by Winifred Downing
Though recognizing that taped and scanned material convey much information to readers, the annual Getting in Touch with Literacy conference focuses only on ways in which blind and visually impaired people, especially students, read for themselves. The California Council of the Blind (CCB) has a history of interest in this gathering, having cooperated in sponsoring it when the group met in San Francisco in 1999. In 2001, the state organization was particularly eager to be represented because the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) had arranged for a morning-long program to show and discuss the Unified English Braille Code (UEBC). CCB believed it was important to be a part of that discussion so that the other side of the story would be heard.
The conference occurred in Philadelphia from November 7-11 at the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel, beginning with the pre- conference gathering of 51 people to study the proposed UEBC. The examination of Sampler 1, the one most concerned with literary braille, proceeded without much reaction; but Sampler 2, consisting of an extensive print document with simulated braille and a two-volume braille book, was composed entirely of technical examples and provoked considerable comment. On the plus side, both samplers are beautifully planned and produced, each example being preceded by a careful listing of the new symbols and practices involved and, in the case of the technical material, with an expression of the same symbols in the Nemeth Code. Both the literary and technical braille samplers are available free of charge from the National Braille Press, (888) 965-8965. Braille transcribers, readers, students, and teachers should order, study, and react to these documents.
Eileen Curran, who directed the explanation of the material, was, as always, patient and respectful of all who asked questions or offered comments. A number of those present pointed out what they considered to be complicated and lengthy UEBC ways of rendering technical material which could be done more efficiently in the Nemeth Code.
Actual registration for the conference was held on Thursday evening with a formal introduction and a keynote address on what is involved for children to learn to read and why some have difficulty acquiring that skill.
Over the three days, four types of activities were held: the Showcase consisting of subjects of general interest to the entire gathering; workshops, of which there were more than 40; exhibits where vendors showed their products; and Poster Sessions which offered a unique opportunity to allow an individual to show something he or she felt would be of concern to a more limited segment of those attending the conference. For three hours on Friday afternoon, posters were displayed and material was laid out on tables at which presenters explained their projects, answered questions, handed out materials, and behaved pretty much like the product exhibitors who rented space in the same room for the several days of the conference.
Kathy Krause, a long-time braille teacher and skilled transcriber of several braille codes, and I wanted to make sure that those who learned about the UEBC also understood the problems it presents. Our poster was the only fully accessible one at the conference, for all the material was in both large print and braille. It contained a dissenting statement about the UEBC and then 13 comments on the problems which would be caused if it is adopted. We distributed the statements also in print and braille to anyone who wanted them. I was surprised that, after 11 years of discussion of this subject, a number (probably 10) people asked what the UEBC was and had never heard of it before. What does that say about the exposure the professional journals have given to this extremely important consideration!
Two of the Showcase sessions I found particularly interesting dealt with well-known professionals and present students who began their education using large print. Many of us who have used braille all our lives think of the large print user as someone who "passes" -- i.e., a person who can in many ways enter the world of the sighted in a manner impossible for braille users; but we learned of the frustrations such students know: their sensitivity about the glasses and magnifiers they must employ, their efforts to run up after class to see the blackboard and copy what they had missed during class, the weariness of toting those huge print books, and, in many instances, their increased necessity for braille. They now employ each medium for specific purposes, often isolating things like reading the amounts on bills for print use but having to know exactly what line or colored box to look for. While they have the advantage of two media, they rarely experience the ease with braille that is known to students who learn it early and employ it extensively.
The workshops covered a wide variety of subjects: teaching the deaf-blind, literacy for students with autism, strategies for using video magnifiers, criteria for competence in braille literacy, surveys on producing material in specialized media and training braille transcribers, historical trends in grade 1 and grade 2 braille, and so on. A workshop on preparing the student for his/her first job dealt with items I'd never thought about, like the fact that many of them have not seen a check, don't know what a bank statement looks like, never completed an application of any kind, have no familiarity with job benefits or what they should cover, have an inadequate appreciation of the importance of appearance and social demeanor, and lack a realistic understanding of how much help they can expect from the people with whom they will work.
Another workshop concerned the preparation of braille teachers and of transcribers. Of the teachers present, only one has as many as four students, and most have two with many working with only one. The vast majority of children with severe vision problems also have other physical, mental, or emotional disabilities which seriously limit their educational possibilities. Teachers who do not have a braille student for a year or two find review essential; and it is for them that increased use of the braille competency test developed by the National Library Service and the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired may be of particular importance. Unfortunately, however, many states, including California, do not require that teachers pass that test.
Surveys were done on teacher preparation in 1989 by Stuart Wittenstein and last year by Sheila Amato, and it is encouraging to note the increased emphasis on learning the Nemeth Code and the use of the slate and stylus.
Thank you to the California Council of the Blind for giving me the opportunity to learn of educational developments in the blindness field and to inform others about the UEBC.