                       THE BRAILLE MONITOR

                         November, 1994

                     Barbara Pierce, Editor


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


              THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND 
                     MARC MAURER, PRESIDENT 
 


                         National Office
                       1800 Johnson Street
                   Baltimore, Maryland 21230 

                             * * * *



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        subscription requests, orders for NFB literature,
       articles for the Monitor, and letters to the Editor
             should be sent to the National Office. 

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Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about twenty-five 
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requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be
made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: 
 

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

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



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

                            CONTENTS
                                                   NOVEMBER, 1994


SUPERINTENDENT OF ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND FORCED OUT: NAC
TAKES ANOTHER HIT
by Kenneth Jernigan and Barbara Pierce

PERTINENT RESOLUTIONS FROM ARKANSAS

CONFRONTING CHALLENGE
by Steve Benson

THE 1995 NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

ORIENTATION AND MOBILITY: The Need for Reason
by George M. Binder and Douglas C. Boone

BLIND CHEMIST SUES NEW YORK CORPORATION

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND BRAILLE READERS ARE LEADERS
1994-95 CONTEST (ACTUAL FORM AT CENTER OF PRINT EDITION OF
MONITOR)

BY THE BLIND FOR THE BLIND--PROVIDING ORIENTATION TRAINING: A
PANEL DISCUSSION

NIGHTS OF WALKING
by Marc Maurer

BLEEDING HEARTS
by Lauren L. Eckery

EVERY CHILD SHOULD HAVE A BLIND PARENT
by Carla McQuillan

RNIB: EVOLUTION NOT REVOLUTION
by John A. Wall, CBE

EDUCATORS CONTINUE TO RESIST TEACHING BRAILLE

RECIPES

MONITOR MINIATURES

        Copyright  1994 National Federation of the Blind
[LEAD PHOTOS/CAPTION: Too often blind children, even those who
know and use Braille well, have not experienced the pleasures of
reading for pleasure--curling up with a good book beside a fire
on a winter afternoon, reading in the porch swing on a summer
evening, even snatching a page or two of an exciting story during
a boring class. Braille is wonderfully suited to all these
situations and hundreds more, but all too often blind children
today are expected to use taped books wherever and whenever they
have a good bit of reading to do. Appreciating as we do the value
of Braille, the members of the National Federation of the Blind
have pledged ourselves to do everything possible to encourage
today's blind youngsters to learn and begin using Braille as
early and as much as possible. That's why for the twelfth year
two National Federation of the Blind divisions (the National
Association to Promote the Use of Braille and the National
Organization of Parents of Blind Children, NOPBC) are joining
forces to sponsor the Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest for
young Braille readers of all ages. You will find a copy of this
year's contest form at the center of the print edition of this
month's issue. Use it or pass it on to someone who can.
     The students pictured on this page are past Braille Readers
Are Leaders Contest winners, and every one of them is a leader.
Counterclockwise from top: Kristen Clark of New York stands
beside the caterpillar on her classroom wall that grew longer
with every Braille book she read; Christina Shorten reads Braille
at a ceremony to honor Maryland contest winners--Barbara Cheadle,
President of the NOPBC, holds the microphone; Jamie Weedman of
Kentucky proudly wears his contest t-shirt; Charles Cheadle of
Maryland was a 1991 contest winner and is pictured here wearing
his t-shirt; and Susan Povinelli (left), Rebecca Hart, and the
principal of West Springfield High School in Springfield,
Virginia, are pictured at a June, 1994, awards presentation in
which Miss Hart was honored as a Braille contest winner.]



[Photo #1: Leonard Ogburn gets into his car. Caption: Leonard Ogburn, recently
resigned superintendent of the Arkansas School for the Blind.]
[Photo #2: James Hill sits at his desk. Caption: James Hill, acting
superintendent of the Arkansas School for the Blind.]
[Photo #3: A large, brick building with white pillars and evergreen trees in
front. Caption: The Arkansas School for the Blind.]

   SUPERINTENDENT OF ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND FORCED OUT:
                      NAC TAKES ANOTHER HIT
             by Kenneth Jernigan and Barbara Pierce

     At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas
Schools for the Deaf and the Blind on September 23, 1994, Leonard
Ogburn, Superintendent of the School for the Blind, was forced to
resign amid charges and counter-charges of sexual misconduct,
nepotism, favoritism, and misuse of school resources. Many of
those familiar with the situation at the Arkansas School for the
Blind (ASB) say that Ogburn, school alumnus (although he now sees
well enough to drive a car) and Superintendent since 1985, ran
the place as though it were his personal kingdom. But when, on
June 23, 1994, an ASB teacher requested the Pulaski County
Prosecutor to issue a warrant for Ogburn's arrest, alleging that
he had spanked her several times and threatened to do so again in
connection with her annual performance review, the
Superintendent's castle began to crumble. In the weeks following
the first allegation, at least eight other women came forward
with claims of Ogburn's inappropriate comments, pinching, biting,
fondling, and spanking. Moreover, accusations of nepotism,
widespread favoritism, and misuse of staff time and ASB equipment
also began to attract serious media and governmental attention.
The five-member Board of Trustees, which governs both the School
for the Blind and the School for the Deaf, suspended Ogburn with
pay on June 24, 1994, pending an investigation; but following
their receipt of the police investigator's 328-page report, they
voted four to one in September to allow the Superintendent to
submit his resignation to be effective October 19.
     At the same meeting at which Ogburn was allowed to resign
instead of being fired in return for his promise not to sue the
School, the Board voted to include a $6,000 line item in the
School's budget request to the legislature to renew the
institution's accreditation with NAC (the National Accreditation
Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped).
In the circumstances the decision was not surprising since the
NAC seal appears to be the shield for corrupt practice and poor
performance more often than the assurance of quality service. 
     The Arkansas story is convoluted and ambiguous--a tapestry
of many threads, knotted and tangled. Human motives and actions
are rarely black and white. They are usually gray in all of its
shades--and the Arkansas story is a prime example. Perhaps the
place to begin is with the dedication of a playground at the
School's multiply-handicapped unit in May of 1993. Most of the
money for the playground was raised by Wanda Nixon, the
grandmother of one of the students and a woman, according to
Ogburn and others, with an extended history of psychiatric
problems. The playground was named for Nell O'Neil, the longtime
principal of the multiply-handicapped unit. According to Ogburn,
Mrs. Nixon was furious that the playground had not been dedicated
to her, and he says that she warned him that she intended to see
that he lost his job.
     In June of 1993 Ogburn says that he was invited to a meeting
in the office of Mark Riable, a lawyer and member of the Arkansas
Legislature. Also in attendance, Ogburn says, were another state
representative, a state senator, a representative from the
Attorney General's office, and a number of citizens who were
apparently friends of Wanda Nixon. Ogburn was asked whether there
was nepotism at the School for the Blind. Although his own
daughter was a teacher at the institution at the time, he replied
that there was not. The legislators asked for an opinion from the
State Attorney General as to whether ASB was violating the
Arkansas nepotism law. The answer was yes, and three employees
whose jobs were at risk brought suit. The judge ruled that there
was a conflict between the state's nepotism law and a 1927
statute that specifically permits the Superintendent of the
School for the Blind to hire his spouse. The three employees were
allowed to continue working under the terms of a court injunction
during the 1993-94 school year. All three have now either found
other jobs or have retired from employment with the school. 
     As the nepotism furor was beginning to subside last spring,
Helena Ward, Vocational Principal at ASB, came to Ogburn to ask a
favor. A friend, Tina Gill, who was a graduate student at the
University of Arkansas at Little Rock, had obtained a grant from
the Rockefeller Foundation to conduct a survey aimed at improving
communications at a state institution in Arkansas. Ward suggested
to Ogburn that ASB volunteer to have Ms. Gill survey its
employees, and Ogburn agreed. A forty-two-page report, described
by Ogburn as preliminary and by Gill as virtually complete, was
given to Ward in June, 1994. It stated that Ogburn had
demonstrated favoritism to some employees and that there was a
lack of communication between teachers and administrators at the
School. On July 7, 1994, the police investigator, as part of the
Ogburn probe, told Ward to produce a copy of the report for his
examination. She said that it was at home but that she would
bring it to school the following morning. But, according to the
police report, she consulted Ogburn and his attorney overnight,
and they advised her not to deliver the report on the ground that
the project was not yet complete.
     The investigator asked Ward if she understood what she was
doing. She said that she did but continued to refuse to hand over
the document. The police investigator then prepared an affidavit
to obtain a warrant for Ward's arrest for "obstruction of
government operations." Ward was taken into custody, handcuffed,
and hauled off to the police station on July 8 even though James
Hill, Acting Superintendent of the School, gave the investigator
the report as he was leaving the office with Ward in tow. The
investigator made it clear that he wanted to make an example of
Ward in order to persuade other staff members to cooperate with
him.
     At almost the same time still another allegation against
Ogburn and the school's Maintenance Supervisor, Ray Stewart, was
made public. Ronnie Kimsey, a custodial employee at the School,
who according to Ogburn had wanted for some time to supervise the
maintenance department, stated in a legislative hearing and then
in an affidavit that he had been required to do personal work for
both Ogburn and Stewart, using state-purchased material and
equipment. He also said that he had been instructed to charge
material on School accounts in order to avoid paying sales tax.
Kimsey's charges were emphatically denied by Ogburn in a
telephone interview with the Braille Monitor, in which he
explained that he had gone to extraordinary lengths to pay sales
tax, even when Kimsey had avoided doing so. Here is the text of
Kimsey's affidavit:

                            Affidavit
     I, Ronnie Kimsey, state on oath and affirm:
     1. I was born June 19, 1951, and I am forty-three years old.
I live at the Arkansas School for the Blind in Little Rock,
Arkansas. I am visually impaired and have been since I was seven
years old. My wife Cathy lives with me at the Blind School. She
is totally blind and has been since birth.
     2. I attended the Arkansas School for the Blind from 1960 to
1969 and graduated from the Arkansas School for the Blind with a
high school degree.
     3. I returned to the Arkansas School for the Blind as an
employee in December of 1985. I was hired as a general
maintenance repairman and am still employed in that position.
     4. I have always tried to be a good employee and do what I
was told to do by my bosses.
     5. I have been told to do some things that I don't think are
right.
     Mr. Leonard Ogburn, who is the Superintendent, has told me
to work on his personal boat, wave runners, and cars during
working hours at the school. I have always done what he has said,
since he is the boss.
     Some of the work I have done includes installing a trailer
wiring harness on his car, wiring his boat trailer, working on
his wave runners, wiring his wave runner trailer, fixing the
windshield wiper motor on his car, swapping out batteries on his
wave runners, replacing batteries, and other general maintenance
on all those items.
     I have also been told by Mr. Ogburn and Mr. Ray Stewart
(Campus Life Coordinator/Maintenance Director) to buy personal
items for them on the school account and then they would pay for
them. This avoids the sales tax that they would otherwise have to
pay.
     6. Mr. Ogburn's right hand man is Ray Stewart. They are
almost always together. They both have condominiums in Hot
Springs and spend a lot of time together there as well.
     Mr. Ogburn used to have me drive his boat to Hot Springs
when he kept it at the Blind School. After the publicity about
nepotism last year, he had me pull the boat to Hot Springs to get
it off campus.
     I have worked on Mr. Stewart's condo in Hot Springs on
school time. Among other things I have replaced the water heater
element there. I have also worked on Mr. Stewart's house in
Little Rock on Quachita Street. This was on school time. Some of
the work I have done there is install a new kitchen sink, put a
new light in the attic, put in a new gas line to the water
heater, put in a new electric stove top, range, vent hood, and
ceiling fan. I am sure Mr. Ogburn knew about this.
     7. I am not the only school employee that has done work on
personal items for Ogburn and Stewart during school time.
     8. I am worried that, if I tell what has happened, I will be
fired or something else will happen in retaliation.

                              Signed and notarized, June 27, 1994

     As a result of the Kimsey affidavit, a copyrighted story by
Elizabeth Caldwell (reprinted with permission) appeared in the
July 1, 1994, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Here it is:

       Blind School Chief Tapped Labor Time, Handyman Says

     Leonard Ogburn, suspended last week as superintendent of the
Arkansas School for the Blind after allegations he physically
abused a teacher, was accused Thursday of financial wrongdoing.
Ronnie Kimsey, a maintenance employee at the school, told
legislators that Ogburn used school employees to perform work on
his car, boat trailer, and other personal items, all on school
time. Kimsey also said Ogburn and maintenance supervisor Ray
Stewart had him buy them personal items through the school's
account to avoid the sales tax. Kimsey also said he worked on
Stewart's homes in Little Rock and Hot Springs, also on school
time.
     "It's a lie," said Ogburn, contacted later by telephone.
     Stewart, who is out of state on vacation, could not be
reached for comment.
     The allegations came as legislators met to discuss
consolidating the state schools for the blind and deaf to save
money and improve efficiency.
     The consolidation idea--before a subcommittee of the joint
interim committee on state agencies and governmental affairs--
eventually died after Rep. Mark Pryor made a motion to keep the
two schools separate.
     In a telephone interview Ogburn said he has cautioned the
staff against doing personal work on school time and that, if
Kimsey performed such work, he was insubordinate.
     Ogburn does not deny that Kimsey hauled his boat to Hot
Springs for him a couple of years ago, as Kimsey alleges. But
Ogburn said he saw to it that Kimsey used vacation time to
perform the chore.
     In another instance Kimsey said he bought a dryer part for
Ogburn through the school's purchasing account so Ogburn would
not have to pay sales taxes.
     Ogburn said he didn't know Kimsey was going to order the
part through the school and, when he saw Kimsey didn't pay sales
tax on it, Ogburn returned to the store and paid the tax.
     Rep. Joe Molinaro of Sherwood, subcommittee chairman, said
Kimsey's allegations were properly before the subcommittee for
discussion since they dealt with finances, but the committee does
not have the authority to investigate.
     He said Kimsey's statement was sent to legislators through a
lawyer. Molinaro said Kimsey decided to come forward now because,
"He's had it on his chest for a while and he wanted to get it
off," and wanted to do it in a public forum to safeguard his job.
     Jim Hill, interim superintendent of the school, said
afterward that he was surprised by the allegations.
     "I have absolutely no knowledge of it," Hill said.
     He said the report would be investigated and that Kimsey
would not be retaliated against.

     This is what the article said, and it underscores the
disorganization and chaos that were engulfing the School. The
charges of nepotism, favoritism, and misuse of staff time and
institutional resources seem to have been leveled at Ogburn with
sincerity and genuine passion, but there are many who dispute
those charges with what appears to be equal sincerity and
genuineness of passion. Moreover, we may never know the real
truth since the charges, though they were made public in June,
were not included in the warrant for Ogburn's arrest, which was
issued on August 22, 1994, and dealt entirely with harassment. At
the time of this writing (mid-October, 1994) Ogburn's trial is
scheduled to begin on December 1.
     With respect to that trial, the judge and jury will be faced
with difficult questions and unusual (one might almost say
bizarre) testimony. The complainant is one of the teachers at the
school, a woman who, according to both parties, has been close
friends with Ogburn for many years. They have exchanged birthday
and Christmas gifts, and did so during the 1993-94 academic year
even though trouble was apparently brewing. Ogburn hired this
woman at a time when she had only a two-year vocational degree,
which was adequate for the course that she was expected to teach.
Subsequently she was shifted to teach in an area that required a
four-year degree, which meant that her credentials were now
insufficient. Nevertheless, she was given the job and permitted
to do the work. With Ogburn's encouragement, and (according to
him) a remarkable amount of assistance from both him and his
wife, she obtained a four-year degree and now has the credentials
she needs to do the academic teaching she has been doing without
proper credentials for years.
     Arkansas has a strong rape shield law, which requires that
anything that could reveal the identity of a woman making charges
of sexual misconduct must be expunged from material being
published. Therefore, the information that follows has been
carefully edited to eliminate any allusion that might indicate
the identity of any of the women who have made charges. Although
the context and wording may appear to make it seem that some of
the affidavits we are printing in the rest of this article are
from men, they are all from women. For convenience we will refer
to the teacher who brought the charges as Miss A. We will refer
to the others as Miss B, Miss C, etc.
     As we try to separate reality from fiction, certain facts
should be kept in mind. In recent months Miss A has passed two
separate polygraph tests, in which she was asked whether she was
telling the truth about her allegations of physical harassment at
Ogburn's hands. She also has a tape recording of a telephone
conversation which she says occurred on June 26, 1994, in which
Ogburn admits to the spankings and asks what she wants from him.
Ogburn, on the other hand, failed a polygraph test about the
spankings. Yet, listening to Ogburn's recorded telephone
interview with the Monitor reporter, one can easily be convinced
that he is genuinely perplexed and hurt by Miss A's accusations
against him. Miss A is equally convincing in her display of
distress and anger at what she maintains has happened to her.
Yet, both parties cannot be telling the truth.
     From the hundreds of pages of affidavits and reports and
from extensive personal interviews, the following picture
emerges. Some years ago Ogburn's first wife died of cancer. Miss
A was already a staff member at the school, and in the months
following Mrs. Ogburn's death Ogburn and Miss A were very close.
In fact, they seem to have spent time alone at Ogburn's
condominium, where Miss A says she received one very hard
spanking, and Ogburn says they played games in which they spanked
each other's hands. According to Ogburn, he has never kissed Miss
A on the mouth, though he admits that he may have kissed her on
the cheek. They have hugged and held hands often, however,
according to Ogburn.
     In the year following his first wife's death, Ogburn
remarried, and the spankings apparently stopped until 1993. Some
say that the second Ogburn marriage has been showing strain in
recent years and that this may provide sufficient explanation for
the renewed spankings and talk of spanking.
     Miss A is not the only one to make charges. Other women have
come forward to file affidavits indicating that they, too, have
experienced inappropriate physical and verbal contact initiated
by Ogburn. These women fall into two groups: Arkansas School for
the Blind students from Miss A's general student era and recent
and current female School employees.
     Reading these affidavits and listening to Ogburn's talk
about his relationships with students and staff, one is struck by
his inability to make distinctions in his treatment of students,
professional colleagues, and personal friends. He is clearly a
man who enjoys what might be called "horsing around" with the
people with whom he associates. He seems not to have much grasp
of the dignity required of his position, the respect he should
show to his colleagues, or the distance he should maintain with
students. His behavior is obviously unprofessional,
inappropriate, and boorish--but how far beyond that does it go?
To attempt to find answers, let us turn to the affidavits: 

                       Affidavit of Miss A
     I, name withheld, state on oath and affirm:
     1. I was born in 19xx and I am . . . years old. . . .
     2. I attended the Arkansas School for the Blind from 19xx to
19xx and graduated from the Arkansas School for the Blind with a
high school degree.
     While I attended the School for the Blind, I first met Mr.
Leonard Ogburn, who is presently the superintendent of the school
and was then employed as a vocational teacher.
     3. . . . and in 19xx was employed there as a teacher. I have
been employed at the Arkansas School for the Blind as a teacher
since. . . .
     4. While employed at the Arkansas School for the Blind I
have attempted to give to the school and the students there my
best efforts.
     5. On or about August 4, 1993, Mr. Leonard Ogburn, then the
superintendent, called me shortly after 9:00 in the morning at my
home. He said that he wanted to come over and talk to me about my
evaluation as a teacher at the school and then have lunch. He
said something like "We're going to talk about it, and then I'm
going to give you your spanking." He had done this before, so I
knew what he meant by it. In 19xx, he spanked me very hard. A
little after 11:00 a.m. on August 4, 1993, I met him outside the
front door of my house hoping to avoid any physical contact. I
said that we could talk over lunch and did not need to go in my
house. He said no, that we should go inside. He said he also
wanted to give me a spanking. I was scared and intimidated, and I
went inside with him. He talked about my employee evaluation and
then said, "Now you know what you have to do--you have to get
your spanking." I said, "Leonard, I don't like this; I don't want
to do this." He said, "No, come on." He grabbed me and pulled me
over his knee and spanked me. This was extremely humiliating to
me. I went ahead and went to lunch because I was afraid of what
he might do if I didn't. A friend of mine who is also an employee
at the blind school called me after I got back from lunch. When I
talked to her I was crying. I told her, I was crying because I
was upset about my evaluation. I was afraid to tell her what had
really happened. I wish I had told her. I decided that I would
not let this happen again.
     6. Since the spanking and over the 1993-94 school year Mr.
Ogburn has expressed displeasure that I have not attended all of
the extra-curricular meetings involving the blind school. These
meetings are not during regular working hours, and I am not
required to attend these meetings. Some of the meetings he was
referring to include a literacy conference, a Bingo party, and an
AER conference. Mr. Ogburn, when asking me whether I was going to
attend the AER conference in May of 1994, asked if I was going to
get a spanking this year.
     Based on some of Mr. Ogburn's comments about my failure to
attend these extra-curricular meetings and the fact that I had an
additional performance review coming up this summer, I became
concerned that Mr. Ogburn might attempt to repeat the spanking. I
decided that I cannot and will not subject myself to that again.
     7. I wish to formally complain about these activities of Mr.
Ogburn. I am afraid and intimidated by him and fear that he will
try to take some sort of action against me either personally or
that will jeopardize my job. Despite my fear and concern over
this, I feel that it is important for the blind school and for
myself personally to stand up to Mr. Ogburn and stand against
this sort of activity.
                                Dated this 22nd day of June, 1994
                                             Signed and notarized

                       Affidavit of Miss B
     I, name withheld, state on oath and affirm:
     1. I am . . . years old and was born in 19xx. I was employed
at the Arkansas School for the Blind between . . . and . . . .
     While I worked there, my position of employment was janitor.
In my capacity as an employee of the blind school, I came into
contact with Mr. Leonard Ogburn, the Superintendent.
     On many occasions I would be working in the administration
building on the blind school campus, where Mr. Ogburn's office is
located, after all the employees had gone home.
     I was cleaning the building as part of my job. On one
specific occasion in early 19xx at approximately 5:30 in the
afternoon I was running a vacuum cleaner in the administration
building and was bent over to work on the vacuum cleaner. Leonard
Ogburn came up from behind me and hit me very hard in the
buttocks and genital area. He just hit me one time, but it was a
very hard striking of that area of my body.
     The vacuum cleaner was going, and he said something, but I
could not understand what it was that he said. It was all I could
do to contain myself, but I was scared and shocked and did not
know exactly what to do.
     After thinking about it overnight, I confronted him the next
day in his office. I told him to never do that again. At first he
denied doing it but later admitted it.
     The job that I had at the Blind School was the worst job I
have ever had in my life.
     The atmosphere at the Blind School was one of favoritism,
office politics, and intimidation. People would lie and cover up
for each other in ways that I have never seen before. If you
played the favorite game, you were well treated; but, if you
attempted to stand up for anything that was wrong, you were
chastised.
                                Dated this 29th day of June, 1994
                                             Signed and notarized

                       Affidavit of Miss C
     I, name withheld, state on oath and affirm:
     1. I was born in 19xx and I am . . . years old. I live in
Arkansas.
     I am an employee at the Arkansas School for the Blind. My
position there is . . . teacher, and I have worked there since. .
. .
     . . . .
     While working at the School for the Blind, I have had
occasion to deal with Mr. Leonard Ogburn.
     On one occasion Mr. Ogburn called me out of class to tell me
that I was his pet and that I was very important. I can't
understand why he would call me out of class and away from the
students to tell me this, and I thought that this was unusual.
     At times when I have been in his office at his request, he
has put his finger in the pocket of my pants and said that he
liked the way my britches looked on me.
     On one occasion he called me away from my class on the
intercom and told me he was looking at my picture in the school
annual. He told me that he loved the way my picture looked in the
school annual. I expressed to him my surprise that he would call
me away from class and away from the students for a reason like
this.[Ogburn made a demeaning comment.]
     At a recent . . . meeting, where some of the tough issues
involving the school were being debated,. . . . This was in front
of a number of people, and I felt that he did this to put me down
and as an expression of support for the other view being
expressed.
     After the meeting I went to his office and told him in no
uncertain terms how inappropriate I felt his actions were. After
we discussed the matter for a while, he said come here, you can't
leave yet; we have to make up, and to make up you have to give me
a kiss. I told him then we would never make up because I was not
going to kiss him. He forcefully replied, you just remember you
owe me something, and we don't make up until you give me a kiss.
I immediately told another teacher of this occurrence.
     On another occasion he pinched me very hard on the cheek
after a COE meeting. I told him not to ever do this to me again,
and it did hurt. He has also patted me on the cheek and then
acted surprised when I expressed displeasure at that. He would
say, "Oh you don't like that?"
     In bringing this information forward, I am concerned that
Mr. Ogburn may take some sort of retaliatory action against me. .
. . I request that the Governor's Office and the Board act to
protect . . . me . . . in conjunction with my sharing this
information for the benefit of the School and the students there.

                                Dated this 29th day of June, 1994
                                             Signed and notarized

                       Affidavit of Miss D
     My name is (name withheld). I was born in 19xx, in Arkansas.
I currently live in Arkansas. I am employed as. . . . [not at
ASB] I have worked there for the past fifteen years. Before that
I received a bachelor of science degree in elementary/special
education from the University of. . . in. . . . My fields of
study were. . . .
     Earlier this year I was contacted by . . . , a teacher at
the Arkansas School for the Blind. . . . [Miss A] and I had been
in school there together in the 'x0's. She had gotten my name
from a woman, . . . who had been a library aide my senior year at
the school. I had not heard from . . . [the aide] for about . . .
years, but we had had a close relationship at that time because I
spent a lot of time in the library on my own in addition to the
two-hour study period each night. . . . remembered what I had
told her and contacted an employee she knew who still worked
there. This employee put her in touch with . . . [Miss A], and .
. . called me to ask about Mr. Ogburn's behavior with me. I was
stunned to hear about all of this after . . . years and was
reluctant to get involved at first. I am telling these details
now to support . . . [Miss A] and to improve the situation at the
school.
     I was a student at ASB from kindergarten through graduation
in June, 19xx. When I was seventeen and a senior, I began
cleaning house for Mr. Ogburn, the school vocational director,
and his wife, an elementary teacher there. The year before
another student had done this job and had quit abruptly, causing
me to wonder why, as it seemed like a good way to earn extra
spending money. Later on I wondered if she had had a similar
experience to mine. Mr. Ogburn would take me to his house after
school on Thursday afternoons where I would vacuum and dust, etc.
I remember it was Thursday because that was the night "The
Waltons" was on TV, and he wanted me to be through in the den by
7:00 so he could watch and hear the show. Mrs. Ogburn and LeAnn,
their daughter, were not home during these times. I do not
remember if she had a class, hair appointment, or what; but it
was regularly on Thursday as she and LeAnn were not there when I
cleaned.
     It was not unusual for students to work for staff members
outside school hours. Some would babysit and others would do yard
work or car washes for extra pay. I had worked at the vending
stand at school for Mr. Ogburn. He was well liked and respected
by the students. He was always visiting with them and often made
bets with them over trivial things, usually with the loser buying
the winner a Coke. I would bet with him too. He used any excuse
to make a bet. At first, if I lost the bet, I had to buy him a
Coke; and, if he lost, he bought me a Coke. Eventually he wanted
his winning of the bet to be that he'd get to give me a spanking.
Thursdays after school, when we got to his house, he'd insist
that he would have to give me a spanking for some bet that I had
lost during the week. He sat on the couch and insisted I lie
across his lap so he could spank me. I had to comply no matter
how much I tried to talk him out of it; for he wouldn't drop the
issue until he was able to give me a spanking.
     At his house he also insisted that he wanted to show me some
wrestling holds the boys in school were learning. I would tell
him that I wasn't interested in wrestling and I didn't want to do
that, but he would insist. He then made me get on the floor with
him while he would grab me in different holds, keeping after me
when I tried to get away from him. I was forced to try to get
away or else he wouldn't let me up.
     One evening he told me it was time for my spanking, but he
wanted to spank me on my bare bottom. I tried to get out of it,
but he insisted I had to pull my pants down in the back, lie
across his lap, where he then spanked me on my bare bottom. This
happened two times. One time he even asked me to spank him. I was
very ignorant of sexual matters back then, but I had very bad
feelings about all of this, especially as it continued, and I
didn't know how to get out of it.
     Sometimes on Thursday, if he hadn't spanked me before Mrs.
Ogburn and LeAnn got home, he would tell me about it on the way
back to school. He then said we needed to go by the waterworks so
I could get my spanking. I did not know exactly where or what the
waterworks was, but it was always dark there, and we never got
out of the car. It seemed fairly close to school. He would then
drive me back to school, and I remember he recorded his mileage
in a notebook he kept.
     After the second time he spanked me on my bare bottom, I
finally mentioned all this to . . . , the library aide, because I
trusted her judgment and didn't know what else to do about the
situation. . . . then met with the superintendent, Mr. Max
Woolly. She has since told me that the home life director Mr. Bob
Brasher, met with them and that they said they would look into
it. As far as she knows, nothing was ever done about it. When she
didn't return to school the next year, I was afraid she might
have lost her job because of me, but she said she wasn't coming
back anyway. I also seem to remember that I was asked to take a
test from the psychologist about that time, and I often wondered
if the two were connected. The test was about personality, and I
remember consciously answering all the questions with similar
answers. For example, one question was about a hat and whether or
not I would mend it, sell it, or give it away. I remember
answering "sell it," which was not like me as I hated to even
sell candy for class fund-raisers. At the end of the test the
psychologist commented that my personality profile fell into the
"persuasive" category. I wondered why I was being given this kind
of test this close to graduation and if it had anything to do
with my telling . . . and her telling Mr. Brasher and Mr. Woolly
about what I had reported about Mr. Ogburn. I never checked to
see if the results of the test were placed in my student file.
     I am reporting this information after . . . years because
other people have reported their experiences with Mr. Ogburn,
experiences I thought had only happened to me. I want to support
them in their statements, and I want the improprieties to stop.

                              Signed and notarized, July 25, 1994


                       Affidavit of Miss E
     My name is (name withheld). I was born in 19xx, in Arkansas.
I now reside in . . . [another state].I attended the Arkansas
School for the Blind in Little Rock, Arkansas, from the fourth
through the twelfth grades, 19xx-xx. At that time, I probably had
20/200 vision (I now have only light perception).
     From the spring of 19xx through the spring of 19xx [one
year], I sometimes babysat for LeAnn Ogburn, the daughter of
Leonard and Joyce Ogburn, and was paid. Mr. Ogburn was an
administrator at the school, and Mrs. Ogburn was a teacher. LeAnn
must have been approximately seven years old.
     At times the Ogburns attended functions together, and at
other times they went to separate places. On some of those
occasions, when Mr. Ogburn got home first and LeAnn was asleep,
the following events took place.
     Mr. Ogburn said, "Let me show you a new wrestling hold I
showed Robert today." Robert was the boy I was dating. Because of
my limited vision and also because I was a cheerleader for the
team, I wanted to know what the wrestling procedures were. At
first he only demonstrated the wrestling moves, but later he
progressed to rubbing against me with his lower body. I would try
to jump up and pull away. He would grab me; I would fall to my
knees; he would get on my back and rock back and forth. I would
try to get up from my knees as I was very fearful of him.
     One time Mr. Ogburn said he just wanted to show me some
wrestling holds. He held me in the pin position and rubbed his
abdominal areas against me. I told him I did not ever want to see
any more wrestling holds. I did not babysit for them for a long
period of time.
     Mr. Ogburn constantly joked with students about birthday
spankings, which in public only amounted to pops with a paper or
something as he passed through the snack bar. I just passed these
off. During this time we began betting Cokes on ball games. If
Texas won, he bought me a Coke; if the Razorbacks won, I bought
him a Coke. At first it was Coke for Coke, but once, when I lost
a bet, he said he wanted to collect a spanking instead of a Coke
and made me pay up by laying me across his lap and spanking me.
Several more spanking episodes occurred.
     The next time I babysat, he said, "I'm going to give you a
birthday spanking." He turned me across his lap, held and spanked
me, and pushed his male organ up against me with his lap. Then he
said, "I'll bet you can't hurt me," and told me to spank him. I
did because I wanted to hurt him. I refused to babysit anymore.
     I graduated and left the school. I thought this behavior had
stopped, but now I have become apprised of similar instances and
realize that it never stopped at all and Mr. Ogburn has done this
to some others. My reason for coming forward is because of a
history of this activity. I knew at the time of one, possibly
two, other females who were at the school in the mid-x0's who had
been similarly abused.

                               Signed and notarized, June 1, 1994

     There we have the affidavit of Miss A, as well as those of
several others. Miss A says that there are still more women who
have had similar experiences but who cannot bring themselves to
tell what they know. Whether Miss A's testimony will stand up
when she reaches court and has to be identified remains to be
seen. And what a jury will make of the whole messy business is
anybody's guess. When asked why she is pressing charges against
Ogburn despite their long friendship, Miss A says that she simply
came to the point where she could never again allow herself to be
intimidated and frightened by Ogburn. She says that she is
determined that today's and tomorrow's students at the Arkansas
School for the Blind will not suffer the abuse to which their
predecessors have been exposed.
     The scene that took place on September 23, 1994, when the
School's Board of Trustees forced Ogburn to resign in response to
the police report and the pressure from the Governor's office and
the State Department of Education rapidly reached a pitch of
hysteria. During the public portion of the meeting Ogburn's
supporters (and there were a lot of them) said that the School
would be destroyed if Ogburn was forced to resign. When the
Board's decision to put Ogburn out was announced, the sobbing and
shouting crowd of well over a hundred surged outdoors, where
reporters and television cameras were waiting. While one employee
was weeping and making a statement to a reporter with a video
camera, her husband struck the tape recorder from the hands of
the Braille Monitor reporter. He then repeatedly ground it under
his foot, completely destroying the equipment. The action was
indicative of both the mood and the rationality of the crowd. It
should be said here that, though the tape recorder was destroyed,
the tape was not. The record remains, giving irrefutable evidence
of the lawless and frenzied behavior of the crowd--or perhaps one
should say mob.
     But, of course, the real issue is not the excited behavior
of Ogburn's supporters, or even the specific charges and
countercharges. The prime concern must be the well-being of the
children at the School, those who are there now and those who are
yet to come. Almost as important are the atmosphere and working
conditions for both teachers and administrative staff. A
battleground characterized by warring groups and kinky behavior
is no suitable environment for education. If worse comes to
worst, the adults can bail out. The children cannot.
     So what does all of this scandalous business mean, and what
of the future? To begin with, the very existence of the Arkansas
School for the Blind is now in jeopardy. There are about 130
staff members at ASB and about 108 students. Everybody accepts
the notion that a school for the blind requires intensive
instruction and specialized professional activity, but it is hard
to justify more than one staff member for each student. Despite
the fact that the School for the Deaf and the School for the
Blind are administered by the same board on adjoining campuses,
that we have heard of no proposed cuts to the budget of the
School for the Deaf, and that the School for the Deaf is a more
modern and attractive facility than the School for the Blind, the
Arkansas legislature is considering cuts to the ASB budget. There
is talk of merging at least some of the administrative components
of the two schools, possibly a total merger. Regardless of the
monetary case which can be made for such action, the quality of
instruction for blind students would be threatened by it.
     In the circumstances it would seem to be nothing short of
madness for the School to continue its accreditation with NAC,
not only because of the expense but also (and even more
important) because of NAC's shady reputation and false promise of
assurance of quality services. When the seal of approval from an
accrediting agency is displayed by a school, the members of the
legislature and the general public have the right to expect that
reasonable standards are being met. With NAC it often seems that
the exact opposite is the case. When the abuse and misconduct at
the NAC-accredited Florida and Alabama Schools for the Deaf and
the Blind were exposed (see the March, 1989, and the February,
1990, issues of the Braille Monitor), NAC's supporters made an
outcry. They said that each of these two instances was simply an
individual horror story, not representative. Now we have
Arkansas, and soon we will be covering the emerging scandal
surrounding the firing last summer of Richard Umsted,
superintendent of the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired.
Umsted was dismissed for, among other things, insisting that
dangerous and even criminal actions be covered up in order to
protect what he perceived to be the School's good reputation.
These are, indeed, horror stories, but they are not isolated
cases. They are a pattern. The true horror is that NAC continues
to accredit institutions in which such actions take place and
that there is no evidence that the situation is being
investigated. There has been no withdrawal of the accreditation
of any of the four schools, nor is there any indication that such
withdrawal is being considered--or, for that matter, that any
sanction or disciplinary matter is being contemplated. Under
these conditions why would any reputable school permit its name
to be associated with NAC, let alone seek accreditation from it?
It is no wonder that only twenty-eight percent of the seventy-one
schools for the blind in this country still allow themselves to
be identified with NAC or to maintain accreditation from it.
     As to Arkansas, Ogburn is gone, but his legacy remains. The
Board of Trustees will be well advised to conduct an open and
thorough nationwide search to find a successor competent to meet
the challenges that lie ahead. The new administrator's job will
not be easy. The ASB staff is divided, distrustful, and
demoralized. The legislature is determined to clean up the
situation and make the School accountable to the legislature, the
Governor, the parents, and the public. In the rethinking of
priorities, hopefully the legislature will refuse to allocate
funds to renew NAC accreditation, which can assure nobody of
anything except that the School has an additional six thousand
dollars to throw away. Ultimately the School must stand or fall
on its own merit. The blind of the nation and the professionals
in the field will be watching in the weeks ahead, for all of us
have a stake in the outcome.

                                
PERTINENT RESOLUTIONS FROM ARKANSAS

     In view of the preceding article the following resolutions
passed at the 1994 National Federation of the Blind of Arkansas
Convention would seem to be noteworthy:

                        Resolution 94-01

     WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind of Arkansas
has repeatedly expressed, through letters and resolutions, its
opposition to the National Accreditation Council for Agencies
Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped (NAC) and has
encouraged agencies in Arkansas to affiliate no longer with this
organization; and 
     WHEREAS, the Federation has charged that NAC serves no
beneficial role in insuring that our agencies maintain high
standards of conduct and performance; and 
     WHEREAS, a scandal involving the Superintendent of the
Arkansas School for the Blind has come to the attention of every
literate citizen in the state of Arkansas, and yet NAC has done
nothing to reprimand the School or to review its accreditation:
Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of
Arkansas, in Convention assembled this twenty-third day of
October, 1994, in the City of Fort Smith, that we call on
officials charged with the operation and conduct of the Arkansas
School for the Blind to sever their affiliation with this
counterfeit accrediting body and to rely instead, for direction
in the delivery of quality services, on the sound judgment of the
citizens of Arkansas.

                        Resolution 94-02

     WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Schools for
the Blind and Deaf demanded and accepted Leonard Ogburn's
resignation as Superintendent of the Arkansas School for the
Blind, September 23, 1994, because of his alleged sexual
harassment of an employee; and
     WHEREAS, such alleged conduct on the part of any service
provider toward the blind is a violation of the respectability
and equality of the blind, a core belief of the National
Federation of the Blind of Arkansas; and
     WHEREAS, a separate school for the blind provides an
effective and appropriate individualized education in academics
and the skills of blindness: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of
Arkansas in Convention assembled this twenty-third day of
October, 1994, in the City of Fort Smith, that we commend the
Board of Trustees for acting in the best interests of the blind
of Arkansas by forcing and accepting the Superintendent's
resignation; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NFB of Arkansas call upon
the public to differentiate between the conduct of an individual
and that of an institution, recognizing that the School for the
Blind can and should play a vital role in meeting the educational
needs of an important segment of Arkansas's blind students and
resisting the move, already contemplated, to consolidate the
School for the Blind with others serving the handicapped; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge the Board of Trustees to
continue to act in the best interests of the blind by conducting
an unbiased national search to fill the Superintendent's
position.



[Photo: Two men dressed in bicycling garb and helmets stand in front of a
tandem bicycle. A banner which reads "The Denver Post/Ride The Rockies/Finish"
is in the background. Caption: Tony Burda and John Boland stand in front of
their tandem at the finish line of the grueling Ride the Rockies bicycle
course.]

                      CONFRONTING CHALLENGE
                         by Steve Benson

     From the Editor: Steve Benson is the President of the
National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and a member of the
NFB Board of Directors. Since his affiliate will host the 1995
convention of the National Federation of the Blind, you will be
hearing a good bit from him in the months ahead. The following
article, however, is in a different vein. Here it is:

      Confronting challenge is a way of life for Chicago Chapter
member Tony Burda, who lost his sight while a student at the
Illinois College of Pharmacy. Rather than retreat and wither away
in a shell, Burda continued to pursue a career in pharmacology.
Graduation came and went without a hitch. Then he began to
grapple with the challenge of obtaining a pharmacist's license.
The State of Illinois refused to allow Burda to take the
licensing examination, let alone award him a certificate. "The
state was concerned about the possibility that a blind person
would try to fill prescriptions, thereby endangering the safety
of the public. But I never had any desire to be a pill pusher,"
commented Burda.
     With Federation support and encouragement, Burda waged a
three-year battle for his right to take the licensing exam. When
he was finally permitted to do so, he passed with a score in the
top ten percent of his class. Securing competitive employment was
not nearly as difficult. Since 1982 Burda has been a poison
information specialist at Rush-Presbyterian Medical Center in
Chicago. His excellent performance on the job has garnered
several awards for him. "It is a demanding, interesting, and
satisfying job that requires not only knowledge of the effects of
a great variety of substances upon the human body, but also
constant study of new drugs and their effects and side effects.
At times I am also challenged to calm down hysterical parents
whose child has ingested who knows what substance," Burda muses.
     Eight or nine years ago Burda became chairman of our Chicago
Chapter's fund-raising committee. His ongoing search for ideas
that would capture the imaginations of members and non-members
and generate dollars for the Federation led him to the conclusion
that he could couple his dedication to physical fitness and his
commitment to the Federation, raise funds and, at the same time,
educate the public about blindness and the organization. He began
to participate in bicycling events, riding a tandem with
pharmacist colleagues, and asking friends, relatives, and
Federationists to make contributions for the miles he rode.
Dollars trickled in at first, but through the years Burda has
achieved pretty respectable results.
     In 1990 Burda was the first blind person to compete in the
Chicago Sun-Times Triathlon. He and his partner, John Lager,
completed the grueling swimming, running, and cycling event in
less than three hours. Burda's effort generated more than $8,500
for the Federation.
     In 1992 Burda and John Boland rode their tandem, along with
several thousand other cyclists, in the 500-mile Des Moines
Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI).
     In 1993 Burda and John Lager rode their tandem in a twelve-
hour challenge race. They completed 175 miles in ninety-five-
degree heat and high humidity.
     Then, in 1994, Burda and Boland once again straddled their
tandem on behalf of the Federation. This time they peddled a
grueling 422-mile course from Trinidad, Colorado, to Golden,
Colorado, in the Denver Post's Ride the Rockies. They completed
the rugged, beautiful course (ranging from 9,000 to 12,000 feet)
in six days.
     Many of us have already recruited contributions in tribute
to Tony Burda's effort. Burda himself has raised over $3,000 in
donations. If you wish to make a contribution in tribute to
Burda's effort, send your check or money order, made payable to
National Federation of the Blind, to our National Office, 1800
Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.
     Our hats are off to Tony Burda and John Boland.
Congratulations and thanks.


  THE 1995 NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

     This year's scholarship program will be the twelfth since
the organization determined to expand the number, variety, and
value of the scholarships we would present each year at our
annual convention in July. Assisting the nation's most talented
post-secondary students to fulfill their academic and
professional dreams is one of the most effective ways for us to
demonstrate our conviction that blind people deserve the chance
to enter whatever field they demonstrate themselves equipped to
succeed in.
     Scholarships will be presented this year to twenty-six
college, vocational-school, and graduate students. The awards
will range in value from $2,000 to $10,000, and we will bring the
winners as our guests to the 1995 convention of the National
Federation of the Blind to experience firsthand the excitement
and stimulation of a gathering of the largest and most dynamic
organization of blind people in the country today.
     At the meeting of the NFB Board of Directors last summer in
Detroit, the decision was made to award at least three of this
year's scholarships to students who won an NFB scholarship in a
previous year. The purpose of this effort is to nurture in
today's students an ongoing commitment to the philosophy and
objectives of the Federation. The students so designated will be
recognized and honored as the 1995 tenBroek Fellows. All current
students who were scholarship winners in previous years should
take particular note of this new program and consider applying
for the 1995 National Federation of the Blind scholarships.
     Every state affiliate and local chapter can help in
spreading the word of this extraordinary opportunity for
America's blind students. Scholarship applications have been or
soon will be mailed to financial aid offices in educational
institutions around the country, but many of these will be filed
for reference when students come to ask about financial
assistance. It is very helpful to have local representatives
deliver or mail forms to the actual college administrator who
works with blind students. Being identified with such a valuable
national scholarship program gives the local chapter and state
affiliate prestige and respect, and the local touch insures that
more blind students will actually have an opportunity to apply
for these scholarships.
     Anyone can order scholarship forms from the Materials
Center, National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street,
Baltimore, Maryland 21230. State Presidents and members of the
1995 Scholarship Committee will also be sent scholarship forms.
These may be copied as long as both sides of the form are
reproduced.

     Here is the text of the 1995 National Federation of the
Blind scholarship application form:

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
1995 SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Each year at its National Convention in July, the National
Federation of the Blind gives a broad array of scholarships to
recognize achievement by blind scholars. All applicants for these
scholarships must be (1) legally blind and (2) pursuing or planning
to pursue a full-time post-secondary course of study. In addition
to these restrictions, some scholarships have been further
restricted by the donor. Scholarships to be given at the National
Convention in 1995 are listed here with any special restrictions
noted:
1 SCHOLARSHIP FOR $10,000

American Action Fund Scholarship  Given by the American Action
Fund for Blind Children and Adults, a nonprofit organization which
works to assist blind persons. No additional restrictions.

3 SCHOLARSHIPS, EACH FOR $4,000

Anne Pekar Memorial Scholarship  Given in loving memory of Anne
Pekar by her parents, who say: The purpose of the scholarship is
to help others as Anne had tried to do in her various volunteer
endeavors.  ...It is our hope that this small gesture in her name
will remind us of the wonderful things about Anne and, in
particular, her concern about other people and her desire to help.
Winner must be a woman between the ages of 17 and 25.
Two National Federation of the Blind Scholarships; no additional
restrictions.

2  SCHOLARSHIPS, EACH FOR $3,000

Melva T. Owen Memorial Scholarship  Given in memory of Melva T.
Owen, who was widely known and loved among the blind.  She and her
husband Charles Owen became acquainted with increasing numbers of
blind people through their work in the Voicepondence Club. 
Charles Owen says: There shall be no limitation as to field of
study, except that it shall be directed towards attaining financial
independence and shall exclude religion and those seeking only to
further general or cultural education.
Mozelle and Willard Gold Memorial Scholarship  Endowed by the
energetic and effective president of the National Federation of the
Blind of California, Sharon Gold, in loving memory of her mother
and father, both of whom were dedicated to creating opportunity for
their daughter and for all blind persons through Braille literacy
and dedication to service. No additional restrictions. 

8 SCHOLARSHIPS, EACH FOR $2,500

Howard Brown Rickard Scholarship  Winner must be studying or
planning to study in the fields of law, medicine, engineering,
architecture, or the natural sciences.
Frank Walton Horn Memorial Scholarship  Given by Mr. and Mrs.
Charles E. Barnum, the mother and stepfather of Catherine Horn
Randall. No additional restrictions, but preference will be given
to those studying architecture or engineering.
National Federation of the Blind Humanities Scholarship  Winner
must be studying in the traditional humanities such as art,
English, foreign languages, history, philosophy, or religion.
National Federation of the Blind Educator of Tomorrow Award 
Winner must be planning a career in elementary, secondary, or
post-secondary teaching.
Four National Federation of the Blind Scholarships; no additional
restrictions.

12  SCHOLARSHIPS, EACH FOR $2,000

Hermione Grant Calhoun Scholarship  Dr. Isabelle Grant endowed
this scholarship in memory of her daughter. Winner must be a woman.
Kuchler-Killian Memorial Scholarship  Given in loving memory of
her parents, Charles Albert Kuchler and Alice Helen Kuchler, by
Junerose Killian, dedicated member of the National Federation of
the Blind of Connecticut. No additional restrictions.
Kurzweil Scholarship  Endowed by Xerox Imaging Systems, in honor
of Ray Kurzweil, inventor of the Kurzweil Reading Machine.  No
additional restrictions.
Ellen Setterfield Memorial Scholarship  Given in memory of Ellen
Setterfield by Roy Landstrom, who says, During the course of her
life, she gave of herself to defend the dignity and self-respect of
those around her. Winner must be studying social sciences at the
graduate level.
Eight National Federation of the Blind Scholarships; no additional
restrictions.

CRITERIA: All scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic
excellence, service to the community, and financial need.
MEMBERSHIP: The National Federation of the Blind is an organization
dedicated to creating opportunity for all blind persons. 
Recipients of Federation scholarships need not be members of the
National Federation of the Blind.
MAKING APPLICATION: To apply for National Federation of the Blind
scholarships, complete and return the application on the reverse
side of this sheet, attaching to the application all the additional
documents there requested. Multiple applications are unnecessary.
Each applicant will be considered for all scholarships for which he
or she qualifies. Send completed applications to: Mrs. Peggy
Elliott, Chairman, National Federation of the Blind Scholarship
Committee, 814 - 4th Avenue, Suite 200, Grinnell, Iowa 50112; (515)
236-3366. Form must be received by March 31, 1995.
REAPPLICATION: Those who have previously applied are encouraged to
apply again. If previous winners present credible applications, it
is our policy to award not fewer than three scholarships to those
who have received them in the past.
WINNERS: The Scholarship Committee reviews all applications and
selects the scholarship winners. These winners, the same number as
there are scholarships to award, will be notified of their
selection by June 1 and will be brought to the National Federation
of the Blind convention in July at Federation expense. This is in
addition to the scholarship grant.
The National Federation of the Blind convention is the largest
gathering of blind persons (more than 2,000) to occur anywhere in
the nation each year. You will be able to meet other blind students
and exchange information and ideas. You will also be able to meet
and talk with blind people who are successfully functioning in your
chosen profession or occupation. Federal officials, members of
Congress, and the makers and distributors of new technology attend
Federation conventions. Above all, a broad cross section of the
most active segment of the blind population of the United States
will be present to discuss common problems and plan for concerted
action. It is an interesting and exciting week.
AWARDS: The day before the convention banquet the Scholarship
Committee will meet to determine which winners will receive which
scholarships. The scholarship awards will be made during the
banquet.


NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION FORM

Read reverse side of form for instructions and explanation. Form
may be photocopied but only if reverse side is also included.
To apply for a scholarship, complete this application form and mail
completed application and attachments to: Mrs. Peggy Elliott,
Chairman, National Federation of the Blind Scholarship Committee,
814 - 4th Avenue, Suite 200, Grinnell, Iowa 50112; (515)236-3366.
Form must be received by March 31, 1995.

Name (please include any maiden or other names by which you have
been known):
Date of birth:
School address:
School phone number:
Home address:
Home phone number:
Institution being attended in spring semester, 1995, with class
standing (freshman, senior, etc.):
Cumulative grade point at this institution:
Institution to be attended in fall of 1995, with class standing. 
Send by separate letter if admitted to school after submitting
completed application:
List all post-secondary institutions attended with highest class
standing attained and cumulative grade point average:
High school attended and cumulative grade point:
Vocational goal:
State your major:
Awards and honors (attach list if necessary):
Community service (attach list if necessary):

Attach the following documents to completed application:
     1. Send us a letter: What schools have you attended? What
school do you plan to attend during the coming year? What honors
have you achieved? What have you done to deal with situations
involving your blindness? What are you like as a person? What are
your goals and aspirations? How will the scholarship help you?
     2. Send two letters of recommendation.
     3. Provide current transcript from institution now attending
and transcripts from all other post-secondary institutions
attended.  If you have not yet attended such an institution or have
not completed one year of study, send high school transcript.
     4. Send a letter from a state officer of the National
Federation of the Blind evidencing the fact that you have discussed
your scholarship application with that officer. We prefer that you
discuss your application with the Federation state president, but
a letter from any Federation state officer will suffice.
President's address provided upon request.






[Photo: Doug Boone sits at a table with a microphone in front of him. Caption:
Doug Boone]

                    ORIENTATION AND MOBILITY
                       The Need for Reason
            by George M. Binder and Douglas C. Boone

     From the Editor: In the January, 1992, issue of the Journal of
Visual Impairment and Blindness (JVIB), published by the American
Foundation for the Blind, Dr. William Wiener and several other
researchers presented a summary of the research they had done on
the question of whether or not blind orientation and mobility
instructors can safely do their jobs. Division IX of the
Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and
Visually Impaired (AER) has steadily maintained that they cannot
and that, therefore, AER certification for these instructors must
be withheld. One of the first blind university-trained O & M
instructors to feel the impact of this bar was Dr. Fred Schroeder,
now Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration. In
casual conversation at the time Dr. Schroeder characterized the
Wiener findings as proving unequivocally that blind people cannot
see as well as sighted people--a result that none of us would be
inclined to question. Whether, as a result of this new
corroboration of an undisputed truth, blind O & M instructors who
have been trained to use efficient alternative methods for teaching
the skills of effective cane use and student safety should continue
to be denied the opportunity to acquire AER certification is a far
different issue.
     Two experienced, sighted O & M instructors whose views and
experience run counter to those of the Wiener group prepared a
response to the JVIB article and submitted it to that journal in
May of 1992. The editor requested that it be significantly
shortened, a suggestion to which the authors were unwilling to
agree. They believed it was high time the underlying distrust of
blindness skills demonstrated by the AER position be openly
discussed, and they recognized that their article could not do the
job if it were substantially cut.
     In recent months the AER has again opened the question of
whether it should certify blind O & M instructors. (See Dr.
Schroeder's article, "Preparing for Emerging Challenges and
Partnerships," in the August/September, 1994, issue of the Braille
Monitor.) AER's preliminary answer seems to be that, if the blind
teacher is prepared to use a sighted assistant to provide the
visual information that sighted instructors depend upon, something
might be worked out. Clearly, the O & M gurus continue to miss the
point. Therefore, we herewith print the article which Messrs.
Binder and Boone prepared in 1992. Its argument is no less relevant
today, and the many students who have been taught by blind travel
teachers to use the long white cane confidently and safely during
the intervening two and a half years serve to strengthen their
case.
     George Binder received his master's degree in orientation and
mobility from Florida State University at Tallahassee in August of
1989. He is currently employed as a certified orientation and
mobility instructor with the Albuquerque Public Schools and serves
as a private contractor to schools in many surrounding districts.
Prior to receiving his master's degree, Mr. Binder worked for eight
years as a rehabilitation teacher in an agency serving the blind.
     Doug Boone holds a B.A. in Education and is President of D.
Boone Consultants, a private consulting firm, providing blindness-
related rehabilitation consulting services. He has been employed by
rehabilitation agencies for the blind since 1976 in a variety of
roles, including cane travel instructor, wood shop instructor,
rehabilitation teacher, vocational rehabilitation counselor, and
director of human resource development for the New Mexico
Commission for the Blind. This is what Messrs. Binder and Boone
have to say:

     The frequently debated issue regarding visual requirements for
certified orientation and mobility teachers has prompted us to
write in order to express our views on the matter. Additionally, we
would like to take this opportunity to respond to the Wiener,
Bliven, Bush, Ligammari, and Newton (1992) article entitled "The
Need for Vision in Teaching Orientation and Mobility," which
appeared in the January, 1992, issue of the Journal of Visual
Impairment and Blindness. This is an issue about which we feel
strongly, and our views are a reflection of the changes which are
occurring within the field of O & M. Ours is not a static
profession but one which is constantly evolving. Changes in
attitudes and expectations, brought about by consumers and
professionals alike, have made it possible for us to look at
certification requirements in a whole new light.
     We would like to begin by sharing with you our background in
teaching orientation and mobility. Both of us have received
intensive instruction at an orientation center for blind adults as
part of our preparation for entry into the field of blindness. The
opportunity for training at a rehabilitation/orientation center for
the blind occurred when we were hired as rehabilitation teachers
for the blind. As part of the training program for new staff at the
Nebraska Services for the Visually Impaired, we were required to
spend three months as students at the orientation center in
Lincoln, Nebraska.
     This was an intensive training program which necessitated our
wearing sleepshades (blindfolds) for approximately seven hours a
day, five days a week for three months. [When Doug became an O & M
instructor for the Orientation Center, he spent an additional six
weeks under sleepshades in preparation for this new
responsibility]. Center instruction included classes in cane
travel, cooking, shop/wood-working, Braille, abacus, and typing. In
addition, seminars or discussion periods were held twice weekly.
     While learning the various nonvisual, alternative techniques
which a blind person must possess in order to be independent, we
gradually began to understand what it meant to function without
vision. As the students around us shared their feelings and views
about blindness, the philosophical basis for our attitudes toward
blindness began to develop. We were exposed to a great many
independent, competent, blind individuals with a diverse range of
abilities. Many of our old, stereotyped ideas started to break
down. Even though we were sighted people simulating blindness, we
began to realize that blindness had to be dealt with on an
emotional level while at the same time addressing the immediate
need to master skills. All the instruction, technology, and
alternatives in the world cannot by themselves provide the answer.
When blind people internalize the notion that blindness is a
totally and tragically disabling condition, they start to lose the
motivation and ability to become confident, competent people.
     We also came to realize that nonvisual, alternative techniques
work and, perhaps more important, that they are not inferior to
those which require vision. For visual learners it is often
difficult to realize that there is no way to determine accurately
what a blind person can or cannot do without first understanding
how effectively the nonvisual alternatives work. That is to say,
given our sighted frame of reference, we can only understand
intuitively how a thing can be accomplished through the use of
vision. Without intensive training we cannot recognize how
efficient and effective the alternate techniques of blindness can
be.
     In our view this lack of understanding makes itself felt
whenever the question of certifying blind orientation and mobility
instructors arises. Since the concern is basically one of safety,
it is important to understand how a blind person can effectively
employ nonvisual methods in teaching cane travel.
     By listening to the cane arcing, it is possible to determine
whether a student is maintaining a safe, even arc. If the width of
an arc is too narrow, the auditory feedback will be muffled by the
student's body. To determine if the arc is too wide, the instructor
can use sound comparisons, judging the tap of the cane relative to
the footsteps. Additionally, the height of an arc can be determined
by sound. Both blind and sighted instructors teach students to
cross intersections safely by using changes in the movement of
automobiles to ascertain the various types of intersections and
their layouts. By monitoring the street sounds carefully himself,
the blind teacher can be sure that the student is lined up with
traffic, judging appropriately when and where it is safe to cross,
and reliably using traffic flow to maintain orientation and
direction. When introducing street crossings at busy intersections,
blind instructors usually remain close to the student (one or two
steps behind) and position themselves between parallel traffic and
the student. This arrangement allows rapid intervention if
necessary. As sighted instructors we frequently employ this same
approach with beginning students. Another fail-safe way to prevent
a student from misjudging the traffic pattern and crossing before
the light is green is to have the student verbally indicate when he
or she is prepared to cross. The notion that it takes vision to
cross an intersection safely is as false as it is to assume that it
takes vision to cook!
     For the blind cane travel instructor many unexpected
situations such as construction and delivery trucks can be detected
through auditory means. This too can be turned into a learning
experience for students by brainstorming or by using guided
problem-solving techniques. All teachers agree that safety is
critically important. The question we must ask is how to ensure the
student's safety. We believe that it will be most effectively
guaranteed through proper training and monitoring and not by the
instructor's visual acuity.
     Another commonly expressed concern is that the blind
instructor might lose track of a student. Once again, vision is not
the only protection against this danger. Listening for the tap of
the student's cane and using one's knowledge of the student's
travel patterns or idiosyncratic behavior to trace his or her
wayward path are simple methods of keeping tabs on the student.
Even more important, let us remember that at a certain point in the
instructional process the student is able to solve problems and can
meet a teacher at a predetermined location. The teacher's approach
to training can make it unnecessary to observe the student visually
from a distance or to warn students of impending collisions.
     Once the student has mastered the basic skills that ensure
safety and the teacher is absolutely certain that he or she
appreciates their importance and applies them consistently, the
conscientious instructor can fade more and more into the
background. The goal now is to instill self-confidence by
initiating solo routes and encouraging self-exploration routes. It
certainly does not require vision to accomplish this task either.
Warning students of impending collisions with large or small
objects is not always necessary. If the student has received proper
instruction, the cane will detect obstacles and warn him or her of
danger. Students who become careless quickly discover that life is
full of consequences. Please understand, we are not saying that we
would intentionally allow a student to get hurt, but we seldom warn
students in advance of objects they should be locating with the
cane. A student who encounters an object because of a poor arc has
learned a painful but effective lesson--one that is better learned
when an instructor is available to help analyze the cause of the
problem. To avoid such lessons is to deprive students of valuable
opportunities which contribute to the growth of both skills and
self-confidence.
     Students who are taught using a creative, problem-solving
approach to O & M will learn to ask relevant questions about the
environment rather than depending on being told in detail what is
going on around them. This is a model similar to the cognitive
process described in E. Hill and P. Ponder's "Orientation and
Mobility Techniques." This results in a structured discovery
learning model, which allows blind travelers to interact with the
environment and to interpret and process information effectively.
Until a student gains a certain degree of confidence and feels
somewhat at ease in traveling, it is difficult for him or her to
perceive the vast number of environmental cues available. Too often
feeling out of control or fearful blocks the development of
practical, common-sense decision-making skills. The role of any
cane travel instructor (blind or sighted) is to empower the student
through a guided, problem-solving approach, thereby instilling a
sense of confidence.
     In his book Mobility Training for Visually Handicapped People,
A Person-Centered Approach, Allan Dodds, describing different
teaching styles, states:

     The authoritarian rehabilitation worker . . . will feel
     superior to all clients and will find it rewarding to be
     in control of them. . . . He will leave the fully trained
     client with the nagging feeling that he will never really
     be independent once training is over and that he still
     needs further lessons. The egalitarian instructor . . .
     will have respect for the individual based upon a healthy
     respect for himself, will regard him as a fellow adult,
     and will get pleasure out of seeing him reacquire his
     independence and dignity. . . . At all times she [the
     egalitarian instructor] is guiding his problem-solving
     and helping him to interpret what he is doing and what
     the consequences are. . . . In this way she is getting
     him to solve his own orientation problems and increasing
     his confidence to keep track of where he is as he
     travels. . . . So the authoritarian instructor tries to
     fill the client with facts, rather than letting him
     discover through his own activities what the environment
     is like. The second style, practiced by the egalitarian
     instructor, assumes that learning consists in discovering
     things for oneself and that the role of the instructor is
     to guide this process of discovery.

     It is possible to undermine a student's confidence
unintentionally by offering too much information. For example, the
sighted travel teacher who warns a student about the presence of
stairs prior to the student's reaching them with the cane certainly
does not instill self-reliance but instead reinforces the notion
that vision and safety are somehow connected. It is critical that
students learn to trust the cane and their own abilities and not to
rely on visual information.
     To use fear tactics such as saying "Differences of seconds may
seem small, but the stakes are high," or "It only takes a second
for an individual to overstep a stair or to move into a dangerous
situation," is unfair. It conveys the conviction that a blind
traveler is never completely safe. At some point every O & M
teacher (sighted or blind) has to step back and allow the student
to accomplish solo routes. Besides, why should we assume that a
blind instructor would be unaware of a student's approaching a
dangerous situation? As stated earlier, blind or visually impaired
instructors usually position themselves close to the student while
crossing a busy intersection during the beginning stages of
training (as would a sighted teacher) in order to ensure quick
intervention in an emergency.
     Still another positive aspect of certifying blind O & M
teachers is that of providing a positive role model. The value of
this point can hardly be overstated. It is important for blind
children and adults alike to be exposed to good blind role models.
This exposure will assist them in making a positive adjustment to
blindness and acceptance of the cane while providing proof that it
is indeed possible for blind people to be independent.
     To insist that blind cane travel instructors teach in the
traditional style of some sighted instructors is to ignore the
validity of comparable non-visual alternatives. We find ourselves
agreeing with Allan Dodds (1985, p. 137) when he states: "The
degree to which one accepts or rejects blind people working as
mobility instructors . . . is conditioned only by one's own
prejudices about blindness." The alternatives to vision which we
have offered in this article are only a sample of possible
solutions, and they vary from person to person. In any case, we are
certainly not aware of all of the non-visual techniques in use. We
are aware, however, of the success with which the techniques can be
employed. It's time that those of us who say we expect independence
and safety from our students realize that these things really are
possible and begin trusting the message we say we teach.
     We do not believe that every good blind traveler would make a
good orientation and mobility instructor. Many of us have had math
instructors who were brilliant mathematicians but who were unable
to convey their knowledge in a way that could be easily understood
by the majority of the class. We do propose, however, that the O &
M field give blind people who possess the skills and the desire to
teach the chance to prove themselves.
     Simulations and experiments are not necessary. Blind cane
travel instructors have been successfully teaching for years
without the use of sighted assistants. These instructors have done
more to instill confidence, foster positive attitudes, and
effectively teach cane travel than many of us who are sighted cane
travel teachers. To quote Allan Dodds again (1985, "New Beacon"):
          As a psychologist I was interested from a number of
     points of view in being on the receiving end of blind
     instruction; and, having undergone mobility instruction
     with a sighted instructor, I was interested in making
     comparisons. For example, not knowing anything about how
     a blind instructor operated, I was concerned about how in
     touch she could be with her client in terms of monitoring
     his motor skills. . . . After only a few steps, she
     called out that my cane was not going far enough over to
     the left and asked me to correct it. Slightly surprised,
     I consciously swung it further over to the left, and she
     told me that was better.

          [And again later in the same article] So confident
     was he (a student of the blind instructor) that I stopped
     checking up on his decisions to cross at busy junctions,
     simply putting my trust in his decisions and maintaining
     a conversation with him. That was the moment when I
     realized that my residual prejudices about blind travel
     had finally been put to rest. In spite of myself, I would
     never really have trusted a blind person to make a safety
     decision on my behalf without checking it out visually.
     Now I realized that good blind travel had to be judged on
     blind criteria, not sighted ones, and the fact that blind
     travelers don't get run down by cars is not due to the
     consideration of the motorist but rather to the sound
     judgment of the traveler. And yet I had trained blind
     people to do this myself, without fully believing that it
     was safe.
          . . . For my own part, I was thoroughly convinced
     that blind instructors could do most of what sighted
     instructors could, and what they couldn't do was not
     vital to the teaching of safe and independent travel.

     Below is a sample of only a few state and private agencies
which reveals how widespread is the practice of employing blind
persons whose sole job description is that of orientation and
mobility instructor. We did not sample these same service providers
with regard to the number of clients trained in O & M by blind
rehabilitation teachers whose primary duties are not O & M but who
teach it as the need arises.

     ABLE (Alternatives for the Blind in Living and Employment),
Source: Former employee. [approximate student count] . . . . . 60
     BISM (Blind Industries and Services of Maryland), Source:
Former employee [approximate student count, 1983-1987] . . . . 85
     BLIND Inc., Source: Program Director [approximate student
count, 1988 until April, 1992] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
     Colorado Center for the Blind, Source: Program Director
[approximate student count, 1988 until April, 1992]. . . . . . 75
     Louisiana Center for the Blind, Source: Program Director
[exact count, 1986 until April, 1992]. . . . . . . . . . . . .180
     Nebraska Rehabilitation Services f/t Visually Impaired,
Source: Agency Director [approximate count, 1975 until April,
1992]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .450
     New Mexico Commission f/t Blind, Source: Program Director,
[exact count, 1986 until April, 1992]. . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
     The numbers presented here were compiled in April of 1992.
Total number of blind persons trained in O & M by blind instructors
in the above, limited sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1,062

     In the face of the significant number of safe, competent blind
travelers trained to use the long white cane by blind orientation
and mobility instructors, we ask one question of Mr. Wiener and
other advocates of the present certification requirement: if the
numbers provided here are not proof of the capacity of blind O & M
instructors to train other blind people safely and effectively, at
what point will studies and research give way to practice and fact?

References:

Hill, E., and Ponder, P., Orientation and Mobility Techniques, New
York, American Foundation for the Blind, Inc., 1976, p. 4.

Dodds, A.G. (1985) "Mobility: Blind Instructors?" New Beacon, 69,
137-139.

Dodds, A.G., Mobility Training for Visually Handicapped People: A
Person-Centered Approach, London, England, Croom Helm Ltd, 1988,
pp. 73-77.


             BLIND CHEMIST SUES NEW YORK CORPORATION

     From the Editor: Until August of 1993 Rudolf Behrens was a
senior chemist with the Ciba Corporation, the American subsidiary
of a large Swiss pharmaceutical company. But, years before, he had
begun to lose his sight, and by 1992 he was legally blind. Because
of his decreasing visual acuity he was interested in negotiating a
change in job responsibilities, but apparently his employer only
wanted him gone. So his supervisors simply piled on the work until
he could no longer get it done and they thought it was safe to fire
him.
     Behrens was furious. He had been a valuable employee close to
retirement; he knew he should not have been fired, but what could
he do about it? He decided to get a lawyer and see about a lawsuit.
At about this time he received a call from the National Federation
of the Blind of Connecticut's Community Outreach Office telling him
about the work of the Federation and inviting him to support the
program with a contribution. He began telling the caller about his
troubles, and very quickly he was put in touch with Rick Fox,
President of the NFB of Connecticut. Mr. Behrens' attorney was soon
in contact with the NFB's National Office, gathering information
about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and how to use it
most effectively.
     Rudolf Behrens is now attending NFB meetings in his area and
is making progress with his lawsuit against Ciba Corporation. The
following article first appeared in the July 18, 1994, issue of the
White Plains, New York, Reporter Dispatch. Here it is:

             Ex-employee Suing Ciba for $1.8 Million
                       by Richard Liebson

     Ciba Corporation in Ardsley has been hit with a $1.8 million
federal lawsuit by a senior chemist who says he was dismissed
because of an eye condition that left him legally blind.
     The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court
in White Plains, charges Ciba with violating the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
     The ten-page lawsuit, brought by Rudolf Behrens, sixty-five,
of Fairfield, Connecticut, says that Ciba "engaged in numerous
discriminatory practices in violation of the ADA, culminating in
Mr. Behrens' unlawful termination," in August, 1993. An age-related
degenerative eye condition left Behrens legally blind in 1992.
     The company has not been served with the lawsuit, Ciba
spokesman Eric Jackson said yesterday. "Nevertheless, we feel it is
inappropriate to publicly discuss any human-resources matters
concerning our employees," he said.
     Behrens' lawyer, Irwin Dresdner of White Plains, said
yesterday that instead of providing Behrens with "the equitable
treatment and reasonable assistance to which he was entitled under
the ADA, Ciba demoted him, placed him on probation, increased his
workload to a level exceeding that of any fully sighted Ciba
employee, and fired him."
     "I couldn't believe what they were doing to me," Behrens said
yesterday. "During my ten years at Ciba I've made important
contributions in many areas of chemical research and development,
but as soon as they found out about my blindness, all they cared
about was getting rid of me."
     Ciba, formerly called Ciba-Geigy Corporation, is the U.S.
subsidiary of the Swiss-based health care, agricultural, and
industrial manufacturing corporation.
     Ciba is "committed to comply fully with the letter and spirit
of all equal employment opportunity laws, including the Americans
with Disabilities Act," said Jackson.
     "We take these responsibilities very seriously," he said.
     Behrens has requested a jury trial and is seeking $1.8 million
in lost pay, damages, and legal costs.


                         ***************

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
1994-95 Twelfth Annual
Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest

Sponsored by:
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children 
National Association to Promote the Use of Braille


PURPOSE OF CONTEST

The purpose of the annual Braille Readers Are Leaders contest is to
encourage blind school children to read more Braille. It is just as
important for blind children to be literate as it is for other
children. Good readers can have confidence in themselves and in
their abilities to learn and to adapt to new situations throughout
their lifetimes. Braille is a viable alternative to print, yet many
blind children are graduating from our schools with poor Braille
skills and low expectations for themselves as Braille readers. They
do not know that Braille readers can be competitive with print
readers. This contest helps blind children realize that reading
Braille is fun and rewarding.

WHO CAN ENTER THE CONTEST

Blind school-age children from kindergarten through the twelfth
grade are eligible to enter. The student competes in one of five
categories. The first category is the print-to-Braille beginning
reader. This category is for former or current print readers who
began to learn and use Braille within the past two years. This
includes: 

     (1) formerly sighted children who became blind after they
     mastered print and 
     (2) partially-sighted print readers who are learning
     Braille. Kindergartners and first-graders are not
     eligible for the print-to-Braille category.

The other categories are grades K-1; 2-4; 5-8; and 9-12. Students
in ungraded programs should select the category which most closely
matches the grade level of their peers.

PRIZES FOR THE CONTEST

First-, second-, and third-place winners are selected from each of
the five categories. All winners receive a cash prize, a special
certificate, and a distinctive NFB Braille Readers Are leaders
T-shirt. In each category first-place winners receive $75.00,
second-place winners $50.00, and third-place winners $25.00. All
contestants receive a Braille certificate and a special token for
participating in the contest. 
Special recognition will be given to the five contestants,
regardless of category, who demonstrate the most improvement over
their performance in the previous year's contest. To be considered
for the Most Improved Braille Reader award the contestant must
enter the contest for two consecutive years and cannot be a winner
in the current, or any previous, Braille Readers Are Leaders
contest. Winners of the Most Improved Braille Reader award receive
fifteen dollars ($15.00) and a T-shirt.
Schools are encouraged to schedule public presentations of the
certificates. Alternatively, presentations may be made in the
classroom, at the local National Federation of the Blind Chapter
meeting, or in some other appropriate setting. Members of the
National Federation of the Blind will award the certificates and
other prizes whenever possible.

SCHOOLS FOR THE BLIND 

In addition to the individual prizes a special $200.00 cash prize
and a trophy will be awarded to the school for the blind with the
largest number of enrolled students participating in the contest.
All of the schools for the blind with students participating in the
contest will receive recognition in Future Reflections, the
National Federation of the Blind magazine for parents and educators
of blind children. 

RULES FOR THE CONTEST

Winners will be chosen based on the number of Braille pages read.
The one who reads the largest number of Braille pages will be the
first-place winner; the second largest the second-place winner; and
the third largest the third-place winner. The completed contest
entry form must be received by the judges no later than February
15, 1995. Contestants must submit with the entry forms a print list
of the materials read (see the last page of the entry form). Entry
forms without this list will be returned to the sender.

CERTIFYING AUTHORITY

The certifying authority is responsible for (1) verifying that the
student read the Braille material listed and that the material was
read between November 1, 1994, and February 1, 1995; (2) filling
out and sending in the contest entry form in an accurate, complete,
and timely fashion; and (3) assisting the student in finding
Braille materials to read for the contest.
Teachers, librarians, and parents may serve as certifying
authorities. The certifying authority must also be prepared to
cooperate if the contest judges have any questions or need
additional information about an entry. All decisions of the judges
are final.

For more information contact Mrs. Sandy Halverson, 403 West 62nd Terrace,
Kansas City, Missouri 64113; evenings (816) 361-7813; or Mrs. Barbara Cheadle,
National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland
21230; (410) 659-9314 or (410) 747-3472.

COMMON QUESTIONS

     1. What if I didn't know about the contest until after it
began. Can I still enter? Yes.
     2. If I enter late, can I still count the Braille pages I have
read since November 1? Yes, if your certifying authority will
verify that you read those pages. 
     3. Can I count my Braille textbooks? No.
     4. Can I count textbooks if they are not the textbooks I am
now using for my regular class work? Yes.
     5. What if I don't finish reading a book? Can I count the
pages that I did read? Yes.
     6. Can supplemental reading books to beginning reading series
be counted for the contest? Yes.
     7. What constitutes a Braille page? Each side of an embossed
piece of paper is considered one page. If you read both sides, then
you have read two pages. This is true even if there are only two
Braille lines on one side.
     8. Can I count title pages, tables of contents, Brailled
descriptions of illustrations, etc.? Yes.
     9. I have to transcribe books for my beginning reader. Most of
these books have only a few words on a page. If the print book has
more pages than my Braille transcription, how do I count pages for
the contest? For the purposes of this contest, the number of
Braille pages counted per book should never be less than the number
of print pages in that book. This is so even if the teacher has
transcribed the entire book onto one Braille page. To avoid
confusion we suggest that the books be transcribed page-for-page,
one Braille page for each print page, whenever possible. 
     10. I have trouble finding enough Braille material for my 6th
grade and up students. Do you have any suggestions? Yes. The
National Federation of the Blind has free Braille
materials--stories, articles, etc.--suitable for blind youth. To
request the NFB Selected Literature for Blind Youth order form,
call or write National Federation of the Blind, Materials Center,
1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230; (410) 659-9314.

CONTEST ENTRY FORM
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
BRAILLE READERS ARE LEADERS CONTEST
November 1, 1994 to February 1, 1995

Mail entry form to Mrs. Sandy Halverson, 403 West 62nd Terrace,
Kansas City, Missouri 64113

Student's Name
Age
Grade
Address
City
State
Zip

Parent's Name
Phone (Home) (Work)
Certifying Authority: Name
Position: Parent, Teacher, Librarian
Address
City
State
Zip
Phone (Home) (Work)

School Name 
Address
City
State
Zip
Phone

YES  NO   Did you enter last year's contest (1993-94)?
YES  NO   Have you been a winner in a previous Braille Readers are
Leaders Contest?

Entries must be received no later than February 15, 1995.

Category: (Check one) 
Beginning Print to Braille (This category is for former or current
print readers, grades 2-12, who began to learn and use Braille
within the past two years.)
Kindergarten and First Grade 
Second through Fourth Grades 
Fifth through Eighth Grades 
Ninth through Twelfth Grades 

One of the prizes for the contest is a special T-shirt. If you
should be a winner, what size would you require? (Check one) 
Children's: S (6-8); M (10-12); L (14-16)
Adult: S (34-36); M (38-40); L (42-44); XL

- - - - - - - - - - 
[Back page of form]

Name
Total # of Braille Pages

Pages   Book/Magazine (mag. pub. date)   Author/Title of Article 

[Lines 1-20]

To the best of my knowledge, this student did read these Braille
pages between the dates of November 1, 1994, and February 1, 1995.

__________________________
Certifying Authority

                         ***************



[Photo #1: Diane McGeorge reads Braille from the podium. Caption: Diane McGeorge]
[Photo #2: Joanne Wilson reads Braille from the podium. Caption: Joanne Wilson]
[Photo #3: Joyce Scanlan reads Braille from the podium. Caption: Joyce Scanlan]
[Photo #4: Sharon Gold reads Braille from the podium. Caption: Sharon Gold]

                  BY THE BLIND FOR THE BLIND--
       PROVIDING ORIENTATION TRAINING: A PANEL DISCUSSION

     From the Editor: At the Wednesday morning general session of
the 1994 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind, the
directors of the four NFB adult rehabilitation centers for the
blind addressed the convention. To those who have been following
the evolution and strengthening of these facilities, these reports
were both interesting and gratifying. It is reassuring to receive
confirmation that these programs continue to change lives and
enable their graduates to become successful. But for those who are
new to the organized blind movement and who knew only about
traditional rehabilitation programs, listening to these
presentations and talking with the students currently attending
these centers provided revolutionary insights about what blind
people can achieve. Those taking part in this panel discussion were
Diane McGeorge, Executive Director of the Colorado Center for the
Blind; Joanne Wilson, Executive Director of the Louisiana Center
for the Blind; Joyce Scanlan, Executive Director of Blindness:
Learning in New Dimensions, Inc., in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and
Sharon Gold, Executive Director of the Lawrence Marcelino Center
for the Blind in Sacramento, California. Here is what they had to
say:

                         Diane McGeorge

     I want to begin today by reading you a letter which I received
from the parents of one of our graduates:

     Dear Mrs. McGeorge,
          We recently visited our son, who graduated from the
     full-time program at the Colorado Center for the Blind.
     We had a chance to spend three days with him in Denver.
     During that time we had the opportunity to meet some of
     your staff, and I cannot tell you how impressed we were
     with their understanding and the real caring they showed
     for him. When he came to your program, he was depressed
     and saw nothing for himself in his future. What a joy it
     was for us to see him working at his job. He is sharing
     an apartment with another one of the graduates of your
     program, and we got to meet his girlfriend. She is a
     lovely girl, and they both are so happy. The Colorado
     Center has truly been an answer to our prayers. We thank
     you very much and wish you great success for years to
     come.
                                                  Sincerely,
And it was signed.

     This letter is a clear demonstration of the accomplishments of
our NFB Centers. These achievements are not accidents; they occur
because of our philosophy and the dedication of our staff.
Traditional rehabilitation centers try to teach skills, but they do
not talk to students about their blindness. And if you do not talk
about blindness, you will not help your students to develop fully
or, for that matter, even become competent in the use of their
skills. We have all heard about the importance of proper cane
technique, the value of teaching the use of the most advanced
technology on the market, and (that awful term) activities of daily
living--also known as ADL. It is useful to compare the traditional-
rehabilitation-center approach with our non-traditional approach.
     First of all, what is meant by non-traditional? Dr. Jernigan
pioneered the use of challenge recreation activities at the Iowa
Commission for the Blind. We all recall the famous water-skiing
scene from our video, "We Know Who We Are." The Colorado Center has
adapted this concept to our unique Colorado setting. We live less
than thirty miles from an internationally known rock-climbing area,
Eldorado Canyon. Each of the NFB Centers has found activities that
challenge its students. Sometimes it is said that our challenge
activities are what make our programs different. However, the
challenge activities are but one way in which we engage our
students in thinking about their blindness.
     Recently, an incident occurred at the Colorado Center which
illustrates very clearly the difference between a traditional
program and our NFB approach. High school students from another
program came to visit. Our high school students had prepared a day
of activities for our visitors. One of the things that our students
wanted to do was to prepare lunch for their guests. The visiting
staff had, however, planned to take their students to McDonald's.
Our students saw lunch as an opportunity to demonstrate their
independence; the visiting staff saw lunch as an opportunity to
treat their students.
     Every activity that we do is used for teaching. We are
concerned that our students learn to function independently. The
students from the visiting program travelled by holding onto each
other, thus forming a chain. They were not expected to travel
independently. Our students are encouraged to become free, self-
managing individuals.[Applause] Other programs are more concerned
with taking care of their students. We are concerned with our
students' learning to take care of themselves.
     The visit demonstrated many attitudes toward blindness. We
believe that our students can become independent, productive people
only when they really understand the attitudes toward blindness
which are held by society in general and by themselves. We ask them
to examine those attitudes and discuss why staff persons would want
to have students travel together in a chain. Clearly they were
afraid that, if the students travelled independently, it would be
difficult. Students might get lost or get hurt. The staff simply
did not believe that blind people could function independently and
competently. Over and over again our students encounter these
attitudes. They must learn to acknowledge the existence of these
negative attitudes. They must develop the personal strength
necessary to reject them and to replace them with their belief in
their own competence and the competence of other blind persons.
     Jason was a student in our summer youth program. He came into
our program fearful about participating in many of our activities.
Our staff challenged Jason to develop competence and confidence. I
received this evaluation of his experience in the program. He
writes:

          I enjoyed my summer at the Colorado Center. I liked
     living in the apartments and doing my own laundry. The
     two things I liked best were the camping trip and the
     rock climbing. I liked the story about the bear that Dan
     told. I really liked chopping the wood for the fire. I
     chopped wood until Laurie told me I had to quit and go to
     bed. That was about midnight. She said I was going to
     keep everybody awake. Rock climbing was really hard. I
     was scared and I didn't want to go clear to the top. I
     cried, and I told Allison to let me come down. She said
     she knew I could get to the top, and she wasn't going to
     let me come down. I had a really good feeling when I did
     get to the top of the rock. I was really proud of myself.
     Everybody cheered!

     Jason is a multiply-handicapped young man. No one thought he
could make progress. I remember that day very well. The day he was
climbing, passers-by stopped to watch. They must have thought we
were abusing him; yet this was a turning point for him. After this
experience he was anxious to try more things. He learned to travel
from his apartment to the Center by himself. His crowning
achievement was preparing lunch for all the staff and then telling
us it would cost us $1.50 apiece to enjoy his spaghetti.
     Traditional programs sell short the abilities of blind
persons. The expectations for someone like Jason are so low that,
if he had been in a traditional program, he would not have achieved
anything. Jason cannot be with us today because his brain tumor has
re-occurred, but he is proof that independence can be achieved by
those who in the past have simply been written off.
     This year we have begun a summer program for college students.
They are learning to enhance their academic performance through the
use of Braille, technology, study skills, and good cane travel.
They are learning to manage their own academic program and deal
more effectively with disabled student services. But these are
really not the most important things that they will learn. They are
learning to take responsibility for their own lives and to develop
the confidence that they need to make their way in the world as
competent blind adults. They are learning that they are more
effective when they work collectively and that to be fully an adult
means to care for others.
     Blind persons have had things done for them. They have
received benefits. They have not been asked to give. However, all
of our students are asked to investigate thoroughly what it means
to act collectively and to care inclusively.
     Traditional rehabilitation centers encourage blind people to
be passive. They are encouraged to accept help whether they need it
or not. After all, we don't want the public to think that blind
people have a chip on their shoulder. NFB Centers stress the
importance of assuming the role of the active participant in life,
not the passive recipient of good works. Our students know how to
be assertive when dealing with offered help that is not needed.
     Many of our students come to NFB Centers from protected
environments. Their families, their teachers, and their friends
have often, with the best of intentions, prevented them from
becoming assertive adults. Recently one of our students was
enrolled in college. As her vision declined, she found that she was
more and more dependent on her friends. She expressed it to me very
clearly. "I am tired of pretending I am somebody I am not. None of
my friends really knows how little I can see. I have played all the
games." She was unable to function independently, so she accepted
a passive role to get others to do for her. But she is an
intelligent woman and made the decision to change her life. She
knew that she had to acquire new skills, but she also knew that she
had to rethink her blindness and gain confidence through genuine
accomplishments.
     Just recently she told me that she had gone shopping by
herself and that she had brought her groceries home in a grocery
cart. She feels that this was a major accomplishment. She is
learning to live independently. Her confidence is growing. Her
skills are improving; she is learning to accept her blindness. She
has ceased to depend on others and is changing from a passive to an
active person. She plans to be a teacher of blind children. Her
future is bright. She wants to dedicate her life to caring for
others. Mary is a great example of what we mean when we say, "We
Are Changing What it Means to be Blind." Once she was passive and
dependent on others, and now she is learning to direct her own
life.
     Students come to our NFB Centers from all types of
backgrounds. You have heard about only a few. Their stories tell
very clearly the differences between traditional rehabilitation
centers and our NFB Centers. They come with little hope for a
future; they come knowing that they must stop playing games about
being blind; they come believing they cannot overcome the
limitations placed upon them by their peers. But they leave with
jobs and with confidence, having climbed to the top of the rock.
The men and women who are our students are showing the world what
we mean when we say, "Together we are changing what it means to be
blind."[Applause]

                          Joanne Wilson

     Until I was nineteen years old, I had never met another blind
person. I did not believe in myself, and I did not have the skills
of blindness. I couldn't even light a simple match. That all
changed when I became a student at the Iowa Commission for the
Blind, run by Dr. Jernigan. I did meet other blind people. I did
begin to believe in myself. I did get new skills, and I did learn
to light a match.
     Nine months ago Vanessa came into our program. Vanessa did not
believe in herself. She did not have skills; and, believe it or
not, Vanessa did not know how to light a match either. Vanessa has
now graduated from our program. She now believes in herself. She
has skills; and, after being pushed and shoved, Vanessa has lit a
match. She is now employed in our teenage program, working with
young blind teenagers. Two weeks ago I was at a birthday party for
one of these young students. It was time to light the candles.
Someone said, "Let's get a sighted person to light the candles."
     Then Vanessa said, "Come here Jennie. Let me show you how to
light a match."[Applause]
     People ask me, "What do you do at the Louisiana Center for the
Blind?" What we do is pass the torch. We pass the torch that was
kindled in 1940 when Dr. tenBroek first organized the National
Federation of the Blind. He took that torch and made it burn
brighter and passed it on to Dr. Jernigan, who took it and passed
it on to the third generation of blind people, President Maurer and
people like me. Now it is our turn to take it and to pass it on to
the fourth generation. We take that torch and we pass it on to all
of our students.
     We passed it on to Donald Ray when we gave him his first cane
lesson. He came back from that cane lesson and said, "Miss Joanne,
this cane is saving me from a life o'licks!" We pass it on when our
students walk five miles to a neighboring town and come back elated
that they have done it. We passed it on when Kyle took an hour and
a half to walk to the Center with our new student Jim the first
day, and by the end of the week they were doing it in fifteen
minutes. We passed the torch to Jerry, who had never cooked in his
life. We gave him a glop of hamburger and said, "Jerry, make your
own hamburger patty." He squished it around, and it took forever,
but he got that patty made, and he put it on the grill, and he
grilled his burger. He sat down to eat it and said, "This is the
best burger I've ever eaten." [Applause]
     We passed the torch when Chris got his GED. We passed the
torch when Patrick came in with the first agenda he had produced in
Braille. We passed the torch when Joe came in and got his first job
working at Wendy's. I said, "Joe, I'm really proud of you." He
puffed out his chest, and he smiled and said, "I have a family I
have to support." We passed the torch when Quintina sat in her
first Braille class and cried for two days. She said, "I quit. I'm
never going to learn Braille." Quintina now has her own business.
You know what it is? She's a Braille transcriptionist. [Applause]
     We passed the torch when David came in and said, "I know
Braille. I read Braille at 169 words a minute. I said, "David,
that's not good enough. Start using two hands to read Braille." He
fought us, but he did it. When he left, he was reading at 302 words
a minute. We pass the torch to the students who come in excited
saying, "Oh my gosh, I've never seen this word before, but now that
I'm reading Braille, I see what it looks like."
     We pass the torch in some of our group discussions. The other
day we were having a discussion with our children's program, our
teenage program, and our adult program. The adults were hotly
debating the issue of rights and responsibilities: Should we take
free show passes? Should we be pushed up to the front of the line?
Eleven-year-old Ryan said, "Wait a minute; wait a minute. If we
take free show passes and go to the front of the line ahead of
everybody else and then we go and ask for a job, that simply
doesn't make any sense." We can't have it both ways.
     We pass the torch when Kim bought her first pair of tennis
shoes. She had never shopped by herself before. We passed the torch
the other night when we had our Louisiana Center for the Blind
play. We educated the public about what blind people do: that they
can act. We educated the public with the play's message about
blindness. But, most important, we taught our students that they
can be a part of changing what it means to be blind.
     We pass the torch when we go rock climbing. I remember when
Vanessa, crying and screaming, was going up that rock. She came
back down and said, "My God, you guys believe in me more than I
believe in myself." We passed the torch just weeks ago when we took
a whole group (sixty of us--our children, teenage, and adult
programs) down to the Louisiana Legislature. A bill had been
introduced that would have seriously hurt the Randolph-Sheppard
Program in the State. When we were leaving that lobbying effort,
little twelve-year-old Paul, who is developmentally delayed, said,
"You know, I don't know if I ever want to be a vendor, but someday
one of my friends might want to be a vendor, so we need to kill
this bill."
     We passed the torch when one of our students got hurt, and our
students took turns sitting up all night with that student and
caring for him like you would in a family. When I see the work at
the Louisiana Center for the Blind, it's like a giant jigsaw
puzzle. The work we do at our center is just a small piece of that
puzzle. The rest is the work that all of you are doing out there in
the Federation and that we've done for the last fifty-four years.
We're there doing our part. If our Center is going to survive and
our students are going to get something, we need the whole big
picture, the whole puzzle put together.
     Before we came to this convention, I wanted to pull together
some statistics for you. Even I was surprised at the numbers. We
have twenty-three students now enrolled in our adult program. We've
had sixty-seven children and teenagers. Individual children and
teenagers go through our summer programs. I am not going to count
these people in our statistics. I'm looking only at the students
who have actually graduated from the program or come very close.
There have been 179 of those, 121 of whom, approximately two
thirds, are still involved with the Federation.
     Let's look a little more closely at these statistics. Out of
those 121 still involved in the Federation, sixty-nine of these
people are elected leaders in the Federation: state presidents,
state officers, national division presidents, national division
officers, local chapter presidents, or local officers--sixty-nine
of these people.
     When I got these statistics together, I started looking at the
names, and something else became apparent to me. I started counting
those who are successful, people who are living on their own, going
to school successfully, or working at a job successfully. All of
our students have moved along this spectrum by having benefitted
from our training. But my definition of success is even tougher: I
would consider sixty-seven percent of our students to be in the
success category.
     I then looked a little further at these statistics. Of those
who are no longer involved in the Federation, 16.6 percent are in
the success category. Of those who are involved in the Federation,
90.9 percent are in the success category.
     What message do these numbers give us? They tell us that the
reason our Federation centers work is that we don't just bring
students in and give them a few skills. We don't just give them
some attitudes and then leave them to make it on their own. The
Louisiana Center program is successful because we had you out
there. The Federation is there to give students the shot in the arm
for the rest of their lives that they need to continue to be
successful. More important, it gives our students an opportunity to
give back, which truly makes students successful.
     We're selling bricks at the Louisiana Center for the Blind.
We're getting ready to have an expansion. Part of our fund raiser
was selling bricks for a hundred dollars apiece on which people can
have anything they want inscribed. I recently got a call from two
of my former students, Maria Morais and Michael Baillif. They said,
"We thought long and hard about what we'd like to have inscribed on
our brick to be put in the new building." Michael said, "This is
what we came up with, for this is what we feel we've gotten from
the Federation and from our centers. It's a quote from Sir Isaac
Newton, which says, `If I have seen further, it is because I've
stood on the shoulders of giants.'" That's why we have the success
rate. That's how we're doing it. They're standing on your shoulders
and the shoulders of Federationists for the past fifty-four years.
     Mr. Maurer asked me to talk about some of the changes that
have occurred since we started the Center nine years ago and what
I see as some of the progress that will be made. When we started
our Center in 1985, almost nine years ago, the agency hated us.
Enemies were just waiting for us to make a mistake. The
professional organizations thought we were crazy. I'm pleased to
announce these things that have happened just in the last month.
Suzanne Mitchell, one of our Federationists, just started work this
week as the head of blind services in the State of
Louisiana.[Applause] When we come back from this convention, the
University of Mississippi is going to start sending us interns to
work in our programs. Remember agencies and organizations were
skeptical about us just nine years ago.
     At the end of July the VA hospitals are going to be sending
some of their top administrators to learn how to teach blind people
mobility. They want to see how blind people teach blind people
mobility.[Applause] Just recently Jerry Whittle, one of our staff
members at the Louisiana Center for the Blind, was elected AER
President in our state.[Applause] Things are changing.
Professionals are seeing that we're doing something.
     Five states now send us students: Texas, Connecticut,
Pennsylvania, New York, Arkansas, and now Oklahoma--six states.
Before they thought we were crazy. We couldn't even get anybody
from Louisiana. Agencies are recognizing what we are doing. We've
gotten a grant to start a vocational program. Zena Pearcy is
working on a vocational Braille transcription and technology
development program to train people in adaptive technology. We
recently got a grant from the Louisiana Department of Education. We
Federationists are teaching teachers and paraprofessionals in the
school systems Braille so our blind kids will have an education.
     When we get back from convention, our first classes will be
taught at Louisiana Tech University by our own Federationist, Ruby
Ryles, who will be teaching college classes to people who want to
become VI specialists, and we know what kind of philosophy they're
going to come out with.[Applause] We recently got another grant in
which we are going to be working with an infant and toddler
program. And one of our Federationists, Jeff Pearcy, will be the
first person on the scene working with blind babies in our state.
     We now have funding from the Department of Education to fund
our children's program and from Louisiana Rehabilitation Services
to fund our teenage program. So our word will be going down, not
just working with adults, but we can reach out and get to other
people.
     We're getting ready to start a new program, one where we'll be
doing some outreach programs, teaching mobility to blind people.
When we get back, we're also getting ready to break ground for a
new building. When it is finished, we will have three and a half
times our current space. This new construction is demonstrating
what people are beginning to recognize about us--that what we're
doing really is working.
     I want to conclude with what I call my IWRP for the Louisiana
Center for the Blind. We got started in 1985, and some months after
that Dr. Jernigan gave a banquet speech--his last as President of
the National Federation of the Blind. That banquet speech gave me
a message, a message that I often think about when I need direction
and need to be reminded of our goals, in short, when I need to be
re-inspired about the work of our centers. He's talking about the
third generation, but I believe it's equally true of the Federation
today and the work of our adult training centers with the fourth
generation. The message reads: "We have also kept faith with our
children in the third generation. We have transmitted to them a
powerful movement. We have trained them in the ways of freedom. We
have shared with them a belief and an understanding. We have wanted
for them better than we have had ourselves, and above all we have
loved them. We do not need to make them like us, for even in our
strongest imagining, we cannot go to the house of their ultimate
future. We seek only to go with them as far as we can along the
way." Thank you.[Applause]

                          Joyce Scanlan

     Many Federationists in the room will remember 1979 as a
watershed year because it was then, fifteen years ago, that the
Minnesota Supreme Court gave a hard rap to the knuckles of a NAC-
accredited agency with the decision that the Minneapolis Society
for the Blind had violated the law and discriminated against the
blind by rejecting their applications for membership in the
organization. The court ordered the Society to hold a nationwide
proxy election. Then for the first time blind people elected eight
blind representatives to speak for them on the MSB Board. The whole
effort proved to us that we could in fact challenge an entrenched
agency for the blind and win. That event marked the beginning of
the end for MSB. Today it hides behind its new name, Vision Loss
Resources. It's recognized widely in the community as a backward,
repressive, ineffective agency struggling for identity and indeed
its very survival.
     On the other hand, the National Federation of the Blind has
risen to a position of prominence in the state. Our orientation
center, BLIND, Inc., is regarded as progressive, having a positive
philosophy of blindness and yielding the kind of results that
really change people's lives for the better.[Applause] We are also
recognized as being a part of the National Federation of the Blind.
Let me say directly that I believe firmly that the reason BLIND,
Inc., is what it is is the National Federation of the Blind. BLIND,
Inc., exists and thrives because of the National Federation of the
Blind. It was inspired by the Federation. It was created by the
Federation. It is monitored and evaluated by the National
Federation of the Blind. It is responsive to the needs and wishes
of the NFB. It will survive because of the NFB.
     The blind of the nation constantly measure the success of
BLIND, Inc., and the quality of its training by the outcomes
reflected in the lives of its graduates. Thus, BLIND, Inc., and the
NFB are partners, sharing a common philosophy, goals, expertise,
and resources. As one of four Federation centers in the country,
BLIND, Inc., belongs to a network of centers that live out a belief
in blind people and work toward the common goal of improving our
lives so we can all reap first-class status in society.
     We share many traditions such as ringing the freedom bell.
Ringing the bell is taken very seriously by everyone. It is a high
honor and a great privilege. Worthy accomplishments for ringing the
bell might be completing Grade II Braille, blowing your first cane
tip, successfully serving the small and buffet meals in home
management, returning exhausted from the mid-term and final drop-
offs and the five-mile graduation walk, covering enough mileage in
travel class to be admitted to the one-hundred-mile club or the
two-hundred-mile club, or finishing the reading of the first
Braille novel. Then there are the more personal accomplishments
which merit the ringing of the bell: when Maureen's checking
account balanced for the first time because she used Braille, when
John turned down an offer of help for the very first time, or when
Nicky lit her first match.
     When BLIND, Inc. students graduate, they receive a bell with
an eagle on top, symbolizing freedom and independence. They
frequently call back to the Center to tell us of their successes
and how they've achieved personal goals so we can again ring the
bell, as we did when Larry passed his GED; when Louis and Holly
became engaged; when Doug won his fight to stay on the fifth floor
of his college dorm instead of moving to the first floor, where
students with disabilities had to stay; or when Julie got the job
she wanted.
     The Federation gives BLIND, Inc., students much-needed
opportunity to be involved in activities beyond those of their own
self-interest. For example, we rang the bell when the state
legislature passed the Braille Literacy Bill. We also rang the bell
when we learned that Fred Schroeder had been appointed Commissioner
of the Rehabilitation Services Administration.
     BLIND, Inc., is a regional center offering orientation
training to blind people in seventeen states in the Midwest and New
England. Yes, we teach the alternative techniques of blindness:
Braille, the long cane taught by blind instructors, computers with
speech, and other non-visual techniques; but thanks to the
Federation we do much more than that. We tear down those negative
blindness-related attitudes which face blind people and cause them
to settle for less than they are capable of. We challenge them to
dream of the full life that will become their reality when
blindness is removed as a barrier. We show them success after
success in areas they never thought possible--rock climbing,
sailing, water-skiing, lighting a charcoal grill, water or snow
tubing, or canoeing.
     Success breeds more success, which breeds confidence. And
confidence brings about the change in attitude. "I never thought I
could do these things," is a statement frequently heard. And
suddenly students are taking charge of their lives, making their
own decisions, saying a definite "yes" or "no." They've become
empowered by their beliefs and their experiences to deal with their
blindness and their lives in a completely different way. They
become downright feisty, as some people would say. But when I go
home and complain to Tom about how sassy or pushy or demanding the
students are, he straightens me out fast. He says, "Well you can't
teach them to be assertive and then expect them to be assertive
with everyone except you."[Applause]
     Actually we have terrific students. I urge you to find an
opportunity to meet some of them. Talk with Kate, Bryan, Bob, Mike,
Brent, or Stacy in the Minnesota delegation, or talk with our
graduates, many of whom are here. Doug, Tom, Jenny, Carl, Jonathan,
Mike, Larry, Jim, Beth, Richard: they can best tell you their
feelings about the training they either are receiving or have
received. Their experience at this convention is more valuable
because of the contacts they make with Federationists. They are
here to learn from your experiences, your careers, or your
interests.
     Some of you may be wondering about a guy who has been at
Federation conventions for many years but is absent this year.
Where is Johnny Ott? This is his hometown. Why isn't he here? Well
the answer is very simple. Johnny Ott isn't here because he has a
new job.[Applause] He is working as a ham radio instructor in
Minneapolis, a perfect job for Johnny. He came to BLIND, Inc., from
Michigan in November of 1992, where he had already been through
several rehab programs, a common story for blind people; and
nothing ever seemed to work out. Along with the rehab counselors,
Johnny himself became convinced that he wasn't capable of working.
He came to BLIND, Inc., as what he regarded as a last chance.
     At BLIND, Inc., Johnny was treated as a normal person. Soon
after he came to the Center, I heard him telling someone, "You
know, this place is really different. Yesterday we went out and cut
down a Christmas tree for the Center. Then the students had to
decorate it. That's the first time I've gotten near a Christmas
tree." It was a long and difficult struggle for Johnny to begin to
see himself as a normal person, capable of holding down a real job,
but within a month of finishing his training Johnny, at the age of
forty-six, began his very first job. We're very proud of him.
     He loves his work. He was quite upset about not being able to
come to the Detroit convention, however. To give him some
consolation and some hope for next year, I told him about Jim. I
said, "You know John, in 1993, Jim couldn't go to the NFB
convention because he had also just started his first job. He
didn't have vacation time or money to go. He had to stay home and
work. This year Jim is going to the convention in Detroit. He can
take vacation time, and he has earned the money to go. Next year
you can do that." Johnny has vowed to do just that. So we can all
expect to see him again next year in Chicago.[Applause]
     To show you some of the results students experience after
their training, I could give you numerous profiles, success stories
of battles won and goals met. Graduates of BLIND, Inc., are doing
exactly what other people of their age, interests, education,
skills, and personal ambition are doing. Many are in vocational
school or college. Many are working as ham radio instructors,
production engineers, computer programmers, clerks, vending stand
managers, investment executives, summer youth counselors, customer
service representatives for international sales catalog companies,
tele-marketers, and communication assistants in the telephone relay
service for the deaf, to mention only a few--a general range of
employment in today's job market, just what each one wanted to do.
Blindness is not a barrier.
     Just a few more points before I finish. I hope that blind
people are benefitting from the orientation training at BLIND,
Inc., but I know that our state agency is also benefitting. As you
may know, in 1992, Minnesota Services for the Blind hired Mr. Davis
as director of our agency for the blind. He is a sighted guy who
received his education in blindness and rehabilitation from Dr.
Jernigan at the Iowa Commission for the Blind. He also worked with
Fred Schroeder at the New Mexico Commission for five years. He is
an active member of the National Federation of the Blind. For the
fiscal year 1993 Minnesota Services for the Blind was able to
report that vocational rehab case closures for blind clients had
increased thirty-one percent over the preceding year. This made
everyone happy.
     I want to invite all of you to come to our center on October
14 when we will celebrate the grand opening of our new building.
The NFB of Minnesota and BLIND, Inc., own and operate the building
jointly. We can both function efficiently, and we can have adequate
space for additional components to our orientation training:
physical fitness equipment and a woodworking shop. We already have
a new home management instructional area. The bell played a role in
our struggle over the new building too. We felt compelled to ring
the bell when the City Council and the neighborhood board approved
our zoning and conditional use permits for the building. If you can
believe it, the crux of the controversy was parking. The Federation
taught us not to settle for less than full equality, so we fought
hard and won.
     We moved into the building on March 28 and wanted to ring the
bell to celebrate the occasion. However, we had to wait a few days
because we couldn't find the bell. We're proud of the building, but
only for what it allows us to do. It is the Federation which allows
BLIND, Inc., to empower students to live full and meaningful lives.
It's the Federation that gives our graduates their lifelong support
network. It is the Federation which gives our students the focus
for their lives, a way to measure their success and give back to
their brothers and sisters in the movement some of what they have
been able to take.
     Here is a little limerick written by an eleven-year-old child
in our Buddy Program this summer. It sums up very well what BLIND,
Inc., is:

          There once was a place called BLIND, Inc., 
          Where alternative techniques are the link 
          To a good education, 
          A bit of frustration, 
          And plenty of time to think.

Thank you.

                           Sharon Gold

     In 1975 I attended my first convention of the National
Federation of the Blind. The fall of the gavel and the resounding
outcry of the convention delegates was something that I shall never
forget. Over the years I have come to understand that for each of
us the first time that we hear the fall of the gavel is the most
impressive. That opening session of our first convention is
important because it represents what the Federation is all about--
the caring for one another, the sharing of our thoughts, our
dreams, our troubles, and our successes.
     The other impression that my first NFB Convention left with me
was the way that some blind people exhibited self-confidence and
could skillfully, gracefully, and independently travel about the
convention hall, the hotel, and the City of Chicago. I learned that
most of these people were graduates of the Orientation and
Adjustment Center at the Iowa Commission for the Blind. They had
been students of Dr. Jernigan, the Director of the Commission, or
had been students of graduates of that rehabilitation program. I
learned that during the 1950's Dr. Jernigan taught at the
California Orientation Center for the Blind (OCB), the agency that
Dr. tenBroek influenced when he was President of the National
Federation of the Blind. I also learned that while Dr. Jernigan was
a member of the staff at OCB, he was instrumental in spreading NFB
philosophy at the Center and that OCB began to deteriorate and
regress in its philosophy and training after Dr. Jernigan left the
staff to go to the Iowa Commission for the Blind and Dr. tenBroek
died. At the Iowa Commission, Dr. Jernigan expanded on the training
offered at OCB. He believed in the ability of blind people to
succeed and instilled in his students the belief that they could
achieve whatever they set out to do. Dr. Jernigan also developed
the travel techniques that we know today, and he brought into being
the long white cane, which at that time was known as the "Iowa
Cane." This white cane was the forerunner of the cane we know today
as the "NFB Cane."
     In 1976 I had an opportunity to spend a few days at the Iowa
Commission. While at the Commission, I visited in the Orientation
and Adjustment Center and met the students and the staff. Again I
was surprised at the agility with which the students and staff used
their long white travel canes. In the warm environment of the Iowa
Commission for the Blind I was really able to observe the self-
respect that these people exhibited and the cane techniques that
they used. These techniques brought respect to being blind and to
the use of the long white travel cane. I had never observed such
use of a cane by blind Californians, and I knew it was a technique
that I wanted to acquire.
     As I grew in the Federation, I began serving as an advocate
for other blind people. I found people who desperately wanted to
get and keep a job, but they did not have the skills of blindness,
nor had they had the opportunity to learn them. The California
Department of Rehabilitation was not meeting the needs of blind
persons. Despite the advocacy provided by the National Federation
of the Blind, the Department continued to contribute to, rather
than reduce, the more than seventy percent unemployment rate among
the blind.
     In 1985 the National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana
established the Louisiana Center for the Blind. Two years later the
NFB of Colorado established the Colorado Center for the Blind, and
the NFB of Minnesota opened BLIND, Inc. Individual blind persons in
California tried to gain funding from the Department of
Rehabilitation to go out of state for training at an NFB Center.
But the Department of Rehabilitation balked at sending blind
Californians out of state for services. Several Californians who
seriously wanted training at an NFB Center sought alternative
funding and went to the Louisiana Center for the Blind.
     In the Spring of 1990 I had the opportunity to visit the
Louisiana Center, where I spent three days living amongst the
students and learning from Center Director Joanne Wilson, a
graduate of the Orientation Center at the Iowa Commission for the
Blind during the tenure of Dr. Jernigan. Again I saw an attitude
amongst the students and staff that I knew had to be spread further
in the country. I knew that, once blind people learned of the
opportunities arising for graduates of NFB training centers, the
floodgates would open and blind persons across the country would
seek entrance for training.
     By last year's National Convention the Board of Directors of
the National Federation of the Blind of California had taken
affirmative steps toward the establishment of the Marcelino Center
for the Blind. The Center is named after Lawrence Marcelino, who
was a long-time leader in the National Federation of the Blind.
Known as "Muzzy," he referred to himself as a soldier in the
movement. Muzzy sought out people of all ages and brought them to
chapter meetings, where they could learn about the National
Federation of the Blind and learn that it is respectable to be
blind.
     On the first Monday of January, 1994, the NFB of California
Marcelino Center started classes with its first residential
student. Today the Center has eight full-time students, and several
more are scheduled to enter later this summer. It takes time to
process applications and get students into a residential program.
While we were waiting for the residential class to grow, we
provided four special two-week travel training classes for senior
citizens who had never before had any travel training.
     The curriculum of the travel class included an introduction to
the use of a white cane and training with sleepshades in a shopping
center, in a residential area, in a light industrial area, along a
country road, and on public transportation. We ate lunch in
different kinds of restaurants and learned to carry a tray and
dispose of the trash after eating. We also toured NEWSLINE for the
Blind, the NFB of California dial-up newspaper service, and held
discussions about blindness. Of course the instruction time was
very limited, so none of the skills were taught in depth as they
are when students are enrolled in our full-time, residential
program. Nevertheless, the twenty folks participating in these two-
week programs are now able to do things independently they were not
previously able to do, and they are looking at blindness in a
different way and with newfound respect.
     The training program at the Marcelino Center for the Blind is
patterned after the NFB Centers in Louisiana, Colorado, and
Minnesota and the training center at the New Mexico Commission for
the Blind. I would like to take this opportunity to thank publicly
Joanne Wilson, Diane McGeorge, Joyce Scanlan and Fred Schroeder,
Executive Director of the New Mexico Commission for the Blind, for
their generous help and the sharing of their knowledge and
expertise over this last year, when our program was in its
formative stages.
     Fundamental to the training programs in all of the NFB Centers
is the philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind, which
was introduced by Dr. tenBroek and developed and refined by Dr.
Jernigan. At the Iowa Commission for the Blind Dr. Jernigan put
into practice a rehabilitation program that became a model for the
country and demonstrated that blind people could compete in the
workplace and become equal partners in society. The Iowa program
forever changed the meaning of rehabilitation for the blind in this
country and set the tone for the NFB Centers of today. Dr.
Jernigan, we salute you and we thank you for your courage and
leadership.
     Finally, I would like to comment about the National Federation
of the Blind Kernel Books, which include first-person experiences
about many Federationists. A special commendation goes to those of
you who have written the articles which Dr. Jernigan has pulled
together in these books. In the Marcelino Center the Kernel Books
are an important part in the teaching of Braille and the philosophy
of the National Federation of the Blind. Our first residential
student knew no Braille when she entered the Marcelino Center last
January. Now, at the end of six months' training, Diane has read
two of the Kernel Books. Upon the completion of the second book on
the Wednesday just before we came, she took her slate and stylus
and wrote the following:

     I find that the stories (in the Kernel Books) really
     reflect my own experiences in life. They are very helpful
     to read. It is good to see that even the leaders have had
     to start at the very basics. It is easy to think that
     great people were always that way. I need to see that
     they, too, started at the beginning. It takes time to
     develop into a good leader. I found that these stories
     are a great encouragement for me. I am very grateful to
     have read them, and I have received a lot of support from
     the many different authors. Reading is a good way to
     learn about yourself and a way to see yourself in others.
     It is a way to talk and experience many people around the
     country.



                 ******************************
     If you or a friend would like to remember the National Federation of the
Blind in your will, you can do so by employing the following language:
     "I give, devise, and bequeath unto National Federation of the Blind, 1800
Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230, a District of Columbia nonprofit
corporation, the sum of $_____ (or "_____ percent of my net estate" or "The
following stocks and bonds: _____") to be used for its worthy purposes on behalf
of blind persons."
                 ******************************


[Photo: Marc Maurer laughs as he sits on a sofa and reads Braille to Dianna
Marie, who is giggling and sitting on his lap, and David Patrick, who sits beside
him. Caption: President Maurer and his children, David Patrick and Dianna Marie,
enjoy reading a story together.]

                        NIGHTS OF WALKING
                         by Marc Maurer

     From the Editor: The following story by President Maurer first
appeared in Standing on One Foot, one of this year's new books in
our Kernel series of paperbacks. It begins with Dr. Jernigan's
introduction.

     As readers of the Kernel Books know, Marc Maurer is President
of the National Federation of the Blind. He is also the father of
two active, lovable children. His recollections of the birth of his
son emphasize again the innate normality of the blindthe concern
with the everyday activities of employment, marriage, home life,
and childrenthe lack of the feeling that blindness is the center
of every activity and the cause of doom.

     Since I am a lawyer, I do a lot of traveling. I was away in
Idaho working on a case when our first child, David, was born. My
wife Patricia and I live in Maryland, more than 2,000 miles from
Idaho. I had a hearing on Monday morning, and I needed to interview
witnesses and prepare argument for the case. My wife had been
pregnant for several months, but the baby wasn't supposed to arrive
for quite a while. When I left on Friday morning, everything was
fine. When I spoke with Patricia on Friday night, she was feeling
better than she had for weeks. I went to bed more than 2,000 miles
from home ready to buckle down to do the work for the court
appearance scheduled for Monday.
     Early Saturday morning I commenced interviews with witnesses.
The trial would focus on the constitutional rights of private
citizens to free speech and freedom of assembly. I was preparing
testimony for the court and marshalling arguments for the
summation. The court appearance would be briefnot more than half
a day. A number of the facts to be presented were quite unusual,
and the time before the judge would be severely limited.
Preparation and planning were absolutely vital.
     A number of the witnesses and I were in the living room of the
home of one of the parties when I was summoned to the phone. The
voice of one of my best friends (Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, who was then
serving as President of the National Federation of the Blind) came
on the line. He said, "Don't worry. You are a papa. Everybody's
fine!"
     Immediately, the focus of my attention shifted. The court
hearing had to be completed, and the planning and preparation were
no less important, but I felt a tremendous urge to head back to
Baltimore. All through Saturday and Sunday as I worked on the case,
I thought about my new baby boy and his mom. The hearing occurred
on schedule Monday morning, and as soon as it was over, I boarded
a plane headed east.
     It is a long way from Boise to Baltimore. The plane touched
down about 11:30 that night, and a friend picked me up and drove me
to the hospital. My wife was tired but glad to see me. She told me
that there were those at the hospital who had been wondering
whether I really existed. Baby Maurer had not yet been named. We
decided to call him David Patrick.
     Because our new boy was premature (he weighed less than four
pounds), he had been assigned to live in a little plastic box
called an isolette, which had wires and dials. The isolette had its
own heating and air conditioning system, which was set to keep the
boy warmer than ordinary room temperature. Some time around 12:30
a.m. I went in to visit him. I was instructed by the hospital staff
to wear a gown and to make sure my hands were clean. David Patrick
was little and scrawny. He wore a teeny little cap to keep him
warm, along with his blankets and diaper. I sat there with him in
a rocking chair for some time, but he didn't have very much to say.
I asked him where he wanted to go to college, but I guess he hadn't
made up his mind. Because he was so small (his leg bones from his
knees to his ankles felt sort of like match sticks to me), the
hospital had tiny little preemie diapers for him. They looked like
toys you might get for the baby doll that you give as a Christmas
present.
     David Patrick got himself all wet, and the nurse asked me if
I wanted to change him. The door to the isolette opened out to make
a little shelf. The idea was that David Patrick's blankets should
be spread on the shelf and he should be placed upon them to be
changed. I put him on the shelf and took off his diaper. Then I
crouched down to get at the cabinet underneath to get him a new
one. The nurse said to me, Watch it! He might roll off! The
nurse's voice was not loud, but it carried considerable force.
Accidents can happen, and a fall of three feet for a baby of that
size could cause severe damage. Those few words from the nurse were
stern and to the point. My job was to keep track of that boy. So I
reached up over the shelf and took hold of the little guy.
     With the diaper changed, the blankets back in place, and the
hat back on (it had fallen off during the changing process), we sat
peacefully a while longer. I told David Patrick about the cases I
was involved in. We discussed politics, crops, the economic
situation in the country, and the weather. At about 2 o'clock I
told him I'd have to go because there was another busy day ahead.
But I told him I'd be back, and he seemed to know that I would.
     At the time David Patrick was born, I was building a law
practice. Each day I would go to the office, deal with clients,
draft motions and petitions, make court appearances, accomplish
necessary travel either within the state of Maryland or throughout
the country, deal with other lawyers, and conduct my everyday
business. Each night (when I wasn't on the road) I would visit the
hospital to see how David Patrick was doinghe stayed for a month
after he was born. Patricia and I were working full-time each
dayshe as an administrator of programs for the blind and I as a
lawyer. David Patrick stayed with the baby sitter during the day.
When we brought him home in the evening, he was often hungry and
sometimes sleepy.
     During the night he slept just like a babythat is, he woke up
and cried every two hours. Sometimes he wanted to eat; sometimes he
needed clean clothes; often he needed both food and clothes. Many
nights he just wanted company. Occasionally, he would let me rock
him in the rocking chairwhere I could doze. However, there were
times that he wanted to be walked. I never could find a way to
sleep while walking the babyup and down, up and down. I did learn
to sleep almost everywhere else. My colleagues came to know that,
if we were riding in an elevator in a 20-story building, I would
sometimes take a brief nap on the way up.
     The doctors were afraid that David might be subject to Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome. This is a condition which causes the heart
and lungs to stop functioning long enough that the baby dies.
Consequently, David Patrick was required to wear a heart and
respiratory monitor. The heart monitor had two major parts. There
was a belt that wrapped around the baby's chest. On the belt were
three small electrodes. Wires attached to these electrodes plugged
into a box that had switches and displays on it. If David's pulse
stopped or his breathing was interrupted, the monitor would beep.
Patricia and I took a course to tell us what to do in case of an
emergency. The first step was to take David Patrick and give him a
good shake. The heart monitor would also sound if one of the
electric leads to the monitoring belt came loose.
     During the first month that our son was home, the device
sounded several times, but these were all false alarms. It wasn't
always a false alarm, however. One night the monitor woke us from
a deep sleep. I jumped up and found that David Patrick was not
breathing. I wondered if I could remember all the steps we had
learned in the course to revive an infant. The first step was to
shake the baby. I was ever so grateful that step number one worked.
David Patrick received a thorough shaking. He complained about it,
but he had to breathe to do it.
     David Patrick was the first child, and Dianna Marie came three
years later. Today they are both in school and doing fine. You
would never know that both of them were premature. The children and
I still talk about crops and politics and the weather, but there
are other topics of conversationhomework, Boy and Girl Scout
activities, trumpet lessons, making fudge, and visits to Grandma.
Even though both Patricia and I are blind, our children are not.
Sometimes the subject of blindness is part of the conversation.
     When I was six, I was enrolled at a boarding school for the
blind which was many miles from our home. My parents took me there
and left me to stay in the dormitory. I was homesick, but my father
had told me that he would be back to bring me home the next
weekend. When Friday came, he was there. During the next four years
my father came every other Friday to pick me up and take me home.
I knew I could count on him. I looked forward to his coming, and I
planned for the long trip home. He might not be able to be with me
as much as he would have liked, but he'd be there on Fridays.
     Both of my parents were like that. Once my mother told me that
no doctor could work on me unless we had talked about it and she
had given her permission. At the school for the blind I got
tonsillitis and was sent to the hospital. Officials at the school
told me that an operation would be necessary. I knew that my mother
had promised me that no one could work on me unless we'd talked
about it and she had given her consent. I was told by the hospital
officials on a Tuesday night that the operation would occur the
next morning. Early on Wednesday my mother came to my bedside. She
and my father had driven much of the night in order to come to the
hospital. They told me that the operation was really necessary and
that I would be all right. I felt much relievedespecially because
my mother had done what she had told me she would.
     The quality of being reliable is fundamental. I have tried to
emulate my father and mother in this respect. When I have promised
my children that a thing will happen, I have tried to make it come
true. And when they have needed my support, I have tried to give
it.
     There is an oft-repeated saying, which is that nothing comes
free. The folksy expression is, There ain't no such thing as a
free lunch. Each individual must pay for what he or she gets.
     However, children demand much from their parents and others.
They need to be nurtured, fed, clothed, walked through the wee
hours of the night, bathed, entertained, directed, and taught. They
take inordinate amounts of time, energy, concentration, and money.
And they have nothing tangible with which to pay. However, there is
one commodity which they possess in abundancelove. Despite all the
troubles and trials, children give at least as good as they get.
They provide something which can be had in no other way. They add
an irreplaceable element to the warmth and the caring of the home.
     I take family life for granted today, but it wasn't always
that way. Before I came to be a part of the National Federation of
the Blind, I wondered very often whether there would be a future
for me. Today I know that there is, and I work within the
organization to help other blind people come to the same
realization. We in the National Federation of the Blind are in many
ways a family of our own. We have warmth and caring for each other,
and we work to bring opportunities to blind people who have been
afraid they might not have a future. One of the characteristics
which is most notable about our organization is that, if a blind
person is willing to work and needs our help, we do what we can to
give it. The National Federation of the Blind is always willing to
be supportive to blind people who are working hard to gain
independence and a positive future.


[Photo: Portrait. Caption: Lauren Eckery]

                         BLEEDING HEARTS
                       by Lauren L. Eckery

     From the Editor: Lauren Eckery is a frequent contributor to
these pages. With her daughter Lynden she lives in Omaha, Nebraska.
She is learning, as we all must, to reach beyond the irritation and
embarrassment of others' tactless comments about us in order to
learn to savor the richness of human experience. This is what she
writes:

     I was the only blind person attending a birthday party at a
friend's house. Though I had been in the company of this friend,
along with others, countless times in the past two years, I had not
been to her house before, and I appreciated being given a tour. My
favorite place--the area which attracted all of us--was the deck.
This friend has a wonderful, spacious deck upon which we found
beautiful, comfortable outdoor furniture. At one end I observed a
wooden stairway going down into the yard. As I approached the
stairs, this friend panicked, admonishing me to "Watch out!" Before
I could utter a word, Barbara, another friend, spoke. She had also
seen me approach the stairs, but she has spent much time with me
and is very aware of the fearful behavior of those who do not or
will not understand that it is all right for me to move around on
my own.
     Accurately observing the situation from her more enlightened
perspective, she said, "Don't worry about it, that's what her cane
is for." I assumed that was the end of the incident.
     During the course of the meal and the frivolity, Barbara and
several others remarked on how beautiful the bleeding heart flowers
were. She said, "You and I can go down and look at them before we
leave." I agreed that this would be a pleasant experience, and I
looked forward to it.
     I have often been the only blind person in a group of sighted
people and have desired to marvel as much as they do at our natural
surroundings. I have always known I could do so, albeit at times in
a different way. However, quite often, due to fear and apparent
lack of information, many of those attending such gatherings seem
reluctant to allow me the opportunity to "see for myself." Through
the years I have come to realize that, if I want to look at
something in my own way, I would do well simply to do it,
regardless of the possible consternation around me. I am not
usually one to upset the apple cart, but when the apples would
benefit from a good stirring up, I'm likely to do it. I do this
because of my belief that the world is as much mine as anyone
else's, and the beauty and grandeur of nature beckon me no less. I
am a part of nature, and nature is a part of me. I also believe
that, though we learn from other humans, our learning is not
limited to this source. Nature teaches us as well. In fact, this
broader teaching and bonding of hearts is exactly what occurred
during this birthday party in May.
     After the party had ended and most of the guests had departed,
I remembered the bleeding hearts. Since Barbara was busy inside the
house and since she and I both knew I was perfectly capable of
looking at the flowers without waiting for her, I approached the
stairs and began to descend. The owner of the house and another
woman Ruth were observing me. The owner scolded Ruth: "Watch her;
Don't let her go down there; it's weird out in the yard." Ruth
ignored the admonition, commenting that she'd like to see the
flowers too. She quietly followed me down the stairs. I attempted
to reassure anyone listening that I was okay. As I finished my
descent, what I found at the bottom of the stairs was some uneven
terrain, certainly nothing particularly dangerous or weird. Ruth
walked over to the flowers, and I met her there. We knelt down to
examine them--their dainty little hearts with strands of bloom
dangling from them. How delicate and vulnerable they seemed. Yet
they showed no sign of worry or fear as I touched their beauty, and
their beauty touched me.
     At that moment I felt such an awareness of the bleeding
hearts--the human one above me on the deck, bleeding worry and
fear, and the blossoms bleeding only beauty. I am deeply grateful
for the power in me to take steps beyond such worry and fear and to
perceive nature's beauty. I am also grateful for the two women,
Barbara and Ruth, whose loving and respectful responses to the
situation enhanced that beauty for us all. I am also grateful for
the woman who invited me to the party at which this event occurred-
-and just think of the opportunity she had to learn something new
about blind people and to participate also in nature's beauty.
     Could it be, after all, that these were not bleeding hearts,
but bonding hearts?


[Photo: Carla McQuillan stands with her cane. Caption: Carla McQuillan]

             EVERY CHILD SHOULD HAVE A BLIND PARENT
                       by Carla McQuillan

     From the Editor: Carla McQuillan is the President of the
National Federation of the Blind of Oregon. The following article
first appeared in the Winter, 1994, edition of The Oregon Outlook.
Here it is:

     When our family moved from Illinois to Oregon, our daughter
was seven years old and prepared to enter the second grade. Alison
had attended a Montessori preschool and a very progressive self-
paced kindergarten program that permitted her to advance rapidly
through the curriculum. Her first-grade teacher recognized her
learning potential and provided opportunities for Alison to assist
other children in their work, as well as to pursue projects on her
own. Alison flourished in this educational environment, and
learning seemed easy and delightful.
     When Alison entered the second grade here in Oregon, it was
apparent that the other children were three or even four semesters
behind her skill level. She was sent to a third-grade class for
reading, where she was in the top reading group. She was given math
assignments from a third grade mathematics text and worked on them
as independent study within her classroom. At that time I was
running a day care program out of my home and incorporated some
challenging science and cultural activities for our after-school
children to provide some extra stimuli for Alison.
     When I met with Alison's second-grade teacher for our first
conference, she reviewed all of Alison's academic and social
skills, and then she approached her real concerns about Alison.
"Don't you think it's difficult for Alison to have a mother who is
blind?" No one had ever asked me a question like that, and I had to
reflect for a moment before responding.
     "Well," I began, "Alison learned to identify the route and
direction of the buses in Illinois when she was three years old so
that she could tell me the correct bus to wave down when we were
traveling together. We practiced her reading or sang and talked on
the bus when she was four so as not to waste valuable time
together. At the time I was a full-time student and working thirty
hours per week; bus rides were some of our best times together. At
five she was reading directions on boxes of cake mixes and other
food items, and we taught her how to compare prices at the grocery
store about that time, too, I'd guess. Alison is well adjusted,
both socially and academically, and she has a positive attitude
about blindness. The possibility exists that my children have
inherited my blindness, slim though the chance may be. But I
believe that I have served as a good role model for her if she does
lose her vision. Do I think that it has been difficult for her? Now
that you mention it, I think that perhaps, if all children had
blind parents, we'd be raising a more independent and self-
sufficient generation of children."     Alison's teacher didn't
respond in any intelligible manner that I can recall, and we never
discussed the issue again. Alison skipped the third grade and was
soon one of the top students in her fourth-grade class. She is now
in the sixth grade, taking eighth-grade level math and English
classes. This fall she requested to take the Braille transcribers
course through the National Library Service, figuring that it might
present a bit of a challenge, not to mention providing the
potential for income in her high school and college years. After
some discussion with the good people at NLS, it was agreed that
they would make an exception in her case and allow a ten-year-old
to begin the course.
     Every day for six weeks Alison checked the mailbox for her
materials. Finally she received them. Our Brailler was acting up,
so she had to write the first series of exercises with a slate and
stylus. I told her it was good experience: "It'll build character,"
I told her. In three days she had completed her first set of
exercises and mailed in her first assignment. She wants to be the
youngest person ever to pass the transcriber's exam, and I know
that she will do it. It's too bad that Alison has had to overcome
the agony of being raised by a blind parent. Maybe someday she'll
be able to make something of herself.


                 RNIB: EVOLUTION NOT REVOLUTION
                      by John A. Wall, CBE

     John Wall has been Chairman of RNIB since 1990 and Secretary
General of the European Blind Union since 1992.

     What is now the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB)
was founded in 1868. From small beginnings it has grown to be the
largest provider of services for visually impaired people in the
United Kingdom, with over 2,000 paid staff, forty establishments,
and sixty separate services.
     At its headquarters in Central London, RNIB is governed by an
Executive Council and managed by a Director-General and five
divisional directors. The past twenty years have seen major changes
in both the governance and management of the agency. These have
been achieved without any disruption to the standard of the
services provided.

                           Governance
     RNIB is incorporated by Royal Charter. This means that its
Constitution is laid down by the Privy Council, a body of "the
great and good" presided over by the Queen. In practice the Privy
Council has laid down the objectives of the RNIB and how its
Executive Council is constituted.

                      The Executive Council
     Under the terms of the Royal Charter the Executive Council has
supreme control of RNIB. Its membership is divided into groups. At
present the groups are as follows:

(A) Regional and national bodies (ten people);
(B) Local government bodies (eight people);
(C) Agencies for the blind and bodies working closely with the
blind (twenty-eight people);
(D) Organizations of blind people (forty-four people);
(E) National members (twenty-one people);
(F) Honorary officers and standing committee chairmen (six people).

     The above constitute a total of 117 members. There are eight
unallocated places, making a total of 125. It will be seen that
organizations of blind people appoint forty-four members.
Furthermore, the twenty-one national members in Group E are elected
by the whole Executive Council. Accordingly, organizations of blind
people have a substantial say in who shall be a national member.
     Twenty years ago things were entirely different. Then Group D
had only twelve members, Group E twenty-five, and the Group E
members were appointed by the members of Group E--a self-
perpetuating oligarchy.

                       Committee Structure
     Each service provided by RNIB is supervised by a subcommittee.
Subcommittees consist of both Executive Council and co-opted
members. Each sub-committee is responsible and reports to a
standing committee. The three standing committees are:

     (a) Technical Consumer Services, covering Braille production,
     Talking Books, equipment and games, research and development,
     and similar services;
     (b) Education, Training, and Employment, whose responsibility
     is apparent from its name;
     (c) Community Services, which covers residential
     accommodation, hotels, prevention of blindness, health
     services, and similar activities.

     Committees meet in three cycles each year. Sub-committees meet
in January and February, standing committees in March, and the
Executive Council in April. The next cycle begins with
subcommittees in May, and so on.
     In addition to the standing committees, which supervise the
various services provided by RNIB, there is a Policy and Resources
Committee, in effect the inner cabinet of RNIB. This committee
meets after the three standing committees, but before the Executive
Council. International affairs are handled by an international
committee.

                          "Of" or "for"
     There is, of course, a well-known distinction between
organizations for the blind which provide services, and
organizations of the blind which are advocacy groups. There is a
view that an advocacy group cannot, at the same time, be a service
provider. This is not a view which we at RNIB accept. We believe
that we can both provide services and campaign on behalf of blind
people. Indeed, we have a Public Policy Office, the purpose of
which is to further political campaigns on behalf of blind people.
It works closely with organizations of the blind.
     Our Royal Charter was recently amended so as to achieve the
membership distribution between groups set out above. Until the
recent amendment the details of the groups were set out in the By-
laws appended to the Charter and could only be changed with the
consent of the Privy Council. When the amendments went through, we
were able to persuade the Privy Council to allow us to change the
membership without reference to them. We have to obtain a three-
quarters majority of members present at the Executive Council
meeting carrying through the change, but we do not now have to go
to the Privy Council before the change can be implemented.
     Although Group D does not have a majority of members on the
Executive Council, there are many blind members in other groups.
Indeed, of the 117 people who are at present members of the
Executive Council, seventy-three are blind. Moreover, two out of
three Standing Committees have blind chairmen. The Chairman and
Vice Chairman of the Executive Council are blind. We are taking
steps to ensure that elderly, newly-blind people are properly
represented on the Executive Council. We shall not be happy until
we have true democracy, but we have made very substantial progress
in the past twenty years.

                           Management
     Successful provision of services depends on effective
management. In 1985 we drew up a corporate strategy which has been
implemented. In 1988 we commissioned a survey of the needs of our
service users. This was the first survey of its kind undertaken in
the United Kingdom. The results were published in 1991. They form
the basis on which we have constructed our new corporate strategy.

                       Corporate Strategy
     We have identified a number of priorities from now until the
end of the century:

I.   Challenging blindness, raising awareness, and tackling
     discrimination.
     We intend to
         ensure that policy makers and the wider public have a
          better understanding of the disabling effects of sight
          loss and of the numbers (almost a million people) who are
          blind or partially sighted;
         encourage positive action to combat discrimination (Many
          problems, for example access to buildings or to written
          information, are so far-reaching that we must view them
          as long-term targets. But our current work has shown that
          change is possible);
         carry out further research into the needs of specific
          groups of people with seriously impaired sight, both to
          inform our own planning and to provide information for
          others;
         define visually impaired people's rights, as well as
          their needs, and attempt to safeguard them--blind and
          partially sighted people want justice;
         raise awareness of our own crucial role in meeting the
          needs of blind and partially sighted people.

II.  Extending our services to more blind and partially sighted
     people.
     We intend to
         reach out to people who are not aware of RNIB services
          which might help them;
         develop new services to meet newly-defined needs. Our
          emphasis will be on setting up services which can help
          large numbers of people though we will continue to serve
          minority groups who need a great deal of support;
         expand and improve our information services. Information
          is the key to empowering people with disabilities;
         investigate the scope for a membership scheme of visually
          impaired people and others who support them, such as
          their families and professional service providers;
         measure and increase the impact of RNIB's indirect
          services such as training. We need to ensure this
          important work is effective in raising standards.

III. Increasing the priority we give to older blind and partially
     sighted people.
     We intend to
         extend our work on the prevention of blindness--steady
          progress is being made on the early detection and
          treatment of eye conditions affecting older people. We
          have a role to play in supporting research and running
          campaigns;
         increase the use of RNIB services by older people by
          promoting our services more effectively;
         introduce new services for older people, especially those
          services able to reach a large number of people;
         campaign for improvements to public services for older
          people, such as community services, housing, and
          benefits;
         reduce some of the barriers they face. Many of these,
          such as small-print bills or poorly-labelled buildings,
          shops and services, affect everyone with poor sight. But
          older people are less likely to have sighted helpers at
          home than people in younger age groups.

IV.  Improving the quality of services to users and supporters
     We intend to
         make our services even more customer-friendly;
         introduce customer charters stating what standards of
          service people can expect;
         introduce easier ways for customers to make suggestions
          and complaints if necessary.

                             Europe
     Increasingly, directives and other legislation from the
European Union headquarters in Brussels are impinging on the daily
life of the British people. RNIB is taking a lead in ensuring that
blind people get their fair share of the action. Each of the three
service divisions takes into account the European dimension of the
work it is undertaking. We have appointed a European Campaigns
Officer and a European Development Officer. We are heavily involved
in a number of programs.

                         A personal view
     I joined the RNIB Executive Council as a young man in 1962. I
have seen great changes during the period of my membership. When I
first became a member, the Executive Council was dominated by
sighted people. Their intentions were no doubt admirable, but they
did not know blindness from the inside. Today the situation is very
different. Blind people dominate the decision-making. Executive
Council and management work together to implement decisions taken
by blind people, to campaign, and to act as an advocacy group. We
can fairly say that RNIB is dynamic, forward-looking,
democratically run, and efficiently managed.


          EDUCATORS CONTINUE TO RESIST TEACHING BRAILLE

     From the Editor: For a number of years now members of the
National Federation of the Blind have waged battles in state
legislatures across the country to have strong Braille legislation
voted into law. We have been successful in twenty-five states so
far, and several others are close to enacting similar laws.
Fundamentally these laws protect the right of blind youngsters to
be taught Braille by teachers who have demonstrated their
competence to read and write it accurately. It doesn't seem like
much to ask in a country that aims at universal literacy for its
citizenry. In fact, the sheer common sense of these laws
undoubtedly explains why we have already achieved success in half
the states, despite fierce opposition from many (but by no means
all) special educators charged with carrying out this increased and
improved Braille instruction.
     We are discovering, however, that getting a Braille bill
passed is only the first round in our battle to make Braille
available to children who need it. Sometimes the educators band
together in an attempt to water down the regulations that implement
the new law. (See "The Struggle to Evade Duty: Wisconsin Teachers
of the Blind Fight Against Braille" in the March, 1994, issue of
the Braille Monitor.) Sometimes the strategy adopted is to pretend
that the law will make no difference, that every child who could
benefit from being taught Braille is already receiving instruction.
In short, passage of a state's Braille bill is no signal for
relaxation.
     The following article, written by Donald Adderton, first
appeared in the May 11, 1994, edition of the Savannah Evening
Press. It includes a statement by a school system official
suggesting that the new Georgia Braille law will make no difference
to the county's blind students. Here is the story:

                 Blind Kids Are Focus of New Law

     A new state law is aimed at ensuring that blind and visually
impaired students attending Georgia's public and private schools
will have an equal opportunity to learn.
     When the Blind Persons' Literacy and Education Act becomes law
July 1, the statute will mandate blind and visually impaired
students be tested for Braille competence.
     "A blind child was not being taught what a blind child needs
to learn," said state Representative Anne Mueller, R-Savannah, who
co-sponsored the measure with state Senator Roy L. Allen, R-
Savannah.
     Mueller appeared at a news conference earlier today at the
Savannah Association for the Blind to highlight key aspects of the
new state law.
     "It is just as important for a blind child to learn Braille as
for the sighted child to learn to read and write," Mueller said.
     With the bill's passage Georgia became one of twenty-two
states with a comprehensive law calling for safeguards for blind
and visually impaired students.
     "This bill will allow the visually impaired to reach their
full potential," she said.
     Over the past three years Mueller, Allen, and officials of the
Chatham County chapter of the National Federation of the Blind
worked vigorously for the bill's passage in the face of strong
opposition from the state Education Department.
     State education officials have said they opposed the bill
because programs were already being used in classrooms to address
the problems of the blind and visually impaired, Mueller said.
     "When you have a bureaucracy, they want to run everything,"
Mueller said. "But the blind are very bright and intelligent
people."
     Meanwhile, locally, Savannah-Chatham County Schools officials
said the act will have little impact on how the district instructs
blind and visually impaired students.
     "The law would not change anything for us," said Betty
Ellington, administrative coordinator for special education. "We
make arrangements for the visually impaired and provide them with
whatever services they need."
     Around the state more than 700 students are classified as
being visually impaired. About thirty-four students in the
Savannah-Chatham County Schools are classified as being visually
impaired.
     The Savannah-Chatham County Schools district currently has
four teachers who are certified to instruct the visually impaired,
Ellington said.
     Nevertheless, advocates for the handicapped have maintained
that public and private schools do not provide the same educational
tools for the blind and visually impaired as for the sighted.
     The blind persons act was needed to level the learning field,
said McArthur Jarrett, legislative advocate for the Chatham County
Federation.
     "What the new law means is that the blind student in Georgia
has the option of being taught Braille," Jarrett said. "You would
be surprised how many visually impaired children in Georgia cannot
read and write."
     The Chatham County Federation represents about 120 blind and
visually impaired people in the Savannah area.
     "We felt it was very necessary to have this law on the books,"
Jarrett said. "It has been a struggle, but change is going to
come."

     That was the newspaper story, and members of the Chatham
County Chapter of the NFB of Georgia were understandably pleased at
the positive coverage. They were not pleased at all, however, with
the tenor of Ms. Ellington's remarks about the Act's having no
impact on the education of blind children in Chatham County.
Implicit in her statement was the message that educators had
determined what was best for the blind children, and increased
Braille instruction wasn't part of the plan. Here is the letter to
the editor that McArthur Jarrett, one of the leaders of the
National Federation of the Blind of Georgia, wrote following
publication of Donald Adderton's story:

                                                Savannah, Georgia
                                                     June 2, 1994

Dear Editor:
     First of all, we the officers and members of the National
Federation of the Blind of Georgia, would like to take this
opportunity to express our sincerest thanks and appreciation to
staff reporter Mr. Donald D. Adderton for his excellent article
which appeared in the May 11, 1994, edition of the Savannah Evening
Press, regarding House Bill 492 (Blind Persons' Literacy Rights and
Education Act). However, we are shocked and dismayed at the
derisive statement made by Ms. Betty Ellington, administrative
coordinator for special education for the Chatham County Public
School system, when she said that the Act will have little impact
on how the district instructs blind and visually impaired students.
The law, Ms. Ellington says, "will not change anything for us."
     The primary purpose of getting House Bill 492 enacted into
state law is to enable all blind and visually impaired students
enrolled in the Chatham County Public School system to get the
opportunity to learn to read and write Braille with slate and
stylus as well as with the Braille writer so that they are able to
compete on equal terms with their sighted peers. If the Chatham
County School system fails to comply with the new law, which will
go into effect on Friday, July 1, 1994, we the officers and members
of the National Federation of the Blind of Georgia will vigorously
and immediately see to it that a monitoring mechanism is set in
place to implement House Bill 492 fully by the next school term.

                                                    Respectfully,
                                                 McArthur Jarrett
                                                   NFB of Georgia

     "Vigilance is the price of freedom," and we must all be
prepared to follow the example of McArthur Jarrett and the Chatham
County Chapter of the NFB of Georgia in stepping forward whenever
our hard-won victories are threatened.


[Photo #1: Portrait. Caption: Nancy Coffman]
[Photo #2: Portrait. Caption: Della Johnston]


                             RECIPES

     The recipes this month come from members of the National
Federation of the Blind of Nebraska.

                         FORTUNE COOKIES
                        by Nancy Coffman

     Nancy Coffman is the Vice President of the Lincoln Chapter.

Ingredients:
 1/4 cup sifted cake flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
dash salt
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

     Method: Sift together flour, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add
oil and egg white. Stir until smooth. Add water and mix well. Make
one cookie at a time by pouring one tablespoon of batter on a
lightly greased skillet or griddle. Spread in a 3-1/2 circle. Cook
over low heat about 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn with
a wide spatula. Cook about 1 minute more. Working quickly, place
cookie on a pot holder. Put paper strip printed with a fortune into
the center and fold the cookie in half. Fold the cookie in half
again over the edge of a bowl. Place the cookie in a muffin tin to
cool. This recipe makes 8 cookies. Preparation tip: write fortunes
predicting good health, prosperity, or happiness on small strips of
paper to fold into middle of cookies as instructed above.

                     SWEDISH GINGER COOKIES
                        by Nancy Coffman

     These are sturdy cookies for picnics, bake sales, and other
times that you don't want to worry about breakage. They also taste
wonderful. If you make them, plan on an empty cookie jar.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
 3/4 cup shortening or high calorie margarine
 1/4 cup molasses
1 unbeaten egg
2 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional, I never add it)

     Method: Cream sugar and shortening. Add molasses and egg. Mix
well again. Add soda, spices, flour, and salt. Mix well. Form the
dough into small balls and roll them in sugar (colored looks nice
at Christmas time). Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. The cookies
will flatten out as they bake.

                       MICROWAVE BROWNIES
                        by Nancy Coffman

     Your family will think you spent all day making these when the
recipe actually takes just a few minutes.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
6 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla
 3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts

     Method: Place butter and cocoa in an 8-inch square microwave-
safe dish. Microwave on high 1 to 1-1/2 minutes until butter is
melted. Stir in sugar thoroughly. (Adding the sugar first keeps the
cocoa mixture smooth and workable.) Add remaining ingredients in
the order given and mix well. Shield the top corners of the dish
with foil triangles to keep corners from overcooking. During
microwaving, brownies puff up and puddles appear on top. Microwave
on high 5 to 6 minutes. Turn brownies after 2, 4, and 5 minutes.
Cook until top is no longer wet.

                       FIVE-FLAVORED CAKE
                        by Denise Roesler

     Denise Roesler is a member of the Lincoln Chapter.

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
5 eggs, very well beaten
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon coconut flavoring
1 teaspoon rum flavoring
1 teaspoon butter flavoring
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

     Method: Cream butter, shortening, and sugar until light and
fluffy. Add eggs which have been beaten until they are lemon-
colored. Then combine flour and baking powder and add to creamed
mixture, alternating with milk. Stir in flavorings. Spoon mixture
into greased and floured bundt pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1-
1/2 hours. Add glaze and cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then remove
from pan.
                       Five-Flavored Glaze
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon each coconut, butter, lemon, rum, almond, and vanilla
flavorings
     Method: Combine in heavy sauce pan and bring to a boil. Stir
until sugar is dissolved. Pour on half of the glaze while the cake
is in the pan and the other half after it is removed.

                         COWBOY COOKIES
                        by Della Johnston

     Della Johnston is the President of the National Federation of
the Blind of Nebraska.

Ingredients:
 3/4 cup peanut butter
 3/4 cup margarine
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water or milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 cups oatmeal
12 ounces chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanuts

     Method: Blend together peanut butter, margarine, eggs, sugars,
vanilla, and water or milk. Sift together flour, salt, and baking
powder. Add oatmeal, chips, and peanuts. Mix together. Drop onto
greased cookie sheet using a tablespoon. Bake at 375 degrees for 15
minutes.


                       MONITOR MINIATURES

** Introducing Audio-Forum:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Audio-Forum, a division of Jeffrey Norton Publishers, is a
twenty-two-year-old publisher of audio-cassette-based self-
instructional language courses in ninety-one languages. In addition
to French, Spanish, German, and Italian, there are hard-to-find
programs, like Ukrainian, Navajo, and Amharic.
     The language courses, all voiced by native speakers, emphasize
learning by listening and repeating material presented on the
cassettes. In the language courses there are frequent references to
an accompanying printed text for which you will need a reader.
There are many other Audio-Forum educational programs, however,
that do not have printed texts, and some make wonderful listening,
such as:
     From Audio-Forum's About Music Catalog: "A History of Music of
     the Western World" is a twelve-cassette, easy-to-listen to,
     diverse program with commentaries by respected musical
     authorities, followed immediately by performances of the
     actual pieces. From Gregorian chant and medieval love songs to
     symphonies and rock. The price is $89.50 for twelve hours of
     listening and enjoyment.
     From Audio-Forum's Literature Catalog: Hear Robert Frost's
     captivating and humorous talk interspersed with readings from
     his poetry, given at Berkeley, California in 1956. Listen to
     hours of good literature with BBC programs recorded by famous
     performers and authors: E.M. Forster's A Passage to India;
     Herman Melville's Moby Dick; Henry James's Daisy Miller; and
     Jane Austen's Emma.
     From Audio-Forum's Personal Development Catalog: "Say It
     Right!" is a practical course which gets you started right
     away on making corrections to everyday grammar and usage
     mistakes you might not even be aware of, though others are.
     It's designed to give you the confidence you need for
     effective speaking.
Other catalog subject areas include American history, science and
technology, and special programs for children.
     To obtain copies of Audio-Forum catalogs, please call toll-
free (800) 243-1234; or send your request to Audio-Forum, 96 Broad
Street, Guilford, Connecticut 06437. When placing your order,
please state that you are a Braille Monitor subscriber, that you
are blind or visually handicapped, and that you qualify for Audio-
Forum's special twenty-five percent discount.
     Editor's addendum: Audio-Forum provided us with several
samples of the courses and instructional tapes available, and I am
pleased to report that the quality of those I reviewed was
excellent--clear, concise, and lively.

** Braille Music Piano Course Available:
     Sunny Shain Emerson, one of the leaders of the Parents
Division of the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan,
called the following announcement to our attention. It first
appeared in the Summer, 1994, edition of the Michigan Transcribers'
Trails, a publication of the Michigan Association of Transcribers
for the Visually Impaired, Inc. Here it is:
     It has been found that print music, composed for the sighted
and transcribed into Braille, is impractical for beginning blind
students because the learning approach is quite different. The two-
volume Braille Music Piano Course Book I was designed to teach
Braille music symbols (which are a different code from literary
Braille) in a progressive pattern with direct application to piano
performance--that is, in the same manner that sighted students
learn to read print music as they learn to play. The print music,
which appears opposite each Braille page, makes the material easier
for the sighted teacher or parent to use with the blind student. It
is hoped that this book will provide a useful and helpful start in
the enjoyment of music for the Braille-reading younger child or
adult who has had no musical background. For more information about
the Braille Music Piano Course book and how to order it, write to
CaraLynn Pender, HCR 4 Box 2746, Lewiston, Michigan 49756.

** In Memoriam:
     Barbara Baak, President of the Southern Alameda County Chapter
of the National Federation of the Blind of California, has written
to announce the death of member Jeannine Rouiller, who was struck
by a pickup truck in a crosswalk and dragged twenty-two feet, on
Friday, September 23, her daughter's birthday. The truck's driver
told authorities that he did not see Jeannine as he turned left out
of a parking lot. Jeannine was crossing a busy street with the
green light shortly before noon when she was killed.
     A former computer operator for Hayward Cable Television,
Jeannine was an active member of the NFB and a well-trained and
experienced traveler. Even without the provisions of the California
White Cane Law, she would have had the right-of-way. Tragic as her
death was, it was, of course, no more heart-breaking than that of
a sighted person would have been, but neither was it less.
Increasingly in California and other states there seems to be a
growing feeling that blind people don't belong on the streets. In
this instance the policeman on the scene made a statement to the
press that he felt extremely sorry for the driver, who had not
meant to hit the woman.
     Jeannine Rouiller's death is a tragic loss for all those who
knew and loved her. The chapter has established the Jeannine
Rouiller Memorial Fund with proceeds going to train future
generations of blind Californians at the Lawrence Marcelino Center
for the Blind, the NFB of California's new adult rehabilitation
center. Proceeds from the memorial fund will be contributed toward
the purchase of the training center's new building. Donations
should be sent to the Jeannine Rouiller Memorial Fund, 15934
Hesperian Blvd., Box 101, San Lorenzo, California 94580. Donations
in any amount will be gratefully received.
     As we mourn Jeannine, we realize that there is nothing we can
do to bring her back. Our chapter is working to increase public
awareness about white cane laws and to try to save the lives of
other pedestrians. The bottom line is that the driver will eat
Christmas dinner with his family, and Jeannine Rouiller will not. 

** Utah's Students on the Move:
     The National Federation of the Blind of Utah is delighted to
announce the reorganization of its students division, the Utah
Association of Blind Students (UABS). A large group of people
attended a back-to-school party sponsored by UABS on September 24,
1994. Members met Ollie Cantos, President of the National
Association of Blind Students, and enjoyed goal ball, swimming,
food, and dancing. The students also elected new officers and
established goals for the upcoming year. Congratulations to the new
officers of UABS: Nick Schmitroth, President; Anitra Webber, Vice
President; Marne West, Secretary; Anna Wilkinson, Treasurer; and
Dan Cameron and Sylvia Schultz, Board Members.

** For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     For sale, an Arkenstone Open Book special edition with 200 MG
hard drive and Open Book Version 2.0 for $3,595. If interested
respond by print, telephone, cassette, Braille, or 3.5" computer
disk to Joe Renzi, Reading Technology, 9269 Mission Gorge Road,
Suite 108, Santee, California 92071; or call (619) 685-7323, or
(800) 320-7323.

** Braille Trading Cards:
     The following brief article appeared in the Christian Science
Monitor on September 6, 1994.
        Braille Trading Cards Score With School Children
     Sports trading cards are a very visual medium. So why are
sight-impaired children so crazy about cards manufactured by Action
Packed, a small company in Itasca, Illinois?
     It's because Action Packed's specialty is embossing, which
means that even their regular sports cards offer a tactile
experience to collectors. Special Braille cards go further by
allowing blind people to read the backs of the cards as well.
     "You can feel the player on the front," says Laurie Goldberg,
Action Packed's director of public relations. "There's the
football. The quarterback's throwing it. Kids think it's cool."
     Braille cards are mixed in among the regular football and
auto-racing sets Action Packed sells, but 40,000 to 50,000 Braille
cards are also set aside each year for free distribution to 400
schools teaching the blind in the United States and Canada. "This
is our way to give a little back," Goldberg says. "We send
automatically to anyone who has blind family members or friends, no
questions asked."
     The Braille cards are not sold as a distinct product in their
own packs, she adds, "because collectors might just snap them up."
     Since the cards were introduced four years ago, Action Packed
has learned that blind children want more information on the backs.
The company is providing it this year by using Grade II, instead of
Grade I, Braille. The embossing is done right over the regular card
backs.
     Some people have expressed disappointment that the company
offers no Braille baseball cards, but licensing agreements prevent
their manufacture. Goldberg says there is some possibility that
Major League Baseball will give Action Packed a license just for
Braille cards, but she says that the company couldn't afford to
print just these specialty giveaway cards.
     Action Packed began with a very limited number of Braille
football cards. Demand has led to offering many more players and
adding race car drivers.
     Some sports figures have made appearances at schools for the
blind. None was a bigger hit, Goldberg says, than stock car driver
Richard Petty, who showed up last year at the Governor Morehead
School in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his race car. "Every inch
of that car had fingerprints on it by the time he left," she
recalls.

** For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     For sale, a black and white 19-inch magnifying TV with both
negative and positive images and camera separate from monitor. A
typewriter can be added. The system is in excellent working
condition, and the price is only $650. If interested, contact Amir
Rahimi 425 South Oak Street, #208, Arlington, Texas 76010; or call
(817) 460-5005.

** Braille Math, Engineering, and Science Texts Needed:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     John J. Boyer would like to receive donations of college-level
Braille books which are no longer needed on mathematics,
engineering, and science. Please send only Braille or computer
disks. Mr. Boyer may read some of these books, and he will
eventually distribute them overseas. He is attempting to start a
technical Braille service. Send Braille book donations to 825 East
Johnson Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53703; or call (608) 257-5917.

** For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     For sale, Braille 'n Speak 640, including manual in Braille
and tape, adaptor and cable. Asking $1,200. Also for sale is a
Perkins Brailler which needs cleaning, asking $275. If interested
call Kyle E. McHugh at (617) 437-9238.

** New Statistics Support Separate Agencies for the Blind:
     The following report is reprinted from the Summer, 1994, issue
of the White Cane Update, the publication of the Iowa Department
for the Blind.
          Recently issued rehabilitation statistics tend to
     give some ammunition to those who favor separate agencies
     [for the blind]. The statistics for federal fiscal year
     1993 came from Mark Shoob, Associate Commissioner of the
     Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), when he
     spoke to the May meeting of the National Council of State
     Agencies for the Blind.
          In two of the six areas covered by Shoob the
     combined agencies would appear to have the edge. The
     combined agencies rehabilitated 76.4 percent of the
     clients they served, compared with 72 percent by the
     separate agencies; also the rehabilitation costs per case
     averaged $3,157 among combined agencies, about $900 less
     than in the separate agencies.
          But there is a mitigating factor which applies to
     both sets of statistics. That factor is the tendency of
     most combined agencies to have a higher proportion of
     visually impaired persons among their clientele, i.e.,
     persons whose visual acuity is greater than legal
     blindness. (In its rehabilitation statistics the RSA
     places blind and visually impaired persons in the same
     category.)
          The presence of more visually impaired persons on
     the agency caseloads would raise the overall
     rehabilitation rates among combined agencies since--
     everything else being equal--job placement rates are
     higher among visually impaired persons than among blind
     persons. (And, unfortunately, that will continue until
     the general public stops equating capabilities with
     visual acuity.)
          As far as rehabilitation costs per case are
     concerned, the averages would tend to be lower when there
     is a larger proportion of visually impaired persons among
     the agency's clientele. There is usually a lesser need
     for rehabilitation technology and other adaptive
     equipment, adjustment training, reader services, etc., in
     this segment of the client population.
          But statistical comparisons in the remaining four
     areas tend to favor the separate agencies. They show that
     the proportion of blind persons rehabilitated into
     competitive employment is higher among clients of
     separate agencies than among those served by combined
     agencies. This is also true of the proportions that go
     into full-time employment, as opposed to part-time work.
          In addition, the statistics indicate that clients
     served by separate agencies are more apt to go into paid
     employment and less likely to become homemakers when
     compared with clients of combined agencies. Finally, the
     average increase in earnings resulting from
     rehabilitation services is greater among clients of
     separate agencies than the average increases among
     clients of combined agencies.

** New Book Available:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Eyes Front is a dramatic novel about a blind youth, which
contains an inspirational theme of courage, loyalty, and love of
fellow man. The major character is a talented pianist, proficient
student, and able debater. However, his long-time goal is to be a
self-sufficient competitor on the high school track team.
     Eyes Front is a gripping novel which the entire family can
enjoy. The author is Jack Wilkinson, who has come to know members
of the National Federation of the Blind of Maine. The book normally
retails for $9.95, but for all NFB members the price is $7.95,
including postage and handling. Make checks or money orders payable
to Maine Heritage Books, and send to Maine Heritage Books, P.O. Box
1462, Scarborough, Maine 04074. For every book order received from
NFB members as a result of this notice, $1 and the name of the
person ordering will be sent to the National Federation of the
Blind.


[Photo: Fred Wurtzel speaks into a microphone. Caption: Fred Wurtzel]

** Appointed:
     The following brief memo was sent on August 11, 1994.

     TO: All Michigan Commission for the Blind Staff
     FROM: Philip E. Peterson, Executive Director, Michigan
           Commission for the Blind
     RE: New Business Enterprise Program (BEP) Manager:

          I am pleased to announce the selection and promotion
     of Mr. Fred Wurtzel to the position of BEP program
     manager. Mr. Wurtzel formerly served as assistant program
     manager under Mr. James Obranovic. Please join me in
     welcoming Mr. Wurtzel to his new position. Thank you.

     Members of the National Federation of the Blind join in
congratulating long-time NFB of Michigan leader Fred Wurtzel on
this appointment.

** Specialized Tape-Lending Service Available:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     The Wilson Tape Lending Library Service has music and monthly
ministry tapes on thirty-day free loan. Please contact Bishop G.L.
Wilson, Jr., 4928 White Boulevard, Mableton, Georgia 30059. Please
request this service by audio tape or large print; no Braille
please.

** An Open Book, Premium Edition, Available at Special Price:
     We recently received the following press release:
     Arkenstone, Inc., the nonprofit provider of reading systems to
people with disabilities, today announced the availability of An
Open Book, Premium Edition, a complete reading machine based on
Intel's Pentium microprocessor. This state-of-the-art reading
machine is available due to Intel's donation of Pentium chips
valued at more than $1 million.
     The Pentium chips are being incorporated into two new systems:
An Open Book, Premium Edition, a complete reading machine; and the
ArkenClone, Pentium Model, a personal computer that, when combined
with Arkenstone's Open Book Unbound software, a scanner, speech
synthesizer, and screen access program, becomes a fully-functioning
talking PC.
     An Open Book, Premium Edition, the complete reading machine,
will be priced at $5,495. The ArkenClone, Pentium Model, is priced
at $1,695. These prices represent a twenty percent savings to
customers. The products began being shipped at the end of
September. Due to the nature of the donation and Arkenstone's non-
profit charter, these systems are available only to individuals
with disabilities or institutions directly serving them.
     Arkenstone, Inc., is located at 1390 Borregas Ave., Sunnyvale,
California 94089; Phone: (800) 444-4443, (408) 752-2200; Fax: (408)
745-6739; TDD (800) 833-2753.

** 1994 World Series Baseball Update is here:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     The 1994 Update (Version 9) of the award-winning World Series
Baseball Game and Information System will be mailed starting in
November. Our beta testers tell us that the game again has been
significantly improved and all the other programs have been
updated. To get the update, send $5 to Harry Hollingsworth. If you
have an IBM-compatible computer and do not have the game, join
blind baseball fans in forty-seven states and four foreign
countries by sending $15 to Harry Hollingsworth, 692 S. Sheraton
Drive, Akron, Ohio 44319; or call (216) 644-2421.


[Photo: Portrait. Caption: Paul Fite's daughter and NFB of Idaho leader, Mary
Ellen Halverson]

** Family Finds Way to Support Federation:
     At the time of Paul Fite's death in March of 1994, his family
requested that memorial gifts be made to the National Federation of
the Blind. By September 1, Mary Ellen Halverson (Mr. Fite's
daughter) reported that more than $1,100 had been contributed to
the Federation in her father's memory. The Fites have been loyal
supporters of the NFB since the 1960's when Mary Ellen was in
college and her always poor vision worsened. Mr. Fite was
especially grateful to Dr. Jernigan for the training Mary Ellen
received at the Orientation and Adjustment Center in Iowa. Monitor
readers will recall that for twenty years Dr. Jernigan directed the
best training center in the nation for blind adults. It became the
prototype for our Federation centers today. While in college, Mary
Ellen joined the Student Division of the NFB, and her parents have
been longtime members-at-large in our Associates program.

** Touching Words, a Design Concept:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Rhonda Kraft is a designer who has created cards and notes
incorporating both print and Braille in the designs of her
products. DesignKraft offers all types of announcements,
invitations, and meaningful greeting cards to sighted and blind
readers. We also accept custom orders including holiday cards and
corporate thank-you notes. We have begun filling orders for holiday
and Christmas cards, adding two new verses for 1994. Stocked
inventory includes our First Edition, eight all-occasion verses
which focus on thought-provoking messages. Our Second Edition is a
series of note cards which offers a printed and Brailled message on
the outside. The blank interior allows you to add your own thoughts
either handwritten or Brailled. Ten cards sell in a set for $15.00.
Custom orders are quoted on an individual basis.
     DesignKraft uses only recycled papers for our cards and
envelopes. We are happy to donate a portion of the proceeds from
the sale of these cards to Visual Aid Volunteers in Garland, Texas,
a non-profit organization specializing in the transcription of
textbooks for visually impaired school children.
     DesignKraft is located at 4822 Chilton Drive, Dallas, Texas
75227-2918; phone (214) 249-4201.

** Something to Think About:
     We recently received the following letter from a Monitor
reader. She is an ordinary person with what some may say is an
extraordinary point of view. Be that as it may, those who would
downplay the usefulness of Braille and the ability of blind adults
to learn it might benefit from reflecting on the words of this
Monitor reader.

                                                  August 26, 1994
Dear Monitor Editor:
     I have been following the nationwide discussion on Braille,
and the more I read about it, the more puzzling it becomes. Is it
possible that American blind people do not want to read and write?
     I was not born in the United States and did not even speak
English when I came here. Shortly after entering the country, I
became blind. In order to learn the language, it was necessary to
learn English Braille, and so I did and did not think much about
it. Should I consider myself something extraordinary because of
this achievement? Hardly. Later I wanted to speak German, so I
learned German Braille; I wanted to refresh my knowledge of
Russian, so I learned Russian Braille; I wanted to communicate with
friends in my native country, so I learned Czech Braille and
thought nothing of that either. Should I be admired for my efforts?
Not likely. My knowledge of German and Russian is still meager, but
I do know the Braille.
     I am an ordinary person who will never accomplish anything
great, who is not very ambitious, who knows a thing or two about
word processing and computer operations, and not much more. But
ordinary does not mean ignorant or illiterate. Not being able to
read and write is simply unthinkable. I admire people who can
handle Braille easily and quickly because my own Braille is fluent,
but rather slow. Nevertheless, I cannot imagine living without this
skill. At the same time I do look down on people who think literacy
is not worth bothering with, who believe that the art of letters is
no longer needed in this wonderful age of electronics, who think
that what does not come from television is not worth knowing, and
who believe that the only acceptable means of communication is the
telephone. Why any already handicapped person would want to limit
himself further is beyond me. Throughout history people have
fought, suffered, and died for the right to read and write. Now
many of the highly civilized, sophisticated, and superior American
blind throw it away. What a shame!
     Thank you for reading my outburst. It will not make anybody
grab a book and learn Braille, but it makes me feel a little
better, which is always welcomed. I also apologize for my quite
inadequate English.
                                                        Sincerely