[Nfbwv-talk] FW: [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert - Urgent Action Needed Regarding Braille Instruction for Blind Students

Fri Apr 20 13:52:34 UTC 2012

Dear Fellow Federationists, 

I am writing to request and urge that you read the message below from
Jesse Hartle and then do as he asks.  

In hopes to make things easier for you, I have cut and pasted after
Jesse's message the contact information for our senators as well as the
letter Jesse attached so you won't have to bother with opening the
attachments.  

Charlene

From: nfbnet-members-list-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfbnet-members-list-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kuhnke,
Kristian
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 9:09 PM
To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert - Urgent Action Needed
Regarding Braille Instruction for Blind Students

Fellow Federationists:

I am writing to inform you of a Dear Colleague letter that was
circulated yesterday by Senators Murray, Boozman, and Harkin related to
the instruction of Braille for blind students.  

We have been working with Senator Murray on this issue, and are excited
that the letter was released for other Senators to sign onto in support.
As you know many blind students are not receiving Braille instruction
today, despite the language contained in the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which states that Braille will be the
primary reading media for blind students.  Senator Murray will hold her
letter open through Friday, April 27, for other senators to sign onto,
and then she will send the letter to the Secretary of Education Arne
Duncan.  

Attached is a copy of the Dear Colleague letter that was circulated.  We
are asking you to contact your senators and urge them to join with
Senators Murray and Boozman in support of instruction of Braille for
blind students.  Also attached is a state-by-state list of contacts for
this issue.  Please note that Republican offices should contact Ian
Prince in Senator Boozman's office, while Democrats should be directed
to Jake Cornett in Senator Murray's office.  We are pleased that
Chairman Harkin of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions, and Senator Mikulski of Maryland have already joined as
cosigners of the Dear Colleague letter.  

Please contact me with any questions you may have.  Thank you all in
advance for your work on this important issue for blind students.

Jesse

Jesse Hartle
National Federation of the Blind
Government Programs Specialist
Phone: 410-659-9314, Ext. 2233
Email: jhartle at nfb.org

Content-Type: application/msword; name="Dear Colleague - Cosign
Bipartisan"
 Braille Literacy Letter to Duncan.doc"
Content-Description: Dear Colleague - Cosign Bipartisan Braille Literacy
 Letter to Duncan.doc
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Dear Colleague - Cosign"
 Bipartisan Braille Literacy Letter to Duncan.doc"; size=27648;
         creation-date="Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:58:38 GMT";
         modification-date="Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:59:16 GMT"

Senator Joe Manchin

Lauren Alfred, Legislative Assistant

(202) 224-3954, lauren_alfred at manchin.senate.gov

Senator Jay Rockefeller, IV

Barbara Pryor, Senior Legislative Assistant

(202) 224-6472, barbara_pryor at rockefeller.senate.gov 

Support Braille Instruction for 

Children with Blindness or Visual Impairment

Cosign Letter, Urging Secretary Duncan to Ensure Access to Braille
Instruction

Dear Colleague:

We are writing to invite you to cosign an important letter to Secretary
Duncan to improve the lives of students with disabilities. The letter
encourages the Secretary to engage stakeholder groups to write a new
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) rule related to the
development of an individualized education program (IEP) for a student
with blindness or a visual impairment. 

Research has clearly shown literacy is critical for success is school,
life, and the workforce. For more than 93,600 school age children with
blindness or a visual impairment in the United States, alternative
instructional approaches such as braille literacy are necessary. Without
providing these students access to specialized instruction, the
grade-level curriculum will soon exceed the student's reading
proficiency therefore creating a literacy gap. As we know from research,
these gaps are difficult to close and result in other negative academic
and social outcomes. As this gap persists, the student's ability to
compete with sighted peers for post-secondary opportunities and
employment is significantly compromised. Yet, these outcomes hinge on
special educators and parents planning for a lifetime of literacy for
the student, whatever the prognosis might be for their vision. 

In acknowledging the importance of literacy for all students, Congress
added a provision specific to students with blindness or visual
impairment during reauthorization of the IDEA. This provision required
the IEP team to assume that braille instruction is a necessary service
for the student unless individual learning media and other assessments
indicated the student would not benefit from braille in the future. It
has come to our attention that in some circumstances, parents request
braille instruction for their child with blindness or low vision but
meet resistance. We believe that current regulation does not provide
school districts adequate guidance in developing, reviewing and revising
the IEP. We would like to see this important provision carried out
according to Congressional intent.

Instruction in braille offers students with blindness or a visual
impairment a path to literacy, college and career readiness,
independence, and a productive future. We hope you will cosign this
important bipartisan letter. For more information, or to cosign, please
contact Jake Cornett in Senator Murray's office at 4-2621 or
jake_cornett at murray.senate.gov, or Ian Prince in Senator Boozman's
office at 4-4843 or ian_prince at boozman.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

Patty Murray                                           John Boozman
Tom Harkin

United States Senator                              United States Senator
United States Senator

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