In June, the U.S. Education Department has released a “Dear Colleague” letter to reiterate that school districts are responsible to provide instruction in Braille to students who are blind or visually impaired, unless a school team determines that it is inappropriate for a given student. The letter is intended to provide guidance to states and public agencies and to “reaffirm the importance of Braille instruction as a literary tool.
The six-page letter notes that students cannot be denied access to instruction simply due to a shortage of personnel trained in teaching Braille, or because alternatives exist, such as large-print materials, speech-output computers, or recorded materials. In addition, the letter clarifies that the team drafting the individualized education program for a student should also take into account a student’s future needs, which would be particularly relevant for youth with degenerative conditions who may have relatively good vision while they’re young, but who are expected to lose vision as they get older.
A 2009 report from the National Federation for the Blind has noted that Braille literacy had dropped to about 10 percent of blind and visually impaired people, even though Braille literacy was correlated with higher academic achievement and more highly paid employment.
The letter from OSERS also found some districts engaged in potentially discriminatory treatment of students with disabilities when it comes to school discipline and identification. More than half of the 54 districts sampled in 2011 were found to have disproportionately suspended more minority special education students than non-minority. There were also findings of disproportionate identification of minority students as disabled or in specific disability categories.
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