[humanser] Tips on Presentations & Braille

[Shannon Cook]

Hi,

I have learned Braille through Hadley later into adulthood also.  I was not taught as a child, but it surely would have been handy then.  It has taken me several years to learn, but I have been working during that time and have not pushed to learn quickly.  I pick up materials in Braille along the way and test what I can read versus what I still need to learn.  I work at an agency for the blind, so there are some materials around quite often.  It has been a really fun venture.  I label all of my files in Braille, make notes that way, and I have also used it to make notes for presentations.  It has totally improved my level of confidence as, with a lot of us, my vision loss has progressed to the point that big print is not feasible anymore.  I joke that at home, if something does not move quickly enough, it gets a Braille label slapped on it.  I've tried using my Stream for presentations, but that did not work as well for me.  The flow was not good.

Thanks,
Shannon

-----Original Message-----
From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Alyssa Munsell
Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 4:28 PM
To: humanser at nfbnet.org
Subject: [humanser] Tips on Presentations & Braille

Hi everyone!



I have a question about handling presentation notes. Since I lost my vision (about 8 years ago), I haven't had to give presentations often, but it's been challenging when I have. I don't have an easily accessible way of creating and reading presentation notes. I don't know braille because I didn't understand the importance of learning it until about a year ago. I really wish I had realized how that skill could help me, especially in doing any task that requires reading materials to someone or presenting a topic.
In the past, I've written large  presentation notes with sharpie markers on pieces of paper and memorized most of the material. This has always ended up working for me, but the process is exhausting and definitely not an ideal way of giving presentations!



I have 2 questions. First, does anyone have any tips about how to do presentation notes, aside from braille? I saw an e-mail from an NFB member who stated that using the Victor Reader Stream to make audible notes has worked well for him. Does anyone have experience with that?

Second, for anyone who has learned braille later in life- any advice about techniques for learning braille would be immensely helpful. How long did it take for you to learn it and be able to effectively utilize it?



Thanks!

Alyssa

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