Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Smart Braillers (self.Blind)
submitted by megzib87
Hi redditors,
My daughter had a brain tumour removed last year in May and due to the high pressure in her brain prior to the resection it damaged her optic nerves and has left her severely visually impaired. She does has some sight but will definitely be a braille user. (Btw she's doing amazingly and is catching up pretty quickly!) She's 3 and is starting kindergarten next year. We currently have a Tatrapoint on loan that she enjoys playing and working on. We do have some funding that we can use for purchasing resources for her. Just looking for opinions and people's experience with the smart braillers (Perkins,Mount Batten Whisperer etc) and which you think would be the best to purchase for her?
My daughter had a brain tumour removed last year in May and due to the high pressure in her brain prior to the resection it damaged her optic nerves and has left her severely visually impaired. She does has some sight but will definitely be a braille user. (Btw she's doing amazingly and is catching up pretty quickly!) She's 3 and is starting kindergarten next year. We currently have a Tatrapoint on loan that she enjoys playing and working on. We do have some funding that we can use for purchasing resources for her. Just looking for opinions and people's experience with the smart braillers (Perkins,Mount Batten Whisperer etc) and which you think would be the best to purchase for her?
pokersnek 6 points 4y ago
If you can get the old metal Perkins Brailler, it lasts forever. The plastic models break way too easily. They may not have a smart brailler option in metal, but it will last her until college or longer.
KillerLag 3 points 4y ago
Those metal ones are amazing workhorses. One of my coworkers just finished cleaning one up that is a few decades old, and it works amazingly well!
megzib87 [OP] 2 points 4y ago
Thanks for the feedback. They are pretty sturdy. We have one on loan at the moment. The only thing is she's not as strong as a typical kid her age due to thur chemotherapy etc. and she struggles pushing down the keys on the older perkins. But I do agree with you on the plastic models and that is one of my concerns. I'm not wanting to buy one and 6 months later it's breaking on us!
pokersnek 3 points 4y ago
There is a metal one that is called a “light touch” brailler or something along those lines. It plugs in and the electricity somehow assists with the pressure needed to depress a key.
megzib87 [OP] 2 points 4y ago
Fantastic. Thank you I'll look into them!
TheycallmeDoogie 3 points 4y ago
We are trying to make the same decision at the moment for our 2.5year old daughter. I think we are leaning towards the Mountbatten but we are in Australia so get government funding.
On a tangent we just purchased this to go around labelling *everything* she can reach in the house with brailled dymo tape (you can plug a normal keyboard into it):
https://logantech.com/products/6dot-braille-label-maker
On a tangent we just purchased this to go around labelling *everything* she can reach in the house with brailled dymo tape (you can plug a normal keyboard into it):
https://logantech.com/products/6dot-braille-label-maker
megzib87 [OP] 4 points 4y ago
We're in aus too. (QLD). We've currently got the better start funding but will look to rollover into the NDIS next year. From feedback I've been given from my vision aus lady it's been hard for them to receive funding to buy one. I'm currently gathering lots of evidence from speech pathologist,ot, oncologist,physio etc. So that we can at least try apply for some funding towards that for her schooling years. The label maker looks great. It's a fantastic idea! We did have a look at the mount Batten and it looks great. Are you involved with the royal institute of deaf and blind in Sydney? We're looking to do teleconference lessons once a week with those guys next year. They tell me that they're brilliant for resources.
TheycallmeDoogie 1 points 4y ago
We’re in Sydney and yes we are looked after by RIDBC (for both daughter’s - our eldest is deaf). They are great, some individuals better than others but mostly really great.
Are you aware of the courses they run too (via Skype & on site)?
https://shortcourses.ridbc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/RIDBC-Renwick-Centre_CPE-2018-Suite-of-Offerings.pdf
We got onto NDIS this year and have budget for a needs assessment to be carried out for the brailler & our occupational therapist from RIDBC is confident that on the basis of that next year’s plan will then approve the brailler. The labeller we had included in this year’s plan without too much difficulty & it has just arrived. Fortunately the cost just squeezes in under the $ value that requires an explicit assessment report to be written to justify.
If you pm me I’ll send you my email & Facebook details and share any other details that may help you.
Are you aware of the courses they run too (via Skype & on site)?
https://shortcourses.ridbc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/RIDBC-Renwick-Centre_CPE-2018-Suite-of-Offerings.pdf
We got onto NDIS this year and have budget for a needs assessment to be carried out for the brailler & our occupational therapist from RIDBC is confident that on the basis of that next year’s plan will then approve the brailler. The labeller we had included in this year’s plan without too much difficulty & it has just arrived. Fortunately the cost just squeezes in under the $ value that requires an explicit assessment report to be written to justify.
If you pm me I’ll send you my email & Facebook details and share any other details that may help you.
multi-instrumental 3 points 4y ago
I would honestly look into refreshable braille displays with Bluetooth that can be used with modern desktop & mobile operating systems.
3 is a young age but you could help her learnt to start to read braille already. Writing should come later anyways.
3 is a young age but you could help her learnt to start to read braille already. Writing should come later anyways.
megzib87 [OP] 2 points 4y ago
Thanks for the feedback! Much appreciated I'll look into them.
multi-instrumental 1 points 4y ago
They're not cheap unfortunately. There are also braille slates if the refreshable braille displays are currently out of your price range.
The Orbit 20 is the least expensive option I can think of off the top of my head in the US and it's $1.
I would definitely be putting money away for one in the future if you currently can't afford one. A lot of blind/VI people can't read braille very well (or at all) due to the over reliance on voice dictation in modern operating systems. I have zero problems with voice dictation software (and it's getting better every day) but reading is an important skill for the blind/VI just as much as it is for sighted people.
Have you learned grade 1 &or grade 2 braille yet?
The Orbit 20 is the least expensive option I can think of off the top of my head in the US and it's $1.
I would definitely be putting money away for one in the future if you currently can't afford one. A lot of blind/VI people can't read braille very well (or at all) due to the over reliance on voice dictation in modern operating systems. I have zero problems with voice dictation software (and it's getting better every day) but reading is an important skill for the blind/VI just as much as it is for sighted people.
Have you learned grade 1 &or grade 2 braille yet?
bleeblat 1 points 4y ago
I'd say that perkins brailler definitely. I'd also recommend a basic course in slate and stylus, as the brailler will need to be periodically serviced, and there are cases where it can be a bit noisy. If you could get her a braille display that can connect to a computer, that's going to help a lot. I wouldn't recommend the braille notetakers, but something like the brailliant BI 40 seems to be a workhorse. I say to make sure she has as many braille devices as possible, as synthesized speech is only useful for quick things. I went without a braille display for a bit, and I'm glad I replaced that a bit ago. Reading books and other things is much quicker in braille when you get good at it. Also encourage her to take good care of her hands. I go through a lot of lotion, because braille can scrape the fingers a bit if you lightly read it for hours, and she's going to have to learn to touch everything. Also, don't forget to teach standard keyboarding as well. Not knowing how to type will be very bad, because everything's got to go through a computer, and the dictators are still going to get a lot wrong. A good typist or braillist is likely going to be much faster and more efficient than dictation anyway. Hopefully that was somewhat helpful. Sorry for the long comment if you're still reading this.
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