Steve Fowler, a University of Maryland College Park student, is trying to enact legislation to create a centralized system for transcribing textbooks to Braille and audio forms.
Fowler is an intern in the White House, and has set out to not only help his cause, but many students who face challenges in reading. Fowler says that electronic and audio texts would help students with dyslexia, learning disabilities and many other diseases that impair vision.
Fowler suffers from Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome, which weakens the bone structure in the oral cavity and causes glaucoma. The nature of Fowler’s disease means that he can see better some days more than others.
The March 6, 2007 edition of the Baltimore Sun indicated that Fowler was trying to enact legislation so that students do not have to wait months for audio, electronic and Braille readings. Such waits caused Fowler to drop four courses before midterm week, an injustice that has the 21-year-old to stand before the House of Delegates committee to earn support for students who are aiming to earn an education in a normal timeframe.
In the past, Fowler had to order books early, and use the help of workers at the campus disability center to dictate books for him. Yet, as Fowler indicated, having a worker read a 1000 page book when only a particular paragraph was needed was just a waste of time.
Fowler believes that a centralized system that allows visually impaired students easy access to textbooks and audio suited for their needs will help save the state school time and money.
More information on the original article can be found on Baltimoresun.com via the following link: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.blind06mar06,0,7887447.story?coll=bal-local-headlines
No comments:
Post a Comment