Hello Fred and all, I read with great interest your message Fred and was a bit
surprised that you were opposed to the closing of the school for the blind. I
have never known of that part of you.
As for myself, and again, I only speak for myself, I was not necessarily happy
about the school being closed however I feel that no children should be removed
from their parents at the tender age of four or five and placed in an
institutional setting for no matter how long, whether it be a week or a day. I
believe that there are things which I missed receiving from my parents as a
child that I never gained back and never will. I believe that my life was
forever changed by being forced to attend a residential school for the blind,
much to my detriment as an individual. I believe that most individuals who
attended a school for the blind for an extended period of time, that is did
they to say those who were removed from their parents not necessarily day
students, those were returned home each evening also suffered the effects of
being institutionalized as I was. In my case though the problems which I have
faced throughout my my life Maybe even more cute because I actually attended a
nursery school for children who were blind before the age of three, becoming a
residential student there going to the nursery school on Sunday evening, seeing
my parents on Wednesday and then returning home the following Friday. Having
been in this type of residential situation for more than 14 years, I feel that
I did not receive the values or the morals that living at home would have
presented me with, and ultimately made my life somewhat more difficult because
a lot of these things I ended up having to learn on my own, not necessarily
with or from the guiding hand of my parents As you may recall Fred and others
we had house parents, but their job was just to make sure that we got from
place to place, point to point at the correct time whether it be bed breakfast
lunch dinner or school. Most if not all I doubt had any training in work with
children who were blind, the only prerequisite would have probably been that
they pass a state test in order to get the job and I can’t help but wonder if
there was any kind of a background screening for individuals at that time.
As I have suggested in my book, entitled dealing with vision loss, my feeling
is that children who are blind out to attend a school for the blind for a
undetermined period of time, during which they would be trained in mastering
the necessary skills which would allow them to function in a public school
setting. Once they have mastered the skills or become very familiar with them,
including braille, computers, mobility, that they should then be allowed and
even encouraged to attend public school Mr. Wyatt, I have other subjects which
I would very much enjoy speaking with you about not necessarily about the
person you are endeavoring to share with your readers, however they are the
perceptions of an individual who has been blind all of his life about living in
a world where 99.9% of people can see and what the feelings are of most sided
people are toward those of us who are blind and the impact of those feelings.
Any organization can say anything they want about Blind as being an
inconvenience or how easy it is to overcome However, when it comes right down
to it the real problem is the way that society feels about those of us who are
blind. Look at the INXS ability of point of sale card readers, look at the INXS
ability of most television programs. Look at the rate of unemployment among
people who are blind yes I know some people feel that it isn’t as high as one
might think but how many people in our lifetime have been left out in the cold
because Society in general refused to allow him to be employed. Look at the in
accessibility of software. These are just some of the things which we as people
who are blind must deal with on a daily basis after a while it begins to wait
on you thanks for reading Fred Olver
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 3, 2020, at 11:03 AM, Fred Wurtzel <f.wurtzel@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello Mr. Wyatt,
Wow! This is awesome. I am so happy to learn that Mr. Shotwell was blind.
This fits in with my observation that most advancement in the education of
blind folks has come from blind folks ourselves. Think of Louis Braille or
Helen Keller.
Another great thing is that he, my wife, our NFB state president and I also
graduated from Eastern Michigan University. I am proud of Eastern for its
long record of openness to educating everyone, regardless of blindness.
Our legacy is that once we get something going, sighted folks take it over
and push us to the background. The school for the blind, when I attended was
quite good. There were a number of competent blind teachers who provided
positive role models for us students, along with good sighted teachers. We
competed well with regular ed schools in athletics and music and such things
as debate and forensics. Many MSB graduates moved on to have successful
careers as leaders in government and the private sector. There was one study
in the 1980’s that reported that Michigan School for the Blind graduates had
the highest per capita income of any state school for the blind in the
nation.
In the 1990’s the closure of the school was done, despite strong efforts of
blind people to prevent it, entirely by sighted folks who had little or no
knowledge of the education or abilities of blind folks. We fought hard in
the state legislature and were successful in the House of Representatives.
We were defeated in the Senate due to Senator Degrow from Port huron who
equated the Scool for the Blind with a mental institution that was being
closed in his district. There is a misperception that educating blind
children in a classroom with sighted students is better for the blind student
and that somehow associating with fellow blind students is detrimental.
Actually, nothing can be further from the truth. Blind students in regular
ed are often separated, misunderstood mistreated and bullied and they often
do not have access to the array of resources available in a setting dedicated
to their education as is available in a residential school setting.
Congregating blind students improves self confidence and allows for the
sharing of successful and valuable techniques of doing things as a blind
person. Fortunately, there is still 1 legacy of the school, that is, Camp
Tuhsmeheta, a camp facility near Greenville which does provide some of these
benefits to blind youth even if on a much reduced volume.
As you may gather, I am still frustrated and angry about this unreasonable
action. These are my views and are not necessarily those of other blind
folks, though there are certainly many who feel as I do. Today, blind folks
are being taught in their local schools and the outcomes are widely variable.
Some are doing pretty well while others are not.
The percentage of blind folks who are being taught Braille has dropped from
around 40% in the ‘60’s to around 9% today. Braille is, arguably, at least as
valuable today as in the past. For instance, mathematics or coding for
computer programming is practically impossible without Braille.
Well, pardon me for my rant. This is something important to me and I work
with the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan to assure that blind
young folks are getting the best education possible under, sometimes,
difficult circumstances.
Thank you for helping keep the history alive and relevant.
Warmest Regards,
Fred
From: Ken Wyatt [mailto:kenj46@xxxxxxxxx] ;
Sent: Friday, April 3, 2020 8:32 AM
To: Fred Wurtzel <f.wurtzel@xxxxxxx>; Bea Furman <healingsongcmt@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Michigan School for the Blind
Fred, I am responding to both you and Bea with a capsule of information about
Mr. Shotwell that I unearthed in my research just yesterday. I have more, but
will be writing for a local weekly (the Albion Recorder), since Mr. Shotwell
was reared here as a boy, and his grave is here in a family plot. My interest
grew out of another story I was writing about an old legend at the cemetery,
which involved his family, not him. It was only in research that I stumbled
across Ambrose M. Shotwell and his story. It deserves to be retold, and some
credit given to him. Anyway, here's a little information to let you know one
of the founding fathers of the School for the Blind. If you care to stay in
touch, I should complete my writing in the next week. I'll gladly share the
results after publication. Good to hear from you. And thanks, Bea, for
passing my question along for others who might have some information. Ken
Wyatt
P.S. I took the paragraph below from an online digitalization of a 1914
report of the School for the Blind. Some of it is not quite intelligible - a
common problem with digitalization.
+++
Ambrose M Shotwell was born in Elba. N. Y. May 30, 18.53; graduated from the
New
York State School for the Blind at Batavia in 1873, and from the Michigan
Normal College at Ypsilanti in 1878. He resided chiefly with his parents on a
farm in Concord Township, Jackson Co., Mich., making brooms, coaching
students, reading law, publishing a bi-monthly paper in the b' teres of the
blind etc. He drafted Representative S. A. Strong's bill, the passage of
which by the legislature 1879 Established the Michigan School for the Blind
as a separate institution, which was opened at Lansing in September, 1880;
was employed in state schools for the blind in Wisconsin, Arkansas anti
Michiean - compiled and published genealogical annals of the Shotwell family
in America, etc.. 1898.
Ken and GiGi Wyatt
750 Swains Lake Dr
Concord MI 49237
517-524-7163
On Thursday, April 2, 2020, 09:59:17 PM EDT, Fred Wurtzel <f.wurtzel@xxxxxxx>
wrote:
Dear Mr. Wyatt,
I am a graduate of the Michigan School for the Blind. I graduated in 1969.
I saw a post from you on the Michigan School for the Blind Alumni list serve.
It was posted by Bea Furman, a friend of mine. I do not know anything about
Mr. Shotwell, however, I am very interested in the topic and would be happy
to talk to you if you feel I may be of help. There are a very few older
alumni still alive who may have knowledge of this person. Unfortunately we
alumni are a disappearing group.
Warmest Regards,
Fred Wurtzel, President
Capital Area Chapter National Federation of the Blind of Michigan.
