Hello ARdith,

On Wed 2011-Jul-06 23:52, Ardith Hinton (1:153/716) wrote to Richard Webb:



AH>  she's reached a point where the printing has to be
AH>  enlarged so much that even at elementary level a single
AH>  word may not necessarily fit onto a single page.  But
AH>  it seems that everywhere Mom goes looking for help she's
AH>  told "We don't do Braille any more"... (sigh).

RW>  THere is a CAnadian FEderation of the Blind.  Have her
RW>  look on www.nfb.org, there may be links.


AH>            Ah.  Thankyou... I'll make sure she knows about it.  :-) 

YEs, especially in light of what you tell me later in your
message.  The CAnadian FEderation may have advocacy help for parents as does
NFB here in the states.  Encourage her to
look there, and send emails to any/all email links begging
for help.

AH>            Yes, the family now has some materials & equipment on
AH> loan from the CNIB.  Mom reported a couple of years ago, however,
AH> that the CNIB was not very co-operative at the time because her
AH> daughter wasn't blind enough yet!  One of the problems we have
AH> encountered with organizations in general is the way they determine
AH> who qualifies for assistance.  It's obvious to this girl's mother...
AH> and to a certain pair of old schoolteachers... that she's
AH> functionally blind & has been for awhile.  I guess such
AH> organizations have to set limits somewhere. But Dallas & I have been
AH> in far too many other situations where it seems we're alone in
AH> recognizing what's happening & in making long-term educational
AH> plans. 

Indeed, that's a problem.  Sometimes the teachers can be the best advocates
for the students, but sometimes not, which is why we have such programs here
in the states as the
individualized education plan, which is supposed to be
developed with professionals *and* parents, but first the
parents often have to be educated, both to understand
options and possible outcomes.  Usually CNIB and other such
agencies have to go by a legal definition of blindness,
often here in the states defined as 20/200 in the better eye with correction,
or a certain field of vision, can't recall
what those criteria are.  Encourage the family to use the
nfb.org resource to make contact with our sister
organization in CAnada, and be that squeaky wheel.


RW>  It's important to get the little ones started with
RW>  braille asap in these situation, imnsho.


AH>            That's my take on it.  Others disagree because they
AH> believe sighted or partially sighted folks try to cheat by using
AH> their eyes.  When a kid can't locate white crockery on a black
AH> tablecloth without using her fingers, I don't imagine she can see
AH> tiny raised dots with no colour contrast at all!  A person who can
AH> see well enough to read large print and/or who is satisfied with
AH> being read to by synthesized voices may not feel motivated to learn
AH> Braille, however ... from that standpoint you were fortunate in some
AH> ways.  At the blind school you probably didn't have a choice & your
AH> classmates were learning it too.  ;-) 

YEs, but back then there were the dreaded "talking books" on record, or reels
of tape.  Also, and maybe you don't want to get me started on this one, but
the "professionals in the
field" had this grand experiment called "sightsaving" going
on, which they started after WW II when the system was
receiving a large influx of blind children thanks to the
babies blinded by incubators, or Retrolentral fibroplasia
(spelling)   Where they discouraged the use of
braille and encouraged use of magnification even though it
would handicap a student later in life, because we couldn't
get enough braille conversant instructors into the
classroom.  THey almost pigeonholed me into that one, but my mother fought
them successfully.  .

AH>                                 News Update

AH>            In our friend's case we're not sure how much of the
AH> desire to learn Braille comes from Mom & how much comes from her. 
AH> Maybe the folks at the CNIB had some reservations about that at
AH> first.  Mom is not particularly assertive, but she's learning.  In
AH> September her daughter will be entering high school... where she'll
AH> allegedly get Braille instruction from a woman who is blind.  :-) 

I hope so, and even if the daughter is reluctant the parents need to push. 
tHe rest of her life depends upon her
developing literacy tools, and even if she mainly uses
braille to make notes for herself and to label household
items such as canned goods, medicines, etc. it's a tool she
can't afford to be without.  YEs tools such as the handheld
reader in a cell phone developed by Ray Kurzweil and the NFB in partnership
are available, but there's nothing like being able to use the blind person's
equivalent of a pencil to
make notes or label items that need labels, batteries not
required!



Regards,
           Richard
... Braille:  support true literacy for the blind.
---
 * Origin:  (1:116/901)