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

Thu May 9 14:42:31 UTC 2013

The early form of braille you folks were talking about.  I think that is
what it is called.  I'm not sure if that is the exact version, but
punctaform is one of the braille versions which was out around that time.
If you read the book adjustment of the Blind, you can see the entire story
about braille.  I would have to go back into the book to be sure I was
talking about the specific version in that part of the 19th century. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of christopher
nusbaum
Sent: Friday, May 10, 2013 10:27 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

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 21st century as a replacement for that tedious, outdated Braille code: 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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