[Nfbmo] Status of HB 2089 Regarding Braille Instruction

[Shelia Wright]

Dear Speaker Jones, 

 Please assign HB 2089 to a committee now so there is a chance that this
bill can be heard and passed during this legislative session. It is
disheartening to know that blind children are still graduating from Missouri
schools without all the tools they need. Braille is equivalent to literacy
for the blind. 

 

I am certain that throughout your career in the Missouri General Assembly,
you have heard of the importance of braille and its relationship to
literacy. Research shows that blind persons who know braille are much more
likely to become employed and self-supporting as adults. Yet families still
come to the NFB discouraged because their children are being denied
instruction in braille or so little that their reading skills are not
advancing at the level of their classmates. For every family that comes to
us requesting help, there are those that assume that the educators "know
what is best". 

 

As speaker of the House you have the power to make a difference. You can let
it die by taking no action or you can help address the problem by acting
now. I hope you will choose to stand with Blind Missourians, many of us know
the problem from firsthand experience. Please help make a difference.

 

Sincerely,

Shelia Wright, Chair

Governmental Affairs Committee

National Federation of the Blind of Missouri

816-741-6402