[blindkid] Those producing braille who don't even read braille

[Bonnie Lucas]

Oh, Carol, you are so right. The thought of having to go through a third 
party to get details worked out for accessibility in a class is mind 
boggelin for me. When I was a student in the 70's and 80's I regularly 
talked with my professors about how to get tests done and it was me who 
located readers without having to sign this form and that to prove I needed 
assistance. It is so much better for folks to be responsible for their own 
needs. That is not to say that if someone is really discriminating against 
someone that something shouldn't be done. It's just that one size does not 
fit all. I do believe that it is possible to over accessibilize.
Bonnie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carol Castellano" <blindchildren at verizon.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 10:05 AM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Those producing braille who don't even read braille


> Hi Valerie,
>
> Welcome to the list!
>
> I have just read your comments on the braille being produced by the 
> Alternative Media Centers.  We are really witnessing history in the 
> making.  It wasn't that long ago that there was virtually no such thing as 
> braille at the college level.  With the advent of the ADA and the slow but 
> steady movement toward college disability services, textbooks in 
> alternative formats are now a reality.  The system is relatively new and 
> still evolving.
>
> In my view, this has been a mixed blessing.  As you probably know, blind 
> people have been going to college since time immemorial, using human 
> readers for the most part to get their reading done.  Now the disability 
> services offices in many universities are providing books in alt format, 
> but this has come at a price.
>
> Where blind students used to have direct access to their professors to 
> make their own arrangements for test-taking, etc., now in order to receive 
> any accommodations at all, they must go through the disability services 
> office.  Where blind students used to make their own decisions about how 
> they were going to read a particular textbook, now many are forced to 
> accept what the disability office says.
>
> My feeling is that through these offices, the dependence fostered through 
> all the accommodations in the IEP process is being continued into and 
> through the college years.  Our students, instead of learning to make 
> their own decisions and becoming independent during these crucial four 
> years, are being infantalized.  Now, when they enter the world of work, 
> they may have had no experience at all in creating their own solutions for 
> the challenges they will inevitably have.  I fear for them.
>
> So I guess the bottom line is that we need to put the idea of 
> accommodations into perspective.  We are always walking a line.  We must 
> insist on equal access and first class citizenship for blind people, but 
> at the same time we do not want the public to develop the view that so 
> many things in the world must be changed in order for blind people to 
> function.  It's tricky.
>
> Carol
>
>
>
> At 08:10 PM 12/4/2009, you wrote:
>>Hello everyone!
>>
>>
>>
>>I am SOOOO glad to find this list! I have a lot of reading to catch up on 
>>in
>>the archives list. I know there is a listserve  for college students and 
>>my
>>daughter is on it (Freshman). I was wonder from parents if they have seen 
>>a
>>trend of those producing the textbooks, syllabus, tests etc. in Braille at
>>the college level (other than community college), who can't even read a 
>>page
>>number? It seems to be acceptable practice. I am wondering if the students
>>are preferring to use the doc files for Jaws and braillenotes because the
>>Braille being produced is not effective. It seems to me a certified 
>>Braille
>>transcriber should be on staff at these "Alternative Media Centers". More
>>ideally if publishers had a transcribing unit that put out the Braille
>>electronic file of the textbooks at the same time as the print! J
>>
>>
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>>  Valerie
>>
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>
>
>
>