[nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer over?

Kathleen Millhoff kmillhoff at gmail.com
Fri Dec 3 20:41:19 UTC 2010


The mere fact that people consider such a discussion points out the
disparities in thinking about education for blind and sighted kids. No
one is asking if sighted kids still need to read print; in fact such a
consideration would seem ludicrous at best. The literate person in
this millennium knows how to read, write, and think critically in the
reading medium accessible to him/herself.
As far as the contention that braille is hard to learn: Well, we still
hear this but there's nothing in the research or anywhere else to
support this.
So, what makes literacy acquisition difficult for blind kids? It is,
for one thing, the difficulty of finding and using braille on a
functional level. Sighted kids are immersed in print from birth:
cereal boxes, TV screens, signage throughout the environment, toys,
books, puzzles, magazines, maps, containers. This experience is seldom
paralleled for blind kids.
School districts who refuse braille literacy to blind kids should have
the concept turned around in order for them to examine the question:
"are we deciding then to educate a child in such a way that he/she
will not be a proficient reader/writer?" Or, "are we making the
decision that we are singling out a blind child to not learn to read?"
The issue of linking the idea of braille literacy with the negatives
of the general attitudes of blindness is right on target. This is
where serious, prolonged and appropriate advocacy comes into the
picture.  I imagine that work with many sources for bolstering support
for appropriate literacy is beneficial.
Thanks.

On 12/4/10, David Evans <drevans at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> Dear All,
>
> Let me jump in there.
> Braille will continue to be relevant and useful just as long as the sighted
> continue to use paper and pen to write things down and exchange information
> in a written form.
> The most important person we each have to communicate with on a daily basis
> is ourselves.
> We all need ways of writing things down, on the spot, and being able to read
> them back to act on them.
> The sighted do this by writing things down on paper and using their eyes to
> read what they have written down.
> The Blind can do the same thing using a slate and stylist to write the info
> down in Braille and read it back using their finger tips.
> This is why I personally promote the Hadley School Course called "Relevant
> Braille".  It comes on a audio Tape , with a slate and stylist, cards to
> write lessons on and self addressed mailers to send your lesson in to your
> instructor.
>
> I used this course myself to teach myself Grade One , uncontracted, Braille
> and both learned it and was using it for all of my personal communications
> in just 3 weeks.
> I was the impatient type and did not send my lessons in such a way as I was
> suppose too to my instructor, but I did finally and I am Certified in the
> use of Grade One Braille from Hadley.
> I was afraid of Braille, after hearing all of the stories and negatives,
> some of which came fromother Blind people and even rehab instructors.
> I heard  all of the excuses: Braille is old fashion, out moded, hard to
> learn, expensive, you can just use a tape or digital recorder and the new
> computer technologies are going to replace it.  I for a time bought into all
> of this, but the truth is I was afraid I would fail and not like it.
> One day, I really thought about the situation allot.
> I just could not see myself reading large books in Braille, but I had to ask
> myself, what if the information was just on a 3 by 5 inch card and was just
> a name, address, phone number, appointment date and time or a money amount.
> I decided that that would be very useful to me and that if that much was
> useful, then I should do it as it would improve my skills and simplify my
> life.    Also, If I found that I could do Braille, I could read all of those
> hand outs and info they offer at conventions and conferences.  Who knows, I
> may just start reading the large books in Braille yet.
> I had  my story about how I came to use Braille printed in the Braille
> Monitor some years ago called"What's in your Tool Box."
> After all, our skills as Blind people are what make up the tools in our tool
> box and allow us to function and be successful.
> I carry a slate and stylist everywhere I go now and use it when I need it.
> The biggest problem with learning Braille is that unfortunately the very
> people we have depended upon to teach it do not have the skills themselves
> or are too lazy to teach us.  It is easier for them to discourage us from
> learning and using Braille, than it is to make the effort to work with us.
> It is more work for them, not us.
> I am now working on learning Grade Two, Contracted, Braille to give me more
> speed.  I am almost 64 years old and blind since the age of 16 due to RP.  I
> managed to get through college and worked as an engineer, being legally
> Blind, but finally lost so much vision that I had to learn to use skills of
> Blindness to function and work.
> I have made use of CCTV's screen reading software and both a long White cane
> and now a guide dog.  The slate and stylist and Braille Writer are just some
> more tools I have learned to use and have added to my "tool box."
>
> It is a fact that about 93 to 96% of all working Blind people know and use
> Braille.  If work is important to you, you need to consider this no matter
> how good your other skills are.  There is just no real substitute for The
> written word and for the Blind that means the use of Braille.  Don't put it
> off and learn it now.
> Most people I see that learn to use Braille keep using it the rest of their
> lives.  If it was not useful and helpful I would think that they would give
> it up and quit, but they don't.  Think about it.
>
> David Evans, NFBF and GD Jack
> Nuclear/Aerospace Materials Engineer
> Builder of the Lunar Rovers and the F-117 Stealth Fighter.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <ckrugman at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "qubit" <lauraeaves at yahoo.com>; "NFB Talk Mailing List"
> <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 8:35 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer over?
>
>
> she needed to hear that it was important for her son. Regardless of the
> traumatic experience he would need to learn how to adapt to blindness and
> Braille is one of the parts to that adaptation if he is going to have any
> chance of being successful as a blind person.
> Chuck
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "qubit" <lauraeaves at yahoo.com>
> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, November 26, 2010 7:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer over?
>
>
> I agree about the attitude.  Also, it is hard to convey a positive attitude
> when blindness is new to a child and his parents.
> Case in point: I met a mother whose young son had become blind from a
> gunshot to his head in a tragic domestic violence situation.
> Fortunately his sight was the only serious physical damage.
> But she was asking me, when I met her, whether braille as important for all
> blind children to learn.  I replied that it was very important, but on the
> spot there, I couldn't think of good reasons why.  I since regret not being
> more prepared with examples.
> But when I said it was important, you could feel the sinking feeling in the
> room.  I think she was thinking there was little hope -- like learning
> braille was such a "blind" thing where blind had all its negative
> stereotypes.  I decided maybe I wasn't the best person to try and help. (I'm
> also in a wheelchair and so don't represent the general mobile blind
> individual.  I also had a good education and work experience despite being
> blind, but at the time I was on disability from work. Hence my feelings of
> inadequacy.)
> Anyway, braille is important and should be held up as something positive
> rather than backward.
> --le
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael D. Barber" <michael.nfbi at gmail.com>
> To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, November 26, 2010 6:22 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer over?
>
>
> I think kids would learn braille if educators had the right attitude about
> Braille.  Unfortunately, I think they still have the attitude that it's too
> hard to teach them braille; braille is slower; if the kid has any residual
> vision at all--even if it's just a little--they certainly don't need to
> learn braille.
>
> When I'm doing any serious editing of a document, braille is a must because
> everything is right there at my fingertips.  Could I use the screen reader
> to hear all the punctuation and paragraph marks, etc.?  Certainly, but I
> think it's more efficient  with braille.  And when it comes to spelling,
> nothing replaces being able to feel the characters with your fingers.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of John Heim
> Sent: Friday, November 26, 2010 6:10 PM
> To: info at michaelhingson.com; NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer over?
>
> ÎWell, I didn't say braille has no advantages so you are kind of disputing a
> point I never made.
>
>
> On the other hand, I don't really believe the particular advantages you
> claim for braille are real. I find it hard to believe that learning braille
> is an efficient way to become a better speller. I have little doubt that a
> lot of blind kids are poor spellers but there are probably easier ways to
> fix that than teaching them braille.
>
> Don't get me wrong. When I went blind, I went out and learned braille.
> I signed up for the Hadley School braille courses and learned it. But if I
> wasn't already a braille advocate, I would not be convinced by your
> arguments. I think if you go up to some kid who spends half his day on a
> computer spelling words and tell him he has to take braille in order to
> learn how to spell he'd think you were crazy.
>
>
>
>
> On Nov 26, 2010, at 5:28 PM, Michael Hingson wrote:
>
>> I respectfully disagree a bit.  I find that blind youth and "visually
>> impaired" youth do find that they are at an advantage if they learn
>> Braille.
>> The proof is in part found in all those who have gone before who are
>> young enough to have had access to at least some technology and who
>> did not learn Braille for a variety of reasons including educators who
>> prevented them from having the opportunity.  Also, I find  many youth
>> today who haven't learned Braille who cannot appreciate formatting,
>> who do not spell well, and who cannot write well formed sentences,
>> something which the workplace zrequires more and more of employees.
>>
>> The ansilary benefits of Braille are the same as those benefits
>> sighted people gain from learning print.  reading silently to
>> yourself, for example, is different even for a blind person than from
>> one reading via audio means.
>> No matter what silent personal non verbal reading permits different
>> thought processes and contemplations than reading via someone's or
>> something's voice.  Without Braille we lose that opportunity.
>>
>> Finally, , remember that although Harry Potter may take up several
>> volumes
>> in Braille it takes up only a few hundred KB in a computer file.
>> Reading
>> Braille from paper or a refreshable display offers  all the benefits
>> of Braille and modern technology gives us a way to keep down the space
>> problem.
>>
>> "Modern Society and its educators" forget these concepts.  Braille
>> must be encouraged and all blind persons, not just totally blind
>> people, should learn it to be on an equal reading footing with our
>> sighted counterparts.
>>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>>
>> Michael Hingson
>>
>>
>> Mike Hingson
>>
>> The Michael Hingson Group, INC.
>> "Speaking with Vision"
>> Michael Hingson, President
>> (415) 827-4084
>> info at michaelhingson.com
>> To learn more about my upcoming book, speaking topics and speaking
>> availability please visit www.michaelhingson.com Thunder Dog is now
>> available for early ordering on Amazon!!!
>> http://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Dog-Blind-Triumph-Ground/dp/140020304X/r
>> ef=sr_
>> 1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289090352&sr=1-3
>>
>>
>> for info on the new KNFB Reader Mobile, visit:
>> http://knfbreader.michaelhingson.com
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-
>> bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of John Heim
>> Sent: Friday, November 26, 2010 3:01 PM
>> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] FYI Are Braille's days as the great equalizer
>> over?
>>
>> Well, I basically agree with you but I don't think we should totally
>> dismiss the other point of view. I think the need to learn braille is
>> becoming a tougher and tougher sell as young blind people get more and
>> more into technology.
>>
>> Learning braille is really hard and for the few times you need it, its
>> hard to say it's worth the effort. But in my opinion, it's like not
>> having enough lifeboats on the titanic. Its like not getting your flu
>> shot. Its like not buying insurance. Yeah, maybe you'll never need it.
>> but if you do, you are going to be darn glad you took the time to
>> learn it.
>>
>> this is probably the most valuable thing about the NFB philosophy.
>> don't try to just slide by. Attack being blind Go after it. Learn how
>> to use a computer, learn how to cross a street, and by all means,
>> learn braille.
>>
>> This is how I approach my young friends who have lost their sight. get
>> out there and get it done. Approach it like any other problem. Its
>> going to take hard work. But to be the best blind guy you can be, you
>> need braille.
>>
>>
>> On Nov 26, 2010, at 2:48 PM, Ray Foret Jr wrote:
>>
>>> Seems to me we've all heard this same sorry song and dance before.
>>> Are the days of Print through as the great equalizer?  No?  If not,
>>> why not?  I suspect I can guess how most fluent Braille readers will
>>> come down on this one.  I don't read Braille as fluently as I really
>>> should, but, seems to me that Braille is necessary to daily life.
>>> this tired old song and dance of "Braile is being replaced by
>>> technology" is the most stupid thing I think I've ever come across.
>>>
>>>
>>> Sincerely,
>>> The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!
>>>
>>> Now A Very Proud and very happy Mac user!!!
>>>
>>> Skype Name:
>>> barefootedray
>>>
>>> On Nov 26, 2010, at 2:36 PM, Michael Hingson wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> 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+da
>> ys+as+
>>>>
>> the+great+equalizer+over%3f+http%3a//www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/
>> the+great+equalizer+Braill
>>>> e%2bdays%2bgreat%2bequalizer%2bover/3369651/story.html>
>>>> * LinkedIn
>>>>
>> <http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=http%3a//www.natio
>> nalpos
>>>> 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
>>>>
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>> 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/new
>> s/cana
>>>> da/Braille%2bdays%2bgreat%2bequalizer%2bover/3369651/
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>>>> 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
>>>>
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>> ionalp
>>>> 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+bett
>> er+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+bli
>> nd/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
>>>>
>>>> Thunder Dog is now available for early ordering on Amazon!!!
>>>>
>> <http://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Dog-Blind-Triumph-Ground/dp/140020304X/
>> ref=sr
>>>> _1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289090352&sr=1-3>
>>>>
>> http://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Dog-Blind-Triumph-Ground/dp/140020304X/r
>> ef=sr_
>>>> 1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289090352&sr=1-3
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> for info on the new KNFB Reader Mobile, visit:
>>>>
>>>> <http://knfbreader.michaelhingson.com>
>> http://knfbreader.michaelhingson.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> nfb-talk mailing list
>>>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org
>>>
>>>
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-- 
Kathleen A. Millhoff

Special Education,
Advocate,
Writer/Poet




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