http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=98156&catid=2
New technology is making it easier for millions of blind Americans to read and write. But some say it's not necessarily a good thing. Advertisement The National Federation of the Blind says it is leading to high unemployment for the visually impaired. They call it the "Braille Literacy Crisis." As classrooms nationwide go high-tech, schools for the blind are following right along. For example, the Little Rock Lions World Services for the Blind boasts several Braille displays attached to computers sets. The nonprofit rehabilitation center for the blind has replaced most of its Braille textbooks with audio books and computers, though it still offers the services to those who need and/or want it. "You don't find many Braille textbooks, you know they are around but they are expensive to create, they are fairly labor intensive. And the volume is luminous," said Larry Dickerson, CEO of the school. Jessica Snyder, a student, says "I love the audio books on tape and having JAWS [computer program for the blind] but if I didn't have it, I wouldn't have as much access to things." Snyder, not only needs Braille to be independent, she will need it when she enters the job force next month. According to the National Federation of the Blind, that pool is slowly draining as more blind people choose electronics over the 200 year-old system. Merely five decades ago, half of all blind children used Braille. Now, only one in ten are learning it at all. In Arkansas, the numbers look better. Over the years, the state has pumped more money into Braille education, putting the budget currently above $100,000. "We have a contingent Braille program at Wrightsville prison and they do Braille for us at the prison at a significant saving," said Jim Hill, superintendent at the Arkansas School for the Blind. Hill says technology is definitely threatening Braille literacy but the state is among those that push the course. For students like Carlo Guliano, who grew up with the system as the norm, new technology is only enhancing the experience, not replacing it. "You can listen, which is great, but you need to see or feel the structure of the words and how they come together," he said. "Sound it out, you know, it all goes together." The National Federation of the blind says Braille illiteracy is one reason 70 percent of blind adults are unemployed. Marking the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille, the inventor of the Braille system, the federation, last year, started working to double the Braille literacy rate by 2015. The goal is to eventually reverse the trend altogether. *********************************** * POST TO [email protected] * *********************************** Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
