[nabs-l] National Federation of the Blind Applauds NewJerseyRuling on Braille Instruction for Blind Child

Sat May 12 22:22:47 UTC 2012

Good points, Marc.  What I mean by "illiterate" is simply that 
you can't effectively and efficiently read written text 
independently.  Yes, you can use audio, but that technology might 
break...

Chris Nusbaum

"For we walk by faith, not by sight."
2 Corinthians 5:7

Sent from my BrailleNote

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Marc Workman <mworkman.lists at gmail.com
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
 sent: Thu, 10 May 2012 08:40:45 -0700
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] National Federation of the Blind Applauds 
NewJerseyRuling on Braille Instruction for Blind Child

I guess I'm in a small minority of those who had Braille forced 
on them as a child.  I resisted it with every argument an eight 
year old can muster.  At several times throughout my primary and 
secondary education, I was made to learn and relearn Braille even 
though I didn't use it then and have rarely used it since.

Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying I was right to 
resist.  There are lots of things that children resist learning 
for one reason or another (e.g.,second and third languages, 
musical instruments, dance), and all of these skills contribute 
to the production of a more well-rounded and talented person.  
Braille falls into this category for me.  Knowing it better would 
likely help me get a job, but so too would being more fluent in 
french, particularly in Canada.

Where I do take issue, and I've expressed this before, is with 
statements like this one from Chris:

 "Without Braille, we can't read or write."

And I'm not picking on you, Chris, I could have found others 
making the same point in this thread.  If Chris's statement is 
true, then this email and every essay I wrote in my undergrad, 
masters, and PhD programs were written by someone who is 
illiterate.  Without being too immodest, I think I write better 
than a majority of sighted people, and that's not bad for an 
illiterate person.

Any child that wants to learn Braille or any parents that want 
that for their children should receive the instruction they 
desire.  Adults too should receive the support to learn Braille 
if they so desire.  What I think is worth pointing out is that 
Braille isn't necessary for blind people to be able to read and 
write, Braille isn't necessary for blind people to be successful, 
and in some cases, mine in particular, the dozens of hours spent 
learning Braille may more effectively be spent learning other 
skills.

Cheers,

Marc
On 2012-05-08, at 5:41 PM, Chris Nusbaum 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%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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