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Hi All
"I have a question and need some suggestions.
An administrator recently said that she'd been told that we should not worry about giving
our students braille as they would be using everything in a recorded medium in the future.
I was shocked to hear this kind of talk. I want to create a rebuttal for this kind of
misinformation, so I'd like to get your help.
What are your thoughts and reactions to this statement?
How would you make a strong case for braille literacy?
You time and thoughts are greatly appreciated!!"
I was a bit irritated at the thought of somebody even making that statement. While I processed what I would respond with, the Superintendent of the California School for the Blind sent out an email. I think his response says it best:
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Hi Jane (and all),
I’ve been hearing these kinds of comment throughout my career – including by surprise during my defense of my dissertation (which studied the attitudes of TVIs to braille and to their university training in braille). Over 10 years ago I got a call from a teacher in North Carolina who was fighting to teach braille to one of her students. Both her administrators and the parents of the student told her that her belief in braille was outdated. They advocated for speech output computers for this youngster and told her that the Braille Code was obsolete. She asked me if I shared her belief in braille as a viable reading medium for blind students, and if so, she asked me to write something which supported the continued use of the Braille Code. I’ve reproduced below what I wrote her back in 1997. I think it’s still relevant and I hope you find it useful.
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A Rationale for the Use of Braille in the Information AgeStuart Wittenstein, Ed.D., September, 1997
Braille is the natural literacy medium for blind persons and is an essential component of any educational program serving blind children. Braille is the foremost tactile reading and writing system and is considered by the vast majority of professionals, blind individuals, and parents of blind children to be the primary means by which blind people can become literate.
In the writings of blind persons the Braille Code has been called, “the key to opportunity,” “the means of emancipation, the greatest gift to the blind,” “a viable equivalent of the print media . . . highly flexible and adaptable,” “this marvelous vehicle . . . [that] holds the key to genuine literacy and independence.” In fact, statistics regarding employment among blind individuals reveals that braille use has an extremely high correlation with employment. This is of particular importance since it is estimated that 70% of blind persons are unemployed or underemployed.
Writings by professionals on the Braille Code make it clear that “as long as print is the primary literacy medium of sighted people, braille will be the primary literacy medium for blind people.” In addition, there has been much recent emphasis on enhancing teacher training in braille (for example, the American Foundation for the Blind’s Braille Mentor Program).
In the recent [1997] reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the U.S. Congress accepted the input of blind persons and blindness education professionals and added language to the law that presumes the use of braille for blind children. In other words, if the Individual Educational Plan (IEP) for a blind youngster does not include braille reading and writing, the law requires assessment data to justify this decision (e.g., the child can successfully read print, or is too cognitively impaired or physically impaired to be able to read braille). Legally, braille is considered the literacy medium of choice for blind children.
In this modern “information age,” new questions have arisen about the continued importance of the Braille Code even as technology has increased accessibility to information for blind individuals. It should be noted that much of the best assistive technology (for example, Braille N’ Speak) combines speech and braille and requires knowledge of the Braille Code by the consumer. Even as speech output technology has improved, blind computer users throughout the world have found that the ability to use braille input and output devices, to refer to hard copy and refreshable braille products, to be able to read and write in a tactile medium, has enhanced their professional and personal lives. Technology has actually improved and increased the use of the Braille Code, not made it obsolete. As long as sighted computer users access information in print on the screen or in hard copy format, blind computer users must have a tactile equivalent.
Finally, as seen in a wonderful video available through the Hadley School for the Blind, entitled “Personal Touch,” braille is not only a literacy medium but much, much more. In this video, blind persons are shown using braille to label their clothing, to cook using a recipe, to measure wood for cutting with a power tool, and to read aloud to their sighted children. For persons who are blind, braille represents independence and equality, as well as literacy -- in the workplace, in the home, and in the community. Far from becoming obsolete, braille’s importance is more recognized today than at any time in its history.
Stuart Wittenstein, Ed.D.
Superintendent
California School for the Blind
500 Walnut Avenue
Fremont, CA 94536
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