Employment and Vocational Training of the Blind in the USSR

In: Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, Volume 56, Issue 10, p. 363-366

Abstract

On May 24, 1962, in Moscow I had the pleasure of calling on Mr. Boris Zimin, Chairman of the Central Ruling Board of the All-Russia Society of the Blind, to extend to him an invitation to our International Congress on Technology and Blindness the following month in New York. During the course of our conversation, we exchanged a good deal of information about our respective organizations' interests and programs. I was particularly pleased to have from Mr. Zimin a first-hand account of the extensive vocational programs for blind people in the USSR, and mentioned to him that we needed such first-hand information for general dissemination since their vocational program seemed to be particularly comprehensive and might offer us some useful ideas. Mr. Zimin was unable to attend our Congress but in the spirit of our information exchange volunteered a paper on the highlights of the vocational program in Russia. Several of us at AFB felt that the paper deserved wider circulation than the proceedings of the Congress and suggested that the audience of the New Outlook might be interested. We recommend it to readers as an expression of a sincere desire to exchange basic information among the Russians and ourselves in the interests of better serving blind and visually impaired people in our respective countries. —Milton D. Graham, Ph.D. Director, Division of Research and Statistics American Foundation for the Blind