[blindkid] {Disarmed} Re: blindkid Digest, Vol 85, Issue 13

[Leslie Ligon]

There are lots of good tips on learning braille, but since there are no 
///strong/ opinions regarding braille reading among us, I guess I'll 
chime in, on this subject, too! ;-D

My husband, Eric, and I taught ourselves uncontracted braille initially 
when first learning of our older son, Ethan's, blindness. That served us 
well for the three and a half years of his life.

Then in his first year of pre-K, when he began working with Texas 
School's Braille FUNdamentals 
<cid:part1.09030401.03090702 at ligondesign.com> program that his tvi was 
testing for Debra Sewell of TX School.  (I highly recommend it.) The 
alphabet went well, and then when he began learning contracted braille, 
we began learning right along with him!

One of his favorite things (his tvi said it was the first thing he 
wanted to do each morning when she worked with him) was to find our 
errors (braille-os) and circle them in red! We were essentially getting 
the same type of class Hadley teaches, only without the mail-in time. We 
wrote him a lunch box note every day, employing the new contractions for 
that day, thus learning to read and for me, a kinesthetic learner, more 
importantly write the new contractions.

After about the middle of his second grade year, the lunch box notes 
stopped for social reasons. :-( My braille skills also went down a bit 
at that time.

I keep up my skills by writing a braille/print note for every braille 
jewelry order I send, and a lot of people actually write back thanking me.

At about that time, Eric began working on the format for a braille/print 
book that could be read by a blind and sighted reader at exactly the 
same time, (without having to ask your child to move their fingers so 
you could see the dots). A couple of years later, Eric published the 
first one of two books now in publication through BrailleInk 
<cid:part2.05020209.06070104 at ligondesign.com>. (Two more have been 
formatted, but there's no publication funding!)

The book format is exceptional because it incorporates a glossary in 
each book that introduces and explains braille pertinent only to that 
book. For instance, the one in contracted braille, The Dot, has in its 
glossary only the contractions and their use, pertinent to (in) that 
story. This prevents peripheral educators from being possibly 
overwhelmed at the idea of the entire number of contractions in fully 
contracted braille code.

I'm covering a lot, I understand, but we are absolute braille advocates, 
and I want to pass that on at every opportunity; forgive me if this 
seems prolific!

I would ask for /at least/ one hour a day each day of class, but 
regarding early intervention practices, which I don't believe anyone any 
longer disputes, two hours a day are optimal.

Ethan had two hours a day for pre-k and K, then, I believe it was backed 
to 1.5 hours through second or third grade, and was at one hour each day 
through sixth. He has not had an aid/para in the room since Christmas 
break in his second grade year. Whenever the tvi was in the room, she 
did not just sit with Ethan, she floated around the room, helping other 
students for the hour she was there.

As Eric V. stated, my husband, Eric, and I read around and to our boys 
every day well into their elementary school years - we still read around 
them. Ironically, our son who's blind is not our most ardent reader, but 
my husband tells me he didn't read as he does no until after college 
(during long commutes).


One thing I was pretty adamant about was not having books on tape in our 
house until just last year. Since Ethan's never been as interested in 
reading, I didn't want him to use any kind of reading crutch, so I 
insisted on hard copies. He reads everything now on his Apex, but when 
he starts high school in the fall, I know he'll need to go to tapes/CDs. 
That's fine, now. He reads on or above grade level (was just commended 
on the state test) so I know he'll be a good reader, and he actually 
enjoys writing!

As verbose as I am, there  are not enough kind words to say for his tvi, 
who cares about his education every bit as much as we do, nor for Debra 
Sewell's Braille FUNdamentals curriculum. You can check the TSBVI web 
site. (It's a little bizarre to navigate, but offers many good support 
services and resources.)

Sincere Best,
Leslie Ligon