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Braille Literacy TThhee EEdduuccaattoorr VOLUME XXII, ISSUE 1 July 2009 BRAILLE LITERACY y k c u t S n e K : y s e t r u o C o t o h P A Publication of The International Council for Education of ICEVI People with Visual Impairment PRINCIPAL OFFICERS FOUNDING NON-GOVERNMENTAL PRINCIPAL OFFICERS ORGANISATIONS DEVELOPMENT PRESIDENT SECOND VICE PRESIDENT ORGANISATIONS Lawrence F. Campbell American Foundation Harry Svensson for the Blind 1, Center Street, Rockland National Agency for Special Asian Foundation for the Maine 04841 Needs Education and Carl R. Augusto Prevention of Blindness 11 Penn Plaza, Suite 300 USA Schools Grace Chan, JP New York, NY 10001 [email protected] Box 12161, SE- 102 26 c/o The Hong Kong Society USA Stockholm, SWEDEN [email protected] for the Blind [email protected] FIRST VICE PRESIDENT 248 Nam Cheong Street Shamshuipo, Kowloon Jill Keeffe Perkins School for the Blind TREASURER HONG KONG Centre for Eye Research Australia Steven M. Rothstein Nandini Rawal [email protected] University of Melbourne 175 North Beacon Street Blind People’s Association Department of Ophthalmology Watertown, MA 02472 Jagdish Patel Chowk CBM Locked Bag 8 USA Surdas Marg, Vastrapur [email protected] Allen Foster East Melbourne 8002 Ahmedabad 380 015 Nibelungenstrasse 124 AUSTRALIA INDIA Royal National Institute 64625 Bensheim [email protected] [email protected] of the Blind GERMANY [email protected] SECRETARY GENERAL Colin Low 105 Judd Street Mani, M.N.G. London WC1H 9NE Norwegian Association of the No.3, Professors’ Colony, S R K Vidyalaya Post UNITED KINGDOM Blind and Partially Sighted Coimbatore 641 020, Tamil Nadu, INDIA [email protected] (NABPS) [email protected] Arnt Holte INTERNATIONAL P.O. Box 5900, Majorstua0308 REGIONALPRINCIPAL CHAIRPERSONS OFFICERS NON-GOVERNMENTAL Oslo, NORWAY AFRICA NORTH AMERICA / ORGANISATIONS [email protected] Wilfred Maina CARIBBEAN Deafblind International Organización Nacional de African Braille Centre Kathleen M. Huebner Ciegos Españoles P.O. Box 27715, 00506 NCLVI Bernadette M. Kappen Nairobi, KENYA College of Education and 999, Pelham Parkway Bronx Enrique Pérez [email protected] Rehabilitation New York 10469 C/ Almansa, 66 Salus University USA 28039 Madrid, SPAIN EAST ASIA 8360 Old York Road [email protected] [email protected] Prof. Datuk Dr. Ismail Md Salleh Elkins Park, PA 19027, USA International University College of [email protected] World Blind Union Sight Savers International Technology, Twintech Holdings Caroline Harper Maryanne Diamond SDN BHD (260301-A) Grosvenor Hall, Bolnore Road PACIFIC 454, Glenferrie Rd. Level 6, Block E, Haywards Heath Kooyong, Vic. 3144 Sri Damansara Business Park Frances Gentle West Sussex RH16 4BX The Renwick Centre AUSTRALIA Persiaran Industri, UNITED KINGDOM Royal Institute for Deaf and [email protected] Bandar Sri Damansara [email protected] 52200 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA Blind Children Private Bag 29 International Agency [email protected] The New York Institute for Parramatta, NSW 2124 for the Prevention of EUROPE AUSTRALIA Blindness Special Education Hans Welling [email protected] Bernadette M. Kappen Christian Garms Visio, Amersfoortsestraatweg 180 999, Pelham Parkway Bronx 1272 RR Huizen Wilhelmstr. 31 New York 10469 WEST ASIA THE NETHERLANDS 64625 Bensheim USA [email protected] Bhushan Punani GERMANY [email protected] Blind People’s Association [email protected] LATIN AMERICA Jagdish Patel Chowk Vision Australia Lucia Piccione Surdas Marg, Vastrapur Glenda Alexander Urquiza 2659 - 5001 Cordoba, Ahmedabad 380 015 Visit us at: 454 Glenferrie Rd, Kooyong ARGENTINA INDIA Vic. 3144, AUSTRALIA [email protected] [email protected] www.icevi.org [email protected] consulting engineers in technology for healthcare www.weimed.de – [email protected] your low vision - partner! We talk with you in german, english, russian, greek, georgian, chinese, taiwanese Full product range of lowvision-products Magnifiers from cheapest simple form to high-tech with illumination with magnifications from 2x up to 14x. Monoculars from cheapest simple form to high-tech monoculars with magnifications from 3x to 10x also with reading stand. Electronical Magnifiers (CCTV) stationary and mobile solutions at home, at work, on the go. Talking devices for daily use Braille devices Headquarter: Wolfshovener-Strasse 77 – 79 52428 Juelich - Germany. Phone: +49 – 2461 – 347927 Regional Offices and Partners: Austria - Suisse - Baltic States - Russian Federation – Georgia – Ukraine - Spain JOMTIEN, THAILAND THE VENUE OF THE 13TH WORLD CONFERENCE OF ICEVI We are pleased to announce that the 13th world conference of ICEVI will be held in Jomtien, Thailand from 9 to 13 August 2010. The Education For All movement originated at a meeting of Ministers of Education convened by UNESCO, UNICEF and The World Bank in Jomtien in 1990. It is quite symbolic that ICEVI will hold its 13th World Conference at the same location some 20 years later to draw the attention of the world to the educational needs of all children with visual impairment. The Thai Host Committee, consisting of organisations of the Thai Blind Union and voluntary organizations, is headed by Pecharat Techavachara, President, Foundation for the Employment Promotion of the Blind in Thailand. The conference will be held at the Hotel Ambassador City, Jomtien, which has excellent facilities at a beautiful seaside location. Do mark your calendar to join your colleagues from around the world and be prepared for an excellent conference and a relaxed time. For abstract submission and registration, log on to ICEVI Website www.icevi.org Editor CONTENTS Harry Svensson National Agency for Special Needs 1. Message from the President 2 Education and Schools Box 12161 2. Message from the Editor 3 SE- 102 26 Stockholm SWEDEN 3. Message from the Guest Editor 4 Associate Editor 4. Vision Alliance 5 M.N.G. Mani Secretary General, ICEVI 5. EFA-VI News 6 Editorial Committee 6. World Braille Council 7 Harry Svensson Larry Campbell 7. Finger Braille 8 M.N.G. Mani - Lex Grandia Publications Committee 8. Google: “Louis Braille” 10 Harry Svensson - Cay Holbrook Peter Rodney Cay Holbrook 9. Braille wonder and some myths 16 M.N.G. Mani - Pedro Zurita Our International Partners 10. The WBU awards Louis Braille Medal 18 11. Braille celebrates bicentenary 19 - Pedro Zurita 12. Braille Contests and Competitions 22 - Nancy Niebrugge 13. Homage to Louis Braille: 24 My Journey through life with his script - Hans-Eugen Schulze 14. News from the Deafblind International 25 15. A study of Braille writing skills acquisition in early 28 learners with visual impairment using Brailler and Slate as assistive devices - Smriti Swarup & Sujata Bhan 16. IBSA looks to the future 31 17. Parents’ Column 33 18. ICEVI 13th World Conference Designing and Printing ICEVI Secretariat ©Call for Papers 35 No.3, Professors’ Colony Palamalai Road, S.R.K. Vidyalaya Post ©Official Abstract Form 39 Coimbatore – 641 020 Tamil Nadu, INDIA ©Registration and Accommodation - General Information 41 Phone : 91-422-2469104 ©Registration and Accommodation Form 43 Fax : 91-422-2693414 e-mail : [email protected] Guest Editor : Cay Holbrook VOLUME XXII - ISSUE 1 2 Message from the President June 29, 2009 Dear Colleagues: his issue of The Educator is the second developed under the guidance of Guest Editor, Dr. Cay Holbrook to commemorate the 200th THE EDUCATOR 3 Message from the Editor Dear Reader, e have now reached the mid-point of the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille’s birth. Has this anniversary so far had any positive effects on children and Wyoung people with visual impairment? Take a look at what has happened in your own country. What have you done? Don’t be pessimistic if you are not pleased with what you have achieved so far. There are still a few more months left before the end of the anniversary year. To be honest – I have not received many mails showing that education has been the focus for activities in countries around the world. However, there has already been a number of activities like issuing stamps and conducting conferences focused on Louis Braille and the Braille code. Such activities will, of course, increase public awareness and be beneficial for those of us whose work has education as its prime focus. The extent of the world interest in celebrating Louis Braille can be seen on the front cover of this issue of The Educator. By early May, Gunilla Stenberg Stuckey and Ken Stuckey already had some 40 countries represented in their anniversary stamp collection. Once again, we have the pleasure of welcoming Dr Cay Holbrook from the University of British Columbia as the Guest Editor of an issue dealing with Braille. In the last issue, we focused on Braille viewed from a time perspective – past, present and future. The original idea was that this issue should deal with the innovative use of Braille. Finger Braille and Braille contests are good examples of innovations. The use of slate and stylus compared to using a Brailler also has an innovative aspect as well as the other articles in this issue. When the Publications Committee met in January 2009, one important issue on the agenda was to determine the themes for 2010. After intensive discussions, we decided to focus on inclusion, having one issue deal with the teacher's perspective, and the other with inclusion as seen by students. I'm happy to tell you that Dr Steve McCall, the previous ICEVI Vice President and Editor of The Educator, has accepted our invitation to be the 2010 Guest Editor. Steve and I will need your help locating potential authors, especially those who are students themselves. Sincerely, Harry Svensson Editor and ICEVI Second Vice President VOLUME XXII - ISSUE 1 4 Message from the Guest Editor 009 is an important year for us. It is Inside the issue we have contributions from a during this year that we pay special number of authors who demonstrate what we 2attention to the life and contributions believed when we first planned this issue - of Louis Braille.
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