This is a very different type of diary. I would like to share with you some important statistics that cost every single one of us money every single day. Our tax dollars work (rightly so) to help a percentage of our population that can't help themselves. But, with a little bit of help from you today, we can help reduce that impact on our tax dollars.
I'm talking about Blind Literacy. You may wonder how rampant this is, well follow me below the fold and let me explain:
The National Center for Health Statistics estimate that in 1995 *(the last numbers available)* there were 1.3 MILLION people in the United States who are legally blind.
To complicate this, there are more than 80,000 children in our school systems who are blind and an additional (more than) 10,000 who are both blind and deaf. You need not take my word for this, you can review the information on the NFB Blindness Statistics page.
It costs the federal government $4 BILLION dollars annually to promote blindness programs. I personally believe that one of the solutions to this is to ensure that our communities are actively involved in promoting literacy for blind children so that more people who are blind can go to work. Currently, only 30% of all blind people work - and most of the remaining do not work because they are functionally illiterate.
David Doake (1995) defines miseducation as "disempowering them (the students) and denying them the opportunity to direct and control their own learning".
Braille has always been and always will be more than a means of literacy for those blind individuals who use it, as well as for those who do not. Unfortunately, parents do not often know where to turn to ensure that their child has the same opportunities as children who are sighted to learn to read. If you open up any parenting magazine these days you are bound to find an article about the importance of reading to children. Children who are blind also love reading, but their parents or caregivers are often at a loss as to how to obtain books and if they can find them all too often these books are so high priced that they're almost impossible to find.
I have been involved in a very exciting program for over 5 years and I want to share it with those people who like me believe that reading is a fundamental right and that it is necessary for us to have informed children even if they are so unfortunate as to not have the ability to see.
For a more personal perspective - I've learned how to read braille for myself. I have a degenerative eye disease and there is no telling how long I will have what little vision I have left. There will soon be a day where I will not be able to read basic print and will need to depend on braille to get through my day.
So, I'm asking you for your help. For the last 5 years I've helped raise money to fund a braille book so that I can contribute to making sure that children can read regardless of whether they can see or not.
There is something I need you to know about this program. Please visit the website of the National Braille Press and learn more about their programs. They were proud to have published the last Harry Potter book in braille the same day that the print version was released.
National Braille Press is a Boston-based nonprofit braille printing and publishing house founded in 1927. Last year NBP pressed 15 million braille pages using special translation software and computer-driven equipment. One third of National Braille Press's staff has a disability, predominantly blindness, filling positions at all levels. A fundamental belief at NBP is that blind people can, want to, and should work for companies that value talent and hard work above all.
You might be wondering how you can help? You can help this way. By joining with me to raise money to sponsor a children's book. It costs $2,000 to publish the average child's book in braille (more for some) which sounds like a huge amount of money - but understand that National Braille Press is committed to selling these books at the same price that the books sell in regular print. Parents of blind children do not have to pay more than parents of sighted children for the same book.
Regardless of how much/little you can donate, I need your help. I would ask that you make checks payable directly to "National Braille Press" because I want to make sure that you understand that 100% of what you donate is going directly there. I will then take your donations and I will ask our local Lions Club here in the greater Boston area to match the donations that I have collected from users here on DKos to either complete the funding (if we raise less than $2000) or to sponsor a 2nd book.
If you can help, please also help me write a dedication for this book as well. One of the "benefits" of sponsoring these books is we can provide the dedication for the book. So fire away and we'll put a later diary up with the choices for the dedication and if you can donate please do so as follows:
Please make checks payable to:
National Braille Press
and mail to:
Holliston Lions Club
12 Appleyard Lane
Holliston MA 01746
or
Go on the website for National Braille Press and make a donation by credit card. On the donation page there is a spot for 'dedication' donation - if you could put "District 33K Lions" there and I'll notify NBP that these donations may be coming from here so they can track them for me :) If you could email me (in profile) any donation made I'll track it that way as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you in advance for your help.