[Blindtlk] Braille

[Judy Jones]

Hi,

I would recommend you getting information from the National Organization Of
Parents Of Blind Children www.nopbc.org.

I would also encourage you to ask this question on the NFB Blind Educators
list.

My background is as school teacher, parent, and person who has had ten and a
half years' experience in the blindness field.

First of all people need to understand that braille is "text" read with the
fingers.  It is not a language.  It need not be slower than reading print.
It is a literacy tool, while audio is not.  Different parts of the brain are
used when reading braille or print, and if you use audio only, no matter how
proficient you are at it, you are functionally "illiterate."  This is not a
slam on any individual personally, just a given fact, since braille is a
literacy tool.

Phrases like "learn braille," and "use braille," should be out the door, and
exchanged for the simple verb, "read," because that is what it is, plain and
simple:  reading.

Blind adults and children learning to "read" need to work at it
consistently, 20 minutes daily, just as their sighted counterparts are
taught in school.  Print and braille are BOTH forms of reading, and if you
practice,  you will succeed.

Question:  Would any sighted parent be satisfied if a school declared that
their children would be relegated to audio experience only?  I think not!

Audio only learners are spotted early, because of poor spelling,
punctuation, and document layout.  Granted, screen readers have all the
tools for you to check these things, but a person has no concept of a
realtime document if they are audio learners only.

I am acquainted personally with a child who has very limited vision, but
because there is some vision, braille was not encouraged.  This elementary
school child, according to the parents, has never seen a whole word or
sentence, does not have a concept of what that looks like, as the child can
only see one letter at a time with a magnifier.  After speaking with my
husband and I, the parents are getting serious about getting their child
some good braille training.

Also, I have seen figures that state in this country that out of the blind
persons who are competitively employed, approximately 90% read using
braille.  The earlier one is exposed to braille, no matter how young or
level of visual acuity, the better.

"If you can read, you can lead."

Can you tell, I am a proponent of braille.  :)

Judy


-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of adrijana
prokopenko via blindtlk
Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2018 12:19 AM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Cc: adrijana prokopenko
Subject: [Blindtlk] Braille

What do you consider great when it comes to introducing, promoting and using
braille and what would you use to encourage the future generations to do so
and for some special ed teachers and the public to realize that braille is
as important as print and should be viewed as such.

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