[blindkid] Affordable brailling options

Carol Castellano blindchildren at verizon.net
Wed Jul 21 02:41:06 UTC 2010


Another thought--you can download Perky Duck from Duxbury onto your 
computer free of charge.  This program allows you to type in or 6-key 
enter words which you then see as sim Braille on your screen.  To get 
real braille on a page, you would still have to do it by hand onto 
the brailewriter, but at least you'd have the letters written 
correctly to follow.  (Won't work for contractions unless you use the 
6-key entry, though.)

aaaah, probably too complicated, but if it's worth trying, here's the 
link:  http://www.duxburysystems.com/freeware.asp

Carol

At 09:59 PM 7/20/2010, you wrote:
>Some options for obtaining books (some are free):
>
>Braille Storybook Resources
>http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NOPBC_Braille_Storybooks.asp?SnID=2
>
>Carol
>
>Carol Castellano
>National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
>973-377-0976
>carol_castellano at verizon.net
>www.nopbc.org
>
>At 08:55 PM 7/20/2010, you wrote:
>>That is exactly what an embosser is-- a "braille printer", but
>>unfortunately, "faster" and "affordable" are generally not in the same
>>category. A good low-end embosser (new) is in generally in the $2500
>>range and that will also require Duxbury or some similar translation
>>software if you're going to want to produce contracted braille. That
>>will add $600 to $1000. There are used options for the hardware, but
>>if you're new to this there may be support and/or repair issues and
>>repairs can easily be $1000+ for some of these units. Also, these are
>>generally tractor-fed devices so you can't easily run sheets of
>>adhesive material through them with ease-- assuming you want to stick
>>clear braille over the pages. I expect you can get tractor material
>>for that but it is probably not cheap and probably comes in good sized
>>boxes (expensive) and you'd have a good deal of waste with it as well
>>from feeding in & out to tear off the work as you go...
>>
>>The above may not be terribly helpful as I'm telling you what won't
>>work cheaply, as opposed to what will, but I think generally if you
>>want to add braille to children's books, the fix is dymo labels or
>>sheets of that clear material in a Perkins, so you already have the
>>preferred solution, it is just a bit of a hassle and somewhat slow. Is
>>there a local person who is faster with braille who might be able to
>>sit down with you for a book-brailling session once in a while? Maybe
>>someone from a local NFB chapter, for example if not through the
>>county or school system? And of course there are already multiple
>>sourced for pre-made books. Short-term, you could buy a lot of braille
>>books for much less than an embosser and the required software...
>>
>>Richard
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>On Jul 20, 2010, at 8:26 PM, Marie wrote:
>>
>>>Hello everyone, can y'all give me some ideas for affordable options
>>>for brailling some of our favorite books at home. I have a borrowed
>>>Perkins brailler but am quite slow currently. I also have a labeler
>>>which is faster but the strips are a bit awkward when I am trying to
>>>fit them on the book pages. Jack has recently become more interested
>>>in those dots and books in general. I have been modeling sweeping my
>>>fingers as I read and I am very delighted to report that I found him
>>>"reading" one of his favorite books to himself and he was sweeping
>>>his hands across the page!!! Unfortunately it was in a book that I
>>>have yet to braille. I would love to know if there is an affordable
>>>option for printing up braille quickly at home. I was thinking of
>>>maybe something that I could hook to my computer? Is that what an
>>>embosser is? It would be a whole lot faster if I could type the text
>>>and then have something "print" the Braille for me. Is such
>>>technology available and affordable for home use?
>>>
>>>Yes I do plan on practicing more with the Brailler but until then....
>>>
>>>Marie (mother of Jack born May 2005)
>>>See glimpses of life with my determined son who is developing in his
>>>own way at his own time at http://allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com
>>>Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>>>_______________________________________________
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>>
>>
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>
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Carol Castellano
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nopbc.org  





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