Laura Thompson said on 2013/02/01 at 7:59 pm
Hi, Our 5 year old has aniridia and glaucoma. His vision is pretty good at the moment, 6/48 or so, but we know that with a shunt in each eye, his sight could deteriorate anytime. We have asked our education authority for dual education in Braille as well as reading print, but been refused, as his current vision is 'too good.' (He reads 32pt bold at the moment). Are there any Braille classes for children outside of school? I have searched the net adn found nothing in our area (Leeds) except for the over 17's. Should I wait until he is 17, or his sight deteriorates until the education authority say he 'needs' it, or should I try to find a means of teaching him now?
Any advice very welcome!
Thanks.
Martin Rowe said on 01/02/2013 at 7:59 pm
I have now managed to learn grade 1 braille and have released that I do enjoy reading although this was not the case as a child, this could have been down to the difficulities I faced with trying to read "normal" size print.
Reading braille books has opened up a new world of material. I do also listen to audio books, but this can make you anti-social.
Martin Rowe said on 07/08/2012 at 4:48 pm
I advice you to try to get your son to learn braile now incase his vision changes a lot during his education and hinders his performance furhter.
Both of my parents can read and write braile, but neither of them taught me this skill, but due to changes i have faced in my vision in the last 12 months or so, I have started to learn uncontracted (grade 1) baile, but the process is slow due to the amount of spare time I have at home due to the nature of the job I have.
Sammy J said on 13/07/2012 at 9:46 am
Hi Laura I have aniridia and glaucoma and my sight was pretty good when I was young my parents didn't know much about the help I could have received until a friend mentioned a special school I could go to. Even then no one taught me braille which was shocking. I'm now 30 and eyesight terrible and desperate to learn braille so my advice is yes get help the authorities are just useless they don't understand! Xxxx
SuddenlyMaybe said on 13/07/2012 at 9:47 am
HI there. Sounds a bit frustrating.
In my limited experience there is rarely a child centred approach to this. Often the provision of Braille is turned down because a) it's not 100% necessary at this stage b) it feels a bit 'too blind' or c) the professional or professional body in question can't read Braille and can't see it other than a major challenge and jump into the unknown for them.
And of course, the provision for learning Braille appears to have massively diminished.
RNIB attempted to setup a voluntary Braile teaching network in the mid 90s. But, as far as I can tell, it stalled due to potential legal issues, people entering other people's houses without checks etc. It rather feels like we need a voluntary system to help spread the teaching of Braille right now - difficulties aside for the moment.
Those who grow up mainly using a computer with a speech synthesizer can often lack the ability to spell and structure their work. Though I have only anecdotal evidence, it does feel like a very strongly held belief that if you learn Braille earlier, you're more likely to understand print and ways of working if sight loss does kick in at an early time in the school career.
A mixture of both is a good idea and I really commend parents who embrace the notion of Braille before sight diminishes to the level that it's unavoidable. Don't be scared of it. Some feel it's the slippery slope to admiting you're blind and therefore severely hampered, altered as a human being, consigned to the dustbin of life, but it's actually the opposite. Taking on Braille, another skill, can only help, it improves literacy and it gives you an immediate way of labeling things from foods in the cupboard through to books, CDs, DVDs, lots of things which are necessary day to day. Don't under estimate how useful it is to know what's in front of you or what you might be adding to your cooking pot.
Very good luck.
Sofie said on 13/07/2012 at 9:49 am
They say his vision is "too good" - have they considered the full affects of his vision? My vision varies and is between 6/12 and 6/36, depending on how tired I am. Some days, even large print is too difficult. It's simply not possible for me to say "on Monday, my sight will be 6/12 and I will have no problems reading". Therefore, I must have what I am like on my worst days. It's not just about how much vision he has, it's also about how useful his vision is for him.
I wouldn't wait until he's 17 or his vision gets to the stage where he has to learn Braille.