[blindkid] Braille reading speed

[Kasondra Payne]

Hi Everyone,

I am so tired of blind kids being told that Braille is necessarily slow and difficult.  I was told that like a lot of other kids in the '80s.  I think my teachers were trying to help b ecause of my additional disability.  I have cerebral palsy, so I have almost no use of my left hand and I need to wear a brace on my left leg to make me walk properly.  I can only read with my right hand, and for most of my childhood, I only read with my right index finger.  I had vi teachers work with me on reading, but nobody acted confident that I would ever read very fast.  I used tapes a lot in high school, but I found them to be cumbersome with all the rewinding and fast forwarding.  

My outlook changed after I joined the NFB the summer before my senior year in high school.  Everyone told me that I could read faster, but I needed to practice.  I attended BLIND, Inc., the NFB training center in Minnesota, and I practiced my speed all the time.  I don;t remember how fast I was when I finished the program, but I was on the right track.  

I attended a small broadcasting school after I graduated from the center.  I read all the time.  I received at least ten Braille magazines a month from NLS.  I embossed sixty Braille pages of news copy almost every day.  I always had magazines and books with me.  My reading speed increased as I read to prepare my daily shows.  I got to the point that I could read over 150 words a minute, which is pretty fast for having only one hand.  It really helped that I read aloud a lot.  

Yes, I could have read faster if I hhad the use of both hands.  The attitude was the most important thing for me.  I had mentors and friends always around me encouraging me as I wourked to increase my reading speed.  I wish I had blind mentors to encourage me with Braille when I was younger, but that is something that my blind children have now.  I wish I had the time to read constantly now, like I did twelve years ago.  I am back in school, and I have a family, so I am busy.  I still read as much as I can, but I am not as fast as I used to be.  I know that I could be that fast again, if I worked on it.  Braille is so important for literacy for blind people.  If you want to be a better reader, then read.  You can do it.  Thank you for reading this long post.  Good luck!

Kasondra Payne

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Freeman <k7uij at panix.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 5:27 PM
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Braille reading speed

Ultimately, I see no way for any study on braille reading speed to be
 truly statistically valid -- too many problems with controls and not
 enough people for a representative sample.

 However, anecdotally, I suspect that anyone from our three NFB training
 centers could show you plenty of people who can read as fast as they can
 speak and quite a number who can read a good deal faster!

 Mike

 ----- Original Message -----
 From: "Debby B" <bwbddl at yahoo.com>
 To: "Multiple recipients of NFBnet BlindKid Mailing List"
 <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
 Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 11:32 AM
 Subject: [blindkid] Braille reading speed


 Do we have a source or study on Braille reading speeds? That question
 has been posed on another group I'm on and I would like to pass on that
 info. And have it for Winona's school use as well.

 Thanks!

  Debby
 bwbddl at yahoo.com
www.nfbflorida.org/parents

 Please support Braille literacy and programs for our youth by sponsoring
 me in
 the Motor City March for Independence! Better yet, join the team of the
 FL Parents of Blind Children!
http://www.marchforindependence.org/goto/debbyb




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