Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org (Eric Bohlman) (04/25/91)
Index Number: 15189
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
I've been following this discussion for a bit, and it brings to the forefront
a question that's been in my mind for a while: what about the adult who loses
his sight and wants to learn Braille? What resources exist to enable him to
learn it? I know that if I were to become blind, I would definitely want to
be able to use Braille, since my reading style involves a lot of "random
access."
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Internet: Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.orgWilliam.Wilson@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (William Wilson) (04/25/91)
Index Number: 15204
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
EB> what about the adult who loses his sight and wants to learn
EB> Braille? What resources exist to enable him to learn it? I
EB> know that if I were to become blind, I would definitely want to
EB> be able to use Braille, since my reading style involves a lot
EB> of "random access."
Eric,
Although there are several different methods by which adults learn
braille in Pittsburgh, by far the most common one is via our local
rehabilitation center, the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind. This
is a totally independant agency, their relationship with the state being
only a financial one in that most all their inmates are funded through
their program by the state, but that is another matter.
In addition to teaching the aforementioned important skills of
teeth brushing, shaving away unwanted and unsightly body hair, and how
to tell your mashed potatoes from the meat on your plate before sticking
it in your ear, they teach the recently blinded adult how to read
braille with all the speed and accuracy with which they formerly read
print, and all in but a 1 hour lesson a day for 16 weeks!
Seriously, I shouldn't be as sarcastic as I am about the Guild,
for they recently had a change in directorship, and I think this alone
could result in some changes that may actually give some meaning to
their use of the word "rehabilitation". For one thing, they are talking
to me about starting a real computer training program and replacing what
they now have, a woman who when I met her at a local TSI demonstration
and we booted a Toshiba and no speech came up, and I asked, "Do we have
a Dos prompt?" answered, "No, there is a letter C and a arrow pointing
to the right!"
I was going to comment on another of your messages in this thread
about the state of education in general later, but I guess I'll may as
well do it now while my fingers are warmed up. I basically agreed with
all you said, and thank you for what was obviously a well thought out
response to Walter. (Also a record breaker in number of words from
you!) One thing I would like to add, however, is perhaps things like
critical learning stages need to be discussed with this subject, as they
too undoubedly come into play, if for no other reason, cost
considerations for teaching braille.
Courses in cognative and developmental psychology tell us that
there are critical periods for acquisition of certain skills, including
language comprehension and production, lower and higher level math
abilities, and of course, reading comprehension. If one is not
presented with the appropriate tasks in these areas at the appropriate
critical time, developing the skills to their full potential is severly
limited, and in fact most often are never adequately taught despite the
fact that many times more effort may be put forth.
I have never met a blind person who lost their sight as an adult
who could begin to compare with the congenitally blind person, no matter
whether that congenitally blind person was main streamed or attended
residential school! I am of the belief that for braille to be the basic
information gathering medium it was obviously intended on being, meaning
one that could even approach what print is to the sighted reader, it has
to be presented at approximately the same ages as mom and dad are
reading "The Little Choo-Choo" to junior! Sure, it can be learned as an
adult to a point where it can be used, and definately to a point well
beyond my own limited skills, but to the point where it can actually be
used as effictively as the previously sighted person once used print?
Well, I have my doubts.
As someone else pointed out though, expecting a partially sighted
child to learn braille with the same enthusiasm as they learn print is a
bit much to expect, critical stage or not! Someone who has, and has
always had but one method of reading available to them, meaning braille,
is being just a tad self-centered demanding that someone who can use
print also learn braille, at least as far as I am concerned. Sure, if
the child's prognosis for keeping their sight for the rest of their life
is not good, it would be wise to introduce them to braille at an early
age, but I would also expect the results of doing so to be limited at
best.
Ok, now where were we? Oh yeah, and finally, if the quality of
braille instruction isn't multiples of what I had as an adult student of
braille, we may as well throw it all out the window anyways, cause
somehow I find it a little disheartening knowing that my braille
instructor's sole qualification was she was able to look over my
shoulder and read the text above the braille cells in my instruction
book!
Willie
... BlinkTalk, Dr. Deb and Silver in Pittsburgh!
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