[nabs-l] FW: National Federation of the Blind Applauds NewJersey Ruling on Braille Instruction for Blind Child

Tue May 8 02:13:23 UTC 2012

They'll learn... one day, they'll learn.

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Loren" <isaiah5719 at mchsi.com
To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing 
list'"<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>, <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>, 
<nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Mon, 7 May 2012 19:09:44 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] FW: National Federation of the Blind 
Applauds NewJersey	Ruling on Braille Instruction for Blind Child

It's extremely sad that this took 3 years to come to this 
decision.  Would
anyone deny a sighted child print instruction for that long?  
Congrats to
the Millers for sticking with it.  You did a great thing for your 
child.

Loren Wakefield

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org 
[mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Chris Nusbaum
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 5:54 PM
To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org; 'National Association of Blind Students 
mailing
list'; nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nabs-l] FW: National Federation of the Blind Applauds 
New Jersey
Ruling on Braille Instruction for Blind Child

From: Freeh, Jessica [mailto:JFreeh at nfb.org]
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 8:57 AM
To: Undisclosed recipients:
Subject: National Federation of the Blind Applauds New Jersey 
Ruling on
Braille Instruction for Blind Child

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

National Federation of the Blind Applauds New Jersey Ruling on 
Braille
Instruction for Blind Child

After Three-Year Battle, Hank Miller Will Receive Braille 
Instruction

Oceanport, New Jersey (May 7, 2012): After a three-year 
administrative and
legal battle against their local school board, the Oceanport 
Board of
Education, Jeffrey and Holly Miller obtained a ruling (docket 
number: 2011
17218) from an administrative law judge that their 
eleven-year-old son Henry
"Hank" Miller was improperly denied instruction in Braille, the 
reading and
writing code for the blind.  The legal victory, obtained with the 
assistance
of the National Federation of the Blind <http://www.nfb.org/>  
(NFB), comes
on the heels of
<http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/Letter%20to%20Secretary%20
Duncan%20re
%20Braille%20Literacy.pdf> a letter from 26 U.S. Senators urging 
the
Department of Education to take steps to ensure that blind 
children who need
Braille instruction receive it.

Holly and Jeffrey Miller brought the legal case on behalf of 
their son,
Hank, whom they adopted from China and who is blind due to 
albinism and
nystagmus.  Hank has limited vision that allows him to read 
enlarged print
for short periods of time, but he is unable to read for sustained 
periods of
time.  Although Hank's parents continued to tell school officials 
that their
son was experiencing visual fatigue and was having difficulty 
reading, the
school board and its consultant, the New Jersey Commission for 
the Blind and
Visually Impaired (CBVI), insisted that Hank was a proficient 
print reader,
notwithstanding his continued placement in a special resource 
room for
language arts.  In a nearly ten-day hearing, held under the due 
process
provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 
Improvement Act of
2004, Mrs. Miller testified that she watched Hank routinely 
struggle with
his homework, suffering from eye strain and fatigue, but was 
unable to
convince school officials or the CBVI that Hank needed Braille 
instruction.
She also testified that Hank's schoolwork was not of the same 
quantity and
quality as that of his classmates.  Although experts from the 
school and the
commission claimed that Hank was a "visual learner" and should 
participate
in the "sighted world," experts hired by the Millers and the NFB 
concluded
after thorough assessment that Hank could not read print for 
extended
periods of time without eye strain, neck and back pain, fatigue, 
and loss of
reading speed and comprehension.

In her order, Administrative Law Judge Lisa James-Beavers found 
that the
school board and the commission displayed a clear "bias against 
Braille."
She found that the school board and the commission had failed to 
assess
Hank's "sustained reading ability" with print, relying instead on 
reading
assessments involving only brief passages, and citing Hank's 
alleged failure
to complain about struggling to read print.  The judge was 
unconvinced by
the board and CBVI's contention that Hank could rely on audio 
technology as
reading demands increased through his school years, noting that 
"as pointed
out by all of petitioners' well-qualified experts, listening does 
not equate
to reading.  One does not enhance the active skill of 
comprehending text by
passively listening, even if one is following along with the 
reading."  The
order noted that "the CBVI failed to do what Oceanport relied on 
them to do,
which is to help construct a program that would give H.M. 
meaningful
educational benefit considering H.M.'s future needs."  Judge 
James-Beavers
ordered that Hank Miller be provided with Braille instruction for 
forty-five
minutes, five days a week, and that the school board provide 
compensatory
instruction because of the three years that Hank was not provided 
with
Braille instruction, in the form of intensive Braille summer 
programs or
tutoring.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the 
Blind, said:
"Based on the experience of countless parents of blind children 
and blind
adults who had never learned Braille and have contacted us over 
the years,
the National Federation of the Blind has consistently argued that 
blind
children are being improperly assessed and denied Braille 
instruction when
it is clearly appropriate.  Now after a thorough and 
comprehensive
examination of the evidence in Hank Miller's case, an independent 
judge has
confirmed what we always knew.  We hope that school and agency 
officials
across the nation take note of this landmark ruling and commit to 
giving
blind children access to Braille, the true key to literacy for 
the vast
majority of children who are blind or losing vision.  The 
National
Federation of the Blind will continue to stand with families like 
the
Millers who find themselves pitted against the educational 
establishment in
obtaining the equal education to which their children are 
entitled and which
they deserve."

Holly Miller, Hank's mother, said: "I am obviously thrilled with 
this
ruling, although I am still saddened that it took such a 
prolonged battle to
achieve it.  I am stepping forward to tell Hank's story in hopes 
that other
parents of blind children will not have to struggle as we did.  I 
thank the
National Federation of the Blind and all of the individuals and 
experts who
came forward to assist in this case.  I plan to strongly and 
publicly
advocate with the National Federation of the Blind for Braille 
instruction
for blind children."

The plaintiffs are represented in this matter by Sharon 
Krevor-Weisbaum of
the Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein, and Levy, and Jayne M. 
Wesler of the
Cranbury firm Sussan and Greenwald.

For more information about the National Federation of the Blind, 
please
visit www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org/> .  For more information 
about
Braille, the reading and writing code for the blind, please visit
www.braille.org <http://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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