[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 9 (Thursday, January 15, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S596-S597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO DR. ROBERT J. SMITHDAS

 Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to an 
inspirational New Yorker, Dr. Robert J. Smithdas, on the occasion of 
his retirement as Director of Community Education at the Helen Keller 
National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults, HKNC, in Sands Point, 
LI.
  At the age of four, Dr. Robert J. Smithdas contracted meningitis, 
which resulted in the total loss of his vision and, over a short period 
of time, the total loss of his hearing. After graduating Perkins School 
for the Blind in Watertown, MA, in 1945, he was accepted for training 
at the Industrial Home for the Blind, IHB, located in Brooklyn, NY, and 
received a fellowship to attend St. John's University in New York. He 
received his BA degree cum laude in 1950, and 3 years later became the 
first person who is deaf-blind to earn a master's degree, receiving 
this distinction at New York University where he specialized in 
vocational guidance and rehabilitation for people with disabilities. 
Dr. Smithdas is also the recipient of four honorary Doctoral degrees 
from: Gallaudet University, Western Michigan University, Mount Aloysius 
College and, his alma mater, St. John's.
  Dr. Smithdas continued his work with important and significant 
contributions in the field of rehabilitation, having successively 
occupied important management positions at the IHB, including that of 
associate director of services for the deaf-blind in charge of overall 
client services.
  Along with Helen Keller and Peter Salmon, Dr. Smithdas played a vital 
role in the development of legislation enacted as part of the 
Vocational Rehabilitation Act. The act authorized the establishment of 
the Helen Keller National Center, which is operated by Helen Keller 
Services for the Blind under an agreement with the U.S. Department of 
Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services.
  A true ``Renaissance man,'' Dr. Smithdas' numerous national awards 
include being named the Poetry Society of America's ``Poet of the 
Year,'' 1960-61, ``The Handicapped American of the Year,'' 1965, by the 
President's

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Committee on Employment of People Who Are Disabled and inducted into 
the National Hall of Fame for Persons with Disabilities, 1988. He has 
served on many national committees and boards whose emphasis is 
directed towards rehabilitation services. He and his wife, the former 
Michelle Craig, an instructor at the Helen Keller National Center and 
also deaf-blind, have appeared on nationally broadcast television and 
radio programs.
  Dr. Smithdas has lectured widely and fascinated countless audiences 
with the recounting of his own adjustment to deaf-blindness while 
working to improve opportunities for others to lead full and productive 
lives. On behalf of all New Yorkers, I feel privileged to have the 
opportunity to commend the outstanding achievements of Dr. 
Smithdas.

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