BLIND SCHOLARS

Hokitika Guardian, 25 September 1933, Page 2

BLIND SCHOLARS

SURMOUNTING HANDICAPS; STUDENTS IN AUSTRALIA;;-o. V ) SYDNEY, September; 9:' i The, surmouiitihg of the trenieridous diiTioulties . of ■'-blificlhess'• by two; nibl ? e gifted S'chola^ii—one a Presbyterian Uiinister and,;the otlier' a uhiver-sity i.mdjjrgraduate:—has' recently arbjigdd tbe - interest of .the Australian,.''public,.

-The clergyman is the Rev. Jolill>Biilclair, a New'Zealander by birth',' who lias; been ' appointed to the charge ;of - the Presbyterian Church at Hornsby, near..-Sydney. He provides a striking example of lio\v a hum of illdoinitable spirit overcame a difficulty which most people would have regahled as constituting mi, irisurmoim table be frier to one’s training for a career. From early ‘infancy 'Mr Sinclair has been almost entirely deprived of sight and was compelled to do all his work with the Braille system. His primary and secondary education was carried out at the (New Zealand Institute for the B-l'ind in Auckland.

At tile beginning of bis university (•curse, Mr Sinclair went to Canterbury College, Ghrtistchruch, where he carried out his three, years’ university 'training and at the same time worked under the Presbyterian Church as home missionary at Hornby, near Christchurch. At- ille close of lilis university course, Mr Sinclair went to Dunedin, where, he fulfilled the prescribed course in the Theological College of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand.

CARD SYSTEM IN BRAILLE

lii spite of his apparent handicap, •Mr Sinclair makes light of his duties. He is a great visitor and keeps a complete record of his parishioners by card sylstem in Braille. Remarkable as it may seem, he is also an explert touch typist aiid does all h!is own correspondence. He is an eloquent preacher and, being a young man, should prove a great as'set to the Presbyterian Church in Australia. “My own great belVef.” lie says, “is that the greatest thing in life is to keep a sunny, smiling face, (and to have a strong, unmovable faith in God.” Mr Sinclair’s achievements are no doubt ail (inspiration to a young Melbourne man, Mr Neil R. West, who is taking an arts course at the university in :tiiat q'ty. His greatest difficulty is to cover the lectures in the four subjects he is studying. He has become so lefficient in writing Braille that in; several of the lectures he sits with his writing frame on his knees, and with the style—a pointed instrument like a bootmaker’s awl—he indents special sheets of thick brown paper with Braille characters. In other instances, he relies on friends to dictate, notes to him after lectures.

A WELL-TRAINED MEMORY Mr West’s case, containing his note* is much larger than that of the ordinary student, because it. contains many sheets of paper covered with Braille. His deft fingers will have to rpruso hundreds of pages before the end of tlie year. His essential text books have been written in Braille. To study a book which other students find in one volume of 400 pages, Mr West requires half a dozen volumes, all much larger. Braille libraries conducted by the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind have been of great assistance to him. Ma nv of the books necessary to Mr West’s studV’are read to liim, and as jn the lectures, he has to rely on a-wvll-i raiii£if moniory, .When .the ex-

emulations come, lie will answer Ins questions with the a.d of a typewriter. He will be allowed time to translate his quests on paper into- Braille beforehard and he will also be allowed slightly longer than ordinary students to .answer the questions.