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IN TOUCH – MUSIC LESSONS, VOTES, CONCESSIONS

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TX: 09.06.2020Ìý 2040 -2100

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PRESENTER:Ìý ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý PETER WHITE

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PRODUCER:Ìý ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý KEV CORE

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Peter White

Good Evening.Ìý Tonight, could we be a step closer to a genuinely secret vote for blind people going to the polls.Ìý We'll tell you about the latest development in Scotland.Ìý And the email that's upset visually impaired commuters.

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Anna Brook

They didn't think that disabled people would need to travel to get to work.

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Peter White

Also tonight,..

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Eleanor

Once a man fell in a well, splish splash splosh he sounded.

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Lady

Fantastic

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Eleanor

INAUD

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Lady

Let's keep going!

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Peter White

Some top tips for music teachers concerned that they're traditional methods of teaching won't work for their blind and partially sighted students.Ìý But first, Scotland has voted to examine methods to make its voting system fairer and more accessible to blind and partially sighted voters.Ìý It follows a damning judgement in the English High Court last year, in which the Judge told the UK government that the arrangements for visually impaired people to cast their votes independently and in secrecy were unlawful.Ìý And I quote 'A parody of the electoral process'.Ìý The decision was the result of a judicial review initiated by Rachael Andrews; because of the problems she'd had casting her vote.

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Rachael Andrews

We turned up at the polling station to vote.Ìý We went in and we handed over our polling cards and I said, "And I will need the tactile voting device", which was met with some confusion and silence and a "Erm, I don't know, I don't know about that, I never heard about it" and I said, "Well it's a legal requirement and I will need as my husband will also need it in order to vote as sight impaired person".

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Peter White

Well now the Scottish Parliament has voted to pilot electronic voting methods for people with disabilities and to require the electoral commission to report on the assistance given to disabled voters at devolved elections.Ìý These amendments were tabled by Graham Day, the Minister for Parliamentary Business and he told me, what should now happen as a result of this vote!

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Graham Day

The Voter Accesses an online website using a unique code.Ìý The completed vote automatically converts into an encrypted QR code that contains the voter's choice.Ìý A printed document then produced with the encrypted QR code on it.Ìý And then there would be a number of options for the voter to submit the printed version without risking any possibility of them viewing the vote or they could send the QR code electronically.

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Peter White

What does it actually mean to the...to the voter?Ìý What would they have to do and what they would be able to do?

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Graham Day

I guess the simple way of putting it, is to vote in secret, perhaps in their own home is an electronic device.Ìý And then to submit the vote without having to require the assistance of anyone else, which takes us to that large step also to treating voters with a visual impairment in the same way as anyone else.Ìý

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Peter White

And and that that would then having done that, they'd be various ways in that in which that vote could be registered and reach the ballot box as it were!

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Graham Day

Yes indeed!Ìý And, and it would be that one to one process the person voting in casting their vote.Ìý There would be no middleman if if if you like in this process and I think that's absolutely the right direction of travel here.Ìý We've developed the system in conjunction with stakeholders.

Peter White

One's heart does slightly sink at the mention of a pilot, because after all, electronic systems have been used in a number of European countries, they've been used in various states in America, Australia and New Zealand have done it, don't we know enough already without having a pilot system.

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Graham Day

I understand your concern, because I I I get that with the mention of a pilot, suggest it's something we'll try and then nothing will be progressed.Ìý Trust me on that!Ìý If this proves its worth and that, by that I mean it proves its worth to the people who are using it in the pilot and it proves its worth in INAUD to authorities.Ìý This is something where we want to take forward you know we really do need to make progress in this area.

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Peter White

So what's the timescale on this Graham?Ìý I mean these would apply to devolved elections in Scotland, so when will be the first opportunity to actually try them out for real?

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Graham Day

We obviously like the rest of the UK have got to contend with the pandemic and the consequences of that.Ìý We would have already been undertaking a few trials by now.Ìý When we can get those up and running, will very much depend on how the pandemic progresses!Ìý I promise you, I'm not stalling on this, but it is almost impossible to forecast a month ahead let alone 6 months ahead.Ìý But we're good to go as soon as it's possible to do that!Ìý I'm very much looking if this proves its worth in the testing phase to get a pilot and a live election contest and then have the electoral commissioner assess that and make recommendations to the parliament.

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Peter White

There was another proposal to make tactic adaptations to the actual voting paper that they weren't passed.Ìý What did they have in mind and is that out of the window now?

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Graham Day

I wouldn't say it was out of the window.Ìý To a degree, we've already looked at the feasibility and we found a number of problems and we found a number of problems.Ìý And we did this in conjunction with the sight loss.Ìý And most notably those were that the there was a risk of an individual's vote being more readily identifiable by which with the ballot paper looking very different.Ìý The electronic currently systems that are used in local government elections in Scotland, might not be able to progress.Ìý Oh sorry, process these votes because the scanners couldn't handle what are in effect Braille type ballot papers and the cost of production was like you're very prohibited.Ìý And of course, if you're we're talking about relatively small numbers of people using these, it would be difficult to test this in a small local council by-election.Ìý Now we're we're not ruling anything out in future, but we have already identified some issues about that approach.Ìý And right now, our view is that the proposed pilot at this stage is perhaps the the better way to go.

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Peter White

Can I just ask you bri...briefly, how much were you influenced by the...that English High Court Judgement that we talked about at the beginning?

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Graham Day

Anything in that nature will have an influence of government thinking.Ìý But if I could say to you my own thinking was much more heavily influenced by that finding from the 2017 UK General Election, where 75% of visually impaired people couldn't vote without the assistance of someone else.Ìý And that should give us all cause for thought

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Peter White

Graham Day.Ìý Now if you heard our two music specials on 'In Touch' last Christmas, you know there's no shortage of talent amongst visually impaired singers and instrumentalists.Ìý But as more and more children get their music training in a mainstream, rather than a special school setting, are there challenges for teachers coping with techniques like Braille music notation or demonstrating how to hold a violin to a blind child?Ìý Well the Amber Trust, which was setup to foster music making for disabled people, thinks that there may be problems and they've produced a set online videos, designed to take the fear out of it.Ìý Well we can hear some of the techniques that they have used now and we started by dropping in on a Braille music notation class.Ìý And there's a very promising young singer makes notes on her Braille writing machine.

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Eleanor Stollery

'Once someone fell in the well'

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Teacher

Excellent!Ìý

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Man

Yeah.

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Teacher

So then the next line would be exactly the same so you could do the second line.

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Eleanor Stollery

Hi.Ìý I'm Eleanor Stollery and I'm 9yrs old.Ìý I was in a Christmas Carol at the Old Vic.Ìý Erm it was my stage debut and I loved it, it was really fun!Ìý 'Once a man fell in a well, splish, splash splosh he sounded'.

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Teacher

Fantastic!Ìý Let's keep going!

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Eleanor Stollery

I'm severely visually impaired and I was diagnosed with this tumour, when I was about 3 nearly 4.Ìý Yeah, so I've had it for about 5yrs now but I've I've got used to it you know it's its normal now going to the hospital a lot and you know that sort of thing.Ìý

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Man

Perfect!

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Eleanor Stollery

There we go!Ìý

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Man

Yeah.

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Teacher

There you go; you've written two lines of it.Ìý

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Eleanor Stollery

Hooray!

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Man

Great yeah!

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Teacher

You took earlier, let's keep going!

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Eleanor Stollery

I go to see my singing teacher, probably once every week.Ìý Obviously not at the moment, but I'm having video calls with her.Ìý I'll just learn a couple of songs and get the tune in my head and and the lyrics, the rhythm and that sort of thing.Ìý

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(Piano playing)

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Peter White

This is Grieg's, March of the Trolls played by 17yr old Ashley Turley.Ìý Ashley is blind, death and she's autistic.Ìý Her mum Christine explained; how difficult it had been to get a music teacher for Ashley.

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Christine

A lot of time you'd phone somebody up and say "She's blind, autistic" and they just say "Oh no, no we haven't got a space without even meeting her".Ìý People are scared.

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Peter White

Yeah.

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Christine

They were scared to teach her and so the barriers were there instantly.Ìý

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(Piano playing)

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Christine

They grouped it into sort of a disability category.Ìý A lot of the people just say "Well they don't do that".

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(Piano playing)

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Christine

You have to force people to take a look and say "Well she can".

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(Piano playing)

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Peter White

Nafis Ansari plays the drums.

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Dave Probert

And erm...

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Peter White

And he's dealing with a problem!

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Dave Probert

Okay, so I want you to build the drum kit there's a drum missing!

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Nafis Ansari
What, which one?

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Dave Probert

When you feel around, turnaround workout which one's missing!

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Peter White

But today, they're going to relax.Ìý Drum teacher Dave Probert is going to take things easy with a bit of Iron Maiden!Ìý

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Dave Probert

One, two it's quite fast.Ìý One, two, three, four!Ìý One, two, four with about three, four, one...If you use a drink instead of counting, it's easier to access really complex rhythms, so as an example four semi quavers as I say is one meander, two meander we call it coke a cola.Ìý It's a lot easier to say and then you could go two semi quavers and a quaver - apple juice.Ìý So straightaway when you're teaching, you go 'coke a cola, apple juice'.Ìý Go on the steer drum, one, two, three, four.Ìý One, two, three, four, five, two, three, four!

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Adam Ockelford

My names Adam Ockelford, I' a Professor of Music at the University of Roehampton and I founded the Amber Trust 25yrs ago.Ìý Yeah, I've been teaching music to blind and partially sighted children for almost 40yrs now.Ìý And the biggest barrier that I come across with trying to get other people involved is attitudes.Ìý Other teachers who aren't used to working with visually impaired children, tend to be very anxious about it, they think 'Oh Gosh, how can I teach notation for example, you know how can I show a child how to hold an instrument or what's a good technique on the keyboard.Ìý

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(Keyboard playing)

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Adam Ockelford

And keep your hands off the keys.Ìý So really these these short films and the online resource are just designed to first of all, inspire teachers to have a go and and just what fun it can be working with children with a visually impairment.Ìý And also, then sort of helpful strategies, so tips to do those things that they might be worried about such as notation, memory that kind of thing!

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Teacher (Female)

So let's go from 'Once a man'.

Eleanor Stollery

'Once a man fell in a well'Ìý In the future, I'm hoping to well probably be be a professional singer and maybe an actor too so like you know be into musicals and do lots of singing.Ìý I'd love to be in any musical.Ìý I like 'Matilda' but there's quite a lot of dancing in it, but I think I could pick it up!

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(Piano playing)

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Adam Ockelford

You know as we move to ever more inclusive society, it would be nice to think that I won't have parents phoning up anymore in distress saying "My 6yr old can't see and I can't find anyone who who will teach them the piano" you know tho....those days should really be over.Ìý And we, we hope now from...from the Amber Trust that these resources, which will be freely available to anyone who wants to use them, will really make that difference and get everyone.Ìý Every blind child who wants to to learn an instrument should be able to do it with a local teacher.

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Peter White

Adam Ockelford ending that report!Ìý And you can find out more about the Amber Trust work at 'ambertrust.app'.

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Now English Councils have a statutory obligation to provide free off peak bus travel for disabled people on public transport.Ìý It's paid for by the Department of Transport.Ìý Now some council's, many of them in fact extend that to other forms of public transport to trains for example.Ìý But it's common for councils to restrict the use of concessionary fares during rush hour times, say before 9.30 in the morning.Ìý

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Now when lockdown started and rush hour disappeared, those restrictions were removed, but as it's been relaxed, there being reintroduced.Ìý So Anna Brook from Birmingham wasn't surprised to get notification of this from Transport for West Midlands.Ìý What did annoy her was the wording!ÌýÌý 'In light of the most recent government announcements, many people are now returning to work.Ìý This is expected to increase in the coming weeks with non-essential shops reopening and a number of children returning to school.Ìý We're removing the option for you to travel before 9.30am to ensure that passengers who rely on our transport network can get to work and schools safely during peak times'.

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Anna Brook

It was the fact that they said that they were removing my right to travel, so that people who needed to get to work could get to work safely.Ìý But I also need to get to work safely at peak times and I think that they were making an assumption about me as a disabled person.Ìý And the assumption was that I wouldn't need to travel at peak times like everybody else does.

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Peter White

So what are your circumstances as far as travel and works concerned?

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Anna Brook

I work in a primary school and from the 1st of June, you may know that primary schools are starting to reopen.Ìý But as the weeks go on, more children will be going to school and I will begin to need to travel into school.Ìý And I work from 8.30, so I need to be in school before 9.30.

Peter White

Now you put this on Facebook on the VI Talk Group.Ìý Here are some of the responses.

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Female

There's a clear assumption that disabled people don't work or take children to school.

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Male

That's pretty appalling!Ìý They're treating you as less important than the rest of the population.

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Female

Who's to say you're not working!

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Female

That's discrimination surely! I'd be onto my MP if that was me.Ìý Are they assuming all of us don't work!

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Anna Brook

Most people felt that the wording was problematic; they agreed with me that it was implying that disabled people wouldn't need to travel.

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Peter White

Anna of course it could be argued given what you're annoyed about, but if you work blind or not, why do you need a free ride?

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Anna Brook

I think that they say "You're not allowed to travel at this time" when you need to travel.Ìý So at the time when I need to travel, I can't use the concessionary pass that I'm being told I'm entitled too!Ìý

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Peter White

Now West Midland Transport, they admitted that they could have worded it better.Ìý They've sent you an email of apology, which acknowledges that they understand now that some people do work and they say they've taken account of your and other people's feedback.Ìý Is that enough?

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Anna Brook

It's a start.Ìý I'm still upset by the initial email.Ìý Mainly, I just want to be able to travel at the times when I need to travel using my concessionary pass.

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Peter White

Is this the kind of thing that you feel happens' quite a lot this kind of implication?

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Anna Brook

I do, I think that they didn't think that disabled people would need to travel to get to work. ÌýThe initial thought from them was that we wouldn't need to travel anymore now that work is beginning to open up again.

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Peter White

Anna Brook. And that's it for today, but as always we want to hear from you.Ìý And if there's a subject you want us to tackle, well do tell us about it.Ìý You can email 'intouch@bbc.co.uk' or go to our website that's 'bbc.co.uk/intouch' from where you can download tonight's and previous editions of the programme.

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From me Peter White and Producer Kev Core and Studio Manager Mike Smith goodbye!

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