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Braille Roundup: Reading by the Dots

collage with braille slate and stylus top left, braille playing cards top right, woman using ATM bottom left, woman reading braille restroom sign bottom right

January is braille awareness month.  Louis Braille, the creator of the braille code, was born on January 4. There are many misunderstandings about braille. A few years ago, in Four Misconceptions to Learning and Reading Braille, I said, “It’s been my experience, with the occasional exception, most individuals with an acquired vision loss who did not grow up using braille express little […]

Individual using a Perkins Brailler

My Braille Journey

Editor’s note: Natalie Charles, a young adult who is blind, reflects on learning braille and participating in a Braille Bee as a student. Natalie dreams of becoming a braille teacher, a braille transcriber, or opening Braille Learning Center. As far as I can remember, I started learning braille when I was 2 or 3 years […]

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Individual exploring a tactile graphic with braille

My Life in Six Dots: The Persistent Relevance of Braille

Editor’s note: George Stern, who is DeafBlind, beautifully describes what braille means to him, stating it means more to him than facts can convey, and it is more than a code. What Facts Can’t Convey Fall On Your Knees; Thirst; Wild About Herbs; Trouble Times Two; L’Etranger; The Prince; The American Pageant; Braided Creek … […]

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Yellow lab in front of azaleas

Dog Guide Peer Pressure: When Other Voices are Calling the Shots

Editor’s note: After obtaining her first dog guide, Alexis realized she did so because her peers had dog guides. Alexis reminds others who are blind or low vision who are considering dog guides to think through whether a dog guide is a good fit for their current season of life. Have you ever wanted to […]

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Individual in business casual standing in a kitchen

Second Acts: From Programmer to Braille Transcriptionist

Steve Dresser had a solid career working for 30 years as a computer programmer for the state of Connecticut. But after he retired from the position in 2002, he started his own business: Jennco Productions, which is dedicated to producing high-quality braille materials from electronic documents. Blind since birth due to retinopathy of prematurity, Steve […]

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