[blindkid] Affordable brailling options

Wed Jul 21 03:33:18 UTC 2010

That absolutely makes sense, but unless you have an awful lot to  
braille to produce (as in many, many books) I suspect that starting  
the embossing with having no braille embosser at all right now  
(right?) would take far longer than locating a setup to use with the  
help of a local NFB member or getting someone faster at Braille  
production to help you with a Perkins.

Maybe I'm slower at this than many of the parents out there, but for  
me, I find the embossing startup curve to be slow, frustrating and  
challenging. Once you're setup, it is not that hard, but getting our  
first braille produced properly was frustrating and slow for me.

Good luck!

Richard

On Jul 20, 2010, at 11:17 PM, Marie wrote:

> Thank y'all for the feedback. I am asking about brailling stuff we  
> already have because he's already got his favorites worn in all the  
> right places, know what I mean? I'd like for him toget to discover  
> the braille and his own ability to read what is already a favorite. :)
> In the meantime, I am slowly building our print-braille library.
>
> 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
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Carol Castellano <blindchildren at verizon.net>
> Sender: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org
> Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:59:46
> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,\(for parents of blind children\)<blindkid at nfbnet.org 
> >
> Reply-To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,
> 	\(for parents of blind children\)" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Affordable brailling options
>
> 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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