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

Sat May 11 01:55:31 UTC 2013

That's OK, man! Sarcasm is sometimes hard to understand.

Chris Nusbaum, Co-Chair
Public Relations Committee
Maryland Association of Blind Students
Phone: (443) 547-2409

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of justin williams
Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2013 11:01 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

Ohm my bad.  I really hate ruingging a good joke.  Oops.  

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of christopher
nusbaum
Sent: Friday, May 10, 2013 10:45 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

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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