[Pibe-division] In the Effort to Become Braille Certified

[Dr. Denise M. Robinson]

In the Effort to Become Braille Certified 
Oh so many years ago, leading up to my braille certification, I killed a LOT of trees in the process. I would braille hours every night after 
school and after work in order to learn that code. Using 11 x 11 paper 
and a great deal of it.

Today, things have changed tremendously. I have everyone download Perky Duck, which is free and is a minor program compared to its parent Duxbury, which is a very powerful and superb braille to print, print to braille 
translation program, but cost money.  I also use the Library of Congress Braille Handbook and many supplements for my adult students to work 
from. They six key in their work, then email it off to me for 
correction. In this process, we save hundreds of trees. When there are 
too many students, I have them sign up with the Library of Congress, 
which the National Federation of the Blind has taken over in the 
correction and helping mode. They too are set up to receive everything 
through email and they respond using email also, with a grade and or 
corrections that need to be made.

When taking the Braille certification test, you can use your reference 
manuals. When I take them through the lessons, I have them mark the 
sections and underline the areas they are struggling with, so when the 
test comes and they are unsure, they can quickly turn to the answer in 
their book. A great supplement to the classes is the Braille Enthusiast's Dictionary. It has every word and contraction you can think of that may be in text.

When my students are preparing for the test I have them braille it out 
in Perky Duck or Duxbury to get an electronic copy. Then they move to 
the brailler and braille another copy out. Next, they compare their hard
 copy to the electronic copy. Proofreading your own work is one of the 
hardest things for students. It was for me too, so it is great with 
these new techniques to use to double check your work. If they are 
really in doubt, they rebraille another copy on Perky Duck or Duxbury. 
When they are practicing their proofreading or slate n stylus, once 
again, they can use Perky Duck to braille out all the different options 
they believe it to be. 

I have had more people pass their braille certification quicker using 
these methods versus not using them. Using everything at our disposal 
gives us a better idea of how to help our students too. Many methods, 
mean more success, for more people.
 
       Denise 
 
Denise M. Robinson, TVI, Ph.D. 
Teacher of the Blind & Visually Impaired
TechVision-Independent Contractor
Specialist in blind programming/teaching/training
509-674-1853     deniserob at gmail.com
 
http://blindgeteducated.blogspot.com/
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