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PENSIONS FOR THE BLINDED

All of the men both of the Army and the Navy who lost their sight have been pensioned by the Veterans Administration under Public Law 182, passed October 1, 1945. This law provides pensions for blinded persons as follows: "blind in both eyes with 5/200 visual acuity or less" -- $200; "blinded in both eyes" -- $235; "anatomical loss of both eyes" -- $265. These pensions were increased twenty percent as of October 1, 1946. Few will quarrel with the principle of liberal pensions for those who lost their sight in the service of their country, but one must bear that fact in mind when criticism is leveled at the failure of those responsible for the blind to interest veterans in constructive or contributory effort. Many of the young men who have come through the training centers will want, and are in fact taking good positions, and are working, not only for the satisfaction of employing their time, but also to make a contribution to society. There are some, however, who, with the assurance of an ample pension check each month for the rest of their lives, will find it difficult to be motivated to any hard work.

During the summer Perkins had an opportunity to assist with eight blinded soldiers who had been assigned to the Cushing General Hospital in Framingham. These men had come to this hospital for treatment of conditions other than eye trouble, and the hospital staff had no experience or equipment to assist the men in adjusting to their loss of vision. Some of the men had previous experience at Avon, and others had come directly to Cushing, having previously had very little training in learning how to get along without their sight. After a conference with the hospital authorities, and a preliminary survey by the Director and the Principal, Miss Jane Smith of the Personnel Department, and Joseph Jablonske, a Perkins graduate and teacher, were assigned to give whatever assistance seemed advisable in individual cases. They were later assisted by James Kent, a blinded veteran who had been a member of the Harvard Class during the year, and Gus Frye, a young man of Watertown who, while in the Army, had served at Valley Forge General Hospital. All of these made several visits to the hospital to talk with the men, and to give them the benefit of their experience. Writing boards, Talking Books, Braille cards and other games, Braille writing equipment and manuals were made available. Mr. Jablonske taught Braille to three of the men who wished this instruction, while Miss Smith assisted the Red Cross workers in meeting the problems which arose in individual cases. Although the program followed did not produce great gains to all of the men, it was nevertheless a real service, and it did help the authorities at the hospital in dealing more adequately with these men for whose visual problems they were not prepared. The visits were made over a period of nine weeks, and were discontinued after all the men had been discharged from Cushing to go to Avon or to other hospitals for treatment or to their homes.

AIDS FOR PARTIALLY SEEING

Mention may well be made at this time of some studies which began during the war as part of the program for the war blinded, and are now being carried over on a peace-time basis. Reference was made in the last report to a project to develop a magnifying device for partially seeing people. This project, which was initiated by Perkins, received the endorsement of the Army and sponsorship by the Office of Scientific Research and Development. A contract was awarded to the Dartmouth Eye Institute, and work began on June 15, 1945. While the intended purpose of the project was to see if a magnifying device could be developed which would enable partially seeing people to read ordinary print books and thereby avoid the necessity of printing textbooks and other reading matter in large type, the actual result of the study was an extensive report on the history and technique of magnifying devices. This was submitted to the Committee on Sensory Aids of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, on November 15, 1945. After that study, efforts were made to produce a device and one was made available for a tryout with a group at Perkins in May 1946, and later with a group of children in sight-saving classes in New York City. This was also on exhibition at the convention of the A. A. I. B. in June. Dartmouth is still working on this development, with the helpful cooperation of the Department of Optics at the University of Rochester.

At the same time, Herbert Jehle had been working on a magnifying device on projection principles in the physics laboratory at Harvard. Mr. Jehle brought his device to Perkins where it was tried out. The chief difficulty with his device was lack of clear reproduction and the fact that it had to be used in a dark room. Mr. Jehle's efforts, however, have been recognized by the National Research Council, and he has been enabled to continue his studies in this field at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. It is hoped that he will develop a device which will prove effective and helpful, and will supplement those perfected at Dartmouth and Rochester.