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FREE MATTER FOR THE BLIND AND HANDICAPPED
KANSAS ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED
Corporate Office,
924 S. Kansas Avenue, Topeka, Kansas 66612
Telephone:
785-235-8990 or in Kansas only 1-800-799-1499
The purpose of the K.A.B.V.I. NEWS, the Kansas Association
for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Inc., is to promote the
general welfare
of the blind in Kansas.
K.A.B.V.I. news shall reflect the philosophy and policies of
the Association, report the activities of its members and include
pertinent articles
regarding visual impairment.
Any articles for publication should be forwarded to the
editor by January 15, April 15, July 15 and October 15 of each
year. Editorial staff reserves the right to edit submitted
materials.
EDITOR, Nancy Johnson
714 SW Wayne Avenue
Topeka KS 66606-1753
785-234-8449
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, Bonnie Byington
1205 SW 29th Street #14G
Topeka KS 66611-1200
785-266-7794
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD & PRESIDENT, Sanford J. Alexander, III
5321 Plaza Lane
Wichita KS 67208
316-652-0852
SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO:
Barbara Alexander, Membership Secretary
5321 Plaza Lane
Wichita KS 67208
316-652-0852
PUBLICATION POLICY: Send us your news, views, articles and
features. Materials in Braille, on tape, on computer disk (Word
Perfect 5.1 or ASCII) or print will be considered. Typewritten
materials must be double spaced. When quoting from other
published material, please include dates and sources. Unsigned
material will not be considered for publication. If you send a
stamped, self-addressed envelope, we will return original
materials. Thank you for your cooperation.TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE By Sanford Alexander
NOTIONS By Nancy Johnson
REPORT FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS By Nancy Johnson
NOMINATIONS MADE FOR K.A.B.V.I. BOARD by Robert Chaffin, Committee Chair
UTILITY BILLS WILL BE AVAILABLE IN BRAILLE OR LARGE PRINT By Michael Byington
AIR CAPITAL TELEPHONE READER TO ASSUME BRAILLE CALENDAR PROJECT By Steve Bauer
KANSAS VOLUNTEER DEVELOPS BRAILLE CODE FOR CHEMICAL NOTATIONS By Roxana Hegeman, Associated Press
THANK YOU by Robert and Lana Hittle
PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE By Sanford Alexander
This column will be both my shortest and longest during my
time of being responsible for this part of the newsletter.
In the last column I said, "These achievements are exciting
and we should rightfully feel proud of what we have accomplished.
In the tradition of those who founded K.A.B.V.I., we have once
again demonstrated that the banding together of blind and
visually impaired individuals with common needs and purposes is
the most effective vehicle for voicing and for achieving our
common goals. We must, however, guard against the euphoria our
successes can produce and not allow ourselves to be lulled into a
state of complacency.
What lies ahead of us, if we are not to lose all of the
gains we are celebrating, is a road filled with much hard work
and one requiring continual vigilance. It has not been a dawning
of an age of recognition by any means. We are still looked upon
with pity by many and there are far too many who would be
custodial and advocate that it is easier and less expensive to
take care of us than to provide us with the tools of
independence. The forces that fail to understand or appreciate
the necessity for specialized, categorical services for the blind
have not withdrawn from the battlefield."
Whatever measure of euphoria we were enjoying was certainly
short lived. The announcement on February 1, 2000 by Secretary
Janet Schalansky that SRS was going to close the Kansas
Industries for the Blind on May 1, 2000 began a sequence of
events that has brought us to a point today where we find ourself
as co-plaintiffs with the Kansas Advocacy and Protective Services
(KAPS) in a lawsuit against SRS in which they are being charged
with violating not only the spirit but the letter of the law
which was enacted in good faith by legislators attempting to
assist blind Kansans.
For the many who have not been able to see the press
releases and correspondence related to these events, the
K.A.B.V.I. News editor and I have decided to present them in
their entirety. In addition, we will print the complete text of
the historical Joint Statement of Goals and Principles crafted
over Richard Edlund's kitchen table on May 1, 1999. This is a
document that captures much of the spirit of the two major
consumer organizations and served as a catalyst during the Future
Design Team deliberations to achieve what held the promise of
being a road map for the future. Sadly, it didn't work out that
way.
Realize as you read the following pages that this is a very
serious enterprise that has been embarked upon with considerable
deliberation and determination to see it successfully completed.
It is, in many ways, the pivot point about which the future of
services to blind Kansans revolves. From my perspective, it is
what defines the consumer advocacy movement and epitomizes the
best in spirit and courage which the founders of K.A.B.V.I.
demonstrated. They have passed the torch to us and we must carry
it to the next generation of blind and visually impaired Kansans.
If we fail, the torch will go out and we will all be left in the
dark.
February 9, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Sanford Alexander,
(316) 651-6349
Michael Byington,
(785) 640-4500 or (785) 233-3839
BLIND ADVOCATES EXPRESS ANGER AT SRS ANNOUNCEMENT
Blind Kansans are expressing anger at decisions made by SRS
which will impact the lives and future services for Kansans with
vision loss.
On February 3rd, SRS Secretary Janet Schalansky announced
that Kansas Industries for the Blind (KIB) will be closed as of
May 1, 2000, and other blind services located on the old Topeka
Hospital campus will be closed or downsized.
"Secretary Schalansky's press release is filled with
inaccuracies and incomplete information," said Sanford Alexander,
President, Kansas Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired
(K.A.B.V.I.). "Schalansky's plans are not program improvements as
she claims. They will make programs ineffective. The residential
unit she plans to close is operating at 25% capacity because the
State Blind Services field program is failing to identify,
recruit, and refer people. The numbers of blind Kansans who need
the services are actually on the increase. SRS has never
understood how KIB helps blind workers gain skills so they can
then either choose to continue working at KIB or transfer to
other jobs in State employment or in the community. KIB is still
very much needed and should not close," Alexander said.
Michael Byington is Director of Governmental Affairs for
Envision, a not-for-profit services provider to blind Kansans.
According to Byington, there is some question as to whether SRS
is meeting the intent of Legislation which passed last year. The
Legislation says that if SRS moves Services for the Blind, they
have to provide facilities of equivalent usefulness or better.
"The law which passed also says that if they close KIB, they have
to make suitable arrangements including similar wages and
benefits for all KIB workers. I do not think the SRS plans meet
these provisions. I have never seen blind consumers so angry at
the State agency. If SRS goes through with their current plans, I
imagine one or both of the consumer groups will take legal action
alleging that the intent of law is not met," Byington said.
Byington said that there are other alternatives. "The
developer who has the option on the parts of Topeka State
hospital which adjoin the Blind services campus has told me they
would be willing to work with SRS on re-locating the blind
services programs, including KIB, to equivalent buildings which
are nearby. SRS, however, is so far refusing to talk with the
developer or the blindness community about alternative solutions.
They talk at us, but they do not consider our suggestions,"
Byington said.February
9, 2000
Sen. David Kerr
Room 120S State Capitol Building
Topeka KS 66612
Dear Senator Kerr:
I wanted first to thank you for your presence at the meeting
with SRS Secretary Janet Schalansky last Tuesday. Your ongoing
interest in and concern for the blind community is appreciated
and perhaps never needed more than it is at this time.
You will have received a communication from Michael Byington
that addresses in detail some of the concerns, fears and
perspectives of the blind community with respect to the issue of
the KIB program as well as the balance of DSB services. I will,
therefore, only point to several of these for emphasis but assure
you that substantial background is available on each of these and
many other points.
The RCB dormitory is operating at 25% capacity due to a
protracted plan to reduce it in order to justify its closure.
Although it is true there are weeks when the census is low, it is
equally true the opposite occurs. It is also necessary to look
at reasons why field staff have not used this resource to the
degree they could, which gets to the question of under
utilization as opposed to over capacity.
The Future Design Team advocated reduced capacity not
discontinuation of dormitory facilities, recognizing that we are
serving a population that includes a portion who will require
close medical supervision and significant assistance in the early
stages of training. It is my understanding that a blind diabetic
died in the dorm on January 29, 2000 and I wonder if the question
of how much medical supervision she was receiving has been looked
into? I also wonder if the fact that the dorm food service was
discontinued contributed in any way to this unfortunate event?
On the question of relocation to White Lakes Mall, it should
be noted that when I proposed this as a possible alternative it
was with the stipulation that this be clearly announced as a
temporary move, enabling sufficient time to be created during
which a permanent site could be developed. I said that White
Lakes, as an example, would be a place known not to be interested
in a long-term arrangement, making it believable in the blind
community that it was a temporary placement. It was, in
addition, sufficiently suitable to serve the needs of the RCB
program over a short period of time but was also sufficiently
inadequate to be considered as a permanent placement. You saw
how this was twisted into a proposal of seeing how it worked out
with the intention of making it permanent and perhaps expanding
it if space proved suitable. This never addressed the
orientation and mobility issues of the parking lot, the absence
of dormitory facilities, and the general inaccessibility of
"community" housing.
We are also to believe that 22,000 square feet can be
compressed into 9100 (or 9500, maybe 9600) without considering
that program components advocated for some years were eliminated
from the present space because of inadequate room for them.
The issue of whether KIB employment meets the Federal
standards for "integrated and competitive employment" has long
been resolved with clarifications from RSA, and the inference
that KIB employment is less than this is offensive to the
employees who work there. The reality is that a model tool for
developing employment options through the use of the State
Transfer opportunity has been badly mismanaged. The best thing
would be to improve this program, not eliminate it with KIB's
closure.
It is also interesting to note how KIB is said to include
large indirect costs or hardly any at all, depending on the
desired conclusion for the given issue at hand.
The SRS officials with whom you met have demonstrated a
profound lack of understanding and knowledge in the field of
blind rehabilitation and a persistent reluctance to listen to the
blind community which includes many individuals who possess rich
professional and experiential backgrounds in the field. The lack
of SRS officials' knowledge, or perhaps of their care in
discharging their responsibilities to the blind community, could
not be better pointed out than by the cavalier manner with which
Ms. Shively dismissed the need for contingent planning for the
KIB closure by saying that the blind workers would meet with
staff next week and they'd help find them jobs by May 1st. If
she sincerely meant this, she demonstrates a profound ignorance
and if she didn't, a tremendous degree of contempt for the blind
people to whom she was referring. In either case, she and anyone
who subscribes to her thinking, has no right working in a
position that can impact on this population.
The problems the blind community has experienced with SRS
are long and well known; the solution is simple. The time has
arrived, in fact is way overdue, for the Division of Services for
the Blind to be removed from SRS and for a free-standing
Commission for the Blind to be established as provided for in HB
2534. According to the fiscal note prepared for this Bill by
Budget Director Gossen, there is no cost for this move. It
would, once and for all, eliminate the problems that have plagued
us to date and enable the Commission staff to develop and provide
services that truly meet the needs of the blind population they
served.
Thank you for
your considered attention in this matter.
Sincerely yours,
Sanford J. Alexander, III
President
cc: all Kansas Legislators
MEDIA EVENT:
SHOW DOWN AT HIGH NOON: BLIND CONSUMER ADVOCATES -VS- SRS - AT
ISSUE:
SRS CUTS PROPOSED DUE TO RE-LOCATION OF BUILDINGS
MEETING: February 17, noon, State Capitol, room 526
COMMITTEE: Joint Committee on State Building Construction
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Dave Schwinn, (785) 235-0870 or
Michael Goren (316) 686-3489
Most of the State's Services for the Blind programs have
operated from the corner of 6th and Mac Vicar in Topeka for more
than 50 years. Now these programs must be moved because the State
has sold the land on which they sit. Blind Kansans charge that
SRS is using the move to eliminate and downsize blindness
services offered by the State.
SRS officials plan to close the Kansas Industries for the
Blind (KIB) portion of the programming. They say that they will
help the blind people working there find other opportunities with
similar wages and benefits, as Legislation adopted last year
mandates, but blindness advocates say the SRS plan for doing so
will fall far short of the mark.
The Rehabilitation Center for the Blind, which serves newly
blinded Kansans, is slated to be reduced to about half of its
current size with some training programs nixed altogether. The
SRS request for proposals for space strongly encourages location
in a Topeka mall. Blind consumers say that such a mall, located
in a sea of parking lot and heavy traffic is not an appropriate
solution for serving newly blinded Kansans.
Legislation adopted in 1999 mandates that Blind services be
provided with facilities of equal or better usefulness, but SRS
says services will be improved by streamlining. Blind Kansans
point out that nobody in SRS making these decisions or
pronouncements has ever worked with blind people or received
training under blindfold. "They haven't got a clue," said Sanford
Alexander, President, Kansas Association for the Blind and
Visually Impaired (K.A.B.V.I.), "and although SRS has received
lots of input from blind citizens, they are not implementing it."
Alexander says that the forced re-location is being used by SRS
as an excuse to cut programs they have wanted to get rid of
anyway.
"There are other buildings located almost next door on the
old Topeka State Hospital grounds which would be quite adequate
for blind services," Alexander said. "It would make economic
sense to pick up all of the Services for the Blind Programs, keep
them in tact, and simply move them to any of a number of
buildings which we have called to the attention of SRS." He
further questioned the motives of SRS by pointing out that one of
the three more promising buildings is not part of a land option
which has already been encumbered. "With a solution that meets
Legislative intent so close at hand, why have they steadfastly
resisted exploring it in favor of alternatives clearly not as
good for blind people," Alexander asked. Kansas Department of
Administration officials say they will not turn the building
Alexander references over to SRS. SRS would have to buy it at
market price through the realty company the Department of
Administration has engaged.
Senator Ben Vidricksen, R, Salina, has agreed to offer blind
Kansans an opportunity to make their case before the Joint
Building Committee
he chairs at noon on Thursday, February 17.
April 10, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Sanford Alexander, 316-651-6349, Michael Goren, Jim Germer, KAPS
785-273-9661
BLIND ADVOCATES FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST SRS
As a result of SRS' efforts to "reorganize" services for the
blind, which blind advocates believe will certainly result in the
system designed to assist blind Kansans being rendered
ineffective, the Kansas Association for the Blind and Visually
Impaired (K.A.B.V.I.) has filed a lawsuit against SRS to enjoin
them from actions that will create irreparable harm to blind
Kansans. The Kansas Advocacy and Protective Services, Inc. (KAPS)
has joined K.A.B.V.I. in this effort by filing a legal action in
Shawnee County District Court against SRS with K.A.B.V.I. and
KAPS as plaintiffs.
On February 3rd, SRS Secretary Janet Schalansky announced
that Kansas Industries for the Blind (KIB) would be closed as of
May 1, 2000, and other blind services located on the old Topeka
State Hospital campus would be closed or downsized.
"Secretary Schalansky's press release is filled with
inaccuracies and incomplete information," said Sanford Alexander,
President, Kansas Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired
(K.A.B.V.I.). "Schalansky's plans are not program improvements as
she claims. They will make programs ineffective. The residential
unit she plans to close is operating at 25% capacity because the
State Blind Services field program is failing to identify,
recruit, and refer people. The numbers of blind Kansans who need
the services are actually on the increase. SRS has never
understood how KIB helps blind workers gain skills so they can
then either choose to continue working at KIB or transfer to
other jobs in State employment or in the community. KIB is still
very much needed and should not close," Alexander said.
Most of the State's Services for the Blind programs have
operated from the corner of 6th and MacVicar in Topeka for more
than 50 years. Now these programs must be moved because the State
has sold the land on which they sit. Blind Kansans charge that
SRS is using the move to eliminate and downsize blindness
services offered by the State.
SRS officials plan to close the Kansas Industries for the
Blind (KIB) portion of the programming. They say that they will
help the blind people working there find other opportunities with
similar wages and benefits, as Legislation adopted last year
mandates, but blindness advocates say the SRS plan for doing so
will fall far short of the mark.
The Rehabilitation Center for the Blind, which serves newly
blinded Kansans, is slated to be reduced to about half of its
current size with some training programs nixed altogether.
Legislation adopted in 1999 mandates that Blind services be
provided with facilities of equal or better usefulness but SRS
says services will be improved by streamlining. Blind Kansans
point out that nobody in SRS making these decisions or
pronouncements has ever worked with blind people or received
training under blindfold. "They don't have a clue," said
Alexander, "and are not implementing it." Alexander says that the
forced re-location is being used by SRS as an excuse to cut
programs they do not understand and have wanted to get rid of
anyway.
Michael Byington, Director of Governmental Affairs for
Envision, a not-for-profit services provider to blind Kansans,
says there is some question as to whether SRS is meeting the
intent of Legislation which passed last year. The Legislation
says that if SRS moves Services for the Blind, they have to
provide facilities of equivalent usefulness or better. "The law
which passed also says that if they close KIB, they have to make
suitable arrangements including similar wages and benefits for
all KIB workers. I do not think the SRS plans meet these
provisions. I have never seen blind consumers so angry at the
State agency," Byington said.
It is strongly felt that the statute is still not being
complied with, inadequate time and inadequate deliberation
without full stakeholder input, appears to have gone into this
matter (as evinced by the fact that at least three separate plans
have been announced in the past several weeks), and inadequate
consideration as to the future of blind services has been given
in the rush to close KIB and move DSB services. In order to avoid
irreparable harm, K.A.B.V.I. must resort to legal redress.
Press Conference Opening Statement
By Sanford Alexander, President K.A.B.V.I.
April 10, 2000
Blind Kansans have always been actively involved in shaping
the services they receive from the state agency established to
serve them. Since its founding in 1920, the Kansas Association
for the Blind and Visually Impaired (K.A.B.V.I.) has always
reflected the belief that the best way for blind people to be
heard was to speak for themselves. The state agency has usually
been responsive, sometimes more and sometimes less, in this
process but never has it been as unresponsive as it has been
during the current administration.
Despite vigorous efforts on our part, including a strong
showing from the entire blind community and many Division of
Services for the Blind staff members during the February 12, 2000
meeting of the Advisory Committee for the Services for the Blind,
SRS maintained its heading on a reorganization plan that will
spell disaster for current and future blind and visually impaired
clients of SRS.
K.A.B.V.I. enlisted the aid of KAPS which is designed to
protect members of our society who are not being dealt with as
the law provides. They have joined us to try to encourage SRS to
see the error of its ways and to do what has historically always
proven to work best for blind Kansans, to listen to them!
We have tried to get SRS to follow the law, particularly as
embodied in language passed last year by the Kansas Legislature
that would ensure that the relocation of the Rehabilitation
Center for the Blind would be done in a manner that would not
dilute any of its services. Ongoing encouragement and show of
unity within the blind community have failed to move SRS off its
heading. We find we have no alternative than to take the action
we have taken today by filing legal action in the courts so we
can have the assistance of the judicial branch in enforcing the
will of the legislative branch.
We hope this action will finally put blind people back upon
a path leading to the ends which SRS claims to operate toward.
Today, blind Kansans are saying we will no longer be told by
state bureaucrats who know nothing about blindness what is best
for us under
the Rehabilitation Act.
April 14, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Sanford Alexander, K.A.B.V.I. 316-651-6349, Michael Goren, Jim
Germer, KAPS 785-273-9661
BLIND ADVOCATES HARDEN POSITION AGAINST SRS
On Monday, April 10, 2000 the Kansas Association for the
Blind and Visually Impaired, Inc. (K.A.B.V.I.) along with The
Kansas Advocacy and Protective Services, Inc. (KAPS) filed a
lawsuit against SRS to enjoin it from actions that will create
irreparable harm to blind Kansans.
Sanford Alexander, President of K.A.B.V.I., said, "Blind
Kansans have always been actively involved in shaping the
services they receive from the state agency established to serve
them. Since its founding in 1920, the Kansas Association for the
Blind and Visually Impaired has always reflected the belief that
the best way for blind people to be heard was to speak for
themselves. The state agency has usually been responsive,
sometimes more and sometimes less, in this process but never has
it been as unresponsive as it has been during the current
administration."
Today Alexander announced that K.A.B.V.I. would no longer
participate in activities K.A.B.V.I. believes to be at least in
part designed to keep the blind community distracted while SRS
officials pursue other agendas.
Alexander said, "We believe K.A.B.V.I. belongs on the DSB
Advisory Committee and we reserve the right to remain on it.
K.A.B.V.I. has determined, however, not to participate on it at
present because many of the items of discussion by the Committee
are being contested and we feel this litigation would not have
become necessary if blind consumers' input had enjoyed the
respect and weight it deserves. We will continue to monitor DSB
Advisory Committee activities and, as individuals, may offer our
observations during public portions of meetings."
Michael Goren, KAPS lay advocate and liaison to the blind
community, said not only is the blind community concerned about
what will happen to persons who presently work at the Kansas
Industries for the Blind, but they are very concerned that one
more option for blind Kansans to have decent paying jobs is gone
at a time when unemployment among persons who are blind or
visually impaired is already hovering around 74 percent.
"Closing KIB will only take away one more source of employment
for them," Goren said. "If the jobs that are being found by SRS
for present blind KIB employees are really decent jobs, then
let's not shut the door on continuing to use KIB as a springboard
to community employment," he added. "Also, we in the blind
community are as concerned about the future reduction of size in
DSB and elimination of onsite dorms at the Rehabilitation Center
for the Blind as we are of the fact that KIB is being closed down
when it should
not have to be."
April 25, 2000
Mr. Jim Jirak, President
ACB of Nebraska
3512 S. 44th Ave.
Omaha NE 68105
Dear Jim:
The members of Kansas Association for the Blind and Visually
Impaired congratulate you and the many blind and visually
impaired advocates in Nebraska who sustained the effort to create
a Commission for the Blind until it became a reality. This is a
great day not only for Nebraska's blind and visually impaired
population but for the entire blindness community across the
United States.
In states where Nebraska joins among the commission ranks,
the efficacy of the structure is reasserted. In states such as
Kansas, struggling to have similar legislation enacted, we draw
renewed hope and dedication to keeping the course. for the few
states that are not fortunate enough to have a Commission for the
Blind and are not even attempting to have one created, the
pressure to move in this direction is strengthened with such
encouragement. For all of us, the fact that your legislation
could be enacted at a time when the common wisdom would speak
against such a possibility, serves to quiet our critics and
detractors, demonstrating the truth that the odds can be overcome
when the endeavor is meritorious.
Again, congratulations
to Nebraska!
Sincerely yours,
Sanford J. Alexander, III
President &
Chairman of the Board
cc: Paul Edwards, ACB President
Charles Crawford,
ACB Executive Director
JOINT STATEMENT OF GOALS AND PRINCIPLES
created by a joint committee of Representatives from the
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF KANSAS
and
KANSAS ASSOCIATION
FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED
PARTICIPATING:
Susie Stanzel
Richard Edlund
Sanford J. Alexander, III
Michael Byington
Created May 1, 1999
This document is not intended to restrict the overall
planning process of the Division of Services for the Blind Future
Design Team. The two major consumer organizations of the blind
in Kansas, however, have found a number of goals and principles
in common as they have worked together through the futures
planning process. It is the joint view of the leadership of
these two organizations that it will be beneficial if goals and
principles on which we are certain the two organizations agree
are set forth as a beginning point for the Future Design Team's
final planning.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
1. Blind people as consumers have the right to exercise
informed choice as to what services they receive.
2. Services for the Blind has to have a center
based/facility based services component as well as field
components. The facility based rehabilitation center for the
blind must be seen as one component of a system of several
components all of which are working together.
3. In disability groups other than the blind, medical model
rehabilitation is usually finished before vocational
rehabilitation is started. With blind people the medical model
portion of the rehabilitation process does not happen before
other aspects of rehabilitation are started. The rehabilitation
of a blind person probably would not be more costly if one
counted the medical rehabilitation costs of other disabilities as
being a part of the overall rehabilitation process.
4. Everyone who works for Services for the blind, and
everyone who is in the supervisory chain of command for the
agency, including janitors, cooks, secretaries, and all other
employees, should have at least three weeks of training under
sleepshades prior to or shortly after beginning work for the
agency. This provision must apply to the Director of the agency
as well. Under the current organizational structure this
provision would also include the Commissioner of Rehabilitation
Services.
5. We need a comprehensive Services for the Blind agency,
not just a services for the blind Section 110 money funded
vocational rehabilitation agency. We need an agency that
provides services for the blind on a continuum with 110 monies
only being one component of services provided and funding used.
The concept must acknowledge that cradle to grave services are
appropriate for many individuals who are blind.
6. Blind services personnel should be supervised
exclusively by blind services specialist supervisors.
7. Kansas should submit to the Rehabilitation Services
Administration (RSA) a Separate State plan for the Blind. Blind
services should not be a portion of a combined plan.
8. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
reimbursements for placements of blind workers should come
directly back into the blindness services system, not into a
general or combined agency.
9. Services for the Blind should be non-means tested.
10. Kansas Industries for the Blind (KIB) still can serve
needed purposes
and should not close.
GOALS
A. A categorical, facility based program needs to continue
to exist. It should not be weakened in terms of services
provided. Core services should include:
- travel training
- activities of daily living/independent living skills
- assistive technology/computers
- Braille/communications skills
- community recreation
- industrial and manual arts
- adjustment
and modification of attitudes about blindness
Vocational evaluation needs to be a significant portion of
the program.
There must be a vocational component.
Housing options including home and apartment living should
be available as well as some dormitory space.
Overall capacity should not be decreased from current
levels.
B. Administrative services for the entire Services for the
Blind program should be separated from the facility based
rehabilitation program.
C. We need, in addition to the facility based component,
travel trainers located in area offices throughout the state.
These individuals would provide community based cane travel
training and orientation assistance. We suggest the formula of
one travel trainer for each rehabilitation teaching position.
The two orientation and mobility instructors at the RCB should
work in close concert with the field travel trainers to insure a
smooth transition into the community for those blind persons
leaving RCB training.
D. The rehabilitation teaching program should not be
restricted to younger individuals only. Older Kansans who are
blind should have access to rehabilitation teaching services
through the rehabilitation teaching program as well as through
the Kan-SAIL program.
E. Services for the blind needs to have a waiver specialist
working at full effort toward a program or system of blindness
related community based waivers.
F. An early childhood and blindness specialist is needed to
work in the field.
G. A low vision consultant position is needed for the
field.
H. An evaluation of caseload size for the entire blind
services field needs to be performed, with caseload size
evaluated based on factors of population density, travel time,
and area covered by the blind services professional.
I. The Little Randolph-Sheppard Law in Kansas needs to be
strengthened.
J. It has been made clear to the Future Design Team that
the State of Kansas no longer desires to operate Kansas
Industries for the Blind (KIB). When privatized, the State
should work cooperatively with potential privatizing agencies,
having expertise and proven track records in employment of the
blind. This work should continue until privatization is
successful. In the unlikely event, however, that the State
continues to operate the program for some additional time, the
following changes
should be made:
- Purchasing rules exemptions similar to those provided by
the Legislature to K. U. Medical Center
- There should be an exemption from VR eligibility. Blind
people should be able to be hired off the street if jobs are
available and they want to work at KIB
- State of Kansas employment transfers from KIB work to
other available State positions should be maintained and
continued as an available benefit of KIB employment whether KIB
remains a State
facility or is privatized.
I'm far too close to the activity in the Division of
Services for the Blind (DSB.) I'm an employee of DSB as the
Rehabilitation Teacher for the Blind (RT) in the Topeka area and
my husband is a former employee of Kansas Industries for the
Blind (KIB.) DSB has been my life and my career for nearly
twenty years. So it is nearly impossible for me to separate home
and work.
To date, most KIB employees have been placed in other jobs.
Those about whom I know have been given a two week work trial and
then determination is made whether or not they will continue in
the job. The counselors with whom I have worked have assured me
the placements are permanent. Most workers with whom I have
talked have, so far, found the new jobs to be satisfactory. So
far, so good.
Experience leads me to wonder, however, whether all the
front-line service providers have been told is accurate. Rumors
- and they are rumors - have it that the jobs will continue only
as long as funding is available from the sale of the KIB and
Rehabilitation Center for the Blind (RCB)grounds. Surely upper
level state management wouldn't do that to people - would they!
A few people have not yet been placed in permanent jobs. An
"Office Experience Project" has been developed to help train
these folks for other jobs. I understand the point of this
project is to move these people into competitive employment as
soon as possible. I do not disapprove of this idea. In fact, I
thought for a long time this should be the function of KIB. And
I still think it could have been. So, with the closure of KIB,
which had the capability to give people skills they could
transfer to other work situations, a door was closed. Yet, with
the development of the Office Experience Project, a door was
opened. Looks to me as if it was the same door.
Given that the sale of the land on which RCB and KIB was
sold and there is apparently nothing that can be done about that,
it would seem to me that KIB might have been restructured and
moved. Some of those who were moved into other jobs might have
retained employment as trainers for others in KIB and business
continued. But what has been done has been done. Change
happens, and it's always hard. Not all change is bad. What is
bad is the way changes come about. In this situation, that's the
problem. I venture to say few would have said we had a perfect
world in KIB. But why was not the program explored and
appropriate changes made rather than scrapping a good and useful
program and throwing it away and then starting basically the same
process over with a similar project? Seems to me SRS threw out
the baby with the bath water in this case and now wants a new
baby.
K.A.B.V.I. is not willing to stand by and watch these kinds
of games being played with the lives of the blind and visually
impaired of Kansas. The National Federation of the Blind of
Kansas (NFBK) has given support to K.A.B.V.I.'s position, as can
be read in the joint statement of the two organizations found in
this issue of K.A.B.V.I. NEWS. Band-Aids cover wounds - only
proper treatment heals them. K.A.B.V.I. wants to see the wounds
of the visually impaired and blind of Kansas healed - not just
covered.
I said I'm too close to this situation both personally and
professionally. From the personal perspective, I live with
someone going through this transition. I've watch the
frustration and hurt of the past few years take its toll, and I'm
watching the development of confidence and positive attitude of a
person in transition. I've looked at the potential loss of
income and been thankful that didn't happen. From the
professional perspective, I've helped some folks make the
transition to their new jobs.
Band-Aids have their place - and I think we have a Band-Aid.
I only hope SRS will see fit to provide the right treatment to
heal the situation now faced by Kansans who are blind and
visually impaired. I'm not a good fighter because people get
hurt in fights and I don't like to see people get hurt or be hurt
myself. Likewise, I hate to think of the wounds being covered
with Band-Aids and then having the Band-Aids yanked loose before
the wounds heal. That hurts too. The blind community will not
stand by and
let that happen.
REPORT FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS By Nancy Johnson
Directors of the Kansas Association for the Blind and
Visually Impaired (K.A.B.V.I.) met as a part of Focus Day 2 at
Kansas Specialty Dog Service in Washington, Kansas on the week
end of April 28 to 30, 2000.
The program about the training of service dogs, provided by
KSDS staff on the Service Dog program operated by the school was
summarized. Differences in the training of service dogs and dog
guides were explained. One interesting fact is that dog guides
require a longer training period because of the inability of a
blind user to make eye contact with the dog and thus to better
establish control. Room is not available at this writing to
present details. Perhaps in the next issue. Issues related to
service dogs are relevant in terms of legislation, and K.A.B.V.I.
will keep on top of what is happening. The "combination" dog was
discussed. This is a dog trained to perform both service and
guide functions. One reason it is difficult to train such dogs
is that some of the same commands may mean different things to
the different types of dogs. KSDS does not train such dogs.
The Lions Sight Bus was reported to be a successful
activity. Consensus was that collaboration between the Kan-SAIL
project and the Lions Sight Bus is a good plan.
The recently established Nebraska Commission for the Blind
will become operative in July, 2000. It sets an example and
shows that the concept of the commission is still used and
growing. Nebraska, like Kansas, is a rural state and, if a
commission is considered effective for them, it would seem it can
also be effective in Kansas.
Directors extensively discussed K.A.B.V.I.'s suit against
the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) and
the relationship of K.A.B.V.I. with the Kansas Advocacy and
Protective Services (KAPS), which is co-plaintiff in the suit.
Attorney Jim Germer of KAPS provided an update.
NFBK remains a quiet supporter in the process at this time.
The joint statement of K.A.B.V.I. and NFBK asks for a continuum
of services. Consensus was that a commission for the blind can
best provide such a service system.
Concern was expressed relative to whether or not the jobs
provided to KIB workers are permanent.
Although K.A.B.V.I.'s representatives will continue to
attend DSB Advisory Committee meetings, they will not participate
in the decision-making process.
Increasing membership is a priority for K.A.B.V.I.. The
goal is to reach a membership of five to six hundred members this
year. Project Get REAL (REAL EMPLOYMENT ACHIEVES LIBERTY) was
a highlight of Focus Day II. Twelve applications were sent,
three students responded. Two students received awards based on
their participation in this program. To earn their awards,
students wrote essays, participated in individual interviews and
were present for Focus Day II activities. Congratulations are in
order for Emily Schlenker of Wichita and Steven Chavez of Liberal
for their successful participation in the first year of the
project. Brochures will be sent this spring to teachers of the
visually impaired and followed up by letters in the fall.
Communication with students, teachers and parents is imperative
for the success of the program.
Jadwiga Plesniar of the Rehabilitation Center for the Blind
(RCB) and Mike Renner of KSDS discussed the topic of "Dog or
Cane." They seemed to be in agreement that either a dog or a cane
is a good mobility aid. They agreed that training with a cane is
prerequisite to dog guide training and use. They also agreed
that basic orientation skills are valuable to the use of either a
dog or a cane. The time during which an individual is learning
and practicing cane skills is also developing orientation skills.
Dogs are living beings and, as do all living beings, they may
experience illness or injury. At these times, a dog user may
need to rely on cane skills to get them through difficult times.
Lions are listening. K.A.B.V.I. wants to keep them
involved. They are an excellent resource for the blindness
community. The Sight Bus could be coordinated with Focus Day,
Kan-SAIL and KSDS activities. The Lions office will be contacted
soon to arrange the bus for Focus Day III to be held at KSDS the
week end of April 27, 28 and 29, 2001.
K.A.B.V.I. can serve as the agent of communication among
various groups with interests involving the blindness community
and can help these groups work together for the community's best
interests. A bill has been passed to allow consumers to receive
utility bills in media of choice. Find additional information
elsewhere in the newsletter.
When the legislative session ended, it had been determined
that the Department of Administration would be responsible to pay
the moving costs of RCB. However, future building costs for rent
and maintenance would be money that once was available to provide
services.
Vendors have established the right to serve mess halls on
military bases. This is important to Kansans because it allows
vendors to serve Fort Riley. SRS did not support the legislation
that made this possible.
Licensure has now been issued for Braille transcribers.
JoAnn Vine was appointed to both the Membership and
Arrangements Committees.
Convention arrangements were reviewed. Exciting things will
happen at the convention in October. Watch future newsletters
for more details.
NOMINATIONS MADE FOR K.A.B.V.I. BOARD by Robert Chaffin, Committee Chair
Four positions of the K.A.B.V.I. Board of Directors will be
up for election in October at the convention. The nominations
committee has proposed Barbara Alexander, Beulah Carrington,
Janelle Edwards and Nancy Johnson to fill these positions. Each
of these individuals is currently serving on the board and has
expressed willingness to continue to do so.
Nominations for all of these positions will be open to the
floor at the annual meeting. If you intend to make a nomination
at that time, please contact the nominee first to be sure they
desire to seek
the position.
UTILITY BILLS WILL BE AVAILABLE IN BRAILLE OR LARGE PRINT By Michael Byington
We fought many battles in the Kansas Legislature, most of
which were focused toward attempting to save the State Blind
Services facilities and Kansas Industries for the Blind. These
resulted in our getting just far enough to feel we have grounds
to file the law suit about which Sanford Alexander has written.
One battle, however, was finally won!. For nearly two
years, we have been attempting to get a State law passed to say
that utility bills have to be available in media of choice. This
year both Houses of the Legislature finally adopted this issue
and Governor Graves signed it into law.
Advocacy is a funny thing. You never know what is finally
going to put an issue over the edge and make it come out okay.
The bill to require utility firms, both public and privately
owned, to offer bills in media of choice made it through the
Kansas House of Representatives without difficulty. Several
language changes were made in House Committee, but once it got to
the entire House, it moved through pretty easily. In the Senate,
however, many essentially non-related amendments about other
utility issues were added.
When the versions of a bill differ between what the House
passes and what the Senate passes, the issue goes to a conference
committee. Such a committee, featuring members from both houses
of the Legislature, is supposed to work out differences and
propose one version of the Bill to both Houses. If the conference
committee can not agree, the Bill dies.
In the case of the Bill about media of choice for utilities,
things did not happen in the usual manner. Conference Chair,
Representative Carl Holmes, R, Liberal, was insistent that he
wanted a clean Bill without all the extras added by the Senate.
The senior Senate member of the Conference Committee, Senator Pat
Ranson, Wichita, reluctantly agreed to this, but only if Holmes
promised her that he would move some of the other provisions
through the House as stand-alone bills or attached to other
measures. Holmes agreed. Ranson, however, then employed a
rather unusual strategy to insure that the agenda she was
supporting moved forward. She refused to sign off on the
Conference Committee report until Holmes got the other issues
which had been added to the media of choice bill moving through
the process. It is easy for a Bill which is trapped by this type
of political dancing to get bogged down in the process and never
see the light of day, but in this case, the other measures
eventually moved along and the bill was allowed to progress.
Timely contacts with Senator Ranson's office by K.A.B.V.I.
members Jon Gormley and Janelle Edwards helped get the bill
moving. Ranson's staff reported to them that the bill was moving
through the process at the time of their calls, records would
suggest that their contacts were instrumental in nudging the bill
back into action.
In July, you can request information on your utility bills
in Braille, large print (24 point), or audio format, and the law
says that the utility company has to provide the bill in a format
agreeable to both you and them. If you only use Braille, this
would be the only form agreeable.
Audio format does not necessarily mean tape. A tape
recorded bill is one way the utility can comply with audio
format, but not the only way. They can call you and give you the
information over the telephone, or if they have an automated
telephone system which gives out billing information, this is
considered to be in compliance with the audio format requirement.
The utility with the automated system, however, does have to help
you obtain the information you need in order to use the automated
system.
Some of the smaller utilities may inquire where they can get
Braille and/or large print billings done. I will thus offer a
list of a few
places which do this type of printing work.
1. J&J Braille Products
1610 Little Kitten
Manhattan, Kansas 66503
(785) 776-6684
jedwards@flinthills.com
2. Envision
2301 S. Water
Wichita, Kansas 67213
(316) 267-2244
www.envisionus.com
3. Metrolina Association for the Blind, Inc.
704 Louise Ave.
Charlotte, N.C. 28204-2128
(704) 372-870
Braille@Charlotte.infa.net
AIR CAPITAL TELEPHONE READER TO ASSUME BRAILLE CALENDAR PROJECT By Steve Bauer
Since 1966, the Braille Association of Kansas has produced
and distributed at no charge, several hundred pocket size Braille
calendars. The 2000 calendar was the final calendar to be
produced by BAK. In an effort to keep this tradition alive, the
Air Capital Telephone Reader, with funding from the Wichita
Downtown Lions Club, has assumed sponsorship of this project.
Production on the 2001 calendars is underway at this time.
They will continue to be produced on Thermoform paper and the
style and format will not change.
If you are not on the mailing list for the Braille calendars
and would like to receive one, please make your desire known.
Contact: Air Capital Telephone reader, 106 W. Douglas, #615,
Wichita, Kansas 67202. Telephone, (316) 337-7701 or e-mail,
accessnow@southwind.net.
The calendars will be mailed just before Thanksgiving to
avoid the holiday
mail rush.
KANSAS VOLUNTEER DEVELOPS BRAILLE CODE FOR CHEMICAL NOTATIONS By Roxana Hegeman, Associated Press
WICHITA, Kan. (May 1, 2000 12:01 a.m. EDT)
Von Eulert calls it her "rat's nest": It's her tiny home
office crammed with weighty textbooks and computer equipment. A
Braille printout sits on a desk. An old mechanical Braille writer
rests next to its computerized counterpart.
It is here that Eulert, an 80-year-old housewife with no
college degree or even personal ties to a blind person, has spent
a lifetime transcribing books into Braille.
Buried atop a bookshelf, near dusty plaques acknowledging 34
years of volunteer service, is a medal inscribed by President
Reagan in 1982. She casually dismisses them all: "That's not why
I do it."
Her work has pioneered significant developments in the
cumbersome world of Braille transcription. Her latest task - a
manual of codes for chemical notation published last year by the
American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, Ky. - is now
used by people worldwide to transcribe science textbooks into
Braille.
At one time, transcribers had to manually draw bonds and
electron dots, which meant that transcription couldn't be done on
a computer. Then Eulert worked her code for a decade, fine-tuning
efforts with Braille transcribers and chemistry experts.
In 1997, the Braille Authority of North America adopted it
and named it, as Eulert had wanted, the Code for Chemical
Notation. For the first time ever, blind students have a uniform
code to read chemical notations and molecular structures.
Praise comes from Joyce Van Tuyl, a member of the BANA's
mathematics committee and the Braille program coordinator at the
Talking Book and Braille Library in Seattle: "This is a real
breakthrough."
It is not Eulert's first major advance in the field. Several
years ago she also developed a Braille counterpart for ancient
numeration systems, codifying Babylonian, early Greek, Egyptian
and other ancient numerals into a standard format that blind
students could read.
For 15 years, until her retirement last year from the post,
Eulert also chaired BANA's mathematical and technical committee.
"The word 'chemistry' comes up and everyone thinks of Von," says
Betsy McBride, a transcriber in Garland, Texas, who has served as
one of Eulert's "guinea pigs." She finds the new code - an
offshoot of the mathematical code used by transcribers - easy to
use.
Eulert, who dropped out of college to marry a soldier during
World War II, has always had an interest in chemistry and took
several college courses. When her son started junior high, Eulert
found he was uncomfortable with her volunteering at his school.
So she began looking for something else to do.
In 1965, Eulert spotted a newspaper ad seeking volunteer
Braille transcribers for the local Red Cross Chapter. "I thought
that was worthwhile," she recalls. So she took a class and got
certified. "Then it kind of snowballed."
During the busy season, when school textbooks are chosen and
need to be transcribed, Eulert spends up to 50 hours a week
transcribing. Literary books can easily be done in a month, but
mathematical textbooks can take as long as a year.
The complexity of the material, and the painstaking checks
for accuracy, all take time. That is an increasingly precious
commodity as volunteerism wanes nationwide. The Kansas Red Cross
Chapter once had 21 volunteers certified to transcribe books into
Braille. But now Eulert is one of six Kansans left who can do
that kind of volunteer work for the Red Cross, and she is the
only one in the state who handles complex chemistry texts.
Kansas is one of only three states - New Jersey and
California are the other two - where the Red Cross organization
sponsors volunteer transcribers, although other agencies have
volunteer transcribers. More states now hope to pay people
because so few sighted people are willing to learn Braille, then
volunteer hours of work.
To help handle the load, Eulert once taught inmates serving
life sentences at the El Dorado Correctional Facility how to
Braille. She figured the inmates, who are minimally paid to do
the work, would help relieve the demand placed upon the
volunteers. But prison transfers have left just two inmate
transcribers, the remnants of the group she trained several years
ago.
Nationwide, about 170 people are certified in the
mathematical code, but not all can also do chemistry. Eulert got
started on the chemistry code more than 10 years ago, after the
mother of a candidate for a doctorate in chemistry in California
pleaded with her to transcribe his textbook because no one else
would touch
it. Eulert's response? "You do what is needed."
THANK YOU by Robert and Lana Hittle
THANK YOU K.A.B.V.I. for everything that you offered on
Saturday, April 29. It was very informative and both my husband
and I along with Steven learned a lot of information. My husband
and I brought home a different child to his mother. Receiving
the Get REAL award boosted Steven's self-esteem tremendously, so
much so that he actually went into a nicer restaurant for
probably the first time in his life -- RED LOBSTER. He was
disappointed that they didn't have a Braille menu but I think he
has enough confidence to let Red Lobster know about it through a
complaint letter.
Thank you again
for putting FOCUS DAY 2 on.
Mark your calendars for the following events of importance
to blind and visually impaired Kansans. For more information,
contact the relevant organization directly.
* August 15-19, 2000 Blinded Veterans Association
Convention, Anaheim, CA, contact: BVA, 477 H Street NW,
Washington DC 20001-2694, Phone: 202-535-7037 or 800-669-7079
* July 2-8, 2000 ACB Convention, Louisville, KY. Contact:
ACB office, 202-467-5081.
* September 14-15, 2000 State Rehabilitation Council (SRC)
meeting and Public Forum, Hays Contact Peg Spencer, 785-267-5301.
* September 18-20, 2000 Assistive Technology conference:
Topeka Expo Center. Contact: Assistive Technology for Kansans
Project, Sheila Simmons, 2601 Gabriel, Parsons KS 67357, 316-
421-8367 or 1-800-526-3648, e-mail:
ssimmons@parsons.lsi.ukans.edu
* September 22, 2000 SILCK Board meeting, Topeka Contact:
SILCK, 700 SW Jackson, Suite 212, Topeka, KS 66603, 785-234-6990
(V/TDD)
* October 19, 2000 Inaugural Mary T. Adams Seminar, Holiday
Inn, Great Bend, KS. Contact Dr. Kendall Krug, 785-625-3937
* October 20-22, 2000 K.A.B.V.I. convention: Great Bend
Holiday Inn. Contact: Regina Henderson, Convention Coordinator,
1010 Inverness, Wichita KS 67218, 316-687-0113
* November 30-December 1, 2000 State Rehabilitation Council
(SRC) meeting, Chanute Contact Peg Spencer, 785-267-5301.
* December 8, 2000 SILCK Board meeting, Topeka Contact:
SILCK, 700 SW Jackson, Suite 212, Topeka, KS 66603, 785-234-6990
(V/TDD)
* April 27-28, 2001 K.A.B.V.I. Focus Day III, KSDS,
Washington KS.
Contact: Mike Renner, KSDS 785-325-2256.
Myrtle Razak died October 27, 1999. K.A.B.V.I. member,
charter member of Northwest Kansas Association of Visually
Impaired, survived by husband, Lee Razak, past-president of
K.A.B.V.I., and two daughters.
Dorothy M. Swindler, age 74, of Houston TX, formerly of
Newton and Wichita, died April 2, 2000. Burial in Mennonite
Brethren Cemetery, Hillsboro. Member of Wichita Association for
the Visually Handicapped and K.A.B.V.I. Survived by sons,
Richard Decker of Long Prairie MN and Leonard Decker, and
daughters, Valeta Giesbrecht of Stafford TX, Carolyn Young of St.
Paul MN, and Eunice Alton of Denver; stepsons Lloyd of Salina,
Kenneth of Wichita, and Charlie of Sedgwick; and a brother,
Merrill Hiebert of Montgomery AL; 11 grandchildren and 5
great-grandchildren. Memorial has been established with First
Baptist Church
Music Department, Houston TX
The End
©
Copyright 2000, All rights Reserved
Kansas Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired,
Inc.
924
S. Kansas Ave. • Topeka, KS 66612
phone:
785-235-8990 • toll
free in KS:
(800)-799-1499