[stylist] Braille

[Jacqueline Williams]

Bridgit,
I saved this e-mail to answer, it was so full of good information.
I just heard over radio that they are now providing I-pads to kindergarten
now, with terrific results in reading skills. The only thing is that the
students are so swift on them that they are trying out all of the apps other
than what the teacher assigns. The teachers do not always get on top of this
in a timely fashion.
Also, I had a dermatology appointment this morning, and fortunately my son
had taken me. They handed me an I-pad to update all of my records, totally
unconscious of my white cane. It did not talk! Fortunately Jeff knew what to
do with it.
Hope all goes well.

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit
Pollpeter
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2013 2:30 PM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] Braille

Jackie,

I don't believe jumbo Braille is accessible as regular Braille. I
actually have found jumbo Braille to be even more tedious than regular
Braille. I can feel the raised dots but have problems distinguishing the
characters.

There are different types of neuropathy, and yes, it can affect anyone.
After the unknown viral infection, pneumonia and uraceptis hit me, which
is what caused my blindness, it also affected other areas of my health.
I since have developed neuropathy, tachycardia (which is an accelerated
heart rate) and my already low blood pressure will suffer episodes of
dangerously low numbers. And I'm only 31.

Like you, I find Braille a unique way in which to explore letters and
words. They say you use your visual part of the brain to learn Braille,
and I definitely visualize the letters and characters in my head. When I
was first learning Braille and computer with JAWS, I would have problems
typing quickly since I kept visualizing Braille as opposed to the actual
letters, and for me, this would trip me up, grin.

Braille is a crucial and vital tool for blind people though, and I know
a few people with severe dyslexia who have experimented with learning
Braille, and it seems to help. It's scary to think people, including
blind people, want and believe Braille is becoming obsolete. I know this
is a huge issue that sparks a lot of debates and contraversy , but also
remember that print, to an extent, is in danger of changing as well. My
mom has been a teacher for 16 years, and she says in public schools they
use computers and other screen devices like tablets in which to teach
instead of good old pencil and paper. Kids are learning to read and
write on computers, and you have to wonder what will be the outcome for
removing tactile sensations from society.

Okay, this has turned into a rant, smile.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter, editor, Slate & Style
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can
satisfy, we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for
another world."
C. S. Lewis

Message: 8
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2013 17:33:28 -0700
From: "Jacqueline Williams" <jackieleepoet at cox.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Braille
Message-ID: <BC1706CDDEBA44648FAD3846D4233DEA at JackiLeePoet>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"

Bridgit,
I did not know that this neuropathy hit any but the older among us. I
did label all the folders in my file in Braille, but can no longer read
it. I am not only a promoter of Braille for the Blind, I truly feel it
ought to be on the general curriculum. My reasons may appear strange,
but never have I internalized the structure of words as I did when
learning the advanced words. In retrospect, I felt it would have helped
my learning disabled students. When you feel the letters and also
visualize them, it works wonders for memory. I an thing of all of the
prefixes, suffixes, short cuts, etc. There is so much of value. 
My grandson, then 5 when I was practicing it, picked it up so fast, and
was so enthusiastic, that I wished it had been something regularly
studied in his "seeing" classroom. They do not publish anything in jumbo
Braille, and I do not know that it is even available on your Braille
readers. Thanks for your response. Jackie


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