[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 11 (Thursday, January 24, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN PRINTING HOUSE FOR THE BLIND

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I rise because yesterday marked the 
150th anniversary of the American Printing House for the Blind. Located 
in my hometown of Louisville, KY, the American Printing House for the 
Blind is the national source of reading materials and learning aids for 
over 10 million blind and visually impaired Americans. Thanks to this 
Kentucky institution, they can now fully participate in the American 
dream.
  Until the founding of APH, different schools for the blind across the 
country each prepared their own materials. But soon educators realized 
the need for a national printing house to fill this role. Louisville 
was chosen for its central location in the country and because it is 
situated on the Ohio River.
  On January 23, 1858, the Kentucky General Assembly passed an act to 
charter the American Printing House. In 1879, the Federal Government 
designated APH the official source of learning materials for blind 
students across the Nation, and the facility has continued to receive 
Federal support since then. Thanks to that support, sales, and 
donations as well, APH has been able to create some remarkable products 
that have changed the lives of many blind and visually impaired 
Americans.
  The facility published its first book, ``Fables and Tales for 
Children,'' in 1866, using the raised letters that were then the 
standard. In 1893, they published their first books in Braille. Today, 
they have helped the blind engage the 21st century with talking books, 
magazines, and even a recorded talking encyclopedia.
  They have developed computers to help the blind access the Internet 
or read recorded books. They have even created a sonar aid for the 
blind to use that can detect how far away objects are by emitting tones 
that sound like chirping birds.
  Before the American Printing House for the Blind existed to create 
all of these wonderful products, it was widely assumed that the blind 
and visually impaired just were not capable of learning as much as 
everyone else. Today, of course, we know that is completely untrue.
  I want to share with my colleagues a letter APH received that 
illustrates the point very well.
  A young fourth-grade girl in Nebraska named Ruthie was so grateful 
for a computer software program called Math Flash, developed at APH, 
that she wrote the facility to thank them. This is what she had to say:

       I used to hate math because everyone else was smarter than 
     me. Math Flash makes it easy and fun because it has adding 
     and subtracting games that help me remember. I can practice 
     whatever I want with no help from my teacher or my mom. I 
     could even be a math teacher maybe.

  When you realize that most teachers or parents would be ecstatic to 
hear of such a passion for learning in any student, whether sighted or 
visually impaired, you begin to see the miracle the American Printing 
House for the Blind has made possible. They have opened up a world of 
knowledge and information to millions of Americans.
  The city of Louisville and the Commonwealth of Kentucky are proud to 
be the home of the American Printing House for the Blind, which adds 
much to our community. The APH Museum attracts many visitors from 
around the globe every year to see important historical artifacts, such 
as Helen Keller's Bible in Braille.
  I want to thank the Senate for its unanimous approval yesterday of a 
resolution I sponsored expressing this Nation's gratitude--gratitude--
to the American Printing House for the Blind for its 150 years of 
service to this Nation. Their efforts have been essential to allowing 
the blind and visually impaired to be fully included in education.




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