[Ohio-talk] a very thought and anger-provoking article from NBP

Thu Mar 14 22:01:04 UTC 2013

Hi Shelbi,
Thanks for posting the article. I think that Kimberly Ballard is merely asking questions. She is not making statements.
She is wondering how much importance teachers and students will place on the use of Braille.
I think that we in the NFB are certainly promoting the use of Braille. I definitely think that the National Braille Press is doing the same.
I am sure that there are many of us who will continue to use Braille and that we will continue to encourage Braille Literacy.
Using Braille with Technology makes sense.
Did you notice how easy it is to carry our notetakers with us and read Br wherever we go.
It's also so easy to get emails with attachments and read them in Braille.
Kimberly is just expressing her concern and asking questions. I did not see her saying that Braille is irrelevant, she just wants to know where it will stand as time goes on. She's just thinking and questioning out loud.
Colleen Roth

----- Original Message -----
From: Shelbi Hindel <shelbiah at att.net>
To: "'Ationfb of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'" <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
Date: Thursday, Mar 14, 2013 02:45:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] a very thought and anger-provoking article from NBP

>
>
> I believe I had a similar thought process to Deborah's. Most of us read
> Braille and use technology too. If you post to this list you probably are
> not using Braille. I don't want to give up any of my options for reading.
> This person could be concerned about her job, too. I'd say we need to work
> to encourage Braille which we are doing with BELL and to have technology be
> accessable. Certainly technology is not going away. Those of us who have
> been out of school for a time and have awareness of how school is today can
> also say it is very different today than yester year.  
> I am pasting the article here for people to read.
> 
> Shelbi
> 
> Are we witnessing the demise of braille?
> Posted on March 13, 2013 by Kimberley Ballard I am sometimes asked to write
> recommendation letters for students who have interned or volunteered at
> National Braille Press and are looking to go to college, qualify for a
> scholarship, or find a job.  Many of these requests are from young adults
> who are blind or visually impaired.   I have worked with many interns and
> volunteers over the years, with many different skill sets, accomplishments,
> and personalities.  At NBP, however, they do have one thing in common: they
> are usually all proficient braille readers.
> 
> I wonder how much longer this will be true?  Don't get me wrong, these
> students don't use braille exclusively.  I think you would be hard-pressed
> to find anyone these days who doesn't use some other form of technology to
> accomplish tasks that used to be done almost entirely with braille. But
> braille is still viewed by these students as an essential means to literacy.
> 
> Technology is changing the way students learn, and blind students are no
> exception.  One may argue that the technological boon has had an even bigger
> impact on blind and visually impaired students, and in many ways, this is a
> good thing. But with technology changing so quickly — the National Academy
> of Sciences estimates that the rates of technological change in the 21st
> century is equivalent to all the change in the previous twenty thousand
> years — will the loss of braille skills be the fallout? Will the shiny lure
> of iPads and the ease and economy of using audio tools hasten its demise?
> 
> As an organization that believes in the power of braille, what role will NBP
> play in the digital age?
> 
> About these ads
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Deborah
> Kendrick
> Sent: March 14, 2013 2:30 PM
> To: 'Ationfb of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] a very thought and anger-provoking article from NBP
> 
> Hi Aleeha and all,
> I would encourage you to read this post again.  To me, it sounds as though
> she is simply raising the very same questions that we braille lovers in the
> Federation are asking.  That is, what role will braille play in the future?
> She is raising questions, asking us to think about literacy, and does not
> seem at all to be pronouncing the death of braille literacy.  
> We all read so much every day that it is easy for any one of us to
> misconstrue something read in haste.  That goes for me, too, of course.
> Perhaps I am missing the point.  But the message seems to me to be simply a
> person who understands the power of literacy asking question about our
> future.
> Peace,
> Deborah
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Cheryl
> Fischer
> Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2013 1:33 PM
> To: 'Ationfb of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] a very thought and anger-provoking article from NBP
> 
> Sounds to me like this person from National Braille Press is not aware of
> how people are using Braille displays with devices such as the iPhone or
> iPad.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Aleeha
> Dudley
> Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2013 12:35 PM
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
> Subject: [Ohio-talk] a very thought and anger-provoking article from NBP
> 
> Hi all,
>      I just wanted to share this because it caught my attention in a very
> big way. I first came across it on Twitter and became very angry that an
> organization such as NBP, who professes to provide Braille materials and in
> fact has the word Braille in its name, could write such an article that
> undermines everything they have been doing for years. I'd love to hear
> others' thoughts on this article. The link is
> here:
> http://nationalbraillepress.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/are-we-witnessing-the-d
> emise-of-braille/
> Aleeha
> 
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