BRL MEMORANDUM

Published by the Braille Revival LeagueAn Affiliate of the

American Council of the Blind

President: Lynne Koral1561 Nelchina Street, Unit C-1

Anchorage, AK 99501907-276-1926aiblink@ak.net

Editor: Kim Charlson57 Grandview AvenueWatertown, MA 02472

617-926-9198kimcharlson@earthlink.net

Treasurer: Gary Patterson6311 Franklin Avenue

Des Moines, IA 50322-5915515-278-2686

gpatterson002@mchsi.com

Vol. XXII Winter 2004 No. 2

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Table of Contents President's Message ……………………………………………………………3

Blind teen starts business creating braille restaurant menusBy Jane Rider of the Missoulian ............…………………………………..…4

BRL 2004 Convention Highlights By Winifred Downing ………………...…7

Inmates master transcription to aid the blind By Barbara Isaacs …...…...13

Take a Gamble in 2005 on BRL in Las Vegas By Kim Charlson ...………16

Keeping in touch, one of life's pleasures By Juliet Smith …..…………….17

Perkins Launches Early Literacy Initiative ………………………………….19

Voorhees Boy Raises Braille's Profile By Bill Duhart …...………………...20

Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets Tip Off NBA Read To Achieve Week ………………………………………………………..………………….

……...22

GH Lands Major Government Contract to Assist Employees With Disabilities ……………………………………………………………………..24

Braille is Music to His Ears By Sarah Derreberry ………………………….25

Spanish Supermarket Group Offers Braille Labels ………………………..27

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Letter to the Editor …………………………………………………………….29

Sources for 2005 Braille Calendars …...……………………………………30

Alphabetic Braille and Contracted (ABC) Braille Study By Robert Wall, Ph.D……………………………………….……………………………………33

Braille Related Resolutions Passed by ACB………………………………..36

Braille News................................................................................……….42

Board of Directors …………………………………………………………….49

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGECHANGE AND CHALLENGE

By Lynne Koral

I want to thank all of you for the opportunity to serve you. I am the servant of the Board’s wishes, not a one-person dictator of policies. We must fashion and foster policies that support you, the membership. I, as your new President, want you to contact me if you have any suggestions, concerns, or compliments. I want to hear about new initiatives that you can offer.

I, like so many of you, rely on braille to do my work, with various braille displays at home and at work. I see braille as a necessity, not as a luxury or an add-on. Many of us have had to settle with not having braille displays or auxiliary braille electronic equipment, because we cannot afford such modern devices, or our rehabilitation agencies are not convinced that we need braille at our fingertips to do our work.

Speaking about our fingertips, which happens to be the name of an excellent newsletter of the Jenny Beck Chapter of Braille Revival League. Thanks to May Davis for sending me a copy of this informative newsletter called “Fingertips.”

Many school children are told that braille is not necessary in “real life” because we now have computers that are accessible. Some people even believe there is no further need for the Braille Revival League. I differ. If that were so, why would BANA and ICEB be meeting to talk about all the braille formats? Why is there a crisis in braille today?

Is there a crisis? Perhaps, there is. I have often heard that the better braille reader you are, the more chances you have for employment. Is it coincidental that a majority of people who obtain employment are braille readers? Is that still true today?

We hope that at the National Convention in Las Vegas, we can have some braille drills, or contests to keep up with braille. We know there is a

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shortage of those who can transcribe braille music.

There are many ideas the Board will be considering for convention. What ideas for Braille Revival League that the Board might consider are on your minds?

For this message, that is all for now. I hope to let you know more about the Braille Chapter Presidents’ Meeting, and the full Board meeting planned for late 2004. Please get in touch with me.

BLIND TEEN STARTS BUSINESS CREATINGBRAILLE RESTAURANT MENUSBy Jane Rider of the Missoulian

Thursday, June 17, 2004

Kayla Legare doesn't order chicken strips anymore when she dines out.

The 16-year-old Helena High School student, who lost her vision at age 4 after suffering an allergic reaction to an antibiotic, used to automatically request the popular poultry item to avoid the hassle of making someone else read her all the entrees off restaurant menus.

"I got pretty sick of them," she said.

But the real reason she's able to broaden her culinary selections these days is she's gained greater independence because a growing number of restaurants in the Helena area now offer menus in braille to vision-impaired customers.

And it's thanks to Legare and her new fledgling business, "Braille the World," that's also beginning to happen in Missoula.

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Legare has added the 4B's restaurant chain to those eateries that are embracing braille menus as a way to better serve vision-impaired customers.

"This is a service we can provide to assist in their independence and give recognition to someone participating in a worthy project," said Jeff Hainline, 4B's president.

Legare's business venture was born less than a year ago, when she shared her idea with her uncle while attending a Lutheran Bible study camp on Flathead Lake over Labor Day weekend. Carl Schweitzer thought his niece's idea had potential and encouraged her to pursue it.

Before their visit to western Montana was finished, they stopped to see Schweitzer's friend, state Senate President Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, who owns the Bigfork Inn restaurant. The restaurant became the first to pilot Legare's idea of braille menus.

In the months that followed, Legare and Schweitzer began creating braille menus for several restaurants in the Helena area, using specialized computer software. She also landed some work with the Bozeman-based MacKenzie River Pizza Co. chain.

Last month, Schweitzer ran into Keenan in Helena and learned he was in town attending a meeting of the Montana Restaurant Association. Schweitzer and Legare came by at lunch to give a presentation on "Braille the World." Hainline heard it and was intrigued.

"Everyone was impressed with the idea and the passion behind it," Hainline said. "As sighted individuals, I think we take our sight so much for granted. This was always in the back of my mind, but I didn't know where the resources were."

Two days later, Hainline called Legare, wanting to place an order for 26 braille menus, enough to place two in each of the dozen or so 4B's restaurants that pepper Montana and in the one 4B's restaurant operating

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in Grants, N.M. The 23-page menus also include the history of the restaurant chain and its famous tomato soup.

Legare is amazed at how quickly restaurant owners warmed up to her idea, and she's hoping to take her enterprise to the next level in making the world more accessible to the visually impaired by encouraging other

types of businesses, such as banks and government agencies, to offer braille materials.

"I don't want to do just menus," she said. She envisions bank statements, bills and educational materials appearing in braille. In fact, Legare and her associates have met with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to discuss the possibility of offering nature articles in the writing system for the blind that uses characters made up of raised dots.

"I know it will be really hard, but I know we can do it if we put the energy into it," she said.

Matt Castner, "Braille the World" sales associate and Legare's boyfriend, said there are several key reasons why it is important for people with vision impairments to have braille available to them. In the restaurant situation, it's degrading to have to ask a fellow diner to read the menu aloud or to stop a waiter or waitress to do the same, he said.

"It's inconvenient for them if they are busy and it is limiting to you because they may leave out the price or some of the options," said Castner, who has been blind since birth.

A braille menu makes a visually impaired diner feel more welcome, he said.

"You think, 'Here is a restaurant that really cares about serving everybody,' " he said. "A lot of places have wheelchair ramps, handicapped bathroom stalls, but where are the braille menus?" he said.

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"It makes me feel like jumping up and down," chimed in Legare. "I just feel more independent."

Castner also emphasized the role braille plays in literacy among the blind, pointing to statistics that show 90 percent of all blind people in America are illiterate. Some people in education have suggested technology advancements – audiotape recordings and other assistive technologies - have made it less necessary for them to learn to read braille. Yet of those 10 percent who are literate, the vast majority find employment, making

literacy a key economic factor for the visually impaired, he said.

Jim Marks and Dan Burke, of the Missoula chapter of the Montana Association for the Blind, gave their thumbs up to Legare's efforts and the support she's received from restaurants like 4B's and MacKenzie River Pizza.

"Having access to the information is fantastic," Marks said.

"When you get a braille menu, there is nothing more welcoming," Burke added.

BRL 2004 CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTSBy Winifred Downing

BUSINESS MEETING, Tuesday, July 6, 2004: Opening remarks were made by President DeAnna Noriega. The election was held; and the following officers and directors were elected: President, Lynne Koral, Anchorage, Alaska; First Vice President, May Davis, Doylestown, PA; Second Vice President, Ralph Smitherman, Canton, MS; Treasurer, Gary Patterson, Des Moines, IA; Secretary, Jean Mann, Guilderland, NY; Director, Jim Kraght, Miami, FL; and Director, Kim Charlson, Watertown, MA.

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The Treasurer's report was given by Lynne Koral and wasaccepted as read. Gary Patterson thanked Josette Kernaghan forobtaining funds to assist BRL from the Washington Council of the Blind.

Chapter Reports:Texas: Joan Cox said that Judy Jackson had been elected as the new president. A proclamation was sent to Governor Perry declaring the week of January 4 as Braille Literacy Week. During the first week of October at the Texas School for the Blind, the Braille Olympics will be held involving reading, writing, and comprehension. Dr. Ed Bradley of Texas reported

that he hadn't learned braille until comparatively recently but, in spite of the fact that he doesn't read rapidly, has found it of tremendous help atmeetings, taking notes, following the agenda, and so on.

California: Sandra Fancher reported that the chapter holds two conventions as part of the two state conventions held each year. Speakers representing agencies and programs speak at these meetings on subjects involving the use of braille. The new chapter president is Lee Morton of San Diego. Winifred Downing accepted comments on a resolution which will be presented for passage at the ACB convention later in the week. It concerned the passage of the UEBC by the English-speaking countries of the world, not including the Braille Authority of North America (BANA).

Alabama: Deborah Gibson, chapter president, reported that the chapter continues to produce in braille the college football schedule, selling them for $10 per copy.

Missouri: The chapter has few members and is struggling to keep the affiliate going.

Jenny Beck Chapter: Bill McDonald reported that he was one of the founders of the Jenny Beck Chapter where he and May Davis have worked together for years. He is a member of the Braille Committee of

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the Pennsylvania Council of the Blind. The Jenny Beck Chapter has over 50 members, the president being Tony McCloskey. They have produced more than 1500 pages of braille thus far in 2004, preparing restaurant menus, some concert programs, and the copies of the BRL constitution furnished to members who request them. The chapter owns its computer and braille printer, rents office space, and conducts all its business through its membership, financing the work by sales of the braille they produce. Additional fund-raising, however is necessary; and the braille read-a-thon, where participants earn 10 cents a page, is one of their efforts. They also sell luggage tags and make available for sale braille jewelry. Members will teach braille on an individual basis, and their services are advertised on radio talk shows.

The Mississippi Council of the Blind is selling braille/print calendars to raise funds and hopes to have a booth at the state fair.

Winifred Downing reported that Abraham Nemeth is working on a code to unify braille that avoids some of the many mathematical and technical problems presented by the UEBC. The National Braille Association has decided to support Dr. Nemeth in his work, and it is therefore important that our resolution be passed since it calls upon the Braille Authority of North America to consider approaches to unification in addition to the UEBC.

Kim Charlson volunteered to set up a board list to promotecommunication and also felt that a BRL website would be helpful. She opposed (at the current time) the suggestion that BRL might afford some aid to affiliate delegates to attend the national convention, believing that BRL's limited funds should be reserved for important national issues benefiting all members rather than just a few members. Examples of such issues might include advocacy for the adoption of a Louis Braille postage stamp for 2009; producing the BRL Memorandum; and preparing once again braille literacy packets that can be shared with groups throughout the country to promote braille.

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Braille Program: Tim Emmons was the program chair assisted by Kim Charlson and Paul Edwards. Jimmy Gibson spoke first. He went to work as the first rehabilitation teacher in Alabama in 1965, covering eight counties in the southwestern part of the state, teaching braille even in the prison system, striving to turn beggars and drop-outs into productive, tax-paying citizens, he taught adult education at the V.A. Technical Center, was a half-time librarian in Montgomery, and taught GED in the evenings. At the Alabama State School, every student takes the high school equivalency test in braille and passed the exit exam in 2004. He and his wife Deborah retired in 2003, but he continues to work with the Lilac Literacy Program where braille is taught individually. Through this program, sighted persons interested in braille can also learn it.

The next presenter was Gillie Presley, a blind woman who, 27 years ago, worked diligently to obtain her first position teaching sighted children from grades 1 to 6. She had none of the materials in braille and had to spend

three to four hours a day with a reader transcribing what she needed on a Perkins brailler. In later years, she obtained a computer with WindowEyes, and counties adopted materials that she could sometimes get in braille. Even though she could scan books, she still needed to do a lot of braillling herself, employing readers to help when color and print changes rendered the scanner of little use. More recently, braille note-takers have markedly improved her situation, though still leaving lots of occasions when the brailler and slate and stylus continue to be necessary.

Asked about how she had completed the requirements for student teaching and passed the requisite examinations, Presley said she had used books on tape and reading done by a local Jewish group. It took her two and a half days to complete the exam at the end of her training. Responding to a question about mainstreaming, Presley said that multi-handicapped students at both the schools for the blind and for the deaf were sent to the Helen Keller School and that a real effort has been made to keep the state schools academically strong. Students are returned to their homes on weekends to retain family and community connections. A

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place remains for residential schools for students who do not have the drive and/or ability necessary to make a success of attending public school.

John Hanson, head of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Music Section, Washington, DC, held an open session for inquiries and suggestions concerning braille music. He is sometimes able to obtain new scores from other libraries around the world and is presently working with a transcriber in Australia who, though not certified to transcribe music, is very skilled. Obtaining proofreaders for the rigorous job of inspecting transcriptions is very difficult. Hanson is sometimes able to locate private braille music collections and is always eager to inspect these and add them to the library if appropriate. A good deal of braille music can be downloaded from Web-braille, thus increasing what is available and speeding its delivery to the musician.

On Wednesday, July 7, there was a joint meeting of the Braille Revival League and the Library Users of America.

Lori Bell of the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Library spoke about "Info-eyes and other new initiatives that will change how people who are blind use libraries." Ninety-five percent of the library's work is concerned with

advising readers and supplying them with the books they order serving 5,000 readers with 220,000 books and magazines. A skilled technical staff makes available to readers the same services and options as are enjoyed by sighted patrons who may use videotapes, audiotapes, or dvd's.

InfoEyes is an online information community for the blind and visually impaired to meet the information needs of patrons who use the Web and to offer other options. Twelve to fourteen states are involved, open over 40 hours a week. A patron can seek personal information and make an appointment for help on the Web. The average time needed to obtain an individual reply is 15 hours. A librarian can take a patron on a tour of the Web to find answers to questions. The technology employed is available

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for book discussion groups and lectures. Each of the libraries involved gives about three hours per week to this effort. Many patrons with a wide variety of skills have utilized these new services, 35% using e-mail, 35% enhanced chat in voice, and 30% text chat.

A discussion ensued regarding portable devices to store books for later reading, the availability of e-books, copyright difficulties involved in the online discussion groups. An announcement was made that Bob Askey, long-time talking book narrator, will retire on December 31 and a recording was made of good wishes from all present.

Mark Ashby of Potomac Talking Books, who reads The Braille Forum and recorded the ACB history People of Vision, began his presentation by reading beautifully from a book he had admired. He explained that the narration day is divided into five 2 1/2 hour segments with 10-minute breaks between sessions. Most narrators, because of other commitments, read for only one session, but he prefers to go to the studio twice each week and read three sessions in a row. A part of a book describing intense action he reads more quickly to get the reader closely involved with the emotion of the material. He engaged the audience in a discussion about how much spelling of proper names should be done in a narration and whether or not errors in the print should be corrected by the narrator.

He and his wife, he said, had been treated like celebrities at the convention; and listeners assured him that that was a true representation of how narrators are regarded. To urge continuing feedback from readers, Ashby gave his e-mail address: ashby@tje1.com and his mailing address: 4940 Hampton Lane, Suite 300, Bethesda, MD 20814.

What is happening at the Alabama Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped was the next program topic presented by Fara Zaleski. An agreement has been reached between Alabama and Mississippi concerning the distribution of recorded books and videos and with a contract signed for the provision of braille books. Presently two years of books will be kept on hand, gradually cutting back to one year

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since just 4 percent of the patrons are braille readers. One percent of readers still use recorded disks. The library is able to provide print/braille books to the children at the Alabama School for the Blind, where teaching braille is a priority.

The next item on the program was "Library Science as a Career," presented by the BRL Program Chair, Tim Emmons. When he was an undergraduate, he had no idea he would eventually work as a librarian but was invited in 1992 to join a library committee concerned with adaptive technology. He remained at that job until 1997 when he used his technical knowledge in going on to school to gain his degree in Library Science. The assignments he found most difficult were those concerned with cataloging. To fulfill them, he had to use the old-fashioned card catalogs and reading done by students and staff. His teachers had had no previous experience with blind students, so he was a trail blazer. By 1999 he was assisting in setting up adaptive equipment at the regional library and a nearby university. He is presently employed in a management capacity in competitive business but advises libraries on equipment and its use when he is needed.

Fred Gissoni of the American Printing House for the Blind reported on new products enhancing the reading of books and magazines. The BookPort is about the size of a TV remote control and is employed to download material for later reading at some location other than in front of the computer. It will hold about 60 hours of reading. Though it has no capability to show its contents in braille, it can back-translate a braille book

and make it available in speech, thus accessing Web braille. He reminded the audience of the Louis database where anyone can find any book made available in braille.

Gissoni mentioned several other products now being provided by APH:

(1) a Studio Recorder which is software for digitally recording the human voice that can then be converted to cassette or CD format.

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(2) Sheets of labels, one that provides four lines and 15 cells and another having just the labeling material so that labels of any size can be prepared.

(3) A series of books underwritten by the Dupont Company in large print and braille to be sold for the subsidized price of $10, the first one describing the U.S. capitol.

At 4:45, the convention adjourned.

INMATES MASTER TRANSCRIPTIONTO AID THE BLIND, THEMSELVESBy Barbara Isaacs, Lexington Herald

Monday, November 22, 2004

PEWEE VALLEY - The raised dots and intricate patterns of braille transport Glenda Powell from behind the razor wire of the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women.

Powell's handiwork also brings a world of new knowledge and experiences to thousands of blind children through the tips of their fingers.

Powell, convicted of first-degree assault related to a DUI wreck, figured that learning braille had to be more interesting than her prison house-keeping job, but she never dreamed it would become a passion.

"She lives braille, breathes braille, dreams braille," said Nancy Lace-well, director of government and community affairs for Louisville's American Printing House for the Blind.

Powell, 58, of Paducah, is among 11 inmates at Pewee Valley who work seven hours a day at KCI Braille Services. The 4-year-old prison business

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partners with American Printing House for the Blind, the nation's largest producer and supplier of textbooks and other educational products for the

blind. The printing house serves the nation's estimated 57,000 blind students in kindergarten through 12th grade, 5,300 of who read braille.

The inmates transcribe everything from textbooks to restaurant menus -- they've produced and sold more than 60,000 pages of braille. Powell and eight of the other inmate transcribers have even earned literary braille certification from the Library of Congress. The remaining two are close to earning certification.

"This is a model prison braille program," said Tuck Tinsley, president of the American Printing House for the Blind.

"I know they're all proud of what they've done for others," said Doris Deuth, the warden. "And they're proud of what they've done for themselves as well."

No real substitute for books

The 11 women were honored in November 2004 with a special reception marking the fourth anniversary of the program. They also met three students from Louisville's Kentucky School for the Blind, who told them how much their efforts mean to them.

"It's really exciting that they have the opportunity of doing something so important for us," said Jennifer Hyams, 17. "It does take a lot of time to put together all these books and graphics for us."

As part of the celebration, Hyams read aloud from an award-winning young adult book, Bud, Not Buddy. It had been transcribed by Athena Williams, one of the certified transcribers.

"There's no real substitute for books in the life of a child," said Williams, 25, who has worked with the program since it began. "So much of our life

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is shaped through reading." Williams, of Henry County, has served more than nine years for complicity to murder.

Braille transcription is a challenging field – it takes more than a year to learn how to transcribe it and to earn literary certification, which covers what's needed to translate general types of information. To become certified, an applicant must submit a 35-page braille manuscript to be evaluated by the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.

There are many specialized codes in braille, including codes for computer work and foreign languages. Several of the inmates are also studying the braille code used for math and science, seeking advanced certification.

A long-term commitment

Because training is time-consuming, inmates in the program must have at least five years left on their sentences. So they are generally serving time for serious crimes, such as murder. They also must have at least a high school education or General Educational Development certificate.

The program helps answer a major shortage of transcribers. The American Foundation for the Blind has estimated that 1,000 additional braille transcribers will be needed by 2010; there are now fewer than 400 people in the field nationwide.

Some 25 prisons have braille transcription programs, including the Federal Medical Center in Lexington. The center's program began in 1995 and has more than 20 transcribers, four of them certified by the Library of Congress.

The American Printing House for the Blind estimates that prison programs in the United States produce more than 5 million pages of braille a year.

Because 90 percent of blind students are educated in local schools, there's a big demand for a wide range of textbook titles, compared with

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years ago, when most blind students were grouped together in residential schools, said Gary Mudd, vice president of public affairs for the American Printing House for the Blind.

The inmates are paid between 25 cents and 95 cents an hour for their work. The American Foundation for the Blind estimates that on the outside, certified braille transcribers earn between $18,000 and $50,000 a year.

It's a viable career option that many in the program hope to pursue.

Helping themselves, children

"I'm going to do it when I get out," Powell said. "It just seemed like an opportunity to better myself. It's like a puzzle, and I've always liked the English language." Powell has been at Pewee Valley since 1996, and will have a chance to be paroled within the next several years.

Lacewell and others with the program said the women are often changed dramatically by their work.

"It changed my whole self-confidence and self-esteem," said Maxine Jones, 49, of Williamsburg, convicted of robbery and double murder. Jones was not sure she could learn something so complicated. "It was knowing I was doing it for the children to read. You can be behind bars and still help someone else."

TAKE A GAMBLE IN 2005 ON BRL IN LAS VEGAS

The annual meeting of the Braille Revival League and the 44th Annual American Council of the Blind Convention will take place July 2 through 9, 2005 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, 1-800-634-6753 on The Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The dates for the 2005 BRL meetings will be Tuesday, July 5-7, 2005.

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The Riviera Hotel will house all convention activities – including the ACB registration and convention offices, all meetings, including general

sessions and exhibits, will be located down a single corridor. The hotel has six restaurants, one of which is a food court, another a buffet and yet another open 24 hours. The location of the Riviera will also provide endless options for entertainment and food just outside the hotel door.

There will be unique tours of roller coasters, casinos and places such as the Elvis and Liberace museum. The hotel is located just 3 miles from the airport.

The hotel has five towers and ACB will be primarily in the two closest to the meeting space. It also has a swimming pool, several ATMs, a barber and beauty shop, several gift shops and three entertainment venues, including a comedy club, plus an arcade and several bars. You can even get married in the Wedding Chapel!

Don't forget about gambling – there are gaming tables and slot machines galore – but no Ray Charles machines. Many of the machines, however, are the traditional kind that dispense coins, and some machines are the ones that have paper tickets.

Winifred Downing of California will be serving as the BRL Convention Program Committee Chair. Winifred, assisted by Kim Charlson and Lynne Koral, are interested in any program ideas you may have for the 2005 meeting. You can contact Winifred Downing at 415-564-5798 or wmdowning@mindspring.com. Be sure to begin making your plans to join BRL in 2005 at our convention in Las Vegas – you will find it very informative and fun!

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KEEPING IN TOUCH, ONE OF LIFE'S PLEASURESBy JULIET SMITH

Being blind has not stopped the oldest braille reader in New Zealand from enjoying her favourite newspaper column. Every week, Kathleen Fountain, 97, reads an Otago Daily Times column written by Gordon Parry which has been transcribed into braille. Miss Fountain began learning braille 14 years ago. She went legally blind at the age of 77.

"It is slower. Sometimes I get stuck but I won't be beaten. It took a year to learn," she said. She liked the Memory Lane column because Mr. Parry wrote about many things to which she related. It is the only braille reading she does.

Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind Braille literacy coordinator Julie Woods arranged for Miss Fountain to meet Mr. Parry at a morning tea, delighting both of them.

"This is fantastic. I'm very flattered," Mr. Parry said.

"The subjects you write about happened a long time ago. I'm a lot older than you," Miss Fountain said.

"I'm 84," Mr. Parry said.

"Well I'm 97," she said, adding that she had no wish to live to 100 and did not want a letter from the Queen.

They discussed their memories of the Depression and Miss Fountain recalled that men used to knock on her door selling shoes and writing

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paper.

Volunteer transcriber Betty McEwan, who has transcribed the column for many years, said she used a Perkins machine to convert print into braille, and that it was a bit like typing.

Miss Fountain lives alone but has home help with cleaning, shopping and her washing. "I do the dusting and then there's someone else who comes

to read to me. I cook my dinner but it's very simple compared to what it used to be." She keeps herself occupied and well-informed listening to the radio, the telephone news from the foundation and talking books. She said she could not see faces but could almost make out her fingers.

Ms. Woods said a nationwide register of braille users revealed Miss Fountain was the oldest reader. More than 51 per cent of the foundation's members are over 80. About 11,500 people belong and it is expected the number of blind or visually impaired people will increase in the next three decades as baby boomers reach their 60's, 70's and 80's.

PERKINS LAUNCHES EARLY LITERACY INITIATIVE

After several years in development and nationwide testing, the Perkins School for the Blind is proud to announce the launch of the Perkins Panda Early Literacy Program - a collection of materials designed both to teach fundamental literacy skills to children with visual impairments and to help parents and other caregivers support children's literacy development.

The kit consists of three interrelated storybooks, activity guides and cassettes; a resource guide; a story box; a Gund plush panda with a backpack that can hold a dual-speed tape player; and carry bags. All the storybooks have visually appealing high-contrast illustrations, large print and uncontracted braille text. Odds Bodkin, a well-known storyteller and songwriter, worked with Perkins to write the books and the stories and songs on the cassettes.

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The primary audience is families of children with visual impairments, ages birth to 8. In addition, the materials are valuable in program settings, to families with older children with multiple impairments and to parents and grandparents with visual impairments for use with sighted children and grandchildren.

All components are available as a kit ($94.95 plus shipping and handling, including everything except the 4-track tape player) or separately.

For more information, call 800-972-7671 or 617-972-7667, or e-mail Perkins.Panda@Perkins.org; or visit http://www.perkins.org.

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VOORHEES BOY RAISES BRAILLE'S PROFILEROCCO FIORENTINO, 8, HELPED GET

NEW JERSEY TO FUND SIX TEACHERSBy Bill Duhart

Saturday, October 23, 2004Courier Post Online, South Jersey Edition

Rocco Fiorentino had a simple message last year in a state Legislature budget hearing.

"I told them to get with it," said Rocco, who turned 8 on October 20th and lives with his family in Voorhees.

Lawmakers listened.

The Legislature increased funding for braille education statewide so dramatically that Rocco's braille instruction jumped from one to three sessions weekly.

Rocco's efforts yielded an additional $300,000 in the state budget, which funded six additional braille teachers statewide.

"I feel like I pretty much have a whole new world open for anything I want to do," said Rocco, who has been blind since he was 3 months old.

The impact was so profound that Human Services Commissioner James Davy will include Rocco in a group he honored for promoting braille education. The ceremony was held at the state Library for the Blind and Handicapped in Trenton.

A statement from Davy said Rocco "almost single-handedly increased the number of braille instructors in New Jersey."

Of course, Rocco didn't just scold the Legislature. He also spoke about his dreams and aspirations and how they can come true only by enhancing his braille education. …

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"I told them, 'If you think I'll be able to go to college without braille, you're wrong,' "Rocco said Friday. "I need braille to go to college. I told them we needed to get more braille teachers so kids can get an education."

Rocco's blindness hasn't stopped him from living a full life, including going to his neighborhood elementary school and attending a regular third-grade class. He's taught from the same lesson plan as his classmates but his assignments are in braille. He has a classroom assistant who helps convert braille assignments.

His mother, Tina Fiorentino, has been a tireless advocate for her only child. She started the Little Rock Foundation shortly after his birth to promote support services for the blind. She encouraged Rocco to tag along with her to last year's budget meeting, where he spoke out.

"I think it's important for him to understand he has a voice and can be an advocate for himself and other children around the state," said Fiorentino, 43.

"He got up there to make a difference for them. That's what it's all about."

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BOSTON CELTICS AND DENVER NUGGETSTIP OFF NBA READ TO ACHIEVE WEEK

WITH BRAILLE READING EVENTSFOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN

NBA Joins With the National Braille Press to Focus on the Need to Promote Literacy Among Blind Children

New York, October 25, 2004 – To tip off NBA Read to Achieve Week, on Thursday, October 21, Boston Celtics All-Star captain Paul Pierce, rookie guard Delonte West, Coach Doc Rivers and Managing Partner and CEO Wyc Grousbeck spent time reading stories and participating in arts and crafts projects with the students at the Perkins School for the Blind in a reading timeout that was filmed for use in a public service announcement focusing on braille literacy.

"This was a wonderful opportunity to share the joy of reading with students at the Perkins School," Pierce said. "I enjoyed not only reading to the children, but watching them read to us as well. It is wonderful that these students are still able to enjoy the love of reading, and this partnership is a great way to allow Read to Achieve to reach even more children."

"I am grateful that the Perkins School enabled us to have this unique experience," Coach Rivers said. "This was a great experience and I enjoyed being able to spend time with these children and learn from them. I hope we can continue to work with blind schools through the Read to Achieve program and reach more students who enjoy reading."

"We'd like to thank the Boston Celtics for coming to Perkins to encourage our students to read to achieve, and for recognizing the importance of literacy for all children – with or without sight," said Steven M. Rothstein, President of Perkins School for the Blind. "We're delighted to partner with the Celtics, the NBA and National Braille Press in getting this message out to children who are blind and their families."

Denver Nuggets stars Carmelo Anthony, Marcus Camby, and Kenyon

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Martin provided braille books and reading to preschoolers from the Anchor Center for the Blind at the Denver Zoo on Monday, October 25. The

players conducted a special reading appearance, at the zoo, which with nearly 4,000 different animals representing 750 species provides an ideal location for visually-impaired children to explore and discover smells and noises. The zoo even introduced a hedgehog and a snake for the children to touch.

The partnership between Read to Achieve and National Braille Press is designed to help draw attention to the importance of literacy for all children, particularly for thousands of blind and visually impaired children nationwide who should be learning to read. The move to include blind students in the Read to Achieve program was initiated last spring by Grousbeck and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Gordon Gund, who have both been touched by blindness in their lives. Literacy is the key to success in life for all people and braille is the only vehicle available to blind individuals to achieve true literacy.

“Blind children, for whom literacy is particularly vital and often overlooked, deserve every opportunity to succeed – especially the opportunity for independence and success that literacy can provide,” Grousbeck said.

“This opportunity to meet the players; share in the Read to Achieve mission; and explore the Zoo promises to be an exciting and energizing outing for the children and their families,” said Alice Applebaum, Executive Director of Anchor Center for the Blind. “Like all young children, they love to be read to and hear stories. Getting to do so with pro-basketball players in such an enriched setting just adds to the fun.”

About NBA Read to Achieve

Reaching an estimated 50 million children a year, the NBA Read to Achieve program is the most extensive educational outreach initiative in the history of professional sports. Efforts of the program include the

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donation of more than a million books and magazines through a variety of reading events and incentive programs, as well as the development of essay contests and on-line programs. In an effort to provide greater access to books and technology, the NBA and its teams, along with companies such as RIF®, Disney and Dell® have also created more than

90 Reading and Learning Centers and more than 80 Reading Corners throughout North America, South America and in South Africa. In addition to being supported by all NBA, WNBA and NBDL teams, Read to Achieve is supported by the NBA's officials, coaches, parents and wives of players organizations, and the NBA Players Association and Retired Players Association.

GH LANDS MAJOR GOVERNMENT CONTRACT TOASSIST EMPLOYEES WITH DISABILITIES

September 28, 2004

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue Research Park company, gh LLC, will provide visually impaired and print-disabled federal employees with accessible training materials and documents under a new multiyear, multimillion dollar government contract.

The company utilizes a content-independent media conversion process to offer a full range of media formats and software applications that make print material more accessible to people who are coping with blindness, low vision, learning disabilities or other print disabilities.

The majority of this contract will involve documents converted into braille for use by Internal Revenue Service employees.

"The IRS employs a large number of visually-impaired individuals - about 1,200 - who must be retrained each year due to annual changes in the tax code," said David Schleppenbach, gh's CEO and co-founder. "Our braille, Digital Talking Books, and tactile graphics will help those IRS employees with visual disabilities to stay competitive in the workplace."

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gh technology will enable visually and print-disabled IRS employees to more easily locate information in various IRS forms and publications using materials created as Digital Talking Books and rendered in Digital Talking Book players developed by gh. …

gh LLC was founded in 2000 by two former Purdue students, Joe Said and Schleppenbach, and employs 37 people, most of whom are former or current Purdue students.

BRAILLE IS MUSIC TO HIS EARSBy Sarah Derreberry, Wichita Eagle Staff

A blind musician gives students learning to transcribe texts into braille a vivid picture of the importance of their work.

Braille lets Tom Page live his dreams.

He shared with students at the Kansas Braille Transcription Institute what their work means.

For him, it means the freedom to pursue a career in music and an advanced degree.

Page, a musician and graduate student, began losing his sight around age 4 because of the genetic disease retinitis pigmentosa.

"The retina cells in the eye aren't getting the nutrients they need," Page explained. "And so they begin to die off."

Page sat in the center of a back room at the institute, the notes he used to give his speech scrolling across the bottom of a modified keyboard in his lap.

Students, who are becoming Library of Congress-certified braille transcriptionists through a yearlong course, clustered in front of him.

"The speakers give (students) some focus," said Heidi Johnson, a transcriptionist who works at the institute.

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"Students just do their lessons, and they don't get any practical, real-life examples of how braille affects people. When someone says 'I need braille,' it makes a difference."

Page talked about how, during his childhood and early adult life, his disease went unaddressed.

"I would go to the doctor, and they would say, 'Tom, you're severely visually handicapped,'" he said. But because he had learned to cover up and cope with his handicap, he carried on as normal.

One day at work, his vision was so bad he couldn't do his job, and he was forced to deal with the problem.

"I finally said, 'This is no way to live.'"

He bought a cane, began to learn braille and attended the Kansas Rehabilitation Center for the Blind.

He completed the six-month program in five weeks.

"It marked my rehabilitation into society," he said. "What a great feeling."

After Page completed the program, he pursued his musical passion by forming a band, Grandpa's .38, with his friend Pat McElmurry. Page said his braille skills allowed him to keep up with the sales side of the music business.

Page is also working toward his master's degree in interdisciplinary research methods at Wichita State.

"Without the braille skills, I can't imagine how that would be possible," he said.

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He doesn't have to imagine: Some of the students in his audience are already preparing to translate some of his textbooks for the next semester.

SPANISH SUPERMARKET GROUP OFFERS BRAILLE LABELS

Spanish supermarket group Alcampo is to introduce labels in braille on 60 of its own label products, the first retail group in Spain to cater for blind customers.

Alcampo said that the scheme was being introduced in association with ONCE, the Spanish association which lobbies on behalf of the blind, and would be rapidly expanded to cover 200 products sold under the Auchan label. Alcampo is owned by France's Auchan group.

The company said that it hoped to reach the 200-product threshold by the middle of next year, adding that braille labels would be included on all its basic grocery items by 2005.

Alcampo has been selling a range of its own label canned seafood products with braille labels for several months, and has decided to extend the scheme to other products in the important pre-Christmas period.

With this in mind, several of the products featuring the braille labels will be traditional Spanish Christmas favourites such as nougat and other confectionery products.

There are more than 63,000 blind people registered with ONCE, whose

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cultural resources division worked closely with Alcampo to develop the new labels. The chain said that ONCE's expertise had been invaluable in deciding what information to include on the braille labels and what the best materials were to use on the product packaging.

Alcampo has in fact been working closely with ONCE since 2000 as part of the latter's campaign to promote better working conditions for people with disabilities. The company operates 44 hypermarkets across Spain.

Alcampo is the first food retailer in Spain to cater for blind customers with labeling of this sort, and the picture appears to be the same across Europe. In the UK, for example, one of Europe's most forward-looking retail markets, only the Co-op has a wide range of products featuring braille labels, although other such as market leader Tesco are said to be considering introducing them.Auchan, Alcampo's parent company in France, is by far the biggest group to go down this responsible route. In fact, all its own label products, food and non-food (excluding textiles), now carry braille labels. It is estimated that around a third of France's 1.5 million blind or partially sighted people can read braille.

Emmanuel Quesseveur of the organisation Donne-Moi Tes Yeux, which produces the braille labels for the chain, told FoodandDrinkEurope.com that taking the decision to introduce braille labelling was probably the hardest part of the process. "Basically it all boils down to whether companies are willing to take that final step; its a question of taking responsibility."

Auchan has been working with Donne-Moi Tes Yeux, an organisation which lobbies to make French businesses and public alike aware of the challenges facing blind people every day of their lives, since 1999/2000, and after a lengthy consultation period, the two organisations launched the first Auchan products with braille labels in November 2001. Now all the store chain's own label products carry the labeling, both in France and elsewhere.

In fact, Alcampo is not the first foreign subsidiary to get the braille

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labels. Quesseveur said that the Jumbo chain in Brazil and Portugal had already introduced the braille labels in association with the national associations for the blind there.

Retailers across Europe are increasingly expanding their socialresponsibilities, and more product labels of this sort are likely to be seenin the future. A handful of brand manufacturers are also going down thisroute - Quesseveur said that some frozen food products from Unilever already had braille labels, for example - but the likelihood is that most of the activity will come at the own label end of the market.

This is for a number of reasons, not least cost. The enormous buying power of the supermarket groups puts them in a very strong position when it comes to persuading their suppliers to shoulder at least some of the cost of introducing braille labels, and Quesseveur said that the procedure itself was not particularly expensive - it was simply a matter of adding a

cardboard braille label to the existing packaging.

But with most of the French retailers using the same few producers for their own label brands - at least according to Quesseveur - it would not take much for the majority of supermarket groups to offer their own label products with braille labelling. He added that most of the major European retailers were considering labelling of this sort.

Auchan, in any case, has a massive head start in this field, with the 1,000th own label product featuring braille set to hit the shelves next month.

LETTER TO THE EDITORDear BRL:

A friend just gave me her copy of the BRL Memorandum. I am a new braille user and found this publication (as well as the mission of the Braille Revival League) to be a significant one.

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How can I arrange to receive The BRL Memorandum myself?

I particularly liked the article "Books to Keep" and think that I may like to try to establish such a worthwhile program someday in my area. I've begun investigating the resources you mentioned and am trying to formulate a plan as to how to proceed. I am also investigating the idea of establishing a print/braille book lending program at my local library. I hope to determine what kind of community need there would be for it before bringing my proposal to the library director.

Although I am fairly new to braille, a day doesn't go by that I don't use it since my vision loss. I hope to become more proficient at it as time goes on.

I look forward to hearing from you in regard to receiving The BRL Memorandum. Thank you.

Yours,Carla BurkeHarwich Port, MA 02646

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FACTS 2004Sources of 2005 Braille Calendars

Listed below are organizations that produce calendars in braille and print/braille formats. This resource information was prepared by the Reference Section at the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.

American Printing House for the Blind (APH)P. O. Box 6085Louisville, KY 40206-0085502-895-2405 800-223-1839info@aph.orgwww.aph.org/products/index.htmlAccepts orders by mail or telephone.8-1/2 x 11-inch large-print/braille (36 point) APH Insights Art calendar. Includes holidays and moon phases. Features selected art from the APH juried competition. English edition, catalog no. 5-18971-05, $7.50.

Braille Institute Universal Media Services741 North Vermont AvenueLos Angeles, CA 90029323-906-3104 800-272-4553press@brailleinstitute.orgwww.universalmediaservices.org/PublicationsforSale/Calendar.htmAccepts orders by telephone or online.8-3/4 x 11-inch large-print/braille (18 point) wall monthly calendar. Includes a large-print/braille edition of the Rose Bowl parade schedule. $5.

Elizabeth Pierce Olmsted Center for the Visually Impaired1170 Main StreetBuffalo, NY 14209-0398716-882-1025, ext. 240Accepts orders by mail or telephone.5-1/2 x 8-1/2-inch braille desk calendar with two days per page and dividers for each month. $35 for base and refills, $29.50 for refills only.

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Lutheran Blind MissionLibrary for the BlindAttn: Lynne Borchelt7550 Watson RoadSt. Louis, MO 63119-4409888-215-2455blindmission@blindmission.orgwww.blindmission.orgAccepts requests by mail or telephone.8-1/2 x 11-inch braille calendar entitled I Am from the Gospel of John. Features a monthly verse from the Bible. Also available as an 8-1/2 x 14-inch large-print (21 point) edition. Free.

Michigan Braille Transcribing Fund3500 North Elm RoadJackson, MI 49201517-780-5097Accepts requests by telephone.6-1/4 x 3-3/4-inch large-print/braille purse size, spiral bound calendar. Includes a separate listing of major holidays. Free.

National Braille Press88 St. Stephen StreetBoston, MA 02115-4302617-266-6160, ext. 20800-548-7323orders@nbp.orgwww.nbp.org/ic/nbp/BCCL05.htmlAccepts prepaid orders by mail, telephone, or online.8-1/2 x 11-inch print/braille calendar with Winnie the Pooh motif. $10.99.

National Federation of the BlindMaterials Center1800 Johnson StreetBaltimore, MD 21230

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410-659-9314, ext. 2216materials@nfb.orgAccepts requests by e-mail, mail, or telephone.

6 x 6-1/2-inch braille calendar. Features one page per month, a personal day page, and a listing of major holidays. Free.

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of CongressWashington, DC 20542Attn: Reference Section202-707-9275 800-424-8567nlsref@loc.govAccepts requests by e-mail or telephone.The NLS braille datefinder and signature guide covers a 12-month period from July of the current year to June of the following year. Measures 5 x 3-1/2-inches. Free.

Society for the Blind, Inc.Products for Independence Store2750 24th StreetSacramento, CA 95818916-452-8271, ext. 302www.societyfortheblind.orgAccepts orders by mail or telephone.5-1/2 x 8-1/2-inch braille desk calendar with two days per page. At the top of each page are the day of the week, date, and month. Base and refill, catalog no. 20-06-01, $47.95. Refill only, catalogno. 20-06-02, $39.95.

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ALPHABETIC BRAILLE AND CONTRACTED (ABC) BRAILLE STUDYBy Robert Wall, Ph.D.

Reprinted from APH Report, Fall, 2004

Purpose

The Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille (ABC Braille Study) is a five-year exploration of literacy environments, skills, and experiences of children who are totally blind or have light perception only. The main organizing factor of the study is a comparison of students who are initially taught contracted braille and those initially taught uncontracted braille. The study is also collecting data on the larger issue of how the learning environment impacts acquisition of literacy skills, especially in the context of braille reading. Children in the United States and Canada are enrolled.

Core Team

For the ABC Braille Study, Dr. Anne Corn (Vanderbilt University) functions as the principal investigator. Dr. Alan Koenig (Texas Tech University) and Dr. Sharon Sacks (California State University, Los Angeles) are Quantitative and Qualitative Research Team Leaders, respectively. Functioning as Interim Quantitative Team Leader is Dr. Jane Erin (University of Arizona at Tucson). Other observers and researchers include: Ms. Liz Barclay, California School for the Blind; Dr. Chris Craig , Southwest Missouri State University; Ms. Frances Mary D'Andrea, American Foundation for the Blind; Ms. Stephanie Anne Herlich, a teacher of students with visual impairments; Dr. Cay Holbrook, University of British Columbia (Canada); Ms. Julia Ituarte, Southwest Missouri State University; Ms. Debbie Sitar who is employed by the study as a teacher of students with visual impairments; and Dr. Diane Wormsley,

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Pennsylvania College of Optometry. Dr. Robert Wall of Western Michigan University is a researcher and also functions as the statistician and oversees data storage for the study. Ms. Eleanor Pester and Dr. Ralph Bartley represent the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) on the study group.

Background

The Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille Study (ABC Braille Study) is a five-year study of literacy acquisition in children who are braille readers. The ABC Braille Study explores the development of literacy skills and charts literacy experiences of children who initially learn contracted braille as well as those who initially learn uncontracted braille.

While this study seeks to develop guidance for teachers of students with visual impairments with regard to initial instruction in braille, it also provides the first in-depth look at how young blind children are learning to read, write, and spell. This study is also the first time a consortium of eight universities, two organizations, and a special school for the blind have joined forces to conduct research.

Children in the study reside in the U.S. and Canada and attend special schools and local education agencies, as well as pre-k programs, e.g., Head Start. They are enrolled in the study in either pre-kindergarten or kindergarten and will be followed through the fourth grade.

Work during FY 2004

Twenty children from the first year of data collection were carried over to the second year. Twenty new children were added to the slate of participants. The current number of children is close to the maximum the researchers can realistically handle. Currently there are 17 children in the study learning contracted braille and 23 children in the study learning uncontracted braille. Enrolled children reside in 12 U. S. states and one

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Canadian province with children coming from a range of educational environments.

Each June the full research team meets to review protocols and ensure that the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the study are addressing the most pertinent issues. At the June group meeting, hosted by the American Foundation for the Blind's National Literacy Center in Atlanta, some changes were made to interview forms used in data collection. The core approach of combining quantitative measures of reading, braille contraction knowledge, and tactual reading efficiency with qualitative

measures of classroom observations and interviews of all involved parties remains firm. An important part of qualitative data collection is an ongoing response to the incoming data in order to develop better methods of data collection for the next years of the study and subsequent studies that may be developed in the future. Changes to forms or procedures have been instituted to better answer the intended research questions.

Following discussions of the researchers' first two years, the group decided that there should be a way to capture their experiences. Never before have so many people observed how children who are blind are learning literacy as well as how they are educated in schools. As part of the effort to capture the gestalt of the children's environments, each researcher who observes a child will be asked a series of questions to preserve any significant impressions from that year's observations. These questions will be developed by Dr. Chris Craig.

Dr. Jane Erin has developed a writing analysis of the composition and structure of writing and applied the analysis to writing samples from the first year's data. Dr. Diane Wormsley continues to subject videotape data to hand movement analysis. These analyses, along with braille miscue analysis and the reading scores from the Johns and Brigance reading tests will become more important beginning in the current year as the first students enrolled in the study are beginning to become more proficient readers and are starting to reach the level at which these measures will be able to detect differences in the groups.

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A first report on the study's findings was presented in December 2003 at the conference, Getting In Touch with Literacy, in Vancouver, Canada. The progress of the study was also presented at the Association for Education and Rehabilitation for the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) Conference in Orlando as well as at several state conferences and meetings.

The group of researchers have decided that data analyses will not be made public knowledge until the study is completed. The data being collected are vast and complex and afford few easy answers. As such, it would be considered reckless to submit tenuous theories based on half-collected data. There is a danger of misunderstandings of intent and

misuse of findings unless a unified presentation of findings is made available after the study's completion.

Work planned for FY 2005

During this 2004-2005 school year, five more children will be added to each of the contracted and uncontracted groups. The addition of these students will maximize the power of the findings and provide more generalizability for the study. New forms will be generated to reflect small changes in wording or the addition of questions to interviews. Researchers will continue to collect data on the existing 40 students.

BRAILLE RELATED RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY ACB

The following resolutions were adopted by the American Council of the Blind in Birmingham, Alabama:

AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLINDRESOLUTION 2004-01

Commends both the U.S. Mint and responsible officials within the

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government of the State of Alabama on their contributions to the design and issuance of the Alabama state quarter and commends the U.S. Mint on its efforts in seeking input from the blind and deaf-blind communities on the coin design depicting and honoring Helen Keller.

WHEREAS, the U.S. Mint within the United States Department of the Treasury has, over the past few years, been engaged in conducting a program of issuing commemorative quarters for each one of the States of the Union; and

WHEREAS, as an integral part of the above-referenced program, in the spring of 2003, the U.S. Mint issued the Alabama commemorative state quarter, which honors one of Alabama's native-born daughters, Helen Keller, the famous deaf-blind American speaker and scholar; and

WHEREAS, above the portrait of Helen Keller on the Alabama commemorative state quarter, representational contracted braille spelling out Helen Keller's name is displayed that is readable visually, but unfortunately is not readable by touch; and

WHEREAS, during the research and design phases preparatory to the issuance of the Alabama commemorative state quarter, the U.S. Mint did engage in laudable outreach efforts to obtain relevant input from representatives of both the blind and hearing impaired communities from both Alabama and throughout the nation;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the American Council of the Blind in convention assembled this 9th day of July, 2004, at the Birmingham-Jefferson County Convention Center in Birmingham, Ala., that this organization commends both the U.S. Mint and responsible officials within the government of the State of Alabama for honoring a famous deaf-blind American, Helen Keller, through issuance of the Alabama commemorative state quarter, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization also commends the U.S. Mint for its laudable efforts to seek relevant input from

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representatives of both the blind and hearing-impaired communities during the research and design phases that led up to the issuance of this Alabama commemorative state quarter, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the staff of this organization be directed to convey the substance of this congratulatory resolution to responsible officials of both the U.S. Mint, and the Department of the Treasury, and to the Governor of the State of Alabama and other responsible officials within the Alabama state government.

Adopted.Donna Seliger, Secretary

RESOLUTION 2004-03

Instructs the American Council of the Blind's executive director to write to the Law School Admission Council expressing ACB's outrage regarding the unlawful treatment of Law School Admission Test examinees who are blind or visually impaired and provides that the officers, directors, and staff of this organization, in conjunction with its special interest-affiliate, the American Association of Visually Impaired Attorneys, make these concerns known to the monitoring authority, the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice.

WHEREAS, students who are blind or visually impaired are increasingly seeking admission into law school; and

WHEREAS, entrance into law school is based, in substantial part, upon performance on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), which is administered by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC); and

WHEREAS, the LSAC prohibits preparatory material used by LSAT examinees from being made available in formats accessible to persons

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who are blind or visually impaired; and

WHEREAS, the LSAC assigns test readers for those who request that accommodation, but does not allow test takers to screen these readers, or to refuse unqualified readers without forfeiting the right to that accommodation; and

WHEREAS, the LSAC does not inform examinees who are blind or visually impaired of their test date, the accommodations granted, if any, and test location, until a few days prior to the test; and

WHEREAS, the LSAC routinely refuses to grant reasonable accommodations and closes its accommodated testing office to all direct communication for the month prior to each test; and

WHEREAS, the LSAC disregards two prominent existing settlement agreements concerning the rights to reasonable accommodations for test takers who are blind or visually impaired; and

WHEREAS, one of these settlements was entered into with the United States Department of Justice;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the American Council of the Blind in convention assembled this 9th day of July, 2004, at the Birmingham-Jefferson County Convention Center in Birmingham, Ala., that this organization instruct the American Council of the Blind's executive director to write to the LSAC expressing ACB's outrage regarding the unlawful treatment of LSAT examinees who are blind or visually impaired; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the officers, directors, and staff of this organization, in conjunction with its special-interest affiliate, the American Association of Visually Impaired Attorneys, make these concerns known to the monitoring authority, the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice.

Adopted.

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Donna Seliger, Secretary

AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLINDRESOLUTION 2004-05

Urges the United States Postmaster General to release a proclamation commemorating the passage of the "free matter for the blind" statutes, as well as recognizing their function and proper use, and the benefits derived through exercising this privilege, and directs the ACB staff to work with the Postmaster General to accomplish the objectives set forth in this resolution.

WHEREAS, the "Free Matter for the Blind" legislation has improved the literacy of persons who are blind or visually impaired by allowing the free exchange of materials in various accessible formats, including cassette and braille; and

WHEREAS, this legislation has also assisted persons who are blind or visually impaired in receiving and maintaining equipment necessary to their employment and independent living; and

WHEREAS, this is the 100th anniversary of the passage of these laws; and

WHEREAS, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the "Free Matter Privilege" would provide an outstanding opportunity to educate postal workers and the public at large about its guarantees and beneficial effects for persons who are blind or visually impaired;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the American Council of the Blind in convention assembled this 9th day of July, 2004, at the Birmingham-Jefferson County Convention Center in Birmingham, Ala., that this organization urge the United States Postmaster General to release a proclamation commemorating the passage of the "free matter for the blind" statutes, as well as recognizing their function and proper use, and the benefits derived through exercising this privilege; and

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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the ACB staff be directed to work with the Postmaster General to accomplish the objectives set forth in this resolution.

Adopted.Donna Seliger, Secretary

AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLINDRESOLUTION 2004-15

Expresses its profound disappointment with the action taken regarding the Unified English Braille Code (UEBC) by the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) and the Braille Authority of North America (BANA), urges BANA and ICEB to conduct research addressing the problems outlined in this resolution, and strongly encourages BANA and ICEB to examine other codes before taking a final vote on this important matter.

WHEREAS, it has been widely recognized that the braille codes in current usage need alterations to increase their applicability to technical expressions, avoid ambiguity and enhance clarity; and

WHEREAS, the only code advanced over the last 15 years to accomplish these goals has been the Unified English Braille Code (UEBC); and

WHEREAS, the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) voted in 2004 that each country could submit to its braille authority the UEBC as a code for unifying braille; and

WHEREAS, the majority of Braille Authority of North America (BANA) representatives to ICEB empowered to vote agreed with this proposal; and

WHEREAS, no advocate of the code has faced the fact that even so simple a problem as multiplying by two numbers cannot be expressed in

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a 40-cell braille line; and

WHEREAS, no transcriber, teacher, student, or user of braille has extensively studied the difficulties of writing this code, especially technical material; and

WHEREAS, both the American Council of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind have adopted, at their national conventions, strong resolutions opposing this code;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the American Council of the Blind in convention assembled this 9th day of July, 2004, at the Birmingham-Jefferson County Convention Center in Birmingham, Ala., that this organization expresses its profound disappointment with the action taken BANA and ICEB, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urges BANA and ICEB to conduct research addressing the problems outlined in this resolution, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization strongly encourages BANA and ICEB to examine other codes before taking a final vote on this important matter.

Adopted.Donna Seliger

BRAILLE NEWS

BRL E-mail list

The Braille Revival League has an email list on the ACB web site. The list is for the purpose of discussing braille issues and concerns. Information will be available about the Braille Revival League. So here is information on how to subscribe to the list:

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To join the list, send a message to:

brl-subscribe@acb.org

If you need to get in touch with the human owner (Gary Patterson) for the BRL list, please send a message to:

brl-owner@acb.org

Please include a FORWARDED list message with ALL HEADERS intact to make it easier to troubleshoot any problems.

ELECTRONIC PRESERVATION OF BRAILLE NOW POSSIBLE!

Would you like to preserve your braille electronically on a disc or CD? Do you have braille classics on your shelves? Do you have braille pages that were transcribed on a slate or braillewriter? Do you have personal braille documents that no one else has? Do you have metal embossed mastering plates without the original file? Do you have boxes and boxes of braille masters to thermoform?

The American Printing House for the Blind can now scan your braille and provide you with a braille ready file on disk or CD for use with embossers or braille notetakers.

Single-sided or interpoint, paper or metal master plates, APH can create electronic braille files for you.The price? Only $2.50 per braille page. This price does not include converting single-sided parts or volumes into interpointed parts or volumes. APH cannot scan pages containing tactile graphics.

For more information or for placing orders, contact Contract Administration, American Printing House for the Blind, 1839 Frankfort Avenue, Louisville, KY 40206, or call 800-223-1839, ext. 302.

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BRAILLE LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND INAUGURATED

Ha Noi, Vietnam – A braille library for the blind was inaugurated at the Centre for Training and Functional Rehabilitation for the Blind in Ha Noi by the Blind Association.

The10 million JPY project was funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Under the project, the library is tasked with compiling and printing books and documents in braille in addition to providing books for blind people to read on the spot.

Over the past year, 500 books with a total of 40,000 pages have been compiled and printed in braille, including text books on the Vietnamese languages, New Headway Elementary books and a book for functional rehabilitation.

BOOK LOVER SPELLS IT OUT TO WIN RADIO QUIZ

Reading, England – WORD wizard Pam Gulliver is enjoying the sweet spell of success. The 61-year-old beat competition from across the country to win a spelling contest on BBC Radio.

Mrs. Gulliver, who is blind, is a keen reader who learned braille in childhood. She believes her lack of sight probably contributes to her superior spelling skills.

"Your skills are honed because most people just look at words, but reading in braille, you feel them," she added.

"I have always been very good at spelling, even as a child at a primary school for blind children."

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After a knockout round, Mrs. Gulliver beat three other contestants in a spelling showdown to win a Delia Smith cookbook.

The nation's declining standards of spelling have been pinned on the exploding use of phone texting and computer lingo.

American cultural influence has also been blamed, although our transatlantic cousins have made 'spelling bees' into a national event.

The BBC Radio competition followed a studio debate led by a professor from the Plain English Campaign, who bemoaned the state of the nation's spelling skills.

Mrs. Gulliver, a self-confessed "quiz-a-holic", appeared on Mastermind in 1993 and is hoping to set up a quiz group.

Think you can do as well as Mrs. Gulliver? Here are five of the words she correctly spelled to win the radio competition.

Which is right? Turn the page upside down for the answers.

-- independent / independant-- shadenfreude / schadenfreude-- pronunciation / pronounciation

-- phosphorus / phospherous-- serial / cereal (for the breakfast food).

BRAILLE TAGS WILL HELP BLIND WINE CONNOISSEURS

Edinburgh, Scotland – A wine distributor has produced braille tags for its entire stock to provide blind connoisseurs with key details about each

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bottle’s origin and vintage.

Birmingham-based Passion Wines is thought to be the only supplier in Britain providing the extra labels on all its goods.

The firm’s selection of 600 wines and champagnes from 15 countries have tags in both braille and large print featuring information about the grape, region, alcohol volume and re-ordering codes.

Marketing manager Marc Pitton, who trained at France’s Université du Vin, said the idea was inspired by “blind tastings” he performed during his studies.

“We were blindfolded and we had to assess the colour, aroma and taste, and it made me think that wine tasting must be very challenging for blind people,” Mr. Pitton said.

The company developed the tags with help from Birmingham’s Queen Alexandra College for the blind and partially sighted after trialling them at a successful tasting evening.

Mr. Pitton added: “We thought that increasing the offer to 600 wines and champagnes from 15 countries and many more wineries would be a step further towards making wine more accessible to visually impaired people.”

GE SECURITY SYSTEM NOW AVAILABLE WITH BRAILLE

North St. Paul, Minnesota – The GE Interlogix Simon security system, Electronic House magazine's 2002 Product of the Year, is a good fit for the lifestyle and needs of the visually impaired. Simon provides home security, fire alarm, and environmental monitoring – all in a sleek, new, low profile unit. The system delivers voice prompts and status messages to the user and describes, in plain English, the location and nature of an alarm. Simon

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assures users when it is armed properly and notifies them if it isn't.

The Simon voice is especially helpful in homes with visually impaired individuals who also appreciate the braille keypad overlay (compatible with the latest version of Simon) and user manual. New communication features make Simon one of the friendliest systems ever to operate. In the event of an alarm when a user is away from home, Simon actually calls his/her cell phone to give a voice report in addition to notifying the central monitoring station. The user is notified of an emergency while authorities rush to the home.

Visually impaired users also appreciate the home automation capabilities of the Simon system. A dark home may be perfectly comfortable for a blind person, but from a security perspective, it is also inviting to burglars. Simon can be programmed to turn lights on or off on a schedule or in response to sensor activation, giving the home a "lived in" look – whether anyone is home or not. The optional Dialog Thermostat interacts with the Simon system to automatically adjust the temperature when no one is home. This provides convenient energy savings without the need to constantly adjust the temperature or try to program a thermostat that might not be designed for visually impaired users.

Advantages of Simon wireless installations include fewer holes drilled through walls and floors for wire runs. Running wires is one of the messiest and most time-consuming steps when installing a security system. Because Simon's wireless sensors can be surface mounted and programmed without the use of wires, installation times are much shorter – with much less mess. Finally, Simon sensors can be installed where they will do the most good. Because of Simon's exceptional performance, there's no need to compromise sensor location based on wiring needs or distance limitations.

To learn more about the new Simon system or locate a GE Interlogix Security Pro dealer in your area, call GE Interlogix at 800-777-1415, ext. 2119. For a complete list of GE Security Pro dealers, visit www.GE-SecurityPro.com and click on "Dealer Locater."

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SWISS POST OFFICE ISSUES BRAILLE STAMP

The braille stamp was issued on March 6, 2003 by Switzerland's Post Office and is its first ever stamp in braille to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Swiss National Association for the Blind. The braille stamp, worth 70 centimes and is designed to raise awareness of the challenges faced by the blind and partially sighted.

The stamp has been created by the Winterthur-based graphic artist Sandra DiSalvo and takes the form of a red square with the number 70 in braille in the middle.

Di Salvo designed the stamp to have a high sensory impact. At first glance the stamp appears to be a red square, and only on closer inspection is the 70 revealed. It will differ from the normal stamp which features a printed Helvetia 70.

The Swiss National Association for the Blind's Norbert Schmuck said he was delighted that Swiss Post had acted upon the SNAB's proposal for a touch recognition-based stamp. He said it was important that the needs and problems faced by the blind, partially sighted, and the deaf and blind were recognised.

"For such people, communication is harder and more costly than for those who can see," Schmuck told swissinfo.

"This stamp changes it around so that for once the blind have the advantage: those who can see can't see the 70 at first. A blind person only needs to touch the stamp once to know straightaway that it's a 70 centime stamp," he said.

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REVISED NLS BRAILLE LITERACY PUBLICATION NOW AVAILABLE

The newly revised reference circular Braille Literacy: Resources for Instruction, Writing Equipment, and Supplies, 2004 replaces the previous edition dated November 1994. This publication lists instructional materials, supplies, and equipment currently available for learning braille, and cites sources about braille literacy. The resources given are intended to assist sighted individuals who are interested in learning braille or want to transcribe print materials into braille; instructors who teach braille; persons with visual impairments who are interested in learning to read and write braille; and family members, friends, and professionals who desire information about braille literacy. Copies of this reference publication in print or braille can be ordered from your NLS regional library. An online edition is available at http://www.loc.gov/nls/reference/circulars/brailleliteracy.html.

JEWISH MAGAZINE GETS BRAILLE EDITION

The Jewish Braille Institute of America has created a braille edition of BabagaNewz, a classroom magazine promoting Jewish values. The impetus for the project came from a Hebrew school teacher in Kansas City who thought a visually impaired student in her sixth-grade class would enjoy reading the magazine with his sighted classmates.

"Thanks to the efforts of one school administrator and the staff at the JBI Library, the articles in BabagaNewz can now be enjoyed by visually impaired students around the country," said the magazine's publisher, Michael Foilb.

Founded more than 70 years ago, the Braille Institute makes Jewish texts

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available in braille to more than 30,000 people around the world. JBI International was established in 1931 as the Jewish Braille Institute of America. For additional information, contact JBI at 110 East 30th Street, New York, NY 10016; (212) 889-2525.

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BRL 2004-05 Board of Directors

President: Lynne Koral1561 Nelchina St., Unit C-1Anchorage, AK 99501-5577

Home: (907) 276-1926Cell: (907) 830-2169

Work: (907) 248-7770 Ex. 203E-mail: aiblink@ak.net

First Vice-President: May Davis133 W. Ashland St.

Doylestown, PA 18901-4153Home: (215) 348-5800

E-mail: mayanddon@msn.com

Second Vice-President: Ralph Smitherman131 Cedar Grove Lane

Canton, MS 39046-9292Home: (601) 856-6943

E-mail: redbird26@bellsouth.net

Secretary: Jean Mann6D Downing Square

Guilderland, New York 12084Home: (518) 452-1237

E-mail: Jean.Mann@dfa.state.ny.us

Treasurer: Gary Patterson6311 Franklin Avenue

Des Moines, IA 50322-5915Home: (515) 278-2686

E-mail: gpatterson002@mchsi.com

Immediate Past President: DeAnna NoriegaP. O. Box 6818

Colorado Springs, CO 80934

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Work (719) 578-5040Cell: (719) 641-1457

E-mail: dquietwater@qwest.net

BOARD MEMBERS:

James Kracht K.9901 SW 138th St.

Miami, FL33176Home: (305) 251-6983

E-mail: jkk@miamidade.gov

Kim Charlson57 Grandview Avenue

Watertown MA 02472-1634Home: (617) 926-9198Work: (617) 972-7249

E-mail: kimcharlson@earthlink.net

Winifred Downing1587 38th Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94122Home: (415) 564-5798

E-mail: wmdowning@mindspring.com

Josette KernaghanU.S. address:

P. O. BOX 443Bellingham, WA 98227-0443

Canadian address:P. O. Box 72055

Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5H 4P9Home: (604) 435-4315

Affiliate Representative: Eldon Cox

814 E. 73rd St.Kansas City, MO 64131

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Home: (816) 363-5733Cell: (816) 588-5120

E-mail: eldon3@mindspring.com