[stylist] learning braille

Mon Nov 16 18:15:48 UTC 2009

Funny though, when people do go to Greece, France, Italy, Switzerland, 
Japan and so on, they often find that the local people know English. 
Learning more than one language is standard in many countries, and those 
countries generally score higher than US citizens on standard tests. I 
understand your frustration with clerks who can't communicate, but many 
of the instances of that which I have had in my life have been with 
illiterate English-speaking Americans.
Donna

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Judith Bron wrote:
> Barbara, Sign language and braille as options would be fine, just 
> don't make them mandatory.  I disagree with Spanish being shoved down 
> our throats.  I resent it when a sales person in a store can't answer 
> my simple question about merchandise in English.  My resentment grows 
> when they point their finger in the direction of what I want.  They 
> can point all day, but I still won't find what I'm looking for.
> Don't many deaf people read lips?  I've communicated with many deaf 
> people because they read lips.  People who are blind communicate with 
> the spoken word.  This is America.  Our language is English.  I can't 
> expect to walk into Greece and expect the clerk in the store to speak 
> English.
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barbara Hammel" <poetlori8 at msn.com>
> To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 12:02 PM
> Subject: Re: [stylist] learning braille
>
>
>> Gee, I would agree with you and yet why is it that our children are 
>> having Spanish shoved down their throats?
>> I think that at the age when foreign language is an option in school, 
>> it should be sign language and braille.  (Or at least have them 
>> included as options.)  Any foreign language speaker can learn 
>> English.  A deaf person will never learn to talk and hear what's said 
>> and a blind person will never learn to read print.
>> I do understand about that slippery slope and maybe this would be 
>> headed down it, I don't know.
>> Barbara
>> Snow is God's way of reminding us that beauty can be found even in 
>> the coldest hearts.
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> From: "Judith Bron" <jbron at optonline.net>
>> Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 10:30 AM
>> To: "Stylist" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: [stylist] learning braille
>>
>>> Robert and all, I think we are missing the important point here.  Is 
>>> our goal to get the entire world to read Braille or evoke equal 
>>> respect from society because we are blind?  Here's a brief example 
>>> of what I mean by evoking respect even though we are different.
>>>
>>> My family eats only kosher foods.   For dinner last night I made 
>>> meatballs in an Italian sauce.  I used ground beef, tomato sauce and 
>>> Italian spices. Now someone might say, "How can you make an Italian 
>>> sauce without pork products?"  My religion forbids me from eating 
>>> pork products.  Someone of Middle East descent might say, "How can 
>>> it have been good if you didn't use cumin?"  I have a friend who is 
>>> allergic to tomatoes and has developed her own sauce for meatballs 
>>> without using tomato sauce.  All of us are different and there is no 
>>> law that all of our eating needs be met the same way.  Let's take it 
>>> a bit further.
>>>
>>> When talking about "how nice" it would be if all children learned 
>>> Braille to better understand folks without sight we are starting a 
>>> journey down a slippery slope that can be extended in many dangerous 
>>> directions.  No, not every one is forced to eat only kosher foods.  
>>> Not everyone should be commanded to eat pork and not everyone should 
>>> be forced to live as if they too had an allergy to certain foods.  
>>> We're all different.  Realize that and respect the right of every 
>>> individual to be different.  Everyone should not be required to read 
>>> Braille, communicate with their friends via sign language, walk with 
>>> a white cane or spend their life in a wheelchair. Yes, there are 
>>> people in society who are handicapped, but society has to learn to 
>>> respect those things that make them different. If a man in the 
>>> grocery store sitting in the wheelchair asks a standing person to 
>>> reach for the can on the high shelf they should do it with a smile 
>>> on their face.  If a blind person asks where the rest room is answer 
>>> him and ask if he can be of further assistance.  You get the picture.
>>>
>>> There are those in society who demand that all people subscribe to 
>>> their religion.  They claim that if this isn't accomplished they 
>>> will kill all people who reject their teachings.  We all know how 
>>> these people are referred to.  We reject their premise that all 
>>> people are the same and therefore must live the same way.  We can't 
>>> "demand" that all first graders learn Braille and we can't command 
>>> that a first grade class in the public schools learn Japanese 
>>> because one child might be from Japan. Let's keep excelling in 
>>> whatever it is we do best and gain the respect and acceptance of 
>>> society because we deserve it.  Judith
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>
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>
>
>
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