[blindkid] RFB&D fundraising

[H. Field]

Friends,
The statement was made in the fund-raising request:
"because braille is difficult and slow." Exception was taken to that 
statement because that statement is untrue. The fact that reading 
braille may have been slow for a particular child during a particular 
period in his life was not made. It simply said that reading braille 
was difficult and slow. Therefore, the criticism of the inclusion of 
such a statement, without  further qualifications or explanation, is 
totally valid. The objectionable statement  was misleading and is, 
therefore, harmful to the cause of promoting a positive view of 
braille. Everything else, by way of argument, is not relevant. It 
doesn't matter who likes or needs audio books. How useful audio books 
can be to college students or to blind grade-schoolers without good 
inaginative skills, or even how they helped a child learn his braille 
contractions is simply not the issue. There's no point in getting all 
emotional about how valuable audio books have been, are or will 
continue to be. This objection isn'at about audio books. It's about 
someone sending out letters asking for money to produce audio books 
for blind people because braille is difficult and slow.
As braille is not difficult or slow means that an untrue statement has 
been put in print and circulated to the public.
Those who object to such statements objected and, continue to object.

It is my hope that this discussion will aid those who write future 
fund-raising letters to choose their words and their examples more 
carefully.

Cordially,

Heather Field
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michele Chauvin" <michelechauvin at yahoo.com>
To: "nopbc blindkid" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Mary Alexander" <alexander5 at ntin.net>
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 10:20 AM
Subject: [blindkid] RFB&D fundraising


Below is an email from Mary Alexander, Cooper's mom. She also works 
with RFB&D. Sounds like she is willing to address any concerns 
others have regarding thier services and how they compliment rather 
than compete with Braille.

As a sighted person, I often use auditory formats for learning: audio 
books, TV, movies, etc. If all I saw were videos of everything 
without any audio, I would learn very little about anything. Reading 
with my eyes is not the only way I gather information.

Likewise, my daughter, who is blind due prematurity, also learns in 
various ways. She is learning to read and write Braille at her own 
pace, and I will never let up on that goal. However, she also enjoys 
listening to audio books. Not anything RFB&D, yet, but things like 
Dr. Seuss stories or fairytales on CD. I believe it enhances her 
experience and understanding of stories, as she does not have the 
luxury (at this point) of a vivid imagination. One has to have real 
life experiences to create such a thing. One also has to have the 
capacity for this creativity. I believe it's important to remember 
that blind individuals come in all kinds of packages, just like 
sighted folks.  Sighted folks are as varied in interests and 
abilities as snowflakes, or so they say. So are blind folks.
 Michele Chauvin



----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Leslie and Mary Alexander <alexander5 at ntin.net>
To: Michele Chauvin <michelechauvin at yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 8:08:21 AM
Subject: RE: RFB&D


Michele:
Â
Cooper is a very strong Braille reader and learned his contractions in 
record time by listening to a book and reading the contracted Braille 
book at the same time.Â
Â
Anyone who knows Cooper realizes that he is an extremely bright young 
man, but he has fine motor issues. Â When he was younger, Braille 
would really tax him to the point of exhaustion. The audio texts and 
novels helped him not fall behind his classmates. Â RFB&D is one of 
many tools, not the only one. As is Braille not the only tool in his 
toolbox! It is his most important one, but not the only one. He is 
using a Braille keyboard now with the computer, and having great 
success, but he also uses the regular keyboard, does the regular 
keyboard “detract” from his Braille?
Â
Feel free to share my comments with anyone you choose. There are 
always those that would criticize what they are not familiar with or 
don’t understand. RFB&D is available to students with vision 
impairments that read Braille if they choose that route. Once those 
students enter college, getting your college texts in Braille and 
keeping up with the vast amount of reading will become harder, and 
RFB&D is valuable in that regard. Thru conferences across the country 
I have met many professionals who are blind; they have all used RFB&D 
at some point, and are complimentary of our services. Please post my 
email address:Â malexander at rfbd.org for anyone who would like to ask 
questions about RFB&D. Thank you for your help in clearing up any 
misunderstanding.
Â
Mary Alexander



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