[stylist] stylist Digest, Vol 81, Issue 3

[Kerry Thompson]

Hi friends,

Donna, maybe the problem, the barrier, is the emphasis on "braille." The 
emphasis needs to be on "reading," however the individual approaches 
reading. It sticks in my mind that only ten per cent of blind children 
are taught to read braille, i.e. the method of reading appropriate to 
them. Only ten percent! How would society at large react if, say, only 
ten per cent of black children were taught to read, or ten per cent of 
Jewish children, or ten per cent of children from Idaho? It's a question 
of human rights. All American children should be taught to read. Someof 
them need an alternative method to print. So what? The method isn't (or 
shouldn't be) the issue. The issue should be literacy.

Yes, I realize the above sounds naive and utopian. But, I truly believe 
it should be the goal. I mean, the phrase "separate but equal" comes to 
mind whenever I hear people talk about braille literacy. Literacy is the 
goal, full literacy of the entire U.S. population. For most that will 
mean print literacy, for some, braille literacy. But, the two really 
can't be separated. To read is to read, whether with the eyes or with 
the fingers. The false dichotomy of literacy and braille literacy needs 
to be removed, both in our own minds and in themind of John Q. Public.

That reminds me. Did Congress ever do anything about the shameful lack 
of accessible textbooks for blind schoolchildren? Again, it seems to me 
the emphasis needs to be, not on the difference, books in braille, but 
on the colossal injustice ofany American schoolchild being denied access 
to schoolbooks. Again, how would it be if it were some other group being 
denied access to schooling or to the necessary books? It wouldn't wash. 
We have to present our needs the way Civil Rights and Women's Rights 
campaigners presented needs, not as special concessions or favors we're 
asking for, but as matters of right, of justice.

There was a time when printed books were very rare and valuable. Now, 
you can pick up a mass market paperback for five or six bucks. Braille 
books are just the same. Now they are dear, but as demand grows with the 
increasing literacy of the blind population, prices will come down. 
That's simple demand and supply. As demand grows, supply also grows and 
prices fall. Again, we all, blind and sighted alike, have to stop 
regarding braille as a specialty item. It's no different from print.

I donno. I just get so frustrated and angry at the conditions we have to 
accept, conditions no other minority group would put up with. We're not 
subhuman. We're citizens just like anybody else, and we should have the 
same rights and expectations...

End of rant.

Jim, so glad Lynda is on the mend, if slowly. Continuing prayers and 
heart thingies.

Judith, For some reason, I always thought "thingy" was chiefly British. 
I've always liked it. Yes, it's a very useful word. It's strange about 
the pronunciation. Window-eyes pronounces the singular with the hard g 
sound but the plural with the soft g. Just one of those oddnesses we 
have to get used to, I guess.

Judith, yeah, but it's a generic British just like the generic American. 
I imagine British JAWS users get just as frustrated with pronunciation 
as we do. And, how about the Canadians?

Donna, I know there's a girl's name Damaris. The way I've heard it 
pronounced is with the stress on the second syllable. Here's the page 
from Behind the Name:

http://www.behindthename.com/name/damaris

Behind the Name does not have a listing for Damari. It sounds like a 
diminutive to me, probably for Damaris or possibly a nursery name 
derived from Rosemarie or Rosemary.

The thing is, with a rare or even made up name, you can spell it any old 
way you like.

Jim, it's funny you should think the same thing about damari and 
Damaris. Great minds...

I'm not sure "hood" is out of date even now to mean hoodlum etc.

Marion, what race was "hoodlum" supposed to be targeting? Sheesh! Now, I 
can see "hooligan" being construed as anti-Irish, maybe, but "hoodlum?"

Solidarity and Peace,

Kerry