I have decided to give myself a challenge. I downloaded a .txt version of Bulfinch’s Mythology, to read on a used electronic device I picked up at a price I couldn’t refuse.
So, what’s the challenge?
This is the device.
Yes, that’s braille.
I’m watching my mom’s eyes change for the worse, drastically since in the past month, and thinking that preemptive strikes might be a good idea if these issues prove to be hereditary.
Plus, I need to keep my brain active during this lockdown. That’s a really major need on my part.
Therefore, I have hit on a method for addressing both of those issues simultaneously. I have decided to read a book on this device, tactilely.
It’s slow going, as I expected. But it’s an intense brain workout, so it’s not tedious at all. Since I already know how to read braille visually, I can cheat and peek at the display if I hit on a letter I’m just not getting. But I am using that as an option of last resort. I keep thinking of one deaf-blind friend who dived in and just practiced nonstop, and learned braille that way after her vision failed. She’s living proof that it can be done. If she could do it, so can I.
I contacted the Hadley school, which offers free braille correspondence courses for both blind and sighted students, as well. Did I mention that I really need a brain workout these days?
Besides, those of us who volunteer as SSPs for deafblind consumers rarely learn braille. We probably should spend a bit of time learning that, alongside the effort we make to learn to sign. I learned Grade 1 (uncontracted) braille a lot of years ago, like 1989. But there are numerous braille contractions that I don’t know, and I’ve always wanted to study those, too. Now’s the time.
I’m reading the book in uncontracted format. Who knows how long it’ll take? But it’ll be time we’ll spent.
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