[Ohio-talk] FW: Dr. Smith's Cover Story

[Kaiti Shelton]

I totally agree, it has always baffled me how children are not taught
braille more than anything else; adults do have some other issues, but when
a child is blind from birth there is no reason for them to be denied
braille.  Even more infuriating is when a child who has a prognosis of
vision decline or instability is not taught braille, in spite of the fact
that anyone in the teaching profession knows literacy skills are learned
easiest at a young age, and it is painstaking work to relearn them later on
when the material taught in class is harder and more fast paced.  There is
no excuse for illiteracy; no amount of technology can make up for the skills
of reading and writing.  It is perplexing how braille is not viewed as an
equal to print by some who teach it.   

Some know my story with learning braille.  I was originally a print reader
because my parents, and the people who did my first vision assessment,
thought I had the sight to do it.  I spent 2 years trying to read books with
22 to 36 point font right against my face.  The lack of control I have over
my eye movements, combined with the very small visual field I have to work
with made this painstaking work, but the adults in my life including my
parents thought this was the best thing for me to do.  My first grade
teacher was the one who really noticed that this method was not worth the
struggle, and realized that braille would be the only thing that would allow
me to keep up in subsequent levels of school.  She had resistance from
blindness professionals and my parents who initially thought this woman was
overstepping her bounds, but now I am thankful that I had a teacher who was
perceptive and stubborn enough to fight for braille literacy and to think of
my academic progress and visual prognosis long-term.  The world definitely
needs more Mrs. Murphys, but it also needs more of those of us who are
braille literate and educated to let them know just how important braille
is.  Great article!
    
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton---2016
Music Therapy Major, Psychology Minor, Clarinet
Ohio Association of Blind Students, President 
NFB Community Service Group, Service Project Committee Chair
Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Emily
Pennington
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2014 8:27 PM
To: 'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] FW: Dr. Smith's Cover Story

JW and all,
I really enjoyed reading that story. Even with so many significant
technological advances, I'm still shocked when I hear the statistics about
how Braille is used less frequently by blind students. I definitely
appreciate the technology I have and utilize on a daily basis, but I, too,
can't imagine not having at least a Braille display to fully comprehend
everything in my textbooks. I recently met a fellow student -- an adult,
actually, who lost his sight in the military. At any rate, he still has some
usable vision, but it continues to deteriorate. He came to me because he is
also an Accounting major, but he's really struggling to keep up in that
particular type of class. He initially declined to learn Braille when he
lost his sight because his vision was still good, and he doesn't want to
take time off from school to learn it now. I've been urging him to learn it,
because that will make his life in Accounting -- and in general -- so much
easier. I even sent him some info on the Hadley School, since he could learn
through correspondence and not have to leave school. Sadly, he hasn't been
very responsive to my following up. I'll keep trying, though.
Anyway, I just felt the need to rant. That was a great article, and I hope
everyone has a great day.

Take care,
Emily

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Smith, JW
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2014 7:49 AM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List (ohio-talk at nfbnet.org)
Subject: [Ohio-talk] FW: Dr. Smith's Cover Story

fyi

Jw

Dr. JW Smith
Associate Professor
Interim Director of Honors Tutorial Studies School of Communication Studies
Lasher Hall, Rm. 112 Athens, OH 45701
smithj at ohio.edu<mailto:smithj at ohio.edu>
T: 740-593-4838
F: 740-593-4810

*Ask me about the newly revised Ohio Fellows Program or visit
http://www.ohio.edu/univcollege/ohiofellows.cfm

"Regarding the past, change what you can, and can what you can't."
"Our minds are like parachutes. They work best when they are open."

From: coms_fac-bounces at listserv.ohio.edu
[mailto:coms_fac-bounces at listserv.ohio.edu] On Behalf Of Butterworth,
Michael
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 12:47 PM
To: coms_fac at listserv.ohio.edu; coms_grad at listserv.ohio.edu
Subject: [Coms_fac] Dr. Smith's Cover Story

Hi Again,

If you haven't seen today's Post (1/21/14), be sure to take a look
(http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/losing-touch).  Our own JW Smith is
featured in a story about braille and technology.  Very cool, Dr. Feelgood!

Best,

Mike

Michael L. Butterworth
Director and Associate Professor
School of Communication Studies
Ohio University
(740) 593-9160
butterwm at ohio.edu<mailto:butterwm at ohio.edu>
Executive Director, International Association for Communication and Sport



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