[stylist] Braille

Sun Feb 10 19:02:59 UTC 2013

Anita,
There are two people I know who are doing this in different ways. One is a
blind man named Davey Hulse, who lives in Oregon and has a company called
Braille Plus. I know him from the Blind Stitchers list and interviewed him
about his book The Touch of Yarn, which is a knitting how-to book based
solely on verbal descriptions. I knew he did books, so I contacted him
several years ago to get an idea how much it would cost to have my novel
made into a reproduceable hard copy Braille book. He said there's usually a
bidding process between the companies that do it and that it would be
between $5,000 and 10,000. That's a bit out of my range so I dropped the
idea for the time being. 

The other is a sighted TVI named Patricia Brown in New Jersey. Her company
is Braille This, and she does smaller projects and writes about the
importance of Braille literacy for online magazines and such. I asked her
about the book too, but she said it was beyond her capability.
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Anita
Ogletree
Sent: Saturday, February 09, 2013 8:06 PM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] Braille

Donna,
I wish that I could start a business providing this service which, I am
certain would mean that there would have to be more than one person willing
to transcribe.  Especially since the books are chosen in the mannter that
you mentioned.
This would have to be a company that covers as many states as possible where
there are blind people who could be hired either on a contractual basis or
otherwise.  And this would be a souffce of income for those wishing to do
this type of work.  It could be done from the individual's home office where
there is an embosser, of course.  I don't know how that could be set up but
I am willing to research this idea and see what I can find out.  If anyone
has any suggestions reginding this matter ow would like to hear from you.
Perhaps as can tell me where to begin my researching.

Anita

> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net
>To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org Date sent: 
>Sat, 9 Feb 2013 14:43:46 -0500
>Subject: Re: [stylist] Braille

>Anita,
>Your experience speaks to a problem that we discussed last year
on one of
>the monthly conference calls.  It was with a guy who represents
an
>organization of publishers -- you can probably tell that I'm not
good with
>remembering names.  The point is though that getting college
material in
>accessible formats is far more difficult than getting them for k
- 12.  He
>explained two things.  First, the professors choose the books
they will be
>using, not the colleges.  In k - 12, textbooks are chosen on a
district-wide
>basis, meaning that any third-grader in that district will have
the same
>textbooks as any other third-grader in that district.  There is
much more
>uniformity and more copies of any one title are sold.  Colleges
and
>universities are all over the map.  Decisions about what books
are being used
>are also more or less left to the last minute in college, making
it harder
>to get books recorded or transcribed in time.

>The other thing he mentioned is that the publishers have been
working on a
>master file type that will be used to make books.  From that file
type, you
>can easily make print, large print, e-books or Braille.  Whenever
that
>happens, it will go a long way to meeting the NFB goal of the
same books at
>the same time and the same price.
>Donna

>-----Original Message-----
>From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Anita
>Ogletree
>Sent: Saturday, February 09, 2013 5:18 AM
>To: Writer's Division Mailing List; stylist at nfbnet.orgi
>Subject: Re: [stylist] Braille

>I can truly testify to almost everything that has been said
regarding
>braille.  I learned to read and write braille when I was in the
first grade
>-- used it all the way through the twelfth grade.  Fortunately I
was blessed
>to have a group of what was called resource teachers back then.
>There were at least two women who brailled out my lessons using a
perkins
>brailler.  This meant I had abbl of my assignment at the same
time as my
>classmates.  They did not come into the classroom and sit with me
as I
>gather that may happen now, but I had to spend time in the
classroom they
>had set up.
>When I began school I was first sent to the school for the blind
in
>Talladega, Alabama.  But after a few weeks had passed and my
mother and I
>cried every time they had to leave me there at the facility,
someone told my
>father about a regular elementary school where sighted children
attended.
>It wasn't long before I was going to that school.  So I got to
stay home and
>grow up with my sibblings instead of spending the week miles from
my
>parents.
>There were only one or tw blind students sometimes in the whobbe
school.
>Some of the high school kids would often come to the classroom
where the
>resource teacher was for help with some things.  Funny thing is
that I often
>dream that I visit that classroom.
>My education for those 12 years was, for the most part, very
good.  Even
>when I went to high school, I was provided with braille textbooks
for all of
>my classes.  By then they had hired an orientation & mobility
instructor who
>would come to my high school to help with anything they couldn't
put into
>braille.  He even found time to do some O&M with me.  I was the
first blind
>student to attend my high school.  The teachers were wonderful
and I had to
>keep up with my classmates.
>The problems began for me once I had graduated and entered
college.  No
>braille textbooks, no recorder to record my classes so I could
study,
>readers put me to sleep and I went from being an A-B student to
receiveing
>'incompletes in each of my classes.
>I passed at least one or two courses before I went to another
school in
>California.  Still no books in braille, but I did a little better
there thn
>I had at the school in Alabama, however, having to rely on a
reader or
>listening to books on cassette was very stressful resulting in my
dropping
>out of school before I could get into my Sophmore year.
>Braille is my lifeline.  As much as I appreciate having the use
of screen
>readers, digital players, etc., if there was any way I could get
everything
>from utilities to applications would make my life so much easier.  
Having to
>wait until someone can read mail drives me nuts! Many times
people will
>silently read over the mail before letting me know what it is.  
That's bad
>but sometimes that's all I can get.
>I can't really say whether or not I visualize what ow am reading
because the
>mental pictures I have are often different from what a sighted
person
>describes.  I have been afforded the opportunity to experience
how printed
>letters are.  I was introduced to the Optacon when it was out and
I had
>instruction in writing in print.  (There are times when I can
sijn my name
>pretty close to what sighted folk can read--then there are times
when I know
>that my writing is unrecognizable.) I want to teach braille but I
do not
>have a collefe degree.  I am
>49 years old now and worry that I may not be able to handle
taking all the
>classes necessary for geffting a degree.  My personal opinion is
that I
>should automatically qualify as a braille teacher because I have
spent most
>of my life reading and writing braille.  Whatever it takes to
make sure no
>one takes braille away from me I am ready to do.  I love braille.  
I am
>going to start a business in braille transcribing in the very
near future.
>That's the least I can do to save our most precious gift.

>Anita

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