[Blindmath] braille code changes and nemeth

[hpscheffer at aol.com]

Hi, I like to pick anyones brain on the proposed changes to the braille code. I do not read braille but my daughter does, so in her behalf I'm trying to get involved in finding out the pros and cons on this issue. I have an acquaintance that has some good points and I'm sharing her take on it below. 
Thanks
Heidi




Regarding the braille code changes
and  math, I think that several things 
are going on that are causing people
not to react much. For one thing, the 
Braille Authority of North America seems
to be good and reassuring people 
that the Nemeth Code will be retained, and so
they have nothing to worry 
about. What they are not saying in the same breath,
though, is that the 
plan is for the Nemeth codeto be mixed in with Unified
English Braille. 
Right now, when students encounter a math book, they will
find that the 
entire book is transcribed using the Nemeth code, meaning that
numbers, 
operation signs  such as the plus sign, and such look the same
throughout 
the book, whether they appear in mathematical expressions or in the
text 
surrounding those expressions. What is being proposed now is that the

Nemeth code only be used for mathematical terms/expressions in those 
books,
while Unified English Braille will be used for the rest of the 
material in the
book. Since Nemeth and UEB have very different 
representations for
mathematical symbols,  and even numbers are not the 
same in the two codes, it
seems like this will create a much more 
complicated system for students to
wait through or for transcribers to 
create. Furthermore, there will have to be
an extra braille 
character or two every time there is a switch between UEB and

Nemeth. Imagine, for example,

Let x be the number of nuts in the bowl. 
After Jerry eats 1/4 of the 
nuts, there are 15 nuts left. How many nuts did
Jerry eat?


In this kind of work problem, the terms x, 1/4, and 15 BE
considered 
mathematical and would appear in mathematical expressions that are
used to 
solve the problem. According to the guidance asked

http://www.brailleauthority.org/ueb/nemeth-provisional/guidance.pdf, the

fraction 1/4 in this problem will need to be written in Nemeth code,,

preceded and followed by the appropriate indicators, while the number 15

will be written in UEB.

Another issue is that people seem to think that
braille code changes are 
inevitable, not knowing that the Braille Authority
does not actually have 
legal authority. They simply represent the consensus of
representatives 
from a number of consumer, transcriber, and braille production

organizations or companies. So, they have power only as long as the masses

agree to follow them.