[Iabs-talk] Fwd: Article from Braille Monitor Articles Section 2015 11 01

[Denise R Avant]

Denise R. Avant
President
National Federation of the Blind of Illinois
Live the life you want
Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: NFB-NEWSLINE Online <nfbnewsline at nfb.org>
> Date: November 11, 2015 at 6:36:52 AM CST
> To: Denise Avant <davant1958 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Article from Braille Monitor Articles Section 2015 11 01
> 
> iBRAL Is Back! by Robert Gardner From the Editor: Robert Gardner is a man of tremendous accomplishment. He was trained and worked as a mechanical engineer, and when he lost his vision, he simply figured out on his own the alternative techniques he would need to do his job. On retirement he decided that he had the time to really learn blindness skills, so off to BLIND, Incorporated he went. He learned Braille but soon realized that he could use the discipline of other people to help him maintain and increase his speed. Readers may remember an article he wrote that appeared in the October 2010 issue of this magazine entitled "We Are Able. Here is what Bob has to say about a reading contest for young people: iBral? No, we're not talking about iPad or iTunes, we're talking about iBRAL. Say hello to the Illinois Braille Readers Are Leaders, or iBRAL, contest for kids. For the second year the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois (NFBI) has run its own Braille reading contest for kids within the state. And once again the response to our contest to promote the reading of Braille by school children was fantastic. Last year (2013-14), we had twenty-six applicants, and this year (2014-15), we had thirty-two. These ranged from a first grader all the way to students in the twelfth grade. We have been happy with the enthusiastic response to our contest, reflecting the interest in Braille by blind and visually impaired children in Illinois. It also shows how throwing in a little competition can increase that interest. For example, one mother wrote on a registration form, "Thank you so much for organizing this event in Illinois. The iBRAL contest was the single biggest motivator for my son to really work on his Braille skills. Another typical comment on a registration form was received from a teacher of the visually impaired (TVI). She wrote, "This is my first student to take the Braille Challenge, and we are both super excited! Another TVI wrote at the end of iBRAL: "I have attached my students' reading logs. They enjoyed participating in the competition, and it definitely gave them more incentive to keep reading. The iBRAL contest was first organized in the fall of 2013. Patterning our contest after the former Braille Readers Are Leaders contest run by our national center, the NFBI put together rules and forms, which are accessible and can be found on our state's website. This last year, the reading period for the contest ran for seven weeks, including the Christmas school break, to allow even more time for the kids to work on their Braille. As always the object of the competition was to read as many pages as possible during the contest. Deborah Kent Stein of the NFBI Chicago Chapter and editor of Future Reflections  volunteered to be the contest coordinator. She created an email account for iBRAL, allowing electronic submission of registration forms at the  beginning of the contest and reading logs at the end. The email account also allowed easy communication between Deborah and parents and/or TVI's, the people who acted as certifying officials for the kids. Sometimes the feedback was amazing. One parent wrote of her son, "He wanted to make sure he would do well. He just brought me his last book to log and told me his fingers hurt. No wonder. He read five hundred pages today alone! Sometimes the feedback was touching. For example, a TVI wrote about one of her students, "We had a great time reading! Pierre has just started reading Braille the last few years and is finally reading with some fluency and reading for fun! He is seventeen years old and has autism along with his blindness and cognitive delays. He was diligent daily about telling people he had to read for the Braille challenge. Hope to do it again next year! Thanks!   Cash prizes are awarded to first, second, and third place winners in each of the five grade levels. When Joanne Sullivan of the National Braille Press was contacted about us purchasing gift certificates to use as additional prizes, she subsequently told us we wouldn't have to buy them. The NBP, a great supporter of Braille, would donate gift certificates to be given to all entrants. In addition, the NFB national center has donated slates and styluses and Braille calendars to be given to all contestants. When the contest is over, each child receives a generous goodie package from iBRAL, regardless of their placing in the contest. The Braille Literacy Committee in Illinois, along with the entire state affiliate, is proud of their accomplishments: they took the dream of having a statewide Braille reading contest for children and made it a reality. More information about the Illinois Braille Readers Are Leaders contest for kids can be obtained by contacting our affiliate president, Denise Avant, at < davant1958 at gmail.com >. We are committed to running the iBRAL contest for kids and hoping to make it even bigger in the future. Go Braille! Go iBRAL! . 
> 
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