[blindkid] Braille Literacy; Friend and Mentors, A Florida Story - Article featured in American Chronicle

[Lenora J. Marten]

Hello Everyone -

Donna pulled the article to fix a couple of typos. The link will not be available until the article gets re-approved. However, she was
able to send me a word doc which I have copied and pasted for you. So sorry for the confusion! Enjoy the article!


Lenora J. Marten, President
FOPBC/NFBF-Parents Division
NFB-Jacksonville Chapter Secretary
bluegolfshoes at aol.com
904-777-5976 / 904-229-9554
www.nfbflorida.org/parents 




Ad: If it was up to you to teach legally blind children, would you insist that they use their remaining vision as much as possible, even if it meant that they were functionally illiterate and one day they would walk in front of a truck with their young child? Or, would you want to give them the tools and awareness to become successful adults who could function independently and safely? The answer may seem obvious, but thousands of America's blind kids are being forced to settle for a substandard education, leading to lives of dependence with little chance for employment and unnecessary danger. Jody Ianuzzi is a Major in the Civil Air Patrol and a martial arts instructor. Along with her friend Debbby Bracket, who holds a master's in early childhood education, she is changing what it means to be blind.

 

Braille Literacy: Friends and Mentors, a Florida Story

By Donna W. Hill

Word count: 4448

 

When Jody Ianuzzi (56, Jensen Beach Florida), graduated from high school, she was reading at a third grade level. Setting aside for the moment the obvious quest
ion of how any American school could graduate someone with such substandard literacy skills, let's fast forward to what she's achieved since. If you get to know Jody even just a little, you will quickly learn that she values the advice of twentieth century world leader Mahatma Gandhi. Her e-mails end with, "WE MUST BE THE CHANGE WE WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD" 

 

A Major in the Air force Auxiliary/Civil Air Patrol, Jody is a Mission Qualified Radio Operator. She is also a judo instructor and has a third degree black belt in judo as well as a second degree black belt in ju-jitsu. A mother of two with one grandchild, Jody also helps her husband Tom with his computer security business and has completed several years of college. 

 

With a lot of hard work and under less than ideal circumstances, Jody had to make up the deficit that her school was unwilling to address. As a mentor, she is providing to others the support, encouragement and role model that she was expected to do without. 

 

The problem was that what Jody needed was something that her parents and teachers didn't want to give her, because it would have committed an unforgivable act – it would have made her "look blind." In fact, Jody is blind. She has been legally blind since birth due to Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), having no vision in her left eye and only seeing hand motion with the right. As a child, she had enough vision to painstakingly and slowly read print. So, despite her medical
 diagnosis, the school didn't teach her Braille. Not understanding how limited her sight really was, they expected her to function as a sighted person. She had to teach herself Braille and other non-visual skills as an adult.

 

"We all know how much easier it is," says Debby Bracket who holds a masters degree in early childhood education," to learn things when we are young!"

 

Debby (52, Stuart, Florida,) met Jody on an e-mail list for ROP, when she and her husband Bob were trying to determine if they could successfully adopt and parent a blind child. Winona, now thirteen, came into all of their lives when she was three and a half. She and her family have benefited from Jody's experience. 

 

"After several years of chatting on line," says Debby, currently the office manager for her husband's landscaping company and a substitute teacher in Florida's Martin County, "we met in person, and have been fast friends since. First and foremost, she is a dear friend. Secondly, she is a mentor for Winona. It has been invaluable to have someone I could turn to at any time with questions, especially when I didn't think the school was correct."

 
"When we moved to Florida," recalls Jody who was living in New Hampshire when the two met on the ROP list, "Debby was still in Miami. They moved here to my area about 7 years ago. Our husbands both have their own businesses and we share so much in common. I hope I am a good example to Winona to show her that she can gr
ow up and have a family and do the same things everyone else does in life."