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

Wed May 9 00:42:56 UTC 2012

I know I was a lot further along in my Braille learning when I was 11!

Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Beth
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 10:30 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] FW: National Federation of the Blind ApplaudsNewJersey
Ruling on Braille Instruction for Blind Child

11.  He is only 11 years old, which is ok, but he could have been further
along than this.
Beth

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Joshua Lester <jlester8462 at students.pccua.edu
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Mon, 7 May 2012 20:01:49 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] FW: National Federation of the Blind ApplaudsNewJersey
Ruling on Braille Instruction for Blind Child

How old is the child?
I got Braille instruction, when I was just starting school!
Why is it, that they did this, with this child?
Any word on how old he is?
Thanks, Joshua

On 5/7/12, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
 I agree, how  sad.

 -----Original Message-----
 From: Loren
 Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 8:09 PM
 To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list' ;
blindtlk at nfbnet.org ; nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
 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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