the article lists the unemployment rate among blind people at 75 percent
but only at six percent for Braille readers.

kelly



DAVID QUIGLEY, EDMONTON SUN; 02-20-2000

As a student, Wendy Edey was encouraged to exploit what little vision she
had. For the first five years of school, Edey struggled with print,
learning to read one letter at a time through the lenses of high-powered
glasses.



"But I never got anything done through reading at all,'' says Edey. "I just
didn't have any endurance for it.''



One no doubt well-meaning but misguided teacher gave Edey a C- minus in
industriousness, suggesting the young student was unwilling to do anything
for herself.



Edey soon disproved that theory.



At age 10 it was decided she should learn braille.



"I was highly motivated,'' recalls Edey. "I learned it by correspondence by
myself in three or four months and was extremely fluent.''



By learning the system of raised dots, Edey avoided becoming another
statistic in a growing crisis - braille illiteracy.



"Those were different times,'' notes Edey. "At that time it was decision
that every family would had to make: would I send my child to a school for
the blind or would I keep them at home?''



It's estimated that only 10% of blind people in North America read braille.
Figures from the U.S.-based National Federation for the Blind reveal that
40% of blind children in 1968 read braille. By 1993, only 9% were braille
readers. Canadian National Institute for the Blind officials suggest the
statistics are probably similar in Canada.



There are many reasons braille is in decline. Over the last 20 years,
residential schools for the blind where braille was taught closed and blind
children were moved into the mainstream education regime.



While blind students were integrated into the regular school system,
braille instruction didn't follow.



"What we have are children all alone attending schools all over the place
where the adults in their life think that braille is very hard and
awesome,'' says Edey.



Instead of investing the time and money for braille "it becomes much more
tempting to see what other alternatives we have'' like computers with voice
synthesizers and talking books, says Edey.



"When you're listening to a computer screen or a tape recorder, you're
getting information but you're really not reading, and that' s the bottom
line,'' says Edey, who chairs the Canadian Braille Authority' s promotion
and access committee.



While braille instruction is still available for blind children in Edmonton
schools "we've missed a whole generation here and we've let the importance
of braille recede in the picture of all these new technologies that we
have," says Edey.



Children with some residual vision may learn to read using large- print
publications and magnifying glasses. They are prompted by parents who
believe the ability to read print will better prepare their child for life
in a sighted world.



But if that residual vision worsens the child will be unable to read at
all. Edey isn't pushing for mandatory braille instruction "but we want to
leave all the options open as early as possible.''



The jobless rate for blind people is estimated at 75%, but only 6% among
braille readers.



"It is very clear, statistically that braille and employment are linked,''
says Edey. "I think more than anything it has to do with being able to keep
proper records and to organize information in an accessible way.''



And no technology yet devised for the blind can beat braille.



"You can't really use magnifier, large print or computer to help you make a
speech or a presentation or be really coherent at a meeting.



"You can get information through all these things but you can' t have it
with you where you need it and you can't quickly write down things for
yourself.''



Although learning braille later in life (65% of CNIB clients are older than
65) is more difficult, it's worthwhile, says Edey.



Bert Moen, intake services co-ordinator at the Edmonton CNIB, read his way
through the regular school system using large-print books and magnifying
glasses.



But in college, that method began to fail him. While working for the CNIB
as a summer student, it was suggested he learn braille.



Moen started using braille to organize his class schedules. Now he can read
entire books in braille. Although he concedes he's not big on reading books
in braille, it has a distinct edge over talking books.



"You seem to be more mentally involved if you're actually reading it in
braille as opposed to just sitting back and listening,'' explains Moen.



He agrees braille is in crisis, noting the clients who have been blind for
years consider braille obsolete because of computers and other technologies.



Moen acknowledges computers are great "but it's hard to take you desktop
computer down to the store with you.''



"It's so much easier to take a slate and stylus in your pocket. You can
make a list or jot down someone's number in braille. A slate and stylus to
me is like pencil and paper.''



POWERFUL AID FOR THE SIGHTED



Even for a sighted person, braille can be a powerful aid.



A psychologist friend of Moen said he'd like to know braille so when
speaking to a group he could keep his eyes on the audience while reading
his notes.



Braille has permeated every aspect of Moen's life. His computer has a
braille display feature, his appointment book is in braille, as are scores
of names, phones numbers, and personal records.



And at home, braille allowed Moen to read stories to his children.



"Braille is a wonderful tool,'' he says.



Ben McConnell, a Grade 8 student in Spruce Grove, lost his eyes to disease
before age five.



A person who knows language only through sound has no grasp of grammar and
word structure, making them essentially illiterate.



Ben's parents, Roy and Diane, wasted little time getting the son learning
braille. They starting out teaching Ben language using tactile and
twin-vision books.



Ben surprised his folks, cruising through play-school and kindergarten
before starting Grade 1.



"He's done well academically all the way through,'' boasts Roy, a teacher
and president of the Alberta Society for the Visually Impaired, family
support group.



VORACIOUS READER



"We have fairly high expectations for Ben,'' explains Roy. "He needs to
have outstanding skills'' to make a place for himself in the sighted world.



"Without braille he'd be nowhere near where he is presently. It' s a
wonderful medium for him,'' says his father.



Ben is a voracious reader. He's already devoured the Lord of the Rings
trilogy, has read the works of Dickens and Homer, and most recently Stephen
King.



"Braille is his life,'' says Roy. "His language skills are excellent.' '



There are some drawbacks to teaching materials in braille. Ben' s math
textbook, for example, translates into 30 volumes of braille, each one
thicker than the textbook.



Still, Ben has not fallen behind, unlike blind students who don' t know
braille and rely on what vision they have to read large print.



There are 100 students in Alberta schools who are braille users.



Ben uses a computer to do a lot of work, but Roy says technology will never
eclipse braille.



CNIB spokesman Ellie Shuster says telling a blind person technology has
made braille redundant is like telling a sighted person they can get along
without a paper and pencil.



CNIB has more than 9,000 clients in Alberta - about 2,600 in Edmonton area.
Shuster says about 15% of CNIB clients read braille.



ILLUSTRATION: 1. photo by Perry Mah, Edmonton Sun\Wendy Edey reads her
braille edition of Reader's Digest.\2. photo by Perry Mah, Edmonton
Sun\Edey reaches for her braille Bible. The book takes up an entire shelf
of herbookcase.\3. photo by Christine Vanzella, Edmonton Sun\Twelve-
year-old Ben McConnell is braille-literate and he has the school marksto
prove it.\4. photo by Christine Vanzella, Edmonton Sun\Bert Moen of the
Canadian National Institute for the Blind, types on akeyboard attached to a
Power Braille machine\5. photo by Christine Vanzella, Edmonton Sun\Bert
Moen of the CNIB shows a slate and stylus for writing in Braille


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