Bob McKeo wn

N

eal Freeling — who is con-
genitally blind and suffers
from a rare neurologoical
disorder — said he has always
wanted to share his good forture with
others.
Whether the amiable 48-year-
old is conducting services at Cong.
Beth Isaac in Trenton or teaching the
blind to operate a talking computer
program, Freeling is always trying to
help people.
A Lincoln Park resident, Freel-
ing said that when he was growing up
in Brooklyn, N.Y. he was lucky to
have parents who helped him to de-
velop like any other child.
"In growing up I met a lot of
blind people who weren't as fortunate
as I," he said. "I thought I'd like to do
something to help."
Since then, Freeling has made
two careers out of teaching blind,
visually-impaired and sighted
people.
After completing his graduate
work in psychology at the University
of Michigan, Freeling was hired as
the psychologist for the Penrickton
Center for Blind Children in Taylor.
In 1965, he became assistant director
of the center serving until he de-
veloped epidemic neuromyasthenia,
a disorder affecting the senses. He
retired in 1983, suffering from
fatigue, weakness and disorienta-
tion.
"I would get so exhausted I
would have to go home in the middle
of the day," he recalled. "A cup of
creamed coffee ten feet away would
smell like rotten butter to me. It af-
fected my hearing, taste and smell."
Even the computer's soft whirr
was enough to disorient him. There
were days when he got lost in his own
house. It was a difficult adjustment
for Freeling to limit his activities.
But his doctor said only rest would
alleviate his symptoms.
"So I rested," he said, his face
drooping slightly in sad remembr-
ance. But he perked up to add, "I don't
recommend it for a vacation."
Freeling started to recover in
1984. "I left the world," he said. "Af-
ter the disease I sought a new life."
The discouraging words of a
computer instructor gave Freeling
that new life.
When Freeling asked to partici-
pate in a computer literacy course,

Interface

Neal Freeling found a way to make
computers user friendly for the
blind, after being told that it
couldn't be done

the screen. "You have to get used to
it," he said.
The synthesizer read the title of -
an article written by Freeling. "4-
Sights Article Minus Neal Freeling,"
it said.
"Minus means 'dash,' " Freeling
explained. "There are more expen-
sive machines that could read that
more accurately."
Next he called up a data base. A
high-speed version about as under-
standable as the previous voice read
the copyright information and went
on to tell Freeling about upcoming
meetings and product information. "I
have access to a wealth of infornia-
tion and I can do anything you can do
except play games with graphics," he
said.
Freeling taught a sighted

JENNIFER CHARNEY

Special to The Jewish News

the instructor told him he didn't
know of a way that a blind person
could operate a computer.
"I thought, 'There's got to be
-
technology that will enable a blind
person to use computers.' When you
say 'can't' to Freeling it becomes a
challenge." _
He researched the possibility
and learned about programs for the
blind that were available for the
Apple and IBM PC XT computer in
1985 and taught himself to operate it
by having someone read aloud the
information on the screen. "I was
learning (how to operate the IBM)
but very slowly," he explained.
By chance, Freeling met a blind
acquaintance who offered to train
him in the operation of IBM pro-
grams for the blind. Freeling went
through four days of intensive train-
ing, learning how to operate word
processing programs, access data
bases and play computer games.

After that training "I was in-
spired to communicate the use of this
specialized equipment to people," he
said.
At a computer fair in Lansing,
Freeling met Harold Abraham, who
runs a business designing computer •
systems for people with special
needs. Last September, Freeling
agreed to be a consultant for Harold
Abraham & Associates. Since then
he has integrated and provided in-
struction in computer systems to
meet the needs of different people.
Freeling teaches in his home
using his Apple Ile and IBM PC XT
computers and a voice synthesizer
that converts information on the sc-
reen into speech.
"Isn't it fantastic?" he chimed,
while demonstrating a word-
processing program. An incom-
prehensible monotone came from a
square, four-inch speaker atop the
monitor, reading the instructions on

Neal Freeling:
Helping the less fortunate.

teacher how to use the programs so
she could teach her visually-
impaired students to use the system.
Another teacher came to Freeling for
help in choosing an appropriate sys-
tem for her students.
Taletha Crawley of Detroit is a
secretary for New York Life Insur-
ance Co. Freeling introduced Craw-
ley, who is blind, to the IBM system
so she could use the talking program
for her word processing duties at
work.
"(Freeling) helped to bring
things into focus," Crawley said.
"He's an excellent teacher."
Terry Chaney agreed. The blind
media representative for McCann
Ericson Advertising in Troy was

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