-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of helene ryles Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 5:42 AM To: Public Deaf-Blind Discussion Mailing List; Public list for posting news stories of interest; [email protected] Subject: [ROP-support] A new way of promoting braille
I thought this might be of interest to parents who want to start their children on learning braille: A PARENT'S LATE COMING TO BRAILLE Kevin C. Murphy Fourteen, blind since infancy, multiply handicapped, Kevin knew about letters. Letters excited him in the way angels, UFOs, ghosts, and monsters excite many of us -- lots of mystery, little practical value. His favorite television programs, SESAME STREET and THE ELECTRIC COMPANY mimicked Madison Avenue's technique of manipulating human want. Kevin wanted to read. For this child, reading had to mean Braille. Yet by 1981 "Braille" for Kevin, was a mispronunciation of "fail." Preceded by dread, overshadowed by fear, each class was cursed by confusion, each ended in depression. Ending six years of effort, Kevin's teachers abandoned efforts to teach Braille to him. I believed that Braille was beyond Kevin's grasp. Yet, a distant part of me raged against that illiterate life. Inwardly I hesitated to post full cost and cause to Kevin's account. Kevin -- and Heather, my adopted daughter -- were multiply handicapped and blind. No fear, nor excessive concern about blindness gripped me. My children were who they were, I saw nothing in need of fixing -- except, perhaps, in the society that shunned them. I nursed a parent's terror of Braille, a thing so exotic, so beyond my experience, that surely my ignorance of it can only damage my child. But what harm could I do now? Kevin's legacy of Braille's letters, alphabets, grief, effort, and failure were now discarded as junk. I could do no harm. Kevin could, at least, learn that symbolic languages exist, function. He might not read a book, but he might understand how others do that. Many who've never piloted aircraft understand their workings. I searched for means such that Kevin might keep what literacy he had, perhaps to re-shape that knowledge base a bit to make life less confusing to him. The approach: "Hey Kevin, want to work with Dad?" is not a proven winner with fourteen-year-olds. "Hey Kevin, want to work on Braille?" was a certain loser in that age. I mutilated Christmas toys, fashioned my first TACK-TILESR . Little building blocks became Braille cells. "Hey Kevin, guess what I did to your LegoR blocks!" was as perfect a "come on" as any ever devised. I let his very annoyed half-wondering fingers survey the damage thoroughly before accounting for myself -or mentioning B-----. Then we built words and sentences on toy boards meant to serve as front lawns. I was poorly prepared for the success of early sessions with Kevin and TACK-TILESR . In that setting, failure meant only that I would deny him his great pleasure of confiscating my TACK-TILESR , forfeiting opportunity to lodge them onto his own board. Here Braille's challenge was a benign contest of human beings, fun, much more to his comfort and liking. Braille was lodged in a world of his own -- less like the adult's. He allowed me to tease and fence with him around his knowledge and ability to use this new learning tool. He revealed secrets about his unique learning style, remained at task until I wondered if I had an attention disorder. Kevin's instructor -- his father -- had not the beginning of an idea how to proceed. That helped immensely. Kevin and the TACK-TILESR took complete charge. Success, followed success in the wake of success. His teachers's earlier efforts finally bore fruit. Kevin was able to read his grade one Braille papers by the end of that month. Nearly nine years would pass before another child would learn to read with TACK-TILESR. Five more years beyond that would pass before we could afford to make them commercially available in February, 1995. In March of 2009, I had the chance to meet Kevin Murphey, the developer of Tack-Tiles. I stood before his table in a huge exhibit hall marveling at how the product had evolved since I used them to help me learn to read as a child. I was listening distractedly to him deliver a sales pitch to the gentlman standing beside me. Explaining his reasons for building the blocks in the first place, and remarking that he'd never met another student besides his own son who had used these products to learn how to read, although he'd sold many. I looked up startled and turned towards him, hesitantly I put out my hand and spoke up. "I learned how to read with these blocks." Kevin stopped talking and turned to face me, surprise and pleasure in his voice as he asked, "Really?" I smiled and I confirmed that I had. Idly I played with his newest product, Braille Teasers, a sort of flat puzzle that makes you think about where the letters can go provided one empty space. The object is to get the board alphabitized without removing the legos which is considered cheating. We talked and talked like old friends, and then I asked if I could take a picture with him. He agreed on the conditions that I email him a copy of the photo, which I found to be a fair price. As I sat at National Convention I heard a constant message. We must increase Braille Literacy. Our kids need to be taught Braille. Braille, Braille and more Braille. This brought a smile to my lips, however, once I returned home I began to think. Braille Readers are Leaders, Slate Pals, these programs reenforce Braille Skills that children already possess, encouraging them to read. However, I have yet to hear of a program geared towards teaching children Braille when they know none to begin with. I called up my new friend Kevin and launched in to my creative mode. My excitement prooved contagious, and Kevin agreed to allow me a shot at promoting the product that made me the Braille Reader I am today. Tack-Tiles are tiny lego blocks with Braille letters, contractions, numbers, or music symbols on them, depending on which set you purchase. Sets can also be purchased in different languages. This product can be extremely benificial because children do not realize they are learning. I would rapidly lose interest in my reading and begin to build things with my legos, stopping in fascination as I realized my house had words on the roof. These legos can hold a child's attention routed to literacy without his or her knowledge, thus providing them with more exposure and practice, and making reading fun. It is my belief that organizations, and schools helping young students, or students with multi-disabilities should own a set of Tack-Tiles. If anyone has any questions or an interest in this product, please don't hesitate to email me off list at: [email protected] <mailto:daydreamingncolor%40gmail.com> Or, visit the Tac-Tiles home page at: http://www.tack-tiles.com/ <http://www.tack-tiles.com/> __._,_.___ Messages in this topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ROP-support/message/15035;_ylc=X3oDMTM2NGVvYn J0BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI2OTM0MjUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDE2MDYxBG1zZ0lkAzE1MD M1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3Z0cGMEc3RpbWUDMTI1MTY3NzU2NAR0cGNJZAMxNTAzNQ--> (1) Reply (via web post) <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ROP-support/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJxZXU1OTlmBF9TAzk 3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI2OTM0MjUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDE2MDYxBG1zZ0lkAzE1MDM1BHNlYwN mdHIEc2xrA3JwbHkEc3RpbWUDMTI1MTY3NzU2NA--?act=reply&messageNum=15035> | Start a new topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ROP-support/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJlZzFxa2k0BF9TAzk 3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI2OTM0MjUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDE2MDYxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA250cGM Ec3RpbWUDMTI1MTY3NzU2NA--> Messages <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ROP-support/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJlaTg2Z3M1BF9 TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI2OTM0MjUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDE2MDYxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA21 zZ3MEc3RpbWUDMTI1MTY3NzU2NA--> | Files <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ROP-support/files;_ylc=X3oDMTJmNmxlcGpzBF9TAz k3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI2OTM0MjUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDE2MDYxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2ZpbG VzBHN0aW1lAzEyNTE2Nzc1NjQ-> | Photos <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ROP-support/photos;_ylc=X3oDMTJldm42bzltBF9TA zk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI2OTM0MjUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDE2MDYxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3Bob 3QEc3RpbWUDMTI1MTY3NzU2NA--> | Links <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ROP-support/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJmcXFtdTQ0BF9TAz k3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI2OTM0MjUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDE2MDYxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2xpbm tzBHN0aW1lAzEyNTE2Nzc1NjQ-> | Database <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ROP-support/database;_ylc=X3oDMTJjazYzanRyBF9 TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI2OTM0MjUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDE2MDYxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2R iBHN0aW1lAzEyNTE2Nzc1NjQ-> | Polls <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ROP-support/polls;_ylc=X3oDMTJma3BhN3JyBF9TAz k3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI2OTM0MjUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDE2MDYxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3BvbG xzBHN0aW1lAzEyNTE2Nzc1NjQ-> | Members <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ROP-support/members;_ylc=X3oDMTJlOWdnbnZkBF9T Azk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI2OTM0MjUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDE2MDYxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA21i cnMEc3RpbWUDMTI1MTY3NzU2NA--> | Calendar <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ROP-support/calendar;_ylc=X3oDMTJkYjZkcmhuBF9 TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI2OTM0MjUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDE2MDYxBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2N hbARzdGltZQMxMjUxNjc3NTY0> MARKETPLACE Mom Power: Discover the community of moms doing more for their families, for the world and for each other <http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=14kerdi06/M=493064.12016295.13271503.10835568/D =groups/S=1705016061:MKP1/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1251684764/L=/B=e8nGB0PDhCg-/J=1251677 564720764/K=7QHKTNt4ZWFuSD.QsYw9_A/A=5697381/R=0/SIG=11eaa5dke/*http://group s.yahoo.com/group/mompowergroup/> Yahoo! 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