[nfb-talk] Fw: WHY DO WE NEED A BRAILLE LITERACY BILL, SEE ARTICLE BELOW

[kaye zimpher]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "SCOTTI" <STEPHANIELSCOTT at aol.com>
To: "State Wide Coalition on Blindness" 
<state-wide-coalition at googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 11:45 PM
Subject: WHY DO WE NEED A BRAILLE LITERACY BILL, SEE ARTICLE BELOW


>
> WHY DO WE NEED A BRAILLE LITERACY BILL? SEE ARTICLE BELOW......
>
>
> BRAILLE LITERACY IN AMERICA - A Student's View
>                        by Jody W. Ianuzzi
>
> Literacy has become a major issue in the United States today.  So many
> people have slipped through the educational system unable to read,
> that it
> has become an embarrassment to their educators.  Most of these people
> hid
> their illiteracy from their teachers or simply dropped out of school
> at a
> young age. This situation is being faced all across the country, but
> what of
> the one population of students that is illiterate due to the decisions
> and
> actions of their teachers.  These students are the blind children of
> America.
>
> I understand this problem first hand.   I considered myself
> functionally
> illiterate.  When I was growing up as a blind child in the public
> school
> system, I didn't have to learn braille, I could read print.  I had
> some
> useable vision and with my nose in the book, I could read my first
> grade
> primer, it was work, but I could make out the letters.  By the fourth
> grade
> the print began to get smaller, so I had to try even harder.  In the
> seventh
> grade I was assigned to remedial reading classes because my reading
> speed
> was still at the fourth grade level.  In high school I got all my work
> done,
> it just took me four times as long as my classmates.  I loved learning
> and I
> had such great plans of learning so much at college.  I went off to
> college,
> but instead of succeeding, I fell flat on my face!  There was no way I
> could
> keep up with the work load with the reading skills I had.  A good
> braille
> reader can read from 200 to 400 words per minute, but I was limited to
> the
> reading speed of a fourth grader.  My totally blind friends had little
> trouble taking notes, reading, organizing their readers, etc.  I
> should have
> done better, after all I had some vision.  The fact was I couldn't
> study as
> a sighted student, and I didn't have the skills to study as a blind
> student.
>
> I am thirty-eight years old and I am now learning braille.  It isn't a
> difficult task, memory is reinforced by using the signs. I love
> braille!  I
> am not limited in the time I can read, as I am in print, and I am not
> limited in speed as I am in print.  I find braille to be such a
> refreshing
> experience with endless possibilities!
>
> Reading print has always been like trying to listen to music on a
> distant
> radio station.  The music is so faint and there is so much static, it
> is
> hard to appreciate the music itself because it is so much work to hear
> it.
> Reading braille is more like sitting in a symphony hall.  The music
> fills
> you without even having to work at listening to it.  My well meaning
> teachers thought they had made the right decision for me.  Oh, how I
> wish I
> had learned braille as a child.
>
> My story is not unique or an exception. Hundreds of blind adults feel
> they
> missed out on a proper education.  Perhaps this is because the RLF
> premature
> babies of the 1940's and 1950's were the first generation of blind
> children
> to attend public school and the methods of educating blind children
> who were
> not at the residential schools had not been established. Itinerant
> teachers
> of blind children was a brand new specialty.
>
> There is no question that braille is the reading method for totally
> blind
> students, but for the majority of blind students who had some useful
> vision,
> the chosen method of reading was not clear.  The belief was, and still
> is,
> that if a child can see to any degree then they can read print and
> they
> don't have to learn braille.  There are children who can only read a
> few
> letters at a time on an enlarged TV screen who are considered print
> readers.
> These children will also grow up to be functionally illiterate.
>
> Now the next generation of blind students are attending public school,
> but
> the methods of teaching them hasn't improved over the years. Instead,
> some
> of the misguided attitudes and ideas that were born in the infancy of
> this
> new profession have become institutionalized as established methods,
> right
> or wrong. When I was a student 52% of blind students were learning
> braille,
> now only 12% of blind children are learning braille.  The illiteracy
> is
> increasing!
>
> Many school systems feel it is adequate to assign a low vision child
> to a
> special education teacher within the school system in an attempt to
> avoid
> the added cost of calling in a teacher trained to teach blind
> children.
> Most special education teachers have been trained to teach emotionally
> disturbed, learning disabled and retarded children.  They may in fact
> have
> no training at all in the specific skills a blind children needs to
> learn.
>
> Special education teachers not familiar with the training needed to
> educate
> blind children might feel it is adequate to simply enlarge a child's
> reading
> material.  This is a short term solution to the problem, since the
> student
> is unable to read print in any other way.  He is illiterate in every
> other
> situation.
>
> I was recently a speaker at a conference for itinerant teachers of
> blind
> children. I am a judo instructor and I was speaking on the benefits of
> judo
> for blind children.  I attended a seminar on Braille or Print for Low
> Vision
> students.  I left this seminar feeling bitter, not for my own
> experience,
> for I am changing that, but for the blind children of today. There are
> blind
> children with less vision then I have who are only being taught print.
> Their teachers think they are making the right decision for them.
> These
> children will be able to "get by" using their vision but they will
> never be
> able to compete with their peers.
>
> The impression I got from listening to teachers of blind children is
> that
> they perceive braille to be a difficult system to learn.
> imagine if a music teacher decided not to teach their students to read
> music
> because they decided musical notation was too difficult to learn. Most
> itinerant teachers don't know braille fluently.  They had a quick
> course on
> braille in school, but quickly forgot many of the signs and
> contractions
> because they weren't using braille on a daily basis, therefore they
> had no
> way to reinforce their skills. Imagine how much music a music student
> would
> learn to play if the music teacher couldn't read the notes.
>
> The opinion of the teachers of blind children is that if their blind
> students are given a choice, they preferred print, because their
> friends
> were reading print and the blind child didn't want to appear
> different.  A
> low vision child is different from his friends when they stick their
> nose in
> a book and struggle to read. The blind child would give his peers a
> better
> image of himself as a competent braille reader, then a poor print
> reader.
> Sighted children are delighted to learn about braille, but they have
> little
> understanding for the poor reader that can't keep up with them. The
> sooner
> the blind child realizes that it is no big deal to be different, the
> easier
> their life will be. It was the opinion of many teachers that the low
> vision
> child might not want to learn braille, and you can't teach them what
> they
> don't want to learn.  If a sighted child didn't want to learn print,
> or if
> the music student didn't want to learn musical notation, then imagine
> how
> much they would learn.
>
> Without realizing it, these teachers are asking their students to
> choose
> between the easy, acceptable right way to learn by using print or the
> difficult, different, strange way of reading using braille. Braille
> can be
> special in a positive way.  Braille was a system devised by the French
> army
> to send secret messages at night. It was later perfected for use by
> the
> blind.  If the blind child is given the feeling he is learning a
> secret code
> and something special, then he will want to learn braille.  The blind
> child
> can read in so many places where his sighted friends can't read.
> Braille
> can be read under the covers without the use of a flashlight.  Braille
> can
> be read in a dark movie theatre, when sighted people can't read.  You
> can
> read braille books without your friends trying to read over your
> shoulder.
> You can even read your braille book in your desk, when your teacher
> doesn't
> know it.  When teachers make braille fun and positive the student is
> happy
> to learn it.  If the teacher thinks of braille as negative and
> inferior,
> then they will convey this to the students and it isn't surprising the
> student will reject braille.
>
> Many teachers believe a low vision child cannot learn print and
> braille at
> the same time.  The child would become too confused.  These systems
> don't
> conflict for the same space in the brain.  A child can learn to use a
> calculator and a touch telephone at the same time even though these
> keyboards are reversed, but this isn't confusing, the child knows that
> one
> is a phone, the other a calculator.  I know a two year old who is
> learning
> English and German from her bilingual parents. She has no difficulty
> learning the difference.  If children can learn all these things, then
> why
> do their teachers draw the line at learning braille and print at the
> same
> time?
>
> The belief of many teachers is that there are so many new high tech
> aids
> available for blind children, they don't have to learn out-dated
> braille any
> more.  But how practical are some of these limited, expensive, bulky
> devices
> such as a CCTV when a child has to use it in a limited special
> environment?
> These devices will not be useful for all the information the child
> needs.
> Braille is portable, light weight and versatile.
>
> The slate and stylus or the brailler are simple low tech devices but
> if you
> want to consider high tech portable equipment, the Braille 'N Speak or
> the
> Braille Mate are excellent note taking and computer interface devices.
> These aids were never mentioned.  The only aids that were mentioned
> were
> visual aids.
>
> There are many tools available for use by blind people and no one
> should be
> relied on or excluded. Each has it's own place.  Just as a carpenter
> needs
> many tools to build a house, a blind person can use many tools to
> acquire
> information.  The Opticon is a slow device, but it is invaluable for
> reading
> mail, just as print has it's place for those people who can use it.
> Many
> devices have their own use, but no one tool should be used as the
> chosen
> device for a blind child, just as a carpenter can't be expected to
> build a
> house using only a hammer.
>
> Evaluating a child's reading method is usually done under ideal
> reading
> conditions for short periods of time.  It is not practical to expect
> optimal
> lighting for reading and writing in all the environments a blind child
> will
> be in.  How long can the child read before headaches or eye strain
> makes it
> impossible to continue?  Does the eye strain of reading contribute to
> increased eye problems?  For example, when I was growing up, we didn't
> realize it, but my straining to read was inducing acute glaucoma
> attacks
> which have further decreased my vision. Many eye conditions that cause
> legal
> blindness in children will deteriorate. When the chances are high that
> a
> child will loose their vision later in life, then that child should
> learn
> braille so they will be literate as an adult.  When a child learns to
> read
> it is preparing them for their future.  First and foremost a reading
> method
> should be comfortable and enjoyable to the reader.  How much would
> anyone be
> expected to read if it hurt or if it was always work.
>
> When considering a reading method it is natural to think of the main
> use of
> that method in reading books. There are so many other applications to
> reading and writing that have to be considered in choosing the most
> efficient method.  Taking notes in class, doing research, labeling,
> recipes,
> filing addresses, etc. are all examples of the way we use our reading
> method.  For example, someone who can read print to a limited degree,
> might
> not use print for note taking because of the amount of time it takes
> to
> write.  In this example braille would be faster. Labeling in braille
> is more
> practical in many cases simply because it is impossible to get
> physically
> close to the labeled items to see them. An example of this would be a
> large
> number of canned goods on a shelf or the back of an appliance.  The
> blind
> child might not have to deal with these problems now, but they will as
> adults.
>
> Older students have to learn how to order their own books from
> Recordings
> for the Blind, they will also have to learn how to hire and use
> readers for
> reading and research in college.  Blind students should know how to
> balance
> their schedules to accommodate their special studying needs.  These
> are all
> necessary skills to compete in college and in life.
>
> I told the itinerant teachers of my experience as a low vision student
> and
> of how I was learning Braille as an adult.  Without thinking of the
> implications of her statement, one itinerant teacher turned to me and
> said
> "If you're learning Braille, then good luck!" It is difficult enough
> to be a
> blind student, but I wonder how much her attitude is increasing her
> students
> difficulties when she is supposed to be helping her students.
>
> If a person has impaired vision,  then how can they be expected to
> funnel
> all the information in the world into inefficient eyes?  It seems only
> obvious that a person with one impaired sense would maximize their
> other
> senses.
>
> When students are evaluated in school, the emphasis is on how they are
> progressing in the present.  The purpose of education is to prepare
> the
> student for their future. If the teaching methods are helpful only for
> the
> present, but they don't prepare the student for the future then the
> student
> will simply "get by", they will not be prosper. If this happens, they
> won't
> be limited by their blindness, but by the skills they need to handle
> their
> blindness.
>
> I wish that all blind children would receive the acceptable and
> appropriate
> education that is their right.  It is terrible to think that blind
> children
> are being denied the ability to read by the teachers that are directly
> responsible for their education.   As part of the "America 2000,
> Excellence
> in Education Act I hope that braille literacy for blind children is
> considered as important as print literacy for sighted children.  The
> choice
> of braille for blind children should be the accepted norm, not a
> teacher's
> idea of a last resort.    I sincerely hope other blind children don't
> have
> to grow up and teach themselves the skills they need later in life as
> I did.
>
>
>
>
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