[nabs-l] FW: National Federation of the Blind ApplaudsNewJerseyRuling on Braille Instruction for Blind Child
Joshua Lester
jlester8462 at students.pccua.edu
Wed May 9 01:07:48 UTC 2012
I've already petitioned my congressman.
You can do the same!
Blessings, Joshua
On 5/8/12, Sophie Trist <sweetpeareader at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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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