[nfbwatlk] the rise and fall of Braille?

[Lauren Merryfield]

Hi,
Yikes!  That is scary and sad.  We don't want braille to go by the wayside.
Thanks
Lauren
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carl Jarvis" <carjar at olypen.com>
To: "wcb" <wcb-l at wcbinfo.org>
Cc: "nfbw" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 4:13 PM
Subject: [nfbwatlk] the rise and fall of Braille?


Between March 31 and June 30, 2007, clients at the Department of Services 
for the Blind reported that they had received training in the following 
areas:

       I was provided with the instruction necessary to develop the 
alternative                          skills I needed for daily living and 
job readiness in the following:



            Home Management
   Yes  82.1%   23

   No         0%     0

   N/A   17.9%    5




            Mobility

  Yes  60.7%    17

   No        0%     0

   N/A  39.3%   11



            Braille/Communications
  Yes    3.6%      1

  No        0%      0

             N/A  96.4%   27



            Computer Skills
  Yes   85.7%    24

  No         0%      0

  N/A   14.3%      4



Notice that 96 percent of these clients felt that Braille was not applicable 
to their vocational rehabilitation training.

Remember, this is the Department of Services for the Blind.

this raises several interesting questions.



Is the Department now accepting a majority of clients with such good 
sight-reading skills that Braille is no longer of value?



Is the Department no longer promoting the importance of Braille as a 
communications tool for clients?



Is Braille instruction readily available to adult clients outside the 
Orientation and Training Center?



Do VR Counselors encourage clients to enroll in the Orientation and Training 
Center for Braille  instruction, as they do for Computer training?



Do blind people really need to be literate?  After all, lots of sighted 
people today can't read or write, or even speak clearly.



Carl Jarvis



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