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| Howard Vreeland |
Howard Vreeland '46, professor emeritus of graphics and former associate dean of Engineering, has long been known for his commitment to Camp Columbia, most recently evidenced by the memorabilia he prepared for exhibition in the Rotunda of Low Library. But, for more than two decades he has had another commitment that has used his academic training and resourcefulness: creating a course of instruction for teaching visually impaired youngsters to read raised line drawings of three dimensional objects in random positions in space.
He began this quest in 1979 when he received a call from a psychologist who was working with a young man, a gifted draftsman who had suddenly gone blind. It was then that he learned that it was widely regarded as impossible to teach blind students how to read these raised lines to understand the meaning of multi-dimensionality.
"Sighted persons don't have that problem," said Prof. Vreeland, "because a drawing so closely resembles the visual appearance of an object. But the blind have no concept of what we call appearance. A way had to be found to relate the lines of a drawing to what the blind can only feel as the physical features of the object described."
Although Prof. Vreeland quickly developed a theoretical approach to the problem, he was stymied by the low level of raised line technology at the time. His curriculum could not be implemented because it was not possible to reproduce in quantity the detailed drawings he individually embossed in plastic sheets.
Following his retirement in 1986, Prof. Vreeland continued work on his project, creating teaching strategies and original teaching aids. Ten years ago he volunteered his services as a graphicist at Connecticut's Board of Education and Services for the Blind (BESB). There, working with the raised line technology of the times, he produced countless illustrations for Braille editions of storybooks and textbooks through high school level. Typically, however, the drawings have been predominantly of two-dimensional concepts, such as maps, floor plans, charts and graphs, because the reading of three-dimensional representations is beyond the capabilities of the early blind.
Carol Mendela, Braille coordinator at BESB, has praised Prof. Vreeland for the originality of many of his efforts. Using Crayola's scented crayons, he developed a coloring book that allows visually impaired children to associate colors with the scent of familiar things.
In recent years, however, there has been a tremendous improvement in a raised line technology using what is called capsule paper. A line drawing photocopied on the emulsion side of this medium can be raised by the application of heat. Using this new technology, Prof. Vreeland finally has the means of producing raised line drawings of the quality for which he waited so long. Last year, he was able to successfully test an abbreviated version of his curriculum in separate sessions with two twelve-year-old congenitally blind Connecticut boys. "One was able to grasp the concept of appearance in eight one-hour sessions, and the other was able to do it in just five one-hour sessions," he said. "They are both very bright boys." In October, Connecticut's Board of Education and Services for the Blind presented Prof. Vreeland with the prestigious Raymond E. Baldwin award for "outstanding contributions to the betterment and enrichment of blind people."
He is now preparing to present his curriculum for evaluation before the American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, KY, later this month. Following that, he hopes for wide dissemination of his method. "In my mind," he said, "this is as important as Braille because it opens so many new doors for young students."