Hi,
Somebody wrote:
>
I also don't buy into the statements that devices which make things
easier for us are also making us dumber.
I said something similar to my husband after reading the article which
was, on the whole, pretty good. But the assertion that screen readers
and audiobooks are responsible for blind kids/adults not being able to
spell is ludicrous. It's our lousy educational system that produces
rotten spellers, not adaptive technology.
I hear what you're saying, and I agree, but here's my take on things. With
the advent of text-to-speech, there's been a decreased emphasis on Braille
literacy in this country, to the point that only 10 percent of the blind
population in America are Braille literate, and that to me is just obscene.
When I was a kid, Braille education was compulsory, and school systems made
damn sure that there were funding and resources in place to ensure that
blind kids learned Braille just as sighted kids learned to read print. So
while I applaud the advances in technology, I am a and always will be a
staunch advocate for learning and using Braille. And, if I were running
things, I would bring back the emphasis on Braille literacy, make it
compulsory again, and take it a step further by adding government subsidies
for research into low-cost electronic Braille technology. There's no reason
why Braille technology couldn't be developed that is less expensive than
what's out there today. $100 for a Braille cell is ridiculous.
Okay, enough of muy ranting. No flames, please.
Tom
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