| Description | Interview with Alfred Williams, commercial manager at the Royal Blind Asylum, Edinburgh, workshops. He continues to talk about his job in blind welfare and his sense of satisfaction when he is able to make a difference to the lives of blind workers. He talks about the development of the system of blind welfare in Britain and acknowledges that there is room for improvement in workshop conditions. He discusses changes in production methods and costs, the outdated attitudes of sighted people towards the work that blind people do, and the initial difficulties that blind workers may have when beginning employment in a factory or machine shop due to the assumptions of their sighted workmates that they will need to be looked after. He goes on to talk about developments in mobility aids like the sonic torch and long cane, the reluctance of many blind people to carry a white stick and their anxieties about causing accidents with the long cane. He thinks there should be a nationalised industry for blind workers and discusses the payment of grants by the Ministry of Labour to local authorities employing blind people in workshops (tracks 1-5).
Track 6: part of an interview with Cathy Craig 0.07 mins
Interview with John Watt, chairman of the local branch of the National League of the Blind and Bob Laurie, another National League of the Blind officer.They discuss their knowledge and views of the long cane and how it is used. They think it might be dangerous to the general public and consider the other potential disadvantages. The National League of the Blind do not yet have an official position on use of the long cane because it is still considered to be experimental but think that there is potential for the sonic torch to be developed if enough funding can be found. They talk about the recommendations of a working party for changes in the wage structure for blind workers, the need for wages to be higher than welfare payments and the desire of the majority of blind people to have a job and make a contribution to society (tracks 7-11).
Total: 34.27 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF565D0729480 |