Braille Monitor, 7/91

The Braille Monitor

Vol. 34, No. 7 July/August 1991

Barbara Pierce, Editor

Published in inkprint, in Braille, on cassette and
the World Wide Web and FTP on the Internet

The National Federation of the Blind
Marc Maurer, President

National Office
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Baltimore, Maryland 21230
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THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION
SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND--IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR THEMSELVES

ISSN 0006-8829

Contents

Vol. 34, No. 7 July/August 1991

From the Editors: Material appropriate for inclusion in the Monitor crosses our desks in a steady stream, but sometimes that stream becomes a torrent. We had planned to devote the entire July issue to the subject of Braille, but so much else of interest seems to be happening that we have decided to produce a July/August edition in order to catch up and then begin afresh following the annual convention. So the theme of this issue is the struggle for the survival of Braille. Many critical events are taking place right now, and there are still many misconceptions about Braille. If we do not succeed in re- establishing the right of blind children and adults to achieve full literacy, our battles for equality, for employment, and even for quality rehabilitation will be virtually impossible to win.

PHOTO: Small child on couch with Braille magazine in her lap. CAPTION: Tiny hands investigate the magic of Braille. Lacy Lebouef of Louisiana was introduced early to Braille.

PHOTO: Adult hands guide child's hands across a Braille page. CAPTION: Young hands are taught the mysteries of Braille. At the 1988 convention Evelyn Riggans of Oregon took time to teach Cherrane Verduin of Illinois some of the fine points of Braille reading.

PHOTO: James Omvig and Charles Brown sit at head table during meeting of NFB Resolutions Committee. CAPTION: Capable hands guide a committee's deliberations using Braille. James Omvig, for many years the chairman of the NFB Resolutions Committee, depends on Braille to keep meetings running smoothly.

PHOTO: Homer Page sits at his desk in his office. CAPTION: Experienced hands read documents in Braille. Homer Page, university professor and Boulder County, Colorado, Commissioner, uses Braille daily in his job.]

From the Associate Editor: After church on Sundays when I was a child, we always stopped at the drug store to buy the New York Times. My parents read it off and on all week long, but during the remainder of the drive home on Sunday, my mother, and later my brother, would read snippets from the front page to the whole family. We all knew that the really important issues and the most pressing crises facing the nation were to be found there.

When living abroad as an adult, I have felt in some ways the same dependence on the Times. I can remember walking along the streets of London and Paris and pausing at the newspaper kiosks with my husband and children to read the headlines in the New York Times. They were a tie with home, a reassuring reminder of what people in the States were thinking about and considering to be important that day. I know I am not alone in this sentimental and emotional attachment to the Times. People across this country and around the world take seriously the ideas that make their way into print in this world-class newspaper.

On Sunday, May 12, 1991, a story by Karen DeWitt appeared on the front page of the New York Times. It was accompanied by a picture of hands using a Braille slate and stylus; the story was about the struggle being waged by blind people to win the right to have Braille instruction available to school-age children who need it. The story was continued later in the first section of the paper, and on the second page there was a large picture of Ken Silberman, an active member of the Federation in Maryland.

Of course, not everything about the story was accurate. The National Federation of the Blind has never contended that every visually impaired youngster should be taught Braille, only that those who want or whose parents want them to learn it should have access to Braille instruction and that its teachers should be competent to read and write it. Moreover, we certainly do not hold technology in disdain. The fact that we do not consider it the be-all and end-all for blind people does not mean that we have no appreciation of speech and large-print access to computers or that the revolution in Braille production is the only technology that we appreciate or will use.

But even with such inaccuracies in the story, the fact remains that the reading public is today more aware of the current debate over Braille than ever before. And people have been clearly told that blind adults believe we need Braille if we are to compete effectively. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." The New York Times heard and put the story on page 1. Here it is:

Kenneth Silberman was in graduate school when he realized he had to learn to read and write.

Mr. Silberman, who is blind, discovered that the tape recorders and computers he had always used to get through school were of little help in the advanced studies required to earn a master's degree.

He ended up teaching himself Braille and received the degree, in aerospace engineering, from Cornell University. But he is still bitter that as a child with only limited vision he was not taught Braille and thus found himself illiterate in his mid- twenties.

Mr. Silberman's predicament is not unusual. Braille, once taught to all the visually handicapped, has been partly supplanted in the last forty years by such technological aids as tape recorders, voice-activated computers, and machines that translate print into voice. As a result, illiteracy is on the rise among the nation's thirteen million people with visual handicaps. The most recent figures available, from the American Printing House for the Blind, show that in 1989 only twelve percent of visually handicapped students read Braille, down from nearly fifty percent in 1965.

The illiteracy rate is at the center of a battle over whether the best approach is technology and some Braille or a wholesale return to Braille. The conflict pits advocacy groups dominated by those without visual handicaps against more militant groups dominated by the blind.

Those without visual handicaps want to teach Braille selectively. They say the other aids have a valid place and that the pool of visually handicapped people includes those with other disabilities, like mental retardation or tactile insensitivity, that would preclude them from learning Braille.

But the groups dominated by the blind argue that Braille should be mandatory for any visually handicapped person who is able to learn it.

Both sides agree on the stakes: whether more people with visual handicaps will become independent, productive members of society, or whether they will remain largely on the fringe. Seventy percent of the visually impaired who are of employment age are either unemployed or underemployed, according to Susan Spungin, associate executive director of the American Foundation for the Blind.

Dr. Spungin's group is run generally by people without visual handicaps. By contrast, the more militant National Federation of the Blind is dominated by those with visual handicaps. Still another group, the American Council of the Blind, is similar in philosophy to Dr. Spungin's group and is run both by handicapped and non-handicapped people.

The struggle between those who would require Braille to be taught and those who argue that it should be taught only when necessary has gathered force since the passage last year of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The law prohibits discrimination against people with physical and mental impairments. It would, for example, require restaurants to assist blind customers either by providing Braille menus or having a waiter read selections.

The tension over the teaching of Braille grows out of changes in education. Historically, all people with vision handicaps have been taught Braille in separate schools for the blind. But in the 1950's and 1960's, there was a shift toward integrating these students into public schools.

Mr. Silberman, a thirty-year-old administrator at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is among those who entered school in that period, just as technology like tape recorders, computers, and machines that translate print into voice were becoming cheap enough for classroom use. The technology was considered a boon to those with visual handicaps, particularly people with low vision, like Mr. Silberman. The feeling among some was that Braille was obsolete.

A person classified as visually impaired is one who has only limited sight and requires specialized care from an eye doctor. A legally blind person is one whose peripheral vision is reduced to twenty percent or who can see only the top E on the optical examination chart with the better corrected eye.

For Mr. Silberman and groups like the National Federation of the Blind, Braille is the solution not only to illiteracy but to dependency.

"There are a lot of blind people who can't take advantage of better employment opportunity simply because they can't use written words with facility," said Marc Maurer, president of the Federation. "It isn't that we're opposed to technology. Technology has enhanced Braille, has made it cheaper, made it more accessible and opened up more jobs for those who are blind."

But Dr. Richard Welsh of the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind disagreed. "Braille is a good medium for some students, but it's not the answer for every student," said Dr. Welsh, a former superintendent of a school for the blind in Maryland who opposed a bill two years ago that would have required the teaching of Braille.

The Federation, whose headquarters are in Baltimore, is demanding that Braille be taught to every legally blind person and is pushing for passage of Braille bills in state legislatures. Laws requiring that legally blind students be taught Braille are now in force in five states. Similar legislation is being considered in several other states.

Dick Edlund, a Democratic State Representative, sponsored the Braille law that Kansas recently passed. "There was some resistance from teachers, but the major resistance to mandating that kids learn Braille was from the parents," said Mr. Edlund, who is legally blind. "A lot of parents don't want to have a blind kid. A lot of them have in their head that if the kid just tried harder, he'd be able to see."

Adapted in the early 19th century by a blind Frenchman, Louis Braille, from a code invented by another Frenchman, Charles Barbier, Braille is a system of six raised dots in sixty-three combinations which represent letters and words that can be read by touching.

Opponents of mandatory Braille argue that it is inappropriate for some visually impaired people. They recall a period earlier in the century when students at schools for the blind who had some vision were forced to wear aprons to cover the Braille on their desks because they could see the dots.

"If you can read white dots on white paper with your eyes, then it is probably not appropriate to learn Braille," said Dr. Spungin of the American Foundation for the Blind.

By the time he was studying astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Silberman said, "I was doing a lot of stuff with taped material, but have you ever tried to look for a specific piece of information on a cassette?" He said he tried to memorize everything, but "the work was getting steadily more sophisticated, and I really struggled. I began to doubt whether I should continue."

He won a scholarship from the National Federation of the Blind in 1985 and met other blind professionals who helped restore his self-confidence. As a result, he tackled the study of Braille. Mr. Silberman said that has made the difference between living on Social Secuirty and food stamps and having a good job.

Dr. Spungin said the American Foundation for the Blind and the American Council of the Blind favor the use of braille but object to legislation requiring it for all visually impaired people.

She said a 1975 Federal law requires that special education students, including those with reduced vision, be given individual education plans, and that such plans can include Braille if parents and teachers think it necessary.

Like some other experts, she explains part of the increase in blind illiteracy by noting that medical advances have made it possible for more children today to survive with multiple disabilities, including impaired vision. But she said that many children are labeled visually impaired when they actually have multiple handicaps and will never be able to learn Braille.

Noreen Rysticken, a Baltimore speech and language pathologist and the mother of a multiply-impaired daughter, opposed the Maryland Braille bill.

"My daughter, Diane, has some functional vision, but she's also very delayed because of hearing impairments and cystic fibrosis," said Ms. Rysticken. "To force teachers to teach her Braille, would cause emotional problems. Braille is a reading system. She'll never read very much."

From the Associate Editor: In the days following the May 12, 1991, publication of the New York Times story about the current Braille battle, (see the preceding article) the subject was discussed widely across the country. Intrigued by the debate, the Scripps Howard News Service contacted both the National Federation of the Blind and the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) to request representatives to participate in the Scripps Howard weekly feature, "Point-Counterpoint," in which an issue is discussed by two people with contrasting views. Dr. Susan Spungin, Associate Executive Director for Program Services for the AFB, was invited to prepare a six-hundred-word presentation of the Foundation's position, and President Maurer was asked to provide the Federation's view. It is significant that the Scripps Howard News Service decided to pursue the discussion about Braille begun in the Denver Post on February 12 (See the May, 1991, issue of the Braille Monitor) and continued by the New York Times on May 12. But it is even more noteworthy that the AFB and the NFB have now become the organizations the nation turns to to articulate the two sides of blindness questions. Braille is very far from a dying issue, and the National Federation of the Blind is increasingly recognized as its pre-eminent defender. Here is the cover letter sent to President Maurer by Pamela Reeves, News Editor of the Scripps Howard News Service followed by the statements by Dr. Spungin and President Maurer:

Thanks for the article you contributed to the Scripps Howard News Wire. It moved on May 19th for use Monday or any time thereafter. The "Point-Counterpoint," a weekly feature on the SHNS wire, goes to 360 newspapers nationwide and generally is widely used. Enclosed is a copy of the piece you wrote and also the opposition piece by Susan J. Spungin, who is associate executive director of the American Foundation for the Blind.

[PHOTO: Susan Spungin standing at microphone. CAPTION: Susan Spungin, Associate Executive Director of the American Foundation for the Blind.]

It was not that long ago when teachers forced all left- handed children to write with their right hand. In many respects, this educational practice, now outdated, is not so different in spirit from the proposal to mandate instruction in Braille for all legally blind children.

In both cases, an educational policy, applied universally, does not account for the fact that the needs and abilities of children vary.

Indeed, the American Foundation for the Blind supports Braille as an educational option. Braille is a critical venue for literacy for millions of blind and visually impaired children and adults and is the focus of our agency-wide campaign for literacy.

We cannot underscore enough its importance, especially at a time when there is a dire shortage of qualified teachers available to teach Braille. But we are concerned about making this option mandatory for all legally blind children. Here are some reasons why.

First, there is the nature of legal blindness itself. Despite its literal connotation, legal blindness does not mean total loss of vision; the term includes conditions ranging from moderately severe vision loss to total blindness.

Nearly eighty-five percent of legally blind persons have some useful residual vision. The specific nature of their impairment determines what they can do.

Many legally blind persons, for example, can read print and travel without the use of a long cane or guide dog; others may need to use travel aids but can still read large print. In fact, legal blindness is more an economic definition used by governmental and rehabilitation agencies to define conditions that make individuals eligible for the benefits and services that these agencies provide for visually impaired persons.

Many legally blind children can read print, either in a large print or magnified with the help of optical reading devices. Can you imagine my amazement then when I saw for the first time a legally blind child reading, by sight and not touch, the white Braille dots on the white paper?

Unless there is reason to believe that this child will lose more vision--and there are certainly conditions that do not deteriorate--I can think of no reason why this child should not be reading print.

As it is, legally blind children, especially those mainstreamed into regular classrooms, are expected to keep up with all the regular classroom lessons and activities, as well as learn additional skills they need to function with limited vision.

For example, how to use low vision reading devices and/or specially adapted computerized devices, social and listening skills, how to use recorded materials, how to travel independently, and how to make the best functional use of the vision they have.

Since 1975 there has been federal legislation, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act, which requires that all disabled children have an individualized education plan, a blueprint for learning.

For this blueprint to be most effective, educational decisions and plans should be made in concert with a team of professionals and parents.

Conversely, the decision about whether a legally blind child learns to read Braille, large print, or both, would be best served by this team approach, and not by a mandate that is based on an economic definition of legal blindness rather than what best serves each individual child's specific needs.

The American Foundation for the Blind believes that legally blind children should benefit from the full range of educational options best suited to their needs. If those needs dictate that Braille is the most viable option for achieving literacy, we support it.

But we must be flexible and do what is best for each individual child. We do not support the wholesale assignment of one group to a particular educational practice. That is why we cannot fully endorse proposals to mandate Braille instruction for all legally blind children.

(Susan J. Spungin is associate executive director of the American Foundation for the Blind.)

[PHOTO/CAPTION: President Maurer works at his desk at the headquarters of the National Federation of the Blind.]

Braille is the raised dot system used by the blind for reading and writing. Recent publicity about Braille has brought both information and confusion to the public.

As a blind person myself and as president of the nation's largest organization primarily composed of blind persons (the 50,000-member National Federation of the Blind), I think I know something about the needs of blind persons. A controversy now exists as to who should learn Braille and under what circumstances, but certain things are generally agreed upon. Blind children (and also adults) should make full use of computers, tape recorders, and any other available technology. Visually impaired children should be encouraged to make the best use of any eyesight they have, including learning to read print.

But a legally blind child (one with less than ten percent of normal eyesight) cannot function efficiently using print alone. Sighted children have computers and recorders, but they still learn to read print. They use both eyes and ears to get information. Likewise, if a blind or severely visually impaired child is to compete, not only ears but also fingers should be used. Technology enhances but does not substitute for the printed word.

Then why the controversy? Many of today's teachers of blind children take a single college course on how to teach Braille but cannot read or write it. Because of their lack of knowledge, they tend to think Braille is slow and inefficient. Being uncomfortable with what they don't know, they say that Braille is not needed and opt for expensive technology.

There is also the fact that blindness still carries with it a stigma, and many (including some parents and teachers) want blind children to pretend to have sight they don't possess so as not to be considered blind--the same thing blacks did fifty years ago when some tried to lighten their skins and straighten their hair to try to cross the color line. It didn't work and wasn't healthy for the blacks. The same is true for the blind. The National Federation of the Blind believes it is respectable to be blind, and we don't try to hide it.

Thousands of blind people read Braille at four hundred words per minute. There's no substitute for Braille in taking notes, reading a speech, looking up words in a dictionary, studying a complicated text, or just having the fun of reading for yourself.

Talk of forcing blind children to learn Braille shows the prejudice. Nobody talks of forcing sighted children to learn print. It is taken for granted as a right, a necessary part of education; so it should be with Braille and blind children.

The National Federation of the Blind is asking state legislatures to pass Braille bills, which would require teachers of the blind and visually handicapped to be competent in reading and writing Braille and require that instruction in Braille be available to every visually handicapped child if parents want it.

The National Federation of the Blind believes that no child is hurt by learning Braille, print, or any other skill. The federal act often cited as the excuse for not making Braille universally available to the blind is misquoted. The requirement that each child's individual needs be met was never meant as a cop-out for teachers and an excuse for illiteracy. Just as with the sighted, we the blind need every skill we can get to compete in today's world. With proper training we can hold our own with the best.

From the Editor: Some professionals in the blindness field tell us that only those who absolutely must should learn Braille, that learning Braille may cause feelings of inferiority, that it is normal to read print (and thus presumably abnormal to read Braille), and that a child has only a certain amount of learning capacity when it comes to reading so that if he or she learns Braille and print, neither skill can be learned more than half well. The kindest thing one can say about such professionalism is that it is esoteric. Imagine, then, how these experts will feel if they learn about the happenings in Marissa, Illinois. Here in part is a letter from Volunteer Braille Services in Marissa to President Maurer:

A lot of exciting things have been happening at VBS the last few months, and I want to summarize them for you as briefly as possible.

On Monday, March 20, 1991, the Marissa School Board voted unanimously to introduce an elective credit course in Braille transcribing to high school students. This will be a two-year course. The first class will be limited to a maximum of ten 10th and 11th grade students. The class will be team taught by John Hemphill, who will have the necessary Braille skills. John is in the process of preparing his trial manuscript so that he will also have this necessary credential.

The goal for the first year will be to enable the students to sight read Grade 2 American Braille and to be able to write it on both the slate and stylus and the Perkins Brailler, with an introduction to computer Braille translation. The basic text will be the Instruction Manual for Braille Transcribing used by NLS.

The goal for the second year will be to cover the fine points of transcribing and to train the students in the use of the Duxbury Braille translation program. A class project for the second-year students will be to actually transcribe a literary textbook for a Braille-reading high school student in Illinois.

Since it is the policy of NLS not to issue certificates to persons who do not have high school diplomas, we will have the second-year students prepare a full 35-page manuscript and have it proofread by an NLS certified proofreader. To get a passing grade for the second year, the student will be required to attain a grade of 80 or more using NLS grading criteria. Students will be encouraged to prepare a second manuscript which they will submit to NLS along with their high school diploma.

Other highlights of the course will be field trips to the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired with reciprocal trips to Marissa High School by ISVI students, and Braille pen pals. The 86th Session of the Illinois General Assembly amended the Illinois School Code to permit a course or proficiency in American Sign Language to be equivalent to a course or proficiency in a foreign language. VBS, in cooperation with a coalition of the handicapped, plans to introduce legislation in the next Assembly to further amend the School Code to permit a course or proficiency in English Braille to be equivalent to a course or proficiency in a foreign language, so that a high school student may elect to take Braille rather than Spanish, French, Latin etc. We realize there will have to be qualified teachers to teach these Braille courses, and VBS intends to be active in recruiting and training these teachers. We feel this amendment to the School Code will be another step in the long march toward increasing Braille production and improving Braille literacy.

[PHOTO: Portrait of William Raeder. CAPTION: William Raeder, Executive Director of the National Braille Press.]

From the Associate Editor: William Raeder is the Executive Director of the National Braille Press, headquartered in Boston. He has attended and addressed several NFB conventions and is a clear and articulate proponent of Braille. As the chief operating officer of one of the nation's foremost Braille publishing houses, his views on the future of Braille are informed and eminently worth serious consideration. When the Editor of the Braille Monitor invited Mr. Raeder to contribute some thoughts about the current and future prospects for Braille, he offered two short articles, both of which we found interesting and valuable. Here they are:

For people with total or profound loss of sight, Braille is the only medium for literacy. Tape recordings for blind people as a substitute for Braille are hardly any better than they are for sighted people as a substitute for print. This is especially true for materials that need to be referenced.

Generally, throughout our country blind children face the following conditions which are not conducive to learning Braille and becoming literate:

1. Blind children have little or no preschool exposure to reading Braille. Sighted children entering school have already had several years' experience reading cereal boxes, road signs, television ads, labels, and magazine and book titles.

2. Blind first-graders are often sidetracked in the schools from a course of Braille and literacy. Sighted children entering school are immediately put on a track to develop proficiency in reading and writing print. That this regimen is taken for granted and institutionalized is a motivating and disciplining factor, keeping the children on track. Blind children, on the other hand, are often sidetracked from literacy, on the damaging assumption that they don't need Braille and with the further patronizing attitude that tape recordings are easier for them. "Children who need Braille in Maryland and in every other state are not getting it and will not get it, I am afraid, unless their parents and the members of the National Federation of the Blind fight for their right to literacy and a decent education." (Barbara Cheadle, President, Parents of Blind Children Division, National Federation of the Blind).

3. Teachers often have low proficiency in Braille. Sighted children have teachers for whom reading and writing print is an integral and totally comfortable part of their daily lives. Blind children, more often than not, have teachers with little proficiency and comfort in Braille. Although we favor integrated education, placing blind children in the mainstream, we fully recognize that before this practice was popular, the residential schools for the blind were well equipped to teach Braille, whereas all too often the mainstream schools are not.

4. Reading materials in Braille are scarce. Sighted students have voluminous print materials with which to work. New editions of textbooks are published frequently, and numerous extraneous books, pamphlets, and periodicals are available in print. Blind students have few materials in Braille. Textbooks are often out- of-date editions or are not available until partway through the school year.

5. There is an institutionalized prejudice against blindness and Braille. Braille for the blind student is sometimes shunned by the teacher, administrator, or even the parent or student because it further identifies the student as being blind; and, in all too many minds, albeit oftentimes subconsciously, there is a stigma attached to blindness and a damaging attitude of unduly diminished expectations of blind students.

All too many blind children leave school and enter adulthood with a triple handicap. In addition to the physical or sensory handicap of blindness, many have been working in an environment of diminished expectations for their performance and are either illiterate or have unnecessarily limited literacy skills. Blind people proficient in reading and writing Braille have a better chance of obtaining good employment than blind people without these skills.

National Braille Press has a five-point program to combat these conditions and promote literacy in the very early life of blind children:

1. Our Children's Braille Book Club promotes literacy for blind children where it begins with sighted children--right in the home with bedtime story books. Regular children's picture story books, donated by the publishers, are remanufactured to combine print and Braille cleverly page for page, so that a sighted parent and blind child can read together from the same book. (In some cases the parent is blind and the child is sighted.) We publish one new title each month. At year's end, a thirteenth title, The Winnie the Pooh Calendar, provides children with practical information in a delightful form. The books are sold for the same price as the print editions. The annual cost to National Braille Press for this program, over and above the donated print books and the sales proceeds, is more than $23,000.

2. Just Enough to Know Better, our Braille primer, provides sighted parents with the opportunity to learn enough Braille to work with their blind children to help them identify letters and words. It is a delightful workbook, easy and fun to use, but it is very serious about the importance of literacy for blind children. Like sighted children, then, blind children attain reading readiness if not actual reading ability right in the home with their parents.

The text material selected for the reading exercises for the sighted parent is designed to provide encouragement and inspire enthusiasm that the blind child can and will have normal intellectual development. The book provides sighted parents with enough knowledge about Braille to know better than to accept the notion that their blind child is not in a position to learn reading and writing or to accept the notion of a stigma attached to Braille, if these damaging prejudices are encountered. If it is necessary, parents will be fortified to start what is often a long, arduous task of advocating that their blind children's education should include Braille literacy.

3. Learning by doing is important to blind children. Sighted children learn much by simply observing adults carrying out tasks. Some of our children's books promote learning activity. Last year Your First Garden Book, contributed by Little Brown & Co., featured two packets of seeds contributed by Johnny's Selected Seeds in Albion, Maine, to encourage blind children to start their first gardening experience. This year we are producing a children's cookbook. These books stimulate interest and begin to identify Braille and reading as a source of important information for functioning well in life's activities.

4. Books for intermediate-age readers, eight to thirteen, are being added to our list this year. Many of the children with whom we started over the last several years have grown into this age group and desperately need appropriate-level materials to keep their reading interests and skills alive.

5. As children advance into adolescence and adulthood, it is important to continue the promotion of Braille literacy as a useful tool. To accomplish this and at the same time to enhance the independence of blind people, we publish practical information in Braille. Our computer-literacy program provides Braille materials for beginners, computer users, and professional computer programmers. Our employment program provides a comprehensive employment book, Take Charge: A Strategic Guide for Blind Job Seekers; a self-assessment workbook, Planning Careers with Confidence; and a resource book. In addition, we have Syndicated Columnists Weekly, dealing with women's issues; and a variety of general-information pamphlets, such as the United States Constitution and Understanding AIDS.

Long-range forecasting of Braille technology is, if we may borrow from Prince Philip, like short-range forecasting of New England weather; we may fairly say that we will have it, probably in abundance, but in just what forms it will come is more difficult to predict. The task of good forecasting is a tough one, dependent on careful observation of current conditions and rigorous analysis and projection of the many forces molding the future. Such forces molding the future of Braille technology, for example, include the focus of current research, the projection of current trends, the impact of other technologies, the pressures from Braille readers, and the market for Braille. Also of concern are the fortunes of national and world economies, politics of government spending for research and social welfare, private funding, and demography. Even cultural values, like the value of universal literacy and social prejudice for or against equal opportunity for blind and deaf-blind people, have their impact.

This paper is not scientific forecasting based on rigorous analysis of these forces by a professional researcher; it is, rather, the projections, speculations, and prejudices of a Braille-printing-house manager who's had a small role to play in the advance of Braille technology. It focuses on personal computer-based Braille transcription systems--their advantages and shortcomings, the need for further development, the challenges to that development, and their importance in the advancement of independent functioning for blind and deaf-blind people. The paper goes on to describe the changing role of Braille printing houses as the processing of information continues to proliferate and as Braille readers are increasingly able to obtain and process needed information independently. It closes by invoking the attention and assistance of teachers, large-scale communicators, and those influencing change in Braille codes to further the advance of literacy and effective independent functioning by blind people through Braille in an age of information exchange.

The most important projection we can make is the continuing development of microprocessor-based personal Braille transcription systems for home or office use. Even now, for less than $5,000 one can buy a complete system, either in the form of a dedicated computer, such as the VersaBraille II, with a Braille keyboard and dynamic Braille display (also called paperless Braille), or in the form of a general-use computer with modem and Braille printer. Either system includes software for communications, text editing and printing, file management, and Braille translation and formatting. Texts for Braille transcription are brought to such systems by telephone line and modem from central databanks, through direct cabling from local databanks, and by using transportable media, such as disks, from various sources. For additional money reading machines with varying degrees of print-reading capability are available for attachment to the system, to provide additional sources of text for Braille transcription.

Three shortcomings of these personal Braille systems limit their use and give clues for developments by century's end: cost, technical complexity, and lack of accessible information. Blind people sophisticated in the use of these systems might disagree, saying that they are inexpensive and simple and provide access to an enormous amount of information. This is certainly true for some blind people compared to what was available before the advent of desktop computers. Indeed, it is very exciting to see a significant number of blind people gaining direct access to large amounts of information through the proficient use of their personal Braille computer systems. An additional significant number of blind people are gaining similar access through voice- response systems, which may stand alone or be integrated with Braille systems.

Over the next decade improvements in quality and functionality and reductions in cost and technical complexity of reading machines, voice synthesizers, and Braille transcription systems will increase their use. The resulting partial independence from Braille printing houses and volunteer Braille agencies for access to information represents a milestone in the social history of blind people. Nevertheless, for these personal Braille systems and voice-response systems to come into general use by blind people, they must become significantly less expensive and less technically complex to use. Furthermore, for blind people to become essentially independent of Braille printing houses and the volunteer transcription services, an even greater abundance of information must be available in machine- readable form.

Features needed in these personal Braille systems by the year 2000 and beyond are:

2) Full-page dynamic Braille display, and/or full-page simulation, by simple and effective software-controlled movement of the page image under a single line display;

5) Alternative controls by voice and/or feet, to free the hands for Braille reading;

6) Radio transmission of timely information to be received and stored in digital form for reading at will;

7) Use of laser WORM technology for the dissemination of voluminous reference and periodic materials. ("WORM" stands for Write Once Read Many. Information on a laser-written WORM disk is substantially more densely packed than on a magnetic disk; however, although such a disk can be read virtually an unlimited number of times, it cannot be readily erased and rewritten as can a magnetic disk.)

3) Overcoming features designed to improve systems for sighted users. (Windows, icons, mouse controls, and bit mapping can hamper use by blind people.)

Throughout the world, where personal and/or national wealth limit the purchase of personal Braille transcription systems, agency-based microprocessor systems will be established, as we have already seen in North America and elsewhere. These Brailling centers will transcribe and emboss their own materials and receive texts on disks from other organizations and individuals for embossing only. There will be an international traffic in Braille transcriptions on disks for local embossing and distribution. In areas of the world with low economic and technical development, there are three challenges to be met in the establishment of these centers: training, funding, and equipment maintenance.

What will be the changing role of Braille printing houses as personal Braille transcription systems become more generally used and as machine-readable information continues to proliferate? We will see the following changes:

1) The amount of paper Braille produced by Braille printing houses will continue to grow, by the year 2000, but will then represent only about half the Braille distributed in countries with high use of personal Braille systems.

2) The amount of Braille transcribed by Braille printing houses and distributed in paperless form on cassettes and disks will grow from a small amount in the last few years to about one- half of the Braille distributed in these high-use countries in the year 2000.

3) For the next half decade or more, there will be heavy reliance on scanners for reading texts into computers. In addition, continuing refinements in software for Braille translation and formatting will improve production efficiency.

4) The continuing and growing pressure to produce more Braille for less cost will force the further development of automated transcription of high-quality Braille. Text files prepared for print publishing will be automatically transcribed into Braille with little or no human intervention. If human intervention is required to identify text components for highly refined and complex formatting, it will be computer-assisted, for high labor efficiency. This further development will be achieved in three ways:

(a) There will be further development of software systems for interpreting the encoded format information in text files prepared for print publication and automatically converting these files for Braille transcription.

(b) Modifications will be made in the Braille code, to eliminate Braille contraction ambiguities requiring human intelligence for proper interpretation.

(c) Varying quality standards of Braille will be specified, dependent on the level of format refinement required. Changes in Braille code and Braille formatting standards should be made with the knowledge and consent of Braille readers, if not under their leadership.

5) In addition to the increasing proliferation of information and literature generally available in machine- readable form, we will see increasing standardization of computer-based text formatting and coding systems. This will enable Braille printing houses to develop highly refined software packages for interpreting and translating these format codes for Braille transcription and synthesized-voice transcription. In the first two decades of the twenty-first century we will see Braille printing houses making this software available to users for their personal Braille systems so that individuals can receive machine- readable texts from the general publishing industry and fully transcribe them into very high quality, well-formatted Braille. The key improvement here over what we now can do is in the automated refined formatting of the Braille.

6) As Braille readers become more independent of Braille printing houses for their general literary material, Braille printing houses will have an increasing responsibility to provide materials in more complex or specialized codes, such as music, mathematics, foreign languages for which there is still no Braille translation software, and materials containing scientific or computer notation. Development of computer software for translation of texts requiring these specialized Braille codes will be pursued.

Implicit in the above is an expansion of Braille productions, stimulated by an increase in market demand and a decrease of perhaps as much as twenty percent in both cost and delivery time. Far from being relieved of the need to learn and use Braille, blind people increasingly will find Braille an effective and important tool to help them attain positions of higher responsibility and productivity in our complex information-driven society. Technology alone, however, will not bring this about. Three additional steps must also be taken. They are:

1) Improvement in the Braille code, to make it simpler to learn, simpler to use, simpler to transcribe, and more highly standardized;

2) Increased emphasis on the teaching of Braille, and clear definition as to who would be better off learning Braille and who would be better off using residual eyesight to read print;

3) Increased willingness on the part of large-scale communicators to make their materials readily available in a form accessible for blind people.

With this combination of factors we will see, by the year 2000, notable improvements in equality and literacy for blind people and a significant reduction in the difficulties blind people face simply because they cannot read print.

From the Associate Editor: In recent years, and even months, the amount and variety of Braille available for purchase have been expanding dramatically. As Braille readers we are not conditioned to think of ourselves as able to build personal libraries with our favorite literary works, much less books of passing interest. But the revolution in Braille production technology is changing that, and we can begin to accustom ourselves to the luxury of being able to buy books like everybody else and savor favorite passages or refer to important information when we find it necessary or convenient. The editors of the Braille Monitor asked the major Braille publishing houses around the country and the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped to provide the Braille Monitor with information concerning available Braille materials about which our readers should know. Here is the information we were provided:

With the material provided by the American Printing House for the Blind came a cover note from the Executive Director, Dr. Tuck Tinsley. Here are his comments and the material he provided:

Recently we at APH have noticed what seems to be a most encouraging trend. When exhibiting to the general public, we are finding heightened interest in both the reading and writing of Braille. Not only are people taking the time to work through the writing of their names under the guidance of our exhibit staff, they also ask numerous questions regarding how Braille is produced, its bulk, what sort of material is published, and how the personal computer can be used to create special interest materials desired by people who are blind.

Two or three snowflakes do not necessarily mean a blizzard is on its way. Neither do we mean to imply that the whole country is turned on to Braille. However, these preliminary indications are extremely encouraging to those of us who realize the importance of Braille in enabling people who are blind to be informed citizens.

The text of Public Law 101-336, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, is currently available from the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) in four formats: Braille, large type, cassette tape, and flexible disc. APH will make copies of the ADA available to print-handicapped individuals, courtesy of the American Printing House for the Blind. The first copy is free of charge. Additional copies may be purchased at the prices listed in this article. The catalog number is also included. Braille: Catalog number 5-60000-00, $19.80; Flexible Disc: Catalog number F-60000-00, $0.65; Cassette: Catalog number C-60000-00, $0.75; Large Type: Catalog number J-60000-00, $7.20. Customers interested in obtaining the ADA may do so by writing to American Printing House for the Blind Order Department. This document is also available through the regular National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) distribution network.

APH announces the creation of the Century Series, a special selection of books offered for purchase. This series is designed to enable Braille readers to obtain Braille books at the same cost as the original print editions. It is hoped that the Century Series will help Braille readers develop libraries of their own. APH will produce fifty Braille copies of each of one hundred titles over the next several years. These titles will not conflict with those produced by the NLS or by any of the other major producers of Braille books. Reading and interest levels of these books will range from kindergarten to adult. The Century Series books will be available as long as the supply lasts. Here is the list of titles in the first group of offerings:

- It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It, by Robert Fulghum, a book of humorous philosophical essays by the author of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, 1 vol., Catalog No. 2-39570-00, $17.95

- Mouse Tales, by Beatrix Potter, four short stories for children, 1 vol., Catalog No. 2-84300-00, $9.00

- My Favorite Goodnight Stories, by Linda Yeatman, a collection of twenty-five retold bedtime stories for children, 1 vol., Catalog No. 2-85000-00, $10.00

- Tekwar, by William Shatner, a science fiction novel for young adults and up, 2 vols., Catalog No. 2-40100-00, $18.00

- The City of Gold and Lead, by John Christopher, science fiction for young adults, 1 vol., Catalog No. 2-23250-00, $4.00

For more information on specific titles, please call or write APH's Consumer Information Services at the APH address. Please specify whether you would like to receive the information in print or in Braille.

APH also produces a number of cookbooks for purchase. A special order form including information about forty-two of these is available upon request.

Anyone who reads Grade 2 Braille and is a U.S. citizen or resides in the U.S. can receive a free subscription to the Braille Reader's Digest; the cost to others is $49.00 a year. The ink-print edition is transcribed in full, except for advertising, into standard English Braille, Grade 2. This service is made possible by contributions from the general public to the Fund for Braille and Recorded Editions--Reader's Digest. To purchase a Braille subscription to the Reader's Digest, write to the Magazine Circulation Department, American Printing House for the Blind.

APH also offers Read Again: A Braille Program for Adventitiously Blinded Print Readers. Read Again is designed to aid students in making the transition from print to Braille by leading them through several levels of instruction. The program begins by helping students develop skills in tactual discrimination. It then goes on to teach Grade 1 and Grade 2 Braille.

Read Again provides the following materials: 1. Teaching and practice worksheets, reading selections and activities, tests, and review worksheets. 2. Cassette tape instructions for use before students can read Grade 1 Braille. 3. A Read Again Teacher's Edition in print or in Braille. There are nine levels in Read Again. Most include tests to measure student progress and selections for reading practice.

Since many sections of Read Again can be ordered separately, teachers are encouraged to pick and choose parts of the program. For further information about the content of each level and for details about ordering, contact APH, P.O. Box 6085, Louisville, KY 40206-0085; Phone and Fax: (502) 895-2405.

An official from the Braille production department of the Associated Services for the Blind (ASB) in Philadelphia told the Braille Monitor in mid-May that the organization would very much like to provide information about its Braille services and materials for publication in this article. Despite a number of reminder telephone messages, no information had arrived by press- time. We believe that a catalog is available from ASB, but we have no information about its content or prices.

The Braille Institute Press has a catalog of books and materials available upon request. Its charges are 20 cents a page for existing Braille, and 75 cents for binding. The price for transcribing new material is negotiable. The Braille Institute can provide literary, math, and computer Braille; and all work is professionally proofread. New and classic children's books in Braille and Sesame Street books in Twin-vision format are available for purchase. Information and catalogs can be obtained by calling or writing Carol Jimenez or Emy de Jesus, 741 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, California 90029; (213) 663-1111, extension 231.

The Clovernook Center produces a unique Braille computer magazine, TACTIC, which is a forty-eight-page quarterly about microcomputers and adaptive technology for the blind. A consumer- oriented magazine, TACTIC offers articles in a practical rather than highly technical style on existing Braille voice systems. The magazine reviews the literature on newly developed hardware and software as these occur and provides a forum for blind consumers to share problems and solutions. Occasionally, articles are reprinted from popular mainstream publications, but most material comes from designers and users of computer equipment themselves.

Subscriptions are available in Braille format for $10 per year and in large print for $16 per year, payable by check or money order in U.S. dollars to The Clovernook Center, Attention: TACTIC, 7000 Hamilton Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45231. Information about surface and airmail charges to foreign countries is available upon request. You may contact Anita Paddock, Circulation Supervisor.

The National Braille Press produces a number of titles in Braille for purchase. The Children's Braille Book Club enables parents or schools to receive a Braille book each month for the enjoyment of their Braille-reading youngsters. The books come automatically if one prepays an annual fee of $100, or one can decide whether or not to order each month's selection when the flyer announcing it arrives.

Just Enough to Know Better ($12.50) is a print and Braille book intended to enable parents to teach themselves enough Braille to assist and encourage their young children. It includes practice passages that provide positive, lively information about blindness, and the instructional material is clear and uncomplicated.

Perhaps the best-known of the NBP offerings is Take Charge: A Strategic Guide for Blind Job Seekers ($19.95). Co-authored by Rami Rabby, who is an active member of the National Federation of the Blind and an experienced consultant on employment of the disabled, and Diane Croft, marketing manager at National Braille Press, Take Charge is a self-help guide based on the real-life experiences of blind people, as they searched for and found employment in their fields of interest. It proposes strategies for dealing with a resistant job market--including verbatim interviews with employers who speak frankly about their concerns about hiring a blind job applicant.

The most exciting new book offered by NBP this year may well be The Computer Braille Code Made Easy ($7.50). This little book is written in Grade 2 Braille with many examples to illustrate the computer Braille concepts being explained. It also includes a chart of computer code symbols.

NBP circulates a quarterly catalog of new books including short descriptions. An easy-to-use order form comprises the last pages of the mailing. Recent publications include the following:

Area Code Handbook (free)
Bobbsey Twins: The Secret at Sleepaway Camp by Laura Lee Hope ($4.95)
Business Cards (first 100) ($60.00)
Christmas Carols ($5.00)
The Computer Braille Code Made Easy by Dixon & Gray ($ 7.50)
Computer Braille Code Reference Card (free)
C Programming by Kernighan & Ritchie ($24.95)
Creating Careers with Confidence by Edward Colozzi ($10.00)
Emily Post on Etiquette by Emily Post ($12.00)
50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth ($4.95)
The Elements of Style by Strunk & White ($9.00)
The Harvard Student Bartending Guide ($32.00)
Knitting Patterns from Our Special ($7.50)
Our Special magazine, edited by Jeanne Neale (free)
Our Special Crochet Book ($10.00)
Our Special 1990 Cookbook ($8.00)
The Publish-It-Yourself Handbook, edited by B. Henderson ($30.00)
Reference Cards:
WordPerfect ($5.00)
Lotus 1-2-3 ($5.00)
Microsoft Word ($5.00)
DOS Power User's Guide ($7.00)
ProComm ($3.00)
QWERTY ($5.00)
dBase ($5.00)
Set of 7 ($20.00)
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ($5.00)
Syndicated Columnists Weekly ($18.50)
Dr. Spock on Parenting, essays by Benjamin Spock, M.D ($23.00)
U.S. Constitution (free)

Individual titles or catalogs may be ordered from the National Braille Press, Inc, 88 St. Stephen Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, (617) 266-6160.

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped has prepared several circulars compiling information about sources of Braille materials for purchase. Contact your Regional Library to order any of the following publications:

Sources of Braille Reading Materials, 86-2--this is a compilation of Braille producers of every size and many locations across the country. Names, addresses, and phone numbers are listed.

Bibles, Other Scriptures, Liturgies, and Hymnals in Special Media, 88-1--Braille editions of many of these religious texts are listed as well as those in other media. Producer names, addresses, and phone numbers are included. Some materials are available on loan only, some are free, and prices are listed for others.

Reference Books in Special Media, 82-4, and Reference Books in Special Media: Addendum, 87-2--These two publications list an astonishing variety of reference books that are available for purchase or, in some cases, on loan. The reference categories are Business Management; Dictionaries and Thesauri; Encyclopedias; English Language--Grammar, Style, and Usage; English Literature; Foreign Language; Geography and Maps; History; Law and Politics; Mathematics; Medicine; Music and Fine Arts; Personal and Self- Help; Psychology and Psychiatry; Radio and Television; Religion and Philosophy; Science, Pure and Applied; Social Sciences; and Tests.

The Materials Center of the National Federation of the Blind has prepared a literature order form, which includes all of the reprints, brochures, and books available in Braille from the NFB. Many of these are free; the books, however, are not. In addition the Parents of Blind Children Division can provide a Braille Story Books Resource List upon request. As its name suggests, this print document lists contact information for producers of Braille books and stories for children.

Requests for either of these lists should be sent to the National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230. Direct requests to either the Materials Center for the literature order form or to Barbara Cheadle for the Resource List.

In response to a request for information about the range of materials produced in Braille by TBS, Inc. of Stuart, Florida, we were sent a partial list of book titles (including the number of volumes and pages and the prices) that are currently in the TBS library.

There are more books under the following headings in its Braille Book Catalog: Non-Fiction: Business, Computer, Cookbooks, Children, Medicine, Religion, Sports, and General Interest; Fiction : Detective/Mystery, Romance, History, Science, Short Stories/Children, and General interest.

To receive a catalog in print or Braille, please write to Triformation Braille Services, Inc., 3142 S.E. Jay Street, Stuart, Florida 34997. The sale of the Braille books listed in this catalog has been made possible through a contract with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.

Here are several sample titles together with their descriptions: IBM Personal System/2; A Business Perspective by Jim Hoskins, BR 7836, 3 volumes; 701 pages; $84.12. The author, who is an IBM staff engineer, covers the world of the IBM personal computer from the microchip and system board components, to the software that can be used with them. He describes peripheral attachments, the operating systems that control actions, and why different features are needed. 1987.

Weight Watchers Quick and Easy Menu Cookbook, BR 7481, 6 volumes; 1241 pages; $148.91. More than 250 Weight Watchers recipes that can be prepared in less than one hour. Arranged by the months of the year to take full advantage of the in-season vegetables and fruits, each recipe is keyed to a daily menu. Bestseller. 1987.

504 Absolutely Essential Words by Murray Bromberg and others, BR 7900, 3 volumes, 521 pages, $62.52. A self-help book containing forty-two lessons designed to help readers strengthen and expand their knowledge of words, which are then used repeatedly throughout the remainder of the book. 1988.

Who Put the Butter in Butterfly? by David Feldman, BR 8200; 2 volumes; 257 pages; $30.84. Did you ever wonder why a police officer is called a "cop" or why a mess is called a "pretty kettle of fish" or why gibberish is called "gobbledygook"? Here are the answers to those questions and other fascinating facts about word derivations. 1989.

My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir, BR 8149, 2 volumes; 315 pages; $37.80. John Muir was born in Scotland in 1838 but in 1849 emigrated with his family to Wisconsin. When an industrial accident almost blinded him, Muir began what would become his love affair with the land. In this account, written in form, Muir tells of his trip to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where the seed was planted for his lifelong campaign to create a system of national parks. 1988.

Your Good Health: How to Stay Well, and What to do When You're Not, BR 7451, 5 volumes; 1216 pages; $145.92. Edited by William I. Bennett, M.D. and others. Editors of the Harvard Medical School letter, all doctors, offer this guidebook to a sensible, healthy lifestyle. Includes tips for preventing illness, information regarding diagnosis and treatment, hints on dealing with your doctor, and material on new medical discoveries; also sorts out other health facts. 1987.

And the Laugh Shall be First: A Treasury of Religious Humor Compiled by William H. Willimon, BR 7655, 2 volumes; 292 pages; $35.04. A collection of humor and satire with Christian themes. Includes selections by Mark Twain, H.L. Mencken, Lewis Grizzard, and Sinclair Lewis. 1986.

Polar Star by Martin Cruz Smith, BR 7898, 3 volumes; 636 pages; $76.32. After being considered politically unreliable, Arkady Renko is now working as a second-class seaman aboard the Soviet factory ship, Polar Star. But when the body of a Russian girl--who worked on board ship--is discovered, Renko becomes involved in the investigation that uncovers drug trafficking and espionage. Some strong language. Sequel to Gorky Park. (BR 4831) Bestseller. 1989.

Swallowdale by Arthur Ransome, BR 8088, 3 volumes; 671 pages; $80.52. Captain John, Mate Susan, Able Seaman Titty, and Ship's Boy Roger spend a second summer camping on Wild Cat Island. Follows the adventures of the Walker children and their friends through a shipwreck, a camp on the mainland, a secret valley and cave, and a trek through the mountains. Sequel to Swallows and Amazons (RC22220) (BR 5113). For grades 4-7 and older readers. 1981.

From the Associate Editor: The front-page story about Braille in the New York Times was carried in varying forms in a number of major newspapers around the country, including the Baltimore Sun. And the ripples are still spreading. On May 26, 1991, the Sun published a letter to the editor in response to the May 12 article to which David Andrews, Director of the National Braille and Technology Center for the Blind at our National Center, wrote a strong rebuttal published on June 17. Here is the May 26 letter written by David Poehlman and Mary Brady:

Regarding the May 12 article "How Best to teach the Blind ...," it seems to us that the central issue in the battle over Braille is not being addressed. Technology is making literacy for a great number of persons with visual impairments more possible, not less! Literacy is better served by providing the full range of possible alternatives, given individual differences.

As the article parenthetically reported, technology clearly has enhanced Braille, making it cheaper and more available, and has opened up more jobs for those who are blind. Imagine the problems involved in waiting weeks or months to read the daily paper, your college textbooks, or even the New York Times Sunday edition.

Given machine-readable versions (computer disk formats) for all the above media, blind users can now access them immediately, using whatever output mechanism they favor: speech, Braille or large print. Thus, the issue is not one of technology vs. Braille, but of technology vs. no technology.

Fortunately, there is a great deal of good news for blind and visually impaired individuals in this regard, which your article, unfortunately did not report.

With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, another piece of legislation will be opening doors and jobs to persons with disabilities. The express purpose of this law is to provide access to assistive technologies, such as Braille printers, telecommunication devices for persons with deafness (TDD's) and communication aids for persons with vocal impairments.

Working in conjunction with teachers, vocational specialists, and consumer groups, this law provides for information and demonstration centers in every state. There is such a center in Maryland, in fact, located within the Governor's Office for Handicapped Individuals.

Real progress is being made in providing helpful technologies to people with all types of disabilities. The battle over Braille needs to be settled by research and create educational programming.

The bottom line is, of course, the bottom line. The federal dollars to perform such research, design such programs, and implement such methods need to be appropriated and directed to such efforts if persons with blindness are to be assisted, with or without Braille.

I am writing in response to a letter published on Sunday, May 26, 1991, titled "It Is Not Technology vs. Braille" from Mary E. Brady and David Poehlman. This letter was written in response to a May 12, 1991, reprint of a New York Times article concerning the teaching of Braille to blind persons.

As the article points out, many blind children, particularly those with low vision, are not taught Braille. They are forced to use large print materials and/or electronic enlarging devices. These methods do work for some, but not for most. Their reading rates are too slow to be truly competitive, and eye fatigue and headaches are common. Further, many persons with low vision lose it as adults. This is exactly what happened to me two and a half years ago when I totally lost what little vision I had. I could read with an enlarging TV system, albeit very slowly. Thankfully, though, I also had good Braille skills so that I was able to continue my career without missing a day of work.

Miss Brady and Mr. Poehlman say that the issue is not technology versus Braille, but technology versus no technology. I disagree! The issue is Braille versus no Braille.

The New York Times article discusses a blind gentleman, incidentally living in Maryland, who had to learn Braille as an adult so that he could continue his education. While this may be hard for you to believe, many blind persons who should be taught Braille simply aren't. Braille is to blind and visually impaired persons what print is to the sighted. You would howl if your local school officials said that they weren't going to teach your children to read print, that they could use tape recorders, computers, etc. However, this is exactly what is happening to our blind children. Recently, when the National Federation of the Blind introduced a bill requiring the teaching of Braille to blind and visually impaired children if the parents wanted it, the Superintendent of the Maryland School for the Blind actually testified against the bill. The issue here is teachers and school administrators, professionals, who think they know best for the blind versus the blind ourselves, who really do know what is best for us.

Brady and Poehlman say that more research is needed. I say that this is hogwash! Blind and visually impaired persons simply need to know how to read and write. We do this by using Braille. Computers and tape recorders are important supplements and powerful tools in themselves, but they are no substitute for reading. Reading is how you learn to spell and punctuate, and how most of us study things in detail. This is true for the blind as well as for the sighted, and no research is necessary to tell me this.

Brady and Poehlman point out how wonderful technology is and how it will make more Braille available. I agree, but unless blind people can read Braille, all the technology in the world won't do us any good. They also talk about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA will increase people's awareness of the needs of the disabled and increase access for many, but it is not a panacea. The main barrier to the complete acceptance of the blind by society is attitudinal, not physical. That is, our unemployment rate is approximately seventy percent because of what people believe we can't do, not because there aren't enough talking computers. You can't legislate the change of people's attitudes.

I personally own three computers and five speech synthesizers and wouldn't give them up for the world. In addition, I am Director of the National Federation of the Blind's National Braille and Technology Center for the Blind, the world's largest demonstration and evaluation center for technology used by the blind. This Center incidentally is located right in Baltimore and was not mentioned in the May 26 letter to the editor. This Center contains over half a million dollars worth of equipment, much of it Braille-related. I am responsible for knowing how to operate all of this technology, and the only reason I am able to do so is because I can take notes in Braille, which I can then read and study.

One of our Braille devices is an $80,000 high-speed Braille printer that will print 1200 pages of Braille per hour. Ironically, I keep a $4.00 slate on top of this machine for taking phone messages. A slate is an inexpensive device used for writing Braille by hand.

Technology has its place in the lives of blind persons. Yes, it is opening up more jobs, but blind persons still need good basic competency, such as Braille and cane travel skills, to take advantage of it. Further, technology in and of itself will not get blind persons jobs. We must educate the public about our abilities and capabilities. This is where the National Federation of the Blind comes in. You can contact us at 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230 or by calling (301) 659-9314.

Sincerely,
David Andrews, Director
National Braille and Technology Center for the Blind

From the Associate Editor: On April 12, 1991, Governor Joan Finney of Kansas signed the National Federation of the Blind's model Braille Bill into law. Rejoicing over this glad occasion had hardly quieted before word arrived at the National Center for the Blind that the Texas Legislature had just passed an even more impressive piece of legislation. The Texas bill not only secures the right of every functionally blind child to be taught Braille and mandates that all special education teachers of the blind be certified by the state as capable of teaching the code, but it requires that all publishers doing text-book business with the state provide the Department of Education with computer-readable versions of all text materials sold to Texas so that they can be prepared in Braille for blind students. This is an exciting and sensible extension of the Kansas law and leads the way for other states inclined to act responsibly to protect the rights of their blind children. Texas Governor Anne Richards is scheduled to sign this legislation into law at a public ceremony in the near future. Here is the pertinent portion of the Texas Braille Bill:

An Act relating to Braille instruction for blind or visually handicapped students.

Section 1. Section 11.052, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsections (f) and (g) to read as follows:

(f) In the development of the individualized education program for functionally blind students there is a presumption that proficiency in Braille reading and writing is essential for the student's satisfactory educational progress. Each functionally blind student is entitled to Braille reading and writing instruction that is sufficient to enable the student to communicate with the same level of proficiency as other students of comparable ability who are at the same grade level. Braille instruction may be used in combination with other special education services appropriate to the student's educational needs. The assessment of each functionally blind student for the purpose of developing the student's individualized education program must include documentation of the student's strengths and weaknesses in Braille skills. Each person assisting in the development of a functionally blind student's individualized education program shall receive information describing the benefits of Braille instruction. Each functionally blind student's individualized education program shall:

(2) ensure that instruction in Braille will be provided by a teacher certified to teach students with visual handicaps.

(g) For purposes of this section, the Central Education Agency shall determine the criteria for a student to be classified as functionally blind.

Section 2. Section 13.032, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:

(j) As a condition of certification to teach students with visual handicaps, the State Board of Education by rule shall require satisfactory performance on an examination prescribed by the board that is designed to assess competency in Braille reading and writing skills according to standards adopted by the board.

Section 3. Section 12.03, Education Code is amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:

(e) The Central Education Agency shall require a publisher of a textbook adopted by the State Board of Education to furnish the agency with computer diskettes for literary subjects in the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) from which Braille versions of the textbook can be produced. The publisher will furnish the agency with computer diskettes in ASCII for non-literary subjects, e.g., natural sciences, computer science, mathematics, and music, when Braille specialty code translation software is available.

[PHOTO: Tim Cranmer and Abraham Nemeth sitting at table in Harbor Room. CAPTION: Tim Cranmer (left) and Abraham Nemeth at a meeting of the NFB Research and Development Committee at the National Center for the Blind.]

From the Editor: As Monitor readers know, Dr. Abraham Nemeth is the preeminent blind mathematician throughout the world; and Dr. T. V. Cranmer, the Chairman of the Research and Development Committee of the National Federation of the Blind, is internationally known for his innovative work in technology for the blind. Recently the Braille Authority of North America asked Drs. Cranmer and Nemeth to give them their opinions on the desirability of a uniform Braille code. The result was the following article, which has been distributed to the BANA board members and deserves wider circulation.

When I first saw the title of this article, I was afraid it might be the usual plea that we make wholesale changes in Braille and go to a so-called better system. However, Tim Cranmer set me straight on the matter. He said that his concern was just the opposite. He said that both he and Dr. Nemeth now felt that it had been a mistake to create new codes for mathematics, computers, and textbooks--that these should simply have been extensions of Grade 2 Braille with no changes made to existing usable symbols.

He gave as an example the dollar sign. In Grade 2 Braille the dollar sign was formerly a "d" before a number sign. Later it was changed to a "d" in the lower part of the cell before the number sign. (Perhaps I had better explain for the benefit of non-Braille readers--or, in a reversal of terminology, the blindless. The Braille cell is composed of two rows of three vertical dots--dots 1, 2, and 3 on the left going from top to bottom and dots 4, 5, and 6 on the right. The "d" is dots 1-4-5, and a "d" in the lower part of the cell would obviously be dots 2-5-6.) In the Nemeth Code the dollar sign is dot 4 followed by an "s." In the computer code the dollar sign is dot 1-2-4-6 (or an "ed" sign). Now, if all this isn't confusing, it should be.

When I asked Tim Cranmer if the textbook code used still another symbol for the dollar sign, he said no, but he then ruined it by a statement to this effect: "The textbook code uses the symbol required by the host code in which the book is to be written--be it literary, Nemeth, or computer." He gave me other examples, but I shall refrain from mentioning them. The dollar sign is, perhaps, more than sufficient to make the point.

I reminded Tim that he had been the chairman of the computer code committee. To which he replied that he had simply made a mistake and had now lived to regret it. He added, however, that he would never have seen the light (or, as the saying goes, felt the dot) without that experience.

I next asked him if he intended to commit the heresy of saying that Dr. Nemeth regretted promulgating the code that bears his name and was prepared publicly to recant. To which he replied (and this is an exact quote): "Dr. Nemeth does, indeed, agree that it was a mistake to create a separate code for mathematics and that it would have been preferable to create new symbols that would have extended the approved Braille code in use at the time had that been an option. He is currently not ashamed of his work and deserves the accolades which we and others now bestow upon him, but this does not alter the fact that both he and I agree that there should be only one Braille code."

This is what Tim Cranmer said, and I want you to remember that you read it in the Monitor. Be it truth or hearsay, it is certainly newsworthy. In short, I take it that both Dr. Cranmer and Dr. Nemeth feel that the dollar sign in Braille should never have been changed. This is something quite different from the esoteric notions which keep cropping up about making wholesale changes in Grade 2 Braille. An extension is not necessarily a change from what already exists. Chalk one up for philosophy.

Let me say in concluding this editor's note that the Monitor is neither advocating nor opposing what the authors of this article have written. They are thoroughly competent to speak for themselves, so here is what they said to the board of the Braille Authority of North America.

Date: January 15, 1991
To: The members of the BANA Board
From: Dr. T. V. Cranmer and Dr. Abraham Nemeth
Subject: A Uniform Braille Code

We begin by sincerely thanking you for inviting our comments and for giving us the opportunity of making our views known concerning the vital issue of a uniform Braille code. For a long time we have individually thought about, and have jointly discussed, the points we present in this paper. They are not, therefore, the expression of hastily formed opinions and conclusions, but represent our best and most critical thinking on this subject. We are writing this paper jointly because we are in substantial agreement on the issues we present and on the procedure required for addressing them.

For a long time now, the blindness community has been experiencing a steady erosion in Braille usage, both among children and adults. This trend shows no sign of abatement, so that there is now a clear and present danger that Braille will become a secondary means of written communication among the blind, or that it will become obsolete altogether. The reasons for this erosion are numerous and complex, but we believe that a significant contributing factor to this unfortunate state of affairs is the complexity and disarray into which the Braille system has now evolved.

We have in mind the proliferation of Braille codes that has occurred in recent times. Without counting the Braille Music Code, which has a valid claim to an independent existence, there are now four basic Braille codes authorized by BANA for use as standards in the production of Braille reading matter. These are: 1) the literary code, 2) the Braille Code for Textbook Formats and Techniques, 3) the Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics and Science Notation, and 4) the Computer Braille Code.

The literary code is the oldest. It is a general-purpose code, which includes Grade 2 as its main component. There are, in fact, two literary codes--the one sanctioned by BANA for use in North America, and the other sanctioned by BAUK for use in the United Kingdom. After nearly sixty years of discussions, negotiations, papers, and conferences, there has been no substantial progress toward the achievement of a common literary code, nor is such a code likely to be realized in the foreseeable future. Getting our own house in order may improve our contributions to future discussions of this matter. In any case, poor prospects abroad should not delay addressing problems on this continent.

The four basic codes were developed independently of one another, with the result that there are numerous conflicts among them with regard to symbols and rules. The dollar sign, for example, has one representation in the literary code, another in the Nemeth Code, and still another in the Computer Braille Code. The same is true for the percent sign, the square brackets, and others.

From time-to-time, the basic codes are extended in scope by the inclusion of additional modules. Some of these modules have already been adopted as part of the basic code, and some are still under development. Thus, a module on ancient numeration systems and another on chemistry notation extend the Nemeth Code, and a module on flowcharts extends the Computer Braille Code. Not associated with any basic code is a module on guidelines for mathematical diagrams. There may be other modules, either contemplated or under way, of which we are not aware. In any case, all the BANA technical committees are busily at work, each making its own contribution to the continued fragmentation of the Braille system. The present practice of requiring technical committees to review each other's work has not prevented the growth of ambiguities and contradictions among codes presently authorized.

For each of the basic codes, there is an official code book in which the symbols and rules of that code are set forth. For some of these codes, there are associated lesson books designed to help a student of that code to acquire proficiency and experience in its use. After a year or more of regular study and application, and after an additional period devoted to the preparation of a Braille manuscript, which must meet high standards in demonstrating the skill, the student, if he or she is successful, receives a certificate from the Library of Congress attesting to the student's mastery of that code. If the manuscript is rejected, the student must submit another manuscript.

Large volunteer organizations like the National Braille Association and California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually Handicapped conduct regularly scheduled workshops in all the basic codes and their extensions at national and regional conferences. "Skills" columns are a regular feature in the official publications of these organizations. In these columns, problem situations are proposed and resolved by experts in each of the basic codes.

How much training is required to be able to transcribe a fifth-grade book in arithmetic for an 11-year-old child? Since modern arithmetic books at this level always include a "computer corner" or a "calculator corner," all four basic codes will be needed. How likely is it that a teacher-in-training, with only limited time available to learn Braille, will know enough of all these codes to teach them to this 11-year-old? And how likely is it that this 11-year-old will be able to read and understand the material before him or her in all these basic codes? In less time than it would take to acquire skill and proficiency in all these codes and their extensions, and to prepare the required manuscripts for certification, a student might instead enroll in a major medical school, earn an M.D. degree, and still have time to complete a residency in neurosurgery.

We have previously cited the complexity and disarray of the Braille system as it has now evolved as a significant factor in the erosion of Braille usage, and we feel that this is a fair description of that situation. If our claim is valid, it is no wonder that professionals in the field of the education of the blind are resisting the teaching of Braille; that they are down- playing its usefulness in favor of such alternatives as tape recorders, computers, and closed-circuit magnifiers (when this is applicable); and that some are already pronouncing the Braille system to be obsolete in the light of the "new technology."

In stark contrast, there are no special codes in print related to subject matter, no authorities for setting standards, no disagreement about the written form of the English language, no intrinsic conflicts, no special-purpose modules, no lesson books, no manuscripts, no certification, no workshops, and no "skills" columns. None of these is needed because print is a coherent, uniform system of writing in which any given symbol has an assigned and unvarying identity regardless of the subject matter or of the surrounding text in which it is found. New symbols, as they arise, are added to the existing ones without causing any conflict, and the reader of print learns as few or as many of these symbols as needed to carry out his or her normal activities without needing to learn all the possible symbols. We need to devise a Braille system possessing these features. Such a system would qualify as the uniform Braille code, the development of which we are proposing.

In order to understand how the present problem with the Braille system arose, we must examine the role that Braille has played in the lives of the blind from the time it was first introduced to the present.

From the mid-nineteenth century, when Braille or its equivalent was first introduced, until the mid-twentieth century, the life cycle of a blind person followed pretty much a standard pattern. In childhood and adolescence, he or she attended a residential school for the blind with other blind students and with many teachers who were also blind. Employment, when it was available, was mostly in a sheltered workshop or comparable workplace. A few who were more motivated went on to college. Even they, however, found employment, when it was available, in the sheltered workshops. A few became entrepreneurs in home-based businesses or in newsstand-type operations. Some joined the staff of an agency for the blind, where they were provided with relatively unlimited secretarial and transportation services. When employment was not available, the blind subsisted on Social Security, disability, or other state and federal benefits. Some resorted to begging. Most of the blind lived at home with their parents or spouses. Many were sufficiently independent to live alone and manage their own affairs. The rest took up residence in various types of institutional or custodial facilities. Their social life was centered in their families. It sometimes extended to seeking the companionship of other blind friends. For the most part, then, blind people were isolated from the mainstream of society both economically and socially.

Although the Braille system was invented by a Frenchman named Louis Braille, who naturally modeled it to conform to his native French language, it was subsequently modified in North America to meet the spelling and punctuation requirements of the English language. Any system of writing is a window on the cultural level and orientation of those who use that system, and this is no less true of Braille, which is also a writing system. Braille acquired its characteristic features through the cooperative efforts of key educators at the residential schools for the blind. In mute eloquence, the resulting literary code proclaims what the needs of the blind (as perceived by these educators) are and what level of achievement may be expected of them. Since gainful employment in the mainstream of society was thought to be an unrealistic expectation for the vast majority of the blind, the principal use of Braille, as perceived by these educators, was to cater to their religious and recreational needs. The present literary code, which is but little changed from its original form, testifies convincingly to the success achieved in adapting Braille to that use.

Short-form words like "rejoicing" and "conceiving" attest to the importance that was attached to religious literature for the blind when the literary code was first formulated.

At the recreational level, precise conformity to the printed text is not an overriding requirement, as long as the Braille reader can grasp the underlying thought. Thus, when specified by the rules of Braille, it is required to suppress the indication of italic type, to alter punctuation, to transpose abbreviations of coinage and measure, to replace Roman with Arabic numbers, to replace symbols with words, to replace standard abbreviations with non-standard ones, and (where context is the determining factor) to replace reading with guessing.

All of these deviations from print practice combined to create a kind of subculture within the Braille-reading community to which only the blind were privy. Since they lived in relative social and economic isolation, no great harm resulted from these deviations which were accepted as "normal." Unfortunately, these deviations persist and are sanctioned to the present time. Meanwhile, the blind have, largely through their own efforts, extricated themselves to a large extent from the sorry plight which we have described. Today, an enlightened public policy mandates the mainstreaming of the blind into all areas of society--school, workplace, recreational and leisure facilities, and all the rest. Most blind youth attend their local schools, where they are integrated with their sighted peers.

Large numbers of blind adults are employed in almost every conceivable occupation. They are lawyers and judges; they hold elective public office; they are secretaries and teachers, scientists and engineers; they run farms and train horses; and they engage in entrepreneurial activities of every kind. At every turn they learn, work, and play together with their sighted colleagues. Documents that pass between them are translated from print to Braille and vice versa with the ease and speed that only a modern computer can provide. The infrastructure of our society mandates a universal standard by which the proper use of written English is gauged, and the blind as well as the sighted must be held to that standard. The deviations from print practice which were harmless in the subculture we described earlier are today no longer acceptable. When a blind person uses them, a sighted person is likely to judge that blind person as incompetent or uneducated. This is certainly not the image a blind person wants to project when he or she is trying to compete in the workplace with a claim of equal productivity.

Recreation continues to be an important motivation for reading among the blind, as it also is among the sighted. But, like the sighted, blind people read for a variety of other reasons. Among them are self-improvement and keeping current with news, sports, medical, and scientific advances, and late developments in their fields of work. In so doing, they encounter a wide variety of general-interest books and mass- circulation periodicals. Authors of such books and periodicals do not hesitate to use mathematical or scientific notation as required, and they expect their readers to have no more of a problem dealing with such notation than with the surrounding English text. Knowledge of such notation is as much a part of our cultural infrastructure as the ability to read words and sentences. A person who cannot cope with such notation needs remedial help to overcome this area of illiteracy. The blind are but a cross-section of the general population. They have a right to access the same information as the sighted, and if this information needs to be conveyed through the use of mathematical or scientific notation, they should be expected to deal with it in the same way as the sighted. It is time to modernize the Braille system.

In this section, we offer some ideas that we feel should be considered in bringing about a uniform Braille code that will meet the needs of the blind in modern society. This paper is not the proper forum for making technical recommendations regarding the form that such a uniform Braille code should assume. We therefore confine ourselves to the issues that need to be considered in bringing such a code into being.

With regard to jurisdiction, we feel that BANA is the only properly constituted body to oversee such a project. The BANA Board consists of representatives from just about every important organization in the Braille-reading community, and these organizations have, over a long period of time, recognized and respected BANA's authority.

A uniform Braille code will require that changes be made to the existing basic codes, and that these changed codes be merged into a single uniform code. It is important not to be intimidated by the prospect of such changes. Changes are not made for the sake of change but for the sake of improvement. In the twentieth century, BANA and/or its progenitors have made several fundamental changes to the Braille system, all of them more noticeable and far-reaching than any that we envision as a result of switching to a uniform Braille code. Examples of past such changes include a switch from New York Point to American Braille, from American Braille to English Braille, from Grade 1- 1/2 to Grade 2, from the Taylor Code to the Nemeth Code, and from one music code to another. None of these changes caused any serious disruption in the teaching or use of Braille. The benefits of a uniform Braille code would far outweigh any temporary inconvenience that might be caused by the shift. Nor should change be resisted solely on the grounds of preference established by long years of habit.

The range of human knowledge is far too broad for any single code to handle effectively all aspects of such knowledge. We would not, for example, expect a uniform Braille code to be capable of dealing with arcane foreign languages or systems of writing which bear no relationship to the Roman alphabet. Nevertheless, there still remains a broad central body of knowledge which embraces most of what might be called Western culture, and it is to this body of knowledge that we envision the applicability of a uniform Braille code. Such a code must be capable of dealing with a wide range of subject matter and at all levels of complexity.

Before attending to the details of a uniform Braille code, it is necessary to formulate a set of clearly-stated and implementable objectives to be used as guidelines and tests on the basis of which to accept or reject a proposed code construct. Deviation from an established objective then becomes a more serious matter than the mere reassignment of a Braille symbol. The following are some of the objectives we feel should guide the development of a uniform Braille code. These objectives may be expanded and other objectives added, as the technicalities of the code begin to emerge:

1) The code must be capable of accurately representing the printed text so that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the text in one medium and the text in the other. It is important that readers in both media comprehend the text in the same way, so that there may exist a broad, "hi-fi," two-way channel of communication between a blind person and his teachers, his classmates, his family, his friends, and his associates at work.

2) The code must provide a Braille format in which the reader can quickly and easily locate the information he or she needs. Since Braille cannot imitate print format with its rich variety of features, the code must use the limited format mechanisms in Braille in a systematic manner and to maximum effect.

3) The symbols and rules of the code must be used uniformly from one subject matter to another, and at every level of complexity. This will make it possible for the Braille user to learn as much of the code as he or she needs for present activities, and then to learn more of the code without unlearning what he or she already knows as new knowledge is added. 4) The code must be as independent of context as possible. To achieve this, symbols must be constructed without regard to their meaning.

5) The code must provide for a means of distinguishing between information contained in the source text and information supplied by the transcriber.

6) The code must provide a highly mnemonic system of symbols. The code would be difficult to learn, and text would become difficult to read if this objective were not met.

7) The code must be extendible in a systematic manner. As new symbols are introduced into the code, they must not conflict with those already in the code, and they must be used according to the rules which already exist and which apply in comparable situations.

8) The code must be formulated so that text is amenable to computer translation either from Braille to print or from print to Braille.

9) The code should interface well with Grade 2, so that someone who is reading straight literature (words and sentences) will hardly know that he is reading in a changed code.

By far the most important of our recommendations is that BANA be convinced of the seriousness of the situation with regard to the use and availability of Braille, and that it take immediate action to remedy that situation, giving it higher priority than any of its other ongoing activities. Some recent statistics put the use of Braille among those who need to use it at twelve percent. Each year the statistics in this regard become gloomier. If this trend is permitted to continue, BANA will, at some not too distant time in the future, find itself presiding over a largely moot and philosophical domain.

As a practical matter, we recommend that BANA appoint a technical committee to bring into being a uniform Braille code of the kind that we have been describing throughout this paper. The members of this committee should, above all, be knowledgeable in all the current Braille codes. Whether they are teachers, administrators, volunteer Braillists, or representatives of any other group is largely irrelevant. More important is that they be committed to the successful outcome of their task and that they be thoroughly convinced of the need to succeed. For reasons of efficiency, this should be a small working committee wherein each member makes a positive contribution. Can it be done? The surest way of being convinced that something can be done is to do it.

From the Associate Editor: In March of 1990 the Council of Executives of American Residential Schools for the Visually Handicapped (CEARSVH) approved passage of a position paper on literacy for blind students. The document was circulated and then reprinted in the fall of 1990 by Re:View, a publication connected with the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER). As one might expect from an organization of educators in the blindness field, the CEARSVH attempted in this document to have its cake and eat it too. The authors wanted to say all the currently fashionable things about the importance of increasing literacy among blind students, without at the same time offending those in the field who are beavering away at vision stimulation research and low vision services. The predictable result is a mishmash of platitudes that ducks the real issues underlying the decline in literacy among blind students.

The simple truth is that if a person cannot use print rapidly and for a sustained period, Braille is the only efficient alternative. Audio tape can be used for some things, but in fundamental ways it is no substitute in some kinds of reading and virtually all kinds of writing.

In addition to reading and personal writing, a literate blind person who cannot use print quickly and easily must be able to type in order to communicate with those who do not read Braille. Although it is convenient, in fact increasingly necessary, for everyone in our society (blind and sighted alike) to master the computer, its use should not be dragged into any discussion of basic literacy. The computer can be a powerful tool for those who have already mastered basic skills, but for the beginner, personal instruction, work sheets, and practice are essential and can rarely be provided by a computer program.

The CEARSVH paper takes a bold stand against requiring all visually impaired students as a class to learn Braille. It discusses high-mindedly the right of every student to be assessed individually and taught appropriately. The only trouble is that no one advocates the reflex imposition of Braille on blind students, only relief from the resolute demand that print be used at all cost. Current efforts led by the National Federation of the Blind to legislate increased Braille access for elementary and secondary students do seek to insure that every student who needs Braille has the opportunity to get it. Our actual intention is to protect the individual's right to learn Braille and to guarantee that the special education teachers who work with blind children be certified by the National Library Service as competent in the Braille code. We believe that if teachers can read and write Braille well, they will not seek to avoid teaching it by convincing themselves and their students that Braille is obsolete or unnecessary for the student in question.

Like computers, most social systems have default settings. All other things being equal, the assumption is that things will be done in some specified way. There was a time when professional educators began with the presumption that blind children should be taught Braille. Extenuating circu