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EDITORIAL

 The education of the visually impaired has received wide recognition all over the Globe. Now with the advancement of Technology the visually impaired has been able to operate the Computer by themselves and to convert the Braille materials into text for the seeing people. Apart from this the Braille Software innovated by WML has facilitate the visually impaired in their daily living activities. The Braille dictation in Bengali as well as in English is under improvement by the Webel Mediatronics Ltd. It was a thrilling experience to note the Braille Dictionary and together with its speech conversion. As a result it facilitates the sightless in finding out the word and its pronunciation at a time together with the particular parts of speech which the word belongs. The Braille calculator is an another important achievement through this Braille software, although, it is under development. In course of time this will be very much popular to the non-visual world.

 

Another important achievement which may be noticed through their continuous Research work over the Braille software is different graphic figures and images drawn on the paper with the help of software.

Readers will be rather astonished to note all these fantastic development of aids and materials for facilitating daily living activities of the visually impaired, if he or she pays a visit to WML near Brace Bridge Station.

 

 In Shakespeare it has been said that there are so many things both in Heaven and in Earth which cannot be deemed off. In other words it may be said that we can not dream of what the Braille Software can do a miracle. In fact what had been impossible yesterday has been made possible today with the help of Science and Technology. It is a premonition of a bring future that the visually impaired are waiting for what may appear bright future that the visually impaired are waiting for what may appear in the day to come with the sincerest effort of the Staff of WML on the Braille Software.

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The Challenge of Integration

Sibabrata Sengupta

  Blindness, which implies dissolution or curtailment of the most important of the sense organs, certainly imposes great hardship on its victims. It is an extremely restricting handicapping and frustrating condition resulting in the loss of the ability to move about freely, restricted communication, limited information, and limitation in the power to control one’s environment. Fortunately however, all these limitations can be overcome to a very great extent by judiciously utilizing the remaining four senses and through proper cultivation of one’s intelligence, which forms the basis of human civilization.

 

However, it is much harder to overcome the social implications of blindness. Blindness means loss of social status, devaluation of one’s personality and sometimes even total alienation from the society. The problem of medical, educational and even economic restoration of the sightless pose a less challenging task compared with that of their social restoration or integration.

 

 With the advancement of medical science it has been possible in many cases to restore sight fully or partially. In the advanced western countries the size of totally blinded population is decreasing at a rapid rate, while the number of partially seeing persons is rising. The invention of Braille System, a tactile device for reading and writing for the blind, together with the appearance of electronic aids like cassette recorders and players, optacon, computer have greatly facilitated the education of the blind. Kurzweil reading machines, robotrons which translate printed letters into audible words, are but a few of the latest developments in this field, which have largely removed the problem of communication caused by blindness.

 

In the sphere of economic rehabilitation too, the invention of various special tools and aids, as well as highly specialized training techniques have enabled to blind persons to work in competitive industries side by side with their seeing peers with complicated power-driver machines like capstan lathe, milling machine power drill etc.

 

 Freedom of mobility which is so essential for successful placement of sightless in open industries, has also been enhanced by development in the techniques of mobility with white can, guide dogs and with electronic mobility aids like sonic torch, path finder, robot dogs etc.

True, it is that most of the special aids and appliances mentioned above are beyond the reach of the ordinary blind person in India or any other developing country. In the advanced countries, the visually impaired persons are provided with these special instruments by the Government free of charge, or at a minimum charge. But this is not feasible in the developing countries in the foreseeable future. Even then, the sightless men and women of these countries may hope to enjoy such facilities one day or the other in remote future.

 

Will then the problem of social integration of the blind be solved automatically? Has it been already solved in the advanced countries? No, unfortunately not, Social acceptant of the blind as equal members of the community does not depend upon the independent role and economic status of the blind persons themselves. For, it has been observed that many visually handicapped men and women, highly educated and gainfully employed find it difficult, and even impossible, to get spouses of the same cultural and accomplishment level as their own. The root of the problem lies deep into the psychological make up of the society.

 

 The attitude of the society towards blindness and the blind is a product of history. It is also largely influenced by man’s general fear of darkness as also by a number of irrational and unfounded beliefs and superstitions handed down from antiquity. Every age in history gave rise to a special set of ideas regarding blindness and the blind, reflecting its own level of moral and material development. Time and condition changed but the attitudes and ideas of the bygone days lingered on.

 

 A brief review of history reveals that in the ancient times, the social attitude towards the blind was one of total rejection. In ancient Sparta and Rome blind children wee ruthlessly exterminated. With the advent of Christianity, pity and charity became the dominant attitude of the western society towards the blind. The industrial Revolution in Europe and the great French Revolution with its clarion-call of liberty, equality and fraternity originated new ways to look at the blind and to deal with their problems. It is not a coincidence that the first school for the blind children was established in Paris in the eighties of the 18th century the decade of the great Revolution. Since then, the society is slowly, but surely, progressing towards the goal of total integration of the blind into the seeing society. The two world wars, the Declaration of Human Right’s great advance in technology have enhanced this process beyond question.

 

This is only the debit side of the issue in question. One the credit side, there still persist the same stereo-types of the blind beggar, the helpless blind, wicked blind, the same negative and at times even hostile attitude towards the blind continued as they did ages before. The bulk of the society is either indifferent to, or ignorant of, or over sympathetic to the visually impaired individuals. Hence, we are far away from the cherished goal of total integration. The problem is much more acute in the developing countries than in the advanced ones.

 

Now the attitude of the blind to themselves and to their handicap is largely determined by the attitude of the general society towards them. The sightless persons learn to look down upon themselves as worthless creatures, burdens on their families and society. All these irrational negative attitudes have a crippling effect upon their personalities. Besides, centuries of social indifference neglect and rejection often engender in the blind a feeling of hostility or indifference to the seeing society. Aggressiveness, total passivity and various other negative deviant behavior patterns are not uncommon among some blinded individuals, which again act as a bar to social integration.

 A thorough re-education of the seeing society as also of the blind persons themselves seems to be the only way out of this vicious circle. It should be gratefully remembered here that the educationists of the blind and the workers in the field of blind welfare have been performing this very task for last 200 years.

 

This spread of education ushered in the age of the organized blind who asserted their right to speak for themselves. They argued that even the institutions for the blind are not free from stereo-typed attitudes regarding the capabilities of the blind. They refused to be babied by institutions and agencies for the blind which, they hold are dominated by persons with conventional ideas. These organizations are exerting great influence in the present day world in shaping or rather reshaping, society’s conception of the abilities of the sightless man. These are militant organizations fighting for the rights of the blind to first-class citizenship. In the words of Mr. Kenneth Jernigan, one of the pioneers of this movement, “blindness is nothing more, and nothing less then a chance inconvenience”. Every man can face some sort of inconvenience in a particular situation Mr. Jernigan goes on explaining. Thus a master’s degree may become an inconvenience or even a handicap for a person who unable to procure a job during a slump, applies for the post of a peon in an office.

 

If we are ready to accept such an over simplified view of blindness, the problem of social integration could have been solved much earlier. Unfortunately, however, facts of life are not so simple as that. Even if blindness is viewed as an inconvenience, the extent of restrictions caused by blindness may be understood, if we bear in mind the fact that more than 80 percent of our information of the out side world is received through the channel of vision. Is then total integration at all possible in these circumstances? Yes, certainly it is. But we must look at the problem from a different angle of vision.

 

 The very phenomenon of human society arises out of the fact that man is imperfect by himself and in himself alone. He is too weak to cope with the challenge of nature single handed. Here, the weakest he has something to contribute to the total well-being of the race as well as the strongest he. The boon of corporate life lies in the fact that the individual limitations are cancelled and compensated by the collective efforts and virtues of all. The sightless man inspite of his visual deprivation is quite capable of contributing his mite to the collective good by virtue of his powers of head and heart. But he must be ready to look beyond himself and to think of the good of his race as a whole.

 In every society there are three forces working at any particular period of time. One is a pull from the past, the second is a clinging to the present; and the third is a push to future. The third category embodies in itself the finest hopes and dreams of the human race for a better and nobler level of existence. It is by identifying themselves with the trend that is out to create a new society out of the ashes of the old, that the blind persons can liberate themselves from the age-old dungeon of social isolation.

 

There is no denying the fact that it is indeed very difficult to know for certain which is the true force of the future. However, scientific reasoning, common discussion and dialogue, practical application of the realized truth to concrete situations, and an every ready mind to revise one’s understanding of truth in light of one’s experience are the tools which may be used profitably for identifying the right trend that is to create the future society.

 

 The sightless persons must realize that their problem is a part and parcel of the greater problem of the whole society and that they can never be integrated into the main stream unless and until they identify themselves with the weal and woe of their fellow brothers, both sighted and sightless, and take an active role in the common struggle of men to raise life and society to a loftier level.

 

The “tomorrow” of “today” will become the “today” of “tomorrow”. Humanism minus private property mental complex is the call of tomorrow. Total merger of individual interest with that of the society is the demand of futurity. If the sightless can associate them with these trend, the posterity will not fail to accept them as the equal partners. All may not succeed in this arduous task. But even if a few do succeed, it will send a shock to the very foundation of the society, which will then be roused to sympathy and action. How can the people of tomorrow fail to accept them with love and dignity, even though they are denied the precious gift of sight, who spare no pains today, in order to bring that tomorrow into being?

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VISUAL MEMORY

 HUMAN MEMORY is a PERMANENT repository of what we had seen and done in the past. This is indeed marvelous gift divinely bestowed on man. Following the creation of God man has artificially created a memory in the Computer. Men store every information and Data into Computer memory and utilize this memory according to his requirement. Needless to add human memory is a store house of both sweet and add memories. Poet or author composes literature and art either from his sweet and sad memories. P.B.Shelley the romantic poet of English Literature composed some beautiful lines in his poem “To a Skylark”

 

“We look before and after,

And pine for what is naught

Our sincerest laughter

With some pain is fraught

Our sweetest songs are those

That tell of saddest thoughts.”

 

In fact we like to witness tragedy as it reveals the sweetest songs of mankind through tragic exposition. Truly speaking all these beautiful writings are outcome of our passed experience from memory added with imaginative flight of the author.

 

Like ordinary man visually impaired has memory drawn from his experience of reality through limited sensory organs. Experience of the person who has been blind since birth differs adequately from that of a person who has lost his vision after few years of his birth. This difference is due to having visual memory of the adventitiously sightless person.

 

The sightless person from the mother’s womb does not posses any such memory as the later group seems to have stored the mind of born blind child is like a clean slate and whatever is lined on the slate is based on his limited experience in course of time. But the adventitiously blind person has seen the world around him, has observed different colours and had perceived different objects of nature set in different natural environment. The observations and visual experiences are stored into his minds visual memories which come into existence through his literary expression and artistic exuberance. Thus Vinod Behari Das could draw a nice picture on the canvas with brass and colour even in the state of his blindness. This is not a miracle but reality based on experience relived into artistic expression.

 

 Similarly, John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” reveals the same experience of an adventitiously blind person. What a nice way he has drawn the scene of Hell into which setan and his comates have fallen down. Moreover the colourful pictures meticulously drawn in different pages pin point to the same visual memory possessed by John Milton.

 

Dr. Nash had a roaring practice in Homeopath. He became sightless at a later age. Still he could treat the patient in a scientific manner. How it was possible? Was it a miracle? No, there was no miracle nor a mystery in it. He kept in his mind the physical appearance of the patient for phosphorus. His assistant was a seeing person and as soon as he explained to him with the patient before him appeared to be very lean and thin with tallness : Dr. Nash immediately prescribed phosphorus for him. In fact in homeopathy mental symptoms are more important than physical appreance. Dr. Nash had no problem in selecting medicine listening to the symptoms of the patient. The Visual Memory was a additional boon for him in the selection of medicine.

 

 Visual Memory in fact is a advantage to the adventitiously blind person to cope with he seeing world in relation to comprehension of different colours, human faces and different natural objects.

 

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VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR THE VISUALLY HANDICAPPED

 S. B. Pattanayak

 Principal

 Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys

 Academy, Narendrapur, Kolkata--700 103.

 

 With an eye to the total rehabilitation of the Visually Handicapped people the need for “Vocational Training” cannot be exaggerated. Truly speaking Vocational Training is necessary for all--the abled as well as the disabled.

 

 White collar secure secure permanent jobs cannot be procured for all. Even if it is made available to all, proficiency demands proper training in the job. For the disabled, training is more important and necessary as proper Vocational Training and subsequent placement alone can help them earn their living and lead a life of dignity in society. In case of a Visually Handicapped child he/she is to be trained and educated in such a way that he/she does not face any impediment to leading an independent life in the mainstream of society. In the light of the above-stated idea various aspects of Vocational Training for the Visually Handicapped children are discussed here.

 

The object of training the disabled is to help them cope up with their disability and to equip them with skills necessary for effective participation in the socio-economic life of the community. If this life is to be maintained, not on charity but on the basis of self-sufficiency, education of the Visually Handicapped must provide skills and workmanship that will lead to placement and occupation which are the most important pre-requisites of independent living. In a developing country like ours which is plagued by widespread unemployment where even the able-bodied engineers and technicians are out of employment, generating employment for the visually handicapped is a mammoth task Under such circumstances it should be one of the major programmes of every institute/organization working for the Visually Impaired to provide Vocational Training effectively by way of development of skills.

 

 There are four major facets of Vocational Training--(i) Assessment (ii) Training (iii) counseling and (iv) placement and follow-up, Before taking up any training programme for the Visually Handicapped every client has to be individually assessed in relation to his remaining physical, mental, sensory, capabilities by the combined efforts of specialists like trainer, doctor, psychologist and placement officer, The rehabilitation needs have to be identified by the Vocational counselor and social worker. Once this preliminary screening and psychological assessment are over, actual training for skill development starts. No skill development programme for the Visually Handicapped can be successful without training in Orientation and Mobility, Survival Skills, Braille and Physical Education. Along with these the clients must be trained in adjustment, developing proper behavior pattern and making himself fit enough to accept a job and hold it for a considerable period of time. Acquisition of these skills will be instrumental in gaining working habits, overcoming social problems which may be impeding resettlement, physical reconditioning where necessary and above all building up self-confidence. Next comes counseling. Vocational counseling perhaps started when man first formed into families and the elders took it upon themselves to be concerned with the future of their children. Parents took notice of the strength or weaknesses of their children and directed their lives in such a manner that they overcame their weak points. Today of course, vocational counseling has gone a long way from this apparently unscientific procedure. In case of a blind person the counselor has to be conscious that he is exploring the possibility of an individual who cannot see or whose use of sight is very restricted. The vocational counselor discusses with the client his desires, interests, attitude, fears relating to the training for an occupation. It is good for the blind children to be able to go to school but it is also true that learning to read and write is not enough to fulfill one’s mission in life. A vocational counselor should administer the test of employability to the blind child passing out from the school. At this stage of a blind child’s formal education it should be ascertained whether he should continue on to higher education or whether he should continue on to higher education or whether a vocational course would be more beneficial. Regular sessions with a vocational counselor would be ideal at this stage. This would mean to a visually impaired school child a forward step towards his goal of employment. After completion of vocational training the skill rating of the client is essential for subsequent placement and the Placement officer has to relate the skills of the client to a particular job opportunity to fully use the skills he has acquired. The Counselor has to guide the client judiciously at this juncture and give the psychological support that will stand the client in good stead. Then comes the need for follow-up service. The Placement Officer has to visit the client occasionally and see for himself whether the client is having any adjustment problem with the employer or his colleagues and in case of any such to render proper counseling so that the client can overcome it.

 

Organised training of the blind is India started in 1943 with the setting up of St. Dunstan’s Hostel for the Indian war blinded. In 1950 this organization was taken over by the govt. of India, Ministry of Education and renamed as the “Training Centre for the Adult Blind”. Since then Vocational Training for the Visually Handicapped has been taken up mostly by different NGO’s throughout the country and through experiments and experience various trades have been identified as suitable for the V.I. and skill development programmes have been taken up to produce both skilled and semi skilled or even unskilled blind workers. The traditional and common trades in which a good number of Visually Impaired persons have been trained are Weaving, Caning of Chairs, Bag making with nylon and plastic, knitting, chalk-making, candle making, detergent powder making, Light Engineering Computer Application and many others. It has been amazingly seen that in the field of Information Technology even the Visually Impaired persons can perform appreciably.

 

Any programme on training and skill development should take into consideration the emerging production techniques. There is an idea prevalent among the blind people as well as their well-wishers that those who are without aptitude for higher general education should be trained in some vocational skill. Now a time has come to think that all blind children with or without potentialities for higher formal education should be given vocational training for income generation in one way or the other. Regular secure jobs are rapidly becoming a far cry. Under the circumstances strategies are to be formulated and adopted to provide effective and purposeful vocational training to the Visually Handicapped persons. The training Centers must (i) be equipped with efficient trainers for the main trade as well as side trades (ii) frame a need-based scientific curriculum (iii) ensure prevocational assessment and training (iv) provide psychological, placement and follow-up services (v) be updated with the job requirements of the day. The clients also have to develop the right attitude towards the training. Their guardians and well-wishers also have their roles to play. They should be told initially that the training is meant for making them self-sufficient and they might have to be absorbed in self-employment. They should be taught to accept their limitations in every respect along with their potentialities.

When we speak of self-employment we have to think of financing agencies also. The nationalized banks and other agencies like NHFDC have provisions for giving financial help but they are to be persuaded and made convinced that loan will be repaid in time. Here once again comes in the role of the placement and Follow-up service cell. The trainees must be taught the need for finance and how to handle it for further development. A right positive attitude has to be developed. The institutions providing general education to the so-called educable blind students should also arrange for elementary Vocational training for their children.

 

We are passing through hard times so far as the vocational rehabilitation of the visually handicapped is concerned. Even legislation has not helped much in this direction. But we cannot stop. People live on hopes. If appropriate strategies are chalked out, if skill development programmes are implemented with utmost sincerely, if financing agencies come up with liberal help and if learners develop a constructive attitude and if the training centers coordinate all these factors smoothly, a day will soon come when we will see that the visually handicapped people have been vocationally resettled and they are leading a life which can in no way be distinguished from the life in the mainstream of society.

 

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ANNOUNCEMENTS TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE “INNER EYE”

 

1. It is a good news for the Visually Impaired learners and readers that the committee of Braille Contraction and Abbreviation in Bengali language has been framed by the Director of NIVH on the recommendation of Mr. Virendra Singh, Braille Development

 

2. WML has developed some important items relating to daily living activities of the sightless. The items are Bengali Braille Dictionary in Braille, Braille calculator, Perforated impression on Geometrical items and many other pictorial items on the paper through Braille Software. It is also concentrating on significant research work on Math Braille through its Braille Software.

 

3. It has been reported that a sightless reader has been engaged at Bhupal Radio Station. It is undoubtedly a very good news for the sightless that in this way gradually society is opening new avenue for the sightless in matters of placement.

 

 4. It is also a good news with the sightless will not have to stand for a long time in the queue for voting as the election commission has arranged separate line for the handicapped at the election booth.

 

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