Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind the source for blindness news and information since 1907

Martin Luther King, Jr., was born on January 14, 1929 in Atlanta, GA and died on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN where he was supporting striking African-American sanitation workers. Shortly after 6pm, Doctor King left his second story room at the Lorraine Motel to go to dinner when a gunshot to King’s jaw severed his spinal cord.

When I think of Doctor King’s legacy and nonviolent approach to achieving racial justice, I reflect on the Prayer of Saint Francis. To better understand the relationship between Doctor King’s philosophy and Saint Francis of Assisi’s Prayer, the beginning of that prayer is presented below:

“Make me a channel of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me bring your love.”

Countless were the times during his civil rights leadership that the Reverend Doctor King met the venom of vicious hatred with the soothing salve of love. In his “I Have a Dream” speech to which I will refer several times in this article, Doctor King urged his supporters to respond to hatred with the nonviolent resistance of love.

Where there was a desert of despair, Doctor King brought an oasis of hope. In his now famous “I Have a Dream” speech, Doctor King encouraged the half million people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to go back to their communities and continue fighting for equality and justice (By Googling “I Have a Dream,” you can hear an MP3 version of this August 28, 1963 speech).

Where there was the darkness of discontent, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. brought the light of his dreams for better tomorrow. Again referring to his “I Have a Dream” speech, Reverend King expressed his hope that one day, his four little children would be judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Tragically, Doctor King, Jr. paid the ultimate price for daring to dream of wrongs righted and injustices invalidated. In March, 1969, James Earl Ray, an avowed racist who escaped from a Missouri prison in 1967, was convicted of Doctor King’s assassination.

Another point worth noting here is that, though achieving racial justice and equality was Doctor King’s primary focus, he was also concerned about economic equality. One way Doctor King addressed this issue was by organizing an interracial Poor People’s Campaign that was held in Washington, D.C. in 1968.

What has made Doctor King’s legacy a lasting one is that, out of the ashes of the violence he deplored and the economic inequality he fought against arose new hands, hearts and voices building bridges to peace, highways to hope, and pathways to justice.

When I heard the news of Doctor King’s death, I was doing my homework at the Overbrook School for the Blind where I was a 15-year-old sophomore. Where were you when you heard the news?

Additional Sources: www.doctorkingonline.com, en.wikipedia.org, and www.history.com.

When I moved to Oregon almost 10 years ago, I knew that the biggest adjustment would be getting used to the weather. Specifically, as a desert rat, I would have to come to terms with all the rain. Over the years I’ve adjusted, and for the most part, Oregon rain doesn’t bother me. It might rain for days at a time, but the rain is usually light–however, this is not always the case. Last week brought us not only a bit of snow, but four inches of rain in one day.

January 18, 2012 has been recorded as the third largest amount of rainfall in one day in the last 100 years. Even though Oregon does well with lots of rain, that much rain in one day causes flooding. On that day, I was teaching my knitting class so I got home pretty late. As my husband and I were coming down the major street that leads to our neighborhood, we were stopped by a police blockade. The street had over a foot of standing water in places, and it wasn’t safe for us to drive through. This meant we had to park our car blocks away from our house and walk the rest of the way. The walk from the car was quite the adventure and my pants were soaked up to my knees by the time we arrived. Thankfully, the street we live on was not flooded so our house was fine.

Walking home through the high water was not dangerous because the water wasn’t moving, but if I had been alone with my guide dog it would have been much more frightening for me. So, since chance favors the well prepared, I did some research. According to FEMA, here are some things to do during a flood.

If you must prepare to evacuate, you should do the following:

- Secure your home.
- Collect your pets so that you can take them with you and/or leave them in a friend’s or relative’s care or at an emergency animal shelter.
- If you have time, move essential items to an upper floor.
- Turn off utilities at the main switches or valves if instructed to do so. Disconnect electrical appliances. Do not touch electrical equipment if you are wet or standing in water.

If you have to leave your home, remember the following:
- Do not walk through moving water. Six inches of moving water can make you fall. If you have to walk in water, walk where the water is not moving. Use a stick to check the firmness of the ground in front of you.

Winter sure does bring us some strange weather. I hope everyone stays safe.

Have you ever been in a flood? Tell us about your experience in the Reader’s Forum.

Bill McCann was a successful programmer at Sun Microsystems and was being promoted on a regular basis. But the former Philadelphia native had a dream. He wanted to develop Music Translation Software that would allow people to create their own music compositions and arrangements and create hard copy music scores that blind and sighted people could read. This software idea kept on coming up in McCann’s mind.

In 1991, with two children on the way, he decided to leave his programming job and accept a severance package that Sun Microsystems offered.

For the next year, McCann made plans to start up his own music company along with generating some income. In other words, he was a part-time musician playing the trumpet–which he started playing when he was 9 years old–a part-time assistive technology trainer and also went to school to learn the C Programming language. He also was an entrepreneur working on setting up his music business for both the blind and sighted alike. He came up with a business plan with the help of a school in Pennsylvania. This new company would become Dancing Dots.

He then started working on the Braille Translation Program which would later become the GOODFEEL music-translation software, which came out in 1997. The program was a dos-based program. Many Windows versions have come out since, and it does work on Windows 7 64 bit operating systems. He acquired start up money from a program that funded new businesses involving technology. His former school, St. Lucy’s, provided office space for his business. Another event happened at a family gathering which would change McCann’s life forever. He met the boyfriend of his wife’s sister. His name was Albert Milani. They both started talking about what each of them did for work. When McCann found out that he was an electrical engineer and Wiz Programmer, he knew that he was the missing link to his business plan.

“What I had before I met Albert,” McCann recalled, “was a prototype. Albert turned it into a product.” Milani became a full time employee of Dancing Dots in 1994 and he is now their Chief Technical Officer. He was hired with the help of a grant through the federal government. Dancing Dots has 5 programmers working on the GOODFEEL program.

He also had something to do with making CakeTalking, another music software program accessible to screen readers. Dancing Dots is also making a musical program for partially sighted people called Limelighter.

Dancing Dots has received calls from celebrities such as Ronnie Millsap, Stevie Wonder, and Ray Charles.

McCann’s dream of starting his own music company has finally been realized and is incredibly successful. His drive to make digital music accessible is a testament to the type of person he is and blind musicians everywhere can now compose music easier than ever. He truly is a role model in the blind community.

Sources: http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw090203
http://www.freedomscientific.com/FSCast/default.asp
http://dancingdots.com/main/index.htm

As many individuals with visual impairment will attest, as children we were taught to travel using visual cues. “Cross at the Green and Not in Between” was the saying. These days if you’re traveling visually, it’s more like “Cross at the White and You’ll Be All right!” We also have a blinking red wait hand that can be translated to, “Run like the dickens!” as you only have a few seconds before traffic begins bearing down on you.

My first mobility lesson found me attempting to imitate an ice sculpture as I waited for my instructor at a convenient bus shelter. Considering myself a safe traveler, I told him that I would like some tips and tricks for difficult intersections’. I must admit to some trepidation on my part as I conjured up nightmarish scenarios of my rather tall cane and technique being scrutinized. I need not have worried as he was an amiable and accommodating instructor whom I knew from a former place of employ. Learning that he has been teaching mobility for 37 years also put me at ease.

We began our trek at a notorious crossing that I need to make on a regular basis, I eagerly awaited his thoughts. Turns out I’m doing exactly what mobility instructors recommend. I listen for the parallel traffic surge to cross and wait when I’m not certain. He also made me aware of a pedestrian plaza, which means I really only need to deal with two crossings. With the frigid wind whipping at our coats we made our way to yet another danger zone that I have been handling with nothing more than common sense. I turn and walk up the block to avoid being splattered by on-coming traffic. This crossing is such a hazard that mobility instructors aren’t even certain that an accessible pedestrian signal would be helpful.

Making a full circuit, we stopped at a bus stop that offers busses which take me to my second home, Lighthouse International, and my real home. We took some time to assess my mobility needs and I admitted that I really do not know my home neighborhood very well. Only familiar with a two-block radius, we are unaware of the locations of establishments such as the Post Office, UPS Store or a dry cleaners where zippers are fixed. He then inquired about an area I fear the most—the dreaded Village. After some embarrassed stammering, I admitted that I know next to nothing about that ultra-confusing area with its myriad twists and turns and no discernable grid pattern.

I can barely believe I’m writing this but I’m actually looking forward to tackling that dastardly area either by bus or subway–in the Spring!

If you’ve been spreading your wings and learning new areas, tell us about it in the Reader’s Forum.

I recently read two articles about two independent studies that got me thinking about the brain and vision loss. Could a blind person learn to use the visual cortex with another sense like taste or sound? There is scientific evidence in both of these studies that strongly points to this neural adaptation.

One system, called vOICE (pronounced voice but spelled with only the ‘v’ in lower case letters and the ‘oice’ in upper case letters), is very intriguing. The system uses sound images taken from digital images via a camera or scanner which the person learns to interpret as visual images. Studies prove that in time, the part of the brain that processes visual stimuli learns to use the sounds like visual images. You can learn more about vOICE at: www.seeingwithsound.com.

If you would like to read another article on this, including how the Harvard Brain Study is progressing with the vOICE system’s development and promotion, go to the Braille Forum page on the American Council of the Blind’s website: http://www.acb.org/node/140

The other breakthrough alternative to seeing is the Brain Port Vision Device. According to the website, “The BrainPort vision device is an investigational non-surgical assistive visual prosthetic device that translates information from a digital video camera to your tongue, through gentle electrical stimulation” (http://vision.wicab.com/technology/). The prototype unit, called a TDU, is now being tested in the United States. To learn more, go to the Brain Port’s page above.

These new technologies mean great things for the visually impaired. By harnessing our other senses in order to reprogram the parts of the brain used for visual stimuli, they have figured out a way to trick the brain into interpreting non-visual information as visual. What is possibly even more encouraging is that they are able to do this without the need for pharmaceutical intervention, and rely only on the brain’s ability to learn and adapt. It’s really quite remarkable.

Let us know what you think of these new technologies in the Reader’s Forum

By July 2011, I faced the inevitability that a newer, more efficient computer was necessary and I needed to exchange my loyal eight-year-old unit. Since 2010, tech support from the Worcester Commission had come to my apartment to fix email or other computer troubles, but things were becoming too problematic.

By October, I had taken definitive steps to find help with this purchase. My kind rehab teacher had emailed the letter I had written to the Memorial Foundation for the Blind located in Worcester, Massachusetts (Phone number: 1-508-753-8097). I had received my first computer from them in 2003 and she felt confident that I might receive another one.

In November, I was thrilled when I got a phone call from the agency saying I would receive money towards the purchase. I was new to buying a computer, and the wise and patient man from tech support advised me to buy a Dell Inspiron computer that was on sale at Staples. Following that advice, I ordered the computer and the afternoon of January 9, it was delivered to my apartment. I felt like a kid curious about a Christmas gift they must wait to open.

Early Wednesday afternoon, January 18, the man from tech support arrived at my apartment to install the new computer He anticipated that this job would take a while. I hoped that by late afternoon I would be learning how to use it and that all documents would be arranged the way they had on my first machine. I was wrong.

As is wont to happen with these things, there were unexpected complications. At first, Office 2003 and Jaws weren’t playing nice. My internet provider also did not accept the office or email program right away, but everything was quickly resolved. I had the serial number for Jaws and the authorization numbers written in Braille. Mr. Tech Support verified that everything was correct by calling Freedom Scientific. With these little hang-ups out of the way, it was time to install programs and start to become acquainted with this new machine.

One difference I noticed right away was that the keyboard is flat, not tilted like a typewriter keyboard. The windows key also has a tiny circle on it now, making it easy to find. The process of shutting off the computer is also pretty thorough. Unlike my old machine, it tells you if a program is still running and then shuts off quickly

These past few days I have been surfing the internet, writing word documents, and trying to figure out email on this machine., There are some glitches, like not being about to download all my word documents and opening new messages in email. But for the most part, things have run smoothly.

I also welcome the peace of mind I’ll have with this new quiet machine. With my old computer, I was worried each time I turned it on that it might be my last day using it because it rattled incessantly every time.

I glimpse promising possibilities in the months and years ahead as I rejoin email groups, learn to download books, favorite TV and radio shows, and find new writing opportunities.

How have other Ziegler readers dealt with the transition from an old to a new computer?

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a nice weekend. For those of you in the Southeastern United States who are in the midst of these damaging tornados, I hope you are all safe.

As for where we are, we finally got some white fluffy stuff, though it will be short-lived with spring-like temperatures today and tomorrow. This really has been an odd winter so far.

Moving on to the magazine, it seems that the majority of you appreciated the link to the Special Notices and Pen Pals Supplement webpage at the end of the magazine, so we’re going to continue utilizing that until a better solution presents itself. If you have any questions about the web link, please email me at editor@matildaziegler.com.

That should cover everything for now. I hope you all have a great week. Take care, and as always, thanks for reading.

Sincerely,
Ross Hammond, Editor

Submitted by Dave Hutchins

Cheesy tortellini, fresh spinach, and chicken chunks make this soup memorable.
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

1-1.3-ounces envelope white sauce mix
1 can chicken broth, (14-oz. )
3boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon Dried basil
1/2 teaspoon Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1 package Cheese tortellini, (8-ounces)
1-1/2 Cups half-and-half cream
6 Cups Fresh baby spinach

Directions

Spray a 5- to 6-quart crockpot with vegetable cooking spray and place white sauce mix in cooker.

Stir in 4 cups water and stir gradually until mixture is smooth.

Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces.

Add broth, chicken, garlic, salt, basil, oregano, and red pepper to mixture.

Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or on high for 3 hours.

Stir in tortellini, cover, and cook for 1 more hour on high.

Stir in cream and fresh spinach, and cook just enough for soup to get hot.

Enjoy!

For your convenience, all Reader’s Forum submissions are separated by the ## symbol.

In response to Feature Writer Lynne Tatum – Learning Braille–A Touching Process, and Feature Writer Alena Roberts – The Quest to Create a Low Cost Braille Display, Tim wrote:

I read with interest Lynne Tatum’s article about learning Braille as an adult, and Alena Roberts’ article about the cost of producing Braille material and Braille displays. I will comment on both articles.

Congratulations, Lynne, for the effort you are putting into this! It will pay off later! Though I learned Braille in Kindergarten, at the New York State School for the Blind, and use it every day, myself, I taught Braille to adults for many years. During my work and travels, I used English, Spanish, and Afrikaans in my teaching. One interesting thing I found was that, for people who speak a second language, no matter how well they spoke it, it was always best to start them off in their native language. The intuition which helps you guess and understand what you are reading works much better in your first language.

As stated, I use Braille every day. Yet I do not borrow books from the NLS libraries. This may mean that, according to the statistics, I am not a Braille reader, even though I use slate and stylus, Perkins brailler, and I used to have a Braille printer for my computer.

Is it only the cost of Braille books and Braille equipment that causes the numbers of children learning Braille to be so low? I strongly say that this is not the only reason. In our current main-streaming educational system, I believe that there is a definite bias against Braille on the part of teachers who teach our blind and visually impaired children. Most of these teachers are sighted, their knowledge of Braille is weak, at best, and they just don’t want to be bothered, or those funding this education don’t think Braille is valuable. Ask these same teachers if we should eliminate hand writing instruction for their sighted children. Imagine the loud choruses of “no way!” that you would get. Ask any adult blind person who is a fluent Braille reader, no matter how often or rarely that person uses Braille, and he/she will be more than likely to say, “I wouldn’t give up my Braille knowledge for the world.”

I strongly and assertively promote Braille whenever I am asked about it.

Tim Hendel
Huntsville, Alabama
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In response to Feature Writer Lynne Tatum – Learning Braille–A Touching Process, Duane wrote:

Braille is an awesome medium of communication that must never disappear! I was delighted to read Lynne Tatum’s article about learning Braille. As both pastor and musician, I have read Braille all my life. Louis Braille’s birthday should be commemorated annually everywhere. Keep up the good work of learning, whoever you are, and wherever you are!
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In response to Feature Writer Lynne Tatum – Learning Braille–A Touching Process, Andrew wrote:

I am teaching myself Braille using flash cards and a deck of Braille playing cards. I find that in today’s cyber society it is hard to find motivation when you can have smart phones, screen readers, and books on tape.
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In response to Feature Writer Lynne Tatum – Learning Braille–A Touching Process, Andrew wrote:

It is encouraging in this age of declining Braille literacy to read about someone going back to reading Braille. As a lifelong Braille reader, I agree that it is a very peaceful way to read, but I still remember how frustrating it was to learn even as a child. I especially remember how I used to get e and i mixed up and how my teacher, who was also fun, would pretend I hurt the feelings of letter e when I called it an i! I also had tracking problems for quite a few years, but the good news is, if you are going to work mostly with Braille notetakers, the Braille display only shows one line at a time, so that might make tracking easier for you. Good luck!
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In response to Karen Crowder – Will 2012 Bring in a New Age of Civility and Politeness? Danni wrote:

I went through this a couple years ago when I was dropped off at Target rather than Toys R Us where I was supposed to be going! Turned out scheduler messed up, but anyway, I figured I’m here I’ll do some shopping since by the time paratransit could get back to get me it would be too late to shop elsewhere and got a shocking response from the manager: “We don’t offer a service like that.” Oh well, okay I got back on the phone and called paratransit back and told them to please find a driver to take me home, they don’t want my money at Target! I have spread the word much since!

Walmart, though, at times has been interesting help. But they have always been willing to help!
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In response to Karen Crowder – Will 2012 Bring in a New Age of Civility and Politeness? David wrote:

Hello,

I dread shopping alone, not because I can’t do it, I have and will again. I dread it because I never know who I’ll end up getting to help me. Will they be in a hurry and sort of rush me along? Will they get me what they think I have asked for, but maybe it’s the Vanilla Coke not the Cherry Coke or the chunky peanut butter, not the natural smooth? Will my groceries be bagged such that my bread is smashed? Will the para-transit driver help me load or just sit in the van near where I am standing with my basket, motor running, and not roll the window down to let me know it’s my ride, not who knows who out there? Will I have too many bags for the para-transit driver not to tell me not to have more than 3? Will I miss new and interesting items because the shopper helper has no idea what I might like to try?

As to the couple at the mall, I think the security was rude. But I think that if you are going at a very busy time, you take a chance they are busy. I always try to avoid extremely busy times at malls where I rarely go anyway–overpriced often and the noise from echoes and inside fountains makes a sound-fog that gives me a headache. I don’t expect people to be helpful anymore. It seems everyone is in a hurry, expects technology to help us, or people just think we should be more independent or they get tired of helping when you don’t ever improve. I sometimes think the advances in technology will continue to make an ever-more independent group of blind people but the group risks becoming smaller and smaller unless older blind people can keep up with the technology changes and afford the new things. There are so many things out now, iPads, iPhones, iTouches, iMacks, Windows 7, several notetakers, Victor Streams, NLS downloadable books, NFB Newsline items, Audio.com books, Bookshare.org and Learningally.org items, commercial audio, and other resources. I feel a bit lost at times and definitely old now.

Monday, January 17, 2011–Martin Luther King Day–was cold and windy as I arrived at the Red House in Cambridge at ten-thirty. I met my friend, Tom, outside; we were let in and served hot coffee–a welcomed drink on this bitterly cold morning. We were both looking forward to the annual party for blind guests held at that restaurant.

After eleven, people started arriving and I listened for Donna’s gentle, happy voice inquiring where I was seated. I heard the tap of her cane as she was assisted toward our table. This party, as it is every year, was organized by a blind woman and there was no charge for our well-prepared dinner. As we were served our first course, hot tomato soup, we announced who we were and where we were from. Following the soup, we had fluffy rolls and a prime rib dinner.

Donna and I sat chatting about mutual friends, how we had spent the holidays, and her disappointment in the Patriots losing their recent football game. As she talked, I noticed she still had a cold and a persistent cough. I suggested she see the doctor soon and she agreed with me. Over coffee and apple pie we kept chatting, anticipating being roommates with another friend at the annual ACB state convention. We had been roommates there for four years and this year would be no different. As she left our table to visit with other friends, she did something very sweet–squeezing my hand, saying “It was so nice to sit with you.” I answered in kind, smiling, and said, “Yes it was. See you at the convention.” I admired her sunny disposition, always having a kind word towards everyone. I could not have known how our lives would change in just three weeks.

She was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia, but we all hoped she would recover and resume her active life and we would continue our conversations about cooking tips and other topics. In early February, I was shocked to learn via email and phone that while in the hospital, she had left us. The date was February 6.

Despite her almost eight-year battle with cancer, she always continued to lead an active life, working at the commission for the blind as a receptionist and constantly visiting her dad, who lived in a nursing home. She was unfailingly attentive towards his needs.

Donna will be remembered for the courage she had battling cancer, her enthusiasm about local sports, and her gentle kind spirit.