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

Wed May 9 00:46:26 UTC 2012

Chris!
I see NFB national president written all over you!
Keep up the good work!
I can't wait to see what happens with you, 50 years from now!
You will be a huge part of the NFB, on a national scale, in the future!
I don't have to be a prophet to say it, because judging by your posts
on these lists, the potential is there!
Blessings, Joshua

On 5/8/12, Chris Nusbaum <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com> wrote:
> A big amen to that! I couldn't have said it any better! I was actually
> having a similar conversation with my school librarian today, who asked me
> whether I saw Braille withering away with the advancement of audio
> technology. I told her I didn't, and even if I could see that happening, I
> wouldn't want it. Why do I not see Braille going away? Because there are
> enough blind people who are passionate about Braille to prevent that from
> happening! Why would I want Braille to continue as the primary source of
> reading and writing for the blind? Because reading books in audio format,
> although it is a good method for reading materials sometimes, isn't true
> literacy. Braille is our form of literacy. Without Braille, we can't read
> or
> write. This means that we can't get a job, or go to college, or keep up
> with
> our sighted peers. So, I think we definitely still need Braille because it
> is our form of literacy, and if we get rid of Braille, we should get rid of
> print too!
>
> Chris
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf
> Of Arielle Silverman
> Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 10:42 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] FW: National Federation of the Blind Applauds
> NewJersey Ruling on Braille Instruction for Blind Child
>
> It's sad that this required three years of legal contention to resolve.
> What's even sadder is that for thousands of other children, these battles
> aren't being won in the end or even being fought in the first place.
> Parents
> capitulate to the professionals' insistence that their child doesn't need
> Braille, or they want to fight but don't have the time, energy or legal
> resources to stick it out.
> The saddest thing of all, and an irony too, is that so much of the denial
> of
> Braille instruction is being perpetrated by the very people entrusted to
> promote and teach Braille--teachers of the blind! I just read a few weeks
> ago about a preschool child whose TVI refused to provide her with Braille
> copies of the storybooks her classmates were given in school. Instead, the
> teacher thought it sufficient to give the child stuffed toys representing
> the characters in the stories. I can understand using toys to substitute
> for
> the pictures, but if the sighted kids are getting copies of the stories,
> why
> not give the exact same content to the blind child as well? I might add
> that
> in today's electronic world, and even before computers existed,
> transcribing
> a book for preschoolers is not difficult. And even in this case with the
> Millers, the NJ Commission for the Blind backed the school's decision not
> to
> provide Braille. If even the folks who are charged to teach us literacy
> don't stand behind Braille, who will? In my opinion a certified teacher of
> blind children who refuses to teach Braille, or who refuses to hold their
> students to competitive reading standards, is not deserving of that
> certificate.
> I sincerely hope that this victory will set a meaningful precedent to bring
> about big changes for those parents who are fighting for Braille today and
> in the future.
> Arielle
>
> On 5/7/12, Joshua Lester <jlester8462 at students.pccua.edu> wrote:
>> 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%20Duncan%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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