[Blindtlk] One More Question: Intensive Braille Programs?

[Hyde, David W. (ESC)]

Jewel, you can do the center route if you want to, however the only way to develop two-handed reading and speed is the same way you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice, Practice Practice. Start by working about fifteen minutes a day, using both hands. The hardest part will be changing the finger you "think" with, from the left hand to the right hand. You've probably already mastered reading by context. If you haven't, doing this will speed you up considerably.

After the fifteen minutes, stop. Go back to reading for just the fun of it. Extend the two-handed method a few minutes a day. Each week, check your speed.

You're doing well. I can read most Nemeth. Braille music I do not read, and have successfully avoided it for over fifty years. I plan to continue to do so. Keep up the good work. 

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jewel S.
Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2010 5:11 PM
To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Blindtlk] One More Question: Intensive Braille Programs?

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

_______________________________________________
blindtlk mailing list
blindtlk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for blindtlk:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/david.hyde%40wcbvi.k12.wi.us