[humanser] Tips on Presentations & Braille

[Ericka J. Short]

For the young lady who  asked about presentations, how much exposure to 
braille have you had?  That makes a big difference. Your brain is still in 
learning mode so it's a good time to start at the beginning.  If your hands 
can feel shapes instead of blobs, it you have more of a start than I did. 
It's been a long trek. You are blessed to have the  listserve to ask these 
questions of.  Until I discovered this, I was alone.

Let's not criticize those of us who didn't have the opportunity to learn as 
a child.  Had my parents won their battle with the schools in the 70's and 
80's I would have learned it.  At 20/200 I had too much sight and they 
didn't foresee me losing it.  The WI NFB never reached out to my family and 
nor did the ACB.  Parents read Future Reflections and did their best.  WE 
didn't even know about Hadley until I graduated from high school.  The Voc. 
Rehab counselor told us about it.  As an adult and young adult you have more 
responsibilities than a child. This makes a difference in how we are able to 
focus and learn.  Some of us don’t' have the feeling required right off the 
bat.  Sighted folks have to be rewired or perhaps.   Homekeeping tasks and 
working or volunteering are higher priorities and some of us are married. 
Men are big enough kids to take care of!   I was taught to study sighted and 
had no idea talking schoolbooks existed.  I fumbled through college without 
cassette books because disabled student services wouldn't help me learn how 
to use them effectively.  There was no help even when my sight changed and I 
asked. Believe me I was vocal.  All I had was a reader or student notetaker. 
There weren't any computerized speech for the blind and this was supposed to 
be the best school in the state for the disabled.   I guess they assumed 
voc. rehab. bought us all computers and trained us.  Not true!  Though I 
tried to be a part of the NFB, I had no support like this for an internship 
in education or social work. Preparing for real world work was overbearing 
and professors expected us to now what to do.  Intern supervisors weren't 
interested in having us do "real work".  We were glorified  volunteers in 
social work internships.  The totally blind who had braille and cane skills 
were better off.  The visually impaired were stuck.  A friend of mine and I 
tried to contact folks from the NFB with no response.  It was tough since I 
had received a scholarship from them in the past.   Even when I came back 
from the center, nobody from the WI chapters contacted me after the 
conference I shared my experience at. One person I still knew did attend my 
wedding.  I am thankful for her.  I wish most people's story was different, 
but I know there are many lonely undereducated  visually impaired out there 
that need support and training.  We are feeling like we are not welcome in 
either the sighted world or the blind one.

I tried to learn braille several times. First I tried to learn in a summer 
vacation from a teacher at the council.  He did his best but couldn't come 
downstate too often to help me.  It was really hard to even feel the dots. 
I was not taught tracking by anyone, even at the NFB center I attended. 
Ineffective curriculum and teachers make a difference.  I finally attempted 
to learn through Hadley. They recently  revised the program flow and make 
you learn to write braille in the second course.  The first is just getting 
your fingers able to feel dots. and tracking.  Once I figured out I was  not 
moving my hands right no the page it began to click.  The numbers and 
letters came back but punctuation and the contractions didn't.  I wasn't 
taught how to write it either.  Now I'm able to read and write grade 1 and 
would be happy to use it in an outline for a speech.  If you don't know how 
to move your hands properly or how to write the letters, knowing the 
contractions doesn't matter.  Like Math, one skill builds on the other. 
Practicing every day makes a difference and integrate it into daily life 
makes it second nature.  That gives confidence and reading whatever grade 
you are working on it.  Don't give up!  Technology isn't the best way.  What 
if the power goes out?  You can still give your presentation in braille!

You'll be fine.

Ericka J. Short
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Philippians 4:13
No brain is too small or too big to create and do good in the world. E.J. 
Short
262-697-0510