[Blindtlk] Braille

[Annely Rose]

Well said, Judy.  Thank you for your response.

Annely
--------------------------------------------
On Sat, 1/20/18, Judy Jones via blindtlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Braille
 To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
 Cc: "Judy Jones" <sonshines59 at gmail.com>
 Date: Saturday, January 20, 2018, 1:00 PM
 
 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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