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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Hello:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial> All of your comments are
very interesting. I was one of the instructors for the BNAT program. I lectured
and demonstrated various types of equipment and always made a presentation on
tactile graphics. It was amazing to note the differences between
classes.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial> For example, one of the
classes of students were the most lethargic group I ever worked with. I gave my
usual half hour talk with show and tell on tactile graphics and only had two or
three questions. It was as if the class had been asleep. Other groups such as
the ones Sheila was in were much more animated and they asked lots of
questions.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial> One group stands out in
particular. For confidentiality I won't mention where they were from. During one
of the exercises the students were supposed to use Word with JAWS to do a simple
task. One of the students asked me what was under her keyboard. I looked at the
label and told her what kind of braille display it was. It turned out that she
needed a more basic answer. She had never seen a braille display before. She was
duly amazed when I showed her how you could center a line of text in Word and
the braille would also center itself on the line. This from a person who had
been in the field for twenty years.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial> I am convinced that
one part of the problem is that teachers don't get the ongoing education
they need. Conferences such as CSUN, ATIA and some AER meetings occur during the
school year. Districts cannot afford to have their staff gone for several days
during a week. Then there is the cost of the conferences themselves. CSUN is
held in a nice hotel, and I think the rates were over $150 per night. The cost
to attend CSUN is over $400. Five nights in a hotel, the registration, food,
preconference workshops and airfare mean that it could easily cost $2,000 to
send one teacher to a conference. By comparison, our NFB convention is a super
bargain.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial> Teachers in general have
the same problem. My parents were school teachers. My Father taught Mathematics
and Computer Science. My Mother taught Choir and Band. They would go to
conferences and look at the beautiful displays of the latest technology. Then
they would comment that the school was broke. My Father was the first teacher in
the high school and probably the district to have an overhead projector. He
purchased it with his own money and it cost nearly two months pay.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial> All this to say that we
are not alone in our struggles to get a good education. Hope all this makes
sense.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Robert Jaquiss</FONT></DIV>
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