[Nfb-krafters-korner] Braille verses talking

Fri Jun 25 00:22:16 UTC 2010

Dixie:

When I first started learning Braille, I can remember learning groups of 
letters in 5 or 10 letters at a time  My instructor made sure I could 
recognize the shapes of the letters and determine what dots made them up. 
Then she always encouraged me to practice writing them out at home and just 
making up silly words & names.  and Say in lesson 1 if you learn letters "A" 
through "E" you can make up words like Abe, Ada, bad, dad, be, ace, etc. 
Very simple but it gets you going and you just keep building on the skills 
... just like knitting! I did learn the slate and stylus, but honestly that 
didn't last long because when I was in college could not take sufficient 
notes at the speed I wrote using the slate.   Again, I had a fantastic 
Braille teacher & she lent/gave me a spare Perkins Braille writer to take 
home.  I'm certain that really helped me in my reading & writing skills. 
Its a matter of practice, practice, practice.  You can't study it for 1 hour 
a week then close the book and forget about it until the next lesson time. 
When I finished all mye lessons she encouraged me to take a Braille book 
from the library, something simple, maybe a child's book or a book I had 
read in print.  I did that and although my reading went slow, I could do it. 
As you start learning the contractions, you will figure out from the context 
of what you read what the symbols stand for.

Good luck, sounds like you're on the right track and have a great attitude 
towards learning.

Eileen

-------------------------------------------------
From: "Dixie" <blueherons at sbcglobal.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 7:55 PM
To: "'List for blind crafters and artists'" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Braille verses talking

> I am taking Hadley lessons for Braille writing right now.  My next class I
> think is for grade 2.  I remember the contracted letters like ing, and for
> and things like that.  It is the contracted words like cd for could that
> make me a bit nuts!  Some day it will sink into this very thick head of
> mine.
>
>
> I was just thinking of reading a brailed pattern line by line.   I think 
> it
> might be possible for me to keep track of what row I am on better using
> Braille?  I could do this  by marking the line.  Maybe by punching an
> earring through at the row I am on, or clipping a safety pin to the page 
> or
> something like that.
> .  I will have to write out a pattern for myself sometime and see how it
> works for me.
>
>
> Dixie
>
> ~ @-> ~ <-@ ~
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Eileen 
> Scrivani
> Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 7:21 PM
> To: List for blind crafters and artists
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Braille verses talking
>
> Dixie:
>
> I'm not a speed  reader by any means nor have I ever been.  I am however, 
> an
>
> accurate reader which is more important than speed.  I love listening to 
> my
> audio books, but there is for certain things nothing like Braille.  Even 
> for
>
> labeling every thing from mail, cd's, yarn & other bead supplies knowing
> grade 2 Braille is a benefit since by contracting you can reduce the 
> amount
> of writing space to make notes on things.  Then to I get bills like my 
> phone
>
> & water bills in Braille & my bank statements as well.
>
> Eileen
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Dixie" <blueherons at sbcglobal.net>
> Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 6:53 PM
> To: "'List for blind crafters and artists'" 
> <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Braille verses talking
>
>> As a person with fairly recent  sight loss, I use Braille occasionally. 
>> I
>> learned grade 1 right after losing my sight, 6 years ago, but grade 2 was
>> a
>> struggle.  I have labeled my spices, some light switches for the outside
>> lights, some bottles in the bathroom, where I don't want my ID mate to be
>> exposed to the moisture, and those kinds of things.  Other than that I
>> count
>> on my ID Mate for most identification of household cleaners, pantry items
>> and that kind of thing.  I have started taking Braille courses again from
>> Hadley.  I say I read at a second grade level.  Painfully slowly, one 
>> word
>> at a time, but it is reading.  I have to say when someone said that I was
>> illiterate since I could no longer read for myself, I have to admit I was
>> a
>> bit indignant.
>>
>> I hope to be able to use Braille more efficiently, the idea of labeling 
>> my
>> yarn is a definite hope.  Braille numbers on my bead bottles certainly is
>> a
>> valuable use of Braille, but for reading, I count on my Jaws to jabber at
>> me.  I can much more efficiently find information in my computer than
>> rifling through a bunch of Brailed papers.
>>
>>
>>
>> Dixie
>>
>> ~ @-> ~ <-@ ~
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org
>> [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>> Blindhands at aol.com
>> Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 5:01 PM
>> To: nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Braille verses talking
>>
>> I prefer to listen to a pattern directions on my computer in a doc  file.
>> That way I can listen word by word, immediately put a note in it or  mark
>> an
>>
>> X where I am if the phone rings or I stop.  I save the doc file as  a
>> separate file from my original one and entitle the file as working on
>> sweater, ,
>> etc.
>>
>> To each their own way.
>>
>> Joyce  Kane
>> www.KraftersKorner.org  (http://www.krafterskorner.org/)
>> Blindhands at AOL.com
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