You couldn't be more right. For example, you sited labeling. What happens when your pen friend is out of batteries and you can't get to the store to obtain more? You are cooking for your fussy Aunt and you accidentally open a can of cat food instead of some other meat you require. Your fussy aunt will invariably throw up her hands and declare this as a "dismal failure'
----- Original Message ----- From: "Lynn Golightly" <vgolight@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 4:10 PM Subject: RE: To Braille or Not to Braille
Hi Michael and List, One of the aspects of my job at the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is Braille transcribing. I agree you can read oneletter at a time with JAWS and you can proofread that way. However, when Iproof a long document, I either need a Braille display or the hard Braille copy. I could read the document one letter at a time after I use thespellchecker, but that would take some time. I often find I miss errors inmy writing and/or transcribing when I do not either have a Braille display or hard Braille copy. Often when I am reading a document sentence or paragraph at a time with JAWS I would swear the document was error-free; I find out most of the time I was wrong. I am sure you can be literate with speech and other methods of learning.However, for me Braille is like a sighted person's pencil and paper. I canuse it anywhere independent of carrying a note taker with speech. Braillegives me so much more independence in the home with labels, and at work whenI need to write down a fast note or answer one call after another call.I am afraid that due to the shortage of VI teachers and the lack of Brailleinstruction for blind and visually impaired students, there will be people who don't learn to be competent spellers or versatile money managers. For me, Braille is the key to literacy and independence. I also utilize JAWSand all manner of electronic gadgets to augment my ability to perform my joband live independently at home. Technology and Braille make good bed partners in my opinion. If I had to choose one over the other, though, I would choose Braille. Vicky Golightly -----Original Message----- From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Michael Arnowitt Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 5:30 PM To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: To Braille or Not to Braille I would say literacy is more a matter of how much time and effort you're willing to spend. Jaws can spell out any word for you and speak punctuation. Whenever I hear a name on the radio these days now that I am blind I do get curious as to its spelling, and I find knowing the spelling makes me remember words and names much better. You don't even need to know any fancy Jaws command to read letter by letter, just put the cursor at the beginning of the word and right arrow one by one. Jaws could be a way to increase literacy, if you're willing to take the time. I don't do texting, but from what I understand nobody spells out words in texts, or intentionally misspells them, and these are mostly sighted people working in a purely visual medium. It's part of the times, not just a disease of the so-called illiterate blind. And I have heard some very good writers say they proofread their writing by reading it aloud. I certainly catch mistakes in my writing through Jaws' speech output. So to me, there's really no superiority or inferiority to learning language by writing, hearing, or feeling it. It's really more a question of do you have the motivation and energy to make the effort. Michael Dave wrote:Jerry, Good point. and to make another point that was mentioned in this forum, a very important aspect to learning and reading Braille is in learning how to spell. I've seen far too many posters on various lists for the blind who are writing at a 2nd grade level. It is clear to me that they are spelling strictly based on how a word sounds-- JFW related links: JFW homepage: http://www.freedomscientific.com/ Scripting mailing list: http://lists.the-jdh.com/listinfo.cgi/scriptography-the-jdh.com JFW List instructions: To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw Alternative archives located at: http://n2.nabble.com/JAWS-for-Windows-f2145279.htmlIf you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact thelist owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx -- JFW related links: JFW homepage: http://www.freedomscientific.com/Scripting mailing list: http://lists.the-jdh.com/listinfo.cgi/scriptography-the-jdh.comJFW List instructions: To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxTo unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfwAlternative archives located at: http://n2.nabble.com/JAWS-for-Windows-f2145279.htmlIf you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-- JFW related links: JFW homepage: http://www.freedomscientific.com/ Scripting mailing list: http://lists.the-jdh.com/listinfo.cgi/scriptography-the-jdh.com JFW List instructions: To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw Alternative archives located at: http://n2.nabble.com/JAWS-for-Windows-f2145279.html If you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
