[Nfb-seniors] Nfb-seniors Digest, Vol 21, Issue 11

Wed Aug 26 17:48:48 UTC 2009

Braille is a hard subject to master and less than 10% of all blind persons
get by in it. If you master it, it is only good  to communicate with  others
in Braille. This is an Isolation to your selves. Learn typing and advocate
for free high speed internet service. most deaf can see and most blind can
hear with minor exceptions. Why limit and isolate your selves? My Love of
Aloha to ALL, H.G. Pink pinkhawaii at gmail.com

On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 4:00 AM, <nfb-seniors-request at nfbnet.org> wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
>
>   1. Unable to Read or Write, New High School Graduate Details
>      Struggle (Freeh,  Jessica)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:49:28 -0500
> From: "Freeh,   Jessica" <JFreeh at nfb.org> (by way of David Andrews
>        <dandrews at visi.com>)
> Subject: [Nfb-seniors] Unable to Read or Write, New High School
>        Graduate Details  Struggle
> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
> Message-ID: <auto-000113776864 at mailfront1.g2host.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
>
>
>
> 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
>
>
> Unable to Read or Write, New High School Graduate Details Struggle
>
> Baltimore, Maryland (August 25, 2009): Denzel
> Ferges graduated from high school on June 6.  But
> when he was asked to address a gathering of
> students on July 29, he had to memorize his
> speech rather than reading it.  Denzel does not
> have enough vision to read print effectively, and
> he was not taught to read Braille.  For all
> practical purposes, he graduated from high school unable to read.
>
>
>
>  ?I wish that I could be reading my remarks to
> you in Braille, but I am not able to do so
> because I was not given the opportunity to learn
> Braille in school,? Ferges told an audience of
> two hundred blind students and their mentors
> gathered for the National Federation of the Blind
> Youth Slam, a summer science academy for blind
> high school students.  ?So with that being said,
> I have to seek further training to learn Braille
> and other important blindness skills.?
>
>
>
> Denzel is not alone.  In fact, nine out of ten
> blind children in America?s public schools do not
> know and are not being taught how to read and
> write using Braille.  But reading Braille,
> especially when learned at an early age, is just
> as effective as reading print.  Braille is also
> the only system that allows blind people to write
> and to read what they have written with speed and
> efficiency.  That is why the National Federation
> of the Blind wants to make sure that young people
> like Denzel graduate from high school with the
> ability to read and write, and that every blind
> child in America and every adult losing vision is
> given the opportunity to learn Braille.  But
> blind Americans need your help to address the crisis in Braille literacy.
>
>
>
> Congress authorized the minting in 2009 of
> 400,000 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollars
> to mark the two-hundredth anniversary of the
> birth of Louis Braille (1809?1852) and to support
> the efforts of the National Federation of the
> Blind?the nation?s leading advocate for
> Braille?to promote literacy among blind
> Americans.  This unique and beautiful
> commemorative coin is the first U.S. currency to
> feature tactile, readable Braille.  These coins
> will no longer be available after December 31,
> 2009.  Today the National Federation of the Blind
> is kicking off a national campaign in which its
> affiliates in each state (plus the District of
> Columbia and Puerto Rico) and over seven hundred
> local chapters will sell 100,000 coins by
> November 1, 2009.  A portion of the money from
> sales of the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial
> Silver Dollar will be used to support the NFB?s
> ?Braille Readers are Leaders? campaign, a
> national initiative created to double the number
> of blind children learning Braille by 2015,
> improve certification standards for teachers of
> Braille, and conduct innovative programs to support Braille literacy.
>
>
>
> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National
> Federation of the Blind, said: ?The Braille
> Readers are Leaders literacy campaign and the
> sale of these beautiful Louis Braille silver
> dollars are among the most important initiatives
> the National Federation of the Blind has ever
> undertaken.  The education of tens of thousands
> of blind children across the nation and the
> successful rehabilitation of adults who are
> losing vision depend on our success.  We are
> asking all Americans to help us in ensuring
> literacy, education, productivity, and success
> for every blind American by purchasing a Louis
> Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar today.?
>
>
>
> Those interested in ordering a Louis Braille
> Bicentennial Silver Dollar should visit
> <http://www.braille.org./>www.braille.org or call
> 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).  For more information
> about the National Federation of the Blind and
> the Braille Readers are Leaders campaign, visit
> <http://www.braille.org/>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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> End of Nfb-seniors Digest, Vol 21, Issue 11
> *******************************************
>

-- 
Dr. Heinz-Guenther Pink
Advocate and program evaluator for the blind, deaf and handicapped.
Member: NFB Communication Council
and ATRC Advisory Council of the State
Member of Senator Chun Oakland's Deaf-Blind Task Force.
Founder: Computer College of Hawaii since 1963,     pinkhawaii at gmail.com
410 Magellan Ave. Apt.1002, Honolulu, HI. 96813 ,   Tel 808: 537-1875