Future Reflections

This issue is dedicated to Erik Weihenmayer, the only blind person to climb the tallest mountain peaks on all seven continents. Erik is pictured below at the National Center for the Blind with his guide dog and blind children from the Maryland KIDS Camp program. For more information about Erik and his adventures, see Erik’s book Touch the Top of the World, and go to the NFB Web page <www.nfb.org/erik.htm>.

“Erik exemplifies the spirit and mission of the National Federation of the Blind. We believe all blind people can climb their own
individual mountains, provided that they receive proper training
and opportunities, and, most importantly, have faith in themselves.”
Dr. Marc Maurer, President, National Federation of the Blind

National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
1800 Johnson Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
(410) 659-9314 ext. 360
www.nfb.org/nopbc.htm * nfb@nfb.org * BCheadle@nfb.org

Textbooks on Time: Update on the Instructional
Materials Accessibility Act (IMAA)

Honor Roll of Schools for the Blind:
2001-2002 Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest

The Rewards and Continuing Challenges of Teaching Blind
and Visually Impaired Students

Rhode Island Department of Education: Cutting or Gutting
Services to Blind Children?

The 2002-2003 school year presents parents, students, and teachers with challenging, sometimes even formidable, mountains to climb. Some of these peaks are of the difficult-but-rewarding type of enterprise Cody and Marty sought out and mastered in “Mountains to Climb” (page 2). Others, such as the monumental budget cuts to the Rhode Island programs for blind children (p. 68), are man-made barriers thrown-up by public officials who have much to learn about the capacities of the blind.

Some of the mountains are individual challenges, other collective. In our collective campaign to conquer the Textbooks on Time peak, we’ve made it to base camp with the introduction of the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act (see page 13). The question that remains is, will the political climate be favorable enough for us to summit with the legislation before Congress adjourns in October, or will the chill generated by the Department of Education set the bill back another year?

Even as we are within sight of vanquishing the “Textbooks on Time” mountain, another one is looming ever larger and ominous on the horizon—the national Braille and O&M teacher shortage. The article on page 30 examines the problem from the perspective of one family and one school district in Maryland.

Despite the troublesome shortage, we are reminded on page 54 and page 56 of the dedicated teachers in special and regular education who hang in there and work hard to equip our children with the tools they need to surmount life’s challenges.

Barbara Matthews, who a year ago wrote about her daughter’s Kindergarten year, continues the saga with “Kyra’s First Grade Year ” (page 5). Despite some steep and rocky inclines, Kyra and her family are subduing their mountains and leaving a well-marked trail for others to follow. On the other end of the educational spectrum, Doctoral student, Cary Supalo, provides some excellent suggestions (page 26) for blind students who are wondering if they can successfully maneuver through a chemistry class.

Emilie Schultz (page 20) and Erin Byrne (page 58) demonstrate that with spirit and the right tools, blind students with additional disabilities can also triumph over obstacles. Sarah Weinstein, a middle school student, provides guidelines for sighted peers and teachers making the trek with her in her article, “What I Prefer” on page 52.

Other articles tackle a whole mountain range of topics: technology (page 23), low vision children in the classroom (page 48), early childhood (page 41), IEP’s (page 61), Braille literacy for beginning readers (page 43), and Braille for sighted children (page 10).

Finally, we congratulate and celebrate with the students and the schools for the blind that successfully achieved literacy summits in the past year’s 2001-2002 Braille Reader’s Are Leader’s contest (page 36 and 37).

It seems to me that the common thread throughout all these articles is one of hope. Whatever obstacles we face, we don’t have to face them alone. When we willingly share the hardships, we also share in the accomplishments and triumph. And individual achievements, properly shared and communicated, are an inspiration and guide to those that follow.

Editor’s Note: Cody was just a baby when his father, Marty Greiser, joined the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Today, as a Vice-President in the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children, Marty is respected by parents nationwide for his consistent, and thoughtful application of a positive philosophy about blindness in his relationship with his son. Here is Marty’s account of a climb he and his son, Cody, recently completed together:

Some of us climb hills and think they are mountains. Others climb mountains and consider them molehills. Fifteen-year-old Cody Greiser is a mountain climber, but says, “What is so special about me climbing a mountain?” Cody is blind.

“Even before Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind man to climb to the top of Mount Everest, was in the news, my then 12-year-old son, Cody, was talking about climbing mountains,” remembers Cody’s father, Marty Greiser. “He was asking if there were mountains nearby, what were their names, and which ones could be climbed and when could we do it? In western Montana where we live, a mountain is always nearby and they can all be climbed, weather permitting.”

So why was Marty reluctant to take his son mountain climbing? After all, he has been to the top of many a mountain in the area over the years and thoroughly enjoys hiking and climbing in the mountains.

“I know what it takes to prepare and I am aware of the risks and hazards involved, some of which can be very serious, Marty said. “As I considered taking Cody up a mountain, worrisome thoughts pounded my mind. What if something happened? What would his grandparents think, or his mother? What would the neighbors say? I had visions of it.

“That careless, reckless father, what was he thinking? Doesn’t he know better than to take a blind kid mountain climbing? That’s just asking for trouble.”

But Cody had been raised with a “can do” philosophy, Marty said. “Plus, I had always preached that the broad umbrella of overprotectivism has bad consequences. I knew this was something Cody really wanted to do, not because he was blind and not to prove anything to anybody. He just wanted to climb a mountain, just like any other teenage boy might want to do.”

Marty remembers the interest and excitement that came after hearing about Weihenmayer’s adventure to the summit of Mount Everest. “When he heard Weihenmayer had made it to the top and back, he was excited,” said Greiser. “When he learned that Weihenmayer was going to talk about his climb up Mount Everest at the National Federation of the Blind Convention in Philadelphia, there was no way Cody was going to miss that. At the convention, an hour before Weihenmayer spoke, Cody was right up front with his own tape recorder.”

Cody’s goal to climb a mountain was fueled with another burst of enthusiasm after listening to Weihenmayer’s talk. Weihenmayer’s determination to achieve his dreams and his refusal to let blindness stand in his way provided a powerful message that blind people can compete and can be adventurers in everything they undertake, Marty said. After Weihenmayer’s talk, Cody, now 14, turned to me and said, ‘OK, Dad, when can we climb Baldy Mountain?’” Greiser said.

Greiser knew that Baldy’s 10,568-foot elevation was no Mount Everest. But still, he considered it a real wild mountain with no gentle, groomed trail leading to the top. We knew when anyone climbed it, they were on their own and responsible for their own safety. The moment of decision had come. Greiser swallowed hard and answered his son, “As soon as we get home, and the weather looks good, we’ll climb Baldy.”

It was August 10, 2001. Temperature was in the mid-30’s. “We started out at daylight,” Cody said, still feeling the excitement of the that day, “It was chilly and I remember when we got to the top of the mountain, it had that feeling of winter even though the temperature had warmed up quite a bit.”

Greiser described the terrain. “We had to walk sharply up through standing timber and over and around downfall to reach the upper tree line,” said Greiser.” Then it was rock and wide-open spaces. We had to negotiate boulder fields, rock slide rubble and slope so steep in places you could reach out in front of yourself and touch it.

“We made the top in just over three hours. As we went, Cody usually grasped my right arm, just above the elbow with his left hand. He had his cane in his right hand. On a few occasions of rock hopping, we clasped hands for safety. While on top we ate lunch, enjoyed the mountain, and took pictures. I then began to notice clouds gathering on the horizon and above other nearby peaks. It was time to start down. I knew that a bare, open mountainside was no place to be caught by lightning, hail, or rain.”

The pair made much better time going down, Greiser remembered. “Cody’s ability to walk on broken ground just kept getting better, and I focused more on our route and speed. If I had known we were going to get down so quickly, we would have spent more time on top.”

The adventure ended safely as Cody and Marty reached their truck with a tired but triumphant feeling. The sun was still shining and the temperature had climbed into the 70s. No storm ever materialized.

Recalling the trip made Greiser reflective. Their trip had been a success and they were safe. “But what if we, or Erik Weihenmayer, had not been successful or safe? What then? Would Erik’s effort be seen as folly? Would I be seen as a reckless father? Would Cody and other blind kids be seen as deserving more protection? Could we not, in fact, be perpetuating the very negative stereotypes we are trying to eliminate? To answer my own questions: perhaps, but most likely not. I have to think that allowing blindness to prevent our trying something new has far more negative connotations than the consequences of trying and failing at any particular task.”

Cody echoed Marty’s thoughts. “If we hadn’t made it, we’d just have tried again, until we did,” he smiled.

“Cody never had any doubt that he could make the climb,” Greiser said, “I was the reluctant one. I just did not believe or understand how a blind person could walk on such heaved and broken rock as exists on the top of mountains. I still don’t know how Cody managed the terrain. But I nearly let blindness stop us from having a good time. After all, we didn’t climb it to prove blind people can climb mountains. Weihenmayer did that, and did it royally. Cody and I climbed Baldy Mountain just for the fun of it.

“My desire is to encourage other parents of blind children to think out of the box,” he said.

Cody says, “We plan to do it again. Maybe not Baldy, but Dad and I have other mountains to climb.”

Kyra makes a metal mask at an art activity sponsored by the NOPBC at the 2002
NFB Convention.

Editor’s Note: Barbara Matthews is a newly elected member of the board of directors of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children. She and her family live in southern California. The article to which she refers below, “Kyra’s Kindergarten Year,” was published in the volume 19, number 4, 2001, issue of
Future Reflections.

Last year, I wrote about Kyra’s experience as a fully mainstreamed kindergartner and only blind child in our neighborhood public school. I left off wondering if we were doing the right thing in our planning for first grade in two ways — first, by changing teachers, when most kids stay with the same teacher for kindergarten and first grade; and second, by keeping the same one-on-one aide. The answer to the first question is a resounding yes; the second, a qualified no.

But before I describe the first grade year, it’s important to relate what we did for a summer program. I think most parents of blind children would agree that it’s ideal to have a balance between mainstreaming and special programs for blind children. The tough part is finding the right balance, which varies from child to child, and circumstance to circumstance. In our case, we decided to work towards that balance by what we termed “blindness immersion” for the summer.

First, Kyra attended a “class” (two students) taught by the Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) specialist at the special education summer school. During this time, her reading skills really took off, so that by the beginning of first grade, she was reading at a second grade level. In addition, her dad took her to the National Federation of the Blind convention in Atlanta, which she loved. She also went to Camp Bloomfield, for Family Camp and Buddy Camp. This was a bit of a disappointment. We felt that camp should be a place for making friends. Unfortunately, the counselors were not trained or encouraged to facilitate friendships. I think the program reflected the kind of low expectations for our children that we find all too often.

When first grade started, we were pretty sure we had done the right thing by having Kyra change teachers. The new teacher, Ms. Gillam, was very enthusiastic about having Kyra in her class. She provided materials to the TVI specialist for Brailling at the beginning of the summer! She came to our house for dinner, and it was clear Kyra would be comfortable with her. But things never go as planned. We learned during the summer that Ms. Gillam was pregnant, due in December. We decided to stick with her. She planned to be back in February.

This really seemed like the right decision when we visited the classroom the day before school started. As I went around making Braille labels everywhere a print label appeared (“Reading Center,” “Art Center,” etc.), I discovered that Ms. Gillam was one of those people who naturally narrates what she is doing—whether anyone is listening or not. It’s perfect for a blind child.

She also welcomed my suggestions about setting up the classroom for Kyra, including the separate desk for the aide away from Kyra and putting a friend of Kyra’s next to her. The friend, Kourtney, is one of those great kids who is completely unconcerned with Kyra’s blindness. They had become friends in after-school care. Knowing they would be in the same class (I got the class list from the principal well in advance), I made sure they had a couple of play-dates over the summer.

I’ll never forget the day school started. Kyra walked into her classroom, and someone said, “Hey, look, Kyra’s in our class!” Several kids yelled, “Kyra!” The smile on her face was a sight to behold.

Every day, the teacher put a “morning message” on the board. And every day, there it was in Braille on her desk, so that she could read along. Then they had calendar time. She used an American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults calendar. The discussion of days of the week wasn’t a challenge for her, but the time was well spent learning to read a Braille calendar.

Ms. Gillam soon reported to me that the other kids recognized Kyra as the smartest kid in the class. One day a child said that there must be a connection between Ms. Gillam’s brain and Kyra’s brain because Kyra always knew the answer. Some kids became convinced that Braille was easier to read than print because of Kyra’s reading skill. What this meant to me was that Kyra was comfortable and confident enough to actively participate, and that she continues to be “changing what it means to be blind” in the minds of other people. Imagine how different these children’s perception of blindness and blind people will be as they grow up free from the misconceptions many of us had. My older daughter recently commented on one of Kyra’s achievements, “Well, that’s because blind people are smarter than other people.” I had to correct her, but I had to admit to being a bit pleased that Kyra is creating that impression.

We were very lucky to have a TVI specialist who pushed Kyra to her limits. When Kyra learned ten new contractions, Sherri gave her ten more. When it was clear that Kyra was beyond the spelling and math in the class, Sherri added extra hard spelling words and added an extra digit to the math problems.

But of course there were challenges. One was Kyra’s aide. We discovered that she had Kyra sitting with her for lunch. We insisted on putting a stop to that, but it was fighting a losing battle. I don’t think she had any idea how to help Kyra join a group of friends, or how to ask someone to join her.

Then there was the “Brailler as a safety hazard” story. One day Kyra came home with her homework, and I noticed that she had managed to circle some answers. I asked her if she had worked with Sherri on it; she said no, she did it in after-school care, but she couldn’t do more because she didn’t have a Brailler there. I immediately went to work to get her a Brailler in the day care room. The principal and the TVI specialist tried to help. Then I got a response from the day care teacher—She wouldn’t allow a Brailler because of “safety issues.” This was actually written down! I happened to be attending a reception for school board members that afternoon and mentioned the problem. By the time I called the person in charge of the after school program the next day, she already knew why I was calling. The problem was semi-solved by having the aide carry the classroom Brailler back and forth every day. They never did get one for the day care room. Not surprisingly, we took both our daughters out of the program by February.

Technology is a perpetual struggle. The school finally put a PC with JAWS in the classroom, but without a cable to plug it in! My husband finally went out and bought one and plugged it in himself. It took weeks for the Braille embosser to be moved from the high school, where it wasn’t being used, to Kyra’s classroom. Once it was moved, again, there was no cable, as well as no paper. I located a local community organization that was willing to make a grant to the school district to purchase a PIAF tactile imaging device. I prepared all the paperwork, but the school district never submitted the grant application. As for the Braille ’n Speak, we purchased it ourselves. Then it took five months to schedule the training called for in the IEP for the TVI specialist and for us as parents.

When Ms. Gillam’s maternity leave started, Kyra had a strong foundation of confidence. Unfortunately, Ms. Gillam had complications with childbirth and, as a result, didn’t return until May. That meant the class had two different long-term substitutes. We spent time “training” both of them regarding Kyra and our approach to blindness. With the help and support of the principal, both substitutes worked out fine. After talking to other parents, I think Kyra may have suffered less than the other children because she had the TVI specialist continuing to push Kyra to her potential.

Kyra’s friendships changed during the course of the year. At first, she continued to join her best friend from last year for lunch and recess. But the friend was in second grade, and a different class. Kyra became better friends with the other girls in her own class, particularly the other “smart” girl, named Leticia (called “LA”). We had LA over to our house several times. Eventually, her mother got over her trepidation and invited Kyra over. They even went to the beach! Kyra became much more aware of times when friends would come over and be more interested in playing with her older sister, Kiko, and she didn’t like it. This wasn’t all bad, because it encouraged her to try to be more social. She still had a tendency to start playing by herself even with a friend there. It remains a challenge to facilitate activities that she can do with other kids—meaning that they don’t involve a lot of running around.

Kyra had her first sleepover. The situation was ideal. She went with her sister to the nearby home of a girl who has been best friends with Kiko since kindergarten—who I call my third daughter because she has spent so much time with us. It seemed very natural, and she had so much fun that she didn’t want to come home.

I started a Brownie troop with another mom. It became very popular with the girls at school, including those with the more advanced social skills and involved parents. Like most girls that age, Kyra loved the rituals and the sense of belonging. I loved the opportunity for her to see the social behavior of the other girls and for the other girls and parents to see her participating as a regular kid.

In May, it was IEP time again. The meeting went relatively well. Kyra attended most of it, and provided helpful input on issues such as the phase-out of the aide. We asked for and got the TVI specialist for an hour every day (including prep time). We asked for and got a commitment for the district to provide a BrailleNote (although we haven’t seen it yet). With the support of the principal, we got a commitment for a different aide. We also reduced the aide’s hours from the full school day to three hours.

On the down side, we learned that the TVI specialist wouldn’t be available for summer school. The district staff suggested that Kyra attend (and we pay for) the regular education summer school sponsored by the PTA. We’d inquired about that program last year, and were less than impressed, so we insisted on our right to extended school year services. We felt the skills she needed work on could be effectively taught by the O&M instructor. The district knew better than to refuse to offer a program, but it wasn’t until two days before summer school started that we actually got confirmation that there would be a program for Kyra.

There was no obvious choice for a second grade teacher, so we agreed to the principal’s recommendation. It’s a job sharing arrangement between two teachers. According to the principal, this requires advance planning and organization, which is critical to getting materials prepared for Kyra. We’ll see.

Then, on June 3, we got the real blow. At a meeting for parents of children in special education, the Assistant Superintendent accidentally told me that our TVI specialist wouldn’t be coming back. I say accidentally, because he assumed I knew, but I had not been told by the teacher or otherwise. I left the meeting in tears. He followed me out and promised to use all his contacts to find a replacement.

Summer school was a far cry from the prior summer. According to the IEP, the areas Kyra was supposed to work on were orientation and mobility, computer skills, and daily living skills. They didn’t even get the computer moved into the classroom for a week or two (of the five-week program), and then the teacher couldn’t figure out how to use it. They ended up cooking. Kyra had fun, but making “ants on a log with roaches” wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. I have learned how much we depend on the TVI specialist to be the most effective
advocate for the student.

Nonetheless, as I sit here today, three days before school starts, we don’t have a TVI specialist. Needless to say, it’s agonizing. Last week, I asked for the district’s plan to address Kyra’s needs in the absence of a TVI specialist. I got back a response saying, basically, “We don’t have one; can you provide leads on a TVI specialist?” So I prepared a six-part plan and sent it to the Assistant Superintendent. He promised a response by the end of the following day. That was six days ago; I still haven’t received anything. I really don’t want to even suggest a temporary transfer to the school for the blind in neighboring Los Angeles. I’m afraid it will take the pressure off, they’ll give up and they won’t even look for a TVI specialist. And I don’t want to take Kyra away from the school community that she has become such a part of.

To make matters worse, they haven’t even hired a new one-on-one aide. That isn’t attributable to a lack of candidates. It’s simply bureaucratic ineptitude. So she’ll start school with an unprepared, untrained substitute.

Last year, I concluded with six suggestions for anyone considering the educational placement decision. Now, with the ups and downs of two years, I continue to believe in them, so I’ll briefly repeat them:

1. Look for enthusiasm about your child in teachers, administrators, and others.

4. Use e-mail to communicate with the numerous people who are involved in your child’s educational program.

I will continue the saga in “Kyra’s Second Grade Year.” I hope other parents can relate our experiences to their own circumstances and perhaps get new ideas that will work for their children, or at least be reminded that we’re not alone with these challenges.

A pen pal program for blind Braille reading students who
want to write and receive Braille letters from other students.

Mail to: SLATE PALS, 5817 North Nina, Chicago, Illinois 60631 or <dkent@ripco.com>

Editor’s Note: The following little review was published in the April 2002 issue of NEA Today, The Magazine of the National Education Association. It is reprinted with permission.

Looking for ways to help your students understand the perspectives of those with disabilities? Braille Is Beautiful, a new program from the National Federation of the Blind, could be just the ticket.

Braille Is Beautiful is a flexible, hands-on program that comes complete with a Braille stylus and slate for kids to learn with. It aims to help sighted students in grades four through six understand not only Braille but also the many capabilities and achievements of blind people.

Marc Maurer, the Federation’s president and himself blind, created the program to make blindness “less weird” to kids.

“I’ve used few materials that generate as much excitement,” says Claudia Bosworth, who last year introduced Braille Is Beautiful to her thirty-two fifth graders at Fort Smallwood Elementary in Pasadena, Maryland. “My students all wanted their own slate and stylus. Several of the kids contacted the National Federation of the Blind on their own.”

Bosworth especially appreciated the program’s classroom video, Jake and the Secret Code. In the video ten-year-old Jake becomes separated from his mother while visiting the National Federation of the Blind. He wanders into the office of Mr. Chong, who puzzles him by doing lots of things Jake didn’t think blind people could do.

Mr. Chong gives Jake a crash course in the “secret code” of Braille. He also clues Jake in on how to help his mother become more comfortable around blind people.

“Nothing is more fun than a secret code,” says Bosworth. She adds, “After using Braille Is Beautiful, I saw my students become more understanding of children in other areas as well, whether it was a disability or just a kid who wasn’t as quick at a given subject.”

Braille Is Beautiful includes five instructional units with a variety of learning formats including group discussions, interactive games, and applied projects. Parts of the program can be used together or alone.

“To me blindness is not unusual,” Maurer says. “It isn’t that I forget it, but it’s not a thing I think about much. But to many people it’s weird.”

“Children can be cruel. If there is a noticeable difference in another child, it will be used against that kid—unless the difference has charm,” says Maurer. “With Braille Is Beautiful, we’re trying to take an isolating difference and make it into a charming difference.”

“Braille Is Beautiful is a flexible, hands-on program [that] . . . aims to help sighted students in grades four through six understand not only Braille, but also the many capabilites and achievements of blind people.”

“After using Braille Is Beautiful, I saw my students become more understanding of children in other areas as well, whether it was a disability or just a kid who wasn’t as quick at a given subject.”

The National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC) deeply believes in the benefits of the Braille Is Beautiful Program for children. It is a disability awareness program that really does change attitudes. The NOPBC is, therefore, pleased to join with the National Federation of the Blind in announcing, for a limited time, the following new package options and fantastic low prices for the Braille Is Beautiful Program:

r 100 page Teacher's Guide complete with background information, lesson descriptions, pullout exercises, and master copies of the student instruction booklet and student workbook.

r 3 paperback books containing stories by blind people about Braille and about their lives: Braille Under My Fingers, What Color Is The Sun and I Can Feel Blue on Monday

Normally $100, this set is now available in 2 options, each for a low price of $35

r 30 page video discussion guide (includes instructions for Braille-writing demos)

The Braille Is Beautiful Curriculum Program . . . (originally $350) NOW $250

Textbooks on Time: Update on the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act (IMAA)

by James McCarthy, Assistant Director Governmental Affairs, NFB
and
Barbara Cheadle, President
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children

One of the most chronic problems encountered by blind and visually impaired children all across the nation is getting textbooks on time. The tales of Braille or large print textbooks which arrive months after schools start—or sometimes not at all—are legion. These real-life stories cover every region of the country; urban and rural areas; all grade levels from elementary through high school; and wealthy school districts as well as poorer school districts. The irony is that we have the technology to solve this problem. So, what’s the hold-up?

In the Fall 2000, volume 20, number 4, issue of Future Reflections, we printed an article by Kristen Cox titled, “Textbooks on Time: Will it Ever Happen for the Blind?” (Readers may remember the cartoon that accompanied the article—it is reprinted with this article, too.) Mrs. Cox described step-by-step the process for converting print textbooks into alternative formats, and explained where in that process the hang-ups occurred in getting textbooks on time. She then outlined a legislative proposal by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) that would dramatically improve the situation. The key element to this proposal was that publishers would be required to provide school districts with a specialized electronic file of any instructional materials purchased by the school district. Some 300 Federationists—including parents and blind students—presented this concept to members of the Senate and the House of Representatives at the Washington D.C. Seminar in February 2000.

Following that action, the NFB arranged to have a meeting in April 2000, with the American Association of Publishers (AAP) and other affected groups. It was at that point that we began to work on specific legislative language. We completed this process in June 2001, when all parties reached agreement on a bill, now known as the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act—the IMAA. Although modifications were made to the original proposal of the NFB, the key element—a uniform electronic format provided by publishers to school districts—remained. (For information about the other provisions in the current IMAA proposal, please see the background information about IMAA at the conclusion of this article).

On April 24, 2002, the IMAA was introduced in the U.S. Senate as S. 2246 by Christopher Dodd (D) of Connecticut and Thad Cochran (R) of Mississippi, and in the House of Representatives as H.R. 4582, by Thomas Petri (R) of Wisconsin and George Miller (D) of California. The bills are now in committee. The Senate bill, S. 2246, is in the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, chaired by Senator Edward Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts, and the House bill, H.R. 4582 is in the Education and Workforce Committee, chaired by John A. Boehner (R) of Ohio.

A public hearing on S. 2246 was held on June 28 by the Senate committee. Jesse Kirchner, a blind student from Connecticut, gave compelling testimony about her personal experiences with tardy textbooks; and Barbara McCarthy, head of the Virginia Instructional Materials Center, outlined the inadequacies of the current system, and presented some startling statistics about the projected long-term cost savings of the IMAA should it be implemented. Also testifying were Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the NFB, and former Congresswoman Pat Schroder, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers (AAP). The Senate Hearing was extremely effective, and straight to the point. It established a strong record for passing the legislation this year.

The Senate hearing gave us momentum for negotiations with members and staff of the House Education and Workforce Committee; however, around that same time, some officials in the Department of Education vocalized doubts about the need for the bill. They expressed the hope that publishers will provide the electronic texts voluntarily, and therefore there would be no need for a national federally-supervised repository center. (Please note that publishers, as represented by the AAP, have voluntarily participated in the formulation of IMAA, and are actively supporting its passage. Representatives of the AAP have explained that there are legal and marketing reasons why legislation is required.) These points are under discussion as of the middle of August 2002, and we are optimistic about resolving them. With an agreement this can happen very fast. Without an agreement, the bills might languish in committee until session adjourns, and then we will have to start over again in January of 2003.

One thing we know for sure, whether this year or next, or the next— “Textbooks on Time” will become a reality for blind students. We have what it takes to get it done: the technology, the partnership with industry, the unity of purpose among blindness organizations/agencies, and the goodwill of the public. Most of all we—the blind in partnership with parents and teachers—have the persistence and the determination to keep at it until we prevail.

In the mid-nineteenth century, states established centralized schools for the blind to educate blind and visually impaired students. To support this, Congress authorized the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) in Louisville, Kentucky, to produce educational materials in alternative formats, including Braille. Today, APH continues to fulfill this function, receiving annual appropriations for this purpose.

In the 1960’s blind children first began to attend schools in their home communities in significant numbers and, today, the vast majority do so. As a result, Braille, audio, and large print books must be obtained or created by any local school district having one or more blind children. Converting printed instructional materials into “specialized formats” such as Braille is often time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly, taking six or more months and several thousand dollars to complete. Relying on APH alone cannot fulfill the need. Therefore, it is the exception—not the rule—for blind students to have access to required textbooks at the same time as their sighted classmates.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and other federal laws clearly establish the policy that individuals with disabilities are entitled to equal treatment in all areas of society. However, the successful implementation of these laws does not occur without clear, specific, and practical standards and systems in place to anticipate accessibility needs. Currently, there are no federal laws that create standards to facilitate the production of textbooks in Braille.

Twenty-six states have responded to this need by requiring publishers to provide electronic copies of print editions of textbooks. However, there is no consistent file format used among the states, and the electronic copies provided by publishers are frequently not usable for Braille reproduction at all. Therefore, inconsistent and often conflicting state requirements place burdensome obligations on publishers without efficiently facilitating more timely production of books in accessible formats. An agreed-upon, uniform electronic file format would reduce the burden to publishers and significantly reduce the cost of creation, while helping to provide materials to blind students at the same time they are provided to others.

Congress should enact the “Instructional Materials Accessibility Act,”—IMAA—which has been negotiated by textbook publishers, the National Federation of the Blind, and other affected groups. This legislation will ensure that blind and visually impaired students will not be left behind in having the textbooks they need in a form they can use.

n Develop a uniform electronic file format for instructional materials prepared by publishers, and

n Require publishers to produce a copy of each textbook in the uniform electronic file format and furnish it to a central repository for distribution to schools.

The principle benefit of this legislation will be a uniform electronic file format. This will allow rapid creation of textbooks in the desired format for each student, sighted or blind. For students who read Braille, their books can be presented through the use of synthetic speech or stored and read with small computers which display Braille dots.

Without this legislation, local school districts will continue to bear the burden and cost of converting printed books into Braille. However, modern technology can now support shifting much of this responsibility to publishers without placing an undue burden on them. This legislation does not remove the school’s responsibility to provide materials, but will institute a shared burden between the schools that teach the children and the publishers that create the books. The effect will be a uniform electronic file format and national distribution center.

This shared obligation between school and publisher has been carefully crafted with publishers fully engaged in the effort to create it. Although publishers have agreed to provide electronic books, nothing can happen without federal legislation to establish procedures and create a federally-supervised national
distribution center.

James McCarthy
Assistant Director of Governmental Affairs National Federation of the Blind
1800 Johnson Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
(410) 659-9314, extension 240 jmccarthy@nfb.org

Editor’s note: Sometimes reporters get stories dead-on, sometimes they get it mostly right, sometimes it’s a toss-up, and other times they miss the boat. In this article, Ms. Coleman gets part of the story—the description of the problem—dead-on. However, she misses the boat entirely in her last paragraph when she states, in reference to the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act (IMAA), that “Still, advocates hope the legislation will provide some relief.”

It’s not “some relief” that the IMAA will provide—as any of the IMAA backers will tell you—it’s the infra-structure of a long-term, cost-effective solution. However, if you read this story in tandem with the preceding article, “Textbooks on Time: Update on the IMAA,” I think a complete, accurate picture begins to emerge. So, here is the Boston Globe’s report about the problem of timely textbooks for blind students:

Close your eyes and envision a complex math problem. Now, solve it, imagining the formulas and graphs—without a book. That’s what Newton North High student Tasha Chemel, who is blind, had to do for three months in her junior math class because the Braille version of her textbook didn’t arrive until after the school year began. The 16-year-old, who has been blind since birth, has to have all her textbooks converted to Braille. Most years, she doesn’t get them on time.
“One year, someone forgot to order the ones I needed ... Last year, my history book took forever to come. In the interim I had to listen to it on tape, which doesn’t work very well,” said Chemel. “It’s been a pain.”

Advocates for the blind say such delays deny blind or visually impaired students equal access to education. They are pushing for legislation recently introduced in Congress that would require states to make sure that such students get their books on time. Publishers would have to produce electronic copies of textbooks and furnish them to a national access center for distribution to schools nationwide.

Eileen Curran, director of educational services for the National Braille Press in Boston, compares the measure to laws that require schools to build handicapped ramps. “The only thing preventing a child in a wheelchair from getting a full education is being able to enter a school ... The only piece that is lacking in [visually impaired students’] education is the
access to their materials.”

Converting printed textbooks into Braille is so elaborate that it takes about three months. It means textbooks have to be ordered far in advance of the school year, but officials often have to wait until budgets are approved in the summer to order books. And sometimes teachers haven’t made their selections or change their minds at the last minute.

In Massachusetts, regular textbooks are converted at the National Braille Press. A transcriber must first turn the printed material into an electronic format, usually by scanning the pages. However, scanners often make errors, said Curran. Advocates and publishers estimate that there are 90,000 blind or visually impaired students in the country. In Massachusetts, there are about 2,000, 200 of whom are Braille readers. The numbers may be small, but the problem is not, said Peter Leofanti, assistant principal and Chemel’s math teacher at Newton North. “The big deal is the state tells us that [blind and visually impaired students] have to be educated in a mainstream situation,” he said. “I agree with that. But they require a lot of support, and anything that makes this easier and facilitates it should be considered.”

Sometimes, when Brailled books don’t arrive on time, teachers such as Anne Spitz do the Braille themselves on home machines. That’s what she did last year when parts of a reading series didn’t arrive in time for her third-grade students. “Parents of sighted children would be appalled if their children were sitting in class without materials,” said Spitz, who teaches visually impaired students at Bridgewater Elementary School. “At a time when high standards and literacy are being pushed, no student can afford to fall behind,” she said.

Currently, only 26 states require publishers to provide electronic copies of textbooks for visually impaired and blind students. Massachusetts is not one of them. The big problem for publishers has been that electronic file format requirements vary from state to state, making it time-consuming to produce books in the appropriate format, said Stephen Driesler, executive director of the school division of the American Association of Publishers.

“The system has not worked well for the blind kids. It takes sometimes six months or longer into the school year to get their books,” he said. “The new legislation would require publishers to create only one type of file, saving time and money,” he added.

The Instructional Materials Accessibility Act is currently awaiting committee hearings in Congress. It was introduced last month by the National Federation of the Blind, along with Senator Christopher Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, and Representative Thomas Petri, a Wisconsin Republican. The American Association of Publishers worked two years with advocacy groups and educators to draft legislation that all sides could support.

However, it will take up to three years to set up an electronic access center, and cost $1 million to run annually. Another $5 million will be needed initially to train staff and provide technical assistance to schools. Moreover, only books published after the legislation is enacted would be available electronically. Still, advocates hope the legislation will provide some relief.

At one point this year, when Chemel’s book hadn’t arrived, Leofanti improvised, squeezing goo out of a tube to create graphs that Chemel could feel and study. “We had to do a lot of things orally, and I had to repeat and repeat,” he said. “She’s been a very resilient and resourceful kid. She took it philosophically. She said, ‘we’ll do the best we can with what we have’.”

But Chemel is angry, particularly as she heads toward college where the workload will be increased and she may be facing similar book problems. “I should have books as accessible as anyone else,” she said. “I shouldn’t have to waste my time chasing down materials. I want to focus on academics.”

The National Resource Center for Blind Musicians provides information and referral services on matters regarding Braille music, technology, and strategies that enable visually impaired people to study music in school or college settings. It can direct inquirers to someone in its network of musicians and teachers in the field and can provide consultation and training. It also runs an annual Summer Institute for Blind College-bound Musicians, which brings together high school and beginning college students from around the country to prepare for advanced music study.

The National Resource Center is a division of the Music and Arts Center for Humanity, a school of the arts serving children and adults with special needs in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The Resource Center reaches beyond the state to share its experience and hard-to-find information regarding blindness and music education with students, professional musicians, parents, and teachers.

Locating Sources of Braille Music: We do not have a Braille music library or transcribe Braille music, but we may have suggestions for finding a piece of music when the standard sources can’t help.

Suggestions for Including Blind Students In Music: Teachers can talk with us about how to get students started with Braille music, teaching strategies, or ways for students to keep up with their peers in theory or ensemble activities.

Advice to musicians losing vision: The Resource Center can help musicians who have hitherto worked with print music find new methods to accomplish their goals.

On-site training for students and teachers: Our staff can travel within New England and New York State to conduct workshops for school staff and provide training to students in Braille music and technology.

Put people in touch with blind musicians in their area who often serve as mentors: Our network of musicians around the country has a great deal of accumulated experience in every imaginable area. If we don’t know the answer to a particular question, chances are we can put you in touch with someone who does.

Summer Institute for Blind College-bound Musicians: This three-week, residential program held on a college campus is for students tenth grade and up who are serious about pursing formal music study. All students study Braille music, technology, theory and ensemble, while working and living in a situation where they can hone their college independence skills and make friends with peers. Cost of the program is $2,000 with partial scholarships
available.

Emilie’s School Spirit Shows

Reprinted from the St. Paul Pioneer Press EXPRESS, Monday, December 17, 2001, under the title, “Go Hawks.”

Editor’s Note: Emilie’s mother, Barbara Schultz, is the president of the Minnesota affiliate of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC), and the coordinator and resource person for the NOPBC Blind and Multiply-Impaired Network. Emilie is one of eight children in the Schultz household. Despite the obvious time and energy required in raising Emilie (who is autistic, hearing impaired, and blind) and her other children, Barbara always finds time to talk with parents of newly-diagnosed blind children, steer them to needed resources, and organize parent seminars and other activities for families of blind children in Minnesota.

Emilie Schultz’s school spirit shows. The 17-year-old is a member of her St. Paul high school’s adaptive cheerleading squad, which supports other student athletes with physical and mental disabilities.

“Five, Six, Seven, Eight!” screams out St. Paul Humbolt High School senior Emilie Schultz as she and nine other cheerleaders proceed to chant: “If you wanna be the best in the state, you have to fly like a Hawk to be great!”

Emilie is part of the Humboldt Hawks’ adaptive cheerleading squad, a 6-year-old group that lends its support to the adaptive sports teams that are designed for students who have physical and health impairments or mental disabilities. Fresh from supporting the adaptive soccer team’s 12-game schedule, the squad is ready to cheer the school’s adaptive floor hockey team, which began its season earlier this month. Humbold’s adaptive sports team program—now in its 20^th year—is involved in four activities: softball and bowling as well as the soccer and floor hockey competitions. The adaptive sports teams compete with similar school teams from as far away as Brainerd.

Students from 54 Minnesota schools participate in at least some adaptive sports, says Kris Swanson-Schones, adaptive athletic director for St. Paul Public Schools. (Students from schools that do not have adaptive athletics can join programs at schools that do have teams.) About 50 students take part in Humbolt’s adaptive sports program, and each has an Individual Education Plan put together by St. Paul Public Schools aimed at helping the students succeed.

For Emile, 17, that means a busy day of four classes, a part-time job-training program and cheerleading practices. The mix of activities is meant to help her cope with multiple challenges: She is blind, deaf in one ear, and has a severe mental impairment that was diagnosed about two years ago as autism.

“Activities such as cheerleading help to give her exposure to what other people are doing and get her outside of herself,” says her mother, Barb Schultz, noting that Emilie otherwise has tended to keep to herself.

“In the squad, I use pompoms and cheer,” Emilie says. “My favorite part is singing the national anthem.”

Emilie, a native of the Philippines, was adopted by Barb and Rob Schultz after they got to know the orphan during the six months she was in foster care with Barb’s parents. At age one and in need of specialized eye care, Emilie was brought here by a staff worker from the children’s Shelter of Cebu, a Philipine orphanage run by Minnesotans. Because of her health, the government there decided to let her stay in the United States.

The Schultzes, over time, began to realize that Emilie would not develop like other children, Barb says, but she has always been treated like any other member of the family. Emilie, her mother says, enjoys celebrating birthdays, and she get plenty of chances with seven siblings—five brothers and two sisters.

Since beginning kindergarten, Emilie has had nearly daily help from Patricia Grundhauser, a one-on-one “Intervener” provided by the school system. In that role, Grundhauser helps Emilie communicate with others and explains her condition to new people Emilie meets.

Emilie’s situation, for example, can often be misunderstood by students who just assume she will recognize them after they’ve met only once, Grundhauser explains. When they first meet her, they don’t realize that she can’t see because Emilie has a prosthetic eye. She can perceive only light in her other eye because of
glaucoma.

Each day, Grundhauser adapts school materials to Emilie’s needs, assists Emilie in forming relationships with other students, and aids other students in Emilie’s classes if needed.

Their 12-year journey together through the St. Paul school system is rare. Most of the one-on-one relationships, Grundhauser says, don’t work long-term because some students become too dependent on the intervener, or their personalities can begin to clash through the years. But that has not happened in Emilie’s case. Their relationship has been wonderful, says Barb Schultz, because Grundhauser understands Emilie’s mood and her style of learning. “Emilie would rather be left alone with her autism,” Schultz says. “Patricia knows when to push her and when to stop.”

Grundhauser’s opportunity to work with Emilie grew out of her interview for a library position intended for children with math and reading problems. The interviewer noticed her previous work with a blind teacher and informed her of a new blind kindergartner at Mississippi Creative Arts School who would need help. Grundhauser says she was immediately intrigued by the opportunity and remains so because every day with Emilie is different. “It’s a challenge to keep everything going for Emilie and find new things to do so Emilie doesn’t get bored,” she says.

When asked about the most difficult part of her day, Emilie responds immediately, “I have to get up early in the morning.” Each day the bus picks her up at 6:30 a.m. Emilie begins her school day with special education classes that include computer skills, reading Braille, writing, and speech. Emilie knows that the difficulties of these classes are the daily struggles she has to overcome, and Grundhauser helps to keep her calm when she becomes frustrated. “My favorite classes are math, basketball, and typing,” Emilie says.

For the second half of Emilie’s school day, the two go to Emilie’s job-training site at Bethel Care Center in St. Paul, where she washes and folds clothes and delivers laundry with Grundhauser’s assistance.

When Emilie finishes high school in May, she will be enrolled in a four year St. Paul Public Schools community-based transition program for students who are no longer involved in a traditional high school program. Emilie can be part of the public school system until she is 22. The program, Transition to Independence, will help her by providing more job training and experience in getting around the community by Metro Transit. Grundhauser plans to continue accompanying her in the new program.

Through the years, Grundhauser says, she has seen Emilie become more independent and communicate better with both her peers and adults. Grundhauser is amazed by Emilie’s ability to remember names. “Once Emilie does recognize someone, she does not forget. Emilie and I are a great team together. I am her eyes and she is my memory,” Grundhauser says. As if to prove her point, a few moments later, when a student yells “Hi” from far away, Emilie responds immediately with the girl’s name and a warm smile.

Reprinted from the December 2001, issue of the Braille Monitor, the monthly publication of the National Federation of the Blind.

From the Braille Monitor Editor: Curtis Chong, Director of the NFB’s Technology Department, receives a steady stream of requests for advice on various aspects of technology and technology acquisition. He recently heard from an alert and dedicated teacher of blind children who wanted help in planning the future acquisition of Braille technology for a bright six-year-old. The questions she asked and the answers and comments Mr. Chong provided will be useful to other teachers and parents grappling with the same set of problems. Here is the e-mail correspondence:

I am a teacher of the visually impaired who is working with a bright six-year-old student in first grade who is totally blind. He is using Braille for reading and math along with his sighted peers and is keeping up quite nicely. I want to make recommendations to his school district about the assistive technology equipment he will need. Presently he is using the Perkins Brailler. He accesses some programs on the computer such as the software from APH that was written for Windows (Math Flash, Learn Keys), as well as some games from Bavisoft (Grizzly Gulch), and PCS (Mobius Mountain, A 2 Z). He is capable of using touch typing to locate all the letter keys of the qwerty
keyboard.

He has also been introduced to the Braille ’n Speak Scholar and can recall the sequence of commands to create files, read in files, and do some editing. He writes mostly on the Perkins because I want him to spend more time with the dots, and we do not have an embosser to make a hard copy with the Scholar. Initially I thought about getting a talking word-processing program and Home Page Reader instead of getting a screen reader. However, he is very bright and interested in how to open and close programs in addition to playing the games. Now I think maybe I should just go ahead and
recommend a screen reader. What do you think?

At some point in time I want to get a Braille-transcription program and embosser. Currently his Braille materials are being obtained through a variety of sources including myself and the Braillist aide. We are able to keep up with his present needs, but I know this will change rapidly. I also want to get him an electronic notetaker with a refreshable Braille display at some point. I guess what I am asking is: for this particular student, what do you see as his short term technology needs and his long-term needs? What do you suggest I recommend that the school district purchase, and in what
order?

Your e-mail to the National Federation of the Blind dated November 6, 2001, has been forwarded to me. You asked for some short-term and long-term technology‑related recommendations for a totally blind student who is six years old. I think that we can help you to come up with recommendations that will provide this student with not only the technology he needs—when he needs it—but also a solid grounding in blindness‑specific skills that will serve him in the long term.

To begin with, let me say how delighted I am that your student is keeping up with his sighted peers, that he is using Braille (on a Perkins Brailler no less), and that he is working with a teacher as knowledgeable and educated as you are. Regardless of any technology that he might obtain in the future, what he has available to him today has already set him on the right path—a path which will guarantee his future success. It is unfortunate that there are far too many other blind children in this
country who are not as well situated.

I agree with your desire to encourage your student to work with the Braille dots. This is the best way to build up reading proficiency. While the Scholar may be a useful note-taking device, its inability to produce refreshable Braille creates a disadvantage for the student who needs to build up his Braille‑reading speed. If I were to suggest any improvement in this area, I would encourage the use of a slate and stylus as the ultimate backup to any electronic note‑taking system.

My short-term recommendation is to acquire screen-access technology for the PC (JAWS for Windows or Window‑Eyes) and to use this technology to help the student learn to produce printed work with a simple word processor such as Microsoft’s WordPad. If the situation warrants, he can also start some supervised activities on the Internet. The important point to keep in mind here is that he needs to learn—as early as possible—to prepare printed material for sighted consumption using a standard qwerty keyboard as opposed to a device with Braille keys.

Preparing printed material using a Braille keyboard creates bad Brailling habits—habits which are hard to break as the child grows older and the mind less flexible. It is perfectly fine to write material in Braille for one’s own use, but it is quite another to try to input Braille into a document which one intends to print. The convolutions that one must go through in order to ensure proper reverse translation from Grade II Braille to print, force one to enter the Braille information incorrectly. Just think about how one would produce two hyphens [ -- ] or how one would write the letter “K” by inputting these in Braille. The reverse translator will want to convert the two hyphens into something like “com-” and the K into the word “Knowledge.”

At some point, perhaps a few years in the future, a portable electronic notetaker with a refreshable Braille display (e.g., a BrailleNote) could be obtained. But I wouldn’t rush to get this technology. It takes a few years to build up really good speed on the slate and stylus, and having an electronic notetaker available creates a powerful disincentive.

Ultimately, when the student reaches high school, consideration needs to be given to developing skill in finding, managing, and (if necessary) dismissing sighted readers. This skill is indispensable in the later years as less and less material is available in the format of the student’s choice. Of late, we have been noticing that students who are able to obtain 100 percent of their materials in Braille while in high school tend to be quite frustrated when entering college, where there is far less Braille available. They find themselves unable or reluctant to work with sighted assistance. This problem grows even worse when the student graduates from college and enters the workplace, where almost nothing is available in alternative formats.

As your student progresses through school, I hope you will be able to consider how to provide him with tactile graphics—that is, raised-line drawings and tactile representations of three‑dimensional objects. Many of us, growing up blind, had little or no opportunity to feel raised-line drawings, and as a result we find that we are not able to deal with such drawings when they become available. In my opinion, if blind students are constantly exposed to raised-line drawings and raised-line representations of three‑dimensional objects, they will soon be able to use these representations to learn far more than some of us did who were not quite so lucky.

I trust that I have given you some useful information. Please feel free to write to me directly if you need additional help or recommendations.

Editor’s Note: The following article is based on a speech Mr. Supalo gave to the 2002 Washington, D.C., Student Seminar sponsored by the National Association of Blind Students. Cary Supalo, a former NFB Scholarship winner, is a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry at Penn State University. He is, so he tells me, “working on a heterogeneous catalysis synthesis project in an attempt to optimize energy outputs with hydrogen fuel cell technologies.” Right. But don’t skip to the next article yet! You really don’t have to understand anything about chemistry to understand the techniques and strategies Cary outlines below. Here are some tips for budding chemists, and for students who just want to get through their
chemistry class:

Have you ever wondered why ice melts, and water evaporates? Why leaves turn color in the fall, and how a battery generates electricity? Why keeping food cold slows its spoilage, and how our bodies use food to maintain life? Chemistry supplies answers to these questions and countless others like them.

Chemistry is the study of the properties of materials and the changes that they undergo. One of the joys of learning chemistry is seeing how chemical principals operate in all aspects of our lives, from everyday activities like lighting a match to far-reaching matters like the development of drugs to cure cancer. I am going to talk to you a little bit about how I got to where I am today, and some of the many tricks that I used in chemistry classes.

It was back when I was an undergraduate at Purdue that I first realized the importance of good blindness alternative skills in my academic pursuits. When I entered college, I possessed what I considered then to be adequate skill levels in cane travel, Braille, and adaptive computer technology. But I came to the realization that more training was necessary when, after my first year at Purdue, I was not satisfied with my academic level of success, and was upset that I couldn’t use my time more efficiently. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to go to BLIND, Inc., in Minneapolis, Minnesota [one of three NFB Rehabilitation Training Centers for the Blind]. There I learned how to travel more independently, read and write Braille faster, and how to use adaptive computer equipment efficiently and effectively. But most importantly, I developed a
positive attitude about blindness.

Shortly after I completed the BLIND, Inc., program and returned to Purdue, I decided to change my major to chemistry. The skills and positive attitude I had gained helped me end the long revolving door policy that I had towards my major. Become a chemist? How can a blind person do this? I had confidence, now, that I could find answers to that question. It also helped that I had met a blind chemistry professor who gave me basic tips and offered his help to me if I needed it down the road.

To succeed in my new major, I learned that I had to become quite good at obtaining materials in alternative formats, especially tactile drawings of graphical concepts presented in my classes. I also had to become an excellent manager of lab technicians, scribes, and readers.

I used lab technicians (lab techs) throughout my undergraduate career. A lab tech is someone that assists me in performing laboratory experiments and recording data in a print notebook. However, it is up to me to instruct the worker as to what to do, by what methods, what pieces of glassware to use, and so on. It wasn’t simply “you do this experiment for me and tell me what happens.” Some lab techs thought that this was the purpose of their job, but I quickly learned to explain to them the importance of describing results and equipment set-ups so that I could get a clear picture about what was going on in the laboratory.

When hiring a lab tech, scribe, or reader, it’s important to stress showing up on time, and to look for all the other good qualities that any employee should exhibit. I also find it helpful to establish a good rapport with that person. It is essential for blind students to show up to a lab fully prepared. This means that we have read the entire prelab, any assigned readings that go along with it, and have come up with a plan about how to perform the experiment. It isn’t absolutely essential that you understand everything before the lab session because, of course, that’s why we do the lab—to learn. In most lab classes you will be given the opportunity to ask your instructor questions about anything you don’t understand after the pre-lab lecture.

As far as succeeding in lecture courses, it is important for blind students to have good note-taking skills, whether that be on a portable notetaker and/or a slate and stylus. This is a key component of success in chemistry class. Also, it is absolutely essential for you to have access to tactile drawings about the subject on which the professor is lecturing, ideally at the same time as the professor is presenting it. This can be done a number of different ways. One method is to have someone—a scribe—sit next to you in the classroom. The job of the scribe is to use a raised line drawing kit to draw the graphical information as the professor presents it to the class. It is important that you and your scribe establish a labeling code for your graphs so that you can easily refer back to them after class is finished, and when the scribe is not there to explain them. I learned that art students (for obvious reasons) tended to be best at this type of a job.

A second method is to simply ask the professor if he or she would be willing to make tactile drawings for you prior to the lecture. They should not have to spend more than 5 minutes drawing these figures, and you should provide them with the tactile drawing tools and materials. A labeling method for the drawings should be established so that you can follow which graph or figure to look at during the lecture. I simply asked the professor to label the graphs as, figure 1, figure 2, and so on. Then, during the lecture, to refer to the graphs or drawings by those figure numbers. As it turned out, this technique of verbalizing a label for each figure got favorable remarks from other
students in the class. It helped them, too.

I found that professors in the upper level classes of my major, and those who enjoyed teaching and really had an interest in their student’s learning, were more willing to use these accommodations. However, if the faculty member’s main focus was on research, not teaching, then they didn’t always want to follow my suggestions. It just varied from professor to professor. If neither of these techniques worked, then I arranged in advance to get a copy of a classmate’s notes so that I could get tactile drawings of the figures made after class was concluded.

In some cases, large lecture classes may have a designated note taker for the course. These notes are then put on reserve in a library for all students of the course to examine. This, too, can be a useful resource if it is available.

Tactile aids can be purchased from college book stores, such as the 3-D snap-together molecule set pictured upper right; and others, such as this felt board with cardboard cut-outs, can be handmade
with inexpensive materials.

For those of you interested in studying organic chemistry, a useful tool that I developed back in the mid 90’s is something that I call a 2-D Organic Chemistry Mechanism Drawing Kit. It basically consists of a piece of felt glued on top of a piece of poster board that you fold in half for portability, and cutouts of circles and small rectangles with Velcro backing to stick on the board to represent chemical bonds. I label some of the cutouts, in print and Braille, with the symbols (N) for nitrogen, (O) for oxygen, (S) for sulfur, etc. I also use an unlabeled square cutout as a “wild card” which changes its meaning from mechanism to mechanism depending on what special catalyst the reaction may require.

To show stereochemistry, i.e., 3-dimentionality of a molecule’s structure (which is a critical concept in understanding organic chemistry), I use cutouts of wedges—some with Velcro on both sides, some with Velcro on one side only. The smooth-sided wedges showed atoms that were above the plane of the board, and the double-sided Velcro wedges showed atoms below the plane of the board. This kit is very handy when doing homework sets as well as performing mechanisms on quizzes and exams. It is also useful when a professor is presenting a detailed mechanism in a lecture setting. Your scribe can place the structures for you on the felt board while the professor is lecturing on that topic. This greatly enhanced my understanding of the content in the large lecture setting. The materials to make this kit are cheap and easily available at any number of discount stores.

Being a good manager of readers, scribes, and lab techs are important skills for success in a technical field. You should also be able to clearly explain your needs to a faculty member, and be flexible and creative in coming up with solutions to problems that will arise as the semester progresses. Knowing what resources are available to you in Braille and in other formats is key to success in this field. A good understanding of the Nemeth Braille code will greatly enhance your pursuit of a career in chemistry and other technical fields. There are many, many science and math books that are already available in the Nemeth Braille code. These books can be located using the American Printing House for the Blind’s Louis Braille database.

It may not always be possible to get the same textbook in Braille that the rest of the students are using, but you can usually get a similar textbook. You should get ISBN numbers of potential substitute texts and share the titles, authors, edition numbers, and so on with your professor to get their advance approval for using the text. Check with your vocational rehabilitation counselor and/or the college’s Disabled Student Service office regarding funding for your books in Braille or other alternative formats.

These are just a few of the many tips and tricks that allow blind students to be successful in science and chemistry courses. To any blind student considering going into a science or engineering field, I say, go for it!

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From the Editor: It’s no secret that there is a nationwide shortage of trained, certified teachers for blind children. In a recent federally-funded project document, the Council of Exceptional Children estimated that we need additional 5,000 teachers nationwide *(see the NPTP document on www.educ.ttu.edu/sowell). Not everyone agrees on this particular statistic, but no one disagrees with the assertion that we don’t have enough teachers.

However, this story is not about the statistics, nor is it discussion about a plan to solve the shortage, although we certainly care about these. The National Federation of the Blind has helped fund research projects aimed at collecting accurate data (an essential component of any plan to alleviate the shortage); and teacher training is high on the list of priorities of the NFB’s soon-to-be-completed National
Research and Training Institute for the Blind.

This story is about the human face behind those statistics. It raises—and answers—some very important questions. What happens when a child goes a whole year without a Braille teacher? What can parents do? What can a school district do? What does the law require? For the Richmond family, it also turned out to be another answer to “Why the National Federation of the Blind?”

Barbara Cheadle, Editor

ISSN 0883-3419

Contents

Emilie’s School Spirit Shows