[AERNet] braille instruction

[Jodi Sticken]

Actually, the provision for braille instruction according to IDEA has 
nothing whatsoever to do with "legal blindness"; it applies to any student 
with an IEP who is eligible for specialized instruction due to a visual 
impairment (no acuity cutoff).

At 01:37 AM 7/9/2007 -0500, Mario Cortesi wrote:
>Maybe I don't know IDEA that well after all, but isn't the language that if
>a student is legally blind (which, functionally, is "can't read newsprint")
>that the student is to be provided instruction in braille UNLESS there is a
>documented, PRESSING reason not to?
>
>In addition, even if the student is still going to be using print for a
>significant amount of time and even if the teacher is only providing
>once-a-week itinerant instruction, just introducing the tactile tracking
>skills and one new character configuration each session (with reviews of
>previous characters) puts the student ahead. S/he may not become a braille
>reader NOW, but at least a foundation has been laid and this opens up the
>possibility for continued instruction when and if the need arrives.
>
>
>I disagree. i didn't teach braille or have a braille reader for the first 12
>years of my TVI career and was able to come up--and surpass--my previous
>levels with braille with just some review and a few slaps to my forehead
>(Doh! That's right, it's this way).  Now this is not a data-based
>observation, but even the gen ed students regain unused skills with a little
>review.
>
> >Also, if the student does not keep up with his/her
>use of braille, whatever he/she has learned will be lost over time
>anyway. This is also a fact.
>
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Jodi Sticken
Director of Orientation and Mobility
Instructor and Clinical Coordinator
Department of Teaching and Learning
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-753-8456
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