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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Lydia,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This question comes up somewhat frequently, and
unfortunately, it's kind of a "great divide"--which you clearly state when you
say that one way seems insensitive, the other patronizing.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As a blind teacher working with primarily with
sighted students, my personal and professional preference would be to have the
Braille correspond as closely as possible to what my students are seeing.
Creative teachers can always make the necessary modifications on a case-by-case
basis when working with any student, blind, sighted, or with other traits that
come into consideration in the normal course of teaching a wide range of
students.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">If you get a lot of feedback saying the books
should be modified, then perhaps an alternative would be to produce
"teacher's" and "student's" versions, and include the modifications only in
the student edition while leaving the teacher's alone.</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">One other thing to consider is how to make the
beginning teaching materials that are so widely used easy for beginning
Braille music readers. Too often, this aspect of producing educational music
isn't thought out carefully enough, and blind students who start learning to
read using commercially-produced books because "that's what my teacher uses"
become very confused, very discouraged, and end up giving up on Braille music
as "too hard", especially since most teachers don't have the background or
patience to try and help students figure out the Braille issues--they're too
busy trying to teach everything else involved in learning to play an
instrument!</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">I'm glad that your company is making an effort
to produce current materials. My biggest challenge as a teacher is staying
up-to-date with materials. When refreshing or innovative music is being
discussed and used by my colleagues, I'd love to be able to participate in the
discussions without having to rely on just listening.</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">Best of luck to you and your company.</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">Sincerely,</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">Stephanie Pieck</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=lydia.machell@primavistamusic.com
href="mailto:lydia.machell@primavistamusic.com">Lydia Machell</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=menvi-discuss@menvi.org
href="mailto:menvi-discuss@menvi.org">menvi-discuss@menvi.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, April 17, 2012 3:02
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Menvi-discuss] Color references
and other sight-related material</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I'm producing braille editions of the Piano Adventures
teaching series and there are instances where the text needs to be adapted for
VI users. For instance, where the student is asked to circle items in a piece,
or fill in blanks on the page, we have replaced the instruction with "show
your teacher...". These are just practical considerations. But what about a
piece that asks the student to "choose a color for each dynamic mark"? Or
memory exercises referred to as "Blind Flying"? As a publisher, should
our principle be to show braille users exactly what's in the print, or should
we adapt the contents for our market? The first approach may make us
seem insensitive, while the latter could seem patronising. We just want to get
these excellent resources out there in the most user-friendly
form.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Lydia Machell (</FONT><FONT face=Arial>Prima Vista
Braille Music Services)<BR></FONT></DIV>
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