[nabs-l] For the first time, Virginia will fully fund the education of its blind K-12 students

Fri May 10 14:27:22 UTC 2013

What do you mean? What is punctaform?

Chris Nusbaum

Sent from my iPhone

On May 10, 2013, at 10:25 AM, justin williams
<justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I think that is called punctaform.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of christopher
> nusbaum
> Sent: Friday, May 10, 2013 10:21 AM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] For the first time, Virginia will fully fund the
> education of its blind K-12 students
>
> Well, you know, Brandon, that Braille is slow and inefficient. It was
> developed in the 19th century to serve the needs of the blind people of that
> era. Therefore, it is no longer relevant to us in the technology-driven 21st
> century. Besides, it was invented by a blind student! We know that blind
> people are incapable of having the creativity to invent anything, so why
> would we trust a system which was invented by a 19th-century blind French
> teenager? Moreover, many kids still have some vision. Given all this, it
> wouldn't be logical to teach kids who still have a little usable vision an
> inferior system of reading and writing that would in effect make them blind.
> Even if the kids are totally blind, we can still use the tools of the 21st
> century as a replacement for that tedious, outdated Braille code: screen
> readers, talking books, screen magnification software, etc. Right?
> Wrong!
>
> Chris Nusbaum
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On May 10, 2013, at 1:01 AM, Brandon Keith Biggs
> <brandonkeithbiggs at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Now this is awesome!
>> I'm just baffled though, why was this made a problem in the first place?
> Sighted kids get taught how to read, why not blind kids?
>> and I think being a TVI is one of the most difficult jobs in the world and
> to have so many kids that you are forced to cut your time to 30 minutes a
> child a week is just insanity of the first level!
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Brandon Keith Biggs
>> -----Original Message----- From: Corbbmacc O'Connor (by way of David
>> Andrews<dandrews at visi.com>)
>> Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2013 9:11 PM
>> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [nabs-l] For the first time, Virginia will fully fund the
>> education of its blind K-12 students
>>
>>
>> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF VIRGINIA Dr. Fredric K. Schroeder,
>> President
>> 9522 Lagersfield Circle . Vienna, VA 22181
>> (703) 319-9226 . fschroeder at sks.com
>> www.nfbv.org
>>
>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>
>> CONTACT: Tracy Soforenko, (202) 285-4595, tracy.soforenko at verizon.net
>>
>> For the first time, Virginia will fully fund the education of its
>> blind K-12 students Delegate Bob Brink to be honored for exceptional
>> leadership
>>
>> ARLINGTON, Va. - Delegate Bob Brink (D-48), who led the advocacy  to
>> increase funding for teachers of blind students, will be recognized
>> today with the Commonwealth Award by the National Federation of the
>> Blind of Virginia (NFBV)-the Commonwealth's largest and oldest
>> organization of blind people and the leading advocate for braille
>> literacy.
>>
>> For years, the Virginia Department of Education has published
>> Standards of Quality (SOQ), which define minimum student-teacher
>> ratios and provide partial salary support to school divisions to fund
>> special education teachers who work within Virginia's schools.
>> Unfortunately, unlike all other disabilities, teachers for the blind
>> were excluded from the SOQ, leading to enormous case loads in many
>> school divisions. Through Delegate Brink's advocacy-supported by the
>> National Federation of the Blind of Virginia-Governor McDonnell
>> committed to fully fund the state share for staffing standards for
>> blind and low vision students. The amended 2012-2014 budget addresses
>> this inequality and funds teachers for Virginia's blind and low vision
>> students.
>>
>> "Parents of blind children are frustrated that their children are not
>> learning the blindness skills necessary to compete with their sighted
>> peers," said NFBV President Dr. Fredric Schroeder. "We cannot expect
>> students to learn braille and independent travel when teachers for the
>> blind are forced to limit instruction to 30 minutes a week. Because
>> reading and writing is a fundamental skill for all students, we are
>> excited that blind students will now receive the quality education
>> that they deserve."
>>
>> Brink, who represents north Arlington and most of McLean, said, "This
>> is a long overdue step for the 1,000-plus blind and low-vision
>> students across Virginia who are blind or have low vision.
>> The budget will provide $4.9 million funding to local school districts."
>>
>> The award ceremony is open to members of the media, and will feature
>> remarks from Brink, a member of the Arlington County School Board, and
>> advocates. It will be held May 9 at Tutto Bene Restaurant (501 N.
>> Randolph St; Arlington) at 7 p.m.
>>
>> ###
>>
>>
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