[Blindtlk] One More Question: Intensive Braille Programs?

[Jewel S.]

Hi all,

One more question from me for now. I am a Braille reader...sorta. I
read contracted literary Braille at 45 wpm, and that is a huge
improvement over my 30 wpm back in the fall. I won third place in the
Beginners' category of the Braille Readers are Leaders contest (boy,
was I surprised!), reading more than 1,500 pages in the timeperiod. I
love Braille, and read at least 2 hours every day, from my Hadley
classes (all in Braille) to Harry Potter (I just finished the fifth
one). But I'm soooo slow! and I barely know Nemeth code or Braille
music code.

I was wondering if there were any intensive Braille programs out there
for people who really, really want to work very hard on their Braille.
I want to learn how to read with two hands (I'm a one-handed reader),
and I want to get to at least 100 wpm. I also want to learn more
Nemeth, of which I know basic functions and formats, and have found
them useful, and know they will be important for college. I also have
learned very basic Braille music from a book called "Braille Music for
Piano Beginners," and can read the quarter, half, and whole notes of
C, D, E, F, and G, as well as time signatures, the whole rest, ties
between notes, and a few other signs. But I don't know enough to read
most any songs, and I really would like to be able to read music so I
can play piano, keyboard, and recorder again. I'd also like to read
music for church, and maybe join the church choir.

Does anyone know about any intensive Braille programs, where you work
on just Braille for extended time, working on hand placement,
accuracy, speed, and not just on learning the contractions and letters
(which I know very well already)? What about the Nemeth code and
Braille music?

I have read some books, but there is no substitute to a teacher
watching over you and correcting your mistakes on the spot, especially
when it comes to hand placement and finger placement. I heard that the
NFB centers have a Braille-intensive program, but I am not sure now if
going to an NFB center for the full program is really what I need.
When considering it, the two subjects I really need to work on are O&M
and Braille. There is an intensive O&M program that I am hoping to go
to in the future, but I haven't seen anything about programs that are
for Braille only. Any ideas?

My career goal is to become a TVI or possibly a Braille teacher at a
school for the blind. I love Braille, and I know that if I'm going to
teach it, I have to be very good at it myself. So, I want to improve

~Jewel