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

Thu Jan 7 21:04:32 UTC 2010

I think a better word for inferior is limmited.  these techniques are 
limitted not inferior.

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From: "Briley Pollard" <brileyp at gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2010 1:08 PM
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Braille Vs Technology: is there room for only 
oneintown?

> I wasn't attacking anyone on a personal level at all, so please don't 
> accuse me of doing so. I never said anything in a mean spirited way. Not 
> being able to read is the definition of illiterate. I didn't call them 
> unintelligent. I don't know them or their life circumstances. We were 
> discussing this issue, and I think that even people who have been 
> successful without the use of braille could only improve their lives and 
> careers by learning it. That doesn't make me a mean spirited person.
> On Jan 7, 2010, at 10:25 AM, Dennis Clark wrote:
>
>> I cannot imagine calling clearly accomplished people such as the governor 
>> of New York or the woman in the article "illiterate" as you did.  It is 
>> mean spirited, self indulgent, and most importantly indicates a 
>> misunderstanding of the meaning of the word illiterate.  The American 
>> Heritage dictionary defines illiterate as follows:
>>
>>
>>
>> 1. illiterate. adjective.
>>
>> Unable to read and write.
>>
>> Having little or no formal education.
>>
>> 2. Marked by inferiority to an expected standard of familiarity with 
>> language and literature.
>>
>> Violating prescribed standards of speech or writing.
>>
>> 3. Ignorant of the fundamentals of a given art or branch of knowledge: 
>> musically illiterate. See Usage Note at literate.
>>
>>
>> It saddens me that it does not seem possible for us as blind people to 
>> discuss blindness without personal attacks.  As long as we can be induced 
>> to continue attacking one another we are doing the work of those who 
>> would like to see us excluded from all aspects of society.  All they need 
>> do is sit on the sidelines and watch the feathers fly.
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sean Whalen" <smwhalenpsp at gmail.com>
>> To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 8:52 PM
>> 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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>>
>>
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