[nabs-l] How you read, Braille or voice

Tue Feb 17 03:16:24 UTC 2009

Hello Joseph,

Thank you for your thoughtful, inteligent response. I understand your point 
about literacy being about reading and writing, annd not about ability to 
think. In our discussion, we should separate what it means to be inteligent 
from what it means to be literate. At least I think it might be useful in 
your context, even though I somehow think one reflects on the other.

Let me present to you my mother. Mom is highly inteligent, yet not very 
educated. She is insucure about her english, and does not cultivate the 
habbit of reading. She has always been preoccupied either about raising a 
family, or in current times, keeping a home durring tough economic climate. 
She can read and write in portuguese, and somewhat more limmitedly in 
English. I would not call her illiterate, because she can read and write. 
Yet she gets by without newspapers, and even the internet to some extent. 
She does go on her Orcut page, like a Flicker or FaceBook for 
south-Americans, so she is confortable with new learning.

If we define literacy as the ability to read and write, mom is both 
inteligent and literate. Take it with a grain of salt, she is my mom after 
all, so I better follow one of the commandments, and honor mother and 
father.

If you get more sofisticated, you may accept the UNESCO deffinition:

"'Literacy' is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, 
communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with 
varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an 
individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and 
potential, and to participate fully in the wider society."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy

this deffinition calls for personal growth, and participation in society. 
One should use his or her ability to write as a vehicle for achieving one's 
goals, developing one's knowledge and potential, and participating in one's 
society. Sounds empowering, and progress-bound. Don't just know how to read, 
but use reading to improve your position and standing in your social 
circles.

In another way, this definition of literacy goes beyond the basics, even to 
suggest that you be able and confortable with statistics, perhaps.

"ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute 
and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts."

Compute, it said. So, I guess I could say I was literate enough to realize 
that the National Library Services for the Blind was publishing way too many 
books on magic tricks. More than I care to read, or even care to know so 
much of their resources would be going to such fruitless publications.

I think compute information could be refering to some level of mathematical 
computations as a demonstration of literacy. Fare enough.

This definition, and I like this definition a lot, calls you to

1. identify

Find, procure, locate, get your hand on relevant material for your subject. 
Identifying is part of research.

2.  understand,

One must be able to comprehend. This requires a knowledge of the vocabulary, 
and command of the language. If you can't handle Shakespeare, or Hawthorn, 
then you aught to do some work, start from easier readings before you tackle 
such writers.

3. interpret,

This comes after understanding, and undeniably requires some level of 
inteligence. Most people have inteligence, and that sets humans apart from 
other animals.

To interpret is to make inferences from your reading. It's reading between 
the lines, and having knowledge of the author's intent.

Because literacy requires interpreting, and interpreting requires 
inteligence, then literacy requires inteligence.

4. Create

It's fine to read and write, but to simply be able to write, and not do it 
is not an accurate demonstration of literacy. Also, the Definition does not 
call for being able to write well, just well enough  for your social 
context. One need not be able to tell a story, unless she or he is a 
journalist, or biographer, or the holder of a job where you need to be an 
attention-grabbing story-teller.

5. communicate,.

this is the one that I think calls for more excelency. You must be able to 
communicate, or convey a message. Did I spell convey correctly? If not, had 
you noticed it before? If it is a misspelling, and I had doubts about it, 
you think I would consult a dictionary about it if these were an actual 
manuscript or professional document? You bet I would! this is no excuse for 
filling the list with incomprehenssive blabberings on, which I hope I don't 
do too much of.

I think communicating is the first call for one's ability to make a 
difference. If you want to be well-respected, and considered as someone who 
gets it, and writes effectively, you better be a good communicator. There 
are entire college courses and majors on this topic, so I won't pretend I 
know the first thing about it.

6. compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying 
contexts.

The language about varying contexts calls for broadness of mind. So read all 
the NLS books about magic and card tricks, and you will likely not be 
fulfilling this requirement. Completely ignore the cart tricks books, and 
any other book on fun performance-related subjects, and you could not be 
fulfilling this requirement once again. Whatever else this might mean, it 
does call for one to read widely.

So whatever literacy means will depend on the definition of another word: 
reading.

Antonio Guimaraes
Shop online and support the NFB of RI at no additional cost to you.
http://www.givebackamerica.com/charity.php?b=169
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T. Joseph Carter" <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 7:29 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] How you read, Braille or voice

> Antonio,
>
> I would argue that being literate and being informed are two distinct and 
> separate things.  I know many people who are literate and yet blissfully 
> unaware of a great many things.
>
> Contrarily, I know a few people who seem to be pretty well informed, and 
> yet I would question their literacy.  You've encountered some of them on 
> these NFB lists, actually--but I know others who are sighted whose 
> literacy I also question.
>
> Literacy to my mind connotes both the ability to read and the ability to 
> write.  While it is true that reading can take many forms, those forms of 
> reading that involve the spoken word do not generally assist in writing.
>
> Consider, how many very intelligent people on these lists use spellings 
> indicative of working almost entirely with speech rather than access to 
> the written word in a way that includes some form of letter-sound 
> correspondence.  Or for that matter, how many posters to these lists write 
> their messages as single long paragraphs?  These types of errors 
> negatively impact what others' think of them, particularly if those others 
> do not use a screen reader to access their world.
>
> Some of the people I'm thinking of are undeniably brilliant, so that is 
> truly a shame.  The sighted world judges by appearance.  If we are going 
> to compete on equal terms in the sighted world in any way that includes 
> written communication, we must learn to write in a way that is meant to be 
> read with the eye, rather than heard with the ear.
>
> This to me is why literacy is more than just reading and the ability to 
> hear and understand an audio book or access the contents of a website 
> through a screen reader is simply not enough.
>
> Joseph
>
> On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 06:32:56PM -0500, Antonio M. Guimaraes wrote:
>>Hello all,
>>
>>I am a braille reader, though not  a very fast one. I'd like to throw some 
>>thought in about reading and literacy.
>>
>>First, what is literacy? Is braille the only way to literacy? Is getting 
>>reading done part of being literate, and informed, no matter the method?
>>
>>I have as many questions as I think I have the answers.
>>First, for me literacy is the ability to read and right, and the 
>>discernment to stay informed by reading a wide variety of books, articles, 
>>magazines, journals, and any other form where words are conveyed.
>>
>>By my definition, literacy can and does include spoken language, an text 
>>to speech.
>>I am a firm believer that braille is an integral vehicle for literacy, but 
>>not the soul vehicle. Without braille, one can not learn to spell 
>>properly. I am also tempted to argue that perfect spelling is not 
>>indicative of, or a prerequisit for literacy.
>>I should disclose, in case you didn't notice, that I am not the best 
>>speller, and that I do make quite a few spelling mistakes in my writing.
>>Still, the literate person does not read in braille only, even though she 
>>or he needs a good amount of it to be a good, reputable communicator.
>>
>>I use speech on my computer, and was able to get through 300 nabs messages 
>>in one sitting. I think this was done on less than two hours, and without 
>>braille. I wanted a quick and efficient way to get at these mailings, and 
>>with my braille reading speed, I would only be able to read a small 
>>fraction of the material.
>>
>>A well-read person is more literate, and best exposed to the world than 
>>the passive listener who has no developed interests. So, the literate 
>>person is by some measures a more interesting person because she or he is 
>>better informed, and can discuss with some authority about a wider array 
>>of topics. To this effect, I have set out a reading list with books on 
>>topics of interest to me. I limmited myself to learning about one topic 
>>for a month, then moving on to something else.
>>
>>So, March might be Antonio's philosophy month, and not the kind we 
>>tipically talk about. April could be birds month, may would the the time 
>>to read about religion, and so fourth.
>>
>>I feel some reservation and small amount of guilt for not devoting as much 
>>time to reading in braille. After all, braille for some is the only way to 
>>being literate, and if I sell out and read on Kurzweil, or in spoken 
>>media, I would not be aquiring knowledge, or practicing good literacy 
>>skills.
>>
>>Do you see the hole in the argument of braille as the only way? Do you see 
>>that I would still be accessing and gaining knowledge by reading an 
>>electronic file with my text to speech features?
>>
>>What are your thoughts as we embark on the biggest braille literacy 
>>promotion campaign? Keep it honest, and inspiring if you can.
>>
>>Antonio Guimaraes
>>Shop online and support the NFB of RI at no additional cost to you.
>>http://www.givebackamerica.com/charity.php?b=169 Givebackamerica.org, 
>>America's Online Charity Shopping Mall 
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