The article states that unemployment among the blind is at 70 percent but
it is only 20 percent for Braille readers, which suggests that computers
are an addition to but not a substitute for Braille access to information.

kelly



Success Is at Hand; 'Braille Challenge' in Anaheim Pushes Reading for Blind
Children as Way to Career Success; Orange County Edition
(Los Angeles Times)

By SCOTT GOLD, TIMES STAFF WRITER

Los Angeles Times   Sunday February 27, 2000

For the blind, the numbers are impossible to ignore.

    The unemployment rate for blind or visually impaired people who can't
read Braille reaches 75%.

    For those who read Braille, the rate drops to 20%, said John Zamora,
coordinator of youth and career services at the Anaheim-based Braille
Institute.

    Under the weight of those numbers, more than 70 blind or visually
impaired children flocked to the institute from across Southern
California on Saturday for the first "Braille Challenge"--an academic
competition that incorporated reading comprehension, spelling,
proofreading and transcribing.

    Zamora said he hopes to make the challenge an annual event.

    "More than ever, we are realizing the importance of Braille skills and
Braille reading in the education of blind students," he said. "It's
critical."

    It's a lesson 10-year-old Jason Gross, who was born blind, has taken
to heart.

    Jason, who wants to be either a psychologist or a psychiatrist, was
competing against junior high and high school kids on Saturday.

    He reads "Grade 2" Braille, which incorporates contractions and other
shorthand, and has skipped a grade in school.

    Jason is already reading the wildly popular "Harry Potter" series.

    He's in the minority--just 10% of blind people understand Braille.

    "He started learning in preschool," said his mother, Cathy Gross, a
Clairemont resident.

    "It would be the same as if you or I grew up and didn't know how to
read," she said.

    "We wouldn't have a very good chance of getting a job, and they won't
either. If you can't read, whether you have vision or not, it's a
problem."

    *

    By most accounts, the children enjoyed the competition, but for some
it was a high-stress experience--no different than the atmosphere during
a standard spelling bee.

    In one room of the Braille Institute's campus, competitors strapped on
headphones and transcribed taped stories into Braille. Parents were not
allowed inside.

    In another room, they found Braille words in a crossword-like
"scramble," which was made even more challenging because the dots that
form letters did not have any space between them.

    Others were being judged on their comprehension of stories, such as
one about the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

    The stories were written in Braille, a code of raised dots that are
read by scanning them with a fingertip.

    *

    The system was invented in 1824 by Louis Braille, a 15-year-old French
student who was rendered blind by an infection.

    A brain tumor left Demetrius Lee blind in his left eye and partially
blind in his right eye.

    He's 17 now, still learning to live as a blind person, still
appreciating the doors that Braille is opening for him.

    Demetrius, who is home-schooled in Moreno Valley and wants to be
either a scientist or a lawyer, chatted with other blind students,
flashing an infectious smile.

    He said Saturday's competition left him more confident than ever.

    "I learned some things today about other blind people," he said. "I
learned that blind people can do a lot of things--anything they want to
do."

    The faster blind students learn Braille, the faster they can move on
to other pursuits, said Jessica Callahan, 14, one of the competitors and
an eighth-grader from Lakewood.

    Because she learned to read and write so quickly, Jessica has taken on
advanced Braille reading--using it, for example, to learn Spanish and to
read music.

    "It allows you to do so many things," she said. "It just makes your
intelligence soar."


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