Hello, my name is Faith Kelley. My son is Brian Kelley, a typical 14 year old
boy. J So sweet when he’s sleeping.
Brian is our last born of three sons. He
was born with Sporadic Aniridea, glaucoma, and cataracts. He was diagnosed the second day of his
life. After six months of shock and
worrying about the unknown I decided I had better get busy and find out what
and how we were going to raise this child to the best of our ability.
We
started to work with the birth-3 program in our city of
Brian
began wearing dark glasses and little caps, in and out of the house, when he
was 3 days old, as the light would really hurt his eyes and could cause further
blindness. People always said “what a
cool dude.” I will never forget his
first pair of real prescription tinted glasses with clear frames. Putting those on him really made us aware of
his eye condition. I lost it right there;
after trying to be so strong through all of this and putting up a good front for
other people to keep their spirits lifted.
Wow, this tiny little perfect head with these glasses; he was about
seven months old.
Later Brian was diagnosed with speech and fine and gross motor delays and sensory issues.
We
knew we had to keep on pushing. Since he was the youngest, we tried to raise
him as the others, but with all the hospital visits and putting him under to
control his glaucoma, it was pretty tough.
Then
it was time for kindergarten. HELP, what will happen? He did better than we had expected, but he
had shown perseverance throughout his life.
In first grade he started to really get into learning braille and had an
awesome VI (vision) teacher named Alison.
The strides he made once he got going!
He was a smart boy and loved math and soccer. In 3rd grade he wanted to try reading
print all the time. After realizing the
difficulty of keeping up in class he opted to go back to braille! YES!
Brian
is now in 9th grade and I was so worried about this big transition
to high school and a new vision teacher, but he overcame again. He is finding his way in life, feeling
confident, getting good grades and still playing soccer on the freshman team.
Considering that he can only “see shadows” and is legally blind, he is still
amazing everyone in the family. He is a wonderful gift to us.
So
here I sit typing my letter for this issue, and I am so honored to be on the
Board of WisBrl and learning more about advocating for my child and yours.
What a trip it has been. I have been so
blessed to have learned so many new and exciting things that are happening for
our children and met so many wonderful people in Brian’s life. I am so excited
for the rest of his journey. ☼
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News from OSCI
Book Project!!!
[Wisconsin Braille's
special book project provides storybooks in braille to parents and teachers of
visually impaired students, free of cost. The books are transcribed, assembled
and shipped by members of the OSCI Braille Program.]
This is our favorite time of the year. Book Project! We get our heads out of the textbooks and are able to enjoy this great literature for kids. Some may wonder why we enjoy doing this so much.
What is involved? First, the books are copied and scanned. Second, they are gone over by a student to make sure all the text has been included in each book file. Then they go on to a transcriber. After the book has been transcribed, other transcribers will proofread the braille. Last it goes to our production and assembly crew. The books are embossed, burst, bound, labeled and boxed for shipping.
On average we transcribe ten new books a year as well as offering the previous years' titles. To date we have 195 titles available and we send out an average of 500 books a year.
Generous donations fund the program. OSCI contributes the time, the transcribers, the production, and helps share the production cost as a community service project. We know the books are free and can go to any school, organization or family with a visually impaired child. Not only is this a great service project for us here, but we also are able to see the great relationship between OCSI Braille, Wisconsin Braille and its members.
The letters, cards and messages we have received from recipients of this program make us appreciate the work we are doing even more. Thank you for those kind words and encouragement. Not only has the program helped the visually impaired families across the state, it has also helped bridge the gap for men in here who have children of their own. With the permission of WisBrl, we donate the print books that have been transcribed to the Breaking Barriers With Books program here at the institution.
This program targets the enhancements of parenting between
father and child utilizing good children's literature as the catalyst. The focus for the program is on the needs of
children whose fathers are not able to be with them. Fathers can share good children's literature
during a special family visit. This fosters
positive and long lasting memories between fathers and children.
This also shows the quality of the literature that is chosen by the Wisconsin Braille Book Project Committee. The relationship between Wisconsin Braille and this institution has brought about many positive things that were never planned.
We expect to start shipping the books out on April 15th. Yes, Tax Day!
We just want to say thank you for this opportunity to give back to the community.
Joshua J.
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Passage of Higher
Education
Legislation Will Take Steps to Provide
Accessible Textbooks to Blind Students
Last August President Bush signed
into law the Higher Education Opportunity Act.
The legislation establishes a commission to study ways that higher
education textbooks in accessible formats such as braille, audio, or electronic
text, depending on the preference of the student, can be provided at the same
time that sighted students receive their course materials.
Representative George Miller,
chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, thanked the National
Federation of the Blind (NFB) for their help in crafting this critical bill,
which will help strengthen college opportunities for blind students across
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, chairman
of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said:
"I'm proud that this bill does so much to help students with disabilities
enter and succeed in college. Thousands
of blind students and other students with print disabilities will benefit from
the steps we take to ensure that they receive accessible college course
materials, and I'm grateful for the Federation's work in supporting this
important provision."
Dr. Marc Maurer, president of NFB, said: "The lack of accessible course materials must be addressed in order for the blind to compete on a level playing field with their sighted peers. The Higher Education Opportunity Act is an important first step toward achieving that goal. The National Federation of the Blind looks forward to taking its place on the study commission created by this landmark legislation to aid the commission in crafting solutions that will ensure that every blind student begins class with course materials in hand, just like every other student. We will strive to ensure that the work of the commission results in recommendations for a comprehensive system to deliver textbooks in an accessible format of the student's choice that can be implemented on a nationwide basis." ☼
__________________________________
Far and away the best prize
that life has to offer is the
chance to work hard at work
worth doing.
Theodore
Roosevelt
______________________________________
The Braille Corner
Dear Ms. Perkins,
There seems to be so many ways to lay out a title page. Can you go over the basics of what is required on a title page and what is different about title pages between a literary book and a textbook?
Thanks,
Starting Out
Dear Starting Out,
You are certainly correct about how many ways there are to lay out a title page. So let me discuss some of the basic steps of preparing a title page to relieve some of the confusion.
I am going to discuss the difference between a literary book title page and a textbook title page later in the article. Information that is common to both is shown below. Each title page should contain the following information listed in the following order:
ü the book title (fully capitalized)
ü subtitle and/or series name (if any)
ü author(s) (fully capitalized); only use the word by if given in print; if there is more than one author place each on consecutive lines
ü publisher with first or principal address, city and state only (if given); preceded by the words Published by
ü copyright and reproduction notices; only latest copyright date is listed. If the copyright symbol is shown on the print title page, use the braille symbol ^c, placed and spaced as in print. Follow print if word and symbol are shown.
ü ISBN; preceded by the words Transcription of; include both 10- and 13-digit ISBNs if they are shown in print
ü year of braille transcription
ü name of transcriber, organization affiliation and address (city and state only)
ü total number of braille volumes (in arabic numbers)
ü number of the particular volume (in arabic numbers)
ü inclusive braille pages (both preliminary and text)
One difference between the two title pages is page numbering. When using literary-style pagination print page numbers are ignored. When transcribing a textbook, all print page numbers must be accounted for. So on a textbook title page, the print page numbers for that volume must be placed on line 25 below the braille page numbers. When a braille volume either begins and/or ends with a lettered continuation page, the lettered page number(s) must be indicated on the title page. Example: Print pages a69-125 or Print pages 125-b182.
Another difference between the two is that textbooks sometimes show grade levels. When a grade level is shown on the print title page, the cover, or the spine of a book it must be brailled as printed and placed following the book title. It may be placed on the same line as the title, if space permits, preceded by a colon.
A change in rule 19.2b(12) of the Instruction Manual for Braille Transcribing states that if a book consists of only one volume, instead of using the words "Volume One" the words "In 1 Volume" should be used.
I hope this alleviates some of the confusion associated with title pages.
Sincerely,
Ms. Perkins
________________________________________________
Ask Mr. #s
Dear Mr. #'s,
I notice that graphics, figures and diagrams in math books do not use the English Letter Indicator (ELI) for capital letters. Is this correct? And, are there any differences when one is transcribing figures and diagrams in math or science texts as opposed to other textbooks?
Sincerely,
Figuring it out
Dear Figuring,
First, for those not familiar with Nemeth rules, the ELI is what the Nemeth Code calls the Braille Formats Letter Indicator (dots 56).
Next, when a single capital letter in regular type is used as a label in a diagram, an ELI is not requires. If the single letter is in lowercase, then an ELI is used (§29 of the Nemeth Code.)
A D
B C
,a 6333333333333334 ,d
l ;a
_
l ;d ;b _
l ;c
_
,b h33333333333333j ,c
Other things to know about labels for figures and diagrams in Nemeth.
1 - The numeric indicator (dots 3456) must be used with numerals (§16 of the Nemeth Code.)
2- If the transcriber is creating a key (when, for example, there is not enough space for the figure labels) there are two options, as in textbook. One, a numeric key should consist of consecutive numbers shown in the upper part of the cell and not punctuated. Two, an alphabetic key should consist of two English letters that are suggestive of the item they represent, if possible. Note: An alphabetic key may not be used if the print material already uses an alphabetic key made up of two lower-case letters (§187 of the Nemeth Code.) Examples are shown below.
Creating
the Key
The student manual for the Nemeth Code could cause confusion here. Dorothy Worthington, Chair of the Mathematics and Science Braille committee for the NBA addressed this in the NBA Bulletin in the fall of 2006. So rather than telling you the way it is in the student manual, I'm just going to give you her explanation.
The key must be enclosed in transcriber's grouping symbols and must precede the material to which it applies. The key listing, arranged vertically or in columns, must be preceded and followed by a blank line. If possible, the key should be placed on the same page as the material to which it applies.
So how does it look? Braille Formats Rule 1§7b requires that a transcriber's note begin in cell 7 with runovers in cell 5; so the word "Key," as the first word would be preceded by the opening TN symbol in cell 7 and any runovers would follow in cell 5. Then a blank line is inserted prior to the listed items, then the list. The last item in the list must be followed by the closing TN symbol and then a blank line.
Numeric Key:
Key to points in the graphic below:
1 9b+4.5c = 36
2 15b+10c = 70
,',key 6po9ts 9 !
graphic 2l3
#a #9b+4.5c .k #36
#b #15b+10c .k #70,'
(continued)
Alphabetic Key:
Key to points in the graphic below:
sl Stop light
ss Sitting at school
sz School zone
,',key
6po9ts 9 !
graphic 2l3
sl ,/op li<t
ss ,sitt+ at s*ool
sz ,s*ool z"o,'
For more information, Guidelines for Mathematical Diagrams published by BANA is available through the National Braille Association, www.nationalbraille.org.
Sincerely,
Mr. #'s
____________________________________
MEMBERSHIP DUES
ARE DUE
Times are tough — but you can help.
By
using the form on the back of this newsletter and sending in your 2009 dues now
you can save wisconsin braille a
significant amount of money. Each letter that the membership chair has to send
out reminding members to send in their dues costs the organization close to a
dollar (stamp, paper, envelope, etc.) — money that could be better spent on our
programs.
PLEASE, DON'T WAIT! SEND IN YOUR DUES
NOW.
Thank You
______________________________________
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Use the following form to join or renew your membership to Wisconsin Braille Inc. Please make checks and money orders payable to: WISCONSIN BRAILLE INC.
Regular membership, annual dues: $10
Sustaining membership, annual dues: $30
Lifetime membership: $200
Please include: the date, your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. Also advise if you wish printed material to be sent to you in regular type, e-mail or braille.
Please answer the following: What is your affiliation with the braille-reading community? (List all that apply.) Teacher, educational assistant, transcriber, proofreader, administrator, producer, parent, user, other (specify).
Return application and payment to: Wisconsin Braille Inc., Membership Chair,
______________________________________
This version of the Wisconsin Braille newsletter was
prepared by the members of the OSCI Braille Program. It has not been proofread.
Readers are encouraged to report noted errors to: Wisconsin Braille Newsletter,
Editor,