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

Fri Apr 1 17:34:27 UTC 2011

Along these same lines, a person who becomes blind as an adult, Braille may
not be an option because their fingers may not be able to read the Braille
dots because they may have become calloused, for example.  Young children
who begin working with Braille right away develop more sensitivity in their
fingertips and become quite adept at reading braille with two hands.  I
believe I read someplace once that some of the brain neurons that would
normally go to the visual cortex in the brain of a sighted person get
redistributed to the fingertips in a blind person. 

-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Richard Holloway
Sent: Friday, April 01, 2011 12:37 PM
To: empwrn at bellsouth.net; NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of
blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] I'm writing a research paper and need help

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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