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American Foundation for the Blind (established in 1921)
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Let's check out how it was to be
blind in 1921. Did you learn to read or write? Maybe,
if you were lucky and went to one of a few special
schools in the country. Afterwards, could you become a
recording star, a doctor, or a journalist? Not exactly.
It was hard for blind people to get jobs. No one
thought they could do much.
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These days, most kids who are blind
go to a regular school, use a white cane, learn to read and
write in braille, and use a computer. You might see an adult
blind person going to work on a train, stopping at an ATM
to get cash, buying groceries and going home to cook
dinner. (Yes, blind people today can be that independent!)
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Many of the good things that have happened
for blind people over the past 80 years are because
of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB).
Think of AFB as a rainbow of ideas, stretching across
the country. AFB helps blind people find where to go
in their home town to learn how to be independent.
AFB also makes sure that wherever a blind person lives
in the United States that there are teachers and trainers
available to teach braille, how to use a computer, or
how to get around using a white cane.
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You've probably heard of Helen
Keller, the child who couldn't hear or see, but learned
language through her teacher, Anne Sullivan. That's the
story, The Miracle Worker. Maybe you
don't know that Helen Keller grew up to be a famous
writer and traveler of the world on behalf of AFB. She
did, and AFB has many souvenirs from her life.
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Helen Keller worked with AFB for 44 years!
She helped AFB to get our government and businesses to
pay attention to the needs of blind people. Things
like Talking Books—all kinds of books recorded so
blind people can read them through listening—happened
because AFB and Helen Keller worked together. AFB has been
making Talking Books for 70 years, a serious chunk of time.
CDs have only been around since 1982!
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So, what senses have you used today?
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