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The new educational method which brings the school to the student has been used Successfully by some of our severely disabled readers. It is the School-to-Home telephone equipment developed by Executone, Inc., and furnished by the Bell Telephone System and independent companies nationally. The student at home is provided with an electronic intercommunication unit similar to those used in offices but specially engineered for use with telephone lines. He speaks through the home unit by pressing the "talk-bar." His voice carries over private telephone lines and is received by the unit in the classroom. He hears the discussions in the classroom between his teacher and the other students. He "attends" school. Unlike correspondence courses, telephone work counts toward residence requirements. For some, trying it in high school has been the "bridge" which led to attending college.

Eager students report the cost less than transportation. Depending upon the established rates in the area and the distance involved, the monthly rental charges for the service provided by the telephone companies average between $13 and $25 per month. Most State Education Departments accept this method and more than 38 states reimburse for part or all of the cost. The Veterans Administration has financed telephone studies for some.

Leader of the crusade for education by telephone is Mr. J. A. Richards, educational director of Executone, Inc. He is chairman of the "Education for the Handicapped by Telephone Committee" which is located at 415 Lexington Avenue, New York 17, N.Y. One of the main objectives of the committee is to work with handicapped students in persuading schools and colleges to enroll severely disabled students. Write to Mr. Richards for personal assistance and information on technique, costs and financing, and suggestions for overcoming initial professorial skepticism.

USED TELEPHONE THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL, NOW ATTENDS COLLEGE, USING IRON LUNG AT NIGHT AND A PORTABLE LUNG DURING THE DAY

by Thomas E. Meath, Jr.

Just after starting fifth grade, I contracted polio. In the hospital some effort was made to continue my education. Then, returning home, I received home instructions along with a telephone intercom at the local high school. All through high school I had a home teacher for one subject, while I took my other subjects over the telephone. This system worked well especially since there were no students living in my area to carry test papers, etc., between the school and myself. Thus, the home teacher was my liaison. I had a great deal of help from the thoughtful considerate teachers, and faculty members as well as fellow students. With their help, I completed high school in four years instead of three and graduated in the top 5% of a class of 660.

Before college, I went out rarely. For the most part, my parents transported me. Friends, Resources Unlimited -- an organization for the handicapped -- and boys hired by ads have also taken me out. Now I get out five days a week.

Since September, 1960, I have been attending Fairfield University, Conn., in person. My ability to adjust to life in college now is, I am quite sure, a direct result of using the telephone in high school and adapting myself gradually to the hectic outside world. Actually when I started using the telephone, it was one of the biggest challenges of my life to push the switch and break into the class. I became used to it, however. Looking back now, I am very glad it happened. The experience forced me to compete and accept my disadvantages.

My day starts around 6:15 A.M. when a woman, whom we have hired, comes in to prepare me for the day. I leave the house at 8 A.M. in a V.W. bus with a student driver. In school, I ask various people to help me with notes, going from class to class, lunch, etc. After lunch I use my pneumobelt until 1 P.M. and return home about 1:45 P.M. I rest and do homework until 6:30 P.M. Then I go into the lung, eat dinner, either read or watch TV, and finally retire about 10 P.M.

My left leg has an unusable little motion. I use a mouth piece stick for reading and typing. Typing is very slow. So I rarely type, if at all. An electric page turner takes the place of a reading rack when I am in the lung.

I plan to major in Psychology, with the hope that I will become self-supporting after I get the required education.

FIRST INTERCOM STUDENT AT COLUMBIA U.

by Philip Smith, Jr.

I started using the telephone when I was 17 and still in high school. I was apprehensive at first due to my comparative isolation for three years; I feared that it would mean a stricter and more demanding schedule than the much more informal and relaxed tutorial method which I had been using.

In retrospect the telephone hookup appears clearly as a revolution in my life. For the first time since I got polio I was able to talk regularly with people my own age. I went to some parties, which I enjoyed. I woke up. My interest and ambition were awakened.

Now I am in my fifth year at Columbia University. I was their first student by intercom and used it for three years. Now I attend in a wheelchair. I use a chestpiece at night only. I hope to graduate in June, 1962 as a Mathematics major and go on to do graduate work and to teach on the college level.