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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Freeh, Jessica [mailto:JFreeh@nfb.org] <br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, May 02, 2012 4:07 PM<br><b>To:</b> Adelmo Vigil; Alpidio Rolon; Amy Buresh; Beth Rival; Bill Packee; Bob Kresmer; Carl Jacobsen; Cassandra McNabb; Cathy Jackson; Charlene Smyth; Christine G. Hall; Dan Hicks; Daniel Burke; Donna Wood; Duane Iverson; Elsie Dickerson; Frank Lee; Franklin Shiner; Fred Schroeder; Garrick Scott; Gary Ray; Gary Wunder; Grace Pires; J.W. Smith; James Antonacci; James Brown; Jeannie Massay; Jennifer Dunnam; Joe Ruffalo; John Batron; John Fritz; Joy Harris; Joyce Scanlan; Ken Rollman; Kimberly Flores; Larry Posont; Lynn Majewski; Mary Willows; Melissa Riccobono; Michael Barber; Michael Freeman; Mika Pyyhkala; Nani Fife; Pam Allen; Parnell Diggs; Patti Chang; Patty Estes; Rena Smith; Ron Brown; Gardner, Ron; Sam Gleese; Scott LaBarre; Shawn Callaway; Terry Sheeler<br><b>Subject:</b> National Federation of the Blind Commends Senator Murray for Braille Literacy Letter<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>CONTACT:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>Chris Danielsen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>Director of Public Relations<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>(410) 659-9314, extension 2330<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>(410) 262-1281 (Cell)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org"><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>cdanielsen@nfb.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>National Federation of the Blind Commends <br>Senator Murray for Braille Literacy Letter<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><i><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>Letter to Secretary of Education Urges Department to <br>Ensure Access to Braille Instruction for Blind Students<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><i><o:p> </o:p></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>Baltimore, Maryland (May 2, 2012): </span></b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>The National Federation of the Blind, the nation’s leading advocate for Braille literacy, today commended Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) who led a bipartisan group of twenty-six senators in sending a letter to Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, regarding improving access to Braille instruction for blind students. The letter calls upon the Department of Education to work with stakeholders to develop new regulations for the individualized education program (IEP) of blind students and provide guidance to school districts to clarify the requirement contained in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that Braille be presumed appropriate for blind students unless there is specific evidence that Braille is not appropriate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>The letter stated in part: </span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>“Students with blindness or a visual impairment who are inappropriately denied or delayed Braille instruction find themselves struggling in middle and high school, falling further behind their sighted peers. As this achievement gap persists, the student’s ability to compete with sighted peers for post-secondary opportunities and employment is significantly compromised. This literacy gap is both unnecessary and preventable.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “We applaud Senator Murray and her fellow senators for taking a stand for the equal education of blind students. Braille is the only reading and writing method for blind people and there is overwhelming evidence that Braille readers go on to lead more productive lives —and yet currently only 10 percent of blind students are learning Braille. This cannot stand. We urge the Secretary of Education to heed this letter and begin work with the National Federation of the Blind and other stakeholders to develop new regulations that will reverse this downward trend in Braille literacy.”</span><i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>“This is not just a problem for the blind community, this is a problem for our country as a whole,”</span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> said Senator Patty Murray in a statement from her office.<b> </b>“If we allow this to continue, it won’t just be one community that falls behind, we will all fall behind together. Making sure that we offer all our kids, regardless of disability, a world-class education is not only a moral obligation, it is an economic imperative for the U.S. to succeed.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Senator John Boozman (R-AR), one of twenty-six senators who signed Murray’s letter, said: </span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>“As an optometrist, I recognize the importance of providing our blind and visually impaired students with the resources they need to learn how to read. Evaluation of students with disabilities is essential to providing an individualized education program that leads to literacy and readies these students for college and a career.”</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>###<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>About the National Federation of the Blind </span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p></div></div></body></html>