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Learning Braille as a child

My Life In The Light Of Braille

Author: Rilind Dragoshi, Moncton NB

Braille has helped me greatly in my life.  Ever since I was young, it has helped me.  From the time when I was just learning to read and write to the days when I began writing long stories and reading large novels, braille has played a great part in my development.  It was the first thing that I understood when it came to blindness.  Even before I understood the importance of my cane and even the fact that I was blind, I understood that I couldn't write with a pencil or read print and instead needed to read these raised dots that are known as braille.

I came to Canada from Kosovo, a country in southeast Europe.  My family and I moved to Canada after the war started in Kosovo in 1999.  Had I always lived in Kosovo, I would have had to go to a boarding school for the blind that was located two hours away from the city in which I lived.  I would have been able to come home twice a month, once every second weekend.  Also, I definitely wouldn't have had the opportunity to use the technology I use here in Canada.

After arriving in Canada in May of 1999, I only had to wait four months until I started school.  School was a new place for me, because I had just started Kindergarten in that year.  I was working hard to learn English during that time, because I only knew how to speak Albanian.  I also needed to know how to read and write. My first Itinerant teacher, Jim Parsons immediately started teaching me many things including how to use the Braille code.  It took around three years, but after that period of time I had managed to learn how to read and write very well in addition to learning how to speak English.

When I had just started school, I enjoyed many small books by means of braille.  This continued to expand, as I got older.  I eventually enhanced my reading skills and therefore read larger and more exciting books.  I also wrote many good stories because of the fact that I could write braille.  As I grow even more in my knowledge of braille, I have developed the skill of using braille in my imagination.  One example of a time when I used this skill was when I watched the second Harry Potter Movie, Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets.  In the scene of the movie where Harry Potter was communicating with Tom Riddle through text appearing as answers to his questions on the diary that was previously Tom Riddle's, I could picture myself as Harry Potter placing my hands on the diary.  I could then picture myself asking the questions Harry Potter asked and then being able to read the text that came as Tom Riddle's reply to the questions in braille on the diary cover.

As a 14 year old, I have learned how to use assistive technology.  I use a laptop with JAWS for Windows 7.1 as well as a Braille Note M Power.  In spite of all the technology I currently use all the time in my daily life, I know that in order to use computer technology, you obviously also need to know how to read and write.  Since I am blind, the only way I could learn these two skills were by means of learning how to read and to write braille.

Despite the fact that I use so much technology today in addition to braille, I always look forward to the times when I open up a new book that is braille and not electronic.  A couple of months ago, I remember receiving a brailled book from Los Angeles, California.  I remember opening it and reading the story in raised braille dots.  Even though technology is something I use a lot, I still enjoy reading a braille book.

Even though I use a computer with a synthesizer today and may use even more advanced devices in the future due to technological advancements, I will never forget my first advancement in technology; learning how to use a brailler and how to read and write the Braille code.  As I think of the tremendous importance of the Braille Code in my life, I realize that it would not have been there for me and millions of other visually impaired individuals in the world, if it wasn't for an individual from Coupvray, France who was born on January 4th, 1809; Louis Braille.

 

A lifetime with Braille as primary asset  

Author: Penny Leclair, Ottawa

Braille has always been a part of my life; though things have changed in how I access Braille. As a child I used Braille to learn to read and write, so it was an automatic way to keep information and read information. My hearing declined so that I no longer could listen to books;  I embraced Braille even more as I depended on the dots to provide most of the news and reading enjoyment. I have always considered a system that uses Braille to file information to be most practical. Before computer technology, all my recipes were stored in three-ring binders, and my appointments were stored on hard paper. Now, of course, computers perform the filing function, but knowing and using Braille is still important. 

I think the most creative way I devised to use Braille was when I labeled a skeleton with letters that corresponded to a list of names of bones of the body. I studied anatomy, and learned 212 bones of the body by labeling a skeleton with Braille letters, taped to each bone, along with sheets of paper that explained each label in more detail. I doubt I could have learned the body as well, if I had not used Braille in the system of displaying information that was totally meaningful to me.  As technology improves our lives, it does not diminish the value of knowing and using Braille. I use a communication method called British   Two Hand manual, because I am Deaf-Blind. This system is based on touching parts of the hand where each location stands for a letter of the alphabet. I use Contractions of Grade 2 Braille to short form words, making it faster to receive information. Utilizing contractions of the Braille code has made a big difference in how
accurately I can receive information at a reasonable speed. One thing I know about myself and Braille is that we will remain linked for ever.

Getting an education can be a challenge when you have "special" needs. For me, back in the late 1990's, it was a serious challenge to locate qualified Intervenors. An intervenor ( a person who uses tactile sign language to help Deaf-Blind people to communicate with others, or if enough hearing might repeat at close range what is said.) When I began attending classes at
Algonquin College in Ottawa, I had to help train interested people to be intervenors. To start off I used to show them Braille contractions to short form words. I would email to them, using short formed words, actually taken from using the grade 2 Braille code. They learned the British Two Hand Manual, and practiced, this using short forms. It took many hours to have
them progress to a fast speed, so we started by using a laptop computer, and a Braille display. I would pack all three pieces of equipment, my personal equipment, into a brief case, and travel from class to class. I would sit next to the person using the keyboard of the laptop, typing into a word processing program. I would connect my Braille display to the laptop, and read as the intervenor typed, using Braille contractions. All this was done without any of us having any experience about how to! It was a challenge for us to maintain speed, but this system was fully dependent on Braille. We moved from using a laptop to using the sign language, as the new intervenors became more automatic with the use of Braille contractions and the Two Hand
Manual alphabet. 

Today the intervenors use the Braille forms of words when they write personal  notes for themselves, finding it a very convenient way to produce accurate notes in writing. 

The strange thing is that if I indicated someone would have to learn Braille contractions, they would be intimidated, so I stopped telling the new intervenor they were learning Braille short forms. Only after they become proficient, do I explain to them that they are using contractions of the Braille code! Braille is perceived is being extremely difficult to master. It really is not harder than learning any logical system of writing or communicating.  

 

I Was Looking For A Teaching Job

Author: Joey Baird, Pocologan NB

Braille has had an enormous influence on my life. My first introduction to Braille was watching a friend of my mum’s as she read recipes and books in Braille. I was amazed that she could make sense out of the dots!  Her delicious meals were evidence that she could!

After being at home bringing up children, I was looking for a teaching job.  There was a vacancy at APSEA and an itinerant teacher that I knew was telling me about the job, which sounded interesting – except that I would have to learn Braille.  She said I would have no problem; I applied.

Learning Braille was like climbing a mountain.  I began on the grassy slopes.  The letters came easily but the rules were steeper terrain.  I was learning on my own, by correspondence, and I thought that the examination would consist of a Perkins Brailler and some Braille paper in a big gym – with an exam, the contents of which I would have to know.  There were so many rules – and I did not have any idea of the WHY of the rules!  I climbed, and the mountain got steeper and craggy. 

My husband, Gordon, was supportive. He cleared two hours on Tuesday and Thursday evenings when he did the homework with our children while I closeted myself with Braille.  (I worked a lot of weekends too!) I was loosing confidence; the mountain was very difficult – like a sheer rock face - and I could see no way to finish climbing to the top.  Then I heard about the Braille program through Nebraska State University.  I signed up and it was like a safety rope from above to help me climb.  The people there were always positive and encouraging and again, progress was made. Finally I completed the course and was ready to challenge the CNIB exam.  I was allowed to use my text to look up things!  By this time I knew by heart many rules – and I understood WHY many of the rules were needed – after all, there are only six dots!  I completed the exam, and then used the book to check that I was correct. 

The day that I received news that I had passed the CNIB Braille Examination was wonderful.  I was feeling I was at the top of the mountain and I could see the other side – but there was yet another part of the mountain to climb.  Nemeth Code came next, but I had learned how to cope: I applied to Nebraska State University where the people there, again, gave so much encouragement and confidence that I climbed easily to the top of the mountain.  A later course in Nemeth Code from Judi Johnston at APSEA came easily to me.  Lately, I have helped teachers’ assistants with English Literary Braille and Nemeth Code they have taken from Hadley.  Hadley courses seem to be excellent and the books they provide are nicely laid out and easy to consult.

I love to teach Braille!  It is a challenge at times to keep it fun – but what a joyful challenge!  There is such a thrill to see a student make sense of the Braille and to begin to use it.  I am pleased to be able to tell my students the “why” of the rules, to help him or her make sense of them.  There are now many methods and materials available to help teachers of Braille.  How nice to see a child able to curl up and enjoy a Braille book.

I have enjoyed many creative students.  I now am able to do some Braille Art that we have played with and worked out.  For example, we can make Christmas trees and candy canes on cards!

Strides have been made in providing our students with tactile diagrams.  More time is needed to teach the interpretation of tactile drawings and diagrams.  Many are based on the interpretation of a sighted person, without thought to the experiences of the kinaesthetic learner.

I am pleased to find Braille appearing in elevators and on signs in our daily environment.  I am delighted to know that I was a part of helping students learn Braille so they could enjoy reading and writing in their lives.

I must also mention that through all of my teaching and training at APSEA, I received strong encouragement from many people, especially Dr. Ann MacCuspie, who is still working to improve the lives of students who are blind or visually impaired.  Ann is inspirational!

When I am teaching Braille to students there are lots of little fun innuendoes to help. The children, also, often come up with their own ideas to help them to classify and remember letters.  For example, the letter “g” uses the top four dots that feel like a little square and the letter “g” stands for the number seven.  I tell my students that my husband’s name is Gordon, which starts with “g” and that he has seven children – and he is a little square!  I also tell them that they should never forget “j” - that “j” is the most important letter in the alphabet because it starts my name, Joey.  However, that has backfired with students teasing me that “j” also stands for zero!
We always think of ‘K’ as “kangaroo k” – with a space in the middle for the baby kangaroo.  An “l” does not have a space because it does not have a baby in a pouch – “l” is more like a little line…The Braille alphabet is a fertile place for imaginations to flourish!

 

I Loved Braille Right From The Start

Author Sandra Brooks, Kingston ON

I was totally blind from the age of one, and so went to the Ontario School for the Blind in Brantford, Ontario at age six. I can remember learning Braille.  We were given cards with words on, written out in uncontracted Braille, and then written in contracted Braille.  The first words I can remember on these cards were Mother and Father.  We had plastic envelopes that I remember we called "houses" and we kept our cards in these envelopes.

When I was in Grade One at the Ontario School for the Blind, at Christmas my  parents received a Braille Christmas Card.  I remember that it had a raised  velvety feeling poinsettia on the front, and the message in the card was  written in Braille and print.  When the card was opened completely, the  alphabet was shown so that it was possible to see which dots made up which  letters.

Using this and a slate and stylus, my Mother learned how to write enough  uncontracted Braille that she could write letters to me when I was away at  school.

It was such a special thrill for me to be able to read my own letters from  home without someone having to read them for me.  I can only imagine how long it must have taken her to write them, what a loving thing that was for  her to have done for me.

When we were cleaning out my parents house after her death, the card was  still there, definitely showing its age and the fact that it had been well  used.

If memory serves me, we started learning to write in Braille with a slate and stylus at the same time we learned to read.  Once we had a large enough vocabulary, we started  reading books all about Dick and Jane and Spot.

I loved Braille right from the start, and have never changed my mind with respect to that.  Despite all of today's technology, and the fact that I have a computer, a Braille printer, an mp3 player that will play audio books in Daisy format as well as in mp3 and text format, I prefer to read to myself in Braille and always have Braille library books and Braille magazines on hand.  I have a Braille writer, but a day doesn't go by that I don't write myself a message or take down some information with a slate and stylus.

Braille made it possible for me to graduate from high school, to go on to the Royal National Institute for the Blind School of Physiotherapy in London, England, and to receive my diploma as a registered Physiotherapist. Later, still using primarily Braille, I graduated from Queens University with a B.Sc. in Physical Therapy.

Braille made it possible for me to take notes on my patients, write down information I would later type up to go on charts, and to label pieces of machinery so that I could use them independently.

Braille has helped me to label equipment in my home, to organize files, to label food items, to label clothing so that I know what colour it is. I think one of the saddest things that seems to be happening these days, is that educators seem to think young children being educated in the regular school system don't really need to learn Braille.  They feel computers and audio equipment have taken its place.  This is totally wrong.  Without being able to read and write Braille, children are being made illiterate. It is vital that we be able to write and read, not need to rely on equipment that may not be portable, or, as we all know, can be unreliable.

I cannot emphasize enough, the enjoyment Braille gives me every day, and the independence it allows me.  Yes, Braille books are bulky and take up a lot of space, but the advantages will forever outweigh the disadvantages.

I hope that Louis Braille realized what a wonderful legacy he left us, and I hope that the blind community will always cherish it and insist on its continued and increased availability.

 

Tribute

Author: Karen Somerville Toronto, ON

Pat Fortnum was a petite woman with a soft-spoken nature, a gentle person with a great laugh, a kind friend full of warmth and creativity and a dedicated volunteer with a love of braille. Pat was born September 24, 1937 and passed away January 8, 2008.  She was a volunteer braille transcriber for 14 years, from 1994 to 2008. 

Pat began her career as a braillist in 1994 when she took the braille transcription course at CNIB.  The prerequisites of excellent English skills, the time and desire to work at least 15 hours a week and the willingness to commit 5 years to brailling did not deter Pat.  On the contrary, the course inspired her to take two further braille courses and she became a certified proofreader and instructor.  She also participated in CNIB’s annual braille conference by helping to shape its program and by the giving of workshops on the intricacies of braille. But mostly, Pat became a prolific braillist, who brailled at all hours of the day (and of the night) and who brailled whatever was asked of her.  She brailled in sickness and in health.  In the end, Pat brailled thousands of pages.  And if you happen across a cookbook produced by CNIB within the last ten years, there is a good chance that it was transcribed by Pat Fortnum. 

Pat entered the family of braille volunteers at CNIB and stole peoples’ hearts.  They admired her for her struggle against cancer, they enjoyed her for her enthusiasm for life and they were inspired by her love of braille.  The braille community mourns Pat’s passing but celebrates her extraordinary contribution to the progress of braille.

 

Sighted People Learn Braille

Author: David Edey, Edmonton, AB

During last Sunday’s church service I noticed that there were some braille pages in our church bag.  I read the title and realized that the pages were the words to a song.  The bulletin said that my wife would soon be leading that song.  Since I had the words, I knew that she, in her usual spot among the choir, would not have the words when it came time to sing them.  So I took them to her.  Though we have been married since 1973, and the people in the choir know us very well, they were amazed to discover that I knew what was on the pages I was bringing to her. 

I am a sighted person who learned to write (with a slate and stylus) and read (with my eyes) Braille in 1972.  I learned Braille because the pretty girl I had met in University had gone home for the summer and I wanted to write to her.  So one afternoon on my way home from work, I got off my bike at the CNIB where they reluctantly sold me a slate, stylus, Braille paper, and a book on Grade 1 and 2 Braille.  They cautioned me that very few sighted people learned Braille.

That night I sat down, learned Grade 1 Braille and wrote my first letter.  She didn’t keep that letter, but I kept the one she typed in return.  She and her dad were both pretty surprised that a guy had sent her a letter in a very large envelope.  Her dad wanted to watch her open the letter, but was unable to linger because he glanced out the window and saw a cow grazing on the lawn.  She wrote: I left the letter, out of the envelope, with the other mail on the end of the table.  All through dinner we talked about the broken fence and what my nephew had to say that morning on the phone.  Finally it came ‘Writes in Braille, does he?’ was the casual observation.  It was obvious that he was trying to picture the guy who would go to all that trouble just to write to a girl.”

That fall, I left for Acadia University in Nova Scotia for 8 months, and daily letters crossed the country courtesy of Canada Post.  In 1972, a Braille letter mailed in Wolfville, Nova Scotia on a Tuesday would be read in Edmonton, Alberta on Friday. 

Over 35 years later, I still use Braille”.  We have to have Braille labels on items in the freezer and on the spice jars in the cupboard.  Some are labelled in print too, but not all of them.  I am able to write notes and Christmas tags; I can read Braille pages left lying around the house; and every day at work, I use my own print short-hand which is totally based on my knowledge of Braille contractions.    In my handwriting a / means the and a \ means for, so /m means them and \m means form. A g at the end of the word means ing so thg means thing.  Th is
a gd thg means this is a good thing.  P are alw amazed at how fast I c get an idea down on paper, & x is all bec of my k of brl.  Translated back into English, that means People are always amazed at how fast I can get an idea down on paper and it is all because of my knowledge of braille.    

With e-mail, scanning, and cheap long distance plans, I’m not sure the motivation would be there for me to learn Braille today.  But I believe that learning Braille in 1972, allowed our relationship to grow even though we were miles apart, and helped us build a strong marriage of 34 years. 

 

And it was a great way to impress my future father-in-law even before I met him.

 

Braille Heroes

Author: Sandra Friesen, Windsor, ON

Dr. Bertman and I met because he taught a series of courses on ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt that I was interested in.  He became one of my staunchest allies at university.  When my taped textbooks failed to materialize, or segments arrived too far apart to make much difference, Dr. Bertman recorded supplemental tapes.  Such was the case with a textbook on ancient Greek that was being transcribed by the University of Hawaii.  When my spirits sagged, Dr. Bertman spurred me to greater heights.  I might have given up otherwise.  Obviously I inspired something in him to merit his time and effort.  We became fast friends and remain friends to this day. 
How and why I came to teach Dr. Bertman Braille eludes me, but he took to it like a plant to water.  Was it because the university I attended was slow to set up a technology unit for exceptional students and we had to dream up alternative way of doings things?  Or was it because Dr. B. liked to assign surprise quizzes in ancient Greek class and I wanted to participate.  Whatever the reason, Braille became another tool in our toolkit.  Essay themed exams were typed for obvious reasons, but multiple-choice exams could be responded to in Braille.
My chance to thank Dr. Bertman in a big way came in 1996 when I was invited to nominate him “teacher of the Year.”  Another nuggets of wisdom, Dr. Bertman told his audience that the best student is the one the teacher learns from.  Nowadays we communicate via email and print letters.  But there are the occasional Braille notes and cards signed in Braille. 
Dr. Bertman is my hero. 

Louis Braille, you’re my hero too.  Happy birthday! 
I am delighted to add my voice to those who will be honouring Louis Braille next year. 

I’ve been using Braille since the age of six and I love it.  When I encounter braille in unexpected places, I rant and rave.  I know people around me think I’m nuts.  Be it on the door of the Ladies’ at the Tim Horton’s, the elevators at City Hall, a changing table at Wendy’s or the emergency exit on a Greyhound bus I proclaim my love of Braille by saying: “Well, Hello there!”  My most unexpected encounter with Braille to date was on the Cuban convertible peso.  Whereas Canadian money has full cells denoting the amount of the bill, the Cuban Convertible Peso has actual Braille numbers minus the number sign.   Way to go, Cuba!

Braille is enhancing my ability to complete a course in basic conversational Spanish from the Hadley School for the Blind.  I must respond to each unit on tape but when I’m ready to study the next unit, I use both the cassette and Braille course materials as learning aids.  The tapes help me to actually speak Spanish and learn its rhythms, the Braille text allows me to see Spanish in written form.  For me the tapes alone wouldn’t suffice.  Having a text in Braille cements the language more firmly in my mind.

My Brailliant 40 Display enables me to be a much more proficient computer user.  Braille is great on occasions when JAWS develops tonsillitis suddenly and inexplicably, or just doesn’t feel like talking.  Sometimes I wonder. 

I’m in a unique position to promote Braille.  I serve on the Windsor accessibility advisory Committee.  An entrenched perception of city Council is that Braille is one of the most expensive methods of accommodation.  When I think of how and where tax dollars are being squandered, the expense of employing Braille as a method of accommodation is really minimal.  Of course the issue is more complicated than that.  However, I still believe the issues surrounding Braille are more attitudinal than anything else.  How to convince them?  I do know that not trying to convince them isn’t the solution. 

1. I love Braille so much that I promote it around the world.  I’ve been passing along Braille magazines since I was twelve years old.  My aim is not to impose my culture on others through literature, but rather to put braille in the hands of blind citizens in other countries.  By becoming Braille literate they are so much closer to being equal members of their communities.  They’re able to think, converse and generate ideas.  Through knowledge gained by reading they can contemplate their own destiny and their country’s place in the world.  The other side of the coin entails exposure to ideas that may be out of step with other beliefs, reminders of the gap between rich and poor, etc.  However, were I Jane in Malawi, or Sabah in Israel the window on the world that Braille affords would be far more preferable to me than illiteracy and isolation.  Currently I send Braille magazines to Malawi and Israel. 

 

My home is a veritable museum to Braille.  I invite all archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, librarians, and graphologists to visit now and in the future.  The museum is open seven days a week.  Admission is free. 
I live in an apartment on the fifth floor of this building so future archaeologists will be sifting a middle layer.
Before the excavation commences, a seriously diligent archaeologist will have put together a composite sketch of the lives of people who lived here.  She will then have a better understanding and perspective of certain artefacts as they emerge.  If she was alerted to the site without much time to prepare, repeated unearthing of certain artefacts will be her best teacher.
Amidst the glass and wood and metal of this particular layer she will uncover several volumes collapsed in on themselves.  They will be recognizable as books only by their pebbly hard covers, faded ink and faint etchings of dots.  Further research will tell her that she has found the King James Version of the Bible in eighteen Braille volumes and a two-volume Braille hymnbook.  Except for particles of plastic combs and metal staples, constant sifting and shifting and exposure to the elements will reduce my collection of soft-covered books and other materials to a soggy mess.  Our archaeologist might be very curious about the faint outline of dots on a soft, pliable, very brittle plastic-like material. 
My shell of a computer might not offer up much evidence, but with a little imagination and a lot of guesswork, our archaeologist will glean that the person who lived here was not only literate, but could communicate on many levels using alternative methods to do so.  She will have better luck establishing the history and use of my metal slate and brailler and the remnants of my plastic slate.  Patience and very careful manoeuvring of her spoon will reveal a carrot-shaped writing implement to go with the slates. 
A cataclysmic moment would occur when our when our archaeologist came upon a series of flat plastic cartridges threaded with ribbon.  If the excavation allotted a generous budget and the right people are on staff, research concerning these mysterious objects and their function can begin without delay.  It will take the concerned efforts of several disciplines to establish time use and history of these objects.  One of them will sacrificed in the name of science on the assumption that it is astound recording.  It may never to determined what these objects are.  If the right equipment can be found, and the right people are involved, it will come to light that the cartridge is a cassette containing Braille data and the machine used to used to input that data was called a Versa-Braille.  Really intense focus on the project would place the time as the late twentieth century and the use of this invention as an exciting chapter in the era of paperless Braille. 
Our hard-working archaeologist would uncover a smattering of fragmented, dot-studded plastic surrounding many household items.  Was the person who lived here a graffiti artist, a decorator, or an avid Braille label fanatic?

Lighter moments would occur upon discovery of what might be classified as notions and novelties—a Braille-labelled Rubik’s cube, a pewter book on a key chain with “read for fun” in Braille, a plastic full cell n a key chain, Braille dominoes, Braille scrabble and Braille monopoly.  A curse will be visited on all excavation personnel who dare to encase, enclose, situate or otherwise house these very special artefacts in glass display

 

Not So Fulfilling Without It

Author:  Vicky Stacknick, Kingston ON

I am totally blind and have been using braille since grade 1 at the W. Ross MacDonald school, in Brantford. I have a cousin, Cathy, the same age as myself. One summer we were on the beach, and playing like kids do, in the sand. She was curious about braille, so I taught her the alphabet, in the sand. She picked it up very quickly, and we had fun all summer, practicing braille.

Fast forward to adulthood. She was my maid of honour, at my Wedding, and became interested in the best man, who happened to be blind. She married him and they have a Visually impaired son. I am sure braille came in handy, when her son was small. I also have a visually impaired son, who learned all about braille because I used it in all the board games when he was small. I also read him lots of the print braille books. When my son grew up and got married, he tried to send me an anniversary card, in braille, but each letter was backwards. The thought was there, though.

I learned about karaoke, from a blind friend and began to collect my own tapes of songs. I painstakingly brailled all the lyrics out on thermoform paper, so that the copy would last. I would practice and practice, even recording some of my songs. Then I would go to the bar, and sing in front of the crowd. I won several prizes, and also sang at some old folks homes. I use the plastic rings to bind the songs together and now have several books of lyrics.

Now that computers and technology of all kinds are so popular, I have a braille note, and the refreshable braille is very helpful, in meetings, when the voice would be a distraction.
That's only a few of the uses I have for braille, but life would not be as fulfilling without it.