Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1978)
Deaf-blind woman first to go for Ph.D By SALLY JO BOWMAN For the Emerald Blindfold yourself. Then plug your ears. Limit your budget sev erly. Now enroll in a doctoral pro gram and start going to class. Absurd? Maybe. But it is an ap proximation of what Addie Becht, 43, is doing right now. In her own words, spoken with clarity, conviction, correct pitch and volume in spite of not being heard by their speaker, Becht is “the first deaf-blind person ever to be given the opportunity to earn a PhD.” She emphasizes "earn'’ be cause at least three deaf-blind persons have been awarded well-deserved honorary docto rates, including world-famous Helen Keller. Brecht is enrolled in the doc toral program in counseling psychology at the University at a time when colleges and univer sities all over the country, includ ing the University, are scrambling to find ways of complying with new federal regulations requiring their programs to be accessible to handicapped students. The regulations were spelled out recently by the U.S. Depart ment of Health, Education and Welfare in the Vocational Re habilitation Act of 1973. Becht needs services which will allow her to use books and other research and study materials, “hear” lectures and participate in class discussions She also needs funds for an interpreter and a typist. These duties are presently per formed free by Beth Schmidt, a chiropractor and naturopathic physician who is one of the few interpreters in the state able to work at the Ph.D. level. Schmidt has assisted Becht in earning a master’s degree in counseling and guidance at Lewis and Clark College in Portland. She has reduced her Portland medical practice to one day a week to have time to spend on For your Valentine 14 K Diamond Earrings Delicate open butterflies with 2 precious Shining half moons, each with a glowing diamond Delightful open heart earrings feature diamonds YOUR CHOICE $19P9 /f~\-. ■ from ike verif tjifled jeweler L/OKA Jewelers Keepsake Corner Valley River Center 484-1303 r 1000-9 Sat 10 ■a f 100 la Becht’s Ph D. She and Becht spend some week day hours on the University's campus in Eugene, and the rest of time studying in their temporary home, a tiny travel trailer donated personally by a public official in the Portland area. Schmidt provides Becht with close to literal translations of lec tures and discussions, using the English Manual Language for the Deaf, with some added precision because Becht is also blind. The method is a combination of word for-word translation, signs and finger spelling. “We go to class together,” Becht says. Schmidt interprets and tape-records lectures. She transcribes the tape into print and transcribes that into Braille. She brailles the handouts. I struggle through most textbooks with the opticon, a $2800 machine which scans printed pages and makes tactile conversions letter by letter. “I even work with statistics. I can do about 50 words a minute with general texts, but technical work takes much longer. A chap ter of 25 pages in statistics took me three days. The opticon does not take the place of Braille. And a lot of times I sure wish I had my eyes. With 12 hours of class a week we have to work 12 hours a day seven days a week.1’ “When push comes to shove," Rosa says, "funds have to come from somewhere. But where?" He expects to find out during the next two years. w w w w w Becht hopes he does By 1980 she will be finished with her doc toral work. Yet, in spite of the pre sent lack of fundina. she has no thing but praise for officials. I firmly believe they ve tried everything they know. Their at titudes and professional skills are great. I know that people like Shir ley Wilson are where I would send other limited students for help.” And Becht does foresee send ing other students in her own wake. "I am a pioneer,” she says. "Because I am going to be suc cessful there will be a second and a third deaf-blind student in the future.” Because of her success at Lewis and Clark, that school has now accepted a totally deaf graduate student. Neither success nor pioneering is new to Becht. and yet her back ground also contains a series of tragedies and coincidences so much like a soap opera that Becht punctuates her telling her life story with “You'll never believe this.” She lost her sight progressively over 10 years, becoming legally blind in 1968. By then she had been profoundly deaf for two years, but the loss of hearing had been more gradual, over 22 years. Both, she says, were caused by "abuse of narcotic drugs and alcohol...! got on drugs for a bone disease as a child. I survived, but at age 10 I was addicted. My parents tried to hide it. At 141 was in trouble. I then knew I was addicted, and that I * W W i had not been helped (to get off drugs). I lived a street life for many years, a typical street junkie...In September 1962 I was asked to read The Wail of A Drug Addict.' It started me to thinking. At this time doctors had told me I wouldn’t live over three months. ‘ But I decided I wanted to die with my boots on...On Sept. 3. 1962, at 9 a m. I had my last fix. I was stripped of everything and put in a room...I stayed with it for 14 days and 14 nights." She kicked drugs cold turkey. In 1964 she completed a B.A. degree at Cascade College in Portland. In 1968 she was sent, by the Oregon Commission for the Blind, to 19 weeks of training at what is now the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults in New York. She had the jump on some stu dents because of one of the soap opera coincidences: she already knew Braille and signing — they had been childhood hobbies. After the training Becht re turned to Portland, where the Commission arranged for emp loyment with Tektronix, the elec tronics firm where she had worked before and which has won na tional recognition for its training and employment of the handicap ped. By June 9, 1969 she had rid herself of alcohol the same way she had drugs. But an assembly job and little 4 V * w ^ communication with other people soon reduced Becht to despair ‘ I saw no hope,” she says. ‘ I planned to take my life. I spoke to a youth group one night. I was finished speaking as far as I was concerned. “But Dr. Schmidt heard me speak that night. She called me the next day. Within five minutes I would have been gone. She wanted to learn sign lang uage and Braille. It was the most wonderful feeling, being both wanted and needed. I decided to postpone suicide for one week.” The pair opened the Living Re habilitation Center in 1971. Becht had written the proposal and be came executive director. The agency is a reality. But Becht has come to a point where she feels a doctorate is necessary to carry her message and her work into professional circles and journals, and into the "so-called normal world,” all of which doubt her knowledge of counseling and training for the blind and deaf blind. Schmidt remarks that people did in fact say to Becht, who is a successful therapist, “What do you know about counseling deaf and blind people, without a PhD?” “So I said," Schmidt continues, “ Let's go after it.'” So Becht and Schmidt are at the University, funding or no. She says. "I intend to go back to the visually and hearing impaired and start a miracle.” w ^ w ^ w ^ k. ^ ^ k^ £ INSIDE jf BLVO, aWK l/m,ted to * SPR,NGFIELD |^ "0*-»0CHecKs (V"V. —|^~\ ★ tmi M72K o°ors c»<.r? "««»«Bls * ****** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ mini-mciqjn Super compact stereo loudspeaker system mc$ci40 Super compact stereo loudspeaker system 3.500 Hz with 12 dB/octave slope Mounting Brackets: 2-way brackets are available at your local dealer Come in and listen to these great new American made speakers! Hearing is believing. Introduces MESA the very best in home speakers. Bass reciprocator Loudspeaker system with exclusive Vicome Control. mc$ci80 40 Watts (RMS) 3” PR1SMADOME Tweeter 6V4” Woofer (Active) 6'A" Bass Reciprocator Magnet Structure: 1.5 lbs. Frequency Response: 50- 19,000 Hz Control: Single V1COM with + 5 db. range Circuit Breaker: Automatic Reset • 60 Watts (RMS) • 3” PRISMADOME Tweeter 6VT Woofer (Active) 8” Bass Reciprocator • Magnet Structure: 4.0 lbs. • Frequency Response: 45- 19,000 Hz • Control: Single V1COM with +5db. range • Circuit Breaker: Automatic Reset Speakers Woofer — 4" da (105m m) Foam Suaponson Type 10 oz. (80o X 40o X IPm/m) Ferrite Magnet 1" Voice coil with aluminum bobbin. Tweeter — 1" da. (25.4 m/m) Hard dome type 3 oz. (60o X 32o X 8 m/m) Ferrite Magnet 1" voice coil with paper bobbin Moulded high temperature ABS resin plus Asbestos d (Endurable for 3 hours at 105 degrees C) Input Power: 30 Walts RMS. 50 Watts Max per channel Frag. Reeponee: 60-25,000 Hz Efficiency: 90 d8 plus/minus 2 dB at 1 watt input 1 meter • 80 Watts (RMS) e 3” PRISMADOME Tweeter 5” Midrange 8” Woofer (Active) 10” Bass Reciprocator • Magnet Structure: 4.3 lbs. • Frequency Response: 42- 19,000 Hz e Control: DoubleVICOM with + 5 db. range • Circuit Breaker: Automatic Reset e 120 Watts (RMS) • 3” PRISMADOME Tweeter 5” Midrange 8” Woofer (Active) 12” Bass Reciprocator • Magnet Structure: 7.0 lbs. e Frequency Response: 38- 19,000 Hz e Control: Double VICOM with + 5 db. range e Circuit Breaker: Automatic Reset ■ ■
