Source: By David Silverberg. Schools are shirking Braille for more tech-savvy tools to assist blind students, such as text-to-speech software and audio-enabled ebook readers. But will the loss of Braille detrimentally affect the blind? In the mid-20th century, the use of Braille was enormously popular: "schools for the blind" helped children learn Braille, the raised dots appeared in restaurants and elevators and hospitals, and a new culture of respect for this handicap became the norm. Times have changed. According to an article in Canadian magazine Macleans, "overstretched school budgets and the ever-evolving portable audio book" are killing Braille. The article cites a sobering fact: In the 1950s around half of all blind children learned Braille, according to the U.S. National Federation of the Blind. Today, that number has dropped to 10 percent (Canadian numbers are comparable). NFB director Mark Riccobono is quoted as saying: "If only 10 per cent of sighted children were being taught [to read] that would be considered a crisis.” Braille has fallen off the radar in schools due to tight budgets. "New technology is cheaper than hiring a Braille teacher," the article states. Audio books reading text are useful for many children, and text-to-speech software enable Web surfers to "hear" what is being presented on many sites. Gadgets such as the iPad could also allow users to listen to ebooks or articles, depending on the app downloaded. But ignoring Braille could have serious consequences. A study found that blind students who’d been taught Braille early in their childhood scored about the same as sighted students on a standardized test measuring reading comprehension -- 61 versus 62 percent. For those with zero Braille training, that score fell to an average of 38 percent. The study's author wrote: "Low-vision kids need to be taught Braille. Early Braille education is crucial to literacy, and literacy is crucial to employment." The same researcher came to another conclusion relating to Braille: 77 percent of non-Braille users were unemployed. But for those who knew Braille, unemployment figures hovered around 56 percent. Among those whose Braille knowledge was “extensive,” most were working. |
Beat Disability-By Embracing It
Equity and Inclusivity
Sabeena Jalal
"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beautyto its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget."- Arundhati Roy
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Is Braille facing extinction?
England lose to Brazil in blind football semi-final
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Pakistan Cricket Team of the Blind- tournament results April 2010
The Pakistan blind cricket team which whitewashed England in Sharjah reached Pakistan on Friday. The team landed here at the Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore after winning the series against England blind team. The team played one T20 and three one day internationals and won all the four matches and established six new world records. In T20 match, Pakistan team won the match by 101 runs on April 4. Pakistan made history in T20 match by scoring 274 runs. In the first one-day, Pakistan team scored 498 in a one day match, and won the match by 149 runs, which is also a world record in one day match. They scored 498 runs in 40 over match. In second one-day, Pakistan won the match by four wickets. Pakistan team scored 439 runs chasing this score in the second innings and this is also a world record by the world champions. In last one day match Pakistan team won the match by 10 wickets, which is also a world record of the first wicket partnership, with 390 runs. Pakistan team wins 13 matches in a row this was a new world record created by the team. Matches summery April 4: T20 Pakistan won by 101 Runs April 5: first ODI Pakistan won by 149 Runs April 6: second IDI Pakistan won by four wickets April 8: third ODI Pakistan won by 10 wickets |
Event: National Blind Cricket Championship between Australia and Newzealand
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source: you tube
Highlights from the first day of the 30th National Blind Cricket Championships from 3 - 12 January, 2010 and the Trans Tasman Series between Australia and New Zealand from 13 - 17 January, 2010.
Both tournaments were played at the famous Kings School in North Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia. |
Smart pen to assist visually impaired
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May 1, 2008 — Psychoacoustics researchers and industrial technologists use a pen computer to assist visually impaired students to learn science and math. The pen writes in ink, but when used on paper printed with a special pattern of dots, its mounted camera records the movement, which can be downloaded to a computer. The camera can match the location on the paper with the time at which the audio was recorded to facilitate a narrated trip through a student's notes. Blind students are about to speed up their learning curve thanks to a new "smart" pen. Did you know, just three characters of Braille take up an inch on a page? This new pen can condense that information into just one smart dot. A pen that talks to you: For most of us, that's just cool new technology, but for a blind student, this pen may rewrite their future. "Better access to spatial information for blind people will result ultimately, we believe, in better employment and better opportunities for people after they get out of school," Joshua A. Miele, Ph..D., an associate scientist at The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco, Calif., told Ivanhoe.
Using technology to improve learning, instructional technologists developed this Smartpen. It not only records what you write, it remembers when you wrote it. And when a teacher can swing by a student's desk and draw the same picture that's on the blackboard, everyone is on the same page.
Just hit record and let the pen do the rest. "It's a pen," Andy Van Schaack, Ph.D., senior science advisor at Livescribe, Inc. in Oakland, Calif., explained Ivanhoe. "You hold it in your hand. It looks like a pen.
It works like a pen so you can just open up a notebook and take notes, but if you turn the pen on, it's a computer." The visually impaired have a 70 percent unemployment rate. One reason -- training and education are a great challenge. School supplies were a heavy burden. The Smartpen costs about a $150 and all your notes and recordings can be quickly uploaded to your computer. Now that's one "smart" pen. What's next for this new device? Some day the pen will store bus maps, books and even recipes.
HOW DOES IT WORK? The Smartpen is a pen and a computer that allows users to write, record audio, record what is written, and access that information in a unique way. Covering paper with a pattern of dots makes each location unique and recognizable by a tiny camera mounted in the pen. If reviewing notes taken during a lecture, a student could find a diagram he had made, then command the pen to play back what had been said while he was drawing that diagram. Because of the special paper, the camera is able to read where it is on the page and find the corresponding spot in the audio, making it easy to play it back.
AN AUDIO-TACTILE DISPLAY: Using the smart pen with a raised line drawing kit allows visually impaired and blind people a chance to interact with the diagrams and pictures so vital to learning science and math concepts. With the Smartpen, students can print dots onto thin plastic sheets that are used with a pad that creates a raised line when written on with a pen. A teacher could explain a concept while writing the accompanying diagrams on the pad, and then hand the pad and smart pen to the student. The student would then be able to touch the pad, tap the pen in a spot, and in an on-demand fashion, listen to the teacherýs explanation.
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