August 2007 Issue

Subscribe to the Matilda Ziegler feed

From Albert Evans, Winthrop, MA:

At the outset, I wish to declare that my wife, Gloria, and I are avid Ziegler fans. While I can no longer use braille, owing to multiple sclerosis, she is a voracious and a prolific reader, thereby keeping me right up to date.

In Readers Forum in June, Roger O'Shields wrote about the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). As a retired veterans benefits counselor (VBC) during more than 31 years, it was my responsibility to apply for VA benefits for veterans, widows of veterans, children of veterans and, at times, dependent parents of deceased veterans. It's a lot more complicated than that, but the VA provides a myriad of monetary, educational and home-loan entitlements, inter alia.

Mr. O'Shields seems to have a blurred concept of VA, which is federal in nature, and state veterans' services, which are administered by several states, but do not provide the same entitlements or benefits whatsoever. There may be the occasional dovetailing of some benefit or other but, by and large, there is an enormous difference.

My service as a VBC gave me the responsibility to file for, follow up, explain, and, at times, oversee (in the office) certain entitlements, depending upon the situation. There are as many different situations as I used to have hairs on my head.

My suggestion to Ziegler readers who may be interested in a clear, practical picture of VA programs is to call their local VA regional office and request an I.S.-1, which is an annually printed summary of all programs and entitlements.

From Eric Calhoun, Inglewood, CA:

I agree with the editor that we all have to be good stewards of our work when it comes to sending pen-pal letters. Let's also remember: When sending letters through the mail, please let people know that you would like a response.

Reasons for not wanting to respond to someone must be completely stated.

Acknowledge each other's interests, and make good conversations. Whatever your interests, don't put down the person who is writing to you. When someone writes to you, it's not necessary to go over past behavior, especially if that individual has been the target of other pen pals. Don't take things too personally! After all, they may be totally different from what you might have heard.

Finally, put some flair into your tapes and e-mails! You've got to learn how to laugh! You can also share music on your tapes.

Dog barking is a form of nature's music. If your pen pals are dog lovers, this should be music to their ears.

From Mira Wilson, Calgary, Canada:

I really enjoyed "Not the Type," the short story in the June issue. What a good twist at the end! The main character, Carrie, had a good name--it suited her, as Carrie means "dark one."

I read with interest the articles on disaster preparedness for people with disabilities. I was somewhat surprised at how deficient the official procedures are in the United States. That means other countries are even more lacking, in ways I can only imagine.

Katrina Wright's letter in June's Readers Forum struck a chord. I think it took courage for her to describe what has been--and regrettably still is--a tendency for blind people to segregate each other. I noticed this tendency when I attended school at Jericho Hill in Vancouver, BC. Prior to that, I attended the school for the blind in Brantford, ON, where I didn't notice this tendency so much. However, a good percentage of students at the Vancouver school could not have attended the school in Brantford. Also, at the Brantford school we had no print materials or writing tools. We had to learn braille.

As an adult, I still notice this type of segregation. However, I think it's more a question of being drawn to those with whom you feel you can best relate. It makes sense that if you have good partial vision and you're adjusting to vision loss, you would gravitate toward those who seem to be in a similar situation. It's also possible that some individuals are not adjusting well to loss of sight and feel fear of what they will face.

Of course, there are exceptions: I made friends with students who had partial vision. The degree of vision just isn't a part of what I consider in making friends. I choose my friends based on what we have in common to share and enjoy!

I believe there needs to be more unity in the blind community despite differences in vision loss--if there's to be more success in getting governments to legislate on matters of great concern in our community.

From a reader in Utah:

Clayton Jacobs in May wrote about his experiences with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and Deseret Industries. I believe that he is mistaken in his perception that he is a victim of discrimination. Deseret Industries postponed my entering their job-training and placement program. This was due to the human resources manager being uneducated regarding adaptive equipment for blind people as well as about my abilities. After selling myself to the manager and inquiring what type of positions Deseret Industries had available, I found there were several positions that I could fill. Not all were to my liking, and I knew that I soon would become bored with most of them. This is where my attitude came into play. Please keep in mind that not all Deseret Industries are created equal. Some have much larger operations than others, and thus offer more opportunities for various training positions.

Mr. Jacobs also mentioned his desire to fill a full-time mission, and this is admirable. I agree completely, however, with the decision to deny him access to this type of mission. A two-year mission requires constant companionship with one's partner, much travel and searching of the Scriptures. Unless Mr. Jacobs is completely able to perform these responsibilities on his own, I feel that to request assistance with these matters would be asking too much of his companion.

On the other hand, he can serve many other types of mission right in his surrounding home area; some missions can even be fulfilled while employed in another capacity.

I have found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints extremely accommodating and helpful. It provides accessible formats in braille, cassette, compact disc and Internet. Sometimes it just takes a little self-advocacy and educating your fellow men.

From Bette Minall, Charlotte, NC:

In May's Readers Forum, John Dragona advocated using the phrase that almost makes me run screaming from the room: "I happen to be blind."

First, no one I know or ever have known happens to be blind. In many cases, pain, grief, anguish, dashed hopes and depression go along with being blind. It does not matter if blindness crept up in old age, or if it came about accidentally from an arrow, a knife or a pencil in the eye. Just "happening" to be blind does not happen.

You seldom, if ever, hear anyone state: "I just happen to be rich--poor--an insurance agent--a bus driver--or teacher." I am always amused when a person calls a talk show, and before addressing the topic--whether it be taxes, politics or marriage-- the caller starts by saying, "I happen to be blind."

My husband of 38 years has never told anyone that his wife is blind. When they meet me, and connect me with the pot of chicken and dumplings that I sent to a meeting one night, or with having heard my talk show in Hawaii, they are pleasantly surprised. These people have a better view of blindness and blind people's abilities, and they also think my husband is a hero. My husband thinks I have the answer for everything. When the car won't start, he hauls me out to investigate.

Please, Mr. Dragona, if you are going to start changing "blindspeak," join my crusade to drop that phrase, "I happen to be blind."

From Kishia Mason, Aurora, CO:

I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the Ziegler Magazine. The articles and stories are inspiring and entertaining. I look forward to getting it each month.

I especially enjoyed the article in the May issue about women who decide not to become mothers. I have made the same choice, and I don't often hear about women who are content to remain childless. I think some women are better off without children. A lack of maturity, responsibility, dedication and sacrifice certainly make the decision to have children unwise. But I've gone a step beyond that. I wonder if there are as many women who decide to remain single as those who choose not to have children. I am wholeheartedly committed to not having a husband.

I would like to pose a question to Ziegler readers: Is it common among totally blind individuals like me to struggle with socializing?

In response to Clifford Cromwell's letter in the April issue, I think that using drugs to treat eye problems is highly overrated in the United States. Many of them only cause more damage. I am interested in the nutritional supplement superoxide dismutase, known as SOD. Is it true that it can be beneficial in treating eye conditions?

From Robert De Durwaerder, Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium:

I have just read the first articles of the March issue and am in haste to congratulate the editor and his team on the 100th anniversary of the magazine and on the wonderful work being done by such a small number of collaborators. It was a marvelous idea to reprint the articles published in 1906 and subsequent years about the birth of the magazine. What surprises me is that in the early 20th century, it was quite normal in the United States to publish the amount of someone's fortune. This is still taboo in Belgium and France--though it seems to be changing gradually.

From Sue Gilbert, Spartanburg, SC:

The first time I recall reading the Matilda Ziegler Magazine was when I was a student of the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind. I appreciate the time and effort put in to making this periodical so enjoyable. I like the Readers Forum, the stories, and of course the Pen Pals section, through which I have made many friends. The editor and staff have earned a pat on the back--thank you!

From Heather Galko, Syracuse, NY:

I wish the Ziegler a happy 100th birthday. I have read the magazine for quite some time. I enjoy finding people to exchange e-mails with through the Pen Pals section.

From Gerardo Corripio, Tampico, Mexico:

Reading the article, "Work that Body," in the December 2006 issue of the Ziegler, I agree especially with the topic of mind-body connection. Thus, it's recommended for people who don't know yoga--like myself--to meditate at least 15 minutes daily.

According to recent studies, meditating regulates arterial pressure and oxygenates the brain, among other great benefits. I've seen these benefits in myself since I began practicing meditation some time ago.

Regarding exercise, however, my experience with the electric treadmill has been negative. I started out too fast, injuring my waist so badly I had to go to the doctor. Since then I've been afraid to use a treadmill again. I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to use this device, which I've heard works wonders.

Reading the May article, "Singing in the Brain," it's wonderful how birds learn to sing. I'm living through the experience of hearing a young canary in this process. A few months back, the bird would sing in single notes; later it combined these. Once it got the hang of things, it would practice softly to itself. Nowadays, it sings exactly like its father.

Thanks for letting us readers learn new things in these great articles. Lastly, congratulations for being with us blind people worldwide for 100 years! May the Ziegler live another 100, because it's a great way for us in non-English-speaking countries to practice the language as well as to be informed by such great articles.

From Joshua Hendrickson, Byron, IL:

I would like to tell everyone about Web braille. I have been using it for a few months and love it. Just contact your local network and get signed up. Once you have a user name and password, you will be able to access thousands of braille titles. If anyone would like directions on using Web braille, contact me at louvins@gmail.com.

I also visited www.librivox.com, which was mentioned in the June issue. I found a blind person could listen to audio books but could not download them. I e-mailed the site and informed them of the problem, and they e-mailed me back and asked for suggestions.

I told them to look at how the Unabridged Project allows blind people to download books by providing links to the individual parts of the book. If any other Ziegler reader has suggestions for LibriVox, send a message to info@librivox.com.

From Saima Yousaf, Wah Cantt, near Islamabad, Pakistan:

I am a visually impaired person who is training blind and visually impaired people to use computers at a rehabilitation center.

When I first got the JAWS screen-reading software, I had no idea that I could ever use a computer on my own. I did not even know how to get into the start menu.

Now I am the first blind or visually impaired person to create a Web site in Pakistan. I have written tutorials in HTML for the blind community to enable individuals to create their own Web sites. I have taken several courses from the Hadley School for the Blind on such topics as word processing, computer basics, Spanish conversation and personal psychology. I have also created an audio magazine where sighted and blind people from around the world collaborate; the audience does not know who is blind or who is sighted.

My dream is to run the first accessible technology institute in Pakistan, where blind and visually impaired people get free training so they will be able to seek work as computer trainers or software engineers. I believe the computer is the tool that can make a blind person independent. It can enable him or her to gain knowledge, pass it to others, and also find entertainment.

My purpose is to promote awareness in society that a blind or visually impaired person can help himself or herself and also help others with disabilities. People can and should maintain a positive attitude in every facet of their lives. We must not allow ourselves to wallow in self-pity and we must not think that our efforts are too little to be effective. Hope is the key to success.

Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.

If you would like to write to me, send e-mail to beyondourvision@gmail.com, or visit my home page at www.beyondourvision.com.