I found this article in the November, 1996 issue of the Braille Monitor, published by the National
Federation of the Blind. You can view the entire issue by going to 
http://www.nfb.org/bm/bm96/brlm9611.htm.

Literacy, Learning, and Louis Braille
LITERACY, LEARNING, AND LOUIS  BRAILLE
    From President Maurer: Braille literacy is a vital part of
the education of blind students. In the past several years we
have concentrated on increasing the use of Braille among blind
children and adults. We have produced the Braille  video, That
the Blind May Read;   we have created the National Association to
Promote the Use of Braille; we have conducted Braille Readers Are
Leaders contests; we have founded the International Braille and
Technology Center for the Blind; we have supported the
International Braille Research Center for the Blind; we have
produced large quantities of Braille books and magazines; we have
taught workshops to encourage Braille teaching through mentors in
the states; and we have promoted the use of Braille in local
chapters and state affiliates.
  The National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey conducted a
seminar on the importance of Braille at its 1996 convention. One
of the real problems with Braille is that it is regarded by many
people as unusual. Almost nobody feels that way about print. I am
reminded of a conversation I once had with Ray McGeorge, a long-
time Federation leader and the husband of Diane McGeorge, who is
a member of the NFB Board of Directors and President of the
Colorado affiliate. Ray served as Denver Chapter Treasurer for
many years.
  Ray McGeorge has been blind most of his life. Sometimes he has
had a little remaining vision. Sometimes he has been totally
blind. He learned to read print early, and he found the
availability of printed material fascinating. At one point he
regained a major portion of his vision, and one of the things he
wanted to read was the advertising on the cans, boxes, bags, and
packages in the grocery store.
  Sighted people take print for granted. Print appears on
virtually everything and almost everywhere. For the blind it
isn't like that. There is more Braille today than there once was.
However, it is still often hard to get.
  To address the Braille literacy problem the National Federation
of the Blind of New Jersey has established a volunteer Braille-
teaching program in the state. Anybody who wants to learn Braille
can contact the President. The closest volunteer in the program
will be assigned to teach Braille. The result is that there is
now a group in New Jersey whose members share Braille
experiences. Those in the group range from very young children to
senior citizens. The convention presentations by members of this
group demonstrate how concerted local action increases
opportunity. Robert Kanish chaired the Braille panel. Here is
what he said in introducing  it :
  Every year the National Association to Promote the Use of
Braille, commonly known as NAPUB, sponsors a Braille literacy
contest for blind and visually impaired children from across the
United States. This year the National Federation of the Blind of
New Jersey decided to hold one also.
  We asked our children from kindergarten through high school to
submit Braille compositions about one of these topics: ways I use
Braille; Braille readers can be leaders; or any other Braille-
related topic. In our contest participants seem to have come
mainly from the third and fourth grades. Katie Maunder's entry
was judged the best and received first prize. I think you will
agree that the winning composition deserves top rating. Listen
now as Katie reads her very own composition about the ways she is
using Braille.
    That is what Mr. Kanish said. Katie Maunder is eleven years
old, and this is her composition, which she delivered from the
 podium:
  I started learning Braille when I was two. My mother made a
special board for me. It was called the velcro board. My mother
Brailled the cards on it from A to Z. Another way I learned
Braille was that, when I was about three, Mom started labeling
everything. Almost everything I walked into had Braille on it. If
I walked into a table, it would have "table" written on it in
Braille. If I walked into a chair, it would have "chair" written
on it.
  I used to have a keyboard which had all the knobs, switches,
and buttons Brailled so I knew which button was which. I also
used Braille-display card games like Uno, Happy Families, and a
funny game called Hello Jack. I used Braille to play a game
called Scrabble, and I have Braille on my computers as well. Two
of the computers with lots of Braille were Speak and Spell and
Speak Music. The Braille is there so I can read what to do.
  I Braille all of my tapes with a special label-making machine.
You move the labeling machine to the letter you want and press
hard to make it come out.
  I often think my Braille Writer is a hero because it always
behaves itself when I write on it. I even made up a song about my
Braille Writer.
  I use Braille at school too. I have a Braille Writer in my
classroom, and I use it for all my work.
  Most of all, I use Braille to read. I have read lots of books
in my lifetime. Roald Dahl's  Matilda is my favorite book. Those
are all the ways I use Braille. I am having fun reading, writing,
and enjoying Braille.
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Donna Panaro]
    Two presentations which followed Katie's were made by Kristen
Diaz, an eleven-year-old fifth grader, and Donna Panaro, the
mother of a four-year-old blind child. Kristen  said:
  Hello, I am Kristen Diaz. I am eleven years old and in the
fifth grade. About a year ago I started learning Braille with
Mrs. Agnes Allen, and now we are almost done reviewing the code.
I am also homeschooled; that means my mom and dad teach me at
home. They also teach my younger brother Matthew.
  I am legally blind, but I can enjoy a good book outside under a
tree, under the covers at night, in the car, or even at a
friend's house. How do I do it? I use Braille.
  I have Leber's Congenital Amaurosis, which is a macular
degenerative eye disease. This means that I may lose my sight
slowly and gradually over a period of time. I might become
totally blind later on down the road. Should my sight become so
poor that I am not able to read print, I will not need to take
time out to learn Braille, because I have learned it now. I will
be able to function well in the world of information because I
already know the code.
  When I read print, I need the right lighting and print size
conditions, or I need to use my reading glasses or CCTV [Closed
Circuit Television]. When I read Braille, I don't need any of
these things because I don't need sight to read Braille. It takes
a good memory and a well-developed sense of feel, but other than
that, learning Braille is rather easy.
  My mother and I are looking for ways to use Braille in my daily
life so that I do not lose what I have gained. We have come up
with a telephone and address book, recipes, and reading, which I
do now recreationally. I learned Braille so that I may have a
choice when I read. Right now I use Braille and print for
different things, and I enjoy them both equally.

    The comments of the next presenter, Donna Panaro, demonstrate
the importance of encouraging the use of Braille in the home.
This is what Donna reported to the  convention:
  I am the mother of a four-year-old blind child. Her name is
Kristin. I decided quite early that I would learn Braille. I
wanted to have the opportunity to assist my daughter in learning.
(I knew Kristin would receive Braille instruction only two to
four times per week at school, and I felt it would be more
beneficial for her to receive instruction on a daily basis to
become proficient in Braille. Sighted children learning to read
and write practice every day.) I also wanted to learn Braille so
that I could communicate with Kristin in writing. Numerous times
I have heard successful Braille readers say it helped
tremendously that their parents knew Braille.
  One day I was reading  The  Sounding  Board (the newsletter of
the National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey), and I saw an
article about a Braille tutoring service that sparked my
interest. A person wishing to learn Braille could call the
National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey and be matched up
with a tutor in the local community. Bob Kanish put me in contact
with a wonderful teacher named Lois Wencil, and it took me
approximately one year to learn to read and write in Braille. I
met with Lois about two times per month for a few hours, and she
not only taught me Braille but she also taught me important
techniques for teaching Kristin, techniques that I might not have
been able to learn elsewhere. For example, I would Braille
Kristin's favorite books. I would also make labels in Braille for
many things in our home.
  I can't thank Bob and Lois enough for giving me this
opportunity to learn Braille, and in the future I would like to
pass my knowledge on to other parents who have the same interest.
  My purpose here today is to encourage parents to learn Braille.
Braille means literacy for our children--it gives our children
the ability to read and write. I can't think of a more important
job that we as parents have than to help facilitate teaching
Braille to our young Braille readers and writers of tomorrow so
that they can learn to read and write at the same rate as their
sighted peers. We need to make sure this happens if there is to
be a better life for our children.
  Again, our children should be on the same reading level as
their sighted peers. We should expose our children to Braille
early and make sure they keep up with the class. Our children can
be age-appropriate--we must keep this in our minds and hearts at
all times!
    The final participant on the afternoon program was Agnes
Allen, one of the volunteer teachers of the Braille classes being
conducted by the  chapter.
  As a student at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Blind
in Pittsburgh back in the 1930's and early 1940's B.C. (before
computers), I learned to read and write Braille. Braille was a
given in those days; it was basic to everything else I learned in
school. All my textbooks were in Braille. Listening to a history
or geography lesson on tape was unheard of. Oh, yes, talking
books were available for listening enjoyment if I chose to go
that route for entertainment and leisure-time activity. But for
honest-to-goodness, hard-core study purposes there was no
substitute for Braille for me as a blind child. And even my
partially-sighted classmates had to learn Braille. Some of them
were compelled to read with aprons tied around their necks, which
covered their fingers as they moved across the page to prevent
peeking at the dots. Looking back now, I wonder just how often
those kids succumbed to the temptation to lift the apron for a
peek at the dots when teacher was looking the other way. But
seriously, for me the mastery of Braille was the key to becoming
literate, just as print was for my fully sighted friends.
  Because I was Braille-literate, I could go on to college to
become an English major, reading Chaucer and Shakespeare along
with my sighted peers. As a history student I could take copious
notes, writing rapidly with my wonderfully convenient and
portable pocket slate and stylus. It was possible to take six
pages of notes during a single class, which I could study
independently at my own pace as I was preparing for a major test.
After Brailling the examination questions, I was free to work on
my own, typing the answers for the benefit of my sighted
instructors. In a word, because I was Braille literate, I was
able to read and write my way to college honors at graduation
time.
  Because I was fortunate enough to have learned Braille music at
the School for the Blind, I was able to memorize works of
outstanding classical and romantic composers to play in recital
during my junior year in college for audiences of several
hundred. I was later to have the opportunity to teach piano to
sighted children.
  As a teacher of blind children and adults, I could give my
knowledge of Braille to others, helping in my turn to foster
Braille literacy for them. As a social worker and case worker in
New Jersey, I kept Braille records for every one of my clients.
From these Braille files I could type continuing records for
children in foster care, for teenage runaway cases, and for the
youngsters known as truants and incorrigibles. In this way I
could prepare for court reviews and court hearings at which my
recommendations for positive programs were sought as a means of
fostering a better quality of life for these troubled young
people.
  As a mother of three children in a single-parent household,
Braille labeling helped me deal with the monthly bills and keep
the accounting records of the funds coming in and going out.
  When my children were still minors, a growing hearing loss for
me caused a termination of regular employment and necessitated
seeking work in areas which did not require a keen sense of
hearing. A kind friend presented the idea of Braille
proofreading. I latched onto this possibility and studied for
certification. For many years I served as a proofreader for a
private agency producing Braille books and magazines. Currently I
work as a part-time proofreader of Braille textbooks for blind
children in our schools.
  To sum up, Braille literacy skills have helped me to achieve
fulfillment in every major aspect of my life--as a student; as a
teacher; as a case worker; as an employee for a Braille
production house; and, above all, as a mother, dedicated to
giving a real future to my children. I could not have done it
without the ability to read and write Braille.
  Modern technology is fast, functional, advantageous, and handy.
Using tapes and speech synthesizers can be an adequate way of
obtaining vital information, but listening is not the same as
reading, and talking is not the same as writing. The most
marvelous and magnificent of all computers, the human brain, is
available through the medium of Braille. I thank you, Louis
Braille, for providing these six tiny dots--the nucleus from
which the whole Braille system has evolved. With these six dots
it is possible to retrieve a whole world of education and
experience, to understand a lifetime of personal growth and
happiness, and to achieve the highest level of independence. With
your help and the help of my blind friends I have found
opportunities which could not have been attained without you--I
have discovered the promise and enjoyed the reality of
independence.