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

Fri May 10 14:45:29 UTC 2013

Oh, OK. I was being sarcastic in that message in answer to Brandon's question.

Chris Nusbaum

Sent from my iPhone

On May 10, 2013, at 10:44 AM, justin williams
<justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote:

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 21st century as a replacement for that tedious, outdated Braille code: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