[nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer over?

Mon Nov 29 03:38:24 UTC 2010

Here here!!

Judy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Loren Wakefield" <isaiah5719 at mchsi.com>
To: "qubit" <lauraeaves at yahoo.com>; "NFB Talk Mailing List" 
<nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2010 3:07 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer over?

> Even with all the technology I have, I do not go a day without using 
> braille.  Even something as basic as spelling is an issue.  Braille for 
> the blind, as print for the sighted, will always be needed.
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "qubit" <lauraeaves at yahoo.com>
> To: <info at michaelhingson.com>; "NFB Talk Mailing List" 
> <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, November 26, 2010 5:00 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer 
> over?
>
>
>> They neglect several important points: If a child is or will become
>> deafblind, braille is essential for communication.  Also, math and 
>> science
>> are much more difficult to grasp without some kind of tactile
>> representation.  Finally, braille is useful for a lot more than just 
>> reading
>> literature.  It is good for labeling things around the house, or a file. 
>> It
>> is useful for notes when public speaking.  Having a notetaker with a
>> refreshable display also allows a student to take notes quietly in a 
>> class.
>> Finally, I was one of those partially sighted kids who learned braille in
>> school but wasn't required to use it because I was able to see with
>> magnification.  Now as an adult over -- well, over a certain age 
>> *smile* --
>> I find it much harder to improve my braille reading speed.  I thankfully
>> remember the codes, but memorization is only part of learning braille. 
>> There
>> is the developed skill of recognizing symbols and words quickly with your
>> fingers.  I now wish I had spent more time with braille when I was a 
>> child.
>> As far as I am concerned, the article is incomplete.  Someone should 
>> write
>> to the editor.
>> --le
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Michael Hingson" <info at michaelhingson.com>
>> To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, November 26, 2010 2:36 PM
>> Subject: [nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer over?
>>
>>
>>
>> Are Braille's days as the great equalizer over?
>>
>>
>> Keith Gillard taps away on his computer's Microsoft Egronomic keyboard at
>> his home in Edmonton, Aug. 4, 2010. "Braille is not necessary to have a 
>> full
>> and complete life as a blind Canadian," he says.
>>
>> Walter Tychnowicz for National Post
>>
>> Keith Gillard taps away on his computer's Microsoft Egronomic keyboard at
>> his home in Edmonton, Aug. 4, 2010. "Braille is not necessary to have a 
>> full
>> and complete life as a blind Canadian," he says.
>>
>> * Comments <http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/#Comments>
>> * Twitter
>> <http://twitter.com/home?status=RT+@nationalpost%3a+Are+Braille%27s+days+as+
>> the+great+equalizer+over%3f+http%3a//www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Braill
>> e%2bdays%2bgreat%2bequalizer%2bover/3369651/story.html>
>> * LinkedIn
>> <http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=http%3a//www.nationalpos
>> t.com/news/canada/Braille%2bdays%2bgreat%2bequalizer%2bover/3369651/story.ht
>> ml&title=National+Post%3a+Are+Braille%27s+days+as+the+great+equalizer+over%3
>> f>
>> * Digg
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>> e%2bdays%2bgreat%2bequalizer%2bover/3369651/story.html&title=National+Post%3
>> a+Are+Braille%27s+days+as+the+great+equalizer+over%3f>
>> * Buzz
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>> da/Braille%2bdays%2bgreat%2bequalizer%2bover/3369651/story.html&message=Nati
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>> * Email
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>> ost.com/news/canada/Braille%2bdays%2bgreat%2bequalizer%2bover/3369651/story.
>> html&id=3369651&title=National+Post+Story%3a++Are+Braille%27s+days+as+the+gr
>> eat+equalizer+over%3f>
>> *
>>
>> Kenyon Wallace, National Post . Friday, Aug. 6, 2010
>>
>> The publication in 1829 of a small booklet explaining how a series of 
>> raised
>> dots arranged in a line could teach the world's blind to read is one of
>> modern history's great, if often overlooked, turning points.
>>
>> Once hailed as the great intellectual equalizer, Louis Braille's 
>> development
>> of a new alphabet that could be read with the fingers is now at risk of
>> being consigned to history, overtaken by the rapid pace of changing
>> technology.
>>
>> Only 10% of blind school-aged children are taught Braille today; compared 
>> to
>> about 50% in the 1960s, according to the U.S. National Federation of the
>> Blind. The statistic is roughly the same for Canada.
>>
>> The prospect of Braille becoming obsolete has sparked a polarizing debate
>> between advocates, educators and individuals over the causes of the 
>> code's
>> decline and what to do about it.
>>
>> Advocates blame funding shortages, not enough qualified teachers, and
>> decisions by administrators to deny Braille instruction to children with 
>> low
>> vision because of an emphasis on encouraging these students to read 
>> print.
>> Educators say this assessment couldn't be further from the truth and 
>> argue
>> that today's diagnostic tools have honed the art of identifying those who
>> truly require Braille instruction and those who don't.
>>
>> Others still - including many blind people - say advances in assistive
>> technology, such as audiobooks, voice recognition software and computer
>> screen-readers, have rendered Braille unnecessary in daily life. They say
>> its cumbersome nature - a single Harry Potter book printed on Braille 
>> paper
>> will fill a moving box - makes it impractical and unaffordable.
>>
>> "Braille is not necessary to have a full and complete life as a blind
>> Canadian," said Edmonton resident Keith Gillard, who was born with 
>> retinitis
>> pigmentosa, a degenerative eye condition that rendered him legally, but 
>> not
>> completely, blind at birth. As a child, he was encouraged to use what 
>> vision
>> he had to learn print, but not Braille. "They taught me how to touch type
>> rather than learn Braille."
>>
>> By his mid-20s, the blurry fog obscuring his peripheral vision began to
>> creep toward the centre of his eyes as his condition worsened. Mr. 
>> Gillard
>> gauged the severity of his increasing blindness by his ability to see the
>> lines on the ice at his local hockey rink each winter while playing on a
>> blind hockey team.
>>
>> Now 49 and completely blind, he says he has contemplated learning 
>> Braille,
>> but probably never will given the plethora of technological aids he uses 
>> at
>> work as a federal civil servant and at home.
>>
>> "Adaptive technology has opened up the world of education and employment 
>> for
>> blind Canadians. Braille hasn't done that," he said.
>>
>> "I recognize the benefits. Would I be better off as a blind Canadian if I
>> was a proficient Braille reader? I think I would be. Is it necessary for 
>> me
>> to be successful? No."
>>
>> Up until nine years ago, Sarah Empey, 35, had full eyesight. When she was
>> 26, the Type 1 diabetic suffered complications due to high blood pressure
>> and started to go blind. Despite several operations, she now has only 15%
>> vision in her right eye.
>>
>> She intends to learn Braille one day, but hasn't found the need for it 
>> yet,
>> and has learned only numbers.
>>
>> "It's not something I would use at this point," says Ms. Empey, a Calgary
>> resident and short film director.
>>
>> She uses a program on her computer called ZoomText, which magnifies text 
>> and
>> uses an audio device called a VictorReader to listen to books.
>>
>> "Some people are fine with technology doing everything for them. I do see
>> Braille as slightly dying off, but for me, Braille still means more
>> independence [in the future]."
>>
>> Twenty years ago, the predominant philosophy governing education of the
>> blind was to maximize the efficiency of whatever vision students had in a
>> regular classroom with their sighted peers. This required partially blind
>> children to use a myriad of tools such as monocular telescopes to see the
>> blackboard, magnifying glasses, bold markers and large-print books. These
>> tools evolved through the 1980s to include small cameras students could 
>> roll
>> over text that would be blown up on a closed circuit television.
>>
>> "Braille was never given to them as an option because if you had vision, 
>> you
>> were supposed to use vision," said Dr. Carol Farrenkopf, coordinator of 
>> the
>> Toronto District School Board's Vision Program.
>>
>> It wasn't until the mid-1990s that teachers began using a tool called a
>> "learning media assessment," using observations and timed-readings to
>> determine if Braille should be introduced.
>>
>> Another factor driving down the rate of Braille use is the fact that 
>> those
>> who go blind later in life due to medical conditions, such as diabetes 
>> and
>> macular degeneration, already have literacy skills and are therefore less
>> likely to be inclined to learn a new writing system.
>>
>> "A 60-year-old woman working who already knows how to read and write and
>> then loses her vision, why does she need to learn Braille when she can 
>> keep
>> going with technology?" said Ms. Farrenkopf.
>>
>> She stresses that not all blind children need to be taught Braille.
>>
>> "Legal blindness is not the same thing as being totally blind," said Ms.
>> Farrenkopf, noting that 20/200 vision - legal blindness - is still
>> functional vision. (Someone with 20/200 can see a letter at 20 feet while 
>> a
>> person with normal vision can see the same letter from 200 feet.)
>>
>> "Kids with 20/200 vision don't need to be reading Braille."
>>
>> That opinion is not shared by all Braille advocates, who wonder at the 
>> logic
>> of not teaching the system to children when many eye conditions are
>> degenerative.
>>
>> "They're in the school system where people are being encouraged to use 
>> the
>> technology and their remaining vision at the expense of learning Braille
>> that will prepare them for vision loss as they get older," said CNIB
>> spokeswoman Ellie Shuster.
>>
>> Advocates also say the integration of blind children within the regular
>> school system means less one-on-one time between teachers and students 
>> and
>> therefore less consistent Braille instruction. The result, they say, is 
>> that
>> many students end up being functionally illiterate.
>>
>> "School districts across the country, in general, don't adequately 
>> support
>> Braille instruction," said Betty Nobel, president of the Canadian Braille
>> Authority. "In the primary grades, kids should have daily Braille
>> instruction, but they're not getting that."
>>
>> Forty years ago, Canada was home to several residential schools for the
>> blind, where all students were expected to learn Braille. There is only 
>> one
>> such school remaining today: W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind and
>> Deafblind in Brantford, Ont.
>>
>> The Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority, which provides
>> educational services to students from birth to 21 years of age with 
>> sensory
>> impairments, has also established several successful short-term, 
>> intensive
>> Braille courses that can be taken during the regular school year.
>>
>> But it's not enough, says Ms. Nobel, who is also department head of the
>> Program for the Visually Impaired at Vancouver Community College and a 
>> CNIB
>> library board member. She says teachers in the regular school system may 
>> not
>> have blind children in their classes every year, meaning they lack the
>> opportunity to stay proficient in Braille.
>>
>> "If this means lowering the workloads for teachers that have blind 
>> students,
>> that's what we need," she said.
>>
>> The implications for an illiterate blind population are profound.
>>
>> A study by Dr. Ruby Ryles, a blindness researcher at Louisiana Tech
>> University, found that visually impaired people who learned Braille at a
>> young age were more likely to be employed, financially independent and
>> better educated than those who relied primarily on print -- this in a 
>> world
>> where blind adults already face an unemployment rate of over 70%.
>>
>> Diana Brent, a teacher of visually impaired students, and her husband, 
>> Doug
>> Brent, a University of Calgary communications professor, are the authors 
>> of
>> one of the only studies comparing the writings of blind people who 
>> learned
>> Braille at a young age and those who didn't. Non-Braille users were asked 
>> to
>> type stories on a keyboard using audio software.
>>
>> Their findings were alarming. The Brents described the prose of the
>> non-Braille group as "jumbled and confused."
>>
>> "It's as if all of their ideas are crammed into a container, shaken, and
>> thrown randomly onto a sheet of paper like dice onto a table," the 
>> authors
>> concluded. "The process of making connections, linking one idea to 
>> another
>> is tenuous at best."
>>
>> While preliminary, the results suggest that blind children relying solely 
>> on
>> an oral education have virtually no means of literacy in the sense that
>> society has come to understand it.
>>
>> "It's still well worth teaching children Braille, even if they choose 
>> later
>> to drift away from it," said Mr. Brent. "To not have access to a way of
>> organizing thought that depends on a system of written record, to not be
>> formed by that arguably makes people think differently and puts them at a
>> significant disadvantage."
>>
>> kewallace at nationalpost.com
>>
>> - - -
>>
>> Who was Louis Braille?
>>
>> Louis Braille was born fully sighted on Jan. 4, 1809 in a small town near
>> Paris, France.
>>
>> He lost his sight as a small boy after accidentally stabbing himself in 
>> the
>> eye with a stitching awl his his father's shoemaking workshop. An 
>> infection
>> in one eye spread to the other, rendering him completely blind.
>>
>> A creative and intelligent boy, Braille earned a scholarship to the Royal
>> Institution for Blind Youth in Paris when he was 10.
>>
>> While there, he learned to read using a system of raised letters by 
>> pressing
>> shaped copper wire onto paper. But this cumbersome system made it 
>> impossible
>> for blind people to write by themselves.
>>
>> In 1821, French army captain Charles Barbier de la Serre visited the 
>> school
>> to share his invention, which he called "Night Writing." The invention 
>> was a
>> series of 12 raised dots combined to form words that soldiers could use 
>> to
>> communicate in the night without talking.
>>
>> The code proved too difficult to understand, so Braille modified the 
>> system
>> to a series of six raised dots, with characters representing each letter 
>> of
>> the alphabet. In 1829 he published his system in the booklet, "The Method 
>> of
>> Writing Words, Music and Plain Song by Means of Dots, for Use by the 
>> Blind
>> and Arranged by Them."
>>
>> This new system of reading and writing - Braille - did not catch on
>> immediately. Braille, who eventually became a teacher at the Institute, 
>> died
>> of tuberculosis on Jan. 6, 1852, before even his own school adopted his
>> code.
>>
>> The French government officially recognized the Braille system two years
>> later, and it eventually became the world standard for written 
>> communication
>> for the blind.
>>
>> In 1952, Braille's body was disinterred and reburied in the Pantheon in
>> Paris to lie with the remains of other distinguished French citizens.
>>
>> Kenyon Wallace, National Post
>>
>> - - -
>>
>> Blindness By The Numbers
>>
>> 10 Percentage of legally blind North Americans who can read Braille
>>
>> 836,000 Number of Canadians living with significant vision loss that 
>> cannot
>> be corrected with ordinary lenses
>>
>> 70 Percentage of blind North Americans who are unemployed
>>
>> 1,000,000 number of Canadians with some form of macular degeneration, the
>> leading cause of vision loss in North Americans over the age of 50
>>
>> 90 Percentage of blind children in the United States not learning Braille
>> today
>>
>> 50 Percentage of blind American high school students who drop out
>>
>> 75,000 Number of people who lose all or part of their vision every year
>>
>> Source: NFB and CNIB
>>
>>
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>> More On This Story
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>> 3068/story.html> Artist creates book of nudes for the blind
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> The Michael Hingson Group, INC.
>>
>> "Speaking with Vision"
>>
>> Michael Hingson, President
>>
>> (415) 827-4084
>>
>> <mailto:info at michaelhingson.com> info at michaelhingson.com
>>
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