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

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi all, 

At first I read the article and had the same reaction as Aleeha; How could
NBP do this when they're supposed to support braille?  I took the author's
questioning as her basically saying, "It's probably going to die out... then
what?"  But reading it again I can kind of see both points.  She did mention
that she knows many young people who read braille now and just wondered how
much longer braille literate people would be around.  From the sound of the
article I agree that she probably doesn't know about portable notetakers or
braille displays and how they could even be paired with IPhones to make
accessing what's on a phone in braille possible.  

However, when I was still admittedly a little put off by the article I did
post something which I feel draws attention to the real concern about the
braille literacy rate.  I don't think technology is the main culprit in the
10% literacy rate because it is important too.  I think the real issues
include getting more well-qualified TVIs into the field to eleviate the
caseloads of the teachers we presently have and to spread literacy to their
students as well, and the misconceptions held by teachers or parents of
blind children who are misinformed regarding who should really receive
braille instruction are more important.  I'm a big supporter of taking
advantage of all the tools in the toolkit, so I don't see technology as the
issue because ideally it should be taught alongside braille in order to gain
maximum use of what is available.  Now that I've thought about it I do see a
little more of both sides of the argument, but here is my comment posted on
the site.  

I think a more accurate question would be, "will technology sacrifice
literacy for all?" The technology world is adapting for the sighted
community too and not just the blind are effected. Yet, sighted people are
at no risk for losing literacy with new technologies constantly being made
available to them. True, the literacy rate of blind people is much lower,
but I think that is more to do with the lack of TVIs we have to teach all
those who need braille training and the large caseloads slammed on the
teachers we do have. I do have a problem with those who use technology to
avoid braille or because they think by not reading their life will somehow
be made easier, but if I weren't fortunate enough to receive braille
instruction and technology was all I had to get me through school I would
absolutely do what I had to do and use it. The more important concern should
be about getting more well-qualified TVIs out into the field to teach
braille and spread literacy as well as assistive technology skills, not
worrying about whether technological advancements will single-handedly cause
the extinction of braille literacy.

Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton---2016
Music Therapy Major, Psychology Minor, Clarinet
Secretary, Ohio Association of Blind Students (OABS)-NFB
Member of Alpha Phi Omega-Alpha Gamma Xi Chapter


-----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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