[Unified Braille For All] Why did NZ adopt UEB?

Tue May 8 20:27:34 CDT 2012

Hi, Chris,

People don't give so-called developmental disabled folk ANY friggen 
credit! It's not, as I see it, a matter of trying to make braillle 
accessable to DD folk but an effort to dumb down the code, make it 
easier for would-be VH teachers, to learn. Which i guess in some ways 
is good since braille is being taught to kiddies. But this 
adulterated version? At 12:34 PM 5/8/2012, you wrote:
>Interestingly, there are those who support UEB because they believe 
>it requires less intelligence to use.  Somehow, the conversation 
>about unifying braille and reaching out to those with developmental 
>disabilities who also use braille has become intertwined.  This is 
>an unfortunate disservice to all involved.
>
>Chris
>
>On Tue, 8 May 2012, Laura De Vries wrote:
>
>>We have, even in literary code, a lot of things (situations) that 
>>call for common sense and paying attention to what you're 
>>reading.  Blind people can be intelligent enough to handle this.
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Gray" <chris at moblind.org>
>>To: "Unified Braille for All" <uba at moblind.org>
>>Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 1:21 PM
>>Subject: Re: [Unified Braille For All] Why did NZ adopt UEB?
>>
>>
>>>Hi Carly:
>>>The idea behind code unification is that people should be able to 
>>>start learning the base code when they begin learning braille.  As 
>>>they progress, that code shouldn't change but should expand to 
>>>meet their needs.
>>>Believe it or not, this can be accomplished.  In any unified code, 
>>>there are some trade offs, and those trade-offs are different 
>>>depending on how the unified code is constructed.  It is 
>>>unfortunate that because of the foolish insistence of UEB 
>>>followers on upper numbers, the UEB is completely unsuitable for 
>>>the United States.
>>>Now, this is my opinion, and I know that there are at least 
>>>several participants on this list who hold different opinions than mine.
>>>Chris
>>>
>>>On Tue, 8 May 2012, Carly Mihalakis wrote:
>>>
>>>>Good morning, Laura, and others,
>>>>Exactly my question? Why do people always wanna consolidate? 
>>>>Wasn't each system specific to particular, arts such as Nemmeth 
>>>>code, or technical stuff, part of that given discipline? As I 
>>>>said before, there are too many disciplines all vying for the 
>>>>same 6 dots. Why can't we have many systems? As it is, there 
>>>>indeed remains a crippling, shortage of teachers. Why do we need 
>>>>a whole new code that few people will end up knowing enough to teach?
>>>>People, if it ain't broke don't worry about trying to "fix" 
>>>>it!  At 10:53 AM 5/8/2012, Laura De Vries wrote:
>>>>>If there's so many people and countries opposed to it, what's 
>>>>>causing and driving the motivation for UEB?
>>>>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Jolly" <easjolly at ix.netcom.com>
>>>>>To: "Unified Braille for All" <uba at moblind.org>
>>>>>Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 11:04 AM
>>>>>Subject: [Unified Braille For All] Why did NZ adopt UEB?
>>>>>
>>>>>>Chris, I agree that it appears that the NZ transition process 
>>>>>>is going smoothly. But this is not surprising given that 
>>>>>>something like only 100 people were directly affected and they 
>>>>>>already had a very strong centralized structure. (They did not 
>>>>>>mention post-secondary issues.)
>>>>>>Chris asked why NZ adopted UEB despite some experts there 
>>>>>>understanding that Nemeth was better for math.
>>>>>>The few reasons I've heard relate to the advantage of 
>>>>>>Trans-Tasman unity. (The Tasman Sea is what the part of the 
>>>>>>Pacific Ocean between Australia and New Zealand is called.)
>>>>>>However, my guess is that another reason is that NZ did not 
>>>>>>feel they could rely on the United States not to adopt the UEB 
>>>>>>and didn't want to be the only ICEB country left with Nemeth.
>>>>>>The underlying issue, which is more important for us, is to 
>>>>>>understand the BANA decision process and the legal ramifications.
>>>>>>My contact in Australia told me that there was significant 
>>>>>>opposition to the adoption of UEB there during the decision 
>>>>>>process and also at the last open meeting held on the topic 
>>>>>>which I think was in 2005. (The contact was at the meeting and 
>>>>>>stayed afterward.) But the Australian Braille Authority decided 
>>>>>>what they wanted to decide nonetheless.
>>>>>>By the way, here in New Mexico there was recently a mayoral 
>>>>>>vote held at a meeting.  More people wanted to get into the 
>>>>>>meeting than the fire marshal would permit.  So even though the 
>>>>>>people at the meeting did elect a mayor, the election was ruled 
>>>>>>invalid as being in violation of the state's open meeting law.
>>>>>>Susan Jolly
>>>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>>>UBA mailing list
>>>>>>UBA at moblind.org
>>>>>>http://moblind.org/mailman/listinfo/uba_moblind.org
>>>>>
>>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>>UBA mailing list
>>>>>UBA at moblind.org
>>>>>http://moblind.org/mailman/listinfo/uba_moblind.org
>>>>
>>>>_______________________________________________
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>>>>UBA at moblind.org
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>>>----------------------------------------
>>>Christopher Gray, Executive Director
>>>Missouri Council of the Blind
>>>5453 Chippewa
>>>St. Louis, MO 63109
>>>Phone:     (314) 832-7172
>>>Toll-free: (800) 342-5632
>>>Fax:       (314) 832-7796
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>UBA mailing list
>>>UBA at moblind.org
>>>http://moblind.org/mailman/listinfo/uba_moblind.org
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>UBA mailing list
>>UBA at moblind.org
>>http://moblind.org/mailman/listinfo/uba_moblind.org
>
>----------------------------------------
>Christopher Gray, Executive Director
>Missouri Council of the Blind
>
>5453 Chippewa
>St. Louis, MO 63109
>Phone:     (314) 832-7172
>Toll-free: (800) 342-5632
>Fax:       (314) 832-7796
>
>_______________________________________________
>UBA mailing list
>UBA at moblind.org
>http://moblind.org/mailman/listinfo/uba_moblind.org