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Bill seeks to improve blind literacy

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – House Bill 2569, which would require schools to provide Braille instruction for blind and visually impaired students, was heard by the Emerging Issues in Education Committee Tuesday.

The legislation, sponsored by House Minority Floor Leader Jacob Hummel, D-St. Louis, passed the House last year but was caught up in the final week of the Senate.

“Students who are blind or visually impaired should be given the option for Braille instruction … so they can graduate having achieved an appropriate level of Braille literacy,” Hummel testified.

According to his testimony, only about 10 percent of blind and visually impaired students can read. In Missouri, more than 400 students are categorized as non-readers.

Hummel
Hummel

Of the more than 1,100 blind students in the state, only about 90 primarily use Braile.

Shelia Wright, first vice president of the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri, testified in support of the bill, which would expand testing for blind and visually impaired students.

She noted that visually impaired and blind students can often see just well enough to fake their way through the tests. That hurts them in the long run because reading becomes hard and the students don’t have fun reading.

There should be the same expectation for blind children to read as there is for their sighted peers, Wright said. “Reading is one of the most vital skills we have.”

The test would take about an hour to administer and doesn’t require much special training for teachers to administer.

There was little resistance to the bill in the committee. A couple of the members asked questions about the cost and scope of the program and there was no opposing testimony.