[nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer over?
Judy Jones
jtj1 at cableone.net
Fri Dec 3 01:07:24 UTC 2010
That's understandable. I like to listen to books when doing other things.
But I, like you, love that braille.
Do you download from WebBraille?
Judy
----- Original Message -----
From: " Sarah Baughn" <sarahb006 at comcast.net>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 8:56 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer over?
> And I am finding out that since I have had my Stream, I order Braille
> books from the library less and less, and I love to read Braille, it's
> just that I have admittedly gotten lazy.
> Sarah
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Judy Jones" <jtj1 at cableone.net>
> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, November 27, 2010 11:59 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer
> over?
>
>
>> Sarah, you're so right.
>>
>> Once when my daughter was in middle school, when I went to check a paper
>> she was handing in before printing, I discovered she had written it in
>> textese. Like "Im, Ur," etc. I said that style is limited exclusively to
>> texting on phones, but I'm seeing it on FB and elsewhere now, too. The
>> basic problem across the board, blind, sighted, society in general is the
>> lowering of standards and expectations in all venues of life.
>>
>> Judy
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: " Sarah Baughn" <sarahb006 at comcast.net>
>> To: "qubit" <lauraeaves at yahoo.com>; "NFB Talk Mailing List"
>> <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, November 27, 2010 9:37 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer
>> over?
>>
>>
>>> Well, I think it is imperative to learn Braille. That's the problem
>>> with today's society, there is so much technology out there, and it's
>>> not only a problem among the blind, but the sighted, with texting and
>>> such, don't know how to spell because everything is so abbreviated these
>>> days.
>>> Sarah
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "qubit" <lauraeaves at yahoo.com>
>>> To: <info at michaelhingson.com>; "NFB Talk Mailing List"
>>> <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Friday, November 26, 2010 3:00 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer
>>> over?
>>>
>>>
>>>> They neglect several important points: If a child is or will become
>>>> deafblind, braille is essential for communication. Also, math and
>>>> science
>>>> are much more difficult to grasp without some kind of tactile
>>>> representation. Finally, braille is useful for a lot more than just
>>>> reading
>>>> literature. It is good for labeling things around the house, or a
>>>> file. It
>>>> is useful for notes when public speaking. Having a notetaker with a
>>>> refreshable display also allows a student to take notes quietly in a
>>>> class.
>>>> Finally, I was one of those partially sighted kids who learned braille
>>>> in
>>>> school but wasn't required to use it because I was able to see with
>>>> magnification. Now as an adult over -- well, over a certain age
>>>> *smile* --
>>>> I find it much harder to improve my braille reading speed. I
>>>> thankfully
>>>> remember the codes, but memorization is only part of learning braille.
>>>> There
>>>> is the developed skill of recognizing symbols and words quickly with
>>>> your
>>>> fingers. I now wish I had spent more time with braille when I was a
>>>> child.
>>>> As far as I am concerned, the article is incomplete. Someone should
>>>> write
>>>> to the editor.
>>>> --le
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Michael Hingson" <info at michaelhingson.com>
>>>> To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Friday, November 26, 2010 2:36 PM
>>>> Subject: [nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer over?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Are Braille's days as the great equalizer over?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Keith Gillard taps away on his computer's Microsoft Egronomic keyboard
>>>> at
>>>> his home in Edmonton, Aug. 4, 2010. "Braille is not necessary to have a
>>>> full
>>>> and complete life as a blind Canadian," he says.
>>>>
>>>> Walter Tychnowicz for National Post
>>>>
>>>> Keith Gillard taps away on his computer's Microsoft Egronomic keyboard
>>>> at
>>>> his home in Edmonton, Aug. 4, 2010. "Braille is not necessary to have a
>>>> full
>>>> and complete life as a blind Canadian," he says.
>>>>
>>>> * Comments <http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/#Comments>
>>>> * Twitter
>>>> <http://twitter.com/home?status=RT+@nationalpost%3a+Are+Braille%27s+days+as+
>>>> the+great+equalizer+over%3f+http%3a//www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Braill
>>>> e%2bdays%2bgreat%2bequalizer%2bover/3369651/story.html>
>>>> * LinkedIn
>>>> <http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=http%3a//www.nationalpos
>>>> t.com/news/canada/Braille%2bdays%2bgreat%2bequalizer%2bover/3369651/story.ht
>>>> ml&title=National+Post%3a+Are+Braille%27s+days+as+the+great+equalizer+over%3
>>>> f>
>>>> * Digg
>>>> <http://digg.com/submit?url=http%3a//www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Braill
>>>> e%2bdays%2bgreat%2bequalizer%2bover/3369651/story.html&title=National+Post%3
>>>> a+Are+Braille%27s+days+as+the+great+equalizer+over%3f>
>>>> * Buzz
>>>> <http://www.google.com/buzz/post?url=http%3a//www.nationalpost.com/news/cana
>>>> da/Braille%2bdays%2bgreat%2bequalizer%2bover/3369651/story.html&message=Nati
>>>> onal+Post%3a+Are+Braille%27s+days+as+the+great+equalizer+over%3f&image-url=h
>>>> ttp%3a//www.nationalpost.com/3369607.bin%3fsize%3d620x465>
>>>> * Email
>>>> <http://www.nationalpost.com/ajax/email/story.xml?url=http%3a//www.nationalp
>>>> ost.com/news/canada/Braille%2bdays%2bgreat%2bequalizer%2bover/3369651/story.
>>>> html&id=3369651&title=National+Post+Story%3a++Are+Braille%27s+days+as+the+gr
>>>> eat+equalizer+over%3f>
>>>> *
>>>>
>>>> Kenyon Wallace, National Post . Friday, Aug. 6, 2010
>>>>
>>>> The publication in 1829 of a small booklet explaining how a series of
>>>> raised
>>>> dots arranged in a line could teach the world's blind to read is one of
>>>> modern history's great, if often overlooked, turning points.
>>>>
>>>> Once hailed as the great intellectual equalizer, Louis Braille's
>>>> development
>>>> of a new alphabet that could be read with the fingers is now at risk of
>>>> being consigned to history, overtaken by the rapid pace of changing
>>>> technology.
>>>>
>>>> Only 10% of blind school-aged children are taught Braille today;
>>>> compared to
>>>> about 50% in the 1960s, according to the U.S. National Federation of
>>>> the
>>>> Blind. The statistic is roughly the same for Canada.
>>>>
>>>> The prospect of Braille becoming obsolete has sparked a polarizing
>>>> debate
>>>> between advocates, educators and individuals over the causes of the
>>>> code's
>>>> decline and what to do about it.
>>>>
>>>> Advocates blame funding shortages, not enough qualified teachers, and
>>>> decisions by administrators to deny Braille instruction to children
>>>> with low
>>>> vision because of an emphasis on encouraging these students to read
>>>> print.
>>>> Educators say this assessment couldn't be further from the truth and
>>>> argue
>>>> that today's diagnostic tools have honed the art of identifying those
>>>> who
>>>> truly require Braille instruction and those who don't.
>>>>
>>>> Others still - including many blind people - say advances in assistive
>>>> technology, such as audiobooks, voice recognition software and computer
>>>> screen-readers, have rendered Braille unnecessary in daily life. They
>>>> say
>>>> its cumbersome nature - a single Harry Potter book printed on Braille
>>>> paper
>>>> will fill a moving box - makes it impractical and unaffordable.
>>>>
>>>> "Braille is not necessary to have a full and complete life as a blind
>>>> Canadian," said Edmonton resident Keith Gillard, who was born with
>>>> retinitis
>>>> pigmentosa, a degenerative eye condition that rendered him legally, but
>>>> not
>>>> completely, blind at birth. As a child, he was encouraged to use what
>>>> vision
>>>> he had to learn print, but not Braille. "They taught me how to touch
>>>> type
>>>> rather than learn Braille."
>>>>
>>>> By his mid-20s, the blurry fog obscuring his peripheral vision began to
>>>> creep toward the centre of his eyes as his condition worsened. Mr.
>>>> Gillard
>>>> gauged the severity of his increasing blindness by his ability to see
>>>> the
>>>> lines on the ice at his local hockey rink each winter while playing on
>>>> a
>>>> blind hockey team.
>>>>
>>>> Now 49 and completely blind, he says he has contemplated learning
>>>> Braille,
>>>> but probably never will given the plethora of technological aids he
>>>> uses at
>>>> work as a federal civil servant and at home.
>>>>
>>>> "Adaptive technology has opened up the world of education and
>>>> employment for
>>>> blind Canadians. Braille hasn't done that," he said.
>>>>
>>>> "I recognize the benefits. Would I be better off as a blind Canadian if
>>>> I
>>>> was a proficient Braille reader? I think I would be. Is it necessary
>>>> for me
>>>> to be successful? No."
>>>>
>>>> Up until nine years ago, Sarah Empey, 35, had full eyesight. When she
>>>> was
>>>> 26, the Type 1 diabetic suffered complications due to high blood
>>>> pressure
>>>> and started to go blind. Despite several operations, she now has only
>>>> 15%
>>>> vision in her right eye.
>>>>
>>>> She intends to learn Braille one day, but hasn't found the need for it
>>>> yet,
>>>> and has learned only numbers.
>>>>
>>>> "It's not something I would use at this point," says Ms. Empey, a
>>>> Calgary
>>>> resident and short film director.
>>>>
>>>> She uses a program on her computer called ZoomText, which magnifies
>>>> text and
>>>> uses an audio device called a VictorReader to listen to books.
>>>>
>>>> "Some people are fine with technology doing everything for them. I do
>>>> see
>>>> Braille as slightly dying off, but for me, Braille still means more
>>>> independence [in the future]."
>>>>
>>>> Twenty years ago, the predominant philosophy governing education of the
>>>> blind was to maximize the efficiency of whatever vision students had in
>>>> a
>>>> regular classroom with their sighted peers. This required partially
>>>> blind
>>>> children to use a myriad of tools such as monocular telescopes to see
>>>> the
>>>> blackboard, magnifying glasses, bold markers and large-print books.
>>>> These
>>>> tools evolved through the 1980s to include small cameras students could
>>>> roll
>>>> over text that would be blown up on a closed circuit television.
>>>>
>>>> "Braille was never given to them as an option because if you had
>>>> vision, you
>>>> were supposed to use vision," said Dr. Carol Farrenkopf, coordinator of
>>>> the
>>>> Toronto District School Board's Vision Program.
>>>>
>>>> It wasn't until the mid-1990s that teachers began using a tool called a
>>>> "learning media assessment," using observations and timed-readings to
>>>> determine if Braille should be introduced.
>>>>
>>>> Another factor driving down the rate of Braille use is the fact that
>>>> those
>>>> who go blind later in life due to medical conditions, such as diabetes
>>>> and
>>>> macular degeneration, already have literacy skills and are therefore
>>>> less
>>>> likely to be inclined to learn a new writing system.
>>>>
>>>> "A 60-year-old woman working who already knows how to read and write
>>>> and
>>>> then loses her vision, why does she need to learn Braille when she can
>>>> keep
>>>> going with technology?" said Ms. Farrenkopf.
>>>>
>>>> She stresses that not all blind children need to be taught Braille.
>>>>
>>>> "Legal blindness is not the same thing as being totally blind," said
>>>> Ms.
>>>> Farrenkopf, noting that 20/200 vision - legal blindness - is still
>>>> functional vision. (Someone with 20/200 can see a letter at 20 feet
>>>> while a
>>>> person with normal vision can see the same letter from 200 feet.)
>>>>
>>>> "Kids with 20/200 vision don't need to be reading Braille."
>>>>
>>>> That opinion is not shared by all Braille advocates, who wonder at the
>>>> logic
>>>> of not teaching the system to children when many eye conditions are
>>>> degenerative.
>>>>
>>>> "They're in the school system where people are being encouraged to use
>>>> the
>>>> technology and their remaining vision at the expense of learning
>>>> Braille
>>>> that will prepare them for vision loss as they get older," said CNIB
>>>> spokeswoman Ellie Shuster.
>>>>
>>>> Advocates also say the integration of blind children within the regular
>>>> school system means less one-on-one time between teachers and students
>>>> and
>>>> therefore less consistent Braille instruction. The result, they say, is
>>>> that
>>>> many students end up being functionally illiterate.
>>>>
>>>> "School districts across the country, in general, don't adequately
>>>> support
>>>> Braille instruction," said Betty Nobel, president of the Canadian
>>>> Braille
>>>> Authority. "In the primary grades, kids should have daily Braille
>>>> instruction, but they're not getting that."
>>>>
>>>> Forty years ago, Canada was home to several residential schools for the
>>>> blind, where all students were expected to learn Braille. There is only
>>>> one
>>>> such school remaining today: W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind and
>>>> Deafblind in Brantford, Ont.
>>>>
>>>> The Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority, which provides
>>>> educational services to students from birth to 21 years of age with
>>>> sensory
>>>> impairments, has also established several successful short-term,
>>>> intensive
>>>> Braille courses that can be taken during the regular school year.
>>>>
>>>> But it's not enough, says Ms. Nobel, who is also department head of the
>>>> Program for the Visually Impaired at Vancouver Community College and a
>>>> CNIB
>>>> library board member. She says teachers in the regular school system
>>>> may not
>>>> have blind children in their classes every year, meaning they lack the
>>>> opportunity to stay proficient in Braille.
>>>>
>>>> "If this means lowering the workloads for teachers that have blind
>>>> students,
>>>> that's what we need," she said.
>>>>
>>>> The implications for an illiterate blind population are profound.
>>>>
>>>> A study by Dr. Ruby Ryles, a blindness researcher at Louisiana Tech
>>>> University, found that visually impaired people who learned Braille at
>>>> a
>>>> young age were more likely to be employed, financially independent and
>>>> better educated than those who relied primarily on print -- this in a
>>>> world
>>>> where blind adults already face an unemployment rate of over 70%.
>>>>
>>>> Diana Brent, a teacher of visually impaired students, and her husband,
>>>> Doug
>>>> Brent, a University of Calgary communications professor, are the
>>>> authors of
>>>> one of the only studies comparing the writings of blind people who
>>>> learned
>>>> Braille at a young age and those who didn't. Non-Braille users were
>>>> asked to
>>>> type stories on a keyboard using audio software.
>>>>
>>>> Their findings were alarming. The Brents described the prose of the
>>>> non-Braille group as "jumbled and confused."
>>>>
>>>> "It's as if all of their ideas are crammed into a container, shaken,
>>>> and
>>>> thrown randomly onto a sheet of paper like dice onto a table," the
>>>> authors
>>>> concluded. "The process of making connections, linking one idea to
>>>> another
>>>> is tenuous at best."
>>>>
>>>> While preliminary, the results suggest that blind children relying
>>>> solely on
>>>> an oral education have virtually no means of literacy in the sense that
>>>> society has come to understand it.
>>>>
>>>> "It's still well worth teaching children Braille, even if they choose
>>>> later
>>>> to drift away from it," said Mr. Brent. "To not have access to a way of
>>>> organizing thought that depends on a system of written record, to not
>>>> be
>>>> formed by that arguably makes people think differently and puts them at
>>>> a
>>>> significant disadvantage."
>>>>
>>>> kewallace at nationalpost.com
>>>>
>>>> - - -
>>>>
>>>> Who was Louis Braille?
>>>>
>>>> Louis Braille was born fully sighted on Jan. 4, 1809 in a small town
>>>> near
>>>> Paris, France.
>>>>
>>>> He lost his sight as a small boy after accidentally stabbing himself in
>>>> the
>>>> eye with a stitching awl his his father's shoemaking workshop. An
>>>> infection
>>>> in one eye spread to the other, rendering him completely blind.
>>>>
>>>> A creative and intelligent boy, Braille earned a scholarship to the
>>>> Royal
>>>> Institution for Blind Youth in Paris when he was 10.
>>>>
>>>> While there, he learned to read using a system of raised letters by
>>>> pressing
>>>> shaped copper wire onto paper. But this cumbersome system made it
>>>> impossible
>>>> for blind people to write by themselves.
>>>>
>>>> In 1821, French army captain Charles Barbier de la Serre visited the
>>>> school
>>>> to share his invention, which he called "Night Writing." The invention
>>>> was a
>>>> series of 12 raised dots combined to form words that soldiers could use
>>>> to
>>>> communicate in the night without talking.
>>>>
>>>> The code proved too difficult to understand, so Braille modified the
>>>> system
>>>> to a series of six raised dots, with characters representing each
>>>> letter of
>>>> the alphabet. In 1829 he published his system in the booklet, "The
>>>> Method of
>>>> Writing Words, Music and Plain Song by Means of Dots, for Use by the
>>>> Blind
>>>> and Arranged by Them."
>>>>
>>>> This new system of reading and writing - Braille - did not catch on
>>>> immediately. Braille, who eventually became a teacher at the Institute,
>>>> died
>>>> of tuberculosis on Jan. 6, 1852, before even his own school adopted his
>>>> code.
>>>>
>>>> The French government officially recognized the Braille system two
>>>> years
>>>> later, and it eventually became the world standard for written
>>>> communication
>>>> for the blind.
>>>>
>>>> In 1952, Braille's body was disinterred and reburied in the Pantheon in
>>>> Paris to lie with the remains of other distinguished French citizens.
>>>>
>>>> Kenyon Wallace, National Post
>>>>
>>>> - - -
>>>>
>>>> Blindness By The Numbers
>>>>
>>>> 10 Percentage of legally blind North Americans who can read Braille
>>>>
>>>> 836,000 Number of Canadians living with significant vision loss that
>>>> cannot
>>>> be corrected with ordinary lenses
>>>>
>>>> 70 Percentage of blind North Americans who are unemployed
>>>>
>>>> 1,000,000 number of Canadians with some form of macular degeneration,
>>>> the
>>>> leading cause of vision loss in North Americans over the age of 50
>>>>
>>>> 90 Percentage of blind children in the United States not learning
>>>> Braille
>>>> today
>>>>
>>>> 50 Percentage of blind American high school students who drop out
>>>>
>>>> 75,000 Number of people who lose all or part of their vision every year
>>>>
>>>> Source: NFB and CNIB
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Tools
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> .
>>>> <http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/#DecreaseTextSize> -
>>>> <http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/#IncreaseTextSize> + Change
>>>> text
>>>> size
>>>>
>>>> . Print <http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/#Print>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> More On This Story
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> .
>>>> <http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Blind+person+sense+smell+better+dif
>>>> ferent+study/2958847/story.html> Blind person's sense of smell not
>>>> better,
>>>> but different: study
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> .
>>>> <http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Artist+creates+book+nudes+blind/290
>>>> 3068/story.html> Artist creates book of nudes for the blind
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The Michael Hingson Group, INC.
>>>>
>>>> "Speaking with Vision"
>>>>
>>>> Michael Hingson, President
>>>>
>>>> (415) 827-4084
>>>>
>>>> <mailto:info at michaelhingson.com> info at michaelhingson.com
>>>>
>>>> To learn more about my upcoming book, speaking topics and speaking
>>>> availability please visit <http://www.michaelhingson.com>
>>>> www.michaelhingson.com
>>>>
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>>>> http://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Dog-Blind-Triumph-Ground/dp/140020304X/ref=sr_
>>>> 1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289090352&sr=1-3
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> for info on the new KNFB Reader Mobile, visit:
>>>>
>>>> <http://knfbreader.michaelhingson.com>
>>>> http://knfbreader.michaelhingson.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>>
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