Braille Awareness Week Proclamation

PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS,        Braille, the system of tactile dots used by the blind  and visually impaired to read and write, is a truly  effective and versatile medium of communication; and
 
WHEREAS,        Braille affords blind and visually impaired persons the opportunity to achieve literacy so that they can succeed in education, compete in employment, and live independently; and
 
WHEREAS,        Braille allows blind and visually impaired persons the interactive ability to read and write, which is the foundation of communication and learning; and      
   
WHEREAS,        Despite Braille’s efficiency, versatility, and universal acceptance of Braille by the blind and visual impaired, the rate of Braille literacy in the United States has declined to the point where only 10 percent of blind and visually impaired children are learning to read and write Braille; and
 
WHEREAS,        Braille is the key to independence and success for blind and visually impaired people as evidenced by the fact that while only 30 percent of blind adults gain full time employment, 90 percent of those who are employed are Braille readers; and
 
WHEREAS,        In an effort to promote Braille awareness and increase Braille literacy for Braille students in grades 1-12, the Iowa Department for the Blind and Iowa Braille School have co-sponsored a regional contest of the Braille Institute of America, the Iowa Braille Challenge, which will take place on January 23, 2010 in Des Moines, Iowa.
 
NOW, THEREFORE, I, T.M. Franklin Cownie, Mayor of the City of Des Moines, do hereby proclaim the week of January 23 to January 30 as:
BRAILLE AWARENESS WEEK
 
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the City of Des Moines, Iowa to be affixed this 25th day of January two thousand ten.