[blindkid] parents need to learn braille too

[DrV]

How very true.
I'm going to go out on a limb & will be perhaps a more blunt:
A parent with a braille-reading child is really braille-illiterate, for all 
practical making the parent handicapped (a term which I never use with 
respect to my children).
This handicap not only has implications to the braille-illiterate parent, 
but for the parent-child relationship, and it affects the child as well as 
we have seen by the various families who have shared how the have been able 
to catch mistakes.
My wife does most of the homework with our kids - my hectic work schedule. 
She had to go out of town in December, so I took a week off to try to fill 
her shoes.
I could not have helped my 1st grader with his homework if without knowing 
at least braille basics.
Learning braille really should not be optional, but an essential expected 
skill.
It is really not all that hard to learn at least the functional basics of 
braille.
I know it is different, but I can't imagine educators working with a family 
of deaf child being OK with the family members not learning at least basic 
sign language.
Just my quick 2 cents.
Eric V


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carrie Gilmer" <carrie.gilmer at gmail.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)'" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 10:09
Subject: Re: [blindkid] parents need to learn braille too


>I volunteered at one of our Buddy Camps for many years. One thing always
> stuck out in my experience. Kids who got letters from home in print and
> cursive, and cards too, with handwriting. They could not usually read them
> at all. They had been of course somewhat homesick. They had to wait,
> sometimes 24 hours, before someone sighted had time to read it. And then 
> the
> letter was not private.
>
> The ones who had their letters in Braille (minority by far unfortunately)
> could read immediately, privately, and kept the letters under their 
> pillows,
> reading and re-reading.
>
> To me reading Braille says also you don't think it is too hard, and you
> value that and you value communicating with your child in a way that they
> can access. Knowing Braille means you can read that letter to Santa, and
> create a response, it means you can get a card from them and read it, it
> means that you can give them a card or note they can read. It means that
> when they are low on shampoo, they can leave a note in Braille by the 
> coffee
> pot, and it will be added to the list when I go to Target or whatever.
>
>
>
> Carrie Gilmer, President
> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
> A Division of the National Federation of the Blind
> NFB National Center: 410-659-9314
> Home Phone: 763-784-8590
> carrie.gilmer at gmail.com
> www.nfb.org/nopbc
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Barbara Hammel
> Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 11:10 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] parents need to learn braille too
>
> On the darker side, parents should learn to read Braille so if you have a
> child whose personality suddenly changes or things just don't seem right 
> you
>
> can read their diary.
> Many a sighted child has been saved that way.
> Sorry to be so morbid.  And you all are right.  Too bad you have to 
> correct
> the work of the "professionals" but good for you for spending the time for
> something so important to your children.
> Thumbs up to you.  I'm one of those who wish my parents had learned it.
>
> Barbara
>
> If wisdom's ways you wisely seek, five things observe with care:  of whom
> you speak, to whom you speak, and how and when and where.
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Joy Orton" <ortonsmom at gmail.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 8:04 PM
> To: <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [blindkid] parents need to learn braille too
>
>> Just a personal experience on why parents need to learn braille...
>>
>> Today I was looking over my daughter's school papers and found one with
>> grade of 75. I was surprised, because most of her work is at the 95 to 
>> 100
>> level. ( yes, we are proud of her.)
>> The teacher had counted off for spelling.
>> The first circled word was Minnesota. Ahbee wrote it correctly in 
>> braille,
>> but the transcriptionist incorrectly left out one N when interlining
>> it--writing it for the teacher to read.
>> Another place, Ahbee had correctly capitalized the word Lake, but the
>> interlining did not show the capital.
>>
>> Anyway, I was able to catch these because I can read braille for myself.
>> Ahbee deserved a 95--she did misspell "uper" instead of upper.
>> The teacher will give her credit for it--I'm so glad I could read it.
>>
>> Joy Orton
>> mom of Ahbee, Grade 2
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