A year seems too short a period of time for reporting when the Canadian Braille Authority is involved in so many interesting endeavours. The reality is that CBA had a very good year in moving its agenda for braille literacy forward. It is a great honour for me to present a consolidation of that record to you, the members, CBA's greatest asset.
Tactile Graphics Project
This huge undertaking has been a major part of CBA's activities for the past seven years. The guidelines have been distributed to people throughout the world. The testing of the tactile graphics with students and teachers is underway. The projects have been facilitated by the generous grants from the Canadian Braille Literacy Foundation and the many in-kind donations from member organizations CNIB, INLB and the Alberta and Manitoba Ministries of Education.
The Parents Kit
The Parent's Kit was launched at the CNIB Braille Conference in 1998 and received the prestigious National Post Design Award. The kit's message is "Braille = Equality." Braille Teaching Standards The lack of braille teaching standards in Canada was documented in 1994. We received a grant from the National Literacy Secretariat to research and prepare standards for braille teachers.
Braille Day
We were asked to undertake the co-ordinating role to plan an international Braille Day along with the World Blind Union and other national organizations. Communication We're on the Web again. We're accessible. The Web site is at:> www.langara.bc.ca/cba. Our goal is to monitor and provide links to other Web sites that give braille literacy and technology information. The Newsletter is also on track with help from Mary Anne Epp, Fred Poon and Pierre Ferland. The Newsletter is the official vehicle for relaying code changes in the field.
French Braille
The evaluation of the extended families of French braille contractions has been completed. Unified Braille Code (UBC) The evaluation results of the UBC research project have been received. The UBC will be the main topic on the agenda of the General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) in Baltimore in November. Betty Nobel, Deborah Gillespie, Fred Poon and I will be members of the delegation.
Appreciation
We appreciate the hard work and support of Brian Henschel and Pierre-Paul Belanger for their efforts on behalf of CBA. Our special thanks go to friends and supporters: the Canadian National Institute for the Blind for its office support (especially, Reta Irwin), and production of English braille; Canadian Braille Literacy Foundation for funding our major projects; Canadian National Literacy Secretariat for the braille teaching standards project; Institut Nazareth et Louis Braille; Langara College; Manitoba Department of Education and Training; British Columbia Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired.
1999 Priorities
Our attention next year will be primarily devoted to completing the research projects and organizational development, such as the by-laws, policy and procedures manual, putting the final touches on the financial controls implemented this year, and membership recruitment. I have been at the helm of the CBA for the past three years. I would like to think I am leaving it in a sound and responsible financial position, its board focused on vital projects that will greatly enhance the promotion of braille as a primary medium for blind persons. But I know that the credit is shared by all of you, members, Board and Executive members, who have worked so very hard to realize the goals of CBA through our research projects and regular activities. Thank you for giving me this challenging and rewarding opportunity to work with you. And my best wishes to your new executive.
The National Braille Association hosted the BANA meeting after its National Conference May 2-3, 1999 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. BANA's new President, Phyllis Campana, (APH) presided.
Long Range Planning
The identified goals and actions of the Long-Range Plan are moving forward. A pamphlet, Guidelines for the Production of Braille Materials Through the Use of Braille Translation Software, was approved for distribution. The targets are parents, teachers, education authorities, and anyone producing braille. It is hoped that producers of braille translation programmes and manufacturers of electronic braille devices will include the pamphlet with each sale. The pamphlet on signage is in its final stages of editing.
ICEB
Plans are almost completed for the General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille November 2-5, 1999 at the NFB National Center, Baltimore, hosted by BANA. The National Federation of the Blind is providing the lodging, breakfast, lunch and breaks and the banquet for the GA delegates. American Council for the Blind is hosting an evening soir'e including dinner. BANA is providing the opening reception. Other cash and in-kind donations from BANA member organizations will take care of the remaining three dinners and all braille and print materials.
Technical Committee Actions:
UBC
BANA approved a grant initiative to identify its constituents and field-test the Unified Braille Code. The testing will be done by The Institute of Community Integration, University of Minnesota. All BANA members were asked to publish an article or issue of their publications in UBC for general information of the readers. The next BANA meeting will precede the ICEB General Assembly in Baltimore October 29-31, 1999.
In December 1998, the Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired (PRCVI), Special Education Technology - British Columbia (SET-BC) and the University of British Columbia (UBC) initiated a research project to review and evaluate the Mountbatten Brailler. The Mountbatten Brailler is an electronic braille notetaker and embosser with features that include an ergonomic keyboard, memory, speech feedback and forward and backward braille/print translation. A QWERTY keyboard can be connected to the Mountbatten to produce contracted or uncontracted braille. Primary areas of research include: the impact of the Mountbatten Brailler on the student's acquisition of braille reading and writing skills (facilitating and restricting factors); comparing the Mountbatten Brailler to the Perkins Brailler and Braille Lite as a tool for beginning and intermediate braille literacy development; the impact of the Mountbatten Brailler on inclusion and classroom interaction; and restricting and facilitating factors that influence the use of the Mountbatten Brailler by sighted peers and regular classroom teachers in the inclusive primary classroom. Five beginning braille readers were selected to participate in this research project in November 1998. Vision teachers, and in some cases, the student's teaching assistant received an intensive day of in-service training on the Mountbatten in early December. School teams were asked to do an initial informal reading and writing assessment, keep daily logs of instructional activities and film occasional video clips. In mid-March the "Mountbatten" students and their vision teachers had an opportunity to get together to participate in some fun reading and writing activities, to review progress, to share "tips and tricks" and get acquainted with each other. Students and teachers felt that the Mountbatten Brailler had a number of significant advantages including: the ability to Braille faster and with less fatigue and for longer; periods of time compared to the Perkins Brailler; an increase in motivation to learn braille; and increased opportunities for interactions with sighted peers. Some reservations were also expressed including: the sometimes confusing operational command structure for the Mountbatten; and minor problems/frustration with paper insertion, embossing noise and printing. Overall, participants had a favourable impression of the Mountbatten Brailler. They agreed that it seemed most suitable for new braille readers at the primary age, but wanted more time to fully evaluate the many features of this technology and the long-term impact on the student's acquisition of Braille literacy skills. The project has been expanded to include another ten students in September 1999. Teachers and students who are currently involved in the project will act as mentors to the "new" students and teachers. For more information concerning this project, please contact:
Anne Wadsworth
Vision Outreach Coordinator, PRCVI
E-mail: awadsworth@prcvi.org
Tel: (604) 269-2219
Fax: (604) 261-0778
Students who are learning to read and write braille require intense direct instruction from a qualified teacher. Children who are beginning to learn to read using braille must be provided rich and varied literacy experiences throughout their school day consistent with the activities used by sighted children as they learn to read print.Students who already know how to read but for some reason (e.g., adventitious vision loss) are learning the braille code must be provided with consistent instruction in the braille code and must have sufficient opportunities for feedback in literacy skills in order to develop adequate efficiency in reading and writing through braille.
There are no standardized requirements for teachers of students who are visually impaired who will provide braille instruction across Canada. In addition, there no national standard requirement for the level or type of service provided for braille instruction. In Canada, teacher requirements and provision of services are provincially based and in many cases are dependent on the resources and commitment of individual school districts.
Many school districts (especially in rural Canada) have few students with visual impairments. While Ministries of Education and Vision teachers mount a constant battle of public awareness of the needs of children who are visually impaired, the reality is that until a student who is blind enrolls in a school district, this information is often not used. While no data are available on the exact numbers, anecdotal reports indicate that many braille-reading students are actually being taught to read and write by paraprofessionals with consultation by a teacher of students with visual impairments. Reading and writing in braille must be taught by a qualified teacher of students who are visually impaired. An examination of the requirements for teachers who work with braille readers reveals that these include university degrees, certification, braille certification, braille competence tests, and ongoing in-service/braille refresher courses. These requirements are not standard across Canada or in the United States. In addition to an examination of teacher requirements, it is also important to focus on the structural issues that allow for qualified teachers to provide appropriate literacy instruction for braille readers. These structural issues include caseloads and time requirements for teachers and assessment of the braille skills of students who read braille. A comprehensive examination of the complex issues surrounding the provision of literacy instruction for braille readers is critical if we are to address the needs of students and families.
Recommendations:
This year the CNIB and CBA collaborated on the release of a kit to introduce braille to very young blind children and their parents. This kit provides kids with opportunities to play with braille the way children play with print. We have begun to communicate with officials in departments of education across the country. We want them to know that braille is important--essential for blind students. We want them to put in place the human and financial resources which will make braille available. We applied to the Canadian Braille literacy Foundation for a grant to organize a Braille Day--a day, in the year 2000, when Canadian communities will be asked to put on targeted projects, which will enhance the promotion and availability of braille. Twenty-five thousand dollars was made available for the project. We were subsequently invited by the World Blind Union and the CNIB to share in an application for additional funding from the Canadian National Literacy Secretariat. The funding was received and a coordinator has been hired. These projects will have a public relations value, but we are hoping they will also provide something concrete--maybe a little training for people who need training, or a few books for people who need books. Our challenge in 1999 will be to gather interested parties across the country to work on Braille Day projects. If you are interested in helping with projects related to the promotion of and access to braille, please contact Wendy Edey.
I find it hard to understand why more people are not joining this wonderful organization. We have an excellent newsletter, a Web site, and other worthwhile publications and projects, and the broad scope of activity are really exciting. The membership statistics are divided by the formats members have requested. Membership as of December 1998 was:
Braille Teacher Standards Project -- Status Provincial representatives from Ministries of Education were invited to Halifax for a forum on strategies for improving braille teaching and learning. Arnold Jones facilitated the discussion.
The Canadian Braille Literacy Foundation allocated $10 000 to the CNIB - Quebec Division for the French version of the Braille kit. The standing committee recommended the appointment of Mme Nicole Trudeau to adapt, translate and proofread the French version of the kit. Mme Trudeau is well known both for her Braille expertise and her research and writing skills. The French prototype of the Parents' Braille Kit should be ready by the end of this year and officially launched during White Cane Week. One of the most important requests made by the parents on the committee concerns the inclusion of tactiles. Small children first get acquainted with literacy through the use of pictures. Mme Trudeau has been asked to make her recommendations to the Committee regarding that particular point.
The Institut Nazareth et Louis-Braille, through Mr. Pierre Ferland, has offered to contribute to the production of the kit where French Braille is needed.
The CVTC conference was a grand success with lots of opportunity to meet with colleagues and find out some of the exciting things that are going on in the many corners of this Big Land of Ours. There were sessions on encouraging understanding of braille for all classmates by Margaret Young. Ms Young also presented a day-long workshop on the Nemeth code. Linda Lemon and Karen Nagel gave a presentation on emergent literacy which emphasized linkages between language, motor, sensory and tactual experiences to build a strong foundation for reading and writing. We had quite a few visitors to our CBA display and Dianne McConnell, Judi Johnson, Freya Marinot and I sold some key chains, discussed CBA projects and distributed brochures. Braille Day generated a lot of interest and we got a few volunteer teachers to test modules for the Tactile Project.
Coordinators of Braille Day, Lori Sheppard and Marie-Therese Poulin are busily reviewing the planning objectives for the International Braille Day, set for February 9, 2000. Jim Sanders and Wendy Edey have begun to recruit provincial representatives. The CNIB has begun two initiatives that will act as the national focal point for publicity. It has obtained the non-commercial rights to a new film about the life of Louis Braille and is seeking funds for wide distribution of copies to Canadian schools. Ontario journalists will unveil a display called Photosensitive on Parliament Hill. The display will feature photographs pertaining to braille.
The focus of Braille Day will be on local meaningful projects.
Discussions and updates of projects on the CBA listserve are welcome.
The Committee developed and drafted the CBA Publications Guidelines for the Canadian Braille Authority. They were distributed to members of the Board for comment. Two issues of the CBA Newsletter were published and distributed in all formats: English, French, French braille and English braille, and put on the Website. The CBA Website was updated and relocated to Langara College. The Website is http://www.langara.bc.ca/cba The French version has now been completed.
Langara College set up three listserves:
two restricted listserves for the CBA Executive and the Board and a third open listserve for the general CBA membership and anyone else who wishes to subscribe.
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CBA Listserve CBA now has an unmonitored open listserve to provide a forum for members to discuss issues on braille. To subscribe, send message to: Listproc@langara.bc.ca Type: Subscribe cba [your email address] Remove all subject and signature lines We look forward to hearing from you on the listserve! |
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