[stylist] New THOUGHT PROVOKER 142- Literacy Nightmare

[Pat Harmon]

As blind people, we must believe in our equality.  Good reading skills exist 
in print and Braille.  Sometimes they are identical in terms of word attach 
skills and word recognition skills.  Accidental reading happens for those 
with vision; this does not happen for the blind.  It must be created. 
However, the drive for literacy is alive in the print and the Braille 
worlds.

Children require role models, practical motivation, time to practice, 
parental encouragement and solid teaching techniques.  All children must 
observe others reading.  Everyday experiences must involve reading.  Grocery 
lists, menus, cards, headlines, tales, commercials and food labels need to 
be read.  Parents, grandparents, babysitters, day care workers and school 
employees must read.  This happens in some families, but not in all. 
Computers are not a substitute for reading.  We proclaim this as fact, but 
often we behave differently.  Literacy demands work, for blind and sighted 
children.

Facts are often ugly, but we must live in the real world.  Teachers are 
imperfect.  If they do not know Braille, tutors must be hired.  Parents and 
guardians accept that responsibility in the print world.(I paid a Geometry 
tutor for my daughter because she did not understand it.  Nor did I.)  I 
believe a strong Braille reader can be an excellent tutor, without being a 
certified teacher.

Practice is a necessity.  It is superb hindsight to wish we had mastered 
Braille back in elementary school.  Remember your young self.  Adults tell 
us we should have made them learn, but they forget how they reacted to the 
dots.  Without definite motivation, learning occurs slowly.  Children dream 
about lunch, skating, computer games and parties.  They picture themselves 
as computer doctors or social service workers, never realizing that reading 
can make the difference in employment or lack of it.  Adults must explain 
the facts of life about literacy over and over.
That truth concerns blind and sighted children.  Print users are never 
automatically terrific readers.

Children using print or Braille can participate in activities designed to 
promote reading.  They can read stories to siblings; they can participate in 
library programs; they can read magazine articles and fairy tales to the 
family.  Texting, talking books and television cannot replace reading.  They 
can enhance.

Most of us believe in individuality, but forget that when it comes to 
reading.  Without motivation or practice, we expect our children to be great 
at it.  It does not matter if it is print or Braille.  Speedreading is 
marvelous, but worthless if comprehension is missing.  Modern print and 
Braille readers are absolutely in need of written and computerized language. 
They must have qualified teachers and family support.  There must be a 
special spirit surrounding reading!

I believe that must also live in the minds of those of us who learned 
Braille as adults.  Can you possibly come to Braille with enthusiasm and 
effort without a love for language?  It is possible, but rare.  Braille 
demands time and practice, whether we are thirty or sixty.  Older students 
schedule practices, with or without companions.  If reading was, and is, a 
valued skill, the rehab client appreciates Braille and what it can deliver 
to daily life.

I believe Braille is beautiful and practical.  The blind must dream of a 
perfect world where all learn the skills of reading and writing in Braille. 
We must demonstrate the desperate need for qualified teachers and successful 
programs.  However, we must recognize flaws in all aspects of society.  It 
cannot be denied that print users lack perfection, too.  The beauty of 
Braille must be emphasized.  The practicality of the code must be 
demonstrated.  Over and over, in every corner of the world, Braille must be 
taught.  Braille should never be a nightmare!  We, as blind individuals, 
must celebrate Braille.  Too many of us speak negatively of this 
masterpiece.  "We claim it is too difficult.  We proclaim our touch too 
impaired.  The computer is so much more practical.  Braille is 
old-fashioned.  My friends make fun of it.  It's too big.  Contractions are 
too complicated.)

It is our task to change what it means to be blind, so we never give up on 
improving our lives.  Braille is extremely  important , and so we must 
continue to prove its value.  If the blind do not endeavor to prove  the 
value of our search for perfection in our lives, who will?  If we do not 
strive for literacy as a part of each blind individual's life, who will?

Nightmares must end!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Newman" <newmanrl at cox.net>
To: "'NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2009 12:59 PM
Subject: [stylist] New THOUGHT PROVOKER 142- Literacy Nightmare


> Fellow Writers
> RE:  Literacy Nightmare
>
> This is my newest T HOUGHT PROVOKER. It asks educators, who are not
> supporters of Braille, a question that I have always wanted to ask. If you
> have not read the PROVOKER, it follows.  Recall that I collect responses 
> and
> post them upon my web site for all the WWW to read and learn from and that
> URL is- Http://thoughtprovoker.info <http://thoughtprovoker.info/>   If 
> you
> wish to receive THOUGHT PROVOKERS sent directly to you, just write me and
> ask, at-  newmanrl at cox.net
>
> THOUGHT PROVOKER 142
> Literacy Nightmare
>
> "Give Our Children Literacy! Give Our Children Print!" chanted the crowd.
>
> "This is CNN and this is the scene outside Central Elementary School. 
> These
> parents are angry and dramatically sending their message to the teachers 
> of
> this school and to the State Department of Education." The camera's lens
> shows the front of a school.  A mass of people march back and forth  the
> length of the block, waving large labeled placards.
>
> WOMP, WOMP, WOMP! The sound of a helicopter is heard over the audio and 
> the
> view zooms up to an aerial shot.  We are looking down from a significant
> height to a view of the school's entire property, which is surrounded by a
> shoulder-to-shoulder phalanx of adults. The focus sharpens to the 
> teacher's
> parking lot, where police officers negotiate with parents blocking the
> driveway to not allow the drivers of cars penned inside to leave.
>
> The news anchor's face again fills the screen. "You've viewed the scene,
> read the placards, and heard the chants. Now walk with me into this throng
> and we will learn the specifics of what this is all about.
>
> "Miss, pardon me." The anchor thrust the microphone at a woman waving a
> placard labeled LITERACY NOW. "Could you tell our viewers what this
> demonstration is about?"
>
> "Literacy! An efficient method of reading and writing. Our children are
> being denied this right."
>
> Seeing the camera, marchers crowd in.
>
> "My daughter gets one hour of teaching per week to learn to read!"
>
> The man behind her shouts out, "The teacher who instructs my son to read 
> and
> write is not certified."
>
> A man in a business suit edges in front of the mike, "They tell us that 
> with
> the increasing development of technology, computers reading aloud to us is
> good enough.  Good enough!"
>
> The first mother grabs the mike, "In my daughter's class they turned off 
> the
> computer monitors!"
>
> "M'am, are you reporting the students are being denied seeing what is 
> being
> displayed upon the screen?" asked the shocked anchor.
>
> "Not exactly." interjected another marcher. "My daughter tells me they 
> allow
> it to be switched on, but it's out of focus. She comes home with a
> headache."
>
> A man's face fills the screen. "My son tells me, in his class they have 
> the
> font programmed to either enlarge up to a ridiculous size, forcing you to
> scroll and scroll to read, or the text is so tiny you have to stick your
> nose up to the screen like you are smelling it." With a dramatic gesture 
> he
> thrusts forward a sheath of papers. "It goes beyond the computer. Look at
> these hardcopy handouts."
>
> First showing what appears to be a worksheet, but is so light in contrast
> that its nature is questionable. The second is in very tiny print. A third
> is several pages stapled together and is in gigantic bold letters. "They
> tell us it allows our child to function in the print world. But I ask you,
> is this adequate in terms of being competitive?"
>
> Another female voice gets the anchor's attention. "Oh, and the books, too!
> They are either very large volumes that the average student refuses to use
> or they are audio!"
>
> "Miss, for the sake of the viewers who have just tuned in, could you
> clarify the major point of what your group claims is happening here?"
>
> The most efficient method of reading and writing is being withheld from 
> our
> children! They say print is becoming obsolete. Literacy for our children 
> is
> being greatly restricted and we are not going to allow it anymore."
>
> The face of the anchor again fills the screen as he gives his closing. "Is
> the strongest method for reading and writing for these children being
> systematically taken away? Is literacy being threatened here in this 
> school
> system? These parents think so and when you take away the student's
> strongest method of literacy, what do we expect will happen?  This is CNN
> action news."  And the screen faded to a last view of the angry, marching
> parents.
>
> "AAAHHH!" Marlene, a sighted teacher of blind/VI children, sat bolt 
> upright
> in bed, hand to her head. "Oh my God, that was a nightmare! Where did that
> come from?" Yesterday's memory of running into Brad, a former VI student
> came to mind. "
>
> Brad had been almost bitter when he said, "I should have learnt Braille in
> elementary school; it would have been more efficient for me than print.
> Ever think what parents of normally sighted kids would do if you didn't
> teach their children the most efficient method for reading and writing?" 
> He
> said he was learning Braille now as a college student.
>
> Marlene flashed back to the scenes in her nightmare. Surely Brad was the
> exception?  It was just a nightmare, not reality. Surely?
>
>
> Robert Leslie Newman
> Email- newmanrl at cox.net
> THOUGHT PROVOKER Website-
> Http://www.thoughtprovoker.info
>
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