When Santa Lost his Eyesight

*This is a cute little story written by my good friend Alex Castillo adapted froma play from one of my heroes, Jerry Whittle. Enjoy!

When Santa Lost His Eyesight 

Santa winking/

 By: Alex Castillo

Most people know about Santa Claus. He’s the Jolly old fellow who along with a team of flying reindeer and tireless elves, work year round so that on one night out of every year, they can bring presents to children and adults all over the world. What many people are not aware of, is that one year, Santa began noticing that his vision was not what it used to be. Of course, he did not want to admit it to himself, but driving that sleigh at night, and being up there in the sky with all of those airplanes zooming by, made him feel quite unsafe.

It was no surprise when news started being gossiped about in the North Pole that Santa had gone blind, and that he was quitting the holidays. He became depressed, and without his work, he lost his sense of purpose in life. The man was a real sad mess. On one of those special Holiday nights, everything started going downhill and Just got worse and worse. The naughty and good lists were becoming a blur, and he handed out the wrong toys to more than 1 billion people. I know what you might be thinking at this moment, If Santa had gone blind, you would have surely heard about it. I’m not saying this is all true, but was there one year in which you received absolutely the most unlikely gift ever? Well, if the answer is yes, then this story might make a little sense.

After getting home that night, Santa could do little more than lock himself up in his office at the toy factory, and no matter how hard anyone tried to cheer him up, he could do absolutely nothing for a very long time. This is the story I heard last year when I was visiting friends in Ruston, Louisiana. They say that one year after he had lost his vision; Santa came down there to receive training at their blindness center. “He could barely even see Rudolph’s nose,” they said, “He had lost about 75 pounds when he had first arrived, and wouldn’t even touch a cookie.” “he’d get real close to ya when he was talking,” they would all whisper, “Couldn’t tell north from south even if he was holding a compass: bless his heart.” And apparently the entire town knew about this phenomenon. So well-known was the story down there that a writer by the name of Jerry Whittle wrote a play about the whole ordeal, and everyone in town came to see the production.

 When I asked how come Santa didn’t choose Nebraska to come and train, after all, we have an awesome center right here, and it would seem the familiar choice with all the snow we get, howling winds, and freezing weather, the answer I received was: “well, Nebraska? With all that snow up there? He’d be recognized in a heartbeat if he stepped outside dressed in all red in his Husker gear. “They said: “Down here, he’s just another blind guy with a beard.” The more I thought about the story, about this blind and depressed Santa Claus, the more sense it made. Often when people start to lose their eyesight, they feel ashamed, and even worthless. People find themselves almost transforming from a productive and contributing member of their family, or community, to just sitting passively, watching life and everyone else pass them by.

We often confuse the inability to do, with the inability to see. And all that it would take for us to get back into our routine, or even find a more exciting and challenging one is to simply understand that with some blindness training, many doors can open up with the promise of opportunity. Training centers do not create Santa Claus’s. But they can help Santa figure out how he can do his job as a respectable blind person non-visually. As I recall, the play ended with Santa making the decision to keep the toy factories open and to stay in the Job as Santa Claus, and arriving at the North Pole to continue his yearly duties, with some new blindness skills and alternatives. It was a true happy ending. But the people in Ruston tell a different story. They say that he didn’t go back to the North Pole right away. “Oh, he had some trouble with the training,” they said. At first, he was always lifting those sleep shades. They said he would use the excuse of being overheated to lift them and peek during every class. He didn’t like travel very much, they said: “Oh, Santa, Santa, you would see him just hiding when it was time for travel class,” But what surprised me the most was when they told me: “the first time Santa stepped into the wood shop and heard those live blades running, he almost fainted.”

One would think that someone who has been working with factory machinery their whole lives would be able to handle an arm saw. As time went by, he settled into the center and became an excellent student. But, after training, he didn’t go back to the North Pole right away. He wanted to try out a new career. He went to work at this Cajun restaurant as a cook in the next town. During training, Santa had discovered that he had let Mrs. Claus do all the cooking their entire marriage, but he actually enjoyed working in the kitchen. “Could you imagine that?” they said, “Santa as a cook in a Cajun restaurant?” I suppose he just felt like he wanted some independence.

Like many people after they finish blindness training, he must have felt a bit rebellious and must have wanted to prove to anyone that he could go far beyond the common expectations for a blind person. It wasn’t until the Mrs. Threatened to come and get him that he decided to go back up north. Sometimes the path to independence isn’t obvious and clear. Sometimes, like Santa, we need to figure ourselves out for a little while. Sometimes, blindness gives us an opportunity to learn and make decisions which vary greatly from our past, and that we would have never thought possible if we had not lost our eyesight. And sometimes, we just get a stronger sense of who we are.

But, The first step toward independence, and starting your life, or getting it back is recognizing when it’s time to receive training, and then going through that training in a program that will allow you to fully realize yourself as a respectable blind person. After all, this is our life, and we live through our choices. As for Santa, You can decide to believe this story or not, but the children and grownups are still receiving presents on time and without any strange mix-ups. Polls show that he’s been doing a better job year after year. And just the other day, I read a review about some new restaurant opening up on the North Pole which specializes in southern cuisine. Note:

This Story was based on the play written by Jerry Whittle.

Link: http://nebraskacenterfortheblind.blogspot.com/2012/12/blind-santa-goes-back-to-work.html

Inch by Bloody Inch

As I'm sitting here trying to make up a list of my New Year's Resolutions for 2012, it just seems so overwhelming and I want to just scream because it's too much for me to take (because I do have SO much to improve on). Then...I cane across this great article and it really did calm me down.

I will post my resolutions as soon as they make it officially to paper.

This article is from one of my most favorite people, Miss Kristen Cox. It's a must read. Seriously. Remember one inch at a time when you're making those New Year's Resolutions!

http://kristencoxut.blogspot.com/2012/01/game-of-inches.html

Good luck everyone. You can do it!

Dear Mr. President

I came across this letter in a recent search I was doing for a project I am working on about the importance of Braille. This letter was written by my boss about two years ago and just had to be shared...

August 25, 2009


Dear President Obama:

This letter is intended to share with you the importance of Braille in my day-to-day life and the lives of thousands of other blind people. My story is not a unique one, but it may help to illustrate the power of Braille, the need that remains, and the urgency America faces in finding solutions to the Braille crisis.
I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the son of an African American blue collar worker and an Anglo-American housewife. We had a strong family, but we grew up in a housing project in the South Valley of the city. Until age seventeen I had 20/20 vision, but I was mostly illiterate because I did not have a good educational experience (reading materials were not available), and I did not have good role models for literacy.
Being the illiterate son of a mixed-race family living in the Albuquerque barrios, my future was questionable. When I was seventeen, I was involved in a drive-by shooting which left me totally blind and devastated. As you might imagine, my prospects became even more bleak, and my hope for any sort of meaningful future was nearly snuffed out. Fortunately, after leaving the hospital, I was contacted by the New Mexico Commission for the Blind and I was directed to the training center in Alamogordo, where I was to learn Braille and the other skills of independence. I learned the literary Braille code and regained the ability to read. Through intensely focusing on Braille, blind role models encouraged me, challenged me, and helped me to increase my literacy skills. I was illiterate as a sighted teenager, and through Braille, not only did I gain the ability to read, but the ability to be truly literate.

Since then I have gone on to earn academic degrees. I have a PhD in rehabilitation education and research and a certificate in educational statistics and research methods. I am currently employed as a graduate professor at Louisiana Tech University. I am happily married, and I have two wonderful children. My older daughter has just been accepted into the gifted program. I am truly living the American dream. I am now successful for many reasons, and my access to Braille is primary among these factors.

Blind people in this country continue to face a 90 percent illiteracy rate, and only 25 percent of blind people are employed. Yet, for those who know Braille, employment and success are nearly a surety. Please do whatever is in your power to help us to promote the importance of Braille; help us bring it back from the perception of a historical relic and remind Americans that Braille is the avenue to literacy for the blind. We must work collectively to ensure that all children and adults in America, including the blind, have a right and access to literacy.

Sincerely,

Edward Bell, PhD

Braille is Irreplaceable (Like the Beyonce Song)

Today is Louis Braille's B-day, so Happy Birthday!

In honor of his birthday...

There is this CRAZY, NUTS, RIDICULOUS, idea out there by some that Braille is NOT that important. It's NOT necessary with the advancement of technology. It's NOT essential for blind kids to learn, because there are computers for everything now.

Well, this is just beyond INSANE. Parents with kids, what would you say if your child's kindergarten/1st Grade/2nd Grade teacher came to you and said, "I'm not going to teach your child to read or write, we have computers for that!" You would FLIP, wouldn't you!?!

Its a riii-donk-uluz notion and it's nice to see some media coverage from the CORRECT angle on this topic...

Find this article here! Or read below...

IPhones, IPads Make Braille Still Relevent

Subramani

Refreshable brailler has ensured that Braille will survive into the 21st century.
 
The inventor

The deliverance arrived to them in the form of raised dots on thick sheets of paper, brought to them by a man whose curiosity to experiment with the awl in his father’s workshop had cost him the good eye to go totally blind. He then spent an entire summer vacation in the 1820s to create his own version of writing code that bears his name to date.

The only resemblance the Braille code has with its cruder version used in French military to pass on instructions to the soldiers without drawing the attention of the enemies on the battlefield was that its users were also left sightless in the dark night and were required to sharpen their tactile sense to read.

Throughout the 20th century, Braille, or the standardised version that came into popular use in the middle of the century, became the only method of written communication for the blind, which ensured they attended school and qualified themselves in the process.

Soon, blind men and women started knocking the doors of the government for jobs and probably our socialist system made an attempt to address their calls for allocation of ‘suitable’ positions like teaching, stenography and telephone operation.

The Braille did not offer the magic wand to a majority of blind persons to alleviate themselves from economic backwardness and poverty, but it certainly enabled them to take the crucial first step towards emerging out of the knowledge darkness. What turned out to be the magic wand though was the rapid advancement in technology, which enabled them to be a part of the knowledge economy without letting their impairment come in the way.

Personal computers, which now work with screen reader, infinitely increased the amount of information the blind can access, putting them almost on equal footing with their able-bodied peers. Access to the internet through 3G mobile phones has further simplified the process. This means that Braille either plays a less significant role in a blind person’s life or plays no role at all.

So debates that the quickness and versatility of digital media is making Braille, a system  that depends on a stack of paper with raised dots that runs the risk of being flattened out with each running finger, have been raging on.

Tech apologists are even right in arguing that the idea of information as merely textual is changing with the advent of multi-media applications that present much of what we require in audio/video.

So, despite holding Braille and its inventor with the reverence usually allotted to saints and miracle workers, it would seem that the blind are also gradually beginning to accept the ‘brave new world’ of science in which the coding system is moving to the back seat. While this notion may seem correct viewed from the surface, deeper examination would reveal Braille is as adoptive as any printing technology to the changing knowledge environment.

Refreshable brailler, through which a blind person can read the content of a computer screen as it refreshes with change in the screen content, has ensured that Braille will survive into the 21st century. Support to refreshable brailler devices by iPhones and iPads are the best indication of its usability in modern times.

While Braille still remains the simplest and the best means to read books and magazines for a majority of blind persons who may not have the luxury of working with computers and mobile phones, those with the dual disability of deafness and blindness almost exclusively use refreshable brailler to access information on the virtual space.

Organisations like the Helen Keller Institute in Mumbai allow the deaf-blind to work extensively on the technology.

So calling Braille an ancient writing method is premature and at least on available evidence, it is anything but a technique fighting for its survival. 
---


Pretty Good huh!?!


People TECHNOLOGY CAN NEVER REPLACE BRAILLE, IT JUST CAN'T!

Beauty and the Braille

Do you remember the library from the movie, Beauty and the Beast?

Picture Description: Library from the movie Beauty and the Beast with shelves all the way to the ceiling.

It was magnificent! Even to someone like me who hated reading at the time, you still couldn't help but be in Awe!

I hope someday to have a braille book collection like this one!

I found a couple of great sites (thanks to my top notch friends) where you can purchase braille books at fairly manageable prices.

Go to The National Braille Press  or here, The Braille Bookstore, oh and/or here, Seedlings!

You will luvvv them all! :)

So when I was looking for the picture of Belle's library, up popped some pictures of Belle. Ok, first off, BY FAAAAAAAAAARRRR my favorite princess (no offense to the other princesses).

Main reason...her dress! Have you seen this thing. STUNNING! Seriously!

Picture Description: Belle is her Yellow Dress

You prob. already all know, but I'm a sucker for yellow! The yellow ruffles at the bottom, the off-the-shoulder sleeves, the form-fitting bodice, the red rose as an accent. BREATHTAKING! So red carpet ready
and timeless. Best dressed of forever, for sure!

While I'm on the topic of style (after all this is slate and STYLISH) can I just put on my fashion police hat for a sec, k. thanks.

 Cinderella! For reelzeeeees, we all know your hot and blonde, and prince's love blondes but your dress is just so overdone. EVERYONE wears this for Halloween at least once in their life. It's just getting boring! Also this blue scarfy/sashy, looking bubble thing around your waste just does NOT flatter your hips, they look ginormous! And the puffy sleeve, seriously? That was so 1980! Time to update the drobe Cin! The glass slippers are pretty fantastic though!

Picture Description: Cinderella in her blue ball gown.

And as for you miss Jasmine. Can we say SKANKY! Sheesh put on some clothes and then I'll talk about them. So immodest! But those earrings are HOT!

Snow White (sigh). Where do I begin. Seriously Red, blue and yellow? I wore these colors once to dance class and looked and the mirror and about cried, I looked awful. Barf! The one thing about this outfit you've got going for ya is that collar. The tall, high Queen Elizabeth collar is so in right now, cute! I'm not even going to mention those sleeves....next!

And last, but not least, Sleeping Beauty. You all know I looooooooooooovvvvveeee me some pink! Super cute! But what's with the jagged edge at the top of that stunning skirt? I can look past that though. But I am really bugged that I can't see your shoes, I'm hoping it is a hot pink heel with a little glitter. And you're wearing your tiarra? Honestly? You don't have to wear it everywhere. Such a snob!

Picture Description: Aurora in her pink ball gown.

Alright. Now that I just went on some long, random tangent on the Disney Princesses (what the heck was that all about?)

I feel better for some reason.

 Goodbye friends, don't forget to be stylish!

P.S. When are we going to be able to start using canes that match? I'm wearing all black and red today and the white cane just takes away from the whole look of the outfit. We need some canes with STYLE!

National Federation of the Blind of Virginia Gives the Gift of Independence to Blind Children Through Local Braille Training Program

National Federation of the Blind of Virginia Gives the Gift of Independence to Blind Children Through Local Braille Training Program

Bring it on Katie Couric!

D.P. v. K.C.

One of my adoreably sweet students told me that I have this "she demon" that comes out of me sometimes when I'm teaching. I have NO IDEA where she got this from but she is also not the first to use such endeering terms about my charming personality.

I do admit it, I am incredibly passionate about some things (some people call this passion of mine by such terms as moodiness, PMSing, b*^%&ing, etc.). However, I call it passion.

I had this awesome dream last night, awesome in the sense that I was intensely arguing with Katie Couric, whom I adore by-the-way, about Braille Literacy. I know...I'm such a nerd...seriously, it's like dreaming about Pathagaloneus' Theory or something (FYI: I totally just made up that theory). Anyway, I had a dream:

Me: Seriously, Katie! Did you know that literacy rates of blind high school students who began their Braille education at an early age are consistent with those of their sighted peers

Me: And did you also know that visually impaired kids, who only learn large print and no Braille have significantly lower literacy rates.
Me: I was one of those "visually impaired kids who didn't learn Braille and I am pretty bummed about that! Girl, are you catchin' what I'm throwin' down!?!

So are you getting the picture of my dream...I talked A LOT and Katie didn't say much. Until...

Katie Couric: Braille is too hard to learn, large print is better for someone like you who can still see!

Then I was like...UH UH UH, NO YOU DIDN'T and shook my finger at her!

I was so impressive in this dream though...I was throwing out statistics like a mad woman...

Me: Listen, 44 percent of people who learn to read Braille are unemployed, while those who learn to read using large print have a 77 percent unemployment rate. Neither is great but look at the difference in those that learn Braille and those who do not!

Me: and did you know that less than 10 percent of blind kids know how to read Braille...that's not cool!

You're totally immpressed aren't you? I know Katie was. I'm telling you guys I had like 900 more of these statistics...I was like a genius.

Then I woke up!

It was a pretty AWESOME dream...and true as well!

Teachers of Tomorrow...

THIS looks like a pretty fabulous thing...CHECK IT OUT!

Roll out the Red Carpet....

no even better...PINK CARPET...

and put on your most hidious dress...
Because it's time for the Brailley Awards!!!
Today we will celebrate the dots we love the most and the fine work they do! So sit back and enjoy the show.

Our first award...
The award for most painful display of Braille goes to this lady...
I love Brialle and all but having a tactile tattoo version of it on my arm is not a pain I'll be going through anytime soon. It's actually kind of creepy!
The award for most unusual (and ridonculous) place to have Braille goes to this genius...

Who decided a Braille stop sign would be a good idea!
But people, if you are going to get a t-shirt with a Braille stop sign on it (cuz I know you all have thought about it) AT LEAST SPELL STOP CORRECTLY... Unless this guys name is RTOP which would indeed make a good rapper name, hmmmm, I'm getting ideas...

The next award is for, "Most Creepy Braille Toy!" Rubiks Cubes are legit and all but this looks like some kind of torture device...

I I'm scared!

The award for the, "Most Expensive Braille," goes to these babies...

Matching Braille, written in diamons, "I Love You" rings. I LOVE EM! Now to find me a sugar daddy...

The final award for the night, the award for "Most Scrumptiously Devine Yumminess Braille," goes to this little guy...

Come to Mama Bar of Chocolatey Braille Goodness!

Well, that's it folks, short and sweet. Braille at it's finest! :)

Gotta go, I'm now licking the screen...

These Kids Rocked It!

Contest rewards Braille literacy

Braille Challenge » Some 52 blind, visually impaired students met to showcase their skills.

By Natalie Dicou

The Salt Lake Tribune
03/10/2010

They can't see words on a page, but reading is at their fingertips, thanks to Braille.

Fifty-two students, who use their sense of touch, not sight, when settling into a cozy chair with a good book, met at the Utah State Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired last week for the annual Braille Challenge. The students, from ages 6 through 17, tested their ability to decipher the raised dots that make up the code, in a competitive setting.

"I like the challenge," said Alyssia Christensen, a Skyline High senior and Braille Challenge veteran. "I like being able to increase my speed and accuracy every year. I like to be able to increase my ability to read charts and graphs. And it just shows me what I've learned over the year."

Running their fingers over tiny bumps, the young Braille readers took several timed tests, which assessed their skills in areas such as reading comprehension, spelling, chart- and graph-reading, proofreading, and speed and accuracy.

They typed their answers using a Perkins Brailler, a machine that resembles a typewriter but has only nine keys, which blind readers press in combination to create the dots that represent letters. The top scorers took home ribbons and small cash prizes.

The Utah Foundation for the Blind and Visually Impaired has sponsored and conducted the contest for six years so kids like Alyssia will continue to improve their Braille skills. Learning Braille, like learning to read, can determine a person's future success, according to Braille Institute of America studies. Thirty percent of blind adults work full-time, and 90 percent of those who do are Braille readers, the institute says.

"[The Braille Challenge is a way] to promote Braille and encourage students, but also to reward them for that special effort of learning Braille," said Merrilee Petersen, Utah Foundation for the Blind and Visually Impaired activities coordinator.

It's also just plain fun. Students ate pizza, played games and heard live music.
Alyssia sat with several friends, snacking and cracking jokes during some downtime. She had her friends in stitches.

"That's what I'm known for," she said of her jokester personality. "It's so much fun. I love hanging out with people."

Petersen says the event gives students a chance to socialize with others who have similar challenges. "Many of them are in school districts that have five out of whatever, 10,000 kids, who read Braille, and they're definitely not in the same school," Petersen said. "So, when they come here, and they see their friends that they only see twice during the year, they really get close to them."

East High senior Sabrina Zarogoza's favorite test is reading and comprehension, but perhaps the main reason she takes part is "it's a great excuse to hang out with your friends."

While some students participate for the fun and games, others view the Braille Challenge as a high-stress event with a trip to the national finals on the line -- the top 60 scorers in regional events advance to the finals in Los Angeles in June.

"It's nice when you do win," said Churchill Junior High eighth-grader Caroline Blair, "but I don't have to win."

Some participants were born blind. Others can see fairly well now, but they have progressive diseases that will one day rob them of their sight. Learning Braille, for these "dual readers," is a preemptive measure.
Edison Elementary School fourth-grader Anthony Duran is learning both types of reading.

"I feel like I accomplished a lot," he said after handing in one of his tests.
Tiffany Lord, a Salt Lake City School District teacher for the visually impaired, works with Anthony.

"We are doing Braille so, if in the future, he does lose his vision, he will have a way to be able to read," said Lord, noting Braille might be his only way to "access the curriculum" later.
ndicou@sltrib.com

Braille Challenge Winners:
Varsity » Burgon Jensen, Midvale
Junior Varsity » Matthew Robinson, Beaver
Sophomore » Kortnee Barton, Syracuse
Freshman Novas » David Ashton, Lindon
Freshman » Marley Passey, Taylorsville
Apprentice Novas » Kalea Acuna, Ogden
Apprentice » Brianna Medina, Salt Lake City

Backin' a Sister Up...Can't Beat Braille!

Another great article on the importance of Braille...

Braille education key to success for visually impaired

By Megan Loiselle
Wausau Daily Herald

Whenever 16-year-old Abby Salber wants to listen to a CD, she grabs the disc and touches the label affixed to the front so she knows which one it is.

Salber of Mosinee is one of 16 visually impaired or blind students in the Wausau School District and one of two blind students using Braille at Wausau West High School.

Whether she is listening to music or cooking dinner, Salber depends on a form of written communication using a system of raised six-dotted cells created more than 180 years ago.

But some national advocates of Braille fear the growth in popularity of electronics using text-to-speech technology could threaten Braille literacy and hinder the academic success of thousands of blind children who otherwise would not have a command of written language.

Knowing Braille also equates to success in the work force. Only 30 percent of blind adults are gainfully employed, and of those, more than 80 percent work in careers where they use Braille every day, according to the National Federation of the Blind.

The federal government requires that Braille be considered the default option in every blind or visually impaired student's education as mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. A group of educators and specialists work with the students' parents to develop an individual plan and could decide Braille is not appropriate for the student.

In the Wausau School District, six students in the special education program for the visually impaired read Braille and 10 others have adequate vision to read print.

"With assisted technology, someone who is reading Braille ... they're getting the input and seeing the words and improving their spelling," said Dan Wenzel, director of the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Janesville. "I know people who use the audio method, which is just like a book on tape. You're going to gain content and miss the spelling."

Karen Schultz, who teaches Salber and the other blind and visually impaired students in the Wausau School District, said audio software programs that translate text into speech should be used in addition to Braille, not instead of it.

"From a teacher's standpoint, I'm a firm believer in teaching students how to read," Schultz said.

Salber learned how to use Braille from Schultz when Salber was 5 years old, but she learned how to read alongside her sighted classmates. By the end of high school, most students like Salber read at the same proficiency as other students.

Technology also has helped students become more proficient in Braille. Salber uses a Braille notetaker to write papers, do math assignments and other tasks just like someone would use a laptop computer. She connects it to another computer to translate the Braille into print, so she can turn in the assignment to her teacher.

"I need it for everything to be independent," Salber said. "It's very necessary to get a better sense of what you're doing."

Armed with a college-level reading proficiency, Salber is preparing to major in vocal music education at Wheaton College in Illinois.

Link to Article Here

There is no Substitute

I wish, that the whole world could have been there today when I gave my speech at Toastmasters because I was just so brilliant! (Toastmasters in a public speaking club not a place where you get to eat toast, much to my dismay).

Ok, hold on, before you think I'm the most self-centered person on the planet, I'm kidding about the brilliance part. But wishing the whole world was there, that part I'm not kidding about. Why?

Because it was terrible!

I bet you'll all just jumping out of your seats because your so disappointed you didn't get to come now!

Recently we (we meaning, me and my totally awesome blogger commenters) have been talking about a recent article in the New York Times that talks about learning Braille v. Learning Technology, which has caused a little debate in the blindness field. I have held my breath, resisted comment, kept to myself about how I personally felt about the article but today, my side of the issue became crystal clear...

I came to toastmasters today to give my second speech. I volunteered about a week ago to do so but due to life's tough circumstances I had to put my family first and postpone preparing my speech. So today came, and I went into the speech not feeling nearly prepared enough. We've all been there right? We all have things come up in life and other things get put on the back burner and we just have to push through it.

I had written the speech exactly how I wanted to say it but the practice part didn't happen so I went into it with basically what I had written.

I originally printed the speech out in Braille, but upon practicing, couldn't read it fast enough, so I went into the meeting with my super de-duper large print that looked like a 200 page novel to the onlookers (you know about 5 words per page). And I read my speech...

Nose pressed to the page, eyes squinted, no eye contact, no confidence, no nice posture, no poise!

Cause guess what? 37 inch font doesn't really work for me anymore! I 'face planted' my way through the speech, sat down and felt worse than I've felt in a very long time.

I feel discouraged, disappointed, sad...it took everything in me to not cry when I sat down, it makes me wanna cry now!

I realized today, unfortunately in front of a group of people's who's opinions matter greatly to me, that I can't read!

I learned Braille 23 years into my life, WAY, WAY, WAY too late! And quite frankly I don't practice it enough because I'm way too relient on print, print that does no good to me anymore!

Today, it was verified to the me that there is NO WAY technology can replace nor replicate my ability to read. Braille is what I needed today and there isn't a piece of technology on the planet that could have saved me!

There is nothing, nothing, nothing that can ever replace a person's ability to read and there is not a single reason anyone could ever use to convince me that it is alright for a child to not learn to read!

Failure. Something today failed. The education system failed me when they didn't teach me Braille and I failed myself for not practicing my Braille more often. Wherever it came from something HUGE failed me today.

It took me a very long time to learn lift my head up and become a confident, independent blind woman and I will NEVER put my head down like I did today again.

Braille is the answer. There are no substitutes.

Stylishly Quotey

People regret lots of different kinds of things but no person, anywhere, ever regretted that they had learned to read.

(Thanks Carrie)

Santa Sends Braille Letters

Once again, Santa has enlisted the help of the elves at the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Jernigan Institute to get Braille letters out to hundreds of blind boys and girls this Christmas season.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:

“Santa approached the National Federation of the Blind a couple of years ago and asked us to be his helpers. I’m quite fond of the fellow and was delighted that we could assist him in his work. Braille literacy is the key to success and opportunity for the blind, but unfortunately too few blind children are learning it today. This program will not only be jolly good fun but will also serve an important educational purpose, as blind children will be able to practice reading Braille as they enjoy their letter from Saint Nicholas.”

Between November 16 and December 20, parents can go online at www.nfb.org and fill out a Santa Braille Letter request form. The form can also be printed and faxed to (410) 659-6893. Beginning December 1, the Braille letters from Santa will start going out to boys and girls around the country. The Braille letter will also be accompanied by a print copy (for mom and dad to read), and parents can choose the contracted or uncontracted form of Braille for the letter.

The deadline for letter requests is December 20, to ensure that a return letter in Braille is received before Christmas.

Coin Toss with Louis

National Federation of the Blind Announces Louisiana Tech Will Use Braille Coin in Coin Toss

That's right the coolest, baddest, most awesome-st graduate school ever, is doing this wicked awesome coin toss...

The Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar Will Be Used in Coin Toss at the Bulldogs game in Ruston, Louisiana (October 26, 2009): The National Federation of the Blind, the nation’s leading advocate for Braille, is pleased to announce that Louisiana Tech University will use a 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar in the coin toss at its football game on November 6. The popular Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, a NCAA division I football team, will play the Boise State Broncos.

How cool is this? Well it's cool to me cuz I love Braille & football, but not at the same time neccisarily!!!

Side Note: I went to the the Louisiana Tech v. Utah State football game in Logan, Utah this weekend and had a blast. It was really a win/win deal for me since they're both my alma maters. I flaunted both Tech and Aggie appareal, to the confusion of many! My Aggies pulled it out though and it was an awesome game til the end...

Yeah for Football and Yeah for Braille!!!

What's Your Favorite Book?

A few years ago I was asked a question, a simple, normal, everyday kind of question, “What is your favorite book?” I sat there in silence, feeling embarrassed, sad, confused, because at age 23 I had never read a book. For me, reading meant heavy books, nose pressed to the page, headaches and neck aches and about five pages an hour. I hated to read!

I grew up as a blind child, with “very useful vision,” as my parents were told. The blindness professionals my parents met early in my life told them the best thing for me was large print, that Braille wasn’t necessary for a child with, “so much useable vision.” They were told Braille was difficult to learn and very time consuming, that I could be learning more important things instead of spending my time trying to read a code I didn’t really need.

My parents, of course, listened to these so called experts because they were just that experts on blindness, my parents did not know any better.

In the seventh grade a lady came to my school, pulled me out of class and asked if I would like to try and learn Braille. I was reluctant at first but said I would like to try; I had little expectations for myself because I had heard often how difficult Braille was to learn.

About once a month, the tennis balls and muffin tin came out and I began to be taught the Braille alphabet. In my itinerate teacher’s words I was making “remarkable” progress, in three months I learned letters A through J, pathetic at best.

I didn’t see Braille again until 10 years later when I made a decision to attend a full-emersion training program at the Louisiana Center for the Blind. I walked into Mr. Jerry Whittle’s Braille class and I instantly fell in love…with Braille.

I learned the alphabet in about two days, within two weeks I was through the entire Braille manual. That third week, at 23 years old, I began reading my very first book, “The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.” I couldn’t put that book down, I read slowly at first but my speed quickly picked up because I spent hours after school reading and reading and reading.

I was beginning to see the importance of Braille in my life, and so was my family. During my time at LCB my dad began his final battle with brain cancer. I left my training to spend the last weeks of my dad’s life with him. Curled up next to him in his bed one day, he said to me, “Promise me you’ll go back to your training center as soon as possible. Also promise me you’ll try to use a cane and lastly will you please be one to speak at my funeral and read it in Braille, for me.” Before I could begin to argue my case that I had only been in Ruston two months, I told him I would do these things. My dad was still alive when I began to Braille my final words to him on a borrowed Perkins Brailler. Many of my signs were wrong, many words that should have been contracted were not and I was very slow but this was the most important thing I would ever write and to know I was finally literate enough to do it was the most cherished gift of my life.

I read my jumbled, inaccurate, messy Braille on that October morning we honored my dad and it was possibly the proudest day I have ever had. I am thankful everyday my dad and mom pushed me to excel beyond meager expectations for the blind.

I will never be able to explain the joy I had when I read that last page of my first book, or writing the first words of a last letter to my dad.

My favorite book is, “Bridges of Madison County,” by-the-way and I love to read!

*This is from a presentation I gave at the National Federation of the Blind's 2009 National Convention in Detroit, Michigan.

"This Aint Cool..."

This article recently appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune; at the bottom I will give my personal thoughts on the matter...tastefully I hope...

"Complaint filed against Utah Schools for Deaf and Blind"

-Salt Lake Tribune, 6/9/2009

Parents, advocacy group ask state to fix alleged injustices. Imagine braving that first day of chemistry without a textbook. All the other kids have one, but yours is on back order.

Or imagine being excluded from practice tests. And when test day arrives, the questions are illegible. Just do your best and guess, the teacher says.

These are other injustices are alleged in a 14-page complaint filed Tuesday by the National Federation for the Blind, urging the Utah State Office of Education to fix long-standing, deeply rooted problems at Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind.

The problems constitute a violation of state and federal laws guaranteeing blind and visually impaired children a 'free, appropriate education,' the complaint alleges.

The state has 60 days to investigate and respond. No one is threatening legal action, although that would be the next step.

'Our hope is we can sit at the table and mediate a solution to all this,' says Denise Colton, vice president of Utah Parents of Blind Children, an affiliate of the National Federation for the Blind.

Officials at the schools for the deaf and blind did not immediately respond for comment Tuesday.

The deaf and blind schools serve more than 1,400 students throughout the state, most of them enrolled in neighborhood schools and public charter schools. They supply Braille textbooks and other instructional tools, technologies and tutoring. And they collaborate with teachers to evaluate students and map their education plans and progress.

But no formal agreement exists between the deaf and blind schools and local districts, leading to educational disparities and confusion over who pays for services and who is responsible for providing them, say parents behind the complaint.

Arbitrary 'first-come, first-serve' rules dictate when students get Braille books, embossers and electronic note taking equipment, parents say.
Colton says her 16-year-old daughter, Katie, went more than four months this year without a geometry book. And though textbook shortages are common in Utah's underfunded schools, the Park City mom says visually impaired children don't have the luxury of sharing texts.

Blind students also are often excluded from practice tests. Even when instructional aids are available, teachers aren't always trained to use them, say parents. And there's little quality control to ensure Braille translations are accurate.

Pat Renfranz says her 13-year-old daughter, Caroline, has complained over the years about Braille exams with illegible or missing information. This year, Renfranz was able to convince Granite School District officials to preserve the tests and have them proofread.

'So at least we're making some headway,' said Renfranz. 'But I feel it's only because Caroline was confident enough in her test-taking skills that anybody knows there's a problem with these tests.'

"Teachers aren't to blame. The problem is inadequate training", says Mike Palmer, the father of two blind children attending a public charter school. 'It's not like our word against theirs. Teachers are nervous about evaluating students. They say 'I've never done this before.' '

The complaint alleges some students are never evaluated, the first step toward securing special academic support. Others are screened by untrained, unlicensed people.

As a result, students with progressive blindness or residual vision are denied early training in Braille, said Ron Gardner, president of the national federation's Utah chapter.

It's a 'wait to fail' model that Gardner has fought for years. Parents have been afraid to come forward for fear of being perceived as turning on the school system.

But frustrations have reached 'critical mass,' they say. 'We are not asking for special treatment. ...We are only asking that the state do what is required by law and create a level playing field where our children can succeed on their own merits,' said Marla Palmer, president of Utah Parents of Blind Children.

The National Federation of the Blind filed a complaint against the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind, alleging violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Among the group's suggested remedies:
-Work with a national consultant to audit student evaluations annually for five years.
-Train and certify public school teachers to evaluate students for eligibility for academic support.
-Hire more certified Braille transcribers, proofreaders and teachers.
-Require USDB to collect and report 'reliable' outcomes data.
-Creation of a binding interagency agreement between school districts and the program that serves deaf and blind students.

###
D's Thoughts: I, myself, attended the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind, but only for my preschool year (that's when I used to take a Taxi to school, how cool is that!?!). I am wicked upset that blind kids are STILL not getting regular textbooks in the classroom. No matter how you say it...Surfer Style: "This is totally not cool, not cool at all dude," Hillbilly Style: "I reckon dis ain't ner bit good." Gangsta Style: "You fronten' man, this aint dope...fo real!" Valley Girl Style: "This is like totally like way totally lame, like seriously."

Ok, all joking aside, this a serious issue and one that's been around far too long. No matter how you say it, it's NOT ok for blind kids to be getting their textbooks half way through the school year, or NOT be able to read their test because the Braille is wrong or that they are NOT getting the same education as their friends and classmates.

And folks...it's not just happening here in Utah, it's time to take a stand and let those who are accountable for the pathetic literacy rate among the blind to do something about it!

SpAcE BrAiLlE...

So how cool is this...

Two of the new Louis Braille Silver Dollars are now out there in the universe aboard the space shuttle Atlantis! The two coins will tag along for the 11 day mission of the shuttle which just launched yesterday.

I'm such a dork, I know, cause I think this is so stinkin' cool. Of course I've always been a tiny bit obsessed with wanting to be an astronaut--my childhood dream! Sigh! So that's probably why I think this is flippin' neat!

On the other hand, the National Federation of the Blind will launch a program to sell 50,000 of these limited edition coins to raise funds to advance Braille literacy in the United States before the shuttle returns to earth in eleven days.

Some of you are probably sick of hearing about the Braille coin...yadda, yadda, yadda--but I think it's a fun item to have and goes to one of the most important causes to me...Braillie Baby!

Bennett's Braille Bling...

The following article appeared the Deseret Morning News on April 6, 2009

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, on Monday was given a Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar by the National Federation of the Blind of Utah to thank Bennett for co-sponsoring legislation that made production of the coin possible.

It is the first U.S. coin to contain tactile, readable braille (some earlier coins honoring Helen Keller and the Paralympics had braille, but it was too small to be felt and read). The reverse of the coin shows a child reading braille, with the word "Braille" written in that language appearing above it.

The coins will not be in general circulation but are being sold by the U.S. Mint to help raise money for programs that teach reading in Braille.

Louis Braille was born in Paris in 1809. At age 3, he lost the sight in one eye because of an accident with an awl in his father's workshop. An infection spread to the other eye and left him completely blind at age 4. By age 15 he used a blunt awl (the same type of tool that took his eyesight) to punch holes in paper to represent letters.

The tactile language he developed has been adapted to almost every known language and is used everywhere from bus stops and maps to music notation and textbooks.

Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind, said, "If the blind can read, the blind can achieve. The Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar celebrates the man who gave literacy to the blind and is a unique and beautiful keepsake but is also a coin with a mission: to make sure that every blind child and every adult losing vision in our nation has the opportunity to learn braille."
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Photo #1:
Ron Gardner, left, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Utah, smiles as Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, shakes hands with Sachin Pavithran after the two men gave Bennett a newly minted Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar at Bennett's office in downtown Salt Lake City on Monday.

Photo #2:
A newly minted Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar. It is the first coin to contain readable braille. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

Thanks Senator Bennett!!!

Today a group from the National Federation of the Blind of Utah headed downtown... to present one our fine Senator's, Robert Bennett, with a newly minted 2009 commerative Louis Braille coin...The Salt Lake media joined in in making the special presentation to the Senator who helped co-sponser the bill in the Senate.Procedes from the sell of each coin will go to various campaigns for Braille Literacy in the United States, for less than 10 percent of blind people read Braille, a dismal number at best!
It was a great moment for our state and for blind people across the country. It was a ton of fun to get to be a part of something so fabulous.

and two of my awesome students joined me and made the trip to the city's federal building under shades and did a knock-out job--a shout out to them too...

For the full local story, log on to Fox 13 or the Deseret News!

To order your own Louis Braille Limited Edition Coin go to usmint.gov.