Here's an op/ed from the News-Observer In North Carolina, where educators
allowed four newly blinded teens to take a reading comprehension test
using adapted technology with speech synthesis.  The previous policy
permitted only permitted Braille.  Passage of the test is necessary to
receive a high school diploma.  The op/ed from the blind computer user
below discusses the issue of whether diplomas should be denied to those
who cannot read braille satisfactorily.

kelly


   Point of View: The key in testing the blind


   By BILL STEVENS
        OBERLIN, OHIO -- I'm a fourth-year student at the Oberlin College
   and Conservatory and am totally blind. Since my family recently moved
   to the Raleigh area, my attention was caught by the current struggle
   regarding mandatory high school tests and the educational needs of
   four recently blinded students at the Governor Morehead School.
        My concerns are particularly potent since I
   myself, having been legally blind since birth, lost my usable vision
   during my freshman year in high school.
        Throughout my life as a student, attending
   public schools in Maryland and Kentucky before coming to Oberlin, I
   have made heavy use of adaptive technology. Even before I lost the
   rest of my vision, when I could get around without a cane and read
   large-print texts, I did much of my work on a laptop computer that has
   a speech capability.
        I did learn to read Braille, on becoming
   totally blind seven years ago. The role that Braille has since played
   in my education has been minimal. Indeed, since matriculating at
   Oberlin I have used Braille exclusively for putting labels on the dorm
   microwaves and my compact discs. This has in no way inhibited me from
   maintaining a triple major and a 3.9 grade point average.
        The issue of learning for the blind is not
   one of Braille vs. technology. Rather, the blind student who is
   versatile with both of these mediums has the best potential for
   achieving success. The students in question at the Morehead school are
   learning to read Braille, a skill that will serve them well.
        It is ludicrous, though, that the state would
   even consider denying them graduation from high school based on their
   inevitable inability to complete a standardized reading exam in
   Braille. Considering that, according to census figures, more than 70
   percent of working-age blind people are unemployed, preparing our
   students for success is critical. As taxpayers, we all have a stake in
   this issue.
        The shortcoming of any bureaucracy is that
   the system is designed for the sake of its own preservation.
   Responsibility is stripped from the individuals maintaining the system
   and placed almost exclusively on policies and bylaws. The difficulty
   is that the rules are designed to meet the needs of the prototypical
   human being. Negotiating such a system as a disabled person requires
   those working within the system to reclaim that responsibility and
   respond sensitively to the needs of individuals.
        We should not neglect to recognize the degree
   of vulnerability that these students at Morehead are almost certainly
   feeling. To lose one's sight is a traumatic experience, requiring many
   redefinitions, from the relationship between one's body and the
   physical world, to one' s identity and methods of personal expression.
   The experiences that these students have with the education system
   will do much to mold the rest of their lives as citizens.
        When I returned to high school, after two
   major eye surgeries and two months of home study, my friends and
   teachers were very supportive, both personally and educationally. My
   guidance counselor, on the other hand, would not believe that I could
   be capable of fulfilling my responsibilities as a student. It was
   rarely easy, and survival usually meant a great deal of hard work,
   advance preparation and creative thinking.
        But, three years later, he was always the
   first to brag about me being the school's Outstanding Senior, a
   National Merit Commended Scholar and 1995 Presidential Scholar in the
   arts.
        The fact is that these students need an
   advocate. The system itself is seldom embracing, and without external
   assistance it is too easy for a blind student to fall through the
   cracks. We look then to Chairman Phil Kirk and the state Board of
   Education to respond appropriately to this issue, under the Americans
   with Disabilities Act of 1990, and actively support these students.
        Oberlin student Bill Stevens graduated from
   high school in Louisville, Ky.
       


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