I found this article in the Fall, 1994 issue of Future Reflections, published by the National 
Federation of the Blind. You can view the entire issue by going to http://www.nfb.org/fr/fr1/94fall.htm.

BRAILLE LITERACY LEGISLATION: TESTIMONY FROM A PARENT
     by Julie Hunter
     Editor's Note: In April, 1994, Colorado joined the ranks of
the 25 states which have passed Braille literacy legislation. The
following testimony was given by Julie Hunter, mother of a blind
teen-age daughter and president of the Parents of Blind Children
Division of the NFB of Colorado, on behalf of this legislation. As
our regular readers know, model Braille literacy legislation was
developed and promoted by the National Federation of the Blind.
These laws assert the right of blind childrenŝincluding those with
partial sightŝto learn Braille. This legislation is a significant
part of our campaign to eliminate illiteracy among our nation's
blind and visually impaired population. Here is what Julie Hunter
said about the need for this legislation:
     
     Mister Chairman and members of the committee: Thank you for
the opportunity to address you this morning. I am here in support
of House Bill (HB) 1148. I am the parent of a blind child and the
president of the Parents of Blind Children Division of the National
Federation of the Blind of Colorado. In that role I receive phone
calls from parents asking for advice and support on many different
issues. I would like to tell you about two of those phone calls
which I believe will help to clarify why this bill is so important
to the future of visually impaired children. 
     First, I would like to tell you about Mrs. Smith and her
visually impaired son Robert. Robert is one of those children who
is legally blind and has some usable vision. Three years ago, when
Robert was eight years old and in the second grade, his mother
called to ask for help in getting Braille instruction for her
child. Robert was being provided with several types of
magnification and a special light at his desk so that he could read
print. He hunched over his reading so that his eyes would be within
two or three inches of the page. The option of Braille was never
discussed with Mrs. Smith. In fact, the mother brought up the
possibility herself. I quote from the mother: 
     "As early as kindergarten I repeatedly asked about Braille but
the teacher would say, `Why do you want to do this to your child?
Look at this big machine he would have to use [meaning the Braille
writer]. Why do you want your child to be different?'"
     As you can well imagine, this mother was torn. On the one hand 
she didn't want to argue with this teacher. She felt intimidated
and insecure. On the other hand she had a gnawing feeling that her
son was not going to make good progress while straining to read at
close range and fatiguing very quickly. To make a long story short,
Diane McGeorge [the blind Director of the Colorado Center for the
Blind, a Federation training center] and I went to the IEP meeting
with Mrs. Smith, and Braille was written into the plan. 
     However, the story does not end here. During the meeting it
became clear that the teacher of the visually impaired was not
comfortable with teaching Braille. He said that he had not taught
it for some time and would have to "review as we go along." In
fact, I handed the teacher a page of Braille belonging to my
daughter who was in middle school, and the teacher was unable to
read it. That teacher decided to leave the school district and a
replacement was not found that year. The next year another teacher
of the visually  impaired was hired, and she began Braille
instruction with Robert. At that point I lost touch with Mrs.
Smith. I had an occasion to talk to her recently and asked how
things were going. She told me dejectedly that she had given up,
she had lost the fight. It seems that Robert got contact lenses and
reading glasses which somewhat improved his reading vision. Now he
could read without magnification. The teacher said that Braille was
no longer necessary; he would be a print reader. But, says his mom,
he still has to hold the page four inches from his eyes, and he
still fatigues easily. In fact, his reading speed is slow, and he
is behind his classmates. The teacher has recently mentioned that
they will be using more taped material in middle school because his
speed is slow. 
     Mrs. Smith still feels that Robert would be better off if he
could have both reading modalities, print and Braille, but she has
given up. The teachers and school personnel have Robert on their
side now. They say, "He doesn't want to learn Braille." She feels
intimidated and powerless against the professionals and a
pre-adolescent son who now doesn't want Braille because it would
make him look different. 
     Here is a mother who has more good sense than the people
trained in education. She can see the trend: slow, laborious
reading; more and more taped material; and the probable decline in
Robert's education in general. But, she has given up because a
teacher has made the decision that he will read print, period. She
just got tired of fighting for something in which no one else
believed. 
     The second story is much shorter. This is an opposite
situation and one that supports the good job that many teachers are
doing in determining reading modalities. I had a call this week
from a mother who has a child who also has a lot of usable vision.
Her child is in kindergarten and is being taught Braille and how to
use a cane. This mother's call had to do with the fact that she was
having a difficult time accepting the fact that these alternative
skills were being taught. She always thought that her child could
see pretty well and that she wouldn't have to "look blind."
Intellectually she recognizes that Braille and canes are good
things, but it's hard for her to accept. She recognizes that she
needs to work on her own attitudes about blindness in order to
support her child. 
     Here is an example of how the system should work. The teacher
of the visually impaired jumped in early and got this child
started. The mother would have gladly accepted large print and
magnifiers for her child. She could have postponed dealing with her
own insecurities and prejudices about blindness and blithely gone
along for the ride. There are hundreds of parents like her. Without
guidance they do not know enough about what consequences lie ahead
when their child reaches high school or college and can't keep up,
or what the consequences can be in lowered self-esteem. 
     There are teachers of the visually impaired who are adequately
assessing reading modalities, who believe in the efficiency of
Braille, and who are very competent teachers of Braille. There are
also teachers who are not bad teachers, but they believe  Braille
is a "last resort," that it is a symbol of blindness to be avoided
if there is remaining vision, even if that means you hold the book
in front of your nose and tire after reading two pages.
     We need HB 1148 to provide the framework on which to build
regulations which will guarantee every legally blind child a fair
chance to learn.