Deliverance from Jericho

Synopsis

A partially sighted boy from a small prairie town believed he was going to a new school for the day and was shocked to learn he would be there for three whole months. Adjusting to being supervised and living in a dormitory proved difficult for this formerly free-roaming child. Even harder to bear was the next six months he spent at Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and Blind once Christmas holidays ended.

Atchison spent a total of six years in Jericho, only returning home for Christmas, summer, and three Easter holidays. He endured mean supervisors, occasionally brusk teachers, and a bullying dorm mate while there. Through the ever-present gnawing homesickness, he found some precious moments of enjoyment and even a few laughs.

Atchison also points out the folly of the administrators. The inmates were frequently taken to such inappropriate performances as circuses and sporting events, none of which could be enjoyed by the visually-impaired. Additionally, perfectly good playing fields were replaced by a covered tennis court and a sunken garden. The forest which the children enjoyed exploring was replaced with shrub-lined walkways and running tracks. Even the level of education was inferior to what public schools offered.

The second last chapter recounts the author's successful reintegration into the world of the sighted. He held three jobs, bought two houses, and became a freelance writer before writing his first book, When a Man Loves a Rabbit (Learning and Living With Bunnies).

Review

Visually-impaired author gives readers glimpse into blind school

For more information, contact:
Bruce Atchison
(780) 736-3747
Email: Bruce Atchison
Bookstream

Alberta author, Bruce Atchison, reveals what life was like forty- plus years ago for visually impaired students in his latest book, due out in December. Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School) chronicles his experiences and feelings while being sent hundreds of miles from home, beginning at age seven, for months at a stretch.

Compounding Atchison's initial shock was his naive assumption that he would return home each evening as he did while attending public school in Fort Saskatchewan. "I felt devastated and betrayed," Atchison said. "I thought the kids were joking when they told me we'd be staying until Christmas."

As candidly as possible, Atchison described what life was like for him behind the impressive facades and well-kept lawns of Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and Blind. He writes of its uncaring supervisors, bullying students, out-of-touch administrators, and its deplorable food.

In addition to the unpleasant experiences, the author provides some humorous anecdotes in his book. "The administrators wouldn't allow coffee or tea in the Dining Hall for a while," Atchison reports. "My friend Geoffrey snuck some tea, sugar, and evaporated milk into the dorm and we used to brew tea in the middle of the night by using hot water from the sink taps. The night nurse never caught us at it either."

Deliverance from Jericho concludes with the author readjusting to life in the world of sighted people. He graduated from high school in Edmonton, was a security guard for a few years, worked for the Federal Government as a clerk, and became a professional freelance writer in 1995.

Atchison also wrote, When a Man Loves a Rabbit (Learning and Living With Bunnies), his memoir of the amazing facts he learned from his house rabbits about their secretive personalities. More information regarding his writing can be found on his http://www.bookadz.com/batchison.htm page.

Bruce Atchison - author of Deliverance from Jericho and When a Man Loves a Rabbit.

Book Adz

Review

It is possible for most sighted people to imagine total blindness. But how many can even begin to realize what it is like to live in the half-seen world of those with impaired vision? Bruce Atchison's Deliverance From Jericho tells of a childhood with just such limited sight, and how he was sent to a school for the blind in a city far from his home. Suddenly confronted by a bewildering environment of unsympathetic teachers, incomprehensible rules, unappetizing meals, and bullying fellow-pupils, he struggles to adjust and even finds some few precious moments of laughter. And, throughout his years there, lingers the always-present gnawing homesickness and longing for his family.

                 -- Ian C. Strachan, science fiction writer.

Bruce Atchison is a legally blind freelance writer and the author of two books, When a Man Loves a Rabbit (Learning and Living With Bunnies) and Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School). His first book concerned the eight years he spent living with rabbits in his home and the amazing things he discovered about them. The second book is a memoir of his experiences at a boarding school in Vancouver, hundreds of miles from all he loved. Because of the distance, he was only allowed to return home for Christmas, summer, and three Easter holidays.

Bruce Atchison has always had a love for telling stories. When none of the boys in Fort Saskatchewan's Park Elementary School would include him in their games because of his poor sight, he resorted to making up humorous stories and reciting them to the girls during recess. After being sent to Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and Blind for six years, Bruce was integrated into the public school system. Special counsellors were appointed to a few Edmonton schools to help visually impaired students by reading books onto tape and helping fill in the new computer-graded exams. During this time, he wrote a few articles for the school newspaper.

After graduating high school, Bruce worked at various jobs until ending up working for the Government of Canada's Airports department. His interest in writing was rekindled and he submitted a series of articles for the office newsletter. Then he began reviewing electronic music albums for various fan magazines. He also wrote some articles for a Finnish underground "zine" called Muuna Takeena and an American newsletter called Kosh Dude. Bruce's first computer, equipped with a device which read the screen out loud, allowed him to write unassisted by sighted helpers and to e-mail his work directly to editors.

After a hemorrhage in his left eye, and subsequent dismissal from the Airports department, an employment counsellor suggested Bruce become a professional freelance writer. After a magazine writing course at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Extension, he began writing articles for a variety of magazines. The subject matter ranged widely, from visiting the Voice of Russia World Service in Moscow to various articles warning against rash purchases of bunnies at Easter. Bruce's first paid work, regarding a blind choir in Edmonton, was sold to New Age Journal.

In 2006, Bruce decided to write a book about his experiences with house rabbits. More than 250 copies were sold, paying for the cost of the books and the spays of 2 of his newly-acquired rabbits. He hopes to do just as well with his current book.

Bruce lives in the quiet hamlet of Radway in what he calls his "miracle home." He enjoys talking to distant stations on his amateur radio, collecting useful bunny-shaped items, listening to distant shortwave stations, hearing talking books, tinkering with his computers, and laying on the floor with his rabbits. Bruce welcomes correspondence via his batchison@mcsnet.ca address.

Email: Bruce Atchison

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