[Nfbf-l] A Visit by Louis Braille!

[Marion & Martin]

November 9, 2009


            Happy Thanksgiving to all of the members and supporters of the National Federation of the Blind! As we near the end of the year of the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille's birth, we will learn more about his life from Louis himself! He will visit the East Hillsborough Chapter and tell us about his childhood, his creation of the Braille code, and his battle to get Braille accepted during his teaching career. He will tell you all this in a very entertaining style!

We are proud to present to you Louis Braille: A One-Man Play, by Jerry Whittle.

Federationists have attended the Louisiana Center for the Blind's (LCB)  plays, performed by LCB students and written and directed by Mr. Whittle, for more than

twenty years at our national conventions. In this one-man play, Jerry Whittle stars as Louis Braille. By presenting this play at our next chapter meeting, we will learn more about the man who opened up the world of literacy to the blind. The East Hillsborough Chapter will meet on Saturday, November 14 at the H2U Classroom of Brandon Regional Hospital, located at 228 S. Moon Avenue in Brandon, Florida. Our social hour is from 10:00 - 11:00 am and the Chapter meeting follows until 1:00 pm. This month's meeting will feature Merry & Marion's awesome chili, along with corn bread! The East Hillsborough Chapter is experiencing growth due to our innovative, progressive initiatives, including our recent technology luncheons, our presence at the University of South Florida, and our push to require the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) . to comply with the Federal Transit Authority's accessibility requirements! If you are blind/visually impaired or are interested in issues of blindness, you owe it to yourself to check us out! We are the agents of change in our  community on issues of blindness and we need your talents and energy to continue and enhance our work! We encourage you to join us as we change what it means to be blind! If you would like to get in touch with me, my contact information is below my signature!

            Sales of the Louis Braille commemorative silver dollar have become brisk again, as the time to buy this unique piece of history nears its end. The good news is that those of us who purchased the coin will realize enhanced value once the remaining coins are melted down. The bad news is that the National Federation of the Blind has less revenue with which to end the Braille literacy crisis in America! 

            In order to receive the nearly $4 million the sale of the 400,000 coins would generate, the Federation is required to raise a matching $4 million. This has already been done! Now we need to make a push to the finish line by selling as many of the nearly 200,000 coins remaining! 

            Whether you are an avid coin collector or not, purchasing this historic coin will be an incredible investment! Not only will the coin be more valuable once the silver is melted down, you will help the NFB reach the goal of doubling the Braille literacy rate by 2015! Braille literacy is the single most important factor for success among the blind. Through sound Braille literacy skills, blind children can compete on terms of full equality with their sighted peers! Don't believe the lies the "professionals" tell! Many teachers of the visually impaired contend that Braille is antiquated, soon to be replaced by talking technology! Would you be content to let our sighted children only read through talking technology? I am certain your answer would be a resounding "No!" Why then, should our blind children be relegated to illiteracy by not being able to know how to spell and punctuate their sentences, skills that cannot be learned by talking technology.

            Others contend that Braille is slow and cumbersome. Tell that to those who read Braille at the same speed sighted people read print! Tell that to the blind attorney who prepares notes in Braille to successfully argue a case. Tell that to the blind teacher who prepares class notes in Braille. Tell that to the professional who keeps client lists and notes to maintain contact with buyers! Tell that to any blind person who is a competent Braille reader who uses Braille in every way sighted people use print! Take away print from the sighted and see how well they function! 

            By the way, do you know that most blind people who read Braille are More likely to be competitively employed and earn higher wages than those who do not read Braille? Do you know that the unemployment rate among the blind exceed 70%, yet the rate among Braille readers is less than 35%? Though this statistic is still too high, it underscores an important reason we must teach our blind children to read Braille! It only makes good sense to teach children to read Braille early in order to ensure their competitive edge in school, work, and society! It only makes good sense to teach blind adults Braille in order to keep them employed! Employment is a major indicator of a groups status and power! It is a major indicator of society's financial health, as well!

            The time to act is now! The U.S. Mint will stop selling the Louis Braille Commemorative Coin on December 11 - a little more than 30 days from now! You owe it to the millions of blind people who need this invaluable tool of independence to help make this goal a reality! Click on the link below or paste it into your browser to find out more about why Braille literacy is important and support the nation's blind who know the value of Braille literacy!

 

http://braille.org

 

Purchase a Louis Braille Commemorative Coin and make change with a dollar! I thank you in advance for your willingness to make a difference!

 

Sincerely yours,

Marion Gwizdala

President - National Association of Guide Dog Users

President - East Hillsborough Chapter

National Federation of the Blind

813-626-2789

President at Blind411.org

http://blind411.org