[nabs-l] Trying to read braille

Antonio M. Guimaraes Jr. freethaught at gmail.com
Fri Aug 9 02:52:17 UTC 2013


Hello all,

Anna, thank you for your original message. Yes, this is a personal decision for you. My personal choice in this case would be to avoid reading so much braille. Yes, I am a descenting voice in an Organization and environment that advocates for braille literacy, but I would think that reading braille for braille's  sake at the risk of discomfort, pain, and health problems would not be worth it.

Antonio

On Aug 5, 2013, at 12:47 PM, Anna Givens <annajee82 at gmail.com> wrote:

> It is different then carpel tunnel, but similar.  There is a surgery that can be done for hand tendonitis, where they take some of the inflamed tendons out.  However, surgery, is a very last resort for me. 
> But true.... It is an option.  
> 
> I guess I could investigate reading with one hand.  I was taught to read with both hands, because it is faster.  But... I don't know that much about braille reading and I could try it out. 
> Thanks
> 
> Anna E Givens
> 
> On Aug 5, 2013, at 8:43 AM, "melissa Green" <lissa1531 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> sounds like carpal tunnel to me.
>> I had carpal tunnel and they did a surgery called carpal tunnel release on 
>> me.
>> Haven't had any more problems.
>> its something to be investegated.
>> Blessings,
>> Melissa Green and PJ
>> Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot 
>> drive out hate; only love can do that.--Martin Luther King, Jr.
>> facebook Melissa R Green
>> twitter: melissa5674
>> Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/melissagreen5674
>> skype: lissa5674
>> Goodreads Melissa Green
>> 
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Anna Givens" <annajee82 at gmail.com>
>> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, August 04, 2013 6:51 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Trying to read braille
>> 
>> 
>> Well I am very sorry you had to deal with that, but I am very glad to hear 
>> about it, because I have asked around and I couldn't find anyone who had had 
>> this experience.
>> I told my doctor that I read braille and that it could be part of the 
>> problem.  He just gave me the normal advice.... Anti-inflammatory,ice, 
>> physical therapy, and wrist brace.  And then he said, The best treatment is 
>> to not use your hand. But that is very unrealistic, for anyone.  So just try 
>> to not use it as much as possible, and when reading relax it as much as 
>> possible.
>> So that is what I do, I need to do the exercises more often, now that I am 
>> reading more.  But yeah.... I dont know what to do.  Did your pain go away? 
>> Or do you still have it?
>> Thanks!
>> 
>> Anna E Givens
>> 
>> On Aug 4, 2013, at 7:41 PM, Lucy Sirianni <lucysirianni at earthlink.net> 
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi Anna,
>>> 
>>> I'm so sorry to hear that you're going through this! I've experienced 
>>> severe wrist and hand pain, likely due to the amount of time I spend 
>>> reading and using my BrailleNote.  (I'm an English Ph.D.  student, so I do 
>>> a lot of reading and writing, and like you, I prefer Braille to other 
>>> formats.) The thing that helped me most was soaking my hands in ice-water; 
>>> I also purchased wraps that would allow me to use ice more continuously, 
>>> though this was not as helpful as just plain ice-water.
>>> 
>>> My case never got so bad that I needed to see a doctor or to consider 
>>> taking a break from reading Braille, but I share your concern that reading 
>>> in spite of the pain might cause your condition to worsen and ultimately 
>>> make reading impossible (or at least very hard).  Have you spoken to your 
>>> doctor about the potential risks of reading Braille?
>>> 
>>> I'll be interested to see what other advice you get as this has been a 
>>> recurring problem for me as well, and it's terribly frustrating, not to 
>>> mention painful.
>>> 
>>> Very best of luck in dealing with this!
>>> 
>>> Lucy
>>> 
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: Anna Givens <annajee82 at gmail.com
>>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>> Date sent: Sun, 4 Aug 2013 19:07:27 -0500
>>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Trying to read braille
>>> 
>>>> Hey, so I have a problem, and I am not sure it can really be
>>> solved, and I know what to do but I just thought....  Well maybe someone 
>>> else has been through this:
>>>> I have tendonitis in my hand, so basically it hurts when I use
>>> it.  I am desperately trying to get my braille speed up so that I can use 
>>> it in college.  Braille works a lot better than listening to speech, for 
>>> me.  Since a few weeks ago I am reading 20 to 40 pages a day of braille. 
>>> This is hours of reading.  The treatment for tendonitis in your hand is to 
>>> not use your hand.  Obviously, I cannot do both.  I take anti-inflammatory
>>> meds, and do hand exercises to strengthen hand, as doctor suggested, also 
>>> use ice, and when I am reading I really try to relax my hand (although 
>>> that seems to be difficult for me to do.  The pain is getting worse and 
>>> worse.  But I don't want to stop reading.  I am afraid that it is just 
>>> going to get so bad I won't be able to do it.  This is very frustrating! 
>>> I don't want to give up braille, but I don't want to be in pain.  It is my 
>>> decision what to do, but has anyone ever been through anything like that? 
>>> And what did you do?
>>> 
>>>> Anna E Givens
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>> 
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