[Faith-Talk] Follow-up on use of accessible Bibles and books

[Misty Kienzynski]

The only quick thing I will say here is that this is why, if possible, being literate in Braille is the best option. It not only makes you truly literate but it also improves such things as presentation skills and job prospects.

Even though I have enough vision to read print at around 10x magnification but very very very slowly, I started learning Braille later in life and have never regretted it. I only wish my family and school system had had me learn it earlier instead of having tried to make me as “normal” as possible by reading only large print. I would have had a far better social life, that’s for sure, instead of having to spend all my social time reading my schoolwork… Though I by no means read at warp speed, I am already faster in my reading than I ever was in large print.

It can take different amounts of time for different people to get speedy and proficient and I realize some cannot read it at all due to various health conditions, but I would say it’s worth the time and effort for anyone who might be capable of it.
—

Misty, who believes that Braille is literacy



Bonitas non est pessimis esse meliorem. — L. Annaeus Seneca


> On Aug 18, 2024, at 10:07 AM, bruce&joy breslauer via Faith-Talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I have a friend who put the text she wanted to say on a Victor Stream, and used earphones to listen to it and repeat it to the audience to whom she was speaking.  It wasn't terrific, but it was a workaround.  Joy  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Faith-Talk <faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of The Rev.
> Christopher L. Smith via Faith-Talk
> Sent: Saturday, August 17, 2024 8:21 AM
> To: Faith-talk, for the discussion of Blindness in faith and religion
> <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: The Rev. Christopher L. Smith <Rev at ChristopherLSmith.us>
> Subject: [Faith-Talk] Follow-up on use of accessible Bibles and books
> 
> This may be a dumb question but the recent exploration of accessible Bibles and memory of a discussion of accessible hymnals brings up a related question for me.
> 
> Before getting to the question, a little pertinent background. My legal blindness came about because of a rare degenerative neurological condition (PCA) that I was diagnosed with in my 40s. At the time of diagnosis, given the degenerative nature of the condition, the best estimate was 8-12 years to live (which I am now expected to exceed). Given these realities and the availability of other accommodations, I decided not to learn braille. This is a decision a fair number of people who are blind whose vision loss occurred later have also chosen.
> 
> Having material read to me is a different experience than reading it myself. There is a difference if having someone else’s voice, take on what is being read, choice of pauses, etc. Just in regular reading, this leads me to pause or even repeat parts of what I have heard, or even to allow parts to pass by if I think they may not be critical to what I am trying to get from a text (particularly in some academic reading).
> 
> Hymns, reading Scripture allowed when leading worship, or even following liturgy/congregational readings throw a different level of complexity for me. If I preached from a text, I would likely have the same issue. In these settings, people usually speak as they read. When using accessible means to the text, you are left to speak after something is read while the next part is also being read to you. This is a skill I never learned and still throws me, making accessible text not helpful for me when leading worship. Have others found a way to deal with this issue?
> 
> Christopher
> ------
>> The Rev. Christopher L. Smith
>> New York, USA
> 
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> 
> --
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> 
> The Rev. Christopher L. Smith
> New York
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