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

Wed May 9 01:35:40 UTC 2012

Did you attend Washington Seminar, this year?
I was watching CSpan, and was upset that they didn't show it!
I brought up Washington Seminar, because I was wondering if this stuff
we're discussing was brought up.
Thanks, Joshua

On 5/8/12, Chris Nusbaum <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com> wrote:
> Wow!!! What a compliment!! Thank you very much for these kind words!!!!
>
> Blessings,
>
> 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 8:46 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
>
> 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%20Dunca
>> n%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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