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

Wed May 9 01:03:54 UTC 2012

Well, if enough people petition for it, they can make it a bill.

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Nusbaum" <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com
To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Tue, 8 May 2012 19:55:59 -0400
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] FW: National Federation of the Blind 
ApplaudsNewJerseyRuling on Braille Instruction for Blind Child

Just a clarification: that's not a bill, that's a letter.

Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org 
[mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Joshua Lester
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 6:21 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

Oh, it will!
If the bill passes, that my senator helped to put together, all 
blind
students will be required to have the best Braille education 
possible.
Blessings, Joshua

On 5/8/12, Sophie Trist <sweetpeareader at gmail.com> wrote:
 I've heard of that far too often in my state as well. Many 
people whom
 I know did not get a decent braille education until they went to 
LCB
 for training. It's sad but true. Hopefully that will begin to 
change.

  ----- Original Message -----
 From: "Heather Field" <missheather at comcast.net
 To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
 <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
 Date sent: Tue, 8 May 2012 12:45:51 -0500
 Subject: Re: [nabs-l] FW: National Federation of the Blind
 ApplaudsNewJersey Ruling on Braille Instruction for Blind Child

 It wasn't about his age. The said he could see too much to need
 braille.
 They said he could use print and that they would not agree to 
teach
 him braille.

 -----Original Message-----
 From: Joshua Lester
 Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 8:01 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

 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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