[nfb-talk] NY Times Article on Gov. Paterson and Braille

[Mike Freeman]

Alicia:

You're missing the salient point here:  yes, holding print inches from his 
nose and staring bug-eyed at stuff might look weird.  But it isn't *blind* 
weird.  Using braille is tantamount to admitting (horrors!) that one might 
be *blind!*  That's beyond weird!  That's downright shameful!  At least how 
his mother must have thought of it.

In his defense, though, I, too, would rather use readers for legal documents 
than rely on scanning technology!

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alicia Richards" <alicianfb at gmail.com>
To: <jsorozco at gmail.com>; "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2010 1:18 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] NY Times Article on Gov. Paterson and Braille


> Joe, I do see the point you are driving at.  For a long time I wouldn't 
> have, but I do have more compassion for people with partial vision who are 
> caught in the middle.  I'm not trying to jump on any bandwagon, but here 
> are my thoughts.
>
> One of my primary questions is this. If Paterson's parents were so worried 
> about him standing out, or getting a stigma attached to him, carrying 
> around big Braille books, etc, then why not think of the other issues? 
> Did it never occur to them that large print books are pretty big, too? 
> Did it never occur to them that he would not look normal, having to press 
> his face so close to the page, when the other students did not have to do 
> this?  Or standing by the board to read the print, when others did not 
> have to?  At least when reading Braille, one can still look up at those 
> around them, which in my opinion, looks far more normal than the 
> alternative.  The things parents will do, or worse, make their child do or 
> sacrifice in the name of so-called normality are unbelievable to me 
> sometimes. and just because he might have learned Braille does not mean he 
> couldn't have been mainstreamed at the same time. Then again, I guess he 
> grew up in a different era, when mainstreaming was far less common, and 
> that must be taken into account.
>
> It is true that Braille has limitations, but I feel he's using that as an 
> excuse. With the advancement of technology, such as scanners, OCR 
> software, and refreshable Braille displays, more is available in Braille 
> than ever before, and it is more convenient to use than before. And don't 
> even try to tell me that the man could not have afforded such technology. 
> For exampel , I imagine that  much of what Governor Paterson relied on his 
> aides to read could have been scanned on a computer, to be read with a 
> screen reader, or put into a Braille note-taker. Then, no reliance would 
> have been needed.
>
> The part about where his mother told him he could not take risks like 
> other boys infuriates me to no end!  What child should not take risks? I 
> was allowed to take the same risks as my sighted sisters when I was a 
> child, thank God, and would advocate that any other should do the same. 
> Now, genuine risks to safety should not be taken by any child, regardless 
> of disability. But to say he shouldn't have as a result of blindness is 
> appalling to me.
>
> Just had to voice all that, for whatever it is worth.
>
> Alicia
>
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