[real-eyes] Re: e: Fwd: Article: Braille Under Siege As Blind Turn To Smartphones

  • From: "Mitchell D. Lynn" <mlynn@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 09:39:26 -0600

Hmm, many of the Braille readers I know blame contracted Braille for their poor 
spelling. I have no personal opinion on that as I learned Braille rather late 
in life and don't use it much.  

-----Original Message-----
From: real-eyes-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:real-eyes-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of jose
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2012 7:43 AM
To: real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [real-eyes] Re: e: Fwd: Article: Braille Under Siege As Blind Turn To 
Smartphones

I think for those who have problems spelling, using your fingers to lern words 
is one of the best ways to lern.  ttyl.

P.S. I have a frend that is making bord and card games axessable on demand. 
if anyone wants more info email me and I'll get you in tuch with sarah.



Jose Lopez, President
Lopez Language Services, LLC

"We Speak Your Language"
Call us anytime at 888.824.3022
"This is what the LORD says: 'Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends 
on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD'" 
(Jeremiah 17:5).

----- Original Message -----
From: "Reginald George" <adapt@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 7:55 AM
Subject: [real-eyes] Re: e: Fwd: Article: Braille Under Siege As Blind Turn To 
Smartphones


>A very partial list of uses for Braille that can't easily be replaced 
>by  speech would include things like making Labels, speaking notes, 
>higher  science and mathematics notation, learning to spell, diagrams, 
>maps, sheet  music, charts, tactile drawings, conjugating sentences, so much 
>more.
> Anyone want to add to the list?  Some might  argue about labeling. 
> Talking
> bar codes help a lot.  But who wants to take their electronic wand 
>into  the  elevator to look for floors, or the hotel for room numbers.  
>And why  should  you need an electronic aid fr something you can read 
>with your own senses.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jack and Becky
> Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 1:03 AM
> To: real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [real-eyes] e: Fwd: Article: Braille Under Siege As Blind 
> Turn To Smartphones
>
> Well, just as a point of view, those of us who are deaf blind depend 
> on braille as a form of basic communication, without which we'd be in 
> a word, sunk.  There will ALWAYS be people who will use it, out of 
> necessity if nothing else.
> My Best ! all
> Jack
>
>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>From: Terrie Lee <terrieiphone@xxxxxxxxx Date sent: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 
>>19:57:53 -0600
>
>
>>The wining keeps going on from the braille camp how braille is
> declining and how many people just don't use the format any more.
> As the world moves faster and faster, the use of braille will decline.  
> Will it ever vanish completely?  I don't think so.
> If not, why aren't blind people using it as much.  Because of the size 
> of a braille book and because for large books braille is way to bulky 
> and not easily produced in mass.  The paper isn't even standard.  It's 
> thicker and more costly.  The printed book is on the way out as well 
> and you should hear the wining.  There is nothing like the smell of a 
> new book.  True but that smell can be synthesized and made to go into 
> book readers.  As synthetic speech gets better and better, the day may 
> come when you won't be able to tell the difference between a real 
> human reading a book or a synthesized voice reading it.  I just don't 
> see Braille lasting as more then just a note taking means.  In my 
> opinion, save a tree, burn a braille boo
>> k <grin> Just kidding!.
>
>>Alan
>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: Lisa belville
>>http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/02/13/146812288/b
> raille-under-siege-as-blind-turn-to-smartphones
>
>
>
>
>
>>February 13, 2012
>
> Meagan VERLEE
>
>
>
>>Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at 
>>approx.  7:00 p.m.  ET
>
>
>>Transcript
>
>
>>The National Federation of the Blind estimates that today only
> one in 10
>>blind people can read Braille.  That's down dramatically from the
> early
>>1900s.
>>Steve Mitchell/AP
>
>>The National Federation of the Blind estimates that today only
> one in 10
>>blind people can read Braille.  That's down dramatically from the
> early
>>1900s.
>
>>Like a lot of smartphone users, Rolando Terrazas, 19, uses his
> iPhone for
>>email, text messages and finding a decent coffee shop.  But
> Terrazas' phone
>>also
>>sometimes serves as his eyes: When he waves a bill under its
> camera, for
>>instance, the phone tells him how much it's worth.
>
>>Terrazas is blind, and having an app to tell bills apart can be a
> big help.
>>For one thing, it means he doesn't have to trust clerks to give
> him correct
>>change.  Terrazas' daily life is full of useful technology like
> this, but it
>>also has a downside: The more he uses technology, the less he
> uses Braille,
>>the alphabet of raised dots that the blind read with their
> fingers.
>
>>"All through elementary school I used Braille," Terrazas says.
> "But when I
>>got a laptop, I switched over and I went away from Braille.  If
> you don't use
>>it, you lose it.  And that's what happened to me."
>
>>Terrazas uses software that reads out loud what's on his computer
> screen.
>>These days, he's slowly re-learning Braille as a student at the 
>>Colorado Center for the Blind, south of Denver.
>
>>The center puts a lot of effort into convincing students they
> still need
>>Braille to be independent and employable.  Director Julie Deden
> says
>>technology
>>is making the nearly 200-year-old writing system more accessible
> than ever.
>>She shows off an electronic reader that's about the size of a
> paperback.
>>Instead
>>of having to lug around massive volumes of printed braille, this
> reader
>>allows Deden to just sweep her fingers over little plastic nubs
> that rise
>>and fall
>>with each line of text.
>
>>Still, Deden worries that technologies like smartphones are also
> masking a
>>serious problem - Braille illiteracy.
>
>>"People will let it go and they'll say: 'Well, you know, they're
> not really
>>illiterate.  They just don't really use Braille or print very
> much, but
>>that's
>>just because they're blind,' " she says.  "I think that it's kind
> of an out,
>>and technically they really are mostly illiterate."
>
>>Blind people choosing not to learn Braille is only one part of
> the equation.
>>Chris Danielsen with the
>>National Federation of the Blind
>>says his group is increasingly butting heads with school
> districts trying
>>to get out of federal obligations to provide a Braille teacher.
>
>>"They will tend to say, 'Well we have screen magnification
> software, we have
>>all these tools available, and in light of that we don't think
> it's
>>necessary
>>for a blind person to be taught Braille,' " Danielsen says.
>
>>The federation estimates that today only one in 10 blind people
> can read
>>Braille.  That's down dramatically from the early 1900s.  Jackie
> Owellet lost
>>her
>>sight as an adult, after an operation.  Standing in a cafe in a
> Denver
>>suburb, Owellet says learning to read Braille was the last thing
> on her
>>mind.
>
>>"When am I ever going to use Braille? I'm never going to sit down
> and read a
>>novel in Braille.  You know, I'd rather download an audio book
> from iTunes,"
>>she says.
>
>>But last year, while taking classes for her yoga instructor
> certification,
>>it became clear that having a mechanical voice reading off
> teaching notes
>>didn't
>>make for a very soothing yoga experience.
>
>>"So I realized there is a use for Braille," Owellet says.  "I
> think everybody
>>uses Braille in their own way.  You know, I think that everybody
> finds what
>>they need to use Braille for."
>
>>Advocates for Braille are hoping blind people like Owellet will
> continue to
>>find enough reasons to keep their tactile system of writing
> alive, even
>>amidst
>>the growing chorus of computer voices.
>
>>BlindTech is owned by Michael Capelle:
>>michael.capelle@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
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>
>>women are not complicated.  Seriously.  How hard is it to say
> "you're pretty"
>>and give us chocolate?
>>Lisa Belville
>>missktlab1217@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
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