Computers Help Conquer Handicaps
Dear Ann Landers: I teach computer science at the University of Memphis. One of the most satisfying aspects of my job has been dealing with severely handicapped students.
One student, a quadriplegic, was able to complete four years of college because he could dictate papers to his computer. He is now working on an MBA degree and will be a major asset to some employer.
Another student, who is blind, earned his degree by having his computer “read” material to him. He is now working for the Alliance for the Blind, setting up computer facilities for the visually handicapped. Both of these students could search libraries and reference materials in a way that would have been impossible a few years ago without the assistance of a full-time aide.
My class also used the Internet to contact similarly handicapped working professionals who helped us solve the problems we faced. The second student, incidentally, married a normally sighted woman he met on the Internet. - Professor Edward Ordman, University of Memphis
Dear Professor Ordman: Thank you for your upbeat letter in support of the Internet. I have received so many horror stories about people who met online and in chat rooms, it’s a pleasure to get another point of view.
Dear Ann Landers: I know this is going to raise some hackles, but in view of today’s extensive health information, I wonder why some people allow their pets such freedom in their homes.
We have been invited to dinner at the homes of friends and family and have been completely turned off when the dog drinks out of the toilet, then licks the baby’s mouth and comes to the dining table when we’re trying to eat and sticks its nose in our plates. The cat sits on the kitchen counter and walks on the dining room table even when there are dishes on it.
Don’t people know that animals, especially those that are allowed to run outdoors, carry germs? Nothing turns your stomach more than finding a cat hair in your coffee or discovering a flea floating in your soup. Please enlighten these folks, Ann. - No Name in San Bernardino, Calif.
Dear San Bernardino: Pets need to be trained to stay off kitchen counters and out of toilet bowls. It’s a good idea to keep tempting food off the counters and the toilet lid down. It requires patience and persistence to get results, however, and many owners aren’t willing to invest the time. The least they can do is confine the animals to another part of the house when visitors come, and you would not be out of line to ask them to do so.
Dear Ann: I’ve been married for 24 years and have wonderful in-laws, whom I love a great deal. My parents are both gone. Is there anything wrong in considering my in-laws my parents? My husband throws a fit when I call them “Mom” and “Dad.” He says they are his parents and I shouldn’t be so presumptuous.
My friends and family think he should be grateful that I’m so fond of his parents. Should I stop calling them “Mom” and “Dad”? - Unsure in the Midwest
Dear Unsure: If you’ve been calling them “Mom” and “Dad” for 24 years, I see no reason to stop now. Your husband sounds like a serious case of arrested development.
Gem of the Day
Father to Son: When George Washington was your age, he was a surveyor.
Son: And when he was your age, Dad, he was president.