Henderson daily dispatch., 1937-01-04


ed by the North Carolina State Asso-
| citation for the Blind, and is furnish
ed for publication from V. j. Asbaugh
of Durham, State president.
Seventy years ago, New York City
enacted the first special legislation in
| the United States providing relief to
| the needy blind. A majority of the
J states now provide for such assistance
! The theory on which blind relief
| legisla tion is based is that blindness
| itself is a sufficient cause of poverty
to require special legislation at the
hands Of the state. The blind people
! themselves have been especially active
in promoting such legislation, feeling
| that this special allowance made in
! consideration of their hapdicap is free
, from the stigma attached to poor re-
lief and by placing the administra-
ticn of such funds in an agency which
J deals especially with the problems of
| the blind, the most constructive re-
! suits can he obtained.
Blind Med Special Aid.
! From the beginning of organized
work for the blind in the United
! States early in the nineteenth century
| it has l5een the aim of friends of the
! blind to make them self-supporting
so far as possible. In 1906, the first
state commission for the blind was
created by the Massachusetts Legis=
/ lature, and since that date, twenty
! eight state commissions have been
set up. 1t is not possible to regard
| relief to the blind as being in the
same category as relief to the aged,
| who have lost the hope of regailing
! independence, and relief to widows
and orphans whose acute need is US
ually temporary. The blind are a.
, Heterogeneous group, of all ages and
all levels Of ability. A large portion of
! them can regain complete or partial
/ economic independence if they have
the necessary training and experience
| They are not necessarily permanent
! dependents like the aged. and their
i problems are entirely different from
those of dependent children. Whether
dependency of the blind is permanent
or temporary depends upon the ex-
tent to which special services for edu-
cation, vocational adjustment and
medical treatment are available to
! them in any community. Any plan for
! the administration of blind relief
which fails to consider these factors
increases the dependency and destroy
me initiative of the individual, and in
! the long run, fails of any construc-
tive result. Fortunately, North Caro-
lima is among those states having a.
state commission for the blind. which
is especially skilled in dealing with
the problems of the blind and whose
major policy is one of rehabilitation
and prevention of blindness. The in
! ability of the states to meet the re-
llet problem made so acute by the
recent depression led to special leg
lsIatlon on the part of Congress, not
only to relieve present distress but to
provide security for special groups of
our citizenship, so that the SUFFERING
of the past depression might not re-
! occur.
Blind and Social Security.
On August II, 1885, President Roose-
welt signed the Social Security Act in
which Congress provided for Federal
cooperation with the states in fur
nlshlng relief for the needy blind. In
order to secure these relief funds.
, however, it is necessary for the State
to comply with the legal technicalities
| Of the Federal Social Security law.
The present law which created the
North Carolina State Commission for
the Blind will have to be amended to
meet these technicalities If this law
is properly amended by the State Leg
! lslature to comply with the require
ments Of the Federal Social Security
Act, it will be possible for North Car
! DINA 10 receive a dollar in Federal
funds for every dollar spent in direct
relief to the needy blind.
Since the passage of the Federal
Social Security law, the Commission
for the Blind has been gathering data
III an effort to learn the number of
blind persons who are, at present, in
! need of direct relief and also to de-
termine how much relief might zee
most efficiently and effectively used
to aid the blind. It is estimated that
1853 of the 543O blind persons known
to the Commission are in need of di-
| rect relief grants for one or more of
the following reasons
Reasons for Blind Relief.
1. Many have a handicap in addi-
ton to blindness, such as: poor health
| age or other physical disability and
can never become employab]e;
2. A number of those who are cap
able of employment need a relief
grant until they can be trained and
employed;
3. Many blind can be made partially
self supporting, but must have a small
grant to supplement their small in
come;
! 4. Since approximately sixty-five
percent of all blindness comes in adult
life, it makes it necessary for the in
dividuals to be completely re-educated