I found this article in the March, 1990 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/bm90/brlm9003.htm. WHY BRAILLE? The following letters to the editor, which appeared in the Baltimore Sun between June 17 and November 4, 1989, illustrate with stark clarity the crisis facing everyone concerned about the growing illiteracy of blind youngsters at the mercy of too many so-called experts in the field of education. Barry Frieman, whose sensible letter began the furor, is a professor at Frostburg State College. He understands the issues and is concerned that so many children for whom print reading is slow and difficult are being denied instruction in the Braille that would allow them to be competitive with their sighted peers. The full exchange of views is reprinted here from the Winter, 1990, edition of the Braille Spectator , the publication of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland. Here's what the general public, the Federation, and the Maryland School for the Blind had to say: June 17, 1989 Editor: College students are becoming increasingly skilled in the use of computers, but we would not think of taking away their notebooks and pens. It's hard to use a computer and take notes in class, write notes to friends, or write down a new friend's phone number. We wouldn't think of doing away with paper and pencils in our schools. Unfortunately we are doing just that with blind and visually impaired students by teaching them to use machines and by discouraging the teaching and use of Braille. Instead of discouraging the learning of Braille, we must motivate and encourage the use of this essential tool. If not, we will create a class of functionally illiterate children ill-equipped to go to college or hold most responsible jobs. In order to meet the educational needs of blind and other visually impaired children, greater attention must be paid to the preparation of Braille teachers. The state must re-evaluate the minimum standards now in force to certify teachers of Braille. We must teach Braille so that blind and other visually handicapped children can achieve their full educational potential. Barry B. Frieman, Columbia ____________________ July 7, 1989 Editor: In response to Professor Barry Frieman's letter on the teaching of Braille (Saturday, June 17): Prospects are bleak for Maryland's blind and visually impaired school-age children, since the experts in special education continue to discourage the teaching and use of Braille. Without adequate Braille skills for taking notes and keeping records, blind and visually impaired children will be ill-equipped for productive employment in their adult years. The Maryland School for the Blind, which should be at the forefront of teaching Braille, can give you a million reasons why a particular blind child cannot learn Braille. For the mere handful of its students who are taught Braille, motivation and encouragement are certainly lacking. This year, none of the Maryland School for the Blind's students were entered in the National Federation of the Blind's Braille-reading contest the only nation-wide Braille reading competition. It is hypocritical for a school for the blind to claim to offer quality education and not encourage its students to learn Braille. In the public schools, even when parents know enough to ask for Braille instruction, they are told that it isn't necessary. If they persist in their demands, the local education agency starts to play its bureaucratic stalling game. Parents of a blind child in Baltimore County had to go to due process hearings before the county and the state, causing their child to lose two years of valuable instruction time in Braille. Do school districts refuse to teach Braille because their teachers are not competent to teach it? It is clear that the competence required of teachers to teach Braille is unacceptably low. We would not tolerate the teaching of reading and writing (in print) by a teacher who has completed only one semester of training in reading and writing, and who has not mastered the techniques well enough to use them in practice. Yet this is the acceptable requirement for teachers of Braille in Maryland. The Maryland State Library for the Blind, the primary source of reading materials for the blind, has no children's librarian and only 200 Braille titles for primary school-age youngsters. We may laugh off a library with such pathetic offerings for children, but parents simply do not have the option of going to their neighborhood bookstore to purchase Braille books for their blind children. The resources needed to improve the teaching of Braille are modest. Education officials do not seem to have either the understanding or the commitment needed to prepare blind children for productive lives. With the best of intentions, we are creating a class of functional illiterates. Sharon Maneki, Columbia [President, National Federation of the Blind of Maryland] ____________________ July 23, 1989 Editor: As superintendent of the Maryland School for the Blind, I am compelled to reply to Sharon Maneki's July 7th letter about MSB's teaching of Braille. Our board of directors, which includes members who are blind, has repeatedly reviewed and affirmed the school's philosophy of teaching each child to read in the best medium for that child. I am proud that this school has a national reputation for quality individualized education of students whose capabilities cover a wide range, from above-average students whose only disability is visual impairment to students who are developmentally disabled and severely and profoundly handicapped. The school does not discourage the teaching and use of Braille. On the contrary, all students who are capable of learning the Braille system and who don't have enough useful vision to read print learn Braille. We are very pleased that because of a generous bequest, in the next school year we will be able to employ a full-time Braillist and add to our inventory of Braille equipment. Although only about 16 percent of all visually impaired children who are able to read in the United States use Braille, at the Maryland School for the Blind, 25 percent of the students with the intellectual capability to learn to read are using or learning to use Braille. We have students who are exceptional Braille readers, using special Braille codes to read music and mathematical and scientific notation. This past school year, 30 MSB students participated in Pizza Hut's National Reading Incentive Program. Both Braille and low-vision readers could take part in a contest that is enjoyed by disabled and nondisabled children. Ten-year-old Paul Jackson, a Braille reader, led the way among MSB students by reading 50 books. The previous year, MSB students received awards in the National Federation of the Blind's Braille reading contest. The Maryland School for the Blind is a unique Maryland institution which is committed to addressing the needs of all visually impaired children in the state, including the multi-handicapped. Among the school's highly trained and motivated staff are excellent Braille teachers and practitioners. We are proud of all our students, our staff, and our programs. Richard L. Welsh, Baltimore [Superintendent, Maryland School for the Blind] ____________________ August 17, 1989 Editor: I have read the recent series of letters in the Sun regarding Braille literacy with more than passing interest. Sharon Maneki in her letter of July 7 referred to a boy whose parents had to go through two due-process hearings over nearly a two-year period before the state finally ordered the Baltimore County school district to teach their child Braille. That boy is my son. What the letter did not say was that one of the key witnesses against allowing our son to learn Braille was a long-time employee of the Maryland School for the Blind. Although this man had never met our son, much less evaluated him, he testified against us on the basis that the Maryland School for the Blind had a policy against teaching Braille unless it had to. In short, if you are totally blind and have no other problems, the school will probably teach you Braille. But what about the large population of blind children who, like my son, can read some print, but in limited ways? There are children who can only read print with a large TV screen magnifier, children who can only read for short periods of time before they must stop because of pain and fatigue. There are children who have pinhole vision and can only see a few words at a time. Then there are the children who have deteriorating eye conditions. It is not uncommon for these youth to lose their ability to use print at critical times in their lives just as they start college or as they are trying to establish themselves in jobs. These are the children whom the Maryland School for the Blind will not teach Braille. I know. Even though my son was never a student at that school, he was almost a victim of its Braille policy. Unfortunately, many parents buy into the school's false reasoning. The necessity for Braille is often not recognized until one is trying to get a job or hold a job. That's a bad time to try to learn. Braille illiteracy is now recognized by all major agencies and organizations serving the blind as the foremost problem in the education of blind children. It has become a prominent topic in blindness journals. Dr. Richard Welsh at the Maryland School for the Blind would have the public and parents of blind children believe that all is wonderfully well for blind children in this state and that every child who needs Braille instruction gets it. I know from personal experience that this is not so. This is a tragedy that must be stopped. Barbara Cheadle, Catonsville [President, Parents of Blind Children Division, National Federation of the Blind] ___________________ September 27, 1989 Editor: As an alumnus of the Maryland School for the Blind and as an officer of its board of directors, I am a strong advocate of Braille instruction for blind children, and I use Braille myself. However, Braille is not the best reading medium for every child who attends the school. The school's policy regarding instruction in Braille was misrepresented in an August 17 letter to the editor. Barbara Cheadle represented the school's policy as If you are totally blind and have no other problems, the school will probably teach you Braille. The Maryland School for the Blind believes strongly in the value of Braille for many visually impaired children. Our obligation is to find the best solution that will help each child become as literate as possible. Contrary to Mrs. Cheadle's impressions, most of the children who learn Braille at the school have additional problems besides their visual impairment. Nearly half of them have some mild degree of mental retardation. Six are deaf-blind or have serious hearing impairments. Several have neurological or motor disabilities. Several have learning disabilities. In short, they are representative of the multiple-handicapped population of the school. Many of our Braille students began as print readers and were switched to Braille when it became clear that they could not achieve their full academic potential as print readers. Some are able to read print, but it is obvious that their vision is failing, and they have begun to learn Braille in preparation for the time when they will need it. However, for students whose visual condition is stable and who are able to function well as print readers, we help them become as literate as possible in the medium in which they function best. Three students whose changing visual condition indicates that they will need Braille eventually are resisting the staff's efforts to help them learn Braille. This is not an unusual reaction for adolescents, and it usually disappears given time, personal support, and sensitive instruction. The school's responsibility is to do the best it can for each individual who is referred to us. Even though our students share the common problem of a visual impairment, they are very different individuals with very different needs. Even though some people advocate teaching Braille to all visually impaired people, we put our resources and efforts into treating all our students as individuals. Dennis J. Fisher, Baltimore ____________________ November 4, 1989 Editor: The Maryland School for the Blind claims that its position on the teaching of Braille has been misrepresented by proponents of Braille instruction for all students who meet the legal definition of blindness. To the contrary, no such misrepresentation has been committed. In their letters, the two writers are quite clear. The Maryland School for the Blind insists on serving as sole arbiter of who is, and who is not, fit to learn Braille. The Maryland School for the Blind claims to be the infallible predictor of which child will suffer future vision loss and therefore needs Braille and which child will not suffer future vision loss and therefore does not need Braille. The School's claim of meeting the individual student's needs by not teaching Braille is ridiculous. Try taking notes with a closed circuit TV magnifier, or try searching for a piece of text recorded on an audio cassette. These can't be done as efficiently as they can in Braille. The proponents are simply suggesting that it would be a good idea to offer Braille instruction to all children who meet the legal definition of blindness. As is the case with reading and writing print, reading and writing Braille can be learned most easily during childhood. As a matter of public policy, all sighted children are taught to read and write print, regardless of their audio or visual (or even tactile) learning modalities. The degree to which sighted children master (print) reading and writing skills and the future utility sighted children derive from these skills are correctly left as matters of individual choice. The same policy should apply to Braille skills for blind children. Further attempts by the Maryland School for the Blind to explain its positions are not needed. On the fundamental issues concerning the education of blind children, the Maryland School for the Blind comes up short.