[nfb-talk] Fwd: National Federation of the Blind Applauds New Jersey Ruling on Braille Instruction for Blind Child

Tue May 8 08:49:17 UTC 2012

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>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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>CONTACT:
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>Chris Danielsen
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>Director of Public Relations
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>National Federation of the Blind
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>(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
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>(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
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><mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org
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>National Federation of the Blind Applauds
><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = 
>"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />New Jersey Ruling on 
>Braille Instruction for Blind Child
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>After Three-Year Battle, Hank Miller Will Receive Braille Instruction
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>Oceanport, New Jersey (May 7, 2012): After a three-year 
>administrative and legal battle against their local school board, 
>the Oceanport Board of Education, Jeffrey and Holly Miller obtained 
>a ruling (docket number: 2011 17218) from an administrative law 
>judge that their eleven-year-old son Henry "Hank" Miller was 
>improperly denied instruction in Braille, the reading and writing 
>code for the blind.  The legal victory, obtained with the assistance 
>of the <http://www.nfb.org/>National Federation of the Blind (NFB), 
>comes on the heels of 
><http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/Letter%20to%20Secretary%20Duncan%20re%20Braille%20Literacy.pdf>a 
>letter from 26 U.S. Senators urging the Department of Education to 
>take steps to ensure that blind children who need Braille 
>instruction receive it.
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>Holly and Jeffrey Miller brought the legal case on behalf of their 
>son, Hank, whom they adopted from China and who is blind due to 
>albinism and nystagmus.  Hank has limited vision that allows him to 
>read enlarged print for short periods of time, but he is unable to 
>read for sustained periods of time.  Although Hank's parents 
>continued to tell school officials that their son was experiencing 
>visual fatigue and was having difficulty reading, the school board 
>and its consultant, the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and 
>Visually Impaired (CBVI), insisted that Hank was a proficient print 
>reader, notwithstanding his continued placement in a special 
>resource room for language arts.  In a nearly ten-day hearing, held 
>under the due process provisions of the Individuals with 
>Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, Mrs. Miller 
>testified that she watched Hank routinely struggle with his 
>homework, suffering from eye strain and fatigue, but was unable to 
>convince school officials or the CBVI that Hank needed Braille 
>instruction.  She also testified that Hank's schoolwork was not of 
>the same quantity and quality as that of his classmates.  Although 
>experts from the school and the commission claimed that Hank was a 
>"visual learner" and should participate in the "sighted world," 
>experts hired by the Millers and the NFB concluded after thorough 
>assessment that Hank could not read print for extended periods of 
>time without eye strain, neck and back pain, fatigue, and loss of 
>reading speed and comprehension.
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>In her order, Administrative Law Judge Lisa James-Beavers found that 
>the school board and the commission displayed a clear "bias against 
>Braille."  She found that the school board and the commission had 
>failed to assess Hank's "sustained reading ability" with print, 
>relying instead on reading assessments involving only brief 
>passages, and citing Hank's alleged failure to complain about 
>struggling to read print.  The judge was unconvinced by the board 
>and CBVI's contention that Hank could rely on audio technology as 
>reading demands increased through his school years, noting that "as 
>pointed out by all of petitioners' well-qualified experts, listening 
>does not equate to reading.  One does not enhance the active skill 
>of comprehending text by passively listening, even if one is 
>following along with the reading."  The order noted that "the CBVI 
>failed to do what Oceanport relied on them to do, which is to help 
>construct a program that would give H.M. meaningful educational 
>benefit considering H.M.'s future needs."  Judge James-Beavers 
>ordered that Hank Miller be provided with Braille instruction for 
>forty-five minutes, five days a week, and that the school board 
>provide compensatory instruction because of the three years that 
>Hank was not provided with Braille instruction, in the form of 
>intensive Braille summer programs or tutoring.
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>Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, 
>said: "Based on the experience of countless parents of blind 
>children and blind adults who had never learned Braille and have 
>contacted us over the years, the National Federation of the Blind 
>has consistently argued that blind children are being improperly 
>assessed and denied Braille instruction when it is clearly 
>appropriate.  Now after a thorough and comprehensive examination of 
>the evidence in Hank Miller's case, an independent judge has 
>confirmed what we always knew.  We hope that school and agency 
>officials across the nation take note of this landmark ruling and 
>commit to giving blind children access to Braille, the true key to 
>literacy for the vast majority of children who are blind or losing 
>vision.  The National Federation of the Blind will continue to stand 
>with families like the Millers who find themselves pitted against 
>the educational establishment in obtaining the equal education to 
>which their children are entitled and which they deserve."
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>Holly Miller, Hank's mother, said: "I am obviously thrilled with 
>this ruling, although I am still saddened that it took such a 
>prolonged battle to achieve it.  I am stepping forward to tell 
>Hank's story in hopes that other parents of blind children will not 
>have to struggle as we did.  I thank the National Federation of the 
>Blind and all of the individuals and experts who came forward to 
>assist in this case.  I plan to strongly and publicly advocate with 
>the National Federation of the Blind for Braille instruction for 
>blind children."
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>The plaintiffs are represented in this matter by Sharon 
>Krevor-Weisbaum of the Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein, and Levy, 
>and Jayne M. Wesler of the Cranbury firm Sussan and Greenwald.
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>For more information about the National Federation of the Blind, 
>please visit <http://www.nfb.org/>www.nfb.org.  For more information 
>about Braille, the reading and writing code for the blind, please 
>visit <http://www.braille.org/>www.braille.org.
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>About the National Federation of the Blind
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>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.
>