[blindkid] Affordable brailling options

[Carol Castellano]

Some options for obtaining books (some are free):

Braille Storybook Resources
http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NOPBC_Braille_Storybooks.asp?SnID=2

Carol

Carol Castellano
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nopbc.org

At 08:55 PM 7/20/2010, you wrote:
>That is exactly what an embosser is-- a "braille printer", but
>unfortunately, "faster" and "affordable" are generally not in the same
>category. A good low-end embosser (new) is in generally in the $2500
>range and that will also require Duxbury or some similar translation
>software if you're going to want to produce contracted braille. That
>will add $600 to $1000. There are used options for the hardware, but
>if you're new to this there may be support and/or repair issues and
>repairs can easily be $1000+ for some of these units. Also, these are
>generally tractor-fed devices so you can't easily run sheets of
>adhesive material through them with ease-- assuming you want to stick
>clear braille over the pages. I expect you can get tractor material
>for that but it is probably not cheap and probably comes in good sized
>boxes (expensive) and you'd have a good deal of waste with it as well
>from feeding in & out to tear off the work as you go...
>
>The above may not be terribly helpful as I'm telling you what won't
>work cheaply, as opposed to what will, but I think generally if you
>want to add braille to children's books, the fix is dymo labels or
>sheets of that clear material in a Perkins, so you already have the
>preferred solution, it is just a bit of a hassle and somewhat slow. Is
>there a local person who is faster with braille who might be able to
>sit down with you for a book-brailling session once in a while? Maybe
>someone from a local NFB chapter, for example if not through the
>county or school system? And of course there are already multiple
>sourced for pre-made books. Short-term, you could buy a lot of braille
>books for much less than an embosser and the required software...
>
>Richard
>
>
>
>
>On Jul 20, 2010, at 8:26 PM, Marie wrote:
>
>>Hello everyone, can y'all give me some ideas for affordable options
>>for brailling some of our favorite books at home. I have a borrowed
>>Perkins brailler but am quite slow currently. I also have a labeler
>>which is faster but the strips are a bit awkward when I am trying to
>>fit them on the book pages. Jack has recently become more interested
>>in those dots and books in general. I have been modeling sweeping my
>>fingers as I read and I am very delighted to report that I found him
>>"reading" one of his favorite books to himself and he was sweeping
>>his hands across the page!!! Unfortunately it was in a book that I
>>have yet to braille. I would love to know if there is an affordable
>>option for printing up braille quickly at home. I was thinking of
>>maybe something that I could hook to my computer? Is that what an
>>embosser is? It would be a whole lot faster if I could type the text
>>and then have something "print" the Braille for me. Is such
>>technology available and affordable for home use?
>>
>>Yes I do plan on practicing more with the Brailler but until then....
>>
>>Marie (mother of Jack born May 2005)
>>See glimpses of life with my determined son who is developing in his
>>own way at his own time at http://allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com
>>Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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>
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