oh I agree with you about our machines. I was talking about the references to braille itself. I grew up in the 60's, reading only braille, and envying my sighted class mates who could read anything anytime they wanted. with all our technology now, I can read to my hearts desire. In fact, web braille was the thing that finally got me using my BN as more than a basic note taker at work. I nearly wept the first time I read something on it, a book. We have come a long way, but in this reporter's eyes, it seems we are still struggling with a difficult and confusing medium, instead of the means of literacy that it is to so many of us. I mean, wow, a blind teen used a braille note on TV! That is so cool. Imagine what she'd have had to use in our time. It's fantastic, but the fact that she uses braille isn't the miracle. the miracle is the technology that gives us so many other options.
Sherry -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mary Ellen Earls Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 9:42 AM To: Braillenote List Subject: [Braillenote] The article: You know, I don't know what to make of this article. Yes the reporter was an idiot there is no doubt about it and the article was as badly written as any nineteenth century novel about the blind I have ever seen but think about this. Not a single one of us on this list would have ever heard of oneanother unless we belonged to ACB or NFB or went to school or a guide dog center or a rehab center were it not for this truly marvelous equipment. You young people have no clue about what how us old goats got our education and what we did not have. I wake up every morning and thank my Heavenly Father that I can now download a book into the Braille Note. I can remember when the only thing we had to use as first graderswere Haul Braillers and then one day Mr. Eugeen Stephens head of special Education for our schools came in and presented Miss Mergentheimer with one Brand New Perkins Brailler. Miss Mergentheimer treated that machine like gold. There was a part of the classroom where we were not allowed to go as she said this was the shelf for her "pretties." On that shelf was a spice wrack with spices to develop sense of smell and various objects for conceptualization and on the very end sat that perkins Braille Writer and if we got an A. on that spelling test we got to do our next lesson on the Perkins. My point is, yes 99% of the sighted world are idiots and have this archaic idea that if they lost their sight they wouldn't be able to cope and some wouldn't. So yes indeed these machines are most definitely miracles and the more sophistocated they become the more miraculous they will continue to be. Mary Ellen Earls Remember! Today is the Tomorrow you thought about yesterday. ___ To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
