DOTS for Braille Literacy (Development of Teacher Support) Volume 11, Number 2, Summer 2006

In this Issue...

• From the Editor
• NIMAC: National Instructional Materials Access Center
• Catching up with Conferences
• Survey of DOTS Readers
• Dear DOT
• Online Braille Textbook Transcriber Certificate Program
• Resources
• House Approves Coin to Commemorate Braille
• Save the Dates!

From the Editor

Lifelong learning is the concept that learning takes place throughout the life cycle, from birth to grave, and in different learning environments. As teachers, we often focus on what our students are learning, but we continue to learn as well, through formal and informal routes. Hopefully, reading DOTS for Braille Literacy is one route you take in your own journey to lifelong learning.

Thank you to all the DOTS readers who responded to the survey included in the fall 2005 edition. The information you provided helped us learn more about what to include in this issue. You can read more about the survey results below.

Since 1998, the AFB Textbooks and Instructional Materials Solutions Forum has led the field of blindness and visual impairment in understanding issues related to getting "the right book at the right time" to students with visual impairments. In this issue, you can read about the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) and see how the field is responding to the challenge of learning about new systems for getting books into accessible formats for students with print access disabilities in a timely manner.

Information in this issue of DOTS highlights resources and events in the field, such as the report of a new online certificate program for braille textbook transcribers; the Getting In Touch With Literacy web site where you can learn from online links to the 2005 conference presentations; and much more.

I hope you enjoy this opportunity to add to your lifelong learning. If you have news to share or resources to suggest for future issues, please feel free to contact me at the address listed at the end of this issue.

—Marie Amerson, Editor

NIMAC: National Instructional Materials Access Center

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) signed into law at the end of 2004 includes several changes that will have a positive impact on how and when blind and other print disabled students throughout the country receive their textbooks in the accessible formats they need, including braille and large print. Of particular note, a National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) will be established in Louisville, Kentucky.

The NIMAC will receive and catalog publishers' electronic files of print instructional materials in a standard format: the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS). The NIMAS was developed by experts across the country for this specific purpose. The NIMAC will serve as a repository for these standardized files and make them available to authorized entities to produce textbooks and other core print instructional materials for blind, visually impaired and print disabled students across the country. The combination of standardized file format and a central repository should significantly expedite the time frame in which instructional materials are delivered to students who need them in the classroom.

The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) is working with the U.S. Department of Education, the Association of American Publishers, the Association of Educational Publishers, the NIMAS Development Centers and many other organizations that produce instructional materials and advocate on behalf of students who have difficulty accessing standard print materials . APH has formed the NIMAC Advisory Council, which met in December 2005, and its members are working with stakeholders to ensure that appropriate federal funding is secured to support the Center. It is anticipated that the Center will be up and running by December 2006.

Information on NIMAC can be found by visiting www.nimac.us where you will find links to minutes of the NIMAC Advisory Council meeting, IDEA Reauthorized Statute, IDEA Partnership, Information for Publishers on NIMAS Effective Date and more.

Catching up with Conferences

In today's busy world, it can be frustrating to realize that so many wonderful conferences are happening, but our schedules and/or budgets don't allow us to attend them all.

In 1993, professionals and individuals with visual impairments in Little Rock, Arkansas decided to organize a topical conference focused on literacy. The conference, Getting In Touch With Literacy, was planned by a grass roots committee and proved to be a great success. Since 1993, the conference has been held every other year and sponsored by a variety of organizations within one community. The seventh biennial Getting In Touch With Literacy was held in Denver, Colorado in December, 2005 and the theme was "Living Literacy." That theme lives on through the conference web site (www.gettingintouchwithliteracy.org) as a valuable resource for parents, teachers and related service personnel of students with visual impairments. The site has links to a number of audio presentations recorded during the 2005 conference and a number of presentation handouts.

You can hear the opening presentation, Lessons from Sally and Alan: Moving Forward with Strength and Renewed Commitment, a memorial presentation by Cay Holbrook celebrating the important contributions to literacy for people with visual impairments made by Drs. Sally Mangold and Alan Koenig. You can also access many of the Getting In Touch With Literacy conference concurrent sessions through links to audio files or handouts stored on the site.

A sampling of presentation links follows:

• Reading Strategies: Research, Habits, Questions
• Families and Early Literacy: The Collaborative Process
• Braille: Everyday - Everyway
• It's a Two-way Street: Connecting Print and Braille in the Elementary Classroom
• Reading to the Dogs: Students Practice their Reading Skills in the Presence of a Gentle Listener
• Braille Readiness Skills Grid - Updated
• The Book Port Project - Expanding the Literacy Toolbox for High School Students

Okay, so you may still be really busy, but the conference sessions on this site can be a valuable resource when you catch a minute or two to renew your professional skills. You might also contact your local staff development coordinator to determine if there is a way to use the sessions to earn continuing education credits toward certification renewal.

Accessing conference materials online is valuable, but it is important to realize that conferences cannot happen without people in attendance. Also, there is tremendous opportunity for learning through the network of colleagues you meet when you attend a conference in person. Make a commitment to attend professional learning opportunities when you can, and catch up or review online when you are unable to attend in person.

The important thing to remember is to keep learning...in whatever way you can!

Survey of DOTS Readers

In November, 2005, DOTS readers were asked to respond to a questionnaire to help AFB determine the usefulness of DOTS to the readership and the viability of continuing to produce DOTS in multiple formats (print, disk, e-mail, and braille). Factors including production costs, lack of funding sources, and questions about the newsletter's programmatic value were being considered as part of AFB's restructuring activities that included the consolidation of literacy activities with professional development efforts. Due to time and cost constraints, the survey procedure did not include follow-up attempts with people who did not respond to the initial survey. Information from the 603 responses received (just over an 18% response rate) provided data and comments to help AFB's Management Team in the decision-making process concerning whether to continue support for the production and distribution of DOTS.

Subscribers to DOTS received the questionnaire in the same format they receive the newsletter. The highest response rate was from subscribers who receive the newsletter in print, followed by braille readers, and a small percentage of people who receive the e-mail edition. None of the readers who receive disk copies responded to the survey.

What did the Survey Find?

Most respondents (62%) found DOTS very useful and want the publication to continue. Three-fourths of respondents reported they have shared their copies of DOTS and over two-thirds have routinely referred to past issues, attesting to its practical value. Although DOTS draws information from other sources, readers did not regard the newsletter as duplicative. In fact, readers reported that it would be time-consuming and somewhat difficult for them to get the same information from other publications.

Data suggested that DOTS' influence extends beyond its subscriber base. Many respondents reported sharing their copy of the newsletter with administrators, parents, or colleagues. The broad reach of the newsletter was evidenced by responses received from teachers of students with visual impairments; as well as, faculty and students in personnel preparation programs, braille transcribers, and rehabilitation teachers and counselors.

The survey gauged reactions to two possible changes in distribution procedures: (1) charging a $30 annual fee to individuals who want to continue receiving DOTS in print or braille, and (2) discontinuing both hardcopy editions and making DOTS available only by e-mail and on AFB's web site. Charging an annual fee of $30 would result in the loss of a large segment of subscribers. Eliminating braille and print hardcopy editions would also cost DOTS some subscribers, moreso with braille than print readers.

As a result of responses to the survey, AFB decided to continue DOTS for Braille Literacy for the time being. However, in an effort to contain the costs for producing and distributing the newsletter it will be available only in electronic and braille formats henceforth. To access future issues and find the archived copies on the AFB web site go to: www.afb.org/dots. If you are a braille DOTS subscriber, there will be no change in how you will receive future issues.

Dear DOT,

For many years, I've worked in a metropolitan school system, teaching fifth and sixth grade students with visual impairments. I'm not new to teaching braille readers, but when my family and I moved to our dream home in the country, I took an itinerant position in a small rural school district. I now find that I have a tremendous range of learners, from the preschooler who will be learning braille to a young teen who recently lost vision. Where in the world can I find resource information to help me address such diverse needs?

—Ida B. Farmer

Dear Ida,

Congratulations on your move to the wide open spaces in the country! You seem to have a wide open job on your hands, too, addressing braille literacy for children and youth all along the spectrum. Fortunately, literacy is a concern for teachers of the visually impaired and for rehabilitation teachers working with adults of all ages, so we should be able to identify something that will be helpful for you.

Let's start with the preschooler. As you know, much of the work of teaching students with visual impairments is working with their families and other teachers in the schools. With a preschooler, all the challenges are still very new to everyone, so that support and encouragement from you is a critical piece of the work you do. Enthusiastically encourage the child's parents and teachers about the importance and wisdom of exposing the child to all the pre-literacy opportunities from which any young child, blind or sighted, would benefit—being read to, making up stories that are transcribed for the reader, finding environmental braille, scribbling, playing with braille, having access to the tools for creating braille.

Anne McComiskey with the BEGIN Program at the Center for the Visually Impaired in Atlanta, Georgia developed a "Braille Readiness Grid" to use for evaluating preschoolers. The grid enables parents and teachers to identify the skills a child has accomplished and target other skills for educational programming. The grid covers tactile, fine motor, listening, attention and expression, concept building and book and story skills. It shows a range of activities to demonstrate emerging literacy skills in each of these areas. McComiskey reminds the user of the grid that "fun is the key ingredient" to reading as well as for learning about a child's readiness for braille literacy. You can get a copy of the grid by visiting the Center for the Visually Impaired web site at www.cviatlanta.org or you can call 404-875-9011 for more information.

Since you said you worked many years with elementary age students, I'm going to skip over to the teen who just lost vision. As you know, this young person probably already had literacy skills, just not of the braille variety. Many rehabilitation teachers working with adults have experience with resources you might be able to use for this student. Although many of the needed skills are the same, there certainly are differences in the methods and materials you will use with this "young adult" and the ones you use with the preschooler. The methods and materials will also differ from what you may have used at your previous school with the fifth and sixth graders.

"Readiness" or preparing the young adult to learn to read braille is not the same as preparing a child. Motivation will be particularly important and there are strategies to use to help explain how braille will fit into the student's life. It will be important to consider all the tools this older student already has in his or her literacy toolbox so together you can identify all the positive benefits there will be for learning braille. An emphasis on functional braille will be a must. Understanding there are uses of braille beyond the academic setting will be important for the teen. For instance, an important function of braille can be for accessing, organizing and locating information in relevant environments. AFB has a link on their web site for "Strategies and Resources for Teaching Braille to Adults" and this might be a good starting point for learning more about teaching braille to young adults. Go to www.afb.org and link to "Braille." At the bottom of the page, there is a related article link to "Bridging the Gap: Best Practices for Instructing Adults Who Are Visually Impaired and Have Low Literacy Skills." The Bridging the Gap page then shows a link on the side to "Strategies and Resources for Teaching Braille to Adults."

You may also want to check out the resources available through the Hadley School for the Blind (www.hadley.edu or 800.323.4238). They have free self-directed, but teacher-supported distance education classes for parents and families of blind children on and about braille as well as braille instruction for young adults...their classes can supplement what you are able to provide as an itinerant.

I hope these resources put you on a path to the information you need to help these students.

—DOT

p.s. Check out the earlier article in this edition of DOTS, about Catching Up With Conferences, to find out how to link to the presentations from the 2005 Getting In Touch With Literacy conference. A presentation about the preschool grid is there and so is a presentation about expanding the literacy toolbox for high school students.

Online Braille Textbook Transcriber Certificate Program

The National Center on Low-Incidence Disabilities has announced that the Northwest Vista College (NVC) is the first community college in the nation to offer an online program to certify braille textbook transcribers. NVC and its partners pioneered a college curriculum to develop "Braille Textbook Transcribers," professionally trained individuals to meet a critical and growing need for transcribers so braille readers have equal access to textbooks and other written information.

The NVC coursework for Braille Textbook Transcriber is completed in an online environment over a three semester period. The first semester begins August, 2006 and students completing the program will receive their certificate the following August. It is a challenging program, requiring about 20-30 hours of work each week.

For information on costs, prerequisites and other details about the program, contact nvcbrail@accd.edu. For general information about the college, call (210) 348-2020 or e-mail nvcinfo@accd.edu.

Resources

"Historic Braille Writers" is a collection of nine braille writers from the Callahan Museum at the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). The hands-on tabletop-size exhibit is available for six weeks rental ($500, including shipping). The exhibit fits on an 8-foot table and includes a brief history of each braille writer. For additional information about the exhibit, contact the Callahan Museum (800) 223-1839 ext. 365 or e-mail museum@aph.org.

Another historical resource is the new online museum dedicated to Anne Sullivan Macy, Helen Keller's teacher and a pioneer in the field of education for the blind and visually impaired. AFB's multimedia museum presents a rich array of information about Anne through photographs, letters, speeches, posters, comics, video clips and more. Visit Anne Sullivan Macy: Miracle Worker at www.afb.org/AnneSullivan.

There is an online peer mentoring project and discussion group for high school juniors and senior and college students with vision loss. Parents, guidance counselors and vocational rehabilitation counselors may also participate in the listserve, but it is planned primarily for peer-to-peer interaction. The effort is sponsored by the College Prep program at EH Gentry and part of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind. The service has potential to be valuable for college-bound students who are blind or have vision loss. Individuals may join the College Ready B/VI at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeReadyBVI. Contact Karyn Zweifel, AIDB.org Site Manager at www.AIDB.org for more information.

Since 2003, National Braille Press (NBP) has been distributing free braille literacy materials and parent resources to blind and visually impaired children birth through age seven and their parents. NBP has distributed nearly 6,000 book bags throughout the U.S. and have announced they are now expanding the program into Canada. Book bags are distributed directly to families or through participating professionals. Contact Amy Ruell, National Program Manager, National Braille Press, (888) 965-8965 ext. 34, aruell@nbp.org or check www.braille.com for more information.

"Sources of Adapted Materials to Promote Literacy Development" is a link found on AFB's web site. The products included in the list provide a sampling of adapted materials that can help a child acquire literacy skills at home during the informal, family-oriented activities. Encourage parents to visit www.afb.org and link to learn more about braille. From there, they can click on "Braille Resources for Parents" and look for the link to this list.

House Approves Coin to Commemorate Braille

The Louis Braille Bicentennial - Braille Literacy Commemorative Coin Act directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $1 coins emblematic of the life and legacy of Louis Braille, the inventor of the most widely used reading and writing method for the blind. Under the House bill passed in March, the U.S. Mint will issue 400,000 silver dollars in 2009 commemorating the bicentennial of Louis Braille's birth. Funds raised from a $10 surcharge will go to the National Federation of the Blind to promote braille literacy.

The front of the coin will depict Braille, and the reverse will include the word "braille" written in braille code.

The bill was referred in March to the Senate Banking committee for further review.

Save the Dates!

AER International Conference

July 14-19, 2006
Snowbird, Utah
www.aerbvi.org

12th ICEVI World Conference

July 16-21, 2006
Putra World Trade Centre, Malaysia
icevi2006@mab.org.my

APH Annual Meeting

October 12-14, 2006
Louisville, Kentucky
www.aph.org

NBA Professional Development Conference

November 2-4, 2006
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.nationalbraille.org

AFB Workshop - Braille Literacy: A Functional Approach

February 22-24, 2007
Atlanta, Georgia
www.afb.org

NBA Professional Development Conference

April 25-28, 2007
Colorado Springs, Colorado
www.nationalbraille.org

DOTS for Braille Literacy is published three times a year (October, February, and June), and is available online at: www.afb.org/dots or in braille, by request. For further information, please contact:

DOTS Editor
American Foundation for the Blind
100 Peachtree Street, Suite 620
Atlanta GA 30303
Telephone: 404-525-2303
Fax: 404-659-6957
e-mail: literacy@afb.net

If you would like routinely to receive an e-mail alerting you to the posting of future issues of the DOTS newsletter, please send a message to Shirley Landrum (slandrum@afb.net) as follows: In the subject line, please write "DOTS notification," and in the body of the message please include your entire name and any changes to your contact information (new e-mail or snail mail address, changes in telephone or fax numbers, etc.) that may have occurred over the last 12 months, and you will be signed up to receive notices automatically.

[Web visitors, please visit www.afb.org/myAFBnewsletter.asp and follow the instructions there to sign up. You can then log in and update your profile at any time to alert us to changes in your contact information.]

If you choose not to receive an e-mail notice, you will still be able to access current and archived issues of DOTS online at www.afb.org/dots; and if you are a braille format subscriber, you will continue to receive your DOTS newsletter in braille.

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