Joe Shaidnagle, and Ron Metenyi.  Persons who are employed
as industrial workers, in private industry or sheltered shop, are invited to
join. Dues are $3.00 and should be sent with name, address, and phone number
to: Jim Skelton, 6900 Gary, #87, Houston, Texas 77055.

**Cards and Caps:
We now have postcards with a line drawing of the National Center for the Blind
in Baltimore and a statement on the back:  For Information About Blindness
Contact The National Federation of the Blind, located at The National Center
for the Blind, Baltimore, Maryland.  We also have caps with the NFB logo and a
musical rendition of  Glory, Glory Federation.  Touch the bill of the cap, and
the song plays.  Caps are $10.00, and we ask for a donation of twenty-five
cents each for the postcards. To order cards or caps contact the National
Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.

**See and Taste:
We continue to need both pictures and recipes for the  Monitor .  Send us good
quality black and white pictures showing Federationists at work and play
chapter functions, civic and community activities in which Federationists are
participating, family happenings, or anything else which might be interesting
to  Monitor  readers. Send an accompanying explanation with sufficient detail
to make clear what is being shown. We also need to have recipes from members
throughout the country recipes and more recipes. Again, send any accompanying
notes which will allow us to give details, and please date the recipes and the
pictures, too.

**Diabetics Meet and Elect:
Karen Mayry writes: The Diabetics Division meeting during our 1988 national
convention was a huge success. Over 160 persons attended.  We gained several
new members and state representatives. In addition, hundreds of newsletters 
Voice of the Diabetic  were distributed for persons to share with others in
their communities.  The following officers were elected and will serve until
July, 1989:  President, Karen Mayry, South Dakota; Vice President, Ed Bryant,
Missouri; Second Vice President, Sue Manchester, Connecticut; Secretary,
Joanie Krikac, South Dakota; and Treasurer, Mary Hurt, Kentucky. We look
forward to a super year!

**A Moving Sign:
As  Monitor  readers know, a large lighted sign forty feet long and twelve
feet high, containing the name and logo of the National Federation of the
Blind, was installed last fall on the roof of the National Center for the
Blind in Baltimore. Clearly visible from Interstate 95, the sign has become a
landmark and has attracted much favorable attention. On July 26, 1988, a
violent windstorm tore the sign from the roof, destroying the chimney,
knocking down a light post, and causing other damage. Repairs are now under
way, and the sign should soon be back in position more securely anchored and
proclaiming its message for all to see.

**We Almost Forgot:
There was a time when state programs for the blind rated front page headlines
by rejecting accreditation by NAC (the National Accreditation Council for
Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped), but that was another
day. NAC has now become so inconsequential in the blindness field that its
actions largely go unnoticed. In the spring of 1988 at the convention of the
National Federation of the Blind of South Dakota, representatives from the
state services for the blind announced that they would no longer accept NAC
accreditation.  We knew about this constructive action at the time it happened
and meant to report it in the  Monitor , but it slipped our minds.  Anyway, we
report it now, and we extend our congratulations to South Dakota and
condolences to NAC.

**New Chapter:
Terry McManus, President of the National Federation of the Blind of
Pennsylvania, writes: The National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania is
happy to announce that we have another new chapter. On Sunday, July 31, 1988,
the York County Chapter was organized. The officers are: President, Margaret
Haas; Vice President-Treasurer, Adam LaSalle; and Secretary, Norma
Flinchbaugh. We offer them our congratulations and welcome them into the
wonderful world of the National Federation of the Blind.

**Christian Psychology:
We have been asked to carry the following announcement:  I wish to hear from
blind and deaf-blind people who would like to receive on loan Christian
psychology-type books on tape and in Braille. Contact:  Reverend Adelaide E.
Wink, Evangelical Message Interdenominational, 61 South Lee Street, Beverly
Hills, Florida 32665-9130. 

**Formwriter:
We have been asked to carry the following announcement: Henter-Joyce, Inc., of
St. Petersburg, Florida, announces the availability of JAWS Formwriter, a new
software program designed to allow blind and visually impaired people to
quickly, easily, and accurately complete preprinted forms on a computer and
printer. JAWS Formwriter runs on the IBM PC, XT, AT, Personal System 2, or
compatible, and can work with a variety of speech synthesizers and screen
reading software programs. It represents the latest and most efficinet way for
a person who cannot see what is being typed to fill out forms. For more
information or to obtain a demonstration version of JWAS Formwriter, contact
Henter-Joyce, Inc. at 7901 - 4th Street, North, Suite 211, St. Petersburg,
Florida 33702; (813) 576-5658. JAWS Formwriter sells for $495.00 and can be
shipped immediately.

**Elected:
Tina Baker writes:
  The following officers were elected at the state convention of the NFB of
Georgia on May 21 and 22, 1988, at the Sheraton Hotel in Albany, Georgia:
President, Ernest Robbins; First Vice President, Max Parker; Second Vice
President, Tyrone Palmer; Secretary, Tina
M. Baker; Assistant Secretary, Lucy Palmer; Treasurer, Norris Curtis; and
Board Members: Paddy Dale, Clarence Green, Alfred Falligan, Isaac Hayward,
Tommie Johnson, and Angie Mincey.  And the  Monitor  Editor says:
Congratulations to the new officers and returning officers.

**According to the Local Needs:
Shortly after returning home from the NFB convention in Chicago in July,
Patricia Estes (President of the National Federation of the Blind of Maine)
wrote as follows to Frank Kurt Cylke, head of the National Library Service for
the Blind and Physically Handicapped:

Dear Mr. Cylke:
Thank you for meeting with me Thursday, July 7, at the national convention of
the NFB in Chicago. As you know, the blind of Maine are quite concerned about
the decision that has been made to close our local sub-regional libraries and
consolidate them to one main library in Augusta. There is much opposition to
this move within the handicapped community and also within the library system
itself. When contacting Portland, Lewiston, and Bangor libraries, we have been
told that there is no formal plan for accomplishing this but that it will be
in effect by the end of August.
We have had no way to impact this unfortunate decision. We were not given any
opportunity to voice any opinion or even suggestion. The consumers have not
been consulted. We object to not being included in the process, as well as to
the final outcome.
Closing the libraries in the largest population areas is not a step forward.
Putting  the books for the blind in the basement of the state library in
Augusta is a step backward for services and accessibility.  I would appreciate
any information you may have on this problem. Is it too late to affect the
system? Are we stuck with this decision without any form of redress or appeal?

**Attorney General Gives Ruling:
In the spring of 1988 South Dakota Attorney General Roger Tellinghuisen sent
the following letter to chiefs of police in all cities in the state where
daily air traffic occurs:
 It has come to my attention that some airline crews may occasionally decide
that blind travelers may not be seated in particular rows or seats of
airliners servicing your city. At the request of several members of the
National Federation of the Blind of South Dakota, I have reviewed the laws
regarding this matter.
 You should know that there are no state or federal laws or regulations
compelling air carriers to seat blind people in any particular area on the
aircraft. By the same token, there are presently no laws barring blind
individuals from sitting in any particular seat in aircraft, including seats
near exits.
 There may be airline policies to this effect. There are, however, both state
and federal laws barring discrimination against blind and other handicapped
people. I would refer you to Section 404(c) of the Federal Aviation Act of
1958 as amended by Public Law 99-435 (49 U.S.C.  Sec. 1374(c)(1)). This
statute provides in part that `no air carrier may discriminate against any
otherwise qualified handicapped individual, by reason of such handicap, in the
provision of air transportation.' In addition, SDCL 20-13-23 and 23.1 prohibit
discrimination in public accommodations and afford a right of equal treatment
to all handicapped persons in places to which the general public is invited.
This would include public airlines.
 Accordingly, it would be my opinion that if you are requested by airline or
airport security persons to arrest a blind person who is asserting his or her
right to equal treatment on board the airline, you should decline to use your
powers of arrest. This is not to say that blind persons are to be afforded any
additional or other extraordinary rights. They are subject to arrest, as is
any other citizen, for disturbing the peace or violation of any other laws.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. 

**Braille Exchange List Available:
Braille American Diabetes Association Food Exchange List is available at a
cost of $15.00. This list can be ordered by writing to the National Federation
of the Blind of South Dakota, 919 Main Street, Suite 15, Rapid City, South
Dakota 57701.

**Twenty-Eighth Chapter and Growing:
Donald Capps, President of the National Federation of the Blind of South
Carolina, writes: The National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina
continues to experience solid growth. On Friday evening, July 29, 1988, the
Kershaw-Heath Springs Chapter was organized. The new group begins with a
charter membership of 13, and prospects for immediate growth are very good.
Marshall Robinson, a vending facility operator, was elected President. Other
officers include: Mrs. Thelma Hinson, Vice President; Miss Zelda Jordan,
Secretary; Robert H. (Buddy) Catoe, Jr., Treasurer; and Mrs. Wanda Crowley,
Social Director. It was my pleasure to work with the blind of the
Kershaw-Heath Springs area and interested sighted persons in the creation of
this fine chapter.  I particularly enjoyed presiding over the organizing
banquet, as it is always a rewarding experience to welcome another group into
an ever growing Federation family. I look forward to presenting a charter to
our new Kershaw-Heath Springs Chapter during the banquet of the state
convention in Greenville. This fine new chapter (the twenty-eighth of the NFB
of South Carolina) has excellent leadership, and I predict a bright future for
the chapter.

**Advertisements:
In the line of duty as Editor of the  Monitor  we review a variety of
periodicals, both from this country and abroad. The  Monitor  has never
carried paid advertisements, but sometimes we wonder. Consider, for instance,
the following samples from the June, 1988,  New Beacon , published by the
Royal National Institute for the Blind in London:

Luxury three-bedroom caravan to let. Full amenities, `no smoking.' Suitable
for blind and elderly people. At Point Clear Caravan Park, Nr Clacton, Essex
Tel. Mr. A. King, 0702-74777.

Bachelor, Kensington, London, wishes to meet shortsighted girl with glasses
for high myopia. Civilised interests. Please give phone no.  Box No. NB/688, 
New Beacon , RNIB, Braille House, 338 Goswell Road, London EC1V 7JE.

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE  NATIONAL FEDERATION OF
THE BLIND 
JULY, 1988

The policies of the National Federation of the Blind are established by
resolutions adopted by the national convention. Each year the Resolutions
Committee meets early during the convention in the presence of hundreds of
Federationists, many of whom speak concerning the matters under consideration.
Resolutions are discussed, revised, and ultimately withdrawn or recommended
for passage or disapproval by the full convention.  Here is a summary of the
resolutions presented at the 1988 convention in Chicago, followed by the full
text of the resolutions which were adopted:
88-01: expresses support for H.R. 4273 and commends representative Harold Ford
for his foresight and wisdom in  authoring this significant legislation for
the blind.  H.R. 4273 would give discretion  to blind Social Security
beneficiaries in selecting their own rehabilitation agencies and programs,
public or private, and would remove the requirement that only state
rehabilitation agencies for the blind may be used.  88-02: says that the
National Federation of the Blind should seek changes in the federal vocational
rehabilitation act and regulations so that unemployed blind people can get the
services they rightfully expect. The resolution deplores restrictive
eligibility interpretations by state agencies which result in the denial of
services to unemployed blind persons.
88-03: notes the fiftieth anniversary of the Javits-Wagner- O'day Act, pays
tribute to blind sheltered workshop employees, and concludes by expressing our
determination  to use the tools given us by Congress and the courts to
continue fighting for the right of the blind to organize and advance
themselves in employment.  88-04: notes that the new domestic mail manual
violates the spirit of the Free Reading Matter for the Blind provisions of the
federal law and unnecessarily invades the privacy of the blind. It calls on
the Postmaster General to look into the matter and make appropriate changes.
88-05: opposes the proposed federal Department of Transportation rules
concerning air travel by the blind, details the discrimination which would be
institutionalized by the adoption of those rules, and calls on police and
other law enforcement authorities to assist in requiring airline personnel to
obey the law, which requires nondiscrimination against the blind in air
travel.
88-06: notes the unwise recommendations of the Social Security Disability
Advisory Council concerning permitted earnings for blind Social Security
recipients and urges the Social Security Administration and the Congress to
establish policies which will give an increased number of blind Social
Security beneficiaries a reasonable and realistic incentive to work.
88-07: seeks appropriate changes in federal and state laws to require all
elementary and secondary school programs to offer Braille instruction to any
student who is blind.
88-08: expresses support for H.R. 1158 and S. 558, which would amend Title
VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 providing for fair housing for all,
including the blind.
88-09: recommends that the Social Security Administration and the National
Federation of the Blind work together to improve notice procedures concerning
Social Security matters affecting blind recipients so that those recipients
may receive timely, accurate, and understandable information.
88-10: opposes any effort by state rehabilitation agencies for the blind, or
anyone else, to require that publishers provide their textbooks in recorded
form to blind students.
88-11: calls upon the Rehabilitation Services Administration to insure that
blind students receive reader services of sufficient quantity and quality to
meet adequately their academic needs by requiring state rehabilitation
agencies to assume their obligation as the primary responsible party for the
provision of reader services to blind students attending post-secondary
institutions.
88-12: was not considered by the convention.
88-13: calls upon the Rehabilitation Services Administration to recognize
adapted computer technology for the blind as a legitimate and often essential
educational and rehabilitative tool and urges the Rehabilitation Services
Administration to encourage state rehabilitation agencies to purchase
appropriate computer technology to assist blind clients.
88-14: opposes any  radical change, revision, reform, or deviation in standard
English Braille, Grade 2, as it has been previously adopted by the Braille
Authority of North America,  and puts the NFB on record as opposing changes in
the Braille Code  other than occasional minimal changes made by the Braille
Authority of North America.  88-15: During the convention two resolutions were
given the number
88-15. One of these was voted down by the committee and not presented by the
author to the full convention. The other was withdrawn by its author.
88-16: calls on Congress to enact legislation which would amend the Social
Security Act to require that the Social Security Administration make a
determination of continuing eligibility within one year of receiving
information concerning a change in earnings of an SSI beneficiary.

88-17: recognizes that privatization of the postal service may occur and urges
Congress to see that, regardless of the structure of the mail service of this
country, reading material and equipment for the blind continue to be received
and delivered in a manner similar to the current system.
88-18: was withdrawn by the author.
88-19: calls upon computer products companies to make both hardware and
software manuals available on disc to all blind persons who request them in
this format.
88-20: was voted down by the committee, taken to the convention floor, and
then withdrawn by the author.
88-21: was voted down by the committee, taken to the convention floor, and
defeated on a roll call vote.
88-22: asserts the principle that blind persons, as well as other non-drivers,
should be entitled to identification cards that hold the same validity as
drivers' licenses for transactions requiring proof of identity.
88-101: calls on Congress and the United States Department of Education to
work with the National Federation of the Blind to create model schools that
will offer long-term and short-term education and training for blind children,
outreach to local school districts, support and assistance to the parents of
blind children, and student-teacher field placement sites.

                        RESOLUTION 88-01

WHEREAS, section 222(d) and section 1615 of the Social Security Act provide
for payment of vocational rehabilitation expenses of Social Security
Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
beneficiaries to be covered with funds from the Disability Insurance Trust
Fund and general revenues; and
WHEREAS, only costs for services provided to the blind under state plans for
vocational rehabilitation can now be paid under these sections; and
WHEREAS, this limitation effectively restricts blind beneficiaries to services
from one agency in each state, approved to serve the blind by the Commissioner
of Rehabilitation Services under section 101 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973, as amended; and
WHEREAS, many state vocational rehabilitation agencies which serve the blind
are unsuited to give quality services and therefore do not meet the
rehabilitation needs of blind beneficiaries; and WHEREAS, Representative
Harold Ford has introduced a bill in Congress (H. R. 4273), which would give
discretion to blind beneficiaries in selecting their own rehabilitation
agencies and programs, public or private; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Ford's bill is the direct result of the announced policy of the
National Federation of the Blind to seek a client-centered rehabilitation
system for the blind:  Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
organization enthusiastically support H. R. 4273 and give commendation to
Representative Harold Ford for his foresight and wisdom in authoring this
significant legislation for the blind; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge
all members of Congress to give active support to H. R. 4273 in order to
assure its prompt enactment into law.

                        RESOLUTION 88-02

WHEREAS, rehabilitation agencies now receive over 1.4 billion dollars from the
federal government annually to provide job training and employment placement
services to the disabled and blind of every state and territory; and
WHEREAS, the amount of federal funds available has actually increased beyond
inflation in recent years, yet the quality and quantity of services to the
blind has markedly decreased in recent years; and WHEREAS, services have
generally declined due to the following factors:

(1) restrictive eligibility interpretations by state agencies, even denying
services to unemployed blind people;
(2) state means test provisions that deny services in some reported instances
to persons whose only income is from Social Security Disability Insurance; and
(3) excessive application of the similar benefits concept to count any form of
assistance from another source against assistance that would otherwise be
provided by vocational rehabilitation; and
WHEREAS, these conditions are counterproductive to the goals of
rehabilitation, resulting in a rising tide of discontent among blind people
generally; and
WHEREAS, the Rehabilitation Services Administration should provide federal
leadership to insure that the blind who are in need of job training and
employment placement services are not denied: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
organization seek changes in the federal vocational rehabilitation regulations
so that unemployed blind people can get the services they rightfully expect;
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we seek appropriate amendments to the federal law
to remedy these conditions if changes in regulations are not forthcoming.

                        RESOLUTION 88-03

WHEREAS, June 25, 1988, was marked as the 50th anniversary of the Javits
Wagner-O'Day Act; and
WHEREAS, this Act was intended to give meaningful jobs to blind people in
producing commodities and services used by the federal government; and
WHEREAS, instead of providing meaningful jobs, the Act has often been used by
sheltered workshops to exploit the blind through subminimum wages and
piece-rate jobs, without offering promotional opportunities; and
WHEREAS, in commemorating the 50th anniversary of this program, Congress has
now acknowledged the  employee  status of most shop workers, a declaration
which has profound significance for future labor organizing rights of the
blind in sheltered workshops; and
WHEREAS, Congress also declared that upward mobility is  an historic objective 
of the program, requiring workshops to employ blind people in management,
something that few of them do:  Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
Federation join in commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Javits Wagner-
O'Day program by paying tribute to the blind employees of workshops, who have
a common bond with all of the blind everywhere in suffering the plight of
discrimination; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we pledge to use the tools given us by Congress
and the courts to continue fighting for the right of the blind to organize and
advance themselves in employment so that this anniversary will be recorded as
a milestone in extending to our brothers and sisters in the workshops the hand
of friendship and freedom on behalf of the blind everywhere.

                        RESOLUTION 88-04

WHEREAS, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has recently revised section
135 of the Domestic Mail Manual, pertaining to postage-free mailing of
materials and products for use by the blind; and WHEREAS, section 135.3 now
requires each postmaster to establish a list containing the names and
addresses of those blind persons who are eligible to send or receive items
which can be mailed  free matter for the blind or handicapped ; and
WHEREAS, each blind individual who wishes to send or receive items free
through the mail must apply to the postmaster to be placed on the list and
submit name, address, and a statement from a  competent authority  certifying
the individual's inability to read conventionally-printed materials; and
WHEREAS, according to the revised manual, only doctors, nurses, optometrists,
and personnel of hospitals, institutions or agencies may be accepted as 
competent authorities to certify blind people for free matter eligibility ;
and
WHEREAS, the maintenance of a listing, itself, for the purpose of
administering free matter use is an unwarranted invasion of privacy by the U.
S. government; and
WHEREAS, this invasion is only made worse by the required certification of a 
competent authority,  officially saying without shame that the blind are not
competent to act on their own or to be trusted even in using the mails,
erroneously justifying appointment of authorities with medical or professional
credentials to approve each blind individual for postage-free use of the
mails; and
WHEREAS, the blind find these new requirements not only to be unjustified,
unwarranted and outrageous, but also degrading and insulting to our personal
dignity:  Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
Federation condemn and deplore the Domestic Mail Manual policies on
eligibility for free matter use by the blind; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
this organization shall bring this matter to the attention of the Postmaster
General and other officials of the United States Government and the Congress
in order that these unacceptable and invasive policies will be changed.

                        RESOLUTION 88-05

WHEREAS, the Secretary of Transportation has just issued proposed rules
required by federal law to prohibit discrimination against blind and disabled
persons in air travel; and
WHEREAS, the policies announced in these regulations would actually legalize
discrimination against the blind on airlines by:
(1) giving the captain of each commercial aircraft absolutely clear authority
to deny air transportation to any blind person who does not specifically obey
any directive of flight personnel, even if the directive is actually
discriminatory and prohibited by the regulations;

(2) deceptively permitting seating restrictions under the guise of a so-called
FAA safety regulation, yet to be announced;
(3) allowing airlines to deny air transportation without extra penalty for
doing so if another flight is offered to reach the same destination within two
hours; and
(4) exposing airlines to a maximum penalty of $550.00, even in rare and
extreme cases where air transportation is unlawfully denied, while other
regulations now in affect impose fines of up to $1000 per occurrence whenever
a blind passenger even lawfully fails to obey instructions of a flight crew
member; and
WHEREAS, this plan to legalize discrimination flatly rejects the intent of
Congress to prohibit airlines from treating blind people differently from all
other passengers; and
WHEREAS, the continuation of air travel discrimination and the increasing
tempo of incidents involving illegal arrests of law abiding blind persons must
cease: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
organization vigorously oppose the proposed rules of the Department of
Transportation, which unlawfully seek to legalize discrimination against the
blind in air travel; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we brand as  public enemy number one  the
continuing discrimination against the blind in air travel and that we deplore
the use of  police state tactics  by the airlines against law abiding blind
citizens; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon all law enforcement
agencies to cooperate with the blind to compel the airlines to obey the law
concerning discrimination against blind passengers.

                        RESOLUTION 88-06

WHEREAS, Congress has wisely included several specialized work incentives in
the Social Security Act specifically applicable to blind persons entitled to
receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) benefits; and
WHEREAS, one of the SSDI provisions is a statutory measure of substantial
gainful activity (SGA) for blind persons, saying in effect that earnings of up
to $700.00 per month (with increases required annually) will not count as
proof of ability to work; and
WHEREAS, an advisory council to the Social Security Administration (the
Disability Advisory Council) has recommended the following:
(1) repealing the statutory SGA measure for the blind;
(2) immediately reducing the SGA measure for new blind beneficiaries to
$490.00 per month with annual increases to be made each year;
(3) freezing the SGA measure for existing blind beneficiaries at $700.00 per
month until annual increases in the lower amount for new beneficiaries make up
the difference between $490.00 and $700.00; and
(4)  permitting the SGA measure to increase annually only after the lower
amount catches up to the existing higher amount; and WHEREAS, the existing law
offers blind beneficiaries an important work incentive, although it is not
nearly what it should be; and WHEREAS, the flimsy rationale for making these
changes is the notion that SGA for the blind and SGA for other disabled
persons (now at $300.00 per month by regulation) should be identical; and
WHEREAS, applying the theory of identical treatment, there should not be an
earnings limitation for blind people of any age, since blind people who attain
age 69 have no earnings limit; therefore, no limit (as now exists at age 69)
would be equity:  Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of
the Blind in Convention assembled this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of
Chicago, Illinois, that this organization call upon the Social Security
Administration and the Congress to reject the recommendations of the
Disability Advisory Council identified in this resolution; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge the Social Security Administration and the
Congress to recommend and approve policies which will give even more blind
beneficiaries a reasonable and realistic incentive to work.

                        RESOLUTION 88-07

WHEREAS, Congress is considering legislation (H. R. 3019 and S. 1016) to make
grants for the establishment of special initiatives to increase the level of
literacy in our country; and
WHEREAS, the level of Braille literacy skills among the blind remains low
because many educators of the blind themselves do not know Braille
sufficiently to teach it; and
WHEREAS, advancements in technology have removed the excuse that Braille
materials are too expensive and cannot be readily available, yet the denial of
Braille instruction to the blind still persists to a crisis proportion:  Now,
therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
Federation demand that the resources of our country be used to promote Braille
literacy for the blind just as they are used to promote literacy in using
print for the sighted; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this policy be
implemented by seeking appropriate changes in federal and state legislation
which will require all elementary and secondary school programs to offer
Braille instruction to any student who is blind.
                        RESOLUTION 88-08

WHEREAS, Congress is considering amendments to title VIII of the Act, commonly
known as the Civil Rights Act of 1968, providing for fair housing; and
WHEREAS, the amendments in the form of H. R. 1158 and S. 558, would extend to
handicapped persons the protections of our nation's fair housing laws, and
this legislation has particular merit since it would not establish a special
category of fair housing legislation for the handicapped; and
WHEREAS, a federal prohibition against housing discrimination would give blind
persons greater protection to defend themselves when violations of fair
housing arise:  Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
organization support the Fair Housing Amendments legislation and urge all
members of Congress to cooperate in its enactment.

                        RESOLUTION 88-09

WHEREAS, blind persons by law now have the right to expect Social Security
notices by registered mail, with telephone backup, or in other ways designed
to alert them to any planned action affecting benefits or entitlement; and
WHEREAS, the process of implementing these new notice requirements for the
blind also gives the Social Security Administration the opportunity to clarify
the content of its notices, which could only be beneficial and would likely
forestall or prevent many appeals that are now filed due strictly to confusion
about the content of the notices; and WHEREAS, the newly required notice
provisions are designed and intended by Congress to insure that blind persons
receive timely, accurate, and understandable information in order to protect
their legal rights, but that objective will continue to be frustrated if the
notices are not made more clear, with a fair presentation of the information,
and the removal of threats and intimidating language; and
WHEREAS, just as the new legislation itself resulted from recommendations made
by the National Federation of the Blind to Congress, the NFB stands ready to
work with the Social Security Administration to improve the notice procedures
and content:  Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
organization invite the Social Security Administration to participate on a
joint task force of the National Federation of the Blind and the Social
Security Administration, especially appointed to improve notice procedures and
content to give timely, accurate, and understandable information to the blind.

                        RESOLUTION 88-10

WHEREAS, it is critical that blind students possess the option of selecting
from various means of accessing print material; and WHEREAS, some state
rehabilitation agencies have manifested an interest in initiating legislation
which would require publishers of college textbooks to provide these texts in
recorded form to blind students; and
WHEREAS, such a requirement would place an inappropriate burden upon
publishers whose function is to publish books and not record them; and
WHEREAS, mandating that all textbooks be recorded by the publishers would
jeopardize the means currently available to blind students of gaining access
to print materials, such as readers, Braille, and recorded matter:  Now,
therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
organization strenuously oppose any efforts by state rehabilitation agencies
for the blind, or anyone else, to require that publishers provide their
textbooks in recorded form to blind students.

                        RESOLUTION 88-11

WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of the Rehabilitation Services
Administration (RSA) to oversee state rehabilitation programs for the blind;
and

WHEREAS, the primary responsible party for the provision of reader services to
blind postsecondary students is the state rehabilitation agency; and
WHEREAS, direct administration of reader services to blind students by the
state rehabilitation agency has proven to be the most effective and efficient
means of providing these services; and WHEREAS, some offices of disabled
student services provide reader services, the quantity and quality of which
vary dramatically from school to school; and
WHEREAS, the reader services solely administered by offices of disabled
student services are rarely sufficient to meet the needs of blind students;
and
WHEREAS, on some occasions these services provided by offices of disabled
student services are erroneously defined by state rehabilitation agencies as a 
similar benefit  and used as an excuse to reduce or eliminate the funds
provided directly to blind students for the purpose of obtaining readers: 
Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
organization call upon the Rehabilitation Services Administration to insure
that blind students receive reader services of sufficient quantity and quality
to meet adequately their academic needs by requiring state rehabilitation
agencies to assume their obligation as the primary responsible party for the
provision of reader services to blind students attending postsecondary
institutions.

                        RESOLUTION 88-13

WHEREAS, the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) is responsible for
overseeing federally funded rehabilitation agencies across the country,
including those which serve the blind; and
WHEREAS, the primary goal of rehabilitation agencies for the blind is and
should be the placement of blind clients in competitive employment; and
WHEREAS, quality skills resulting from adequate training are a key to
competitive employment; and
WHEREAS, in order to be competitive with their sighted peers, the blind must
develop and maintain equivalent skills and levels of proficiency; and
WHEREAS, familiarity with and efficiency in the operation of computer
technology has become an integral part of many working environments, as well
as educational and training facilities, including college campuses; and
WHEREAS, access to adapted computer equipment in educational and training
settings is often inadequate or non-existent, inhibiting the development of
computer related skills by blind students; and
WHEREAS, accessible computer systems frequently cost no more than other
technical aids currently provided to blind students in educational settings;
and
WHEREAS, despite its importance in the development of competitive skills, many
rehabilitation agencies are reluctant and others unconditionally refuse to
provide adapted computer technology for their blind clients as part of the
negotiated Individualized Written Rehabilitation Plan (IWRP):  Now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
organization call upon the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to
recognize adapted computer technology for the blind as a legitimate and often
essential educational and rehabilitative tool; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we strongly urge RSA actively to encourage
rehabilitation agencies under its influence to look upon the purchase of
appropriate computer technology including but not limited to Braille
accessible devices as a negotiable option in the establishment and maintenance
of the Individualized Written Rehabilitation Plan (IWRP) of blind clients.

                        RESOLUTION 88-14

WHEREAS, Braille is used as a primary method of literacy by blind persons; and
WHEREAS, efforts are underway to reform, revise, and otherwise change Standard
English Braille, Grade 2; and
WHEREAS, an international conference on Standard English Braille, Grade 2,
will convene in London from September 19 through 24, 1988, sponsored by the
Braille Authority of the United Kingdom; and WHEREAS, the National Federation
of the Blind, as the oldest and largest organization of blind persons in the
United States, is the primary organization speaking on behalf of blind persons
in this country:  Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 5th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
organization oppose any radical change, revision, reform, or deviation in
Standard English Braille, Grade 2, as it has been previously adopted by the
Braille Authority of North America; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization take whatever action is
necessary to dissuade any organization or person, other than the occasional
minimal changes made by the Braille Authority of North America, from promoting
radical changes in the code of Standard English Braille, Grade 2.

                        RESOLUTION 88-16

WHEREAS, more than 70% of all blind Americans are unemployed or substantially
underemployed; and
WHEREAS, as a result of being unable to obtain employment due to their
disability, many of the nation's blind are beneficiaries of Social Security
Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits; and
WHEREAS, upon obtaining employment, the blind SSDI beneficiary is required to
notify the Social Security Administration in order that a determination may be
made as to continuing eligibility to receive benefit payments; and
WHEREAS, after having supplied the required information, the blind beneficiary
often continues to receive benefits for a number of years, and thus, makes the
reasonable assumption that it has been determined that he or she is still
eligible to receive SSDI payments; and
WHEREAS, due to gross inefficiencies within the Social Security Administration
such a determination may actually be postponed for a number of years, and in
at least one documented case, a blind SSDI beneficiary has been notified that
it has now been determined that he has been ineligible to receive benefits for
more than eleven years; and
WHEREAS, once the Social Security Administration makes such a determination,
it is a common practice to notify the beneficiary that not only will his or
her benefits be terminated but that he or she must repay all benefits which he
or she may have received subsequent to becoming ineligible for benefits; and
WHEREAS, the amount of such overpayments made by the Social Security
Administration is often staggering. The amount which it was determined that
the individual in the case cited herein must repay was $52,904.00; and
WHEREAS, if the beneficiary chooses to appeal the determination made by the
Social Security Administration, he or she must produce records to prove that
the determination is incorrect; and
WHEREAS, in cases such as the one cited herein, it is difficult, if not
impossible, to produce such proof; and
WHEREAS, in most cases, entities such as the Internal Revenue Service are only
able to review an individual's record no further than three years in the past,
unless there is evidence of fraud, which means that a person is required to
keep records for no more than three years; and
WHEREAS, being forced to produce records as far in the past as eleven years
creates a hardship for the SSDI beneficiary due to the fact that such records
are unavailable with good reason:  Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
organization call upon the Congress of the United States to enact legislation
which would amend the Social Security Act to require that the Social Security
Administration make a determination of continuing eligibility within one year
of receiving information concerning a change in earnings of an SSDI
beneficiary; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the liability for any alleged
overpayment made to a working blind individual not extend beyond the one-year
period during which the continuing eligibility determination is being made.

                        RESOLUTION 88-17

WHEREAS, mail delivery in this country has been performed by a public agency
and by a quasi-public corporation; and
WHEREAS, under both structures, blind persons throughout the country could
send and receive reading matter and blindness- related equipment in the mail
through a mailing program consistently funded by Congress in recognition of
the fact that these items weigh a very great deal more than comparable
material used by sighted persons (a program commonly known as  revenue
foregone appropriations ); and
WHEREAS, recently there has been discussion of making the postal service
entirely private:  Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
organization urge Congress to take care that, regardless of the structure of
the mail service of this country, reading material and equipment for the blind
continue to be received and delivered throughout this country in a manner
similar to the current system.


                        RESOLUTION 88-19

WHEREAS, computers are being used to improve productivity in a majority of
occupations; and
WHEREAS, computer products, both hardware and software, are generally packaged
with print manuals describing use of the product; and WHEREAS, these manuals
usually are written with word processors and thus exist on computer disk; and
WHEREAS, blind persons may read information stored on computer disk using
speech, Braille, or large print output devices; and WHEREAS, having computer
manuals available in disk format, as well as in inkprint, would enable blind
persons to learn and take advantage of more computer products in a shorter
learning time thus raising the productivity of blind persons on many jobs: 
Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago,
Illinois, that this organization call upon computer products companies to make
both hardware and software manuals available on disk to all blind persons who
request them in this format; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be dispersed widely in
the computer industry.

                        RESOLUTION 88-22

WHEREAS, states generally issue driver's licenses and identification cards for
non-drivers; and
WHEREAS, in many states non-driver identification cards are not recognized as
having the same validity in performing such transactions as making a bank
withdrawal, purchasing by check, and entering a night club; and
WHEREAS, blind persons are thereby inconvenienced or harmed since we cannot
obtain driver's licenses:  Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this 8th day of July, 1988, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, that this
organization assert the principle that blind persons, as well as other
non-drivers, should be entitled to identification cards that hold the same
validity as driver's licenses for transactions requiring proof of identity;
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon all relevant state
agencies to establish procedures for issuing such identification cards,
communicating their validity to businesses throughout the state, and enforcing
the honoring of these cards.

                        RESOLUTION 88-101

WHEREAS, the education of all blind children is of compelling importance to
this organization and to the creation of a better future for all blind
persons; and
WHEREAS, Public Law 94-142 was adopted for the purpose of insuring an adequate
education for all handicapped students but, in the case of blind children, it
has failed miserably to redeem the promise of adequate education which is the
birthright of all Americans; and WHEREAS, blind children need intensive,
long-term training in the alternative skills of blindness; and
WHEREAS, no single educational setting can meet all of the needs of all blind
children; and
WHEREAS, the regulatory requirement of placement in the  least restrictive
environment  has been generally interpreted to mean that, merely by placing a
blind child in a regular public school classroom alongside his or her sighted
peers, the environment automatically becomes less restrictive; and
WHEREAS, this irrational attachment to physical mainstreaming as the paramount
objective in the education of blind children has led to the virtual demise of
appropriate education for blind children; and WHEREAS, major shortcomings in
the education of blind children include the failure of the public schools to
teach Braille, cane travel, and positive attitudes about blindness; and
WHEREAS, residential schools have been used as a dumping ground for blind
multiply-handicapped youngsters and for other blind children whose local
schools have refused to educate them; and WHEREAS, children with low vision
are taught to believe that they are not blind, and schools (both local and
residential) deliberately withhold from them essential training in the skills
of blindness, leaving them utterly unprepared to meet the challenges of higher
education and the demands of life; and
WHEREAS, this catastrophic failure to educate our blind children results from
an irrational fear of blindness which poisons the thought and practices of
educational professionals who work with blind children; and
WHEREAS, this unhealthy atmosphere is so pervasive that blind children and
their parents do not, for all practical purposes, have any educational
options, except for a few scattered but notable pockets of quality; and
WHEREAS, the parents of blind children are fighting a heroic battle to provide
a humane environment which affirms their blind children, and they have often
had to take over the job of the schools by teaching Braille and other skills,
and parents are still struggling to gain from educators the recognition that
parents are a crucial link in the overall education and personal development
of their blind children; and
WHEREAS, the training of teachers of the blind is appallingly inadequate in
its philosophy of blindness, its lack of requirements for the mastery of the
alternative skills of blindness, and its paucity of student teaching and
internship opportunities, especially significant because research shows that
the single most important aspect of teacher training is the student teacher
field placement; Now, therefore:  BE IT RESOLVED, by the National Federation
of the Blind in convention assembled this eighth day of July, 1988, in the
city of Chicago, Illinois, that this organization call upon all professionals
in the field of education of the blind to re-examine their motivations and the
outcomes of their work; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this organization call upon the United States
Congress and the U.S. Department of Education to work with the National
Federation of the Blind to create model schools that will offer long-term and
short-term education and training for blind children, outreach to local school
districts, support and assistance to the parents of blind children, and
student teacher field placement sites; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this organization call upon the U.S.  Department
of Education to change the regulations implementing Public Law 94-142 so that,
in the case of blind children, the standard for determining educational
setting be the  most appropriate environment,  thereby assuring a complete
range of educational options to blind children and their parents.
                      CONSTITUTION OF THE 
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND 
AS AMENDED 1986 

                           ARTICLE I. 
NAME

The name of this organization is The National Federation of the Blind.


                          ARTICLE II. 
PURPOSE

The purpose of the National Federation of the Blind is to serve as a vehicle
for collective action by the blind of the nation; to function as a mechanism
through which the blind and interested sighted persons can come together in
local, state, and national meetings to plan and carry out programs to improve
the quality of life for the blind; to provide a means of collective action for
parents of blind children; to promote the vocational, cultural, and social
advancement of the blind; to achieve the integration of the blind into society
on a basis of equality with the sighted; and to take any other action which
will improve the overall condition and standard of living of the blind.

                          ARTICLE III. 
MEMBERSHIP

Section A.  The membership of The National Federation of the Blind shall
consist of the members of the state affiliates, the members of divisions, and
members at large.  Members of divisions and members at large shall have the
same rights, privileges, and responsibilities in The National Federation of
the Blind as members of state  affiliates.  The Board of Directors shall
establish procedures for admission of divisions and shall determine the
structure of divisions.  The divisions shall, with the approval of the Board,
adopt constitutions and determine their membership policies.  Membership in
divisions shall not be conditioned upon membership in state affiliates.
The Board of Directors shall establish procedures for admission of members at
large, determine how many classes of such members shall be established, and
determine the annual dues to be paid by members of each class.
Section B.  Each state or territorial possession of the United States,
including the District of Columbia, having an affiliate shall have one vote at
the National Convention.  These organizations shall be referred to as state
affiliates.
Section C.  State affiliates shall be organizations of the blind controlled by
the blind.  No organization shall be recognized as an  organization of the
blind controlled by the blind  unless at least a majority of its voting
members and a majority of the voting members of each of its local chapters are
blind.
Section D.  The Board of Directors shall establish procedures for the
admission of state affiliates. There shall be only one state affiliate in each
state.
Section E.  Any member, local chapter, state affiliate, or division of this
organization may be suspended, expelled, or otherwise disciplined for
misconduct or for activity unbecoming to a member or affiliate of this
organization by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Directors or by a simple
majority of the states present and voting at a National Convention.  If the
action is to be taken by the Board, there must be good cause, and a good faith
effort must have been made to try to resolve the problem by discussion and
negotiation.  If the action is to be taken by the Convention, notice must be
given on the preceding day at an open Board meeting or a session of the
Convention.  If a dispute arises as to whether there was   good cause,  or
whether the Board made a  good faith effort,  the National Convention (acting
in its capacity as the supreme authority of the Federation) shall have the
power to make final disposition of the matter; but until or unless the Board's
action is reversed by the National Convention, the ruling of the Board shall
continue in effect.

                          ARTICLE IV. 
OFFICERS, 
 BOARD OF DIRECTORS, AND 
NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD

Section A.  The officers of The National Federation of the Blind shall be: (1)
President, (2) First Vice President, (3) Second Vice President, (4) Secretary,
and (5) Treasurer.  They shall be elected biennially.
Section B.  The officers shall be elected by majority vote of the state
affiliates present and voting at a National  Convention.  Section C.  The
National Federation of the Blind shall have a Board of Directors, which shall
be composed of the five officers and twelve additional members, six of whom
shall be elected at the Annual Convention during even numbered years and six
of whom shall be elected at the Annual Convention during odd numbered years. 
The members of the Board of Directors shall serve for two-year terms.
Section D. The Board of Directors may, in its discretion, create a National
Advisory Board and determine the duties and qualifications of the members of
the National Advisory Board.

                           ARTICLE V. 
POWERS AND DUTIES 
OF THE CONVENTION, 
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 
AND THE PRESIDENT

Section A. Powers and Duties of the Convention.  The Convention is the supreme
authority of the Federation.  It is the legislature of the Federation. As
such, it has final authority with respect to all issues of policy.  Its
decisions shall be made after opportunity has been afforded for full and fair
discussion.  Delegates and members in attendance may participate in all
Convention discussions as a matter of right.  Any member of the Federation may
make or second motions, propose nominations, and serve on committees; and is
eligible for election to office, except that only blind members may be elected
to the National Board.  Voting and making motions by proxy are prohibited. 
Consistent with the democratic character of the Federation, Convention
meetings
shall be so conducted as to prevent parliamentary maneuvers which would have
the effect of interfering with the expression of the will of the majority on
any question, or with the rights of the minority to full and fair presentation
of their views.  The Convention is not merely a gathering of representatives
of separate state organizations.  It is a meeting of the Federation at the
national level in its character as a national organization.  Committees of the
Federation are committees of the national organization.  The nominating
committee shall consist of one member from each state affiliate represented at
the Convention, and each state affiliate shall appoint its member to the
committee.  From among the members of the committee, the President shall
appoint a chairperson.
Section B. Powers and Duties of the Board of Directors.  The function of the
Board of Directors as the governing body of the Federation between Conventions
is to make policies when necessary and not in conflict with the policies
adopted by the Convention.  Policy decisions which can reasonably be postponed
until the next meeting of the National Convention shall not be made by the
Board of Directors. The Board of Directors shall serve as a credentials
committee. It shall have the power to deal with organizational problems
presented to it by any member, local chapter, state affiliate, or division;
shall decide appeals regarding the validity of elections in local chapters,
state affiliates, or divisions; and shall certify the credentials of delegates
when questions regarding the validity of such credentials arise.  By a
two-thirds vote the Board may suspend one of its members for violation of a
policy of the organization or for other action unbecoming to a member of the
Federation.  By a two-thirds vote the Board may reorganize any local chapter,
state affiliate, or division. The Board may not suspend one of its own members
or reorganize a local chapter, state affiliate, or division except for good
cause and after a good faith effort has been made to try to resolve the
problem by discussion and negotiation.  If a dispute arises as to whether
there was  good cause  or whether the Board made a  good faith effort,  the
National Convention (acting in its capacity as the supreme authority of the
Federation) shall have the power to make final disposition of the matter; but
until or unless the Board's action is reversed by the National Convention, the
ruling of the Board shall continue in effect.  There shall be a standing
subcommittee of the Board of Directors which shall consist of three members. 
The committee shall be known as the Subcommittee on Budget and Finance.  It
shall, whenever it deems necessary, recommend to the Board of Directors
principles of budgeting, accounting procedures, and methods of financing the
Federation program; and shall consult with the President on major
expenditures.
The Board of Directors shall meet at the time of each National Convention.  It
shall hold other meetings on the call of the President or on the written
request of any five members.
Section C. Powers and Duties of the President.  The President is the principal
administrative officer of the Federation.  In this capacity his or her duties
consist of:  carrying out the policies adopted by the Convention; conducting
the day-to-day management of the affairs of the Federation; authorizing
expenditures from the Federation treasury in accordance with and in
implementation of the policies established by the Convention; appointing all
committees of the Federation except the Nominating Committee; coordinating all
activities of the Federation, including the work of other officers and of
committees; hiring, supervising, and dismissing staff members and other
employees of the Federation, and determining their numbers and compensation;
taking all administrative actions necessary and proper to put into effect the
programs and accomplish the purposes of the Federation.
The implementation and administration of the interim policies adopted by the 
Board of Directors are the responsibility of the President as principal
administrative officer of the Federation.

                          ARTICLE VI. 
STATE AFFILIATES

Any organized group desiring to become a state affiliate of The National
Federation of the Blind shall apply for affiliation by submitting to the
President of The National Federation of the  Blind a copy of its constitution
and a  list of the names and addresses of its elected officers.  Under
procedures to  be established by the Board of Directors, action shall be taken
on the application.  If the action is affirmative, The National Federation of
the Blind shall issue to the organization a charter of affiliation.  Upon
request of the National President the state affiliate shall provide to the
National President the names and addresses of its members.  Copies of all
amendments to the constitution and/or bylaws of an affiliate shall be sent
without delay to the National President. No organization shall be accepted as
an affiliate and no organization shall remain an affiliate unless at least a
majority of its voting members are blind.  The president, vice president (or
vice presidents), and at least a majority of the executive committee or board
of directors of the state affiliate and of all of its local chapters must be
blind.  Affiliates must not merely be social organizations but must formulate
programs and actively work to promote the economic and social betterment of
the blind.  Affiliates and their local chapters must comply with the
provisions of the Constitution of the Federation.  Policy decisions of the
Federation are binding upon all affiliates and local chapters, and the
affiliate and its local chapters must participate affirmatively in carrying
out such policy decisions.  The name  National Federation of the Blind,
Federation of the Blind,  or any variant thereof is the property of The
National Federation of the Blind; and any affiliate, or local chapter of an
affiliate, which ceases to be part of The National Federation of the Blind
(for whatever reason) shall forthwith forfeit the right to use the name 
National Federation of the Blind, Federation of the Blind,  or any variant
thereof.

A general convention of the membership of an affiliate or of the elected
delegates of the membership must be held and its principal executive officers
must be elected at least once every two years. There can be no closed
membership. Proxy voting is prohibited in state affiliates and local chapters. 
Each affiliate must have a written constitution or bylaws setting forth its
structure, the authority of its officers, and the basic procedures which it
will follow.  No publicly contributed funds may be divided among the
membership of an affiliate or local chapter on the basis of membership, and
(upon request from the National Office) an affiliate or local chapter must
present an accounting of all of its receipts and expenditures.  An affiliate
or local chapter must not indulge in attacks upon the officers, Board members,
leaders, or members of the Federation or upon the organization itself outside
of the organization, and must not allow its officers or members to indulge in
such attacks.  This requirement shall not be interpreted to interfere with the
right of an affiliate or local chapter, or its officers or members, to carry
on a political campaign inside the Federation for election to office or to
achieve policy changes.  However, the organization will not sanction or permit
deliberate, sustained campaigns of internal organizational destruction by
state affiliates, local chapters, or members.  No affiliate or local chapter
may join or support, or allow its officers or members to join or support, any
temporary or permanent organization inside the Federation which has not
received the sanction and approval of the Federation.

                     ARTICLE VII.DISSOLUTION

 In the event of dissolution, all assets of the organization shall be given 
to an organization with similar purposes which has received a 501(c)(3)
certification by the Internal Revenue Service .
                     ARTICLE VIII. AMENDMENTS
 This Constitution may be amended at any regular Annual Convention of the
Federation by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the state affiliates
registered, present, and voting; provided that the proposed amendment shall
have been signed by five state affiliates in good standing and that it shall
have been presented to the President the day before final action by the
Convention.
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