[NFB-Muslims] discussion of learning the Arabic braile code

[heather Albright]

Asalamu alaykum wa Rahmatullah  inshallah, I hope everyone is well.
I was just brain storming about how we can start an Arabic braille  learning class via zoom.
 SO what do you guys think. First off, does anyone know where to obtain the Arabic code as the NLS here does not have a braille copy of the Arabic braille code,  it is only in print!
I had received my copy from the RNIB who got it from  Bahrain in braille.
Inshallah, if there is someone who can produce the Arabic braille code in the states, it would be much better. 
I did obtain a copy of the Arabic Braille  Quranic primer however, it is lacking in coherent structured lessons. 
Even my Quran teacher who was teaching me the braille Arabic code did not like it. It did not make sense even to her a native Arabic speaker.
 One can not teach a code without teaching all the rules that go along with that code.
I have read a few  foreign braille language codes, French and Spanish. They all had structured lessons so your learning the process of the Language. The primer does not tell you what the lesson is and all the rules of why you read a letter a certain  way, they left that part out.
 It would be like telling some one dot six is a  capital sign but, if you have two dot  6s it means all the letters are capitalized. And in American English, the dot 6 goes before a sentence, proper names.  While british braille, they do not use dot six at the beginning of  sentences. At least when I had to read British braille, some correct me if this is  no longer the case.
I am hoping someone knows how  to produce arabic braille plastic flash cards to show all the positions of the Arabic braille letters. I used to have a plastic print letter set and it last forever. If you spill something, you just wipe them off. Here is an idea from the independence market it is for little kids but the idea is still the same:
"
BRAILLE/PRINT ALPHABET FLASH CARDS WITH TACTILE ILLUSTRATIONS: 
Young Braille learners will enjoy interacting with these Braille flash cards with their tactile illustrations. Each of the twenty-six 7 × 7-inch white plastic cards features a tracking guide that leads to the Braille letter, a tactile illustration starting with the letter being introduced, and a raised representation of the print capital letter. The pictures are labeled in lower case uncontracted Braille. The cards are fastened by a removable ring, so they may be easily separated during use.	AIG81B	$22.00" 
I was thinking about putting the print arabic letter on one side how it is connected and the braille letter on the other side with the various letter positions. 
I wish we, the blind, had something like alif baa and al kitab  for braille readers as it seems to me we read the Arabic braille code differently that someone trying to learn it in print? 
These  two books are currently published by George Town Press and they are used by most universities and Islamic centers.
I tried to obtain a copy when my Islamic center was going to use this book for their Arabic class and I thought we could use it for this group.
Even though  the USA sign the Marrakesh treaty in 2017, George Town Press, the publisher of these books,  still refuse to give   me the electronic copy to the books even though I offered to purchase a print copy of the book and send them the receipt. 
It was not my first time making this request to obtain a electronic copy of a print book. 
I noticed, if I am dealing with a publisher out of states like California, they are the most willing to accommodate my request. 
I would think  a publisher attached to a world famous law school would know that, print disabled individuals in the USA have this right to obtain access to printed materials.
That is when I thought about, how we the blind need to create our own teaching lessons to learn the Arabic braille code when Arabic is not our native language. We read it differently than print readers and we do not use symbols above letters. 
Correction, I believe  Egyptian Braille still puts their vowel signs above the braille arabic letters.
I am not sure but, I think they still have not joined the unified Arabic Braille  code along with a few other countries. 
I am only basing it on what I have read online.
I am hopeful for this thread to focus on the best way to teach non native Arabic speakers the Arabic Braille code.
A code that so far is not being taught in North America.
First, what is the best way to get a massive production of the Arabic braille code for anyone who is blind? Second, where is this class going to be tought?Thirdly, which Arabic Braille Qurans are going to be used? Some have miscellaneous markings for recitation purposes. I think the others do not have this marking, it is just the Arabic Quran. It would be good to know what the student has so they do not become confused with the extra markings.
I would like to find out off our list, which Qurans have the markings and which do not so we can tell someone before they ask for an Arabic Braille Quran.
It would be good to ask the braille Quran holders to let the individual know if they use the markings or if they do not.
Please let me know what everyone thinks of this e-mail and is there an idea how we should proceed inshallah with teaching and learning the Arabic braille code in North America?
Also who wants to teach the Arabic braille code, that can be another discussion for anyone who knows the Arabic braille code and thinks they can teach it to someone else most likely over zoom inshallah. And if they themselves can use the Qurans with the extra markings or prefer the ones without the markings. We also have to state which Arabic braille code we will be using as some nations have not joined with the usage of the unified Arabic braille code.
fee amanAllah

sister Heather
"Blindness is a characteristic, not a handicap!" Dr. Kenneth Jernigan 
contact:

512  680 3985
google number:

512 710 7667
e-mail:
halbright1981 at gmail.com
sites
National Federation of The Blind:
www.nfb.org
NFB blind Muslim devision page:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-muslims_nfbnet.org
 an accessible library for the blind:
www.bookshare.org


	
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