It may seem to some that the topic we have chosen this week is simplistic and doesn’t involve a lot of discussion. We are hoping that the topic of literacy will provide two hours of spirited discussion.
Is a blind person who only reads by listening fully literate or not? Is a person who listens actually reading? What role does braille play in determining whether an individual is literate? What about large print? If a person can only read at one hundred words a minute using either large print or braille is he or she literate? Do we as people who are blind need to espouse a whole new definition of literacy to cover our situation?
In some states high school students are not allowed to take the reading comprehension tests they must pass to graduate using JAWS or any screen reader. Even if they are totally blind and diabetic which makes braille not an option, such students will, according to the educators, are not readers. In their view reading comprehension is a measure of how students process information received from a printed or braille page!
As people get older and lose vision should we be encouraging them to learn braille? Folks love screen magnification from most are not prepared to give braille much of a chance!
Should we create a different notion of braille literacy for older folks that might mean they only learn enough braille to label, play games and use elevators?
Are we making it too easy for folks of all ages to regard screen readers as sufficient to call them literate? Is the extra effort and expense needed to become proficient at large print or braille worth encouraging? Many agencies have settled for teaching computer access without caring very much whether speech or braille or large pint is used! Many of their officers tell students at school or college or at agencies that they don’t need braille or large print! "It are lots of issues and lots of questions! There are also lots of feelings too! Is somebody who reads ten books a week from BARD illiterate? Do good large print users and competent braille readers look down their noses at folks who only use JAWS?
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