[Cabs] Unable to Read or Write, New High School Graduate Details Struggle

Tue Aug 25 22:35:25 UTC 2009

Reading this got me thinking about something. 
If a blind person didn't learn to read Braille, but he or she did  learn 
how to use a computer efficiently with the use  of assistive technology, how 
would that affect his or her  life positively and negatively? 
I know Braille is important. It's just interesting to think about how  
technology works now. 

In a message dated 8/25/2009 3:51:16 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time,  
JFreeh at nfb.org writes:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Chris  Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of  the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281  (Cell)

<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org

Unable  to Read or Write, New High School Graduate Details Struggle

Baltimore,  Maryland (August 25, 2009): Denzel 
Ferges graduated from high school on  June 6.  But 
when he was asked to address a gathering of 
students  on July 29, he had to memorize his 
speech rather than reading it.   Denzel does not 
have enough vision to read print effectively, and 
he  was not taught to read Braille.  For all 
practical purposes, he  graduated from high school unable to read.

“I wish that  I could be reading my remarks to 
you in Braille, but I am not able to do  so 
because I was not given the opportunity to learn 
Braille in  school,” Ferges told an audience of 
two hundred blind students and their  mentors 
gathered for the National Federation of the Blind 
Youth Slam,  a summer science academy for blind 
high school students.  “So with  that being said, 
I have to seek further training to learn Braille 
and  other important blindness skills.”

Denzel is not alone.   In fact, nine out of ten 
blind children in America’s public schools do not  
know and are not being taught how to read and 
write using  Braille.  But reading Braille, 
especially when learned at an early  age, is just 
as effective as reading print.  Braille is also 
the  only system that allows blind people to write 
and to read what they have  written with speed and 
efficiency.  That is why the National  Federation 
of the Blind wants to make sure that young people 
like  Denzel graduate from high school with the 
ability to read and write, and  that every blind 
child in America and every adult losing vision is  
given the opportunity to learn Braille.  But 
blind Americans need  your help to address the crisis in Braille literacy.

Congress  authorized the minting in 2009 of 
400,000 Louis Braille Bicentennial  Silver Dollars 
to mark the two-hundredth anniversary of the 
birth of  Louis Braille (1809–1852) and to support 
the efforts of the National  Federation of the 
Blindthe nation’s leading advocate for  
Brailleto promote literacy among blind 
Americans.  This  unique and beautiful 
commemorative coin is the first U.S. currency to  
feature tactile, readable Braille.  These coins 
will no longer be  available after December 31, 
2009.  Today the National Federation of  the Blind 
is kicking off a national campaign in which its 
affiliates  in each state (plus the District of 
Columbia and Puerto Rico) and over  seven hundred 
local chapters will sell 100,000 coins by 
November 1,  2009.  A portion of the money from 
sales of the 2009 Louis Braille  Bicentennial 
Silver Dollar will be used to support the NFB’s 
“Braille  Readers are Leaders” campaign, a 
national initiative created to double the  number 
of blind children learning Braille by 2015, 
improve  certification standards for teachers of 
Braille, and conduct innovative  programs to support Braille literacy.

Dr. Marc Maurer,  President of the National 
Federation of the Blind, said: “The Braille  
Readers are Leaders literacy campaign and the 
sale of these beautiful  Louis Braille silver 
dollars are among the most important initiatives  
the National Federation of the Blind has ever 
undertaken.  The  education of tens of thousands 
of blind children across the nation and the  
successful rehabilitation of adults who are 
losing vision depend on  our success.  We are 
asking all Americans to help us in ensuring  
literacy, education, productivity, and success 
for every blind  American by purchasing a Louis 
Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar  today.”

Those interested in ordering a Louis Braille  
Bicentennial Silver Dollar should visit  
<http://www.braille.org./>www.braille.org or call 
1-800-USA-MINT  (872-6468).  For more information 
about the National Federation of  the Blind and 
the Braille Readers are Leaders campaign, visit  
<http://www.braille.org/>www.braille.org.

###

About  the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the  National 
Federation of the Blind is the largest and most 
influential  membership organization of blind 
people in the United States.  The  NFB improves 
blind people’s lives through advocacy, education,  
research, technology, and programs encouraging 
independence and  self-confidence.  It is the 
leading force in the blindness field  today and 
the voice of the nation's blind.  In January 2004 
the  NFB opened the National Federation of the 
Blind Jernigan Institute, the  first research and 
training center in the United States for the blind led  by the  blind.

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