I found this article in the December, 1991 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/bm91/brlm9112.htm. FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT TO LEARN BRAILLE: NEW YORK FEDERATIONISTS ENTER THE RING From the Associate Editor: Despite the advances that have been made recently with distinguished members of the special education and rehabilitation fields raising their voices in defense of Braille and its importance to blind people, beleaguered parents of blind children in many states are still facing unpleasant battles with school personnel to win adequate Braille instruction for their youngsters. But what recourse does a mother have when her child comes home from school with headaches because the teacher insists that large print, read slowly with eye strain and poor posture, is preferable to Braille? In such a situation Tracy Soto of Rochester, New York, turned to her local chapter of the National Federation of the Blind. Together they are fighting to get more Braille instruction for Ms. Soto's eight-year-old daughter. They have also launched a campaign to educate the state legislature and the members of New York's Board of Regents, which has primary jurisdiction over all education matters in the state. Here is an article describing the conflict of wills. It appeared on October 1, 1991, in the Democrat and Chronicle: Mother Wants Braille in Schools by Linda K. Wertheimer With her legally blind daughter's academic struggles as her impetus, a Rochester woman has helped start a movement to require more Braille instruction in New York State. "She can't read a book unless it's large, large print. She needs more Braille," said Tracy Soto of her 8-year-old daughter, Winada Fleig. Soto has been working locally to get more services for Winada, a student at School 29. Soto also belongs to the National Federation of the Blind of New York's Rochester chapter, which met last week to gather support for a statewide policy on Braille instruction. Some state legislators' representatives also attended. "We launched a statewide effort in Rochester because Tracy Soto has been so interested in getting her child what she needs," said David Arocho, president of the 1,000-member New York State affiliate. Other states in the last few years have approved bills that give blind children the right to become literate in Braille through their school, Arocho said. The Braille system of raised dots lets blind people read and write through touch. A blind child needs to take Braille daily to learn the system well, Arocho said. Winada gets a few hours a week of Braille, Soto said. Members of the state federation plan to meet with state Education Department officials in the next month to promote the proposal. Other chapters around the state will follow the twenty- member Rochester group's lead by running meetings for local lawmakers. "The tendency the last fifteen to twenty years is to prefer that children use vision to the exclusion of Braille. It gets you blind children who are functionally illiterate," Arocho said. He said blind children then grow up relying on recordings or large-type books; they can't take notes or perform other tasks. Legally blind children have vision of twenty over two hundred or less in their better eye with corrective lenses or have a medical problem that causes visual deterioration. Kathryn Hargis, acting coordinating director of special instructional services for the City School District, has reservations about the federation's proposal. "I object to the presumption that visually impaired people should be Braille readers," Hargis said. "I don't think we can say something is right for everybody." Hargis said the district decides whether it's best for a child to learn Braille or to read with other devices. The district also adheres to a research-based philosophy when it comes to its twenty-eight visually impaired students, she said. "We try to keep kids using vision as much as possible," Hargis said. Getting Braille material takes too long, she said. The district obtains its Braille books through a Braille lending library. "With Braille, people in the vision field believe it should be taught when it's needed," Hargis said. "I think, in the not too far future, the technology is such that Braille may become obsolete." Arocho called it a myth that Braille material is difficult to obtain. Technology allows publishers to convert material they put on computer software into Braille, quickly, at about 5 cents a page, he said. With an enlargement system a blind child can read eighty words a minute at best, Arocho said. If children learn Braille at a young age, they can eventually read up to three or four hundred words of Braille a minute, he said. Beth Hatch-Alleyne, secretary of the Federation's Rochester chapter, said her parents fought for her right to take Braille when she was a primary school student in Maine. Her school eventually agreed to send her to a school for the blind for a year so she could learn Braille. The twenty-three-year-old said she has used Braille regularly ever since. For most of her school day, Winada reads her work in large print through a closed-circuit television system, Soto said. Winada reads her homework in large print by a high intensity lamp at home; when she read something last week, she put her head within an inch of the page to see the words. "She gets headaches from trying to read the large print," Soto said. Hargis would not comment about Winada's case, which will be discussed at a hearing at a later date. "If she's getting headaches, she needs further assessment. Reading with their nose to the book is normal for kids with vision impairments." That was the way the newspaper reported the difference of opinion between the special education professionals and a parent who knew only that her daughter needed more Braille and fewer headaches. Tracy Soto, however, had the support of her local chapter of the National Federation of the Blind--people who knew first-hand how important her struggle was, important for her own child, but critical, too, for all the other youngsters across New York who are being denied the Braille that would enable them to learn and work competitively. The Rochester chapter was determined to use every opportunity it could find to educate the public, the legislature, the State Department of Education, and local school officials. Kathleen Hart, an active and committed new member of the Rochester chapter, sat down to write a letter to the editor of the Democrat and Chronicle, which had published the original story. Someone had to undercut the presumed expertise of the special education professional who had gone on record saying that Braille was quite likely to become obsolete and who saw no future difficulties for a youngster who can read large print only when the page is an inch from her face. A blind adult, speaking from a wisdom born of painful experience, can also command respect. The expertise acquired in the school of hard knocks often has a solidity and power that academic theory lacks. Here is the letter to the editor that Kathleen Hart wrote in support of learning Braille: October 10, 1991 Dear Editor: This letter is a response to the article entitled, "Mother wants Braille in Schools," found in the October 1, 1991, issue of the Democrat and Chronicle. I am thirty-two years old and have been blind since birth. I just learned Braille this summer because, when I was in school, everybody believed that I should use print since I had usable vision. No one in the school system considered the effects of reading printed material, i.e., eye strain and headaches. At best I might read eight to ten pages of printed material an hour. I am now determined to make Braille a more efficient means of reading. Learning to read Braille as an adult is frustrating. The best analogy I can give is that of a person who has had a stroke and must learn to speak again. You know you possess the skill, but it takes time to relearn it. I may know all the characters, but now I must build my speed to a point where the skill becomes practical. What makes this more of a challenge is that I am currently in seminary and am carrying a full course load. Closed circuit television systems, recorded materials, and readers are not the most efficient means to study and research papers. I hope to begin using some Braille by next semester. The National Federation of the Blind is not asking for mandated Braille for every blind child. We are saying that Braille should be a viable option for all blind children, regardless of their visual acuity. The school system should present all options to the parents and students without bias. When Braille is the desired medium, then competent instructors of Braille must be employed. Large print may appear useful in the elementary years when the teachers perceive the work load to be light, but as load increases through high school and into college, it becomes less efficient and more burdensome. This I report from experience. Both as a blind person and as a former teacher of special education, I am genuinely concerned about the view of Ms. Hargis. She said that the district determines whether or not a child should learn Braille. By this statement she and the district have denied the parents and child their rights in the education process. An Individualized Education Plan is a process that grants the parents and student the right to participate in the development of the educational goals of any child with a disability. The City School District is denying parents and students this right, which is given under P.L. 94-142 and subsequent laws. If a parent, such as Ms. Soto, is in disagreement with the school, he or she needs to be taken seriously and supported. Attitudes such as those of Ms. Hargis do not address individual differences; rather they promote conformity. God has given each human being gifts that need to be nurtured. God encourages us to embrace the differences of our sisters and brothers, not insist that all conform to one way of life. One should not be made to feel that the use of printed material is superior to the use of Braille, for truly this is not the case. Both are valid systems. Just as printed material will not become obsolete for persons who have sight, so too, Braille will not become obsolete for blind persons. The key to this open-minded attitude is that educators become receptive to diversity and allow children the means to achieve their maximum potential. I wish my parents and I had known about the National Federation of the Blind when I was a child. I might have learned much earlier than six months ago that I could use Braille. Then studying would not have been as difficult, and reading for pleasure would truly have been a pleasure. I encourage any parents who have questions about Braille or any other blindness-connected concern to contact the Rochester chapter of the National Federation of the Blind at 251-1334 or join us at our monthly meetings held this month on October 19, 1991, at 2:00 p.m. at St. John's Home. Sincerely, Kathleen Hart