[blindkid] I'm writing a research paper and need help

Fri Apr 1 16:37:09 UTC 2011

First of all, I agree entirely. Nothing is more important for my daughter than braille. She reads and writes well above grade level and reads and writes more often than any child her age I have ever known. (She is eight.) She just happens to be blind... 

I just loaded 12 new braille books onto her BrailleNote this morning, ranging from  Carlotte's Web to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe...all the the way up to a couple of Harry Potter Books. I cannot help but look at this from the other side a bit. I'd suggest the question might not be "why do we need braille" so much as "why would we not need it?"

As to resources, the thing that keeps coming to my mind is that I would check with the NFB National office. They often refer to information at conventions and in literature which makes me think they have specific numbers and percentages of the blind population which is braille literate. 

They also often tell how of the blind adult population, a vastly greater ratio of braille literate blind people are employed as compared to those who cannot read braille. This is really just a discussion of literacy in general which needs to be adapted for the mechanism used to read.

Get the figures above and compare them to the sighted population's numbers. Some sighted people cannot read and they must then rely on other sources for information, be that the TV or Radio, recorded books, or someone reading things to them. I don't think it would be hard to convince most people that, as a whole, those sighted people are less successful and productive members of society as compared to sighted literate people. So it is then with the blind, from pre-schoolers to students to adults. One key reason my daughter does so well with braille is she was learning it so early in life. I believe she was coming along very well with her braille by at least age three.

There is one third sub-group, if you will. Low Vision. That is where it gets fuzzy because some people with low vision have no (or minimal) problem(s) dealing with print, while it is nearly impossible for others and there is a whole spectrum in between the two. My thought is that some of that population really needs braille and some may not benefit so much from it (however I don't think it is EVER a bad thing to know). One sometimes overlooked aspect of the low vision discussion is also that a good many of that population are likely to have further vision loss at some point in their lives and they would then shift across that spectrum from braille being somewhat helpful to it becoming more and more so, right up until they cross a somewhat  fussy threshold-- once they can no longer make practical use of print at all.

Maybe someone else here can suggest a good contact at the National Office to get some of those figures? Or perhaps there are already reports and articles available with that?

Richard

On Apr 1, 2011, at 10:10 AM, Marie wrote:

> Great thesis, Kathy! I don't think you'd find anyone on this list who would disagree. Smile. I wish I was aware of specific references for you. I don't but I did want to thank you for picking this particular topic although it may difficult for you to find specific references other than the observations of parents, children, and adults. Hopefully your paper will add to a growing body of papers on the topic!
> 
> Marie
> 
> 
> Marie (mother of Jack, born May 2005)
> Check out our blog at http://www.allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com for glimpses into our busy life with a boy who is busy growing and developing in his own way in his own time
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kathy B <burgawicki at yahoo.com>
> Sender: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org
> Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:20:55 
> To: Carol Castellano<carol_castellano at verizon.net>; <BVI-Parents at yahoogroups.com>; <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Reply-To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,
> 	\(for parents of blind children\)" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [blindkid] I'm writing a research paper and need help
> 
> Hi All-
> 
> I am writing a research paper and am looking for information to support my 
> thesis.  Can any of you point me in the right direction?  Below is my thesis. 
> Carol, I included you specificly because I can use expert opinion, and I 
> consider you an expert. 
> 
> 
> Even though  technology is so advanced that some believe braille reading for the  
> blind is no longer needed, reading it is indeed important and essential  for 
> both blind children and blind adults: this form of reading expands a  
> vision-impaired person's world. In fact, reading for the blind also increases 
> creative and critical  thinking and plays a huge role in helping blind adults 
> contribute to  society.
> 
> Thanks!!
> 
> Kathy
> 
> 
> 
> 
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