[stylist] reading braille

Tue Nov 17 21:23:04 UTC 2009

Judith,
As for the NLS booklet... Call your regional library, and if they don't 
know anything about it call the national number -- you have to leave a 
message and they get back to you in a day or two. The number is 
1-800-424-8567. I don't know that they still have it, because that was 
1971. They may have something else though or nothing at all. Just make 
sure you let them know you want the literary Braille code, because 
there's also the music and math.

As for my brother's book...I will e-mail him to see if it's still 
available anywhere.
Donna

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Judith Bron wrote:
> Donna, The book produced by your brother sounds like what the doctor 
> ordered.  I started teaching my grandchildren English by stringing 
> together words like cat, bat fat etc.  It's old phonetic reading which 
> is still the best way to learn English.  Do you have an address where 
> I can order the book?  Do you have contact information for where I can 
> get the booklet you got from NLS?  Thanks, Judith
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
> To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 12:15 PM
> Subject: Re: [stylist] reading braille
>
>
>> Judith,
>> I was 21 when a fellow student at the Guide Dog Foundation gave me a 
>> Braille alphabet. I also got a little booklet from NLS which had the 
>> contractions and punctuation. In that booklet they employ the use of 
>> a full Braille cell -- all six dots, the word "for" -- before or 
>> after the symbol, so you have something right there to compare the 
>> symbol with. Otherwise, you can get things like the 'e (dots 1 & 5) 
>> confused with the symbol for 'en (dots 2 and 6). It was very 
>> difficult at first. My fingers would go numb and I got a terrible 
>> pain from my shoulder through my arm --  due to the unusual motion I 
>> suppose. There are still times after over 35 years when my index 
>> finger will numb out on me. I think that other than just plain 
>> studying the symbols, the thing that helped was making Braille dymo 
>> tape labels for things I wanted to use but couldn't tell from other 
>> things in any other way. Spices, and recordings -- cassettes and LPs 
>> in those days. I also started a file of phone numbers and addresses 
>> using 3 x 5 cards, which I still use, though I prefer using 5 x 7 
>> notebooks. There is a thing called Jumbo Braille and you might want 
>> to use that to start with to sensatize your fingers.
>>
>> My brother Jeff Weiss and his wife wrote a Braille instructional book 
>> decades ago, which I wish I had had when I was learning. It teaches 
>> words in groups like "bat, cat, rat" to promote the recognition of 
>> letter groups.
>>
>>
>> Also, I would recommend getting a Braille calendar. The fact that you 
>> already know what a calendar looks like will help you develop a 
>> familiarity with the symbols.
>> Donna
>>
>>
>> Read my articles on American Chronicle:
>> http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885
>>
>> Follow me on Twitter:
>> www.twitter.com/dewhill
>>
>> Join Me on LinkedIn:
>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
>>
>> Or,  FaceBook:
>> http://www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill.
>>
>> Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
>> http://cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
>>
>> Apple I-Tunes
>>
>> phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374 
>>
>>
>> Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind
>> www.padnfb.org
>>
>>
>>
>> Judith Bron wrote:
>>> You might think I'm nuts, but How do braille readers sensitize their 
>>> fingers to the placement of the dots?  Thanks, Judith 
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>>
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>
>
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