September 2008 Issue

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From Helen Fitzgerald, Tralee, Ireland:

I also went to a school for the blind; however, my school was run by nuns. It was Saint Mary's in Dublin, and believe me when I say that times were hard when I started in 1967 at the age of seven. When I first went there, I used to come home only three times a year, and this was for Christmas, summer and Easter. It was always difficult going back after the holidays. I had to learn how to make my bed and keep the place clean. As I got older, I got the job of looking after the smaller children. This meant that I would have to get the child that I was looking after up washed and dressed for breakfast in the morning. Before I took the little one that you were looking after to breakfast, I also had to make the bed. Breakfast was from 8 to 8:30 a.m. This meant that I had to be up at 6:30 in order to ensure that the little ones were taken care of. It was us girls who taught the younger ones how to do things like clean their teeth. When I was 13, I learned how to wash clothes at a laundry. At 15, I went to a senior group where the nun in charge was great. Her name was Sister Mark and she made us feel like we belonged there. You could talk to her about anything--no matter what--because she listened, and talked to us as adults. When it came to food, we had to eat whatever was put in front of us and if we didn't, it would be waiting for us at the next meal. If it came down to it, students would be spoon-fed or spanked with a hair brush. I can still feel the brush on my knuckles and behind. Oh, they were hard days. For cleaning, we didn't have a dishwasher, so one washed, two dried, while others wiped tables and swept floors. Each week, someone was designated to look after chores. The weekend responsibility was left to the girls who did not go home at the end of the week. When you reached 18 and had not gotten employment, you were put into the old folks' home, which was part of the school's dormitory where we lived. I made sure that I was not going to end up there, but that is a story for another day.

From Posman Chigamba, Monkey Bay, Malawi:

I would like to respond to Tim Hendel's comments in February's Readers' Forum by stating that I also attended a residential school for the blind, where our education was very good. Beside textbooks, we had access to other reading materials, including braille magazines from the United States. Braille instruction was good there. In 1970, pupils began attending public schools together with sighted children. Their education is not as good as ours was. They have one braille teacher for grades one through eight, and that is not good. They do not know much about other reading materials. I started school in 1953, and I finished grade eight in 1961.

From Ann Chiappetta, New Rochelle, NY:

I am responding to two letters in the June 2008 Reader's Forum. I disagree with Delbert Walker regarding his response to why more blind people don't learn to read braille. In his letter, Mr. Walker states, "I think the reason is that a lot of blind people are too lazy to learn it even though braille is not that hard." Let me preface my response with one consideration: being born blind and learning braille as the primary form of language is not the same as the process of learning braille later in life. I think Mr. Walker's statement is inaccurate and does not take into consideration the time and effort that goes along with learning braille--especially for those who must learn it later in life or who are faced with other barriers to learning. Socioeconomic status, age, and physical challenges are a few reasons why some folks do not learn braille. I am no expert in code and can only give my personal account of what it is like to adapt from one reading mechanism to another. In a perfect world, every blind person as well as every sighted person would be able to read and write braille. But this is not a perfect world, and what may come easy for one person may not come easy to another. I suppose there may be someone out there who is lazy or unmotivated, but the folks I know are, for the most part, productive, and have the right to decide for themselves if braille will enhance their lives or not.

To Vince Blaze, who stated the employable blind are often overlooked, I would like to add to his list of where blind folks work. I work as a program coordinator for an independent living center in Yonkers, NY. My office mates include three other blind women, one being our administrator. We are not meeting quotas, and our staff of 15 has the reverse ratio of only two non-disabled folks working with us. So, there is hope in terms of disabled professionals modeling the way for others.

From David Hutchins, Kansas City, MO:

I want to comment on the Readers Forum letters about how most blind people don't want to use braille. I am legally blind and have enough vision to use a CCTV. I learned braille, and I will admit that I don't always use it. But when I need to do so, I will use braille. There are a lot of folks who don't want to use braille because of many reasons, such as numbness of the fingertips, their age, and, of course, it seems easier to have someone read something to you.

M. Vikas Munot, in June, said that most people don't reply to pen pal listings. I have had my name in the Pen Pals section two times. I received a letter from a woman in Africa, and I replied. I don't know if the tape was lost or not, but I never heard back from her.

Relationships should be based on feelings about someone--not how much sight one person has. Someone once told me I should marry a partial. Jokingly I asked "a partial what?" It doesn't make any difference to me if someone has sight or not. Most people probably feel that blind people are slobs who aren't good at taking care of the house or themselves, but there are just as many sighted people who are real slobs.

I would also like to comment on blind people in the work place. Most blind people are working in federal, state or local governments. I work for the Internal Revenue Service. I would like to think I am going to work because of my skills and abilities--not because of blindness. Maybe that's part of the reason why so many visually impaired people have a hard time finding jobs. I am not ashamed of being legally blind, but I am ashamed of some blind people who are their own worst enemy. A lot of blind could work if they weren't so picky. Jobs are hard enough to find these days, without some blind people making it harder for us. Most blind are not satisfied when they do work. They have many issues. For example, they may wonder who is talking about them, or they just have hang-ups about little things that do not make any difference at all.

The thing that bothers me the most is when blind people get all this technical equipment and do not use it for what it was intended. They like to brag about having it, I guess.

From Candi Roth, Trevose, PA:

Thanks to the Ziegler I was able to contact someone I knew from childhood and had not seen in 20 years. Michael Couey was like a brother to me. On Jan. 1, 1988, my husband Marc and I helped Michael move to Sacramento, CA. We packed his stuff in our 1956 Ford ranch wagon. It was a rainy day, and I couldn't help feel that the angels were crying; I sure was. After we said our goodbyes, we lost contact. Recently I mentioned to my family that Michael had been on my mind very strongly. I knew full well to follow that inner voice, and began my search. I tried many blindness organizations, but got nowhere. I was quite discouraged.

I began to talk to God and asked Him to give me the wisdom to know what to do. Then it happened. I picked up the Ziegler and found the phone number. I called, and God's angel Gregory intervened. On a stormy Saturday night in March during church service, my phone rang, but I let it go. When we got into the car and I checked my voicemail, there was Michael. I could hardly wait to get home. God blessed me in a very special way that evening. That Saturday night, in the midst of a power outage, Michael Couey put sunshine in our home. Even though we are miles away from each other, we will be exchanging letters on tape so we can hear each other's voices. The Ziegler made a dream come true for me. I will remember this forever. Thank you, and God bless you.

[Editor's Note: While it is the Ziegler's policy to keep readers' addresses confidential, we are more than happy to pass along messages to subscribers, as we did for Ms. Roth.]