The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-07-30

tune, but whose handicap" usually proves no handicap at all when after proper training, they are set at a job they can do.
 War industry and business, spurred by reports of agencies CO., operating with the War Manpower Commission and by the steadily in- creasing shortage of skilled workers, gradually are discovering this fact.
 Skilled Workers
 The blind are being used success fully in a number of industrial operations, as well as for such skill ed office work as stenography. And there is slow, but steady improve ment in employment of persons disabled in other ways as employer prejudice against hiring "handi- capped" workers breaks down before proof and example.
 Linked to this immediate problem of finding work for the physically handicapped-and not on mere hu- manitarian grounds, either, but on a basis of need-is the future prob lem of finding work for fighting men disabled in action and for pro- duction soldiers disabled in factory accidents. Increased employment and faster production rates in the munitions and heavy industries, combined with war injuries, are ex- pected to increase the total of Americas disabled considerably.
 A step toward meeting this prob- lem was recently concluded agree nrent by management and labor in the small-diamond cutting industry under which disabled veterans of the Army and Navy will be given special preference as apprentices, and age limits waived.
 The cutting of small diamonds for industrial uses Is an industry which, until the Nazis overran the low countries, employed about 25, ,00O people in Holland and Belgium. Now we're typing to make ourselves Insufficient in this highly skilled and important craft. Most of the work now is being done in New York City but it Is planned to get up apprenticeship programs in other sections.
 The skill and deftness of blind stenographers, according to the Civil Service Commission, has aroused enthusiasm among govern ment officials employing them. When taking dictation, these steno- graphers use a special braille ma chine with raised type, similar to a stenotype. They take dictation with rapidity, and transcribe with equal speed.
 Blind Typists
 Blind typists are being used in- creasingly in private industry, es- pecially as dictaphorn or ediphone transcribers, and one large war factory is employing blind workers on direct production-not in routine inspection or repetitive jobs. either, but in actual sub-asssmbly work on weapons.
 With everything pointing to an increase in the ranks of the coun- try's disabled --the Federal Security Agency as early as last March re- ceived reports of 6,807 now eases of disabled persos seeking work In a single fortnight--many experts be- lieve that we will have tn expand. and quickly, such training facilities as now exist.
 At present, the governments major activity in this field IS car ried on through the Vocational Re- mobilization Section of the U. 8 Office of Education, which admin istors a $5,oOo,Ooo Congressional ap- propriation for grants-in-aid to the states. Each state participating IT the program must match it's grant with like amount and the funds are used to set up training courses in the public schools.