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Braille 
Monitor 


APRIL.  1978 


VOICE  OF  THE  NATIONAL  FEDERATION  OF  THE  BLIND 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

National  Federation  of  the  Blind  (NFB) 


http://www.archive.org/details/braillemonitorap1978nati 


THE  BRAILLE  MONITOR 

PUBLICATION  OF  THE 

NATIONAL   FEDERATION   OF   THE   BLIND 

APRIL  1978 

CONTENTS 

THE   END  OF   INSURANCE   DISCRIMINATION    IS    IN   SIGHT 89 

BY        JAMES  OMVIG 

I   AM   A   BLIND  MOTHER   FIGHTING  TO  KEEP 

MY  CHILDREN   FROM  CORRUPTION 96 

BY        RAMONA  WALHOF 

THE   NFS  OF   PENNSYLVANIA  WINS  A  VICTORY 

FOR  THE  BLIND  OF  THE  NATION 101 

BY       TED  YOUNG 

ACCOMPLISHMENT   IN    IOWA:  THE   ANNUAL   REPORT 

OF  THE   IOWA  COMMISSION   FOR  THE  BLIND 103 

MARYLAND   LEGISLATURE   HONORS 

PRESIDENT  SANDERS  AND  THE   FEDERATION    106 

IN  THE  JURY  BOX 107 

BY       MARY  BARBER 

LIZ  WESTON   BEATS  THE   BLUES 108 

CONVENTION   RESERVATIONS    112 

FEDERATIONISM   AT  WORK  AT  SEATTLE  COMMUNITY  COLLEGE 113 

KURZWEIL   READING   MACHINE  TESTING   PROJECT 

NEARS  A  SUCCESSFUL  CONCLUSION 114 

RECIPE  OF  THE  MONTH 115 

BY        ARLENE  GASHEL 

MONITOR   MINIATURES 116 


THE  DEADLINE  FOR  ARTICLES  TO  APPEAR   IN  THE   JUNE   ISSUE   IS  APRIL  10th. 


©  National  Federation  of  the  Blind,  inc.,  1978 


THE   BRAILLE   MONITOR 

PUBLISHED   MONTHLY   IN    INKPRINT,   BRAILLE,  AND  ON   TALKING-BOOK   DISCS   BY 
THE   NATIONAL   FEDERATION  OF  THE   BLIND 

RALPH    SANDERS,  President 

CORRESPONDENCE   FOR  THE   PRESIDENT  SHOULD   BE   SENT  TO; 

BOX   4422 

BALTIMORE,   MARYLAND    21223 

,\'ATIO,\AL    OFFICE 

218   RANDOLPH   HOTEL   BUILDING 

FOURTH    &    COURT   STREETS 

DES   MOINES,   IOWA   50309 

WASHINGTON  OFFICE 

1346  CONNECTICUT   AVENUE,   NW.,  SUITE   212 

WASHINGTON,   D.C.   20036 

ADDRESS  CHANGES   AND   SUBSCRIPTION    REQUESTS   SHOULD   BE   SENT  TO 
THE   NATIONAL  OFFICE,  WITH   THE   ENVELOPE   MARKED   "BRAILLE   MONITOR." 

ARTICLES   AND  CORRESPONDENCE   FOR  THE   EDITOR   SHOULD   BE 
ADDRESSED  TO  THE   EDITOR   AND   SENT  TO  THE   WASHINGTON   OFFICE. 

DONALD    McCONNELL,  Editor 


MONITOR   SUBSCRIPTIONS  COST   THE    FEDERATION   ABOUT   $15    YEARLY. 

MEMBERS   WHO  CAN   AFFORD  TO   DO  SO  ARE    INVITED, 

AND   NON-MEMBERS   ARE    REQUESTED,  TO  COVER  THE   SUBSCRIPTION   COST. 

BRAILLE    IS   AVAILABLE   ONLY   TO  THE   DEAF-BLIND   AND  THOSE   WITH 

A   SIMILARLY   COMPELLING   NEED   FOR   THAT   MEDIUM. 

DONATIONS   AND   SUBSCRIPTION   PAYMENTS   SHOULD   BE   MADE   PAYABLE  TO: 
THE   NATIONAL    FEDERATION  OF  THE   BLIND,  AND   SENT  TO: 

RICHARD    EDLUND,    Treasurer 

NATIONAL   FEDERATION   OF  THE   BLIND 

BOX    11185 

KANSAS   CITY,    KANSAS   661H 

*    *    * 

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,  a  District  of  Columbia  non- 
profit corporation,  the  sum  of  $ (or  " percent  of  my  net  estate"  or  "the  following 

stocks  and  bonds: ")  to  be  used  for  its  worthy  purposes  on  behalf  of  blind  persons." 

If  your  wishes  are   more   complex,   you   may   have   your  attorney  communicate  with  the 
National  Office  for  other  suggested  forms. 


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


ISSN  0006-8829 


APRIL  1978 


■  THE  BRAILLE  MONITOR  ■ 


89 


THE    END   OF    INSURANCE   DISCRIMINATION    IS   IN   SIGHT 

by   JAMES  OMVIG 


As  Federationists  are  aware,  the  National 
Federation  of  the  Bhnd  has  been  working 
for  many  years  to  eliminate  unfair  discrimi- 
nation against  the  blind  in  the  sale  of  insur- 
ance. The  problem  can  be  simply  stated: 
Because  we  are  blind,  we  are  believed  to  con- 
stitute poor  risks-no  facts,  just  beliefs. 

As  you  will  recall,  the  Iowa  Insurance 
Commissioner  last  year  issued  a  regulation 
barring  discrimination  on  the  basis  of  blind- 
ness, partial  blindness,  or  physical  disability. 
(This  is  another  instance,  like  the  civil  rights 
protections  in  the  white  cane  laws  Federa- 
tionists have  gotten  passed  in  state  after 
state,  where  what  we  do  to  protect  the 
blind  also  protects  those  with  other  handi- 
caps.) 

Solving  the  problem  of  insurance  discri- 
mination by  regulation  seemed  a  useful 
approach.  (NFB  affiliates  in  several  other 
states  have  dealt  with  this  by  persuading 
their  state  legislatures  to  pass  laws  prohibit- 
ing such  practices.)  The  Iowa  Insurance 
Commissioner,  Herbert  Anderson,  is  also 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  National  Associa- 
tion of  Insurance  Commissioners  (NAIC). 
The  NAIC,  among  other  things,  proposes 
model  statutes  and  regulations  which  can 
be  adopted  by  state  insurance  departments. 

Last  fall  Commissioner  Anderson  invited 
the  National  Federation  of  the  Blind  to  ap- 
pear before  the  winter  meeting  of  the  NAIC 
to  try  to  convince  its  members  to  adopt  a 
model  regulation  barring  unfair  discrimina- 
tion against  the  blind.  In  this  way  we  could 
achieve  uniformity  on  a  nationwide  scale 
and  eliminate  yet  another  long-standing  area 
of  discrimination  against  the  blind. 

On  December  6,  1977,  I  appeared  before 
masse  at  the  commissioners  meetings.  At 
as  a  representative  of  the  Federation.  I  was 
well  received,  and  a  lively  question  period 
followed  my  presentation.  The  questions 
were  mainly  from  representatives  of  the 
insurance  industry,  since  they  show  up  en 
masse  at  the  commissioners'  meetings.  At 


the  conclusion  of  the  discussion,  a  motion 
was  made  to  establish  a  task  force.  The  task 
force  has  two  mandates:  (1)  It  must  study 
the  problem  in  order  to  decide  whether 
there  is  truly  a  need  to  regulate  the  insur- 
ance industry  in  this  area.  (2)  If  the  task 
force  concludes  that  there  is  a  need,  it  is 
to  submit  a  proposed  model  regulation  to 
the  next  commissioners  meeting,  which  will 
be  held  in  June  1978. 

In  my  capacity  as  an  NFB  representative, 
I  have  been  appointed  an  advisor  to  the  task 
force.  There  will  also  be  advisors  represent- 
ing the  insurance  industry. 

It  is  my  belief  that  the  commissioners 
will  adopt  a  model  regulation  next  June.  If 
this  is  done,  the  commissioners  will  be  un- 
der a  moral  obligation  to  put  the  regulation 
into  effect  in  their  states.  At  that  point  I 
beheve  that,  on  a  nationwide  scale,  the  in- 
surance industry  will  accept  our  position: 
and  for  the  first  time  in  history,  the  bhnd 
of  this  nation  will  be  treated  as  equals  by  the 
insurance  companies  in  the  country. 

Sometimes  people  ask,  Why  the  National 
Federation  of  the  Blind?  This  is  another  ex- 
ample of  the  progress  being  made  by  the 
organized  blind  movement  in  this  country, 
and  why  it  is  essential  for  blind  persons  to 
become  actively  involved  in  the  movement. 

It  is  important  to  reahze  that  we  are  ask- 
ing no  special  favors  of  the  insurance  com- 
panies. We  don't  want  to  be  sold  insurance 
at  rates  lower  than  the  risks  warrant,  simply 
because  we  are  bhnd  and  undoubtedly  suffer 
from  economic  discrimination  in  other 
areas.  It  is  that  the  companies  discriminate 
because  of  their  ignorance  about  our  real 
condition,  about  our  ability  to  lead  normal 
lives  without  walking  off  chffs  or  into  ma- 
chinery. It  is  a  matter  of  education. 

Following  is  the  statement  that  was  pre- 
sented to  the  NAIC.  Federationists  should 
study  this  document  carefully  so  they  will  be 
prepared  to  discuss  the  matter  with  people 


90 


■  THE  BRAILLE   MONITOR 


in  their  own  states  as  we  continue  to  work 
toward  ending  this  form  of  discrimination. 

PROPOSED   MODEL    REGULATION 

TO   PROSCRIBE    INSURANCE    DISCRIMINATION 

AGAINST   THE   BLIND 

(Presented  on  behalf  of  the  National  Feder- 
ation of  the  Bhnd  by  James  Omvig  before 
the  National  Association  of  Insurance  Com- 
missioners (NAIC),  December  1977) 

Issues:  ( 1 )  Is  it  in  the  best  public  interest 
to  permit  insurance  companies  to  continue 
to  discriminate  against  blind  persons  in  the 
sale  of  insurance  on  the  theory  that  the 
blind  as  a  class  constitute  poor  risks  when, 
in  fact,  such  discrimination  is  based  upon 
myth,  ignorance,  and  prejudice  rather  than 
upon  sound  actuarial  data? 

(2)  If  not,  is  it  within  the  power  and 
scope  of  activity  of  the  NAIC  to  adopt  and 
actively  support  a  uniform  regulation  aimed 
at  barring  unfair  discrimination  against  the 
blind? 

At  the  outset,  let  me  discuss  briefly  blind- 
ness and  the  National  Federation  of  the 
Blind. 

Blindness 

So  far  as  we  are  concerned  (and  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Kenneth  Jernigan,  longtime  pres- 
ident of  the  National  Federation  of  the 
Blind),  blindness  constitutes  a  social,  not  a 
physical  problem.  It  is  now  established  fact 
that,  with  proper  training  and  opportunity, 
the  average  blind  person  can  do  the  ordinary 
job  in  the  average  community  or  place  of 
business,  and  that  he  can  do  it  on  equal 
terms  with  his  sighted  neighbor.  Putting 
it  another  way,  with  proper  training  and 
with  opportunity,  blindness  literally  can  be 
reduced  to  the  level  of  a  physical  nuisance 
or  inconvenience. 

At  the  present  time,  blind  Americans  are 
working  successfully  as  lawyers,  public 
school  teachers,  insurance  salesmen  and 
executives,  computer  programmers,  legisla- 
tors, electrical  engineers,  and  farmers.  In 
short,  the  physical  nuisance  of  being  blind 
is  not  a  bar  to  regular  employment,  social 


activity,  participation  in  the  community,  or 
anything  else. 

If  this  be  so,  why  are  there  any  problems 
whatever  connected  with  blindness?  As  we 
have  said  above,  blindness  is  a  social,  not  a 
physical,  problem.  To  elaborate,  we  who 
are  blind  have  a  major  problem  confronting 
us  as  we  attempt  to  participate  fully  in  soci- 
ety. We  must  face  and  eliminate  the  wide 
range  of  myths  and  misconceptions  about 
blindness  that  have  existed  for  centuries, 
and  we  must  also  eliminate  the  discrimina- 
tions and  denials  that  result  directly  from 
the  public's  misunderstandings  about  us.  So 
far  as  the  social  attitude  about  blindness  is 
concerned  (and  if  we  strip  away  all  of  the 
niceties),  the  average  citizen  believes  that 
blindness  and  helplessness  are  one  and  the 
same.  To  be  candid  about  it,  we  are  not 
thought  to  be  capable  of  perfomiing  at  all 
in  any  area  where  competence  above  that 
possessed  by  a  child  is  required.  In  effect, 
the  classification  "the  blind"  is  thought  to 
designate  a  helpless  and  hopeless  group 
of  people. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  a  blind  person  be- 
comes an  achiever,  he  is  not  regarded  as  an 
ordinary,  capable  person.  His  ability  to 
function  is  then  regarded  as  remarkable,  and 
he  is  now  the  exception  the  exception  to 
the  rule  that  blind  people  as  a  class  are  help- 
less. 

What  we  are  saying  comes  down  to  this: 
The  physical  fact  of  being  blind  is  not  really 
a  bar  to  anything  and  may  easily  be  dealt 
with  the  same  way  that  actual  limitations 
arising  from  other  physical  characteristics 
are  dealt  with.  But  because  of  myth  and 
misunderstanding,  blind  people  face  tremen- 
dous social  problems  and  are  confronted 
daily  with  massive  discrimination.  We  are, 
in  the  truest  sense  of  the  term,  a  minority 
group-facing  all  the  problems  that  flow 
from  a  stereotyped  group  status:  "All  blind 
people  are  alike,  aren't  they?" 

Many  people  find  it  difficult  to  believe 
that  anyone  would  wish  to  discriminate 
against  the  blind.  Therefore,  at  this  point, 
a  brief  discussion  of  discrimination  might  be 
in  order. 


APRIL  1978  ■ 


91 


The  word  "discrimination"  as  used  in 
connection  with  human  rights  and  minori- 
ties means  unreasonable  and  detrimental 
classification.  It  implies  prejudice,  denial  of 
opportunity,  unequal  treatment,  and  exclu- 
sion from  the  main  channels  of  economic 
and  social  life.  But  these  are  results,  not 
causes  the  results  of  unreasonable  and  det- 
rimental classification. 

To  be  discriminatory  the  classification 
must  have  both  elements-that  is,  it  must  be 
both  unreasonable  and  detrimental.  Other- 
wise there  is  no  discrimination.  It  is,  for  ex- 
ample, undoubtedly  detrimental  to  the  in- 
dividual who  has  committed  a  crime  to  be 
classified  as  a  prisoner;  but  it  is  not  discrimi- 
natory, for  the  classification  is  reasonable. 
To  be  unreasonable,  the  classification  must 
be  made  without  relevance  or  logic. 

In  other  words,  unless  the  trait  used  as 
the  basis  for  the  classification  is  related  to 
the  purpose  for  which  the  classification  is 
established  and  unless  that  purpose  is 
socially  desirable,  the  classification  is  un- 
reasonable—therefore discriminatory. 

In  addition  to  the  requirements  that  dis- 
crimination be  unreasonable  and  detrimen- 
tal, we  believe  there  is  a  third  component: 
It  is  that  the  person  committing  the  dis- 
criminatory act  believes  he  is  acting  ration- 
ally. At  least,  this  is  certainly  the  case  when 
we  are  deaUng  with  the  open  and  flagrant 
discrimination  continually  practiced  against 
the  blind. 

Of  course,  if  the  person  committing  the 
discrimination  believes  he  is  acting  rational- 
ly, it  follows  that  he  beheves  he  is  guilty  of 
no  discrimination  whatever.  The  fact  that 
people  discriminating  against  the  blind  do 
not  regard  their  actions  as  discriminatory 
makes  things  no  easier  for  the  blind.  Nor 
does  it  help  that  the  average  citizen  in  our 
society  does  not  regard  denial  of  opportuni- 
ty fortheblindasdiscriminatory.  The  failure 
to  recognize  that  blind  persons  are  openly 
discriminated  against,  and  that  bhnd  per- 
sons constitute  a  minority  group,  means 
that  the  blind  of  this  nation  have  much 
work  to  do. 


The  National  Federation  of  the  Blind 

This  brings  us  to  a  discussion  of  the  Na- 
tional Federation  of  the  Blind  (NFB)~-our 
purposes  and  goals.  The  blind  of  the  nation 
joined  together  in  the  organized  blind  move- 
ment-the  NFB-in  1940.  It  was  clear  to 
leaders  of  the  blind  that  since  blindness  is  a 
social  problem,  a  social  action  organization 
was  needed.  Therefore,  while  for  years  there 
had  been  organizations  "for"  the  blind 
that  provided  services  and  attempted  to 
speak  for  the  blind,  an  organization  "of 
blind  people  was  established.  The  National 
Federation  of  the  Blind  is  not  an  agency 
speaking  for  the  bhnd,  but  rather  the  blind 
speaking  for  themselves. 

In  short,  we  have  joined  together  in  the 
same  way  and  for  the  same  reasons  for  which 
other  minority  groups  have  seen  fit  to  orga- 
nize. In  reality  our  problems  are  the  same 
as  those  experienced  by  blacks,  chicanos, 
Indians,  and  women,  and  we  have  joined  to- 
gether in  the  same  kind  of  self-help  organi- 
zation. 

The  NFB  has  affiliates  in  each  state  and 
in  the  District  of  Columbia.  In  turn,  each 
state  affiliate  has  local  chapters  affiliated- 
with  it.  The  national  body  is  the  ultimate 
authority  of  the  NFB. 

In  the  broadest  sense,  the  purpose  of  the 
NFB  is  to  improve  the  social  and  economic 
well-being  of  blind  Americans.  We  engage 
in  the  following  types  of  activities:  We  edu- 
cate newly  blinded  persons  to  the  facts 
about  blindness.  We  engage  in  an  ongoing 
public  education  endeavor  aimed  at  teach- 
ing the  truth  and  ehminating  the  myths  that 
exist  among  members  of  the  public.  We 
monitor  state  and  federal  legislative  activi- 
ties to  make  sure  that  laws  and  regulations 
are  not  adopted  that  will  keep  us  down  and 
out  when  we  are  trying  to  climb  up  and  in. 
We  provide  information  to  state  legislators, 
administrative  officials,  federal  officials, 
and  members  of  the  U.S.  Congress  so  that 
they  will  have  accurate  information  upon 
which  to  make  judgments  when  analysing 
proposed  laws  and  regulations.  And  finally, 
we  go  to  court,  when  necessary,  to  secure 
and  protect  the  rights  of  blind  Americans. 


92 


■  THE  BRAILLE   MONITOR 


Our  Problem  With  the  Insurance  Industry 

In  our  experience,  some  insurance  com- 
panies refuse  to  sell  insurance  to  blind  per- 
sons at  all.  Some  will  sell,  but  at  a  marked- 
up  rate.  Some  will  sell  a  basic  policy  at  the 
standard  rate,  but  will  not  sell  extras  such 
as  waiver  of  premium  or  double  indemnity. 
A  very  few  will  sell  these  extras,  but  at  a 
marked-up  rate.  A  very  few  will  sell  at  stand- 
ard rates  and  with  the  extras,  but  will  sell 
only  to  the  so-called  "well  adjusted"  blind 
person.  Almost  no  company  will  permit  the 
parents  of  a  bUnd  child  to  purchase  insur- 
ance, and  almost  no  company  will  sell  an 
"individual"  health  and  accident  poUcy  to 
a  blind  person.  All  of  these  practices  are 
based  on  belief,  not  on  fact. 

Generally,  in  the  insurance  industry,  ac- 
tuarial statistic  has  been  regarded  as  the 
basis  for  reasonable  classification.  When 
dealing  with  blind  persons,  however,  the 
"I  believe"  syndrome  is  practiced  to  an 
astonishing  degree.  While  we  continually  ask 
for  statistics,  insurers  continue  to  believe 
that  as  a  class  we  are  poor  risks.  It  seems  to 
us  that  in  the  area  of  insurance  we  should 
deal  with  fact,  not  fiction;  with  statistics, 
not  stereotypes  and  myths.  Those  who  be- 
lieve we  are  poor  risks  must  assuredly  be- 
lieve that  they  are  being  logical.  However, 
logic  based  on  belief  is  often  misleading. 
No  doubt  seamen  in  the  pre-Columbus  era 
believed  the  world  was  flat  since  that  seemed 
to  be  logical.  They  were  proven  wrong.  The 
point  here  is  that  mere  opinion  and  belief 
have  no  place  in  the  insurance  industry. 

Let  us  make  our  position  crystal  clear: 
The  physical  fact  of  bUndness  has  no  rele- 
vance whatever  to  risk  of  loss  for  purposes 
of  insurability. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  we  are  here 
dealing  with  blindness  per  se,  not  with  medi- 
cal problems  that  might  ultimately  result  in 
blindness.  To  explain  this,  let  me  give  you 
some  examples  of  statements  insurance 
companies  have  used  in  defense  of  their 
unfair  practices.  They  are: 

Some  blind  people  have  diabetes.  Some 
blind  people  have  mutliple  sclerosis.  Some 
blind    people    have   arteriosclerosis.   Some 


blind  people  have  cancer.  Some  blind  peo- 
ple have  heart  disease.  Therefore,  blind  peo- 
ple as  a  class  are  poor  risks. 

We  find  this  argument  totally  irrational 
and  unacceptable.  To  demonstrate  the  irra- 
tionality of  such  a  defense: 

Some  insurance  underwriters  have  dia- 
betes. Some  insurance  underwriters  have 
multiple  sclerosis.  Some  insurance  under- 
writers have  arteriosclerosis.  Some  insurance 
underwriters  have  cancer.  Some  insurance 
underwriters  have  heart  disease.  Therefore, 
insurance  underwriters  as  a  class  are  poor 
risks. 

False  logic?  You  bet!  No  thinking  person 
would  seriously  consider  the  establishment 
of  a  classification  of  insurance  underwriters 
for  insurance  purposes.  In  both  instances, 
whether  we  use  the  classification  of  the 
blind  or  of  insurance  underwriters,  that 
classification  has  no  relevance  whatever  to 
the  question  of  insurability.  Therefore,  it  is 
totally  unreasonable  to  rely  upon  these 
classifications  or  even  to  refer  to  them  when 
dealing  with  insurability.  Rather,  companies 
must  use  classifications  that  are  relevant  to 
risk  of  loss,  such  as:  diabetes,  multiple  scler- 
osis, arteriosclerosis,  cancer,  or  heart  disease. 

Putting  it  another  way,  where  the  insur- 
ance industry  has  actuarial  data  demonstrat- 
ing that  a  particular  characteristic  (such  as 
diabetes)  results  in  poor  risk,  then  it  is  rea- 
sonable to  so  classify  since  the  classification 
is  relevant  to  risk  of  loss.  And  although 
some  conditions  that  cause  blindness  may 
reasonably  be  classified,  blindness  by  itself 
may  not  be. 

Let  some  insurance  companies  speak  for 
themselves: 

"Specifically,  for  individuals  under  age  15 
who  are  blind  in  both  eyes,  tlie  usual  practice 
is  to  decline  life  insurance  unless  there  is  evi- 
dence that  the  individual  is  likely  to  become 
gainfully  employed  as  an  adult.  At  ages  15 
and  older,  life  insurance  is  generally  available 
within  the  limits  of  insurable  interest." 

"The  accidental  death  benefit  is  not  avail- 
able to  individuals  blind  in  both  eyes  because 
they  are  not  able  to  avoid  accidents  as  well 


APRIL  1978 


93 


as  those  with  sight.  While  this  may  sound  Hke 
a  tired  old  stereotype  to  you,  the  very  small 
mortality  margins  in  the  premium  for  this 
additional  benefit  simply  do  not  permit  any 
excess  deaths.  It  has  been  suggested  that 
blind  persons  may  in  fact  have  fewer  acci- 
dents than  siglited  persons.  This  may  well  be 
true  for  older  blind  persons  who  have  be- 
come generally  inactive  because  of  this  loss. 
However,  those  who  would  be  applying  for 
insurance  are  generally  active  in  terms  of 
earning  a  living  and/or  raising  a  family  and 
thus  would  not  'benefit'  from  the  limited 
exposure  to  accidents  typical  of  the  other 
group." 

"Those  who  have  some  vision,  although  it 
is  seriously  impaired,  and  those  who  are 
blind  in  one  eye  only  may  be  issued  a  policy 
of  health  insurance  with  some  limitation  in 
the  benefits  provided.  Such  policies  are  not, 
however,  offered  to  those  who  are  totally 
blind." 

"Life  Insurance:  If  both  eyes  are  blind, 
if  the  person  is  well  rehabilitated  and  emo- 
tionally adjusted,  and  if  there  is  no  associ- 
ated or  underlying  disease  such  as  diabetes 
or  neoplastic  disease,  we  would  offer  insur- 
ance on  a  standard  basis.  Those  persons  who 
are  not  well  rehabilitated  and  emotionally 
adjusted  to  the  blindness  are  offered  insur- 
ance with  a  continuous  extra  premium  of 
S2.50  per  thousand.  This  includes  children 
and  persons  who  have  only  recently  become 
blind  and  have  not  as  yet  adjusted  to  their 
situation.  This  rating  can  be  reviewed  at  a 
later  date,  subject  to  evidence  of  insurability 
when  the  person  has  reached  a  point  where 
he  is  adequately  rehabilitated  and  has  be- 
come emotionally  adjusted  to  his  condi- 
tion." [One  wonders  who  will  determine 
when  a  blind  person  is  'well  rehabilitated 
and  emotionally  adjusted.'] 

"Health  Insurance:  We  do  not  issue  a 
hospitalization  type  of  coverage.  We  do  issue 
disability  income  and  do  not  consider  that 
we  can  issue  this  insurance  to  persons  who 
are  totally  blind." 

"For  ages  16  and  over,  waiver  disability 
is  not  available  because  our  definition  of 
total  disability  is  such  that  a  blind  person 


is  considered  totally  disabled.  The  acciden- 
tal death  benefit  is  not  available  because  we 
judge  the  accident  hazard  to  be  high." 

"Health  Insurance-Disability  Income:  De- 
cline, since  the  company  recognizes  that 
total  and  irrecoverable  loss  of  sight  of  both 
eyes  does  constitute  total  disability  by  defi- 
nition." 

As  will  be  discussed  later,  since  we  are  al- 
ready blind,  blindness  would  obviously  be 
eliminated  as  a  disability  for  which  waiver 
of  premium  or  other  disability  benefits 
would  be  available. 

One  final  problem  should  be  discussed. 
Many  companies  have  come  up  with  an  in- 
teresting twist.  When  their  unfair  practices 
are  challenged,  they  say  something  to  this 
effect;  "Although  we  have  no  data  that 
would  support  it,  we  believe  that  you  are 
poor  risks,  and  accordingly,  we  will  continue 
to  deny  you  coverage  on  the  same  basis  as 
the  sighted.  If  you  can  provide  us  with  data 
to  support  your  claim  that  you  are  not  poor 
risks,  we  would  be  glad  to  have  it."  In  other 
words,  many  companies  attempt  to  shift 
the  burden  of  proof  to  the  blind. 

The  Iowa  Solution  to  the  Problem 

The  Iowa  Commissioner  of  Insurance, 
Herbert  W.  Anderson,  proposed  the  follow- 
ing regulation,  based  on  Iowa's  version  of 
the  NAIC  Model  Unfair  Trade  Practices  Aci: 

510-15.80  (507B)  Purpose. 

The  purpose  of  this  regulation  is  to  state 
that  individuals  who  are  blind,  partially  blind, 
or  have  a  physical  disability  do  not,  for  that 
reason,  constitute  a  class.  Therefore,  indi- 
viduals who  are  blind,  partially  blind,  or 
have  a  physical  disability  will  not,  solely  on 
that  basis,  be  unfairly  discriminated  against  in 
the  rates  charged  for  any  contract  of  life 
insurance  or  life  annuity  or  in  the  dividends 
or  other  benefits  payable  thereon  or  in  any 
other  of  the  terms  and  conditions  of  such 
contract;  and  will  not,  solely  on  the  basis  of 
blindness,  partial  blindness,  or  physical 
disability,  be  unfairly  discriminated  against 
in  the  amount  of  premium,  policy  fees,  or 
rates  charged  for  any  policy  or  contract  of 
insurance  other  than  life  or  in  the  benefits 
payable  thereunder  or  in  any  of  the  terms  or 
conditions  of  such  contract,  or  in  any  man- 
ner whatever. 


94 


■  THE   BRAILLE   MONITOR 


510-15.81  (507B)  Definitions. 

15.81(1)  "Contract"  shall  mean  "insurance 
policy"  or  "insurance  contract"  as  defined  in 
section  507B.2(3)  of  the  Code. 

15.81(2)  "Person"  shall  mean  "person"  as 
defined  in  section  507B.2(  1 )  of  the  Code. 
510-15.82  (507B)  AppIicabUity  and  scope. 

15.82(1)  This  regulation  shall  apply  to  all 
contracts  delivered  or  issued  for  delivery  in 
this  state  by  a  person  on  or  after  the  effective 
date  of  this  regulation  and  to  all  existing 
group  contracts  which  are  amended  or  re- 
newed on  or  after  the  effective  date  of  this 
regulation. 

15.82(2)  Nothing  contained  in  this  regula- 
tion shall  be  construed  to  prohibit  discrimi- 
nation between  individuals  of  the  same  class 
who  do  not  have  equal  expectation  of  life  or 
who  have  an  expected  risk  of  loss  different 
than  that  of  other  individuals  of  the  same 
class. 

510-15.83  (507B)  Prohibition. 

15.83(1)  For  the  purposes  of  sections 
507B.4(7)(a)  and  507B.4(7)(b)  of  theCode, 
individuals  shall  not  be  considered  to  be  of 
the  same  class  solely  because  such  individuals 
are  blind,  partially  blind,  or  physically  dis- 
abled. 

15.83(2)  For  the  purposes  of  section 
507B.4(7)(a)  individuals  shall  not  be  consid- 
ered to  have  a  different  life  expectancy  solely 
because  they  are  blind,  partially  blind,  or 
physically  disabled. 

The  required  public  hearing  on  this  regu- 
lation was  held  in  November  1976.  The 
regulation  was  then  put  into  effect,  since 
industry  representatives  were  unable  to 
produce  empirical  data  to  support  their 
discriminatory  practices.  In  February  1977 
the  Administrative  Rules  Review  Committee 
of  the  Iowa  Legislature  approved  the  regu- 
lation unanimously. 

Since  that  time,  several  complaints  have 
been  filed  against  insurers  who  continue  to 
practice  unfair  discrimination  against  the 
blind.  In  most  cases,  after  our  Commission- 
er's office  informed  the  companies  that 
they  were  in  violation  of  state  law.  the  com- 
panies took  corrective  action. 

It  will  be  observed  from  a  reading  of  the 
Iowa  regulation  that,  in  addition  to  barring 
discrimination  against  the  blind  and  partially 
blind,  unfair  discrimination  against  other 
disability  groups  was  proscribed.  Some  in- 


dustry officials  suggested  that  our  Insurance 
Commissioner  was  trying  to  require  them 
to  insure  any  disabled  person  regardless  of 
risk  of  loss.  This  argument  is  obviously  fal- 
lacious and  was  only  raised  to  cloud  the 
issue. 

Finally,  some  insurers  have  asked  why 
the  characteristics  of  blindness,  partial  blind- 
ness, and  physical  disability  were  singled  out 
in  this  regulation.  We  believe  the  "why"  is 
simple.  In  this  year  of  1977,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  issue  a  regulation  forbidding  discrim- 
ination on  the  basis  of  the  irrelevant  charac- 
teristics of  race,  color,  creed,  sex.  or  national 
origin.  Sufficient  social  awareness  now  exists 
so  that  it  would  be  unthinkable  to  discrimi- 
nate unreasonably-at  least  to  do  it  in  writ- 
ing-in these  areas.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  issue  a  regulation  forbid- 
ding discrimination  based  on  such  physical 
characteristics  as  the  color  of  one's  hair, 
the  amount  of  one's  hair,  the  color  of  one's 
eyes,  or  left-handedness  since  insurance 
companies  have  generally  not  practiced  un- 
fair discrimination  based  on  these  irrelevant 
characteristics.  Therefore,  the  characteristics 
that  have  been  singled  out  are  the  only  ones 
used  as  the  basis  for  open  unfair  discrimina- 
tion that  is  legally  permissible. 

Nowhere  in  any  of  the  documentation 
on  this  problem  does  a  clearer  statement  of 
the  case  exist  than  in  the  following  letter 
written  to  Commissioner  Anderson: 

"DEAR  COMMISSIONER:  I  strongly  object 
to  proposed  510  15.83(1)  and  (2).  The 
statement  which  is  proposed  for  adoption 
as  law  is  completely  wrong. 

"Persons  who  smoke  do  indeed  represent 
a  different  life  expectancy  than  those  who 
do  not.  Persons  who  are  overweight  do  in- 
deed represent  a  different  life  expectancy 
than  those  who  are  not.  Persons  with  high 
blood  pressure  do  indeed  represent  a  differ- 
ent life  expectancy  than  those  who  do  not. 

"It  is  my  belief  that  persons  who  do  not 
have  functioning  vision  represent  a  different 
life  expectancy  than  those  who  do.  On  what 
basis  do  you  conclude  that  they  are  precise- 
ly the  same?"  [Fmphasis  added.] 


APRIL  1978  ■ 


95 


The    clarity   with   which  Commissioner 

Anderson  understands  the  problem  is  dem- 
onstrated by  his  response  to  this  letter: 

■'I  have  your  letter  of  November  15.  and 
it  will  be  considered  when  the  record  is 
closed  on  our  proposed  regulations  .... 
However.  I  must  tell  you  that  you  do  not 
add  anything  of  value  to  the  record  by  ask- 
ing me  on  what  basis  I  have  reached  the 
conclusion  that  you  assume  I  have  reached. 
The  matter  which  you  should  address  is  the 
basis  for  your  belief  'that  persons  who  do 
not  have  functioning  vision  represent  a  dif- 
ferent life  expectancy  than  those  who  do.' 
I  have  not  seen  any  empirical  data  to  sup- 
port such  a  belief,  and  1  challenge  you  to 
supply  me  with  any.  Remember  that  your 
statement  is  that  blind  persons  have  a  differ- 
ent life  expectancy  than  sighted  persons.  If 
you  do  not  furnish  evidence  to  support  your 
statement,  then  your  statement  will  be  con- 
sidered evidence  of  the  strong  need  for  a 
regulation  such  as  that  proposed.  The  regu- 
lation is  directly  aimed  at  preventing  insur- 
ers from  practicing  'bUnd'  discrimination." 

After  the  NAIC  meeting,  I  wrote  to  the 
governors  of  the  states  about  the  problem 
of  insurance  discrimination  and  what  we 
were  doing  to  try  to  end  it.  The  responses 
have  been  very  favorable.  They  indicate 
what  we  have  learned  in  other  areas— when 
the  public  is  informed  about  the  unfair 
treatment  we  meet  as  blind  people,  they 
are  usually  strongly  on  our  side.  Here  are 
some  excerpts  from  the  replies  I  have  re- 
ceived. 

Governor  Robert  Straub  of  Oregon  wrote: 
"Discrimination  that  cannot  be  justified 
statistically  is  unfair  and  will  not  be  toler- 
ated in  this  state  in  the  purchase  of  insur- 
ance. Discrimination  in  regard  to  the  blind 
in  the  benefits  and  availability  of  life  and 
health  insurance  has  not  previously  been 
brought  to  my  attention.  I  am  instructing 
the  insurance  commissioner  to  cooperate 
in  every  respect  with  the  National  Associa- 


tion of  Insurance  Commissioners  to  expedite 
the  writing  of  model  legislation  or  rules  for 
insurance  covering  blind  persons." 

Governor  John  D.  Rockefeller.  IV,  of 
West  Virginia  wrote:  "I  applaud  this  initia- 
tive to  eliminate  the  kinds  of  nonfactual 
policies  which  work  to  discriminate  against 
disabled  Americans,  and  I  am  particularly 
pleased  that  [West  Virginia  Insurance  Com- 
missioner) Richard  Shaw  will  be  playing 
such  an  integral  role  in  this  effort.  You  can 
be  sure  that  we  will  keep  ourselves  informed 
of  the  progress  that  is  made." 

Governor  William  Milliken  of  Michigan 
wrote:  "You  indicated  in  your  letter  that 
where  such  regulations  have  been  consid- 
ered, they  have  met  with  considerable  in- 
surance industry  opposition.  Please  be 
assured  that  the  commissioner  of  insurance 
will  have  my  support  in  any  action  he  takes 
to  develop  and  promulgate  administrative 
rules  prohibiting  unfair  discrimination 
against  handicapped  persons." 

Governor  George  R.  Ariyoshi  of  Hawaii 
wrote:  "I  agree  with  you  that  unless  the  in- 
surance carriers  are  able  to  supply  credible 
statistics  to  support  their  position,  the  blind 
should  not  be  discriminated  against  when 
purchasing  insurance.  My  insurance  com- 
missioner will  support  efforts  to  have  the 
National  Association  of  Insurance  Com- 
missioners promulgate  a  model  code  to 
eliminate  unfair  discrimination  against  the 
blind." 

And  finally,  John  Evans,  governor  of 
Idaho,  wrote:  "I  would  like  to  take  this 
occasion  to  express  my  admiration  for  the 
great  progress  that  your  National  Federa- 
tion of  the  Blind  has  made  in  attacking  and 
overcoming  the  social  and  economic  barriers 
placed  in  the  path  of  the  blind  by  well- 
meaning  but  thoughtless  individuals  and 
companies  who  insist  upon  looking  at  a 
bHnd  person  as  one  who  is  so  handicapped 
that  he  cannot  perform  all  of  the  vital  func- 
tions in  our  complex  society."  D 


96 


•  THE   BRAILLE   MONITOR 


AM   A   BLIND   MOTHER   FIGHTING   TO    KEEP 
MY   CHILDREN    FROM   CORRUPTION 

by   RAMONA  WALHOF 


I  am  blind,  and  I  have  two  sighted  chil- 
dren. When  they  started  school,  I  found  it 
necessary  to  work  hard  to  guard  them  against 
corruption.  I  am  not  talking  about  drugs, 
vulgar  language,  crime,  or  any  of  the  things 
with  which  all  families  must  cope.  My  chil- 
dren faced  a  very  special,  if  unintentional, 
kind  of  corruption. 

It  never  occurred  to  my  husband  and  me 
that  bhndness  could  be  considered  a  reason 
not  to  have  children.  We  were  both  blind. 
We  did  some  research  to  find  out  whether 
our  particular  eye  conditions  could  be 
passed  on  to  our  children,  and  we  learned 
that  my  blindness  might  be  inherited.  We 
wanted  to  know  the  likelihood,  but  the  pos- 
sibility did  not  frighten  us.  We  considered 
blindness  a  nuisance,  but  it  didn't  prevent 
us  from  living  active  and  productive  lives. 
We  both  had  college  degrees  and  good  jobs. 
My  husband  was  a  rehabilitation  counselor 
for  the  Idaho  Commission  for  the  Blind. 
I  was  teaching  in  the  Head  Start  program. 
My  class  consisted  of  15  four-year-olds  from 
deprived  families.  The  real  problem  of  blind- 
ness was  that  sighted  people  much  too  often 
treated  us  as  if  we  had  no  ability,  intelli- 
gence, or  skills. 

After  we  were  married,  we  worked  hard 
to  save  enough  money  for  the  down  pay- 
ment on  a  house.  We  found  one  we  could 
afford  on  a  bus  line  in  North  Boise.  It  was 
old-fashioned  and  comfortable,  and  we 
bought  it. 

When  we  discovered  that  I  was  pregnant, 
we  were  delighted.  Both  sets  of  grandpar- 
ents-to-be were  also  thrilled.  We  learned  that 
when  parents  become  grandparents,  they  are 
able  to  relax  and  enjoy  the  children.  They 
are  not  expected  to  do  the  discipline.  It 
must  not  have  occurred  to  any  of  them  that 
blindness  could  be  considered  a  reason  not 
to  have  children.  But  then  they  knew  us 
pretty  well,  and  they  had  learned  some 
things  about  blindness  as  we  learned  them. 


We  bought  a  crib  and  borrowed  a  basket. 
I  bought  diapers,  undershirts,  baby  blankets, 
and  the  like.  I  got  out  the  sewing  machine 
to  make  maternity  clothes.  We  were  still 
budgeting  carefully.  That  session  of  Head 
Start  ended  in  May  when  the  school  year 
ended,  and  we  still  had  a  month  to  wait  for 
the  baby.  It  was  the  longest  month  of  my 
life.  My  husband  and  I  always  made  plans 
to  attend  the  conventions  of  the  National 
Federation  of  the  Blind  over  the  Fourth  of 
July  weekend,  but  that  year  we  stayed 
home.  Our  friends  went  camping,  fishing, 
water-skiing,  etc.;  and  we  read  books  at 
home. 

Finally,  on  July  9.  Laura  Kathryn  decided 
to  enter  the  big,  wide  world,  and  she  didn't 
waste  any  time  once  she  started.  We  arrived 
at  the  hospital  at  9:35  a.m.,  and  Laura  ar- 
rived at  10:13  a.m.  My  husband  didn't  com- 
plain about  not  getting  the  boy  he  had 
wanted.  He  was  extremely  proud.  I  was  feel- 
ing fine,  and  it  became  almost  a  race  to  see 
which  of  us  could  reach  our  friends  first  to 
tell  them  the  baby  had  finally  arrived. 

The  hospital  where  Laura  was  born  had  a 
practice  of  having  new  mothers  assist  with 
the  bathing  of  the  baby  at  least  once  before 
taking  it  home  from  the  hospital.  I  had 
changed  diapers  and  given  bottles  many 
times,  but  I  had  very  little  experience  with 
a  baby  that  weighed  7  pounds,  so  I  was  ea- 
ger for  some  suggestions.  I  was  lucky  that 
the  nurse  involved  did  not  get  upset  about 
the  blindness.  She  just  told  me  what  to  do, 
and  I  did  it.  Seldom  since  then  has  anyone 
been  so  matter-of-fact,  and  1  appreciated  it. 
Sight,  as  1  expected,  was  not  necessary.  Ba- 
bies are  fragile  and  delicate,  but  they  want 
and  need  to  be  touched. 

After  Laura  and  I  came  home  from  the 
hospital,  my  mother  came  from  Nebraska 
to  stay  with  us  for  a  week.  She  was  truly 
helpful.  She  did  the  housework  and  most 
of  the  cooking  and  left  the  baby  care  to  me. 


APRIL  1978  • 


97 


From  her  own  experience  she  came  up  with 
some  suggestions  I  found  useful.  By  the  end 
of  the  weeic  I  had  most  of  my  energy  back. 
and  Grandma  went  back  to  Nebraska. 

Laura  was  a  pretty  baby,  healthy  and 
alert.  She  obviously  was  not  blind.  She  re- 
sponded to  color  and  movement  when  only 
a  few  days  old.  We  spent  a  few  nights  up- 
baby  screaming  with  a  tummyache.  For  the 
most  part,  however,  everything  continued 
to  go  smoothly. 

By  the  time  Laura  was  3  months  old,  I 
began  to  grow  restless.  I  wasn't  used  to  stay- 
ing home  all  day,  even  with  a  baby  for  com- 
pany. Sometimes  my  husband  had  to  be  out 
of  town  for  several  days  at  a  time  in  his 
work,  so  I  began  to  look  for  some  other 
things  to  do.  Head  Start  was  beginning  a 
new  program  in  November,  so  I  applied  for 
a  teaching  job.  When  1  got  the  job,  we  started 
looking  for  a  baby-sitter.  We  were  happy  to 
find  a  good  one. 

By  Christmas  Laura  was  crawling  and  pull- 
ing herself  up  on  her  feet.  I  have  a  picture 
taken  of  her  at  Christmastime  crawling  into 
the  dishwasher.  She  had  become  quite  a  flirt 
by  then  also.  She  squealed  at  her  daddy  and 
played  peak-a-boo  with  her  grandpa. 

We  knew  that  if  we  were  to  use  a  baby 
buggy  or  stroller  we  would  need  to  pull  it 
behind  us,  using  the  white  cane  in  the  other 
hand  in  front  for  safety.  We  found  a  buggy 
that  converted  into  a  stroller.  This  met  the 
need,  and  we  used  it  a  great  deal.  It  even 
folded  up,  so  we  could  take  it  on  the  city 
buses.  With  a  little  practice  we  also  became 
proficient  at  carrying  Laura  in  an  infant 
seat  balanced  on  both  forearms  and  one 
hand.  We  could  dangle  the  diaper  bag  from 
an  elbow,  leaving  the  other  hand  free  to  use 
the  white  cane.  Since  Laura  stayed  with  a 
baby-sitter  during  the  day  while  I  worked, 
I  took  her  with  me  as  much  as  I  could.  She 
seemed  to  Hke  people:  and  I  suppose  what 
pleased  me  most  was  that  people  everywhere 
admired  her. 

By  Mother's  Day  Laura  was  walking.  My 
father-in-law  took  us  all  out  to  eat,  and  here 
was  Laura  all  dressed  up  in  yellow  and  white, 


toddling  around  awkwardly  and  with  a  smile 
for  everyone.  My  first  Mother's  Day  was 
very  special.  For  both  my  husband  and  me, 
it  was  a  day  we  would  always  remember  as 
ours. 

In  July  of  that  year  my  husband  and  I 
did  get  to  go  to  the  convention  of  the  Na- 
tional Federation  of  the  Blind,  which  was 
in  Houston,  Texas.  Laura  celebrated  her 
first  birthday  at  her  grandparents'  house  in 
Nebraska.  When  we  returned  there  from 
the  convention,  she  was  thrilled  to  see  her 
daddy,  but  mother  was  ignored.  However, 
by  the  time  the  birthday  cake  appeared, 
she  had  hugs  and  kisses  for  me,  too. 

Shortly  after  that  convention,  there  was 
a  letter  to  the  editor  in  the  local  newspaper- 
a  letter  that  disturbed  us.  It  was  written  in 
response  to  an  article  about  abortions.  The 
letter  apparently  was  in  favor  of  abortions, 
but  what  disturbed  us  most  was  the  argu- 
ment used.  It  said  that  the  writer  was  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  a  blind  woman.  He 
had  asked  her  if  she  wasn't  afraid  her  chil- 
dren might  be  blind.  Her  answer  had  been 
that  she  really  thought  she  could  handle  it 
if  she  had  a  blind  child.  It  was  clear  that 
the  writer  of  that  letter  did  not  believe  blind 
parents  could  be  good  parents,  and  that  he 
considered  it  totally  irresponsible  for  any- 
one to  have  a  child  that  might  be  blind. 
What  an  attitude  toward  blindness!  Since 
I  knew  the  man,  I  was  sure  he  was  talking 
about  me.  It  didn't  matter  that  our  lives 
were  going  smoothly.  That  man  really  con- 
sidered us  irresponsible  because  we  had  a 
child!  Laura  was  as  precious  and  delightful 
as  ever  a  child  could  be.  That  kind  of  atti- 
tude toward  blindness  was  not  new  to  us, 
but  it  hurt  just  the  same.  I  had  had  trouble 
gaining  admission  to  the  student  teaching 
program  in  college  because  of  my  blindness. 
I  had  been  denied  entrance  to  some  rides 
and  exhibits  at  the  World's  Fair  in  New  York 
because  of  my  blindness.  In  both  cases  it  was 
because  people  didn't  understand  that  blind 
people  can  function  competently  and  inde- 
pendently. 

Ail  we  could  do  was  write  our  own  letter 
to  the  editor.  The  president  of  the  local 


98 


■  THE   BRAILLE   MONITOR 


chapter  of  the  National  Federation  of  the 
Blind  also  wrote  a  letter.  And  we  became 
more  watchful  of  attitudes  toward  us,  be- 
cause of  course  we  knew  this  man  was  not 
alone  in  his  thinking. 

We  were  expecting  another  child  in  the 
fall.  My  husband  still  wanted  a  boy.  and  I 
thought  two  children  close  together  in  age 
would  entertain  each  other.  They  did  and 
they  do.  They  also  fight. 

I  had  been  managing  a  cafeteria  during 
the  summer,  and  I  quit  in  September  to  do 
some  work  at  home  before  the  new  baby 
arrived.  Among  other  things  I  wallpapered 
the  kids'  bedroom  with  a  nursery  print. 
Laura  loved  it.  She  would  point  to  the  vari- 
ous animals  and  figures  happily.  Gradually 
she  learned  to  say  their  names.  She  would 
take  guests  by  a  finger  and  lead  them  up- 
stairs to  show  them  her  pretty  wallpaper 
with  the  pictures.  She  had  been  eating  with 
a  spoon  since  about  13  months.  I  didn't  let 
her  pick  up  food  out  of  her  plate  with  her 
hands,  so  she  really  wasn't  as  messy  an  eater 
as  some  small  children  just  learning. 

Our  little  boy  was  bom  on  December  20. 
and  we  named  him  Christopher  John.  Chris 
was  healthy,  alert,  cuddly,  and  always  hun- 
gry. One  evening  just  before  we  took  Chris 
home  from  the  hospital,  one  of  the  nurses 
stood  watching  me  feed  him  and  com- 
mented, "You  handle  him  so  well."  I  knew 
she  meant  that  since  I  was  blind  this  sur- 
prised her,  but  I  only  smiled  at  her  and 
asked  if  she  worked  in  the  nursery.  She  said 
she  did  and  added,  "We  had  a  blind  woman 
in  here  a  while  ago  who  couldn't  get  her 
baby  to  nurse  very  well."  So  I  knew  there 
was  more  involved  than  the  usual  lack  of 
knowledge  about  blindness.  I  figured  that 
blindness  had  nothing  to  do  with  whether 
a  mother  had  trouble  getting  her  baby  to 
nurse  or  not.  I  have  several  sighted  friends 
who  had  trouble  at  first. 

"That's  interesting,  "  I  said.  "I've  known 
several  people  who  had  trouble  getting 
started,  but  none  of  them  were  blind."  Of 
course  the  nurse  wasn't  convinced.  She 
gave  me  enough  information  that  I  realized 
I  knew  the  woman  she  had  mentioned.  Her 


baby  was  about  six  months  old  by  this  time, 
still  breast-feeding  and  doing  fine.  The  trou- 
ble must  have  been  very  minor,  because  my 
friend  had  never  mentioned  it.  I  took  note 
of  an  example  of  people  attributing  every 
problem  a  blind  person  has  to  the  blindness. 
It  just  didn't  seem  fair.  If  my  kids  ever  got 
hurt  (and  all  kids  do),  would  people  blame 
me?  I  was  forced  to  conclude  that  many 
would. 

Chris  and  I  went  home  from  the  hospital 
the  day  before  Christmas.  Luckily  all  the 
shopping  was  done,  and  most  of  the  pres- 
ents were  wrapped.  My  mother-in-law  had 
invited  us  to  their  home  for  Christmas  din- 
ner, and  I  was  glad  to  take  it  easy. 

That  Christmas  Laura  was  the  center  of 
attention  and  was  enjoying  herself.  She 
wanted  to  share  everything  with  her  baby 
brother  whether  he  cared  or  not.  In  a  way 
she  thought  he  was  one  of  her  Christmas 
presents,  although  we  had  been  waiting 
even  longer  for  his  arrival  than  for  Christmas. 

I  could  put  Chris  in  the  infant  seat  in  the 
stroller  with  Laura  beside  him,  and  we  could 
take  short  trips  like  that.  There  wasn't  much 
snow  that  year  in  Boise;  so  often  when  we 
went  out,  Laura  would  walk.  I  could  let  her 
walk  only  if  we  weren't  in  a  hurry,  for  she 
made  lots  of  detours  off  the  main  sidewalk, 
and  I  would  have  to  stop  and  wait  or  bring 
her  back.  My  husband  was  glad  to  have  a 
little  boy,  but  his  daughter  really  was  his 
pride  and  joy. 

Shortly  after  we  brouglit  Chris  home 
from  the  hospital,  my  husband  began  to 
have  problems  with  his  health.  We  saw  a 
specialist  who  told  us  the  condition  would 
become  stable  with  medication,  but  that 
didn't  happen.  I  was  glad  both  children 
were  healthy,  but  I  didn't  have  time  to  con- 
sider going  back  to  work  myself.  My  hus- 
band was  in  and  out  of  the  hospital  for  the 
next  couple  of  months,  and  in  April  he  died. 
It  was  a  hard  winter  and  spring. 

Laura  insisted  on  having  some  explana- 
tions, and  I  did  my  best  to  help  her  under- 
stand. Her  daddy  had  come  home  from  the 
hospital  many  times;  and  no  matter  how  he 


APRIL  1978  ■ 


99 


felt,  he  always  had  a  smile  and  a  hug  for 
Laura.  She  could  not  believe  she  could  not 
see  him  anymore.  It  was  hard  enough  for 
me  to  accept  the  whole  thing.  How  could  I 
explain  it  to  a  child  21  months  old  and  help 
her  to  accept  it?  But  1  had  to  go  on.  1  had 
two  babies  depending  on  me,  and  1  would 
not  let  them  down  if  I  could  help  it. 

Before  my  marriage  I  had  worked  as  a 
teacher  for  the  Iowa  Commission  for  the 
Blind.  My  employer  had  been  Dr.  Kenneth 
Jernigan,  who  was  also  President  of  the 
National  Federation  of  the  Blind,  the  orga- 
nization to  which  we  belonged  and  which 
was  changing  so  many  things  for  the  blind 
in  the  1960's  and  1970's.  I  turned  to  Dr. 
Jernigan.  hoping  1  again  could  find  employ- 
ment at  the  Iowa  Commission.  The  jobs  I 
had  held  in  Boise  hadn't  paid  enough  money 
to  support  a  family  now  that  there  was  just 
one  salary.  Dr.  Jernigan  told  me  there  would 
be  an  opening  at  the  Commission  in  June.  I 
thought  I  could  be  ready.  I  put  our  house 
in  Boise  up  for  sale,  and  it  sold.  We  moved 
into  an  apartment  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa.  A 
cousin  of  mine  who  was  in  high  school 
came  to  stay  with  us  for  the  summer  until  I 
could  find  a  regular  baby-sitter.  I  was  ready 
to  go  to  work  by  the  second  week  in  June. 

The  new  job  was  a  demanding  one  and  a 
rewarding  one.  We  settled  in  and  started 
over.  By  October  I  had  found  a  house  and 
made  the  down  payment.  It  had  three  bed- 
rooms and  a  nice  backyard.  The  day  we 
moved  into  our  new  house,  Christopher 
started  to  walk.  He  had  been  slow  to  roll 
over,  sit  up,  and  crawl,  but  not  to  walk. 
Our  new  house  had  all  hardwood  floors.  His 
little  tennis  shoes  got  good  traction,  and  he 
had  a  whole  house  to  explore.  He  didn't 
sit  down  all  day  long,  except  for  a  nap. 
By  the  end  of  the  day  he  was  running.  I 
had  planned  to  let  him  stay  in  the  play- 
pen while  I  unpacked.  That  was  one  of 
those  plans  that  get  rejected  by  the  next 
generation.  He  enjoyed  walking  so  much, 
and  he  had  so  much  space  in  the  new  house 
to  investigate,  i  just  didn't  have  the  heart 
to  coop  him  up  in  the  playpen. 

As  might  be  expected,  Chris'  character 


was  entirely  different  from  Laura's.  He 
could  then  and  still  can  be  very  demanding. 
Laura  got  attention,  for  the  most  part,  with 
smiles  and  flirtation.  Chris  knew  how  to  do 
that,  but  he  also  made  use  of  tantrums  from 
time  to  time.  Laura  wanted  to  be  where  I 
was  as  much  as  possible.  Chris,  even  when 
he  was  tiny,  did  not  mind  playing  by  him- 
self for  an  hour  at  a  time. 

When  the  weather  turned  nice  in  the 
spring,  Chris  was  curious  to  explore  the 
neighborhood.  I  could  count  on  Laura  to 
stay  in  the  backyard,  but  not  Christopher! 
When  he  went  outside  that  year.  Mother 
went  along.  One  day  he  climbed  to  the  top 
of  the  iron  grillwork  on  our  front  stoop.  He 
couldn't  get  down,  and  I  couldn't  reach  him. 
I  said  nothing  but  went  into  the  house  to  get 
a  chair  to  climb  up  and  get  him.  He  wasn't 
frightened,  but  I  was  glad  to  have  him  back 
on  the  ground. 

I  suppose  Chris  w-as  too  busy  to  talk  much 
that  summer.  Only  occasionally  a  word 
slipped  out.  Sometime  in  October-all  of  a 
sudden,  just  the  way  he  learned  to  walk-he 
started  talking.  And  he  talked  all  the  time. 
And  then  the  questions  began.  Laura  had 
been  asking  some  questions,  of  course.  But 
Christopher  wanted  to  know  everything: 
"Why,  Mommy?  When?  How?" 

By  this  time  both  children  liked  books. 
My  baby-sitter  read  to  them  during  the  day, 
and  I  read  to  them  at  bedtime.  I  was  able 
to  borrow  books  for  small  children  from  the 
Iowa  Commission  for  the  Blind.  The  books 
had  the  text  and  pictures  in  both  Braille 
and  print.  These  are  known  as  Twin-Vision 
books  and  are  produced  by  the  American 
Brotherhood  for  the  Blind.  I  read  with  my 
fingers;  others  read  with  their  eyes.  My 
children  grew  up  finding  this  quite  natural 
and  uninteresting. 

By  the  time  Laura  was  four,  she  began  to 
ask,  "When  can  I  go  to  school,  Mommy?" 
There  were  no  children  her  age  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, but  she  played  with  the  children  of 
friends.  She  knew  the  alphabet  and  numbers 
and  had  known  them  since  the  age  of  two. 

Laura  was  a  quiet  child  and  sometimes  a 


100 


■  THE  BRAILLE  MONITOR 


little  overwhelmed  by  crowds,  but  if  she 
found  kindergarten  frightening,  she  never 
let  me  know.  She  made  many  new  friends; 
and  for  her,  that  was  the  best  part  of  start- 
ing to  school. 

Both  children  when  tiny  had  accepted 
my  blindness  as  normal  and  okay.  I  carried 
a  white  cane  and  used  it  to  find  steps,  curbs, 
and  other  obstacles  when  we  went  away 
from  home.  We  rode  on  buses  and  in  taxi- 
cabs  more  than  some  people,  because  I  did 
not  drive  a  car.  I  read  Braille  with  my  fin- 
gers, while  others  read  print  with  their  eyes. 
That's  about  all  there  was  to  it.  If  the  chil- 
dren had  a  toy  to  be  fixed  or  a  question  to 
be  answered,  I  was  the  first  person  they 
asked  to  do  it.  Sometimes  I  couldn't  or 
wouldn't  do  what  they  asked,  but  most  of 
the  time  1  could  and  did. 

When  Laura  started  to  school,  she  began 
to  hear  some  different  things  about  blind- 
ness. I  can  only  guess  what  happened.  Some- 
one must  have  said  to  her,  "I'll  bet  you're  a 
big  help  to  your  mommy,  aren't  you?"  At 
first  she  must  have  smiled  and  nodded 
proudly.  Then  she  began  to  understand  they 
were  saying  that  something  about  her  mom- 
my was  different.  Someone  must  have 
pointed  her  out  on  the  playground  and  said 
in  a  whisper,  "That  little  girl's  mother  is 
blind."  And  soon  I  became  aware  of  a 
change  in  her  attitude  toward  my  blindness. 

One  day  when  Laura  was  helping  me  find 
a  spool  of  red  thread  in  the  sewing  machine 
drawer,  she  said  to  me,  "Mommy,  I  wish  you 
could  see." 

"Well,  so  do  I,  if  I  ever  think  about  it,"  I 
answered.  "But  why  do  you  bring  it  up?" 

"Well — "  She  couldn't  quite  find  the 
words  to  say  what  she  meant.  "Well,  then  1 
might  not  have  to  help  you  so  much." 

I  began  to  understand  what  was  happen- 
ing to  her.  I  thought  a  minute;  then  I  took 
her  on  my  lap. 

"I  have  some  Braille  labels  for  the  thread 
and  for  the  cans  of  fruit  and  vegetables  in 
the  kitchen,"  I  told  her.  "We  can  put  them 
on,  and  then  you  won't  have  to  help  me 
with    those    things    anymore."    Chris  and 


Laura  regarded  it  as  a  real  privilege  to 
choose  fruit  or  vegetables  for  dinner,  so  she 
didn't  Uke  that  idea  very  much.  Laura  was 
a  Httle  confused. 

"I  just  wish  you  could  see  like  other  peo- 
ple," she  said.  It  had  never  bothered  her  be- 
fore, so  something  or  someone  at  school,  it 
seemed  to  me,  must  have  made  Laura  think 
bUndness  was  a  problem.  I  gave  her  a  hug 
and  told  her  not  to  worry  about  it. 

"You  know  better  than  most  people,"  I 
said,  "that  blindness  isn't  really  as  big  a 
problem  as  people  think  it  is."  I  knew, 
though,  that  I  needed  to  get  busy  and  help 
the  people  at  school  learn  some  things  about 
blindness. 

The  PTA  scheduled  an  ice  cream  social 
in  October.  1  baked  brownies  for  it,  and  we 
went.  When  we  walked  in  the  door,  no  one 
knew  what  to  do.  One  woman  tried  to  drag 
us  through  a  line  backwards.  Another  was 
so  worried  about  how  we  would  get  our  ice 
cream  and  cake  that  we  could  hardly  get 
her  to  sell  us  tickets.  Others  ignored  us  com- 
pletely when  we  tried  to  get  directions.  I 
felt  like  a  ghost  or  a  body  from  outer  space. 
No  one  was  able  to  converse  with  me  like  a 
nonnal  human  being.  But  we  did  get  our 
ice  cream  and  cake.  We  sat  down  and  ate 
them  and  left.  I  knew  1  must  do  more  than 
that  if  my  children's  attitudes  about  blind- 
ness were  not  to  be  totally  ruined. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  quarter,  parents 
go  to  the  school  for  conferences.  Laura's 
teacher  said  my  daughter  was  doing  fine- 
there  were  no  problems  in  school.  The 
teacher  was  a  little  uneasy  about  the  blind- 
ness, so  I  asked  her  if  she  would  like  me  to 
come  and  talk  to  the  class  about  Braille  and 
bUndness  sometime.  This  pleased  the  teach- 
er, and  she  also  wanted  Laura  to  bring  a 
book  with  Braille  in  it  that  she  could  show 
to  the  class.  This,  I  thought,  would  help 
Laura  understand  that  people  who  know 
little  or  nothing  about  blindness  are  curious. 
It  did. 

By  the  time  I  actually  went  to  the  school 
to  talk,  the  project  had  broadened,  and  I 
was  asked  to  speak  to  the  entire  school, 
two  grades  at  a  time.  The  students  loved  it 


APRIL  1978  ■ 


101 


and  had  lots  of  questions-things  their  teach- 
ers would  have  been  embarrassed  to  ask. 
"Why  do  your  eyes  wiggle?"  "Do  you  have 
school  books  in  Braille?"  "How  do  you  get 
to  work?"  1  assumed  the  teachers  were  lis- 
tening, and  I  told  the  kids  what  1  wanted 
them  and  their  teachers  to  know. 

I  told  them,  for  instance,  that  the  fact 
that  I  (and  others)  are  blind  is  not  a  big 
problem,  that  the  problems  we  face  are  a 
result  of  the  fact  that  so  many  people  who 
can  see  think  blind  people  cannot  do  all 
kinds  of  things  that  we  really  can  do.  It 
made  good  sense  to  the  kids,  as  is  often 
the  case.  It  helped  the  teachers  also,  and 
they  were  genuine  in  their  thanks  for  a 
presentation  that  was  helpful  to  the  kids. 

Since  then  I  have  been  to  the  school  many 
times.  I  am  much  better  acquainted  with  the 
teachers  and  parents  and  many  of  the  kids. 
Many  of  them  think  of  me  as  the  blind  lady, 
but  they  don't  worry  about  it.  We  have  had 
birthday  parties  and  Easter  egg  hunts  at  our 
house.  I  have  helped  with  Laura's  Blue  Bird 
Club,  and  we  had  a  club  meeting  at  our 
house.  Kids  float  in  and  out  regularly,  espe- 
cially when  the  weather  is  nice. 

Chris  is  now  in  kindergarten,  and  Laura 
is  in  second  grade.  Some  things  are  very 
much  different.  After  the  first  few  weeks 
of  school,  Chris  came  home  and  told  me, 


"My  teacher  says  I  can  bring  a  Braille  book 
to  school  tomorrow  if  I  want  to."  This  is 
the  same  teacher  who  taught  Laura  in  kin- 
dergarten. Chris  was  pleased  to  be  asked  to 
do  that. 

Somehow,  the  whole  neighborhood  seems 
more  friendly. 

I  have  always  tried  to  teach  my  children 
to  respect  their  teachers  and  baby-sitters. 
Now  I  must  teach  them  that,  at  least  with 
respect  to  blindness,  they  have  more  knowl- 
edge and  experience  than  many  adults  they 
will  meet.  It  is  risky  to  tell  children  that  is 
so  about  anything  at  such  a  young  age.  Yet 
it  is  important  to  me  and  to  them  that  their 
thinking  about  blindness  remain  what  it  is. 
Laura  helps  me  with  the  grocery  shopping, 
just  as  she  helps  clean  up  her  room,  Chris 
helps  take  care  of  the  dog,  just  as  he  helps 
sort  socks  in  the  laundry.  Blindness  is  a 
characteristic.  It  is  not  to  be  forgotten  or 
ignored,  but  it  is  only  a  characteristic. 

Mothers  make  their  kids  keep  dirt  out- 
doors (if  they  can).  Mothers  prepare  meals. 
Mothers  don't  Hke  kids  to  fight.  Mothers 
sometimes  have  money  kids  can  help  spend. 
Sometimes  mothers  make  rules  kids  don't 
like.  Sometimes  mothers  help  make  kids 
feel  better  when  they  have  a  problem.  Blind 
mothers  are  like  other  mothers.  My  kids 
know  it,  and  their  friends  know  it.  D 


THE   NFS  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  WINS  A  VICTORY 
FOR  THE   BLIND  OF  THE   NATION 

by  TED  YOUNG 


When  everyone-including  the  top  offi- 
cials and  attorneys  of  a  federal  department- 
says  you  are  wrong,  they  must  know  what 
they're  talking  about,  right?  Not  if  you  have 
the  conviction  and  determination  of  a  Fed- 
erationist  and  a  movement  to  support  you. 
Let  me  explain. 

In  1973  the  Social  Security  Administra- 
tion held  meetings  throughout  the  country 
to  explain  the  new  Supplemental  Security 
Income  (SSI)  program.  In  Pennsylvania  we 
sent  representatives  to  these  meetings.  We 


were  concerned  that  since  our  state  had  a 
liberal  federal-state  blind  pension  program, 
bhnd  Pennsylvanians  might  lose  income  or 
other  benefits  when  SSI  went  into  effect. 

"Fear  not,"  came  the  word  from  Social 
Security;  "the  new  program  has  a  'grand- 
father clause'  to  ensure  that  no  one  will  lose 
benefits." 

Having  a  healthy  pessimism  about  prom- 
ises made  by  administrators  of  income  main- 
tenance programs,  we  obtained  the  Social 
Security   Act   and   read   this  "grandfather 


102 


•  THE  BRAILLE  MONITOR 


clause."  Sure  enough,  there  it  was.  Section 
1611(g)  guaranteed  that,  with  respect  tore- 
sources,  eligibility  for  SSI  would  be  deter- 
mined using  the  same  method  as  the  former 
state  plan.  And  regarding  the  amount  of  in- 
come that  would  be  disregarded  in  deter- 
mining SSI  eligibility,  section  1611(h)  stated 
that  it  would  be,  at  the  least,  the  maximum 
amount  of  earned  or  unearned  income  that 
could  have  been  disregarded  under  the  for- 
mer state  plan.  (The  apphcability  of  these 
two  clauses  depended  on  your  having  lived 
continuously  in  the  state  since  1973,  and 
having  been  eligible  under  the  state  plan.) 
Then  came  the  fiasco  called  implementa- 
tion. In  January  1974,  with  no  warning, 
many  blind  Pennsylvanians  suffered  de- 
creases in  their  benefits  or  total  loss  of  them. 
Contrary  to  the  practice  of  the  former  pro- 
gram, blind  people  found  that  even  small 
amounts  of  income  earned  by  their  spouses 
acted  to  reduce  benefits.  Those  who  had 
been  getting  the  highest  amount  possible 
under  the  former  program  now  found  their 
checks  reduced  by  one  third  if  they  lived 
with  parents  or  other  relatives.  Working 
blind  people  had  their  grants  reduced  or 
terminated  altogether. 

In  short,  there  was  a  total  mess;  and  the 
Federation  advised  the  Social  Security  Ad- 
ministration that  its  promises  had  been 
empty.  We  finally  persuaded  the  regional 
commissioner  to  hold  meetings  with  our 
representatives. 

The  Social  Security  Administration  now 
put  forth  another  interpretation  of  the 
"grandfather  clause."  It  was  that  no  blind 
person  would  receive  less  in  benefits  than 
he  received  in  December  1973  unless  it  was 
necessary  to  apply  rules  of  the  new  program, 
such  as  those  concerning  the  income  of  a 
spouse  or  those  pertaining  to  living  in  a 
room-and-board  situation. 

We  disagreed  and  said  that  Social  Security 
had  no  right  to  apply  new  rules  to  those  who 
had  been  "grandfathered"  in.  We  argued 
further  that  section  1611(h)  required  the 
income  of  those  who  were  "grandfathered" 
in  to  be  calculated  with  the  fonnula  of 
the  former  program,  including  the  person's 


special  needs.  When  it  was  obvious  that 
agreement  was  impossible,  we  decided  to  go 
to  court. 

In  late  1974,  Community  Legal  Services, 
in  Philadelphia,  provided  us  the  excellent 
assistance  of  Linda  Bernstein,  a  most  capa- 
ble attorney.  We  held  one  more  meeting 
with  Social  Security.  The  regional  commis- 
sioner and  officials  from  the  main  office 
in  Baltimore  declared  that  we  were  wrong 
and  that  the  only  way  they  would  change 
their  opinion  was  if  a  court  forced  them  to. 
We  instituted  a  class  action  suit. 

The  federal  district  court  stated  that  it 
could  not  rule  on  all  of  the  cases  brought 
before  it  since  most  of  the  plaintiffs  had  not 
"exhausted  their  administrative  remedies." 
But  ruUng  on  the  case  of  the  one  plaintiff 
who  had  done  so,  the  court  said  that  our 
interpretation  of  the  act  was  correct.  Final- 
ly, the  court  questioned  whether  it  was 
proper  for  the  Federation  to  be  a  plaintiff 
and  whether  a  class  action  could  be  brought 
in  this  situation. 

The  Social  Security  Administration  ap- 
pealed the  single  ruling  in  our  favor,  and  we 
appealed  on  behalf  of  the  other  plaintiffs, 
as  well  as  for  the  right  of  the  Federation  to 
be  a  plaintiff,  and  for  the  right  to  bring  a 
class  action.  We  pointed  out  that  Social  Se- 
curity's top  officials  and  attorneys  had  al- 
ready made  a  decision  on  the  issues  and 
that  it  would  be  a  painful  and  unnecessary 
burden  if  all  the  plaintiffs  had  to  go  through 
the  long  administrative  process  only  to  ob- 
tain the  same  negative  decision.  In  the 
words  of  Linda  Bernstein,  "Exhaustion  of 
remedies  is  exhausting." 

In  October  1977,  the  case  was  heard  by 
the  U.S.  court  of  appeals.  The  court  ruled 
in  our  favor  on  every  one  of  the  issues.  In- 
deed, the  case  has  national  significance  and 
goes  far  beyond  the  question  of  SSI:  The 
court  stated  for  the  first  time  that,  with 
regard  to  legislative  questions,  the  individ- 
ual need  not  exhaust  all  administrative  rem- 
edies before  seeking  judicial  relief. 

Where  are  we  now?  The  Social  Security 
Administration  can  take  one  last  step  and 


APRIL  1978  ■ 


103 


appeal  to  the  U.S.  Supreme  Court.  It  may 
choose  to  do  tliis  because  of  the  national 
precedent  mentioned  above.  The  Supreme 
Court  may  refuse  to  hear  the  case,  which 
would  automatically  affirm  the  decision 
of  the  lower  court.  Of  course,  the  Supreme 
Court  can  hear  the  case  and  overrule  the 
favorable  decision,  but  we  believe  this  will 
not  happen  and  that  we  will  prevail. 

In  the  event  that  no  appeal  is  filed  or  that 
we  win  at  the  Supreme  Court  level,  there  is 
still  much  work  to  be  done.  We  need  to  sit 
down  with  Social  Security  and  work  out 
procedures  for  implementing  the  decision. 


arranging  for  retroactive  payments  to  those 
who  did  not  receive  the  proper  grants,  and 
ensuring  that  all  future  payments  will  be  in 
accordance  with  the  policies  of  the  former 
federal-state  blind  pension  program. 

Let  those  who  ask,  "Why  the  National 
Federation  of  the  Blind?"  take  note  of  this 
case  and  its  far-reaching  consequences.  With- 
out our  movement  we  would  never  have 
achieved  the  sense  of  self-confidence  that 
enabled  us  to  stand  up  when  we  knew  we 
were  right.  From  past  achievements  we  gain 
strength,  and  from  this  achievement  we  will 
proceed  with  more  strength.  D 


ACCOMPLISHMENT   IN    IOWA:   THE   ANNUAL    REPORT 
OF   THE   IOWA   COMMISSION    FOR   THE   BLIND 


The  Iowa  Commission  for  the  Blind  has 
issued  its  report  for  fiscal  year  1977.  The 
report  is  called  "Accomphshment,"  and  the 
title  is  appropriate.  For  one  thing,  fiscal  1977 
marks  the  20th  year  the  Commission  has 
been  directed  by  Kenneth  Jernigan,  and  the 
annual  report  is  a  good  summary  of  the 
strides  made  during  that  time.  Federationists 
are  famihar  with  the  basic  statistics  about 
the  Iowa  program.  In  1957  it  was  the  worst 
in  the  nation  (in  terms  of  rehabilitations 
per  100,000  population).  It  consisted  of  a 
handful  of  employees  operating  out  of 
three  rooms.  Now  the  program  employs 
over  100  people  and  occupies  a  seven-story 
building.  In  1957  there  were  12  rehabilita- 
tions (as  opposed  to  more  than  ten  times 
that  many  in  1977).  There  were  no  library 
services.  Now  the  Iowa  Commission  contains 
the  largest  library  for  the  blind  in  the  world- 
several  times  the  largest.  The  program  has 
become  a  model  to  the  rest  of  the  country. 
The  former  Commissioner  of  the  federal 
Rehabilitation  Services  Administration  ap- 
pointed Dr.  Jernigan  a  special  consultant  on 
programs  for  the  blind. 

A  great  deal  of  the  credit  for  this  growth 
is  given  to  Kenneth  Jernigan,  but  he  would 
be  the  first  to  point  out  that  it  was  possible 
only  because  of  two  factors.  During  the  last 
20  years,  the  organized  blind  movement  in 


Iowa  has  grown  steadily  in  numbers  and 
strength  (at  even  a  faster  rate  than  it  has 
grown  throughout  the  country).  The  sup- 
port of  an  active  and  enlightened  consumer 
population  has  provided  the  backbone  of 
the  program.  Blind  lowans  have  enlisted 
the  support  of  the  general  pubHc  and  the 
state  legislature.  This  has  created  the  con- 
text in  which  the  philosophy  of  the  Com- 
mission programs  could  operate. 

And  of  course  it  is  the  Federation  phil- 
osophy exemplified  in  the  Commission's 
programs  that  has  made  possible  the  nota- 
ble accompUshments  of  blind  lowans.  As 
the  annual  reports  says: 

"It  is  respectable  to  be  bUnd.  This  state- 
ment cannot  be  emphasized  too  strongly  or 
made  too  often.  A  great  percentage  of  the 
population  (blind  as  well  as  sighted)  still  do 
not  believe  it.  The  Commission's  job?  Make 
it  a  reality— otherwise,  nothing  else  counts. 
Everything  depends  on  it-self-confidence, 
belief,  skills,  techniques,  the  courage  and 
the  will  to  venture. 

"The  Orientation  staff  at  the  Iowa  Com- 
mission for  the  Blind  not  only  develop  new 
techniques  and  improve  old  ones;  they  also 
teach  the  hundreds  of  proved  ones  to  new 
students.  It  would  be  impossible  for  a  sin- 
gle individual  to  devise  or  think  of  all  these 
on  his  or  her  own.  By  attending  the  Center, 


104 


■  THE   BRAILLE  MONITOR 


the  student  can  quickly  learn  long  cane 
travel,  Braille,  typing,  the  use  of  the  abacus, 
wood  and  metal  work,  personal  grooming 
and  hairstyUng,  cooking  and  shopping  tech- 
niques, and  other  skills. 

"More  important,  the  student  must  learn 
new  attitudes  about  blindness.  It  may  be 
on  a  field  trip  around  a  campfire;  it  may  be 
water  skiing,  woodcutting,  or  attending 
meetings  or  visiting  programs  for  the  blind 
in  another  state;  or  it  may  be  sitting  in  the 
recreation  room  at  the  Center,  talking  with 
a  fellow  student  or  staff  members,  or  cook- 
ing meat  on  a  charcoal  grill.  The  where 
doesn't  matter.  The  critical  thing  is  for  the 
bUnd  person  to  come  to  have  belief  in  him- 
self, to  realize  that  he  can  be  self-supporting, 
to  learn  that  he  can  give  as  well  as  take,  to 
be  glad  that  he  can  have  responsibilities-to 
dream  the  impossible  dream." 

Another  section  of  the  report  explores 
what  it  means  to  base  the  training  of  skills 
on  the  philosophy  that  it  is  "respectable  to 
be  blind."  It  shows  that  the  rehabilitation 
of  attitudes  can  be  a  subtle  thing,  but  over- 
whelmingly important.  The  discussion  ac- 
companies the  picture  of  a  blind  woman 
wearing  sleepshades  and  operating  a  power 
saw.  It  reads  as  follows: 

"Blindness  won't  keep  her  from  operating 
a  saw.  Don't  underrate  her  cut.  Blindfolds 
(called  sleepshades)  are  used  in  class  by 
those  students  with  some  remaining  vision, 
to  overcome  false  dependence  on  inadequate 
sight  and  to  learn  faster  the  alternative  tech- 
niques of  blindness.  If  the  individual  con- 
tinues to  try  to  use  visual  techniques  (even 
though  they  are  inadequate  to  her),  she  will 
probably  not  learn  blind  techniques  at  all. 
Also,  if  she  has  10  percent  or  less  remaining 
vision  (the  generally  accepted  definition  of 
blindness)  and  learns  (without  blindfold)  to 
operate  a  power  saw  or  some  other  tool, 
she  will  likely  think  the  reason  she  can  do 
it  is  because  she  still  has  some  sight.  She 
wonders  what  will  happen  if  she  loses  any 
or  all  of  the  remainder. 

"If,  on  the  other  hand,  she  blindfolds 
herself  and  learns  that  she  can  function  with 
safety  and  efficiency  in  the  manner  of  a 


totally  blind  person,  it  tends  to  remove  the 
fear.  When  the  techniques  have  been  learned 
to  reflex  perfection,  she  can  remove  the 
sleepshades  and  use  the  combination  of 
visual  and  blind  techniques  best  suited  to 
her  own  personal  need.  Her  willingness  to 
undergo  such  training  will  depend  almost 
entirely  on  whether  she  perceives  it  as  'rele- 
vant' to  her  situation-which,  in  turn,  will 
largely  be  determined  by  whether  her  in- 
structors have  the  experience  and  maturity 
to  see  the  'relevance.'  If  the  atmosphere  is 
such  that  the  student  must  be  'required'  to 
wear  the  sleepshades,  use  a  cane,  or  employ 
any  other  technique,  the  value  is  probably 
already  lost.  At  the  heart  of  the  matter  are 
the  subtle  and  often  unrecognized  attitudes 
about  what  blindness  really  is  and  what  it 
really  means-whether  the  blind  person  can 
truly  compete  on  terms  of  equality,  whether 
she  can  actually  perform  as  well  as  others, 
and  whether  she  can  really  be  a  full-tledged 
first-class  citizen  with  all  the  rights  and  privi- 
leges and  also  with  all  of  the  responsibilities. 
Here,  in  this  crucial  area,  many  professionals 
in  the  field  fall  short  (often  without  even 
knowing  it)  and  do  much  damage.  They  lack 
understanding  and  skill.  Even  more,  they 
lack  belief  that  the  blind  can  truly  achieve 
a  full  life  and  real  accomplishment." 

The  annual  report  notes  a  number  of 
honors  granted  to  Dr.  Jernigan  during  1977. 
Some  of  these  have  been  reported  in  the 
Monitor,  but  one  very  signal  honor  has  not. 
The  following  letter  gives  the  details: 

"NATIONAL  COMMISSION  ON  LIBRARIES 
AND  INFORMATION  SCIENCE, 
Washington.  DC.  January  24.  1977. 
"Mr.  KENNETH  JERNIGAN. 
Director.  Iowa  Commission  for  the  BUnd. 
Des  Moines.  Iowa. 

"DEAR  MR.  JERNIGAN:  1  am  pleased  to 
inform  you  that  the  President  [of  the  United 
States]  has  appointed  you  to  the  Advisory 
Committee  to  the  White  House  Conference 
on  Library  and  Information  Services. 

"This  Committee,  established  in  Public 
Law  93-568,  has  the  responsibility  of  assist- 
ing and  advising  the  National  Commission 
on   Libraries  and    Information  Science  in 


APRIL  1978  ■ 


105 


planning  and  conducting  the  White  House 
Conference  on  Library  and  Information 
Services.  Tiie  purpose  of  the  Conference  is 
'to  develop  recommendations  for  the  fur- 
ther improvement  of  the  nation's  library 
and  information  centers  and  their  use  by  the 
public' 

"Sincerely. 

"ALPHONSE  F.  TREZZA, 
"Executive  Director. " 

This  appointment  recognized  more  than 
the  vitality  of  Iowa's  programs  for  the 
blind.  It  was  a  recognition  of  the  important 
role  of  the  National  Federation  of  the  Blind, 
and  of  Dr.  Jernigan  as  its  National  Presi- 
dent, in  improving  library  services  to  the 
blind.  Dr.  Jernigan  is  the  sole  representative 
from  the  field  of  blindness.  This  appoint- 
ment was  a  welcome  acknowledgement  that 
if  you  solicit  the  input  of  the  president  of 
the  largest  organization  of  the  blind— repre- 
senting consumers  in  all  areas  of  the  coun- 
try—you gain  the  collective  expertise  of 
those  most  directly  acquainted  with  library 
services  to  the  blind. 

A  similar  recognition  noted  in  the  annual 
report  was  a  request  to  Dr.  Jernigan  to  be  a 
special  advisor  to  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion. As  the  letter  of  invitation  stated: 

"We  would  like  you  to  advise  us,  not  only 
on  our  own  programs  within  the  Smithsoni- 
an, but  also  to  advise  on  program  develop- 
ment nationally.  .  .  .  The  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution has  been  asked  by  the  Bureau  of 
Education  for  the  Handicapped,  U.S.  Office 
of  Education,  to  write  guidelines  that  all 
museums  in  the  United  States  can  use  in 
implementing  programs  for  handicapped 
visitors.  We  believe  that  the  programs  and 
philosophy  of  the  Iowa  Commission  for 
the  Blind  should  be  applied  to  museums, 
and  that  your  help  and  advice  are  essential 
for  the  successful  implementation  of  muse- 
um programs  for  the  blind  throughout  the 
nation." 

With  recognition  and  opportunity  come 
responsibility.  This  was  discussed  by  Dr. 
Jernigan  in  a  guest  editorial  that  appeared 
in  an  Iowa  newspaper  and  was  reprinted  as 


part  of  the  Commission's  annual  report. 
Some  excerpts  from  this  are  a  good  sum- 
mary of  the  experience  in  Iowa,  and  this 
experience  applies  as  well  to  the  rest  of  the 
nation.  The  editorial  reads  as  follows: 

"When  Iowa's  new  programs  for  the  blind 
were  inaugurated  in  1^58,  the  problems  were 
difficult-but  they  were  of  a  different  nature 
from  those  facing  the  blind  today. 

"A  building  had  to  be  found  for  the 
Commission  for  the  Blind;  a  staff  had  to  be 
assembled  and  trained;  and  blind  persons 
had  to  be  encouraged  to  self-confidence  and 
belief  and  be  given  instruction  in  skills  and 
techniques. 

"The  governor,  the  legislature,  and  the 
general  public  had  to  be  persuaded  to  pro- 
vide the  money  and  support  to  make  the 
programs  possible. 

"Difficult  problems,  but  essentially  non- 
controversial.  On  the  surface  there  was  no 
violation  of  traditional  notions  about  ex- 
tending a  helping  hand  to  the  blind  and  the 
fact  that  the  blind  needed  that  helping  hand. 

"In  those  days  (almost  20  years  ago)  it 
was  not  uncommon  for  passersby  to  watch 
with  tears  in  their  eyes  as  blind  persons 
learned  to  use  their  canes  to  cross  streets 
and  go  independently  through  busy  traffic. 

"So  the  program  was  launched  in  an  at- 
mosphere of  general  acclaim.  .  .  .  Then, 
something  started  happening.  Trained  for 
full  participation  in  community  life,  the 
bUnd  began  to  seek  it^talking  not  just 
about  gratitude  but  also  about  their  rights 
as  citizens. 

"They  called  denial  of  equal  consideration 
for  jobs  discrimination-they  asked  that 
they  receive  insurance  on  equal  terms  with 
others  unless  it  could  be  shown  that  they 
were  a  greater  risk,  and  the  State  Insurance 
Commissioner  agreed  and  issued  the  rule. 

"They  asked  for  equal  rights  in  the  ren- 
tal and  purchase  of  housing,  attendance  at 
educational  institutions,  use  of  public  trans- 
portation, and  access  to  all  public  accom- 
modations available  to  others. 

"And  this  is  the  source  of  the  problem. 
This  new  role  of  the  blind  is  taking  some 


106 


•  THE  BRAILLE   MONITOR 


'getting  used  to'  on  the  part  of  the  public. 

"Some  of  the  very  insurance  companies 
and  landlords  and  employers  who  supported 
the  training  programs  that  led  inevitably  to 
the  present  insistence  of  the  blind  that  they 
be  allowed  to  participate  are  now  resenting 
the  results. 

"In  effect  they  are  saying.  The  blind  are 
getting  too  pushy.  They  should  stay  in  their 
place.'  .  .  . 

"There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  free  lunch, 
so  the  blind  will  have  to  pay  for  the  new 
freedom  they  seek.  They  will  have  to  be 
willing  to  assume  responsibilities  as  well  as 
rights.  They  will  have  to  give  up  the  security 
of  being  taken  care  of  and  the  countless 


little  privileges  which  they  have  enjoyed. 

"The  public,  too.  will  have  to  give  up 
some  of  its  cherished  traditions-the  pleas- 
ure of  treating  the  blind  like  pets  and  chil- 
dren instead  of  equal  members  of  the  com- 
munity-its feeling  of  superiority. 

"But  what  an  exciting  and  challenging 
opportunity!  It  has  never  happened  in  any 
state  or  nation  before.  Iowa  has  the  chance 
to  take  another  step  in  leadership  and  pio- 
neering. The  blind  are  ready,  and  we  believe 
the  public  is  ready. 

"The  future  looks  better  for  the  blind 
in  Iowa  today  than  it  has  ever  looked  at 
any  other  time  or  any  other  place  in  the  en- 
tire history  of  the  world."  D 


MARYLAND   LEGISLATURE   HONORS 
PRESIDENT   SANDERS   AND   THE   FEDERATION 


On  January  11,  1978.  the  House  of  Dele- 
gates of  the  Maryland  Legislature  passed 
a  unanimous  resolution  that  read  as  follows: 

"OFFICIAL  CITATION 

"Be  it  hereby  known  to  all  that  the  House 
of  Delegates  of  Maryland  offers  its  sincerest 
congratulations  to  Mr.  Ralph  W.  Sanders  in 
recognition  of  his  election  to  the  presidency 
of  the  National  Federation  of  the  Blind,  the 
largest  organization  serving  the  blind  in  this 
country." 

It  is  a  tradition  with  the  Federation  that 
the  leaders  we  elect  lend  honor  to  the  office 
of  President,  and  that  the  NFB  presidency 
lends  honor  to  those  who  occupy  it.  The 
resolution  passed  by  the  Maryland  House 
of  Delegates  indicates  that  the  tradition 
continues.  The  Federation  is  strong  in 
Maryland,  and  as  the  result  of  contacts, 
legislative  dinners,  and  public  education. 
Maryland  legislators  are  aware  of  who  we 
are  and  what  it  means  to  be  chosen  our 
President. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  legislature  is 
becoming  well  aware  of  the  qualities  of 
Ralph  Sanders.  In  the  short  period  since  he 
came  to  the  state  to  take  charge  of  services 


to  the  adult  blind,  as  president  of  Bhnd 
Industries  and  Services  of  Maryland  (BISM), 
the  state's  programs  in  a  number  of  areas 
have  been  completely  turned  around.  A 
series  of  A/on/7or  articles  discussed  the  prob- 
lems that  plagued  BISM  prior  to  October 
1975  when  Ralph  Sanders  was  named  presi- 
dent. 

Some  of  the  problems  grew  out  of  the 
arrangement  of  state  services  -for  instance. 
BISM.  which  manages  three  sheltered  plants, 
the  vending  stand  program,  and  some  other 
services  to  the  adult  blind,  is  separate  from 
the  state  rehabilitation  program  with  its  job 
placement  staff.  This  problem,  which  still 
exists,  makes  it  hard  for  BISM  to  move 
blind  workers  into  private  industry.  But  in 
1975,  the  problems  extended  beyond  the 
confusion  caused  by  organizational  struc- 
ture. An  audit  called  for  by  the  governor 
found  misuse  of  funds  and  general  misman- 
agement. The  whole  operation  was  close  to 
bankruptcy. 

Since  then,  however,  BISM  has  progressed 
steadily  and  quickly.  In  1975,  the  average 
wage  of  shopworkers  was  $1.79  per  hour, 
and  some  workers  received  as  little  as  51 
cents  an  hour.  Today  the  average  wage  in 


APRIL  1978  ■ 


107 


BISM's  three  plants  is  $2.86  an  hour,  and 
no  worker  receives  less  than  $2.65  an  hour. 

In  1975,  one  section  of  BISM  performed 
endless  and  meaningless  work  evaluation 
(particularly  meaningless  since  it  led  to  noth- 
ing but  subminimum  wages  and  placement 
in  the  workshop).  Today  this  unit  is  the 
rehabilitation  division,  which  teaches  inde- 
pendent living  skills.  The  vending  program 


remains  one  of  the  best  in  the  country  in 
terms  of  wages  and  independence  of  the 
vendors.  The  overall  budget  of  BISM  has  in- 
creased from  $3  million  to  $5  million. 

The  key  to  this  progress,  as  in  Iowa  and 
a  growing  number  of  other  states,  is  that 
the  programs  are  based  on  Federation  phil- 
osphy  and  supported  by  the  blind  consum- 
ers of  services.  D 


IN   THE   JURY   BOX 

by   MARY  BARBER 


[Note:  The  January  1978  Monitor  pub- 
lished the  story  of  Jim  Nelson's  efforts  to 
serve  on  a  jury  panel  in  Virginia.  The  road 
to  removing  prejudice  against  the  blind  in 
the  legal  system  has  been  a  long  one.  In 
Hope  Deferred,  the  study  of  public  welfare 
and  the  blind  written  by  Jacobus  tenBroek 
and  Floyd  Matson  and  published  in  1959, 
the  following  case  was  cited: 

["A  superior  court  judge,  duly  elected  by 
the  voters  of  his  county,  was  threatened 
with  disqualification— not  on  the  ground  of 
bad  character,  inexperience,  or  lack  of 
knowledge  (he  had  been  a  police  court  judge 
and  justice  of  the  peace  for  eleven  years)  — 
but  on  the  ground  that  he  was  blind.  Im- 
mediately after  his  election  a  bill  was  intro- 
duced into  the  state  legislature  to  disqualify 
blind  persons  from  sitting  as  judges  in  any 
court  of  record  in  the  state." 

(The  situation  has  improved  since  then, 
yet  instances  of  this  type  of  discrimination 
have  continued  through  the  years.  The  Feb- 
ruary 1976  Monitor  reported  the  decision 
of  a  Washington  State  superior  court  judge 
who  ruled  that  the  decision  of  a  state  human 
rights  commission  tribunal  was  invalid  be- 
cause the  tribunal  included  a  blind  woman, 
Federationist  Sue  Ammeter.  The  judge  de- 
clared: "A  person  who  is  legally  blind  is 
not  qualified  to  serve  as  a  fact-finding  tri- 
bunal member."  The  decision  spurred  the 
NFB  in  Washington  to  seek  a  state  law  pro- 
tecting the  right  of  blind  persons  to  serve 
on  juries,  a  project  that  was  successful. 
Recently,  the  NFB  in  California  secured  the 


same  law;  and  again,  the  campaign  grew  out 
of  the  experience  of  a  man  who  was  barred 
from  a  jury  because  he  is  blind. 

[But  as  the  following  article  shows,  we 
are  making  progress,  and  the  end  of  this 
sort  of  ignorant  and  arbitrary  discrimination 
may  be  in  sight.] 

An  opportunity  was  given  to  me  recently 
that  I  would  like  to  share  with  oVatx  Moni- 
tor readers.  In  mid-December  of  1977  I  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  the  district  court  in 
Des  Moines,  Iowa,  saying  that  my  name  had 
been  drawn  for  jury  duty.  I  really  wanted 
to  serve  but  was  unfamiliar  with  the  whole 
procedure. 

I  didn't  know  whether  my  employer,  the 
Des  Moines  public  schools,  would  allow  me 
to  serve.  Also,  people  can  be  excused  on 
the  basis  of  disability  or  other  problems.  So 
I  thought  I  might  not  be  allowed  to  serve 
because  I  am  blind.  The  principal  at  my 
school  encouraged  me  to  serve,  indicating 
that  it  would  be  good  experience.  That 
question  was  solved. 

There  was  a  brief  form  to  fill  out  which 
asked,  among  other  things,  my  occupation, 
my  husband's  occupation,  and  "Do  you 
hear  well?"— nothing  about  vision.  The 
term  of  service  was  from  January  3  to  27. 

I  appeared  at  the  courthouse  on  Janu- 
ary 3,  very  eager  and  not  knowing  what  to 
expect.  Perhaps  they  would  remind  me  that 
I  could  be  excused  because  of  disability,  at 
which  time  I  would  insist  that  I  was  able 
and  willing  to  serve.  Instead,  when  I  stepped 


108 


•  THE   BRAILLE   MONITOR 


up  to  the  clerk's  desk,  a  pamphlet,  juror's 
button,  and  parking  permit  were  routinely 
pushed  toward  me.  No  questions,  no  pro- 
test. 

For  the  next  four  weeks  I  went  about  a 
juror's  business  Hke  everyone  else  in  the 
group:  waiting  around  to  be  called,  going 
into  courtrooms,  answering  attorneys'  ques- 
tions, hearing  witnesses  tell  contradictory 
stories,  and  bringing  back  verdicts. 

During  those  weeks  I  served  on  threejury 
panels:  two  minor  criminal  cases  and  one 
competency  case.  I  was  questioned  for  a 
murder  case;  but  after  two  and  a  half  anx- 
ious days,  I  was  not  selected.  That  was 
rather  disappointing.  Of  course,  lawyers  re- 
ject jurors  for  all  sorts  of  reasons,  but  I 
would  not  rule  out  the  possibility  that 
blindness  was  a  factor.  It  would  be  interest- 


ing to  know  whether  a  blind  person  has 
served  on  a  major  felony  case. 

Considering  the  caseload  that  month,  my 
experience  was  probably  about  average. 
Some  people  in  the  group  had  fewer  cases, 
some  had  more.  It  was  a  very  interesting, 
worthwhile  experience. 

1  hope  I  changed  some  attitudes  by  going 
about  a  juror's  business.  There  was  one 
bailiff  who  thought  it  was  quite  wonderful 
that  I  walked  up  the  stairs  to  the  third  tloor 
where  jurors  were  selected. 

We  still  have  a  way  to  go  in  the  area  of 
jury  service.  I  feel  that  I  gained  as  much 
from  the  court  proceedings  as  the  sighted 
juror  who  sat  next  to  me.  Judges  and  at- 
torneys need  to  know  that  blindness  is 
not  an  impediment  to  bringing  back  a  just 
verdict.  D 


LIZ  WESTON   BEATS  THE   BLUES 


Elizabeth  W.  Weston  died  October  21, 
1977,  at  the  age  of  69.  She  was  a  member 
of  the  Washtenaw  County  Chapter  of  the 
NFS  of  Michigan.  Jan  Clausing  of  that  chap- 
ter sent  the  Monitor  an  obituary  that  had 
appeared  in  the  Ann  Arbor  News.  In  her 
cover  letter  she  wrote:  "Most  of  us  in  this 
area  have  only  gotten  to  know  Liz  well 
within  the  past  year  or  so,  .  .  .  so  we  cannot 
give  you  much  information  as  to  Liz's  past 
role  in  the  Federation.  We  can  tell  you, 
however,  that  we  will  miss  her  very  much. 
Though  she  was  the  oldest  member  of  our 
chapter  by  several  years,  her  spunk,  vigor, 
and  fighting  spirit  equaled,  and  probably 
surpassed,  that  of  our  younger  members. 
Whether  in  support  of  a  general  cause,  or  as 
an  individual  member,  Liz  was  always  will- 
ing to  take  a  stand." 

As  it  happened,  the  NFB's  Washington 
staff  was  in  a  position  to  know  a  good  deal 
about  Liz  Weston's  past  role  in  the  move- 
ment; she  had  been  corresponding  with  us 
for  several  years,  and  her  last  letter  was 
written  shortly  before  her  death.  Her  story 
is  worth  telling. 


Elizabeth  Weston  spent  her  career  as  an 
attorney  for  the  National  Labor  Relations 
Board  in  Washington,  O.C.  She  joined  the 
NLRB  during  the  first  term  of  Franklin 
Roosevelt  and  continued  until  1964.  As  she 
wrote  to  Or.  Jemigan  some  years  later,  "I 
was  blinded  by  optic  nerve  atrophy  at  the 
end  of  1963  and  thereupon  forced  to  retire 
from  active  federal  service  ....  It  was  soon 
after  that  personal  crash  that  a  friend  sent 
me  to  John  and  Virginia  Nagle,  and  I  joined 
the  Federation  and  started  getting  rehabili- 
tated no  thanks  to  the  D.C.  vocational  re- 
habilitation agency." 

Mrs.  Weston  moved  to  Michigan  in  1971. 
She  had  a  small  amount  of  peripheral  vision, 
and  on  the  advice  of  her  doctor,  purchased 
two  hand-held  magnifiers  that  allowed  her 
to  use  this  remaining  vision.  Later,  when 
these  were  no  longer  useful,  she  purchased 
an  Apollo  Electronic  Visual  Aid  (EVA)  a 
closed-circuit  television  magnifying  device. 
She  submitted  the  bills  for  the  hand  mag- 
nifiers, and  later  the  EVA.  to  Blue  Shield 
of  Michigan,  which  administers  the  Medi- 
care program  in  that  state.  Her  request  for 


APRIL  J978  ■ 


109 


repayment  was  denied. 

In  May  1974  she  wrote  to  Perry  Sundquist, 
at  that  time  editor  of  the  Monitor,  as  fol- 
lows: 'i  am  having  a  battle  with  Medicare 
of  Michigan  (which  in  this  state  is  Blue  Cross 
and  Blue  Shield)  over  the  magnifier  issue. 
They  pay  for  crutches,  wheelchairs,  and 
artificial  limbs,  not  to  mention  psychoanal- 
ysis and  lots  of  other  nonsense.  But  not 
one  penny  for  even  my  little  magnifiers  of 
the  type  you  and  I  both  carry  around  with 
us.  White  canes  are  out,  too." 

Mr.  Sundquist  replied :  "I  can  see  that  you 
are  really  mad  at  Blue  Cross-Blue  Shield.  .  .  . 
Stay  mad.  thougli,  Liz-it  becomes  you." 
He  referred  Mrs.  Weston  to  JimGashel,  who 
had  succeeded  John  Nagle  as  Chief  of  the 
NFB  Washington  Office.  Mr.  Gashel  wrote 
to  her,  expanding  on  Perry  Sundquist's  let- 
ter. He  wrote:  "Certainly  I  agree  with  you 
that  the  bhnd  (actually  of  whatever  age) 
encounter  massive  discrimination  in  health 
insurance,  both  public  and  private. . . .  From 
your  letter  I  can  tell  that  you  are  not  one 
to  be  content  with  things  as  they  are  if  you 
can  think  of  a  better  way  to  do  the  job  that 
must  be  done." 

This  was  one  of  Liz  Weston's  notable 
characteristics— she  stayed  mad  and  she  was 
willing  to  take  on  whatever  was  thrown  in 
her  path.  She  wrote  back  to  Jim  Gashel: 

"As  for  discrimination  against  the  bhnd 
in  the  present  Medicare  and  private  insur- 
ance systems,  you  are  quite  right  in  pointing 
out  that  it's  not  confined  to  my  age  group. 
I  do  think  it's  somewhat  more  aggravated 
in  our  case,  however;  because  we're  unem- 
ployable as  a  practical  matter,  hence  ineli- 
gible for  vocational  rehabihtation  assistance 
in  obtaining  such  things  as  visual  aids  and 
other  'hardware.'" 

In  July  1974  Mrs.  Weston  began  to  plan 
an  appeal  of  the  Medicare  refusal  to  pay 
for  her  magnifiers.  She  wrote  to  Jim  Gashel 
again  on  July  23.  The  letter  showed  her 
understanding  of  the  Federation  point  of 
view-the  broad  perspective  rather  than  im- 
mediate personal  gain.  (In  this  and  Mrs. 
Weston's  other  letters,  the  references  to 
"the  Blues"  are  to  Blue  Cross-Blue  Shield.) 


She  wrote,  in  part: 

"[A]s  soon  as  I  get  my  ducks  in  a  row  and 
get  organized,  sometime  within  the  next  six 
months,  I'm  going  to  appeal  this  Medicare 
ruling.  1  almost  hope  they  (i.e.,  the  Blues) 
turn  down  the  appeal,  because  I  might  just 
possibly  have  enough  resources  and  energy 
to  sue  Medicare  of  Michigan  and  the  Blues 
in  the  federal  district  court-I  suppose  that 
would  be  the  right  forum,  since  the  Blues 
purport  to  be  relying  on  federal  legislation 
and  rules.  ...  I  think  I  have  them  dead  to 
rights  legally;  and  if  I  could  sue  and  win  by 
any  chance,  it  might  be  a  helpful  way  of 
calling  public  attention  to  one  more  form  of 
discrimination  against  the  blind  in  general." 

As  the  case  evolved,  it  turned  on  the  legal 
meanings  of  the  terms  "prosthetic  lenses" 
and  "durable  medical  equipment."  In  reject- 
ing Mrs.  Weston's  claim,  Dellmas  Williams 
of  Michigan  Blue  Shield  wrote:  "[A]lthough 
an  item  may  be  classified  as  durable  medi- 
cal equipment,  it  may  not  be  covered  in 
every  instance.  Coverage  is  subject  to  the 
requirement  that  the  equipment  be  neces- 
sary and  reasonable  for  the  treatment  of  an 
illness  or  injury,  or  to  improve  the  function- 
ing of  a  malformed  body  member.  These 
considerations  will  bar  payment  for  equip- 
ment which  cannot  reasonably  be  expected 
to  perform  a  therapeutic  function." 

About  this  response  Mrs.  Weston  com- 
mented: "In  trying  to  convince  me  that  my 
magnifiers  are  outside  the  Social  Security 
definition  of  'medical  equipment,'  Williams 
assumes  two  things  that  are  simply  untrue; 
namely,  that  they  are  'generally  useful  in 
the  absence  of .  .  .  injury,'  and  that  they  are 
not  'necessary  and  reasonable  ...  to  improve 
the  functioning  of  a  malformed  body  mem- 
ber.' As  applied  to  my  damaged  eyes  and 
my  magnifiers,  this  is  utter  nonsense." 

At  her  request,  Jim  Gashel  explored  the 
matter  with  the  Social  Security  Administra- 
tion in  Baltimore.  He  reported  as  follows: 

"The  precise  meaning  of  'prosthetic 
lenses'  is  actually  spelled  out  in  Social  Secu- 
rity Administration  guidelines  for  admini- 
stering the  act.  As  I  read  .  .  .  the  guidelines, 
a  'prosthetic  lens'  must  perform  the  function 


110 


■  THE  BRAILLE   MONITOR 


of  replacing  the  'crystalline  lens  of  the  eye' 
in  order  to  be  covered.  .  .  . 

"As  1  talked  with  personnel  in  the  Bureau 
of  Health  Insurance  in  Baltimore.  I  explored 
the  possibility  that  your  magnifiers  might 
be  covered  under  'durable  medical  equip- 
ment' as  provided  for  in  section  1861  (s)(6) 
of  the  act.  ...  I  argued  that  it  seems  incon- 
sistent for  Medicare  to  approve  the  purchase 
of  wheelchairs,  crutches,  braces,  and  similar 
devices  which  fully  or  partially  restore  a 
lost  body  function,  while  not  approving  the 
purchase  of  magnifiers  which  supplement 
the  sight  of  those  with  impaired  vision. 
Medicare's  response  was:  'This  may  be  so; 
therefore  what  you  should  do  is  tell  the 
Congress  about  it.'  I  responded  that  I  am 
on  speaking  terms  with  some  members  of 
the  Congress  who  could  perhaps  be  of  help, 
but  that  the  administration  of  the  Medicare 
law  concerning  this  matter  seems  somewhat 
restrictive  and  arbitrary.  At  this  point  1  was 
told  that  the  Social  Security  Act  virtually  ex- 
cludes Medicare  coverage  for  'eye  care'  .... 

"Well,  Liz,  there  you  have  the  results  of 
my  investigation  of  this  matter.  I  must  say, 
everyone  I  have  talked  to  (including  persons 
both  inside  and  outside  our  movement)  is 
dubious  concerning  the  success  of  any  ap- 
peal to  get  Medicare  to  cover  the  magnifiers. 
Perhaps,  though,  we  are  dealing  with  a  gray 
area  in  the  law.  Maybe  there  is  a  loophole, 
or  perhaps  you  can  be  successful  in  arguing 
that  these  magnifiers  should  be  regarded  as 
'durable  medical  equipment.'  In  any  event, 
you  are  an  old  government  lawyer,  and  if 
there's  a  way,  you  will  likely  find  it." 

Liz  Weston  was  undaunted.  She  replied: 
"I  agree  with  you  that  my  magnifier  appeal 
doesn't  stand  much  chance.  But  the  initial 
stage  won't  cost  me  much  either,  and  there's 
always  a  chance  that  I  can  smoke  out  a  rul- 
ing which  might  be  helpful  in  future  efforts 
in  behalf  of  blind  people  who  need  some- 
thing more  than  cataract  lenses.  In  any 
event,  it  seems  worth  trying,  if  only  because, 
as  you  say,  magnifiers  for  the  partially 
sighted  are  in  a  gray  area  a  gray  void,  in  my 
curbstone  opinion." 

Two  days  later,  on  August  27,  after  Mrs. 


Weston  had  examined  the  law,  she  wrote 
again:  "Section  1862(a)(7)  is  very  interest- 
ing; and  in  my  opinion  it  has  no  such  scope 
as  those  Social  Security  people  try  to  give 
it.  In  case  you  didn't  keep  a  copy,  it  lists 
the  following  under  the  heading 'Exclusions 
from  Coverage': 

"'(7)  .  .  .  routine  physical  checkups,  eye- 
glasses or  eye  examinations  for  the  purpose 
of  prescribing,  fitting,  or  changing  eye- 
glasses, procedures  performed  (during  the 
course  of  any  eye  examination)  to  deter- 
mine the  refractive  state  of  the  eyes,  hearing 
aids  or  examinations  therefor,  or  immuniza- 
tions .  .  .  .' 

"I'll  be  damned  if  that  excludes  any  kind 
of  'eye  care'  except  for  the  specific  purpose 
of  checking  or  changing  'eyeglasses'-and  I 
wouldn't  think  Social  Security  would  call 
my  magnifiers  'eyeglasses'  just  because  they 
are  made  of  glass. 

"On  the  affirmative  side— well,  if  Social 
Security  could  squeeze  cataract  lenses— cor- 
rection, I  mean  'prosthetic  lenses,'  which 
are  defined  in  terms  which  seem  to  exclude 
everything  but  cataract  lenses-  into  section 
1861  (s)(8),  it  would  be  easy  enough  to  fit 
my  magnifiers  into  that  or  one  of  the  adjoin- 
ing sections.  The  trouble  is,  they  don't  want 
to,  so  they  probably  won't.  I'll  give  them  as 
hard  a  time  as  I  can,  and  that  will  be  that. . . . 
Contrary  to  what  the  man  [you  talked  to] 
said,  there's  no  statutory  basis  for  the  gen- 
eral thumbs-down  attitude  about  'eye  care.' 
That,  I  surmise,  is  just  a  bad  old  habit  of 
the  Blues.  It's  too  bad  that  my  case  is  so 
off-beat  -and  that  the  unit  cost  of  most 
magnifiers  is  too  low  to  be  worth  a  lawsuit." 

The  appeal  dragged  on  for  more  than  two 
years.  As  Mrs.  Weston  wrote  in  March  1977: 

"It's  still  at  the  Blue  Shield  level,  believe 
it  or  not.  A  re-run  of  a  hearing  which  the 
Blues  loused  up  nearly  two  years  ago  is  to 
be  held  here  in  Ann  Arbor  on  Tuesday, 
April  5.  With  my  counsel's  enthusiastic 
approval,  John  Haiverson  is  going  to  sit  in 
and  say  that  tiie  NFB  of  Miciiigan  supports 
my  position.  Neither  one  of  us  will  mention 
the  new  federal-level  NFB  proposal,  but 
we'll  have  it  in  mind  and  won't  compromise 


APRIL  1978  • 


111 


it  either.  The  whole  story  of  this  case  would 
fill  a  book." 

(The  NFB  proposal  Mrs.  Weston  mentions 
is  the  Comprcliensivc  Services  for  the  Blind 
bill  that  was  introduced  in  the  Congress  in 
February  1977.  Among  other  things,  the 
legislation  would  provide  services  and  funds 
for  aids  for  bUnd  persons  not  eligible  for 
vocational  rehabilitation-in  other  words, 
young  blind  persons  and  those  over  age  65. 
This  bill  is  the  Federation's  remedy  for  a 
number  of  problems,  including  Mrs.  Wes- 
ton's. It  is  our  plan  to  seek  to  have  the  pro- 
visions of  the  bill  included  in  the  federal 
Rehabilitation  Act  when  that  act  is  extended 
this  year.) 

Mrs.  Weston's  appeal  was  successful.  As 
hearing  officer  Clarence  Bomheim  wrote, 
on  September  29,  1977: 

"After  an  extensive  and  time-consuming 
investigation,  the  hearing  officer  was  able 
to  establish  that  this  item  could  be  covered 
under  the  State  of  Michigan  Medicaid  Pro- 
gram as  durable  medical  equipment.  It  was 
further  established  that  an  item  similar  to 
the  Apollo,  called  an  'Optacon,'  is  utilized 
by  a  bhnd  legal  clerk  in  the  Flint,  Michigan, 
Social  Security  Administration  Hearings  and 
Appeals  Office.  The  machine  makes  it  possi- 
ble for  totally  blind  persons  to  read  standard 
print.  .  .  . 

"It  does  not  appear  that  the  Apollo  could 
be  classified  as  a  prosthetic  device  since  it 
does  [not]  replace  all  or  part  of  an  internal 
body  organ. 

"However,  by  applying  a  broad  interpre- 
tation of  the  durable  medical  equipment 
rules  of  the  Social  Security  Administration, 
in  this  instant  case  the  Apollo  could  be  con- 
sidered durable  medical  equipment  since  it 
clearly  serves  a  therapeutic  purpose  and 
makes  a  meaningful  contribution  to  the 
treatment  of  the  claimant's  Ulness  or  injury." 

The  hearing  officer  then  reversed  the  de- 
cision of  Blue  Shield  and  authorized  pay- 
ment for  the  Apollo  EVA  and  the  hand-held 
magnifiers.  The  decision  closed  with  the 
following: 


"This  decision  is  applicable  only  to  this 
instant  case  and  is  not  precedent-setting  for 
any  future  claims." 

Despite  the  hearing  officer's  caution,  this 
decision  is  a  real  victory.  It  indicates  that  in 
situations  such  as  Mrs.  Weston's,  Medicare 
can  pay  for  low  vision  aids.  Her  situation 
was  not  peculiar  or  out  of  the  ordinary,  so 
there  is  reason  to  believe  the  same  decision 
will  be  reached  in  other  cases. 

When  she  first  got  word  of  the  decision, 
Mrs.  Weston  wrote  to  John  Halverson,  at 
that  time  president  of  the  NFB  of  Michigan, 
as  follows: 

"DEAR  JOHN:  You  and  Jim  Gashel-to 
whom  I  am  sending  a  copy  of  this  letter- 
will  be  pleased  to  know  that  I  won  my  bat- 
tle with  Medicare  over  magnifiers.  Hands 
down.  Bomheim,  the  hearing  examiner,  held 
that  the  two  little  hand-held  visual  aids,  as 
well  as  the  closed-circuit  TV  magnifier,  are 
covered  by  the  Medicare  B  insurance  as 
'durable  medical  equipment.' 

"It's  a  real  break-through  for  the  partially 
sighted  blind.  Maybe  even  for  the  totally 
bUnd,  since  the  opinion  compares  my  de- 
vices to  the  Optacon, 

"Not  that  I've  seen  the  opinion  yet.  It 
just  came  through  Friday  afternoon,  and 
Maxine  Virtue  [Mrs.  Weston's  attorney]  read 
it  to  me  over  the  telephone.  Despite  the 
favorable  signals  we  all  picked  up  at  that 
April  5  hearing,  Maxine  was  beginning  to 
get  worried  about  the  delay.  She  figured 
that  some  high-level  HEW  type  was  vetoing 
release  of  the  Bomheim  opinion. 

"But  no,  we  don't  expect  the  Blues  to 
appeal. 

"I'm  about  to  start  a  long-delayed  trip  to 
Colorado  to  visit  grandchildren.  But  I'll 
leave  word  with  my  secretary  to  get  ump- 
teen copies  of  the  opinion  and  send  one  to 
Jim.  Translation  and  analysis  iox  i\\Q  Moni- 
tor will  come  along  later,  when  I  get  back 
and  catch  my  breath. 


'Warm  regards, 


"LIZ  WESTON. 


This  was  the  last  we  heard  from  Mrs. 


112 


•  THE   BRAILLE   MONITOR 


Weston.  Three  weeks  later,  while  visiting 
her  daughter  in  Colorado,  she  suffered  a 
stroke  and  died. 

But  Elizabeth  Weston  lived  to  see  her 
case  won  and  her  point  proved.  It  was  a 
particularly  Federation  style  of  victory  that 
she  won.  She  was  thinking  not  of  her  own 
situation,  but  of  other  bhnd  people  who 
were  getting  the  same  raw  deal-blind  people 
who  had  neither  the  money  nor  the  legal 
experience  to  contest  an  arbitrary  bureau- 
cratic decision.  By  the  time  the  hearing 
officer  awarded  Mrs.  Weston  the  cost  of 
her  visual  aids,  she  had  spent  more  than 
that  amount  on  legal  fees.  When  it  was  all 
over,  she  had  lost  money  on  the  deal. 

From  time  to  time  Liz  Weston  wrote  to 
the  Washington  Office  about  what  some- 
times seemed  to  be  a  personal  battle  with 
the  Blues.  She  wondered  whether  the 
national  organization  might  not  want  to 
take  over  the  appeal.  After  some  delibera- 
tion it  was  decided  that  a  legislative  route 
might  handle  the  problem  more  thorough- 
ly (and,  as  noted,  we  are  now  taking  this 
route);  but  we  encouraged  Liz  to  keep  on 
with  her  appeal.  As  we  wrote: 


"The  Federation  makes  immense  de- 
mands of  its  members  in  terms  of  time, 
effort,  and  even  money;  but  this  is  because 
these  demands  are  made  by  the  members  of 
themselves.  You  have  already  spent  more 
than  the  cost  of  the  EVA  on  trying  to  re- 
cover the  cost  of  it.  This  would  be  foolish 
if  you  were  acting  only  for  yourself,  but 
of  course  your  goal  is  much  broader.  You 
are  what  we  need  most  members  who  meet 
discrimination,  who  understand  the  implica- 
tions of  it  not  only  for  their  own  case  but 
for  thousands  of  others  in  the  same  situa- 
tion, and  who  are  willing  on  their  own  to 
devote  time  and  money  to  correcting  it." 

Mrs.  Weston  replied  to  this  letter  with 
characteristic  modesty.  She  wrote:  "You 
credit  me  with  too  much  altruism  in  pursu- 
ing this  case  as  far  as  I  have.  At  least  50 
percent  of  my  motivation  has  been  simply 
outraged  professional  pride— i.e.,  as  an  old 
federal  administrative  lawyer." 

As  outraged  federal  lawyer  or  Federa- 
tionist,  Liz  Weston  was  a  valuable  member 
of  the  movement.  She  is  gone,  but  the  vic- 
tory she  achieved  and  the  example  she  set 
remain.  D 


CONVENTION   RESERVATIONS 


If  you  have  neglected  to  send  in  your 
reservation  for  this  summer's  NFS  Conven- 
tion in  Baltimore,  don't  put  it  off  any  long- 
er. On  the  last  page  of  this  issue,  underneath 
the  PAC  Plan  card,  is  a  special  reservation 
form.  Use  this  if  you  have  not  already  made 
a  reservation.  Remember  that  you  must 
send  ten  dollars  to  secure  the  reservation 
(this  money  will  be  applied  to  your  hotel 
bill).  On  the  reservation  form  are  places  to 
note  what  kind  of  room  you  want,  and  to 
give  your  first  and  second  choice  of  hotels. 
These  hotel  preferences  can  be  honored  only 
so  long  as  there  are  rooms  left.  All  three 
hotels  are  within  a  block  of  the  convention 
center  where  the  Convention  sessions  will 
be  held. 


We  are  using  this  reservation  fonn  to  en- 
sure that  you  provide  all  the  information 
needed  to  make  your  reservation.  Once 
again,  do  not  use  this  form  if  you  have  al- 
ready made  a  reservation.  The  Convention 
will  be  from  Sunday,  July  2,  through  Fri- 
day, July  7.  1978.  Here  are  the  correct 
room  rates  at  the  various  hotels.  (The  room 
rates  for  the  Holiday  Inn  listed  in  the  Feb- 
ruary issue  were  incorrect.)  Lord  Baltimore: 
singles  SIO,  doubles  $14,  triples  S19.  four  in 
a  room  S24;  Baltimore  Hilton:  singles  $12, 
doubles  $16,  each  additional  person  in  the 
room  is  $5;  Holiday  Inn:  singles  S12.  dou- 
bles $14,  triples  $16,  and  four  in  a  room  $18. 
This  will  be  our  biggest  and  best  Convention 
yet,  so  send  in  your  reservations  now.  D 


APRIL  1978  ■ 


113 


FEDERATIONISM   AT  WORK 
AT   SEATTLE  COMMUNITY   COLLEGE 


The  excitement  surrounding  tiie  Program 
for  tiie  Blind  on  the  Central  Campus  of  the 
Seattle  Community  College,  Seattle,  Wash- 
ington, is  understandable.  The  year-old  pro- 
gram has  already  made  an  impression  on 
the  Puget  Sound  region,  and  its  influence 
is  Ukely  to  grow. 

The  program,  funded  by  the  Washington 
State  Commission  for  the  Blind,  is  a  career 
exploration  course.  Students  are  referred  to 
the  program  by  the  Commission.  An  inter- 
view with  coordinator  Ed  Foscue,  program 
manager  Mary  Jacoby,  and  program  assist- 
ant Denise  Wyatte  detenTiines  whether  the 
student  will  profit  from  what  the  program 
has  to  offer. 

What  is  offered  is  a  broad  vista  of  job  ex- 
plorations, practice  for  career  and  life  deci- 
sion-making, field  excursions,  and  hands-on 
experience  in  any  realm  of  work  that  inter- 
ests a  student.  For  some  this  is  the  first 
introduction  to  kinds  of  work  and  schooling 
traditionally  considered  closed  to  the  blind. 
The  explorations  may  include  air  transpor- 
tation, carpentry,  meteorology,  speech  and 
hearing  clinician,  biomedical  electronics, 
and  interpreter  for  the  deaf,  among  others. 

The  students  work  hard  in  the  program. 
They  are  largely  responsible  for  setting  up 
their  own  interviews  and  job  explorations. 
They  report  on  areas  they  explore,  the  rea- 
sons for  accepting  or  rejecting  interests, 
and  plans  for  pursuing  the  chosen  career 
through  schooUng  and  training. 

A  high  standard  of  success  was  set  by 
Colin  Malcolm,  one  of  the  first  students  to 
enroll  in  the  program.  After  a  variety  of 
interviews  and  research  into  training  pro- 
grams, CoHn  completed  a  two-year  broad- 
cast technology  course  in  nine  months.  In 
January  1978,  he  began  work  as  a  chief  en- 
gineer for  radio  stations  KGHO  and  KBKW 
in  Aberdeen.  Washington. 

Incorporated  into  the  program  is  constant 
communication  with  and  support  from  the 


staff.  Daily  planning  sessions  and  weekly 
rap  sessions  are  part  of  the  schedule.  The 
rap  sessions  provide  a  chance  to  develop 
group  awareness  about  attitudes  of  and  to- 
ward the  blind.  Other  student  groups  and 
guests  have  participated  and  valuable  sharing 
has  occurred. 

In  1977,  in  order  to  improve  service  to 
the  students  and  gain  support  from  the 
community,  the  staff  planned  and  partici- 
pated in  three  workshops.  In  May,  a  work- 
shop to  introduce  the  program  to  the  rest 
of  the  Seattle  Community  College  system 
was  presented.  Chuck  McNeil,  an  aviation 
mechanics  student  at  the  South  Campus 
and  part-time  staff  member  for  the  pro- 
gram, offered  straightforward  information 
and  personal  examples  of  the  wealth  of 
opportunities  available  when  blindness  is 
accepted  as  a  characteristic,  not  a  handicap. 
A  demonstration  of  alternative  techniques 
and  an  appraisal  of  Chuck's  work  by  one  of 
his  instructors  cracked  open  some  doors  in 
areas  that  were  tightly  shut  before  the 
workshop. 

A  more  specific  presentation,  titled  "The 
Blind  Secretary:  In  Training  and  In  Prac- 
tice," reached  further  into  the  Puget  Sound 
region  in  December.  Invitations  were  sent 
to  instructors  in  vocational  and  technical 
high  schools  as  well  as  community  colleges. 
Darleen  Walker,  who  has  worked  as  a  secre- 
tary for  the  California  Department  of  Reha- 
bihtation  for  the  past  nine  years,  was  the 
guest  speaker  and  primary  source  of  infor- 
mation. In  spite  of  its  seemingly  narrow 
topic,  the  workshop  presented  a  broad 
message  of  positive  attitudes  and  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  blind. 

While  these  workshops  were  aimed  at 
public  information,  the  program  recognizes 
that  to  continue  providing  the  most  useful 
service  to  students  and  the  community,  staff 
development  is  necessary.  A  week-long  train- 
ing session  in  November  provided  this. 


114 


■  THE  BRAILLE  MONITOR 


Working  under  sleepshades  in  a  kitchen 
and  in  a  wood-working  shop  was  a  new 
experience  for  some  of  the  staff.  Cane  trav- 
el through  a  major  business  district  resulted 
in  some  amusing  and  aggravating  experi- 
ences. (One  quickly  learns  about  societal 
attitudes  toward  the  blind  when  directly 
confronted  with  them.)  The  week  also  in- 
cluded discussions  led  by  Al  Fisher  and 
Nancy  Brenton  of  Spokane's  Lilac  Blind 
Foundation,   and   as  a  result  of  all  these 


experiences,  awareness  and  sensitivity  grew. 
All  of  these  factors-the  purpose  and  im- 
plementation of  the  career  search,  the  high 
expectation  of  success,  the  demands  made 
of  the  students  and  staff,  and  the  workshops 
for  public  information-make  this  program 
valuable  and  exciting.  Most  of  the  staff  are 
strong  members  of  the  NFB;  and  from  this 
description  of  the  program,  it  will  be  clear 
that  Federation  philosophy  and  spirit  are 
alive  and  well  in  Seattle.  D 


KURZWEIL   READING   MACHINE   TESTING   PROJECT 
NEARS  A  SUCCESSFUL  CONCLUSION 


The  Federation's  testing  and  evaluation 
of  the  Kurzweil  Reading  Machine  is  nearing 
its  conclusion,  and  the  results  have  been 
well  worth  the  effort.  The  project  has  taken 
longer  than  expected,  and  this  has  been  due 
to  the  emergence  of  small  but  difficult-to- 
correct  problems  with  many  parts  of  the 
system.  Yet  this  is  the  most  valuable  aspect 
of  the  testing.  For  instance,  the  design  of 
the  book  holder  has  been  changed  a  num- 
ber of  times.  Inearly  models  of  the  machine, 
either  the  book  holder  would  break  or  it 
would  damage  the  books  being  read.  It  was 
the  sort  of  problem  not  likely  to  concern 
computer  engineers  working  in  isolation  in 
their  laboratories,  but  it  is  important  to 
bhnd  people  using  the  machine. 

The  Federation  purchased  five  of  the 
reading  machines;  and  as  of  February  1978, 
75  blind  persons  had  used  them  for  a  total 
of  more  than  1,100  hours  of  reading.  Heavy 
day-in-and-day-out  use  like  this  has  enabled 
the  Kurzweil  engineers  to  locate  problems 
before  the  machine  is  on  the  market  in  its 
final  form.  The  difference  is  between  a  ma- 
chine that  startles  the  public  with  its  tech- 
nical sophistication  and  a  machine  that  is 
actually  useful  to  blind  people.  It  is  a  dif- 
ference that  the  blind  know  well  in  an  age 
when  every  laboratory  of  advanced  research 
in  the  country  seems  intent  on  producing 
some  miracle  for  the  blind. 

The  basic  technology  for  turning  print 
into   speech   has   been  around  for  several 


years,  and  a  number  of  companies  have  dem- 
onstrated the  use  of  it.  What  emerged  as 
the  Kurzweil  machines  were  spread  around 
the  country  and  used  for  routine  reading 
chores  was  that  the  basic  translation  of 
print  was  just  the  beginning.  As  reported  in 
the  June  1977  Monitor,  Kurzweil  Computer 
Products  had  made  great  progress  in  dealing 
with  the  enormous  variety  of  typestyles 
used  in  printed  matter.  Originally  restricted 
to  a  single  typewriter  type,  the  machine 
now  comprehends  more  than  200  different 
styles. 

Yet  it  turned  out  that  this  was  just  the 
first  step.  The  traditions  of  book  format- 
ting have  been  developing  since  the  middle 
ages,  and  the  innovators  in  the  field  never 
worried  about  what  sense  a  machine  would 
make  of  their  work.  Multiple  columns,  head- 
ings at  the  left  or  right  margins,  page  num- 
bers in  a  dozen  places,  pictures,  graphs,  and 
the  paraphernalia  of  scholarly  texts-all  of 
these  have  proved  a  nightmare  for  the  engi- 
neers. Beyond  this,  the  mechanics  of  the 
machine  have  come  in  for  extensive  com- 
ment. The  placement  of  keyboard  buttons, 
the  pressure  it  should  take  to  press  one 
down,  the  spoken  commands,  even  the 
kinds  of  screws  and  handles  that  will  per- 
mit easy  maintenance  and  replacement  all 
of  these  have  been  tested  and  altered  and 
tested  and  altered  again. 

It  has  been  an  eye-opening  experience 
for  everyone  involved,  but  the  result  will 


APRIL  1978  ■ 


115 


be  a  machine  that  is  not  just  a  technical 
breakthrough  but  a  useful  tool. 

Kurzweil  Computer  Products  is  pres- 
ently at  work  on  what  is  called  Model  III. 
This  model  will  incorporate  the  altera- 
tions made  as  a  result  of  suggestions  from 
users  in  our  testing  project.  It  will  be  un- 
veiled for  the  first  time  at  the  NFB  Conven- 
tion in  Baltimore  this  summer.  The  Model  III 
will  be  smaller  than  previous  models,  and 
the  price  has  dropped  from  $50,000  to  just 
under  520,000.  This  is  still  beyond  the 
reach  of  most  consumers,  but  it  is  a  first 
step.  Eventually,  the  price  should  come 
down  to  about  $5,000. 

All  five  of  the  reading  machines  pur- 
chased by  the  NFB  are  now  in  operation. 
The  NFB  machines  are  in  the  following 
locations:  the  New  York  Public  Library's 
Main  Branch,  in  Manhattan;  Bhnd  Industries 
and  Services  ofMaryland,  in  Baltimore;  Nor- 
lin  Library  at  the  University  of  Colorado,  in 
Boulder;  the  Iowa  Commission  for  the  Blind, 
in  Des  Moines;  and  the  State  Orientation 
Center  for  the  Bhnd.  in  Albany,  California. 


It  takes  about  a  day  of  training  to  use  the 
machine  proficiently,  and  schedules  of  use 
have  been  set  up  to  ensure  constant  testing; 
but  interested  blind  persons  and  the  general 
public  can  see  the  machine  in  operation  at 
any  of  these  sites.  And  of  course,  the  new 
Model  III  will  be  on  display  at  the  Baltimore 
Convention  in  July. 

Although  the  Kurzweil  testing  proj- 
ect will  end  this  June,  the  experience  gained 
by  the  Federation  in  this  area  will  not  go  to 
waste.  The  value  of  large-scale  consumer 
testing  has  not  been  lost  on  other  producers 
of  technical  devices  for  the  blind.  We  have 
been  approached  by  several  companies  inter- 
rested  in  setting  up  formal  testing  projects 
for  their  machines;  and  we  are  prepared  to 
work  with  any  firm  that  wants  the  input  of 
its  consumers.  Particularly  in  the  area  of 
technical  advances,  it  is  far  more  productive 
to  sohcit  the  input  of  consumers  in  the 
development  stage  than  to  work  without 
their  input  and  then  wonder  why  the  result 
is  rejected  by  them.  We  are  the  ones,  after 
all,  who  have  to  use  the  devices.  D 


RECIPE  OF  THE  MONTH 

by   ARLENE  GASHEL 


lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 


Note:  Arlene  Gashel  is  secretary  of  the  NFB  of  D.C.  and  the  wife  of  Jim  Gashel,  = 

Chief  of  the  NFB 's  Washington  Office.  S 

CHEESE   SOUFFLE  = 

Ingredients  5 

6  oz.  natural  cheddar  cheese  1  teaspoon  salt  = 

(not  processed  cheese)  1-1/2  cups  milk  = 

6  tablespoons  flour  Pinch  of  red  cayenne  pepper  = 

3/4  stick  butter  or  margarine  1/2  teaspoon  paprika  = 

Butter  a  two-quart  casserole.  Separate  the  eggs.  In  the  top  of  a  double  boiler  = 

over  boiling  water,  melt  the  butter;  blend  in  the  flour,  grated  cheese,  and  season-  = 

ings.  Add  the  milk  and  stir  constantly  until  thick  and  smooth.  Remove  from  the  = 

boiUng  water  and  let  stand.  Beat  the  egg  yolks  until  thick.  Stir  the  yolks  into  the  = 

other  mixture.  Beat  the  egg  whites  until  stiff.  Put  them  in  the  buttered  casserole  = 

and  gradually  pour  in  the  cheese  mixture,  folding  very  carefully  until  well  blended.  = 

Bake  for  45  minutes  in  an  oven  preheated  to  350  degrees.  Serve  at  once.  (Note:  S 

This  recipe  may  be  prepared  and  refrigerated  for  up  to  ten  hours  before  baking.  = 

If  you  do  this,  place  the  refrigerated  souffle  in  a  cold  oven  and  bake  for  50  min-  = 

utes  at  350  degrees.)  n  = 


116 


■  THE  BRAILLE   MONITOR 


MONITOR  MINIATURES  nnnDDDnn 

n  On  November  9.  1977,  the  Colonial  Life 
and  Accident  Insurance  Company  honored 
NFB  First  Vice-President  Donald  C.  Capps. 
Approximately  100  employees  of  Colonial 
Life  were  on  hand  as  Mr.  Capps  was 
honored  for  30  years  of  service  to  the 
company.  During  the  ceremony,  Leon  S. 
Goodall,  president  of  Colonial  Life,  pre- 
sented Mr.  Capps  a  5-piece  inscribed  silver 
service  and  said  about  him:  "He  began  with 
Colonial  in  April  1947  as  a  claims  examiner- 
trainee.  He  was  later  assistant  manager  of 
the  claims  department,  and  his  present  posi- 
tion is  manager  of  the  death  claims  section. 
Don  is  truly  a  fine  example  of  a  person  who 
becomes  involved  in  community  affairs. 
He  is  active  in  church  work,  a  former  presi- 
dent of  the  Forest  Acres  Rotary  Club,  mem- 
ber of  the  state  and  national  Federation  of 
the  Blind,  and  on  the  Governor's  Committee 
on  Employment  of  the  Handicapped.  This 
year,  Don  received  the  Jacobus  tenBroek 
Award  which  is  given  to  the  bUnd  Ameri- 
can making  the  greatest  contribution  to  the 
blind  during  the  year.  He  and  his  wife  Betty 
have  two  children.  Don  is  proud  to  be  a 
part  of  an  organization  which  has  experi- 
enced tremendous  growth  over  the  years, 
and  we  are  very  proud  to  have  him  as  a  part 
of  our  organization."  The  organization  Mr. 
Goodall  was  referring  to  here  was  Colonial 
Life,  but  the  same  is  true  of  the  NFB:  We 
are  very  proud  to  have  him  as  a  part  of  our 
organization. 

D  Blind  junior  high  students  of  either  sex 
interested  in  attending  Phillips  Academy,  in 
Andover.  Massachusetts,  should  contact 
Mr.  Donald  Montgomery  Reynolds,  4  Park- 
side  Drive,  Davis,  California  95616.  The 
academy's  standards  are  high,  but  the  ad- 
ministration is  serious  about  enrolling  quali- 
fied blind  young  men  and  women.  Mr. 
Reynolds  was  instrumental  in  creating  this 
receptive  atmosphere,  and  he  can  assist 
with. admission  procedures  and  scholarships. 

D  The  NFB  of  Indiana  plans  to  offer  a  schol- 
arship to  a  legally  blind  resident  of  Indiana 
who  has  graduated  from  high  school  or  will 
graduate  in  1978  and  who  is  studying  in 


college  or  plans  to  enter  college  for  the 
1978-79  term.  To  apply,  send  your  name, 
address,  the  name  of  your  high  school,  an 
official  high  school  transcript,  an  official 
statement  of  grade-point  average,  what  year 
of  school  you  are  in,  the  name  of  the  college 
you  attend  or  plan  to  attend.  AppUcations 
should  be  sent  by  July  1,  1978,  to  Russell 
Getz,  321  North  Main  Street,  Goshen,  Indi- 
ana 46526.  The  scholarship  will  be  awarded 
at  the  Indiana  state  convention  this  fall. 

D  Federationists  are  invited  to  attend  the 
1978  convention  of  the  NFB  of  New  Jersey, 
to  be  held  May  5  through  7.  It  will  be  at 
the  Gateway  Motor  Lodge,  Raymond  Boule- 
vard and  McCarter  Highway  in  Newark. 

n  The  NFB  of  the  District  of  Columbia 
will  hold  its  annual  convention  April  28-29, 
at  the  Central  Holiday  Inn,  1501  Rhode  Is- 
land Avenue,  Northwest,  Washington,  D.C. 
Registration  will  open  Friday,  April  28  at 
4:00  p.m.,  and  the  convention  will  close 
with  a  banquet  at  7:30  p.m.  the  next  night. 

D  The  NFB  of  Mississippi  Newsletter  has 
the  following  note:  "Everybody  is  heading 
for  the  Jacksonian  Motel  on  Interstate  55N 
in  Jackson  the  weekend  of  April  21-22.  Our 
sixth  annual  state  convention  will  be  held 
in  this  excellent  facility." 

D  The  Greater  Columbia  magazine,  pub- 
lished in  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  has 
recently  had  several  articles  about  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  NFB  of  South  Carolina.  The 
February  1978  issue  had  an  excellent  write- 
up  about  Federationist  Suzanne  Bridges, 
the  executive  director  of  the  Federation 
Center  for  the  Blind.  The  Center  is  owned 
and  run  by  our  South  Carolina  affiliate. 

Here  are  some  quotes  from  the  article: 
"Perhaps  very  few  people  know  that  Su- 
zanne is  part  of  a  new  and  fast-growing  mili- 
tancy among  America's  over  half  a  million 
blind  people  who  are  seeking  equal  rights  in 
the  areas  of  employment,  housing,  and 
transportation.  They  want  to  create  a  new 
image  of  themselves  and  help  open  new 
doors  for  themselves  along  with  determin- 
ing their  own  destiny.  The  prejudice  they 
face  is  'all  the  worse  because  it  is  based  not 


APRIL  1978  ■ 

on  fear  or  hatred  but  on  pity.'  They  are 
tired  of  the  over-protection  by  society  which 
'prevents  them  from  ever  reaching  adult- 
hood.' .  .  .  'We  are  a  proud  bunch  of  people 
who  ask  for  an  equal  opportunity  and  equal 
consideration.'  says  Suzanne  Bridges;  'we 
are  not  asking  for  special  privileges.  Our 
biggest  problem  is  not  our  own  blindness 
but  the  attitude  of  the  people  towards  our 
bUndness.'  Due  to  this  courageous  stand  of 
the  blind,  the  National  Federation  of  the 


117 

Blind  has  gained  over  10,000  new  members 
in  the  past  five  years  and  is  continuing  to 
gain  strength  ....  Suzanne  sums  up  the 
present  thinking  and  feelings  of  the  blind 
this  way:  'The  day  the  blind  can  adopt 
children  without  a  court  fight,  serve  on  a 
jury  or  acquire  such  a  simple  luxury  as  a 
safe-deposit  box,  will  be  the  day  that  we 
know  we're  on  our  way.  We're  not  less  in- 
telligent or  less  capable  than  the  next 
person.'"  D 


PRE-AUTHORIZED  CHECK  PLAN   (Instructions  on  back  of  the  card) 

I  hereby  authorize  the  National  Federation  of  the  Blind  to  draw  a  check  to  its  own  order  in  the  ainount  of  $_ 


payable  to  its  own  order.  This  authorization  will  remain  in  effect  until  revoked  by  me  in  writing  and  until  such  notice  is  actually  received. 


_day  of  each  month 


Bank  signature  of  donor  (both  signatures  if  Two  are  necessary) 


Address 


We  understand  that  your  bank  has 
agreed  to  cooperate  in  our  pre- 
authorized  check  plan  on  behalf  of 
your  depositor.  Attached  is  your 
client's  signed  authorization  to 
honor  such  checks  drawn  by  us. 
Customer's  account  and  your  bank 
transit  numbers  will  be  MICR- 
printed  on  checks  per  usual  specifi- 
cations before  they  are  deposited. 
Our  Indemnification  Agreement  is 
on  the  reverse  side  of  the  signed 
authorization. 


AUTHORIZATION  TO  HONOR  CHECKS  DRAWN  BY  NATIONAL  FEDERATION  OF  THE  BLIND 

Name  of  depositor  as 

shown  on  bank  records Acct.  No 

Name  of  bank  and  branch,  if  any,  and 

address  of  branch  where  account  is  maintained- 


For  my  benefit  and  convenience,  I  hereby  request  and  authorize  you  to  pay  and  charge  to  my  account  checks  drawn 
on  my  account  by  the  National  Federation  of  the  Blind  to  its  own  order.  This  authorization  will  remain  in  effect 
until  revoked  by  me  in  writing,  and  until  you  actually  receive  such  notice  1  agree  that  you  shall  be  fully  protected  in 
honoring  any  such  check.  In  consideration  of  your  compliance  with  such  request  and  authorization,  1  agree  that  your 
treatment  of  each  check,  and  your  rights  in  respect  to  it  shall  be  the  same  as  if  it  were  signed  personally  by  me  and 
that  if  any  such  check  be  dishonored,  whether  with  or  without  cause,  you  shall  be  under  no  liability  whatsoever.  The 
National  Federation  of  the  Blind  is  instructed  to  forward  this  authorization  to  you. 


Date 


Bank  signature  of  customer  (both  signatures  if  two  are  necessary) 


Date  of  Arrival. 

Name 


NATIONAL    FEDERATION   OF  THE   BLIND   1978   BALTIMORE   CONVENTION 

a.m.D    p.m.n       Date  of  Departure 


(Name  of  Registrant) 


Address. 


TYPE   OF    ROOM 

Single  D      Triple  D 

Double  a    Quad  D 

Twin  D 

Mail  completed  form  with  $10  deposit  to:  Baltimore  Convention,  Box  4422,  Baltimore,  Maryland  21223. 

YOUR   CHECK   OR    MONEY    ORDER   SHOULD    BE    MADE   OUT   TO:    BALTIMORE   CONVENTION 


City,  State,  and  ZIP  Code 

HOTEL 

1st  Choice 

2nd  Choice 

Lord  Baltimore 

D 

n 

Baltimore  Hilton 

D 

D 

Holiday  Inn 

D 

n 

118  ■  THE  BRAILLE   MONITOR 


NFB  PRE-AUTHORIZED  CHECK  PLAN.  This  is  a  way  for  you  to  contribute  a  set  amount  to  the  NFB  each  month.  The  amount  you  pledge  will  be  drawn 
from  your  account  automatically.  On  the  other  side  of  this  card,  fill  in  the  amount  you  want  to  give  each  month  and  the  day  of  the  month  you  want  it 
to  be  drawn  from  your  account.  Sign  the  card  in  two  places,  where  the  X's  are.  The  rest  will  be  filled  in  by  the  NFB  Treasurer.  Enclose  a  voided  check 
with  the  card,  and  mail  it  to  Richard  Edlund,  Treasurer,  National  Federation  of  the  Blind,  Box  11 185,  Kansas  City,  Kansas  66111.  Your  bank  will  send 
you  receipts  for  your  contributions  with  your  regular  bank  statements.  You  can  increase  (or  decrease)  your  monthly  payments  by  filling  out  a  new  PAC 
Plan  card  and  mailing  it  to  the  Treasurer.  Also,  more  PAC  Plan  cards  are  available  from  the  Treasurer. 

INDEMNIFICATION   AGREEMENT 
To  the  bank  named  on  the  reverse  side: 

In  consideration  of  your  compliance  with  the  request  and  authorization  of  the  depositor  named  on  the  reverse 
side,  the  NATIONAL  FEDERATION  OF  THE  BLIND  will  refund  to  you  any  amount  erroneously  paid  by  you  to 
the  National  Federation  of  the  Blind  on  any  such  check  if  claim  for  the  amount  of  such  erroneous  payment  is  made 
by  you  within  twelve  months  from  the  date  of  the  check  on  which  such  erroneous  payment  was  made. 
Authorized  in  a  resolution  adopted  by  the  Board  Members 

of  the  National  Federation  of  the  Blind  on  November  28,  1974.  THE   NATIONAL    FEDERATION 

OF   THE    BLIND 

BY: 


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