The Official Publication of the California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually
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1CTEVH JOURNAL 2 3The official publication of the California Transcribers and Educators of the 4Visually Handicapped 5 6Summer 2007 Volume L, No. 2 7 8WHAT’S INSIDE: 9Preconference Events for 2008: 10Hands-On Training for Braille Translation Software with NIMAS Updates 11sponsored by AFB 12Tour of Junior Blind of America 13 14Tactile Graphics: Templates for Fun and Profit 15Braille Formats: Acknowledgements, Attributions, Credit Lines, Source 16Citations, and Permission Notices 17 18Page 2 19 20Message from the Editor 21 22Our 2008 Conference Chairs are busy preparing for our upcoming 23Conference in Los Angeles, February 29-March 2, 2008. A warm welcome 24to our new Hand-Drawn Tactile Specialist Katrina Ostby and our new 25Educator Specialist Beth Moore. Len Dozier our former Pokadot Specialist 26has a website www.braille-pokadot.com for Pokadot assistance. Some 27materials from the past conference are posted on our website for members to 28view. Be sure to read the article in this issue’s Announcements regarding the 29changes in membership dues which were passed at our general meeting held 30at our last annual conference in Santa Clara. 31Lisa McClure 32 33Editor: Lisa McClure 34Braille Transcription: Joanne Call 35Embossing: Sacramento Braille Transcribers Inc. 36Tape Recording & Duplication: Volunteers of Vacaville 37 38The CTEVH Journal is published four times a year by the California 39Transcribers and Educators of the Visually Handicapped, Inc., 741 North 40Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90029. ©2007 by California 41Transcribers and Educators of the Visually Handicapped, Inc. except where 42noted. All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced 43without the consent of the publishers. 44 45Editorial office for the CTEVH Journal and all other CTEVH publications 46is: 47 48Lisa McClure 49CTEVH Publications 50555 North El Camino Real 51Suite A #341 52San Clemente, CA 92672 53E-mail: [email protected] 54 55Deadlines for submission of articles: 56Winter Issue: January 2, 2008 57Spring Issue: March 9, 2008 58Summer Issue: May 1, 2008 59 60Page 3 61 62Table of Contents 63 64Inside Story: 65President’s Message 4 66CTEVH Membership Application 5 67Gifts & Tributes 6 68Announcements 7 69CTEVH Nominations 9 70Rod Brawley 10 71Editor Internet Picks 11 72 73Featured Article: “Our 24 Pound Daredevil” by Grace Tiscareño-Sata 13 74 75Our Specialists Say: 76Textbook Formats “Acknowledgements, Attributions, 77Credit Lines, Source Citations, and Permissions Notices” by Patty Biasca 15 78Nemeth Code “Nemeth Odditites & Solutions” by Mary Denault 18 79Tactile Graphics “Templates for Fun and Proft” by Jim Barker 21 80Music in Education “Music Literacy and Technology Leading to Varied 81Career Options for Individuals with Visual Impairment, Part 3 – 82Conclusion” by Richard Taesch 24 83 84CTEVH Life Members 28 85CTEVH Katie Sibert Memorial Scholarship Application 30 86CTEVH Donna Coffee Youth Scholarship Application 32 87CTEVH Board of Directors and Committee Chairs 34 88 89Page 4 90 91President’s Message 92 93Dear CTEVH members and friends, 94Did all of you have a fantastic summer? Here in Southern California it was 95extremely HOT! I hope everyone found some fun and safe ways to stay cool. 96During these past months, I’m sure every transcriber was busy trying to 97make those demanding school deadlines. As hard as all of you have worked 98and as much as you have finished, it is sad to think that there will still be 99many blind and visually impaired students who will not have any Braille 100material at the beginning of his/her school year. Unfortunately, those 101students will struggle, trying to catch up with their sighted classmates. 102 103In my experiences working in a school district, I can recall a student who 104had just started receiving Braille after the first month of a new school year. 105She worked so hard and did double work for the next two months, trying to 106catch up. In the end, her hard work paid off. She is now a college student, 107but still waits for her Braille materials and very rarely has them at the 108beginning of each new school year. 109 110The demand for transcribers is high. We can not teach or recruit people for 111this profession without the help of other certified transcribers. If you are a 112certified transcriber, try teaching. You might want to start out with one 113student, try a friend who has shown some interest in all these dots. Who 114knows, you may like it so much you find yourself teaching a whole class! 115Some other ways you can help would be to show new transcribers all the 116resources available to them. Start by teaching the software programs, 117introduce Nemeth or Music, and definitely advise these new friends to attend 118CTEVH Conferences. The list can go on and on, a transcriber’s work and 119help never stops. As for Proofreaders… where are you? I know school 120districts, agencies and independent transcribers are all looking for certified 121proofreaders. If you are a certified proofreader, I encourage you to try 122teaching. Proofreading is a major part of the Braille distribution process. We 123desperately need more proofreaders! 124 125If you are a certified transcriber or certified proofreader and are looking for 126work or any ways to help recruit new transcribers or proofreaders, CTEVH 127conferences are a great place to start. Please feel free to post your name and 128contact information on our bulletin board and someone will be calling you 129soon. Also, if you know a new certified Transcriber/Proofreader or someone 130who is interested in becoming one, invite them to the next CTEVH 131conference in Los Angeles. Show them around, help them network, and let 132them take in everything CTEVH has to offer. Who knows, they could be the 133next CTEVH President. 134Sincerely, 135Bonnie Grimm 136CTEVH President 137 138Page 5 139 140CTEVH Membership Application 141 142CTEVH membership dues are for the calendar year. Any dues received after October 143will be applied to the following year. Members receive the quarterly CTEVH JOURNAL 144as well as the annual pre-conference registration packet. For your convenience, you 145may log onto www.ctevh.org to submit the following information and make payment 146by credit card. 147 148CTEVH MEMBERSHIP DUES: 149Annual membership $50 $______150Life Membership $500 $______(Not currently available for payment 151online) 152 153There is no distinction in price between individuals or institutions, foreign or domestic 154members. Families with VI children are eligible for a discount: All adults and 155children of the family are considered members with payment of a single 156membership. Please provide the names of all adults in your family. 157 158Please indicate whether Renewal or New Member 159 160Thank you in advance for your donation. CTEVH is a 501(c)3 corporation, organized 161under the CA code for non-profit organizations. Receipt upon request. 162 163General Fund $ 164Katie Sibert Memorial Fund $ 165Donna Coffee Scholarship Fund $ 166TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED $ 167Please make checks and money orders payable in US dollars to CTEVH 168 169NAME 170ADDRESS 171CITY 172STATE 173COUNTRY 174 175ZIP/ROUTE Code 176 177Optional information we love to have: 178TELEPHONE 179E-MAIL 180(Necessary if requesting virtual delivery of JOURNAL) 181 182Please help us know our membership by checking all descriptions that apply to you 183and would be helpful to CTEVH in planning for conference workshops. 184 185_____ TRANSCRIBER_____ EDUCATOR _____ O&M ___ DUAL CREDITIAL 186_____ PARENT(S) OF VI STUDENT _____ PROOFREADER _____ ITINERANT 187_____ STUDENT ____ OTHER (eg Librarian, Administrator, Counselor, Vendor) 188 189The CTEVH JOURNAL is available in the following formats: Please indicate your 190choice. 191_____ Braille 192_____ Print 193_____ Compact disk (.doc file) 194_____ Audio tape 195_____ Virtual (you are notified by your email when JOURNAL is uploaded to the 196CTEVH website) 197 198Pre-conference materials are currently available in print and online only. 199 200Send this form with payment to Christy Cutting: CTEVH Membership 201Chair, 379 Claremont Street, Boulder City, Nevada, 89005-2640 202 203Page 6 204 205Gifts & Tributes 206 207We would like to thank the following donors for their generous gifts & 208tributes: 209 210General Fund 211Linda McGovern 212Laura Zamora 213Christy Cutting 214Nabila Hikmet 215Martha Pamperin 216Lisa Gessow 217Chana Jackson 218Anna Lee Braunstein 219Judith Yellen – in memory of Betty Schecter 220Linda McGovern – in memory of Virginia Warwick 221 222Katie Sibert Fund 223Anne Taylor-Babcock 224Ann Madrigal 225Martha Pamperin 226Patricia Davis 227North Sacramento Braille Transcribers – in memory of Betty Schreifer 228Michael Meteryer 229Deborah Lieberman 230 231Donna Coffee Fund 232Anne Taylor-Babcock 233Laura Zamora 234Ann Madrigal 235Martha Pamperin 236Transcribers of Orange County – in memory of Betty Schrecter 237Dorothy Johnson 238 239The CTEVH Gifts and Tributes Fund 240 241Contributions will be used to improve services to persons who are visually 242impaired. 243 244DONOR: 245Name 246Address 247City, State, Zip 248In honor of: 249In memory of: 250 251FOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: 252Name 253Address 254City, State, Zip 255Please direct contributions to: 256THE CTEVH-KATIE SIBERT MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND 257THE DONNA COFFEE MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND 258 259All contributions to CTEVH are tax deductible. FEID number available 260upon request. Please make check payable to CTEVH and mail to: 261 262CTEVH Gifts and Tributes 263Peggy Schuetz 26410675 Harris Road 265Auburn, CA 95603 266 267Page 7 268 269Announcements 270 271PRE–CONFERENCE 272 273Hands-On Training for Braille Translation Software with NIMAS Updates 274Sponsored by American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), CTEVH, 275Computer Application Specialties, 276Duxbury, Inc., and Braille Institute 2778:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Thursday, February 28th at the LAX Marriott 278 279Each participant must complete additional workshop registration 280information at AFB’s web page. Please go to www.afb.org/nimas.asp 281 282Through the efforts of many leaders and the collaborative work of the AFB 283Textbooks and Instructional Materials Solutions Forum, the Individuals with 284Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004 has new language defining access 285to instructional materials for children who are blind or visually impaired 286through the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard 287(NIMAS). NIMAS guides the production and electronic distribution of 288digital versions of textbooks and other instructional materials from 289publishers so they can be more easily converted to special formats, including 290audio, braille, digital text, and large print. 291 292We are offering three separate training sessions on how to transcribe these 293new standard file types, all provided by experts in braille software 294development and braille transcribing. These sessions are designed to help 295people who currently transcribe instructional materials into braille learn 296more about the new updates associated with NIMAS and how to work with 297this new file format, specifically using these three braille translation 298software programs. Each attendee will be provided with their own computer 299workstation and all three sessions include a box lunch. 300 301Braille 2000 All Day Session 8:30 – 5:00, including lunch 302MegaDots Half-Day Session 8:30 – noon, lunch to follow 303Duxbury Half-Day Session 1:15 – 5:00, lunch preceeding at noon 304 305Cost: One all-day or both half-day sessions for $80; or one half-day only for 306$50 Prices include lunch and rented laptop. 307 308Participants Must: Be “very” familiar with at least one braille translation 309software program and be willing to share this information concerning skills 310and knowledge learned at the AFB Training with other braille transcribers in 311their community, school district or agency. 312 313For program information contact Mary Ann Siller at [email protected] 314 315AFB NIMAS Workshop Trainers: 316Susan Christensen, Braille Production & Software Specialist 317Robert Stepp, Computer Application Specialties Company 318Peter Sullivan, Vice President of Development, Duxbury, Inc. 319Neal Kuniansky, Director of Marketing, Duxbury, Inc. 320Joe Sullivan, President, Duxbury Inc. 321 322Page 8 323 324Free Tour of Junior Blind of America: Envision the Possibilities! 325Presented by Gina Kegel, Student Transition and Enrichment Program 326Coordinator, Junior Blind of America 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Transportation 327provided to and from the LAX Marriott; lunch included. Cost, including 328lunch: $10 329Hotel pick-up at 9 a.m. Program begins at 10:15 a.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m. 330Shuttle back to hotel between 2:30 – 3 p.m. For program information 331contact: Gina Kegel at [email protected] 332 333Parents! Take advantage of this opportunity to learn about the programs and 334services available to you and your child, including our 40-acre summer 335camp, weekend adventure trips, special education school, residential 336facilities and early intervention! Teachers! Expand your students’ learning 337and build confidence through hands-on outdoor recreation programs! 338Rehabilitation Counselors! Learn how our vocational and independent living 339services can increase your clients’ chances of becoming independent and 340employed! You will have the opportunity to network, as well as take part in 341a campus tour, speaker sessions and discussion groups. We hope you will 342take this opportunity to share a personal experience with Junior Blind and 343gain an in-depth view of what we have to offer! 344 345Don’t Miss Our First-Ever CTEVH Silent Auction 346 347On February 28, 2008, California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually 348Handicapped (CTEVH), a 501c3 non-profit organization, will be holding a 349silent auction as well as a 50/50 drawing at our annual conference. 350 351The auction and drawing are fund raisers designed to provide financial 352support for programs such as: the cost for our annual conference, increasing 353parent participation and to allow CTEVH to continually meet the requests 354for the educational assistance of families with children who are blind or 355visually impaired and other organizations. It’s our hope that you will offer 356your assistance by donating an item to our auction and/or purchasing a ticket 357for the 50/50 drawing. 358 359The auction will be open during conference hours: Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 360pm and Saturday, 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. Auction winners will be announced 361Saturday evening. Tickets for the drawing may be purchased throughout the 362conference. There will be a new drawing daily. Tickets are $1 per ticket or 363$5 for six. Your support is greatly appreciated. 364 365If you have any questions or you would like to make a donation to the 366auction, please contact Tracy Gaines at: 323-663-1111 ext. 1232 or by e- 367mail at: gaines1230@hotmail. com. 368Thank you. 369Tracy Gaines 370CTEVH Fund Raising Committee Chairperson 371 372Page 9 373 374CTEVH Nominations 375The committee hereby wishes to nominate the following people, each of 376whom has agreed to serve if elected: 377 378Nomination for first term Norma Emerson (transcriber) 379Nomination for first term Sheila Bonito (educator) 380Nomination for a second term Sharon Anderson (transcriber) 381Nomination for a second term Peggy Schuetz (transcriber) 382Nomination for a third term Grant Horrocks (educator) 383Respectfully submitted, 384Paula Lightfoot, Past President/Nominating Committee Chair CTEVH 385 386Page 10 387 388Rod Brawley 389 390Editors Note: This year Rod Brawley retired from the California Department 391of Education’s Clearinghouse for Specialized Media and Technology which 392has been renamed California Department of Education’s Clearinghouse for 393Specialized Media and Translation. I want to thank Bob Walling for 394contributing the words h shared at Rod’s retirement party. 395 396Rod Brawley was the manager of the California Department of Education’s 397Clearinghouse for Specialized Media and Technology. The following is an 398excerpt from the speech I made at his retirement party. 399 400I believe we should define Rod. Biblically a rod is something used to beat 401someone. That isn’t our Rod. The dictionary said it was a measurement, 16 402½ feet to be exact. Rod only seems that big. This makes me think Rod is 403supposed to be some kind of measurement device. They say men are 404measured by what they do. When I met Rod, we spent 72 hours putting 405together a wish list for Braille development. During the next 15 years Rod 406was instrumental in making those wishes come true, not only for the blind 407children of California but all over America. Fifteen years age the idea of a 408child having the whole braille boo at the start of the school year was 409impossible. Now it is expected. Rod was behind most of the initiatives that 410made it possible. How did Rod make it happen? By nurturing. 411 412In our initial conversation, his biggest concern was nurturing the volunteer 413groups. He offered help, support and contracts. Transcribing Marine is a 414model of Rod’s work. He nurtured a small volunteer group into one of 415California’s major braille producers. When the braille world saw 416insurmountable problems, Rod saw opportunities Every blind child needed 417braille, but every state operated independently to make its own braille. Rod 418was the first to send braille files to a repository where any state could down 419load the file and turn it into a book. He set up a list serve (Braille n teach) 420where the braille community could get help from each other, no matter what 421state they lived in. This made it so that the few transcribers we had weren’t 422brailling the same book. Another opportunity: as children progressed from 423grade to grade or even book-to-book, the format of each book was different. 424This inconsistency caused the braille reader to try to learn the format while 425trying to learn a subject. Rod started sending all the books to one person to 426standardize the format. It was the first time it had ever been tried anywhere. 427Problem solved. California provided books for kindergarten though 8th 428grade and the voters passed legislation extending the obligation to college 429students. What happened to high school? How can they afford the high cost 430of braille books? Along came Rod with the reimbursement program, which 431made braille a reality for California high school students. Another 432insurmountable problem: the teachers had trouble ordering what they 433needed. Who was it that started IMODS? Rod. IMODS is the best ordering 434system to date. Even Texas approached Rod for a copy. 435 436What is Rod? He is a measurement of progress made in the braille world 437over the last 15 years. More importantly, Rod Brawley is my friend. What 438does Rod Brawley have to do with the business column? If you could define 439the elements of his success and emulate them, you could greatly increase 440your probability of success. ALWAYS look for ways to “nurture” others. 441Your first opportunity is Georgia Marty. Anything you can do to help her in 442the transition time would be greatly appreciated (for years to come). What 443about Rod’s replacement? Rod’s replacement will be picked from applicants 444on the “Educator Administrator I” list. There is a chance the new manager 445will have little or no experience in our field….. 446 447Nurture, Nurture, Nurture. 448 449Page 11 450 451Editor’s Internet Picks 452 453Editor’s Note: The following links are resources I have found compelling 454and useful. This is an editorial selection and does not indicate offcial 455endorsement by CTEVH as an organization. 456 457BRAILLE PROJECTS IN TIBET AND KERALA 458www.braillewithoutborders.org 459 460From the site: “Per WHO statistics, 161 million persons live with a disabling 461visual impairment, of whom 37 million are blind and 124 million are 462persons with low vision. Every 5 seconds someone becomes blind, every 463minute somewhere a child goes blind. About 90% of them live in developing 464countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific Regions. 9 out of 10 465blind children in developing countries have no access to education. Braille 466Without Borders wants to empower blind people from these countries so 467they themselves can set up projects and schools for other blind people. In 468this way the concept can be spread across the globe so more blind and 469visually impaired people have access to education and a better future.” 470 471THE BRAILLE RAP SONG 472www.aph.org/edresearch/braille_rap/index.html 473 474From the site: “The Braille Rap Song was written by Lynn Horton and 475Tammy Whitten as a fun way to teach braille to their students at the Helen 476Keller School located in Talladega, AL. Lynn Horton played the song during 477her session at the 2001 CEC Conference in Kansas, where it met with such 478great interest that APH volunteered to produce a high-quality, professional 479recording and make it available to the world.” 480 481Editor’s Note: I have used this recording to play to school age children 482coupled with cupcake tins and ping pong balls to represent the braille cell. 483They LOVED it! 484 485HIGH TECH TRAINING CENTER MANUALS 486www.htctu.fhda.edu/trainings/manuals/tutmain.htm 487 488From the site: “The High Tech Center Training Unit creates training 489manuals and tutorials as part of the trainings we conduct. Below are several 490of the tutorials that we use to help refine the skills taught in the various 491trainings. We also have our training manuals available as accessible PDF 492documents if you would like additional information about the different 493technologies and applications the HTCTU supports. 494 495FOR POKADOT DOWNLOADS AND ASSISTANCE 496www.braille-pokadot.com 497 498From the site: “Pokadot is free software for transcribing and embossing 499braille files. Six-key or one-key direct keyboard input is used by sighted 500braille transcribers (not the blind). It has been approved by the National 501Braille Association. Previous versions work under all versions of DOS and 502Windows 95, 98, Me, and original issues of 2000 and XP. However, new 503methods of using Pokadot are needed to work under Windows Vista and 504versions of 2000 and XP issued or updated by Microsoft after late 2006. We 505will refer to these “updates” as “Vista-like” and the older versions as “pre- 506Vista”. 507 508Page 12 509 510News Release 511 512NATIONAL BRAILLE ASSOCIATION, INC. Rochester, New York 513NBA Founded in 1945 514 515New Website FEATURE “ASK AN EXPERT” 516 517Ask an Expert is a new feature where you can post questions to skilled 518experts in the field of braille transcription. Lists are moderated by NBA 519Members skilled in these particular areas of expertise: 520 521Braille Formats Course 522Computer-Assisted Transcription 523Educational Materials (Textbook Format) 524Foreign Language 525Literary Braille 526Mathematics and Science 527Music Braille 528Online Learning 529Tactile Graphics 530Transcriber and Educator Service 531 532Visit our NEW website at www.nationalbraille.org and ask your questions 533and network with others in the field who may have similar questions and 534answers. 535Upcoming Events: Mark Your Calendars Please! 536 537NBA Spring 2008 Professional Development Conference 538April 3-5, 2008 539Dallas-Addison Marriott 540Dallas, Texas 541with Pre-conference training on NIMAS files on April 2-3, 2008 542 543Conference Info coming very soon! Call the National Office at the number 544listed below or check www.nationalbraille.org for updates of the schedule 545and registration details. 546 547National Braille Association 5483 Townline Circle 549Rochester, NY 14623-2513 550Ph 585-427-8260 551Fax 585-427-0263 552E-mail [email protected] 553 554Page 13 555 556Our 24 Pound Daredevil 557 558by Grace Tiscareño-Sato 559 560Editor’s Note: The following article has been reprinted with permission from 561the CAPVI newsletter Winter 2004. Grace Tiscareno-Sato was a presenter at 562the 2007 CTEVH Conference in Santa Clara and will be chairing our Parent 563strand for our upcoming Conference 2008 in Los Angeles. 564 565She isn’t even walking fully independently yet, but my 2 year-old daughter 566Milagro, (“miracle” in Spanish) is already skateboarding in the driveway and 567becoming a “whale rider”. 568How did she become such a little 24 pound daredevil? With a lot of terrifc 569services, a lot of love, and two parents who have strongly resisted 570overprotecting her despite her very, very fragile beginnings. 571My pregnancy experience was terrifying and nearly ended in a late term 572miscarriage. Instead, we celebrated the live birth of an eighteen ounce baby 573at 25 weeks gestation, endured five months and six surgeries in the NICU, 574mostly attempts to save her retina from the ravages of ROP. 575After all that, my husband and I are truly enjoying her gregarious personality 576and her daring style of play. It’s the best reward for our little family. 577My purpose in writing this article is three-fold: to share stories of wonderful 578moments with my daughter; to give parents of visually impaired and blind 579toddlers activity ideas for playing with their children; and to encourage 580parents of little VI kids to allow their children to do the crazy things they 581will come up with, resisting the natural urge to smother them with 582overprotective instincts 583 584HAMMOCK FUN IN THE FAMILY ROOM 585When Milagro was 6 corrected months old, our OT suggested we hang a 586hammock in our living room so Milagro could experience moving through 587space. First we gently swung her and she slowly learned to hold her head up 588while swinging. Next we placed 589the resonance board my husband built under her as she swung. This let her 590find various objects as she moved through space, getting tactile and auditory 591feedback rewards for her movement. Soon she was moving rapidly across 592the board, pushing with her hands, pushing off with her feet while learning 593how to explore, returning to favorite objects, and kicking her feet vigorously 594to make more noise. 595 596RESONANCE BOARD AS RAMP 597The 4’ x 4’ resonance board my husband built became a ramp in our family 598room just before she turned two years old. We place one end on the futon, 599the other on the floor, and my daughter has a slide/ ramp to practice her 600climbing, sliding, entering and exiting skills. She attempts to go up the ramp 601in her socks, slips down, then removes her socks and flings them away from 602her body — an obvious hindrance to climbing. We motivate her to go under 603it by setting her favorite disco light on one side. 604We also use the ramp-resonance board to create different rhythms with 605various objects (hands, maracas, drumsticks, Japanese pestle sticks, etc). 606Milagro either sets the rhythm that we echo, or repeats the rhythms we 607initiate. She will also do this half way up the ramp, demonstrating that she 608can climb while hearing and repeating different rhythms that are resonating 609under her feet. She has mastered the confdence to go down the slide any way 610you can imagine: head first, feet first, on her back, on her stomach, with and 611without socks. She has started to use the futon pillows as sliding aids to 612accelerate the trip—a very good use of available tools. 613 614YOGA BALL BALANCING ACT 615I bought a 15” diameter plastic ball one day, because it was a cool metallic 616purple color that really reflected light well. For $1.99, I figured it might be a 617ball that Milagro could see well enough to find, roll and throw. How right I 618was! But she came up with better ideas than I did. One day, she rolled on top 619of the ball with her stomach, reaching her hands on the other side to roll and 620catch the floor. The ball is perfectly sized so that she can touch the floor 621with her hands on one side of the ball, while nearly maintaining contact with 622the floor with her feet. She maintained this perfect balance on the ball, while 623rolling forwards and backwards, 624 625Page 14 626 627hands to feet, feet to hands. Then, much to our surprise, she rolled herself all 628the way forward, gripped the ball between her thighs, and sat up on top of 629the ball! Then she began to bounce on top of the ball. It was an amazing 630sight. I showed a video tape to her occupational therapist who simply 631couldn’t believe her eyes. I asked her if she didn’t think it odd that Milagro 632doesn’t lose her balance and fall sideways off the ball. And why could she 633maintain her balance so perfectly on the ball, yet not want to take more than 634three or four steps walking before sitting down? 635The OT explained to me that she sees that Milagro has high “standards of 636perfection” and that she doesn’t try a new gross motor skill until she feels 637certain that she will do it correctly. That explains what happened next. 638 639MY LITTLE WHALE SURFER 640Probably the most daring thing she does, which scares me every time, is her 641whale riding tricks. We have a Little Tikes whale teeter-totter that can be 642used by one or two toddlers. Within a few weeks of getting this toy, she was 643riding in the center seat, holding on to the handles, and then standing in the 644seat while holding on to the handles! What made her do that? What made 645her then let go of one handle and continue to rock the whale while holding 646on with just one hand? I don’t know but I watched with dropped jaw. The 647amazing thing is that she did it right the first time, without falling off. She’s 648done this a few times and has never fallen off. 649 650SKATEBOARDING IN THE SLOPING DRIVEWAY 651Amazingly, I have seen Milagro do daring things that sighted kids don’t 652even want to attempt. Example, a two year old girl was visiting our home 653with her parents and was watching Milagro “skateboard” down the 654driveway. I offered the wagon to my little visitor. Her daddy convinced her 655to go to the wagon, but she wouldn’t even think about setting foot in the 656wagon. 657Milagro will not only ride the wagon downhill, but she’ll vigorously “pump” 658the handle to make the wagon go faster! She even tries to pull off her helmet 659while rolling. We’ve had to really insist that she keep her hands on the 660handle and leave the helmet on. She’s just fearless — having only light and 661shadow perception for vision isn’t slowing her down! 662My Blind Babies Foundation home counselor, Elizabeth Bates, heard my 663need to have hope for my daughter’s future early on in our relationship. She 664gave me many books and resources. One of them, “Small Victories”, 665contains essays written by blind and disabled adults. A particularly excellent 666passage by Robert Jones (born prematurely in 1957) I took to heart early on. 667It reads, “Let your kids fall fat on their faces. Let them decide their own 668limitations. Don’t say “you can’t do that because of your disability.” Tough 669advice for any parent; much more so if your child has only light perception. 670Another author, Venetia Hayden, shared how she learned not to overprotect 671and allowed her blind daughter, Maureen, to ice skate with her brother’s 672hockey team. She believed the best way to protect her daughter was to 673encourage her to “go out and learn how to move her body in space and be 674balanced and gain all that kinetic awareness.’” 675 676Parents: let your visually impaired kids’ experiments fueled by curiosity 677happen. If they fall, they fall and you can comfort them, but they must 678experience the movement, the motion, the balance and imbalance of moving 679through space. Squelching their experiments with the natural instinct to 680protect, giving in to your fear that they’ll bump their little heads or cut their 681little lips will not help them develop into the curious, independent exploring 682children we need them to become. It hasn’t always easy for us, but watching 683our fragile premature baby become a confident, daring little girl is worth 684everything. 685 686Read Milagro’s story and see her in action at her web page: 687www.babymilagro.org 688 689Page 15 690 691Textbook Formats 692Patty Biasca – CTEVH Textbook Format Committee, Chair 693 694 Acknowledgments, Attributions, Credit Lines, 695 Source Citations, and. Permission Notices 696 697 698Raise your hand if you've ever been confused by the difference between 699acknowledgments, attributions, credit lines, source citations, and permission 700notices. I see most hands up in the air. Not a surprise. 701 702Braille Formats Rule 1, section 18 gives us what we're looking for ... sort of. 703Don't think it's that simple however. You still have to wade through various 704terms, definitions, and cross-references to find all the answers. 705 706Going in the order Braille Formats covers these terms, we'll tackle 707Acknowledgments first. What we learn about acknowledgments from 708Section 18a is that they may mean any number of different things, to be 709determined by reading what is actually in the text. If the author is using the 710heading Acknowledgments to refer to personal words of gratitude or 711appreciation, the section is brailled as a foreword or preface. When the text 712refers to a list of permissions for the use of materials from other sources, this 713material must be transcribed as given in Rule 1, Section 18a(1-4). 714Subsections 1-4 give important information on how to transcribe these lists 715including the use of page numbers and the (cont.) centered heading.. Be 716sure to read subsections 1-4 if you have such sections in your book. If this 717list includes acknowledgments for maps, pictures, or other omitted material, 718they should not be included, even though their captions are transcribed. 719 720OK. That wasn't too bad, was it? Let's move on. Section b covers 721Attributions, credit lines, or source citations. 722 723But before tackling those, it pauses to mention the Title and author's name 724preceding text. These it dispenses with in one short sentence: "The title and 725author's name shown preceding text must be transcribed as consecutive 726centered headings according to provisions given in Rule 4, Section 2." Oh 727no -- the dreaded cross-reference. If we look up this rule and section we see 728that it is just the basic rules for centered headings. There should be a blank 729line between these two centered headings as shown in all Formats examples 730pertaining to this situation.. 731 732Onward then. Ooopps! Another pause to discuss Permission to copy 733notices or footnotes. "Permission to copy notices that are printed with or 734without reference markers, often shown at the foot of the page, must be 735brailled according to Rule 12, Sections 1-3." Oh no again -- another trek to 736another rule. I'll get to the nitty gritty here and tell you that Rule 12 says to 737braille the permission text preceded by the braille reference indicator 738immediately under the title in 7/5. You must also add the braille reference 739indicator to the end of the title. No blank line goes before the note -- the 740blank line goes after the note is completed. 741 742So what happens if you have one of these permission notes and there is no 743title? It is recommended that the note be placed immediately preceding the 744text, using the same format of braille reference indicator and 7/5. 745 746What exactly is a Permission Notice? A permission notice is anything that 747says "Reprinted by permission of ...", "Reprinted with the permission of ...", 748"with permission of ..." or similar wording. If you haven't been given 749"permission" to reprint it, it isn't a permission notice. 750 751Page 16 752 753 754 How Bugs Bug Us 755 You've heard this saying: "I've got a bug." You know what it means: 756 "I'm sick." You can't see them, but bugs live all over your body. In fact, 757 you're just a mini-zoo for bugs! 758 Adapted from Info Adventure: Amazing Body Science, with permission of Creative 759 Publishing, Intl. 760 761 762 763 764 765 ,H[ ,BUGS ,BUG ,U 77 766 77 ,ADAPT$ F ..,9FO ,ADV5TURE3 767 ,AMAZ+ ,BODY .,SCI;E1 ) P]MIS.N ( 768 ,CR1TIVE ,PUBLI%+1 ,9TL4 769 770 ,Y'VE HE>D ? SAY+3 8,I'VE GOT A BUG40 771,Y "K :AT X M1NS3 8,I'M SICK40 ,Y C'T 772SEE !M1 B BUGS LIVE ALL OV] YR BODY4 ,9 773FACT1 Y'RE J A M9I-ZOO = BUGS6 774 775 776Look at the first example and compare it to what follows. What is the 777difference between these two examples? 778Page 17 779 780 781 On Virtue 782 783 by Phillis Wheatley, 1766 784 785 O Thou bright jewel in my aim I strike 786 To comprehend thee. Thine own words declare 787 Wisdom is higher than a fool can reach. I cease to wonder, and no more attempt 788 Thine height t'explore, or fathom thy profound. 789 ...
790 Source: The Poems of Phillis Wheatley. Ed. by Julian D. Mason, Jr. The University 791 of North Carolina Press. 1989. 792 793 794 795 796 ,ON ,VIRTUE 797 ,S\RCE3 ..,! ,POEMS ( ,PHILLIS 798 .,:1TLEY4 ,$4 0,JULIAN ,D4 ,MASON1 799 ,JR4 ,! ,UNIV]S;Y ( ,NOR? ,C>OL9A 800 ,PRESS4 #AIHI4 801 802 0,PHILLIS ,:1TLEY1 #AGFF 803 804,O ,?\ B"R JEWEL 9 MY AIM ,I /RIKE 805,6-PREH5D !E4 ,?9E [N ^WS DCL 806,WISDOM IS HI<] ?AN A FOOL C R1*4 807,I C1SE 6WOND]1 & NO M ATTEMPT 808,?9E HEI 845 846 847 848Two dice are rolled, one after the other. The sample space is shown below. There are 36 possible 849outcomes. 850 851Possible Outcomes from Rolling Two Dice 852 853The outcomes that the cum of the number on the two dice is 8 are circled 854above. There are 5 possible outcomes that have the sum of 8. The probability 855that the sum of the number on the two dice is 8 is P(E) = 5/36. 856 857Page 19 858 859Three Important Number Properties 860 861 862 863 864 865 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 873Page 20 874Possible Outcomes from Rolling Two Dice 875 876 877 878Page 21 879 880Tactile Graphics 881 882Jim Barker – CTEVH Computer Generated Tactile Specialist 883 884Templates for Fun and Profit 885 886Tedium, like so many things in life, strikes the tactile graphic artist, too. 887Now if this is the first time you’re hearing this, don’t be that surprised. It’s 888not all the glitter and glamour it’s cracked up to be. Oh, sure, we make the 889big bucks, but what’s that when it comes to happiness? And if you haven’t 890turned the page by now, I’ve got you hooked…right? 891 892But, to get to the crux of this issue’s message: creating a template. An 893absolute time-saver for me is the template I created that includes not only 894text positioning but often-used items that, previous to making the template, I 895recreated each time I needed them. 896 897So, basic as it seems, here is how I created my template page in Adobe 898Illustrator. 899 900Create a custom-sized fle by choosing “New” under the “File” menu. You 901may name it whatever you wish. I chose Tactiles. (I really didn’t…I called it 902something else, but hey, this is just a tutorial, right? Go along with me.) 903 904Next, change the “Units” pull-down menu to “inches,” if it isn’t there 905already and in the “Width” window, type “11.5” and in the “Height” 906window, type “11.” Now, obviously, this is for an 11.5x11 page. If you’re 907making a template for 8.5x11, then choose “Print” in the “Size” pull-down 908menu. But we’ll be using the large sheet for this example. Then, just click 909“OK” and you’re on the “canvas,” which measures 11.5x11 inches. 910 911Save the file now, just so you won’t have to recreate this if something goes 912wrong. (Remember the old saw: “It’s not IF your computer crashes…it’s 913WHEN your computer crashes.”) 914 915Name the only layer “Drawing.” 916 917If they aren’t already showing, make the rulers visible by typing