Blind Education Roundup

Braille Exhibit Tour Begins; New Phone Support Group for Blind Teens

Jan 16, 2009

In this month of Louis Braille's bicentennial, the National Braille Press takes its 10-panel exhibit on a tour across the United States.

The National Braille Press (NBP) has begun its 2009 tour of a 20-panel display designed to celebrate Louis Braille’s 200th birthday. The traveling exhibit highlights Braille’s life and the braille production process to draw attention to the importance of braille literacy.

At age 16, Louis Braille (1809-1852) developed the raised-dot system for reading and writing that brought literacy to the blind. His language is used by an estimated 180 million people worldwide.

A 10-panel preview and a text-only version of the exhibit’s content is posted on the NBP website.

Louis Braille Bicentennial Traveling Exhibit Schedule

Contact AFB to arrange a tour visit to your library, school, museum, or corporate or nonprofit headquarters.

Children's Vision Health Initiative Starts Teen Support Group

The Children's Vision Health Initiative (CVHI), a program of the Jewish Guild for the Blind, has started a telephone support group to address social isolation often experienced by blind high school and college teens. Daria Zawadzki, LMSW, a recent Harvard graduate who is legally blind, facilitates the group, which is comprised of teenagers from around the country, including some recent Guild Scholarship winners. For more information or to participate in a CVHI-sponsored support group, call Dan Callahan at 800.915.0306.

Southern California Special Education School Has Limited Spaces for Blind Children

Junior Blind of America's Special Education School is California’s only certified private school dedicated to blind, visually impaired, and multi-disabled children, ages three through 21. The school is set on an eight-acre campus in the Windsor Hills area of Los Angeles. Children are taught the skills necessary to gain their highest level of independence, including: instruction in communication, functional academics, pre-Braille, socialization, community-based activities, and prevocational skills. The school features a low student-to-staff ratio and an onsite nurse. Contact Admissions Coordinator Barbara Christian (323.295.4555 ext. 243) for information.

Deafblindness: Educational Service Guidelines

The Perkins School for the Blind (Watertown, Mass), has published new educational service guidelines for deaf/blind students. The publication, developed with the Hilton/Perkins Program and the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, is a best-practice guide to help educational administrators at all levels to understand the implications of combined losses of sight and hearing on learning, and to recognize the need for specialized assessment, program planning, and service delivery. Contact Perkins Products (617.972.7308) for more information.

The Braille bicentennial continues to inspire activity in the worldwide blindness community, with most of the energy invested in the championing of braille literacy.

The copyright of the article Blind Education Roundup in Blind Students is owned by Andrew Leibs. Permission to republish Blind Education Roundup in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.