[stylist] DOE's Dear Colleague letter on Braille literacy

[Donna Hill]

Hi fellow writers,
You've probably all received the press release     from Chris Danielson
about the DOE's clarification of the right to learn Braille, but I thought
some of you may like to read it for yourselves. It's copied below and
attached. Promoting Braille literacy is a major emphasis of the NFB and one
we embrace at the Writers' Division through our Youth Braille Writing
Contest.   
Donna
***

United States Department of Education

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative ServicesU.S. Department of
Education seal.

June 19, 2013

Dear Colleague,

For decades, Braille has been a key tool for literacy for many blind and
visually impaired individuals.  The Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA or Act),
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in section 614(d)(3)(B)(iii), specifically addresses a public agency’s
responsibility to make provisions for Braille instruction in educating blind
and visually impaired students.  This requirement states that, "in the case
of a child who is blind or visually impaired, [the Individualized Education
Program (IEP) Team must] provide for instruction in Braille and the use of
Braille unless the IEP Team determines, after an evaluation of the child's
reading and writing skills, needs, and appropriate reading and writing media
(including an evaluation of the child's future needs for instruction in
Braille or the use of Braille), that instruction in Braille or the use of
Braille is not appropriate for the child."  In the 1997 reauthorization of
the IDEA, Congress added this requirement to ensure that blind and visually
impaired students are provided the Braille instruction that is necessary for
them to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE).  It was retained
without change when the IDEA was reauthorized in 2004.
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This requirement applies equally to children who need Braille instruction
when they enroll in kindergarten, as well as to children who will benefit
from Braille instruction because they face the prospect of future vision
loss later on in their educational careers.

Despite this requirement, one of the most serious concerns voiced by parents
and advocates of blind and visually impaired children is that the number of
students receiving instruction in Braille has decreased significantly over
the past several decades.  As a result, these individuals believe that
Braille instruction is not being provided to some students for whom it may
be appropriate.  The purpose of this letter is to provide guidance to States
and public agencies to reaffirm the importance of Braille instruction as a
literacy tool for blind and visually impaired students, to clarify the
circumstances in which Braille instruction should be provided, and to
reiterate the scope of an evaluation required to guide decisions of IEP
Teams in this area.
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This letter also identifies resources that are designed to help strengthen
the capacity of State and local personnel to meet the needs of students who
are blind or visually impaired.  




Background

In the fall of 2010, nearly 30,000 of the students served under Part B of
the IDEA were reported as having “visual impairment including blindness” as
their primary disability, (approximately 0.07% of the total school
population
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[4]).  The population of children who receive services under Part B of the
IDEA due to blindness or visual impairment is extremely diverse.  These
children display a wide range of vision difficulties and varying adaptations
to vision loss.  With regard to the degree of vision loss, the student
population includes persons who are totally blind and persons with minimal
light perception, as well as persons with varying degrees of low vision.
With regard to adaptations to vision loss, persons with similar degrees of
vision loss may function very differently.  A significant visual deficit
that could pose formidable obstacles for some children may pose far less
formidable obstacles for others.  This is because adaptations to vision loss
are shaped by individual factors, such as availability and type of family
support and the level of the child’s intellectual, emotional, physical, and
motor functioning.  

The challenge for educators of blind and visually impaired children is how
to teach skills that sighted children typically acquire through vision.
Blind and visually impaired students use a variety of methods to learn to
read, write, and acquire other skills.  For reading purposes, some students
use Braille exclusively; others use large print or regular print with or
without low vision aids.  Still others use a combination of methods,
including Braille, large print, low vision aids, and devices with computer
generated speech, while others have sufficient functional vision to use
regular print.  

Despite the wide range of vision difficulties and varying adaptations to
vision loss in the population of blind and visually impaired students,
Braille has been a very effective reading and writing medium for many of
them.  Research has shown that knowledge of Braille provides numerous
tangible and intangible benefits, including increased likelihood of
obtaining productive employment and heightened self-esteem.
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Given these benefits, it is important that States and their public agencies
ensure the appropriate implementation of the IDEA requirement regarding
Braille instruction. 


Other IDEA Requirements 


In implementing the IDEA requirement regarding Braille instruction, the
following additional IDEA requirements are applicable.  Under IDEA, each
State and its public agencies must make FAPE available to children with
specified disabilities residing in the State in mandatory age ranges through
a properly developed IEP.  Each child’s IEP must include the special
education and related services and supplementary aids and services that are
necessary to ensure each child’s meaningful involvement and progress in the
general education curriculum offered to nondisabled students.  34 CFR
§§300.101, 300.201, and 300.320-300.324.  

Under 34 CFR §300.304(c)(4) and (6), an evaluation must assess the child in
all areas related to the suspected disability and must be sufficiently
comprehensive to identify all of the child’s special education and related
services needs.  Also, under 34 CFR §300.304(c)(1)(iv), any assessments and
other evaluation materials used to assess a child must be conducted by
trained and knowledgeable personnel.


Instruction in Braille and the Use of Braille


IEP Teams must ensure that children who are blind or who are visually
impaired are provided with the Braille instruction they need in order to
receive FAPE and to ensure their meaningful access to the general education
curriculum offered to nondisabled students.  To this end, IEP Teams for
blind and visually impaired students should consider each child’s need for
appropriate Braille instruction on an individual, case-by-case basis, and
without undue delay.  Systematic and regular instruction from knowledgeable
and appropriately trained personnel is essential for a child to become
proficient in Braille.  IEP Teams must ensure that the instructional time
allotted for Braille instruction is sufficient to provide the level of
instruction determined appropriate for the child.  For example, if a
particular student has little or no skill in Braille reading and writing,
the IEP Team may conclude that frequent and intensive instruction in Braille
likely would be necessary to enable the student to have meaningful access to
the general curriculum.  


Scope of Evaluation Related to Braille Instruction


The IDEA requires that Braille instruction must be provided to a child who
is blind or visually impaired, unless the IEP Team determines, based on an
evaluation of the child's current and future reading and writing needs, that
Braille instruction is not appropriate for a particular child.  Generally,
determinations regarding the components of evaluations for particular
children are matters within the purview of State and local officials.  The
evaluation of vision status and the need (or future need) for Braille
instruction should be thorough and rigorous, include a data-based media
assessment, be based on a range of learning modalities, including auditory,
tactile, and visual, and include a functional visual assessment.  An
assessment of a child’s vision status generally would include the nature and
extent of the child’s visual impairment, and its effect, for example, on the
child’s ability to learn to read, write, do mathematical calculations, and
use computers and other assistive technology, as well as the child’s ability
to be involved in and make progress in the general curriculum offered to
nondisabled students.  Such an evaluation generally would be closely linked
to the assessment of the child’s present and future reading and writing
objectives, needs, and appropriate reading and writing media.  The
information obtained through the evaluation generally should be used by the
IEP Team in determining whether it would be appropriate to provide a blind
or visually impaired child with instruction in Braille or the use of Braille
as required by the IDEA.  Factors, such as shortages of trained personnel to
provide Braille instruction; the availability of alternative reading media
(including large print materials, recorded materials, or computers with
speech output); or the amount of time needed to provide a child with
sufficient and regular instruction to attain proficiency in Braille, may not
be used to deny Braille instruction to a child.  Rather, it would be
appropriate to deny Braille instruction to a child only when the child’s IEP
Team, based on the results of a thorough and rigorous evaluation, determines
that instruction in Braille would be inappropriate for that child.  In
addition, because the evaluation also must assess a child’s future needs, a
child’s current vision status should not necessarily determine whether it
would be inappropriate for that child to receive Braille instruction while
in school.  This is particularly true for a child with a degenerative vision
condition who may have a high degree of functional vision when the
evaluation is conducted.  The evaluation of such a child would need to
assess whether, despite the child’s current vision status, the child still
could benefit from Braille instruction while in school to increase the
likelihood that the child will obtain productive employment and be able to
participate more fully in family and community life.   


Office of Special Education Programs’ Investments and Supports


A.     Personnel Preparation


To help ensure that children with blindness and visual impairments receive
appropriate services, evidence-based interventions, and appropriate
materials and media, including Braille and Braille instruction, the U.S.
Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) awards
competitive grants to support university programs that prepare teachers of
students who are blind or visually impaired.  During Fiscal Year (FY) 2012,
OSEP invested approximately $18.6 million of discretionary grant funds
specifically to improve services and results for children who are blind or
visually impaired.  These funds supported a variety of personnel preparation
and technology projects to increase the numbers of certified and licensed
professionals with the unique and specialized skills necessary to support
the education of students with blindness and visual impairments.  OSEP funds
personnel preparation programs for teachers of blind or visually impaired
students, Braille teachers, and orientation and mobility instructors.  OSEP
requires these personnel development programs to include curricula and
coursework in Braille and Braille instruction.  


B.     Accessible Instructional Materials


OSEP also funds technology investments that promote the development,
demonstration, and use of technologies that provide students with print
disabilities equal access to the general education curriculum through
collaboration with various industry, educational, and consumer
collaborators.  These funding opportunities are designed to help strengthen
State and local capacity to meet the educational needs of children who are
likely to experience vision loss later in childhood or early adolescence.  

Additionally, OSEP supports several initiatives to promote timely access to
accessible instructional materials for blind and visually impaired students.
The National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) is a national
repository that makes National Instructional Materials Accessibility
Standard (NIMAS)
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files available for the production of print instructional materials in
specialized formats.  The NIMAC receives files in NIMAS format from textbook
publishers, State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies
(LEAs), and makes these files available for download in a variety of
specialized formats, such as Braille, audio, or digital text, on behalf of
elementary or secondary school students who are blind, are visually
impaired, or have other print disabilities.  Consistent with the IDEA
requirements for SEAs and LEAs to make accessible instructional materials
available to persons who are blind, are visually impaired, or have other
print disabilities, all States must adopt NIMAS; however, SEAs and LEAs may
choose, but are not required to, coordinate with the NIMAC in carrying out
this responsibility.
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SEAs and LEAs are encouraged to access Bookshare, an online, accessible,
digital library that allows students to access a large and diverse
collection of titles for school or pleasure reading including textbooks,
literature, leisure reading, reference materials, newspapers, and magazines.
Students can read multimodally (e.g., see and hear words as they are being
read and highlighted) and download reading materials to be used with other
technologies such as personal computers and cell phone devices.
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In 2007, Bookshare received a $32 million five-year grant from OSEP to
provide free access for students with a qualified print disability.

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) provides
a direct appropriation to the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) to
produce and distribute books and other educational materials for students
who are blind.
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SEA representatives may order Braille textbooks from APH at no cost.  In
2012, APH offered 955 unique products designed to assist with the education
of students who are blind or visually impaired.


Conclusion


Braille is a very effective reading and writing medium for many blind and
visually impaired persons, and research has shown that knowledge of Braille
provides numerous tangible and intangible benefits.
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[10]  Therefore, it is imperative that IEP Teams for blind and visually
impaired students provide for instruction in Braille and the use of Braille
for those students, unless, based on a thorough and rigorous evaluation, the
IEP Team determines that instruction in Braille or the use of Braille is not
appropriate for a particular student.  

We hope this information is helpful in clarifying the application of the
IDEA requirements regarding Braille instruction for children who are blind
or visually impaired.  Thank you for your continued interest in improving
results for children with disabilities.  

Sincerely,

 


Melody Musgrove Signature




Melody Musgrove, Ed. D.

Director,

Office of Special Education Programs

Michael K. Yudin

Delegated the Authority 
to perform the functions 
and the duties of Assistant 
Secretary for Special 
Education and 
Rehabilitative Services

 


  _____  

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[1] Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C.
§§1401, 1411-1419 (2004).

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[2] The IDEA Part B regulation in 34 CFR §300.324(a)(2)(iii) incorporates
this statutory requirement verbatim.

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[3] Blind and visually impaired students are also protected by two other
Federal laws:  Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504),
which prohibits disability discrimination by entities, such as public
schools, that receive Federal financial assistance (29 U.S.C. § 794, 34 CFR
part 104); and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(Title II), which prohibits disability discrimination by public entities,
including public schools, regardless of whether they receive Federal
financial assistance (42 U.S.C. §§ 12131-12134, 28 CFR part 35). The Office
for Civil Rights (OCR) in the U.S. Department of Education enforces Section
504 in public schools and, along with the U.S. Department of Justice,
enforces Title II in public schools.  Information about OCR enforcement is
available on OCR’s website at  <blocked::http://www.ed.gov/ocr>
www.ed.gov/ocr.

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[4] Source:   <blocked::http://www.ideadata.org/> www.ideadata.org; see also
34 CFR §300.8(c)(13).

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[5] Bell, E. C. & Mino, N. “Blind and Visually Impaired Adult Rehabilitation
and Employment Survey: Final Results.”  Journal of Blindness, Innovation &
Research, Vol.1, No.1 (2013): Accessed April 8, 2013.  

See www.pdrib.com/pages/researchreports.php
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[6] NIMAS describes the minimum standard that SEAs and LEAs must meet in
order to comply with their responsibility under the IDEA to provide
instructional materials to blind persons or other persons with print
disabilities.  See sections 612(a)(23)(A), 613(a)(6), and 674(e)(4) of IDEA.

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[7] For more information regarding NIMAS and NIMAC, go to www.aim.cast.org
<blocked::http://www.aim.cast.org/> .

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[8] For further information about Bookshare, go to
<blocked::http://www.bookshare.org/> www.Bookshare.org.  

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[9] See 20 U.S.C. §§101-106a (2009); See also
<blocked::http://www.aph.org/> www.aph.org for further information.

 
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[10] Bell & Mino, op.cit.

 

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