[nabs-l] Braille Vs Technology: is there room for only one intown?

[Briley Pollard]

Another question I would pose to these excellent points is that why do blind people have to be auditory learners? I feel like I'm expected to be sometimes because I'm blind, but I am not. I always do better and wouldn't have done as well as I have without braille. I cannot process things as well via any other medium, and I know I can't be the only person like that.
On Jan 7, 2010, at 1:17 PM, Joe Orozco wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> Before anything else, let me give my own examples of where Braille comes in
> handy.  I use Braille to take notes during meetings if for no other reason
> than Braille is a shorthand method that allows for quicker data capture.  I
> also use Braille to deliver speeches.  It makes better sense to allow my
> fingers to process my talking points and devote the balance of my attention
> to gauge the mood of the audience.  On my spare time I use Braille to play
> D&D.  My group moves at a fairly good clip, and for me it makes sense to be
> able to quickly scan a character sheet than to have to search and retrieve
> an electronic file while trying to keep track of everyone else's moves.
> When it comes to nonfiction I also prefer Braille because I like to make
> sure I retain the data and fully process the spelling of complex words,
> perhaps the reason I choose Braille for standardized exams.  Braille comes
> in handy when learning a new computer language, because the success of a
> compilation can sometimes hang on the presence or absence of a single
> quotation mark.  This all can be done electronically, but in my own personal
> case, I find Braille to make things somehow more solid.
> 
> Two things:
> 
> First, the Braille I now use primarily comes from my own production.  I am
> grateful for Web Braille for the books I can access on my notetaker, but
> high school was the last time I had routine access to Braille resources.  It
> is expensive to have things reproduced in Braille, and Braille books
> themselves are bulky and cumbersome to carry around.  Notetakers are
> ridiculously expensive.  If you are not a client of a rehabilitation agency
> you have to rely on your income, but your own income may not necessarily be
> enough to front the cost of a six thousand dollar unit.  You could invest in
> a netbook and purchase a Braille display, but Braille displays are also sold
> at a small fortune.
> 
> Second, it is difficult to make a case for Braille beyond high school
> because there are alternatives.  People can record meetings and later use
> software to convert the speech to text.  The mobile phone is slowly moving
> into the center of our daily interactions.  Did anyone ten years ago suspect
> we would be able to snap a picture of a printed page and read that document
> using speech?  Mobile technology is becoming so pervasive that we have to
> threaten to sue universities for using the currently inaccessible Kindle in
> their classrooms to transmit instructional materials.  In other words, there
> may have been a time when Braille was absolutely crucial, but that is the
> question today, isn't it?  Crucial versus efficient, and how can you
> possibly convince someone who does not see the benefits of Braille to use a
> system they deem inefficient when compared to their mobile device?
> 
> But, fine, let us assume that I am completely wrong, that at the end of the
> day I absolutely have to pick one side over another, and let us further
> assume that the side I pick is Braille.  It was the ACB who successfully got
> the Social Security Administration to provide their materials in Braille.
> What are we as the NFB going to do to build off this momentum?  Should we
> perhaps lead a national campaign to ensure that all restaurants have Braille
> menus?  That cup lids be Brailed as McDonald's has been doing?  That all
> doctor offices provide medical records in Braille?  That the manuals that
> accompany every product I purchase be embossed?  Add to this the advantage
> of Braille receipts, concert tickets, transit fare cards, ATM screens,
> airport terminal monitors...  Of course you sense my sarcasm, but we cannot
> completely seal the case for Braille until we improve the environment where
> Braille would exist, because right or wrong, right now the bulk of Braille
> is dominated by what the blind request versus what the public automatically
> provides.  What is the overwhelming incentive for someone to learn Braille?
> 
> It is sad, I think, that the use of Braille may eventually come down to
> something as commonplace as choosing between using the cane versus using a
> dog to get around.  Yet, until we do something more compelling, or until we
> take a different tone, people are going to weigh Braille with technology and
> ultimately choose the most convenient of the two.  I do not think people who
> do not read Braille should be offended by those of us who choose to use
> Braille in our lives.  If they're offended, perhaps it is guilt, but on this
> item I am strongly against a "take no prisoners" approach.  I also do not
> take a literal interpretation of literacy, because as far as literacy is
> concerned, you need to be able to read and write in a certain language, and
> when people type they are using their understanding of letters and
> punctuation of a language to convey a message.  It is not as though they are
> talking into a microphone and allowing a program to string their sentences
> for them, at least not in most cases.
> 
> So, in the meantime, I think perhaps our best approach might be to tell
> people in a nicer way that there are benefits of Braille.  There is much to
> be gained and nothing to lose from taking the time to learn a new method of
> writing.  Let's get a pen pal thing going to help beginners appreciate the
> benefits of Braille in an interactive manner.  I am not at all amused by
> this harsh reality nonsense people are trotting out, because reality says
> technology is the sweeter of the two choices.
> 
> Joe Orozco
> 
> "A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the
> crowd."--Max Lucado 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org 
> [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sean Whalen
> Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 11:52 PM
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Braille Vs Technology: is there room for 
> only one intown?
> 
> Let me first acknowledge the truth of what Mark has pointed out 
> in terms of
> the anecdotal nature of much of the evidence proffered in 
> support of Braille
> literacy increasing employment opportunities for the blind. I also admit
> freely that I have never dug into the numbers we so often bandy about in
> relation to literacy rates among the blind, literacy rates among the
> employed blind and the unemployment rate for blind individuals 
> and do not
> know how carefully designed or well executed any of the studies 
> from which
> we glean these numbers actually were.
> 
> All this being said, I absolutely believe that Braille, for 
> persons who are
> unable and have never learned to read print, is a necessity and 
> not simply a
> tool in a toolbox. I qualify this because Marc was once again, I think,
> correct in drawing the distinction between those who learn to 
> read print and
> go blind later in life and those who are blind from a young age 
> and never
> learn to read via any medium. For somebody who read print and achieved
> literacy, Braille is an incredibly useful tool that can make some tasks
> easier and more efficient and allow one to recapture the 
> pleasure of reading
> to oneself, but for those who never learned to read print, 
> Braille is the
> only path to literacy. So, barring any complicating factors such as
> additional disabilities, I firmly believe that all blind 
> children and all
> non-print-reading blind adults must be expected to learn to 
> read Braille.
> Accepting anything less is to give the stamp of approval to lower
> expectations of the blind among the general public. When Joe Sighted is
> illiterate at age 25, we all recognize this as a big problem. It is no
> different for the blind, it's a big problem.
> 
> I also agree with Joe, to a degree, that it is not a simple as Braille
> literate equals employed. But I think that it is beyond dispute 
> that being
> able to read is a crucial skill for nearly any job seeker to 
> have. Braille
> is not "the difference", but all else being equal, it certainly puts
> somebody who can read it at a great advantage over somebody 
> else similarly
> situated who cannot. Just assume for a moment that the numbers 
> we so often
> cite are close to accurate. 30 in 100 blind people are 
> employed. Of those
> 30, 24 of them are able to read Braille. WE don't really know what the
> literacy rate among the working age blind is, but if it is 
> under 50%, which
> it almost certainly is, you can do the math and see that there 
> is something
> going on here.
> 
> I myself have been blind all my life. In elementary school attempts were
> made to teach me to read print with the severely limited vision 
> that I had.
> I did not learn to read. What I was doing was more akin to decoding;
> agonizing over each letter to discern what it was and then piecing it
> together to make a word. At age 25 I learned to read Braille. 
> Braille has
> proved useful in finding employment not only because of the 
> specific tasks
> it makes easier on the job, but more so because of the fact 
> that it has made
> me literate. Literacy means knowing how things are spelled and how
> punctuation is used. Literacy means being able to express yourself in
> writing in a manner that accurately reflects your level of intelligence.
> Sure, it is nice to use a Braille display to access and take notes in
> meetings where speech output would be distracting. Yes, it is 
> great to be
> able to use an outline or notes when addressing people 
> publicly. However,
> these are simply instances where Braille is a tool, and in my 
> opinion the
> best one, to get the job done. There are other ways to perform 
> these tasks.
> Where there is no substitution for being literate is in 
> communicating your
> ideas in writing. In college, I would hand in work of supposed 
> high academic
> quality with the most egregious spelling and punctuation errors 
> in it. Who
> can take that seriously? Yes there is spell-check and you can 
> arrow through
> character by character to find out how words are spelled and things are
> punctuated, but this approach means you only learn when you 
> know you don't
> know. When you read, you pick things up naturally along the way and
> assimilate them.
> 
> Of course it is true that some illiterate blind people like 
> Laura Sloate and
> the Governor of New York have achieved the pinnacles of financial and
> professional success. More power to them. I could point you 
> toward people
> who have become very successful without completing a high 
> school education
> let alone a college degree. Will anybody stand up and argue 
> based on this
> fact that bachelor's and advanced degrees don't lead to more and better
> employment prospects for those who hold them?
> 
> Literacy is absolutely essential for professional opportunities 
> and Braille
> is the only means by which to achieve it if one does not read 
> print. Blind
> people who don't know Braille are certainly not inferior 
> people, but they
> are absolutely working with an inferior set of skills, and if 
> Laura Sloate
> would like to debate the point, I would gladly do so, 
> regardless of how much
> money she makes.
> 
> 
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