Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

Future Reflections Winter/Spring 1998, Vol. 17 No. 1
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Letters to the Editor
Editor's Note: The first two letters are not,

strictly speaking, Letters to the Editor. These letters,

addressed to officers of the National Organization of Parents

of Blind Children (I am President and Carol Castellano is Second

Vice President), are typical of the enthusiastic response to the NOPBC

publication, The Bridge to Braille.

February 26, 1998

National Organization of Parents of Blind

Children

Dear Barbara,

Thank you so very much for your gift to the

NATHHAN Learning Center. We, as a family, have particularly enjoyed The Bridge To Braille.

Sheela, our ten-year-old daughter who is blind,

is presently learning Braille, although it has been a slow process due to general learning

delays. She is so very excited to be finally reading letters herself. Several concepts

still elude her when writing, but we feel these will dawn on her as she is continually

typing and writing, using her Perkins Brailler.

We thank you for your support of NATHHAN. We

continue to send folks with blind and visually impaired children

your way, as we know we can count on you for positive support in

their homeschooling efforts.

Thank you,

Tom and Sherry Bushnell

NATional cHallenged Homeschoolers Associated

Network (NATHHAN)

5383 Alpine Road, S.E.

Olalla, WA 98359

March 3, 1998

Carol Castellano

c/o National Organization of Parents of Blind

Children

Dear Mrs. Castellano,

I owe you a big apology! You sent me a copy of

your lovely book The Bridge To Braille last summer, and I have never written to thank you.

I want you to know how much I enjoy the book, and I did mention it in the latest issue of

our newsletter DOTS for Braille Literacy, which I've enclosed.

There are so many positive things about this

book! The format is easy to read, and the illustrations are very well done and helpful.

You even included some of the more "obscure" things that parents don't always

learn about, such as textbook format. I was also glad to see the excellent section of

Braille math with well-chosen examples, and the positive discussion of the slate and

stylus. I can see this book being useful not only to parents, but also to preschool and

elementary school teachers who have blind children in their classes.

...I do a number of presentations for teachers

and parents about Braille, and I have been sharing information about this book to these

audiences and will continue to do so.

I wish you continued success with The Bridge To

Braille, and thank you for sending it to me.

Sincerely,

Frances Mary D'Andrea

Manager, National Literacy Program

American Foundation for the Blind

Atlanta, Georgia

Editor's Note: The Bridge to Braille: Reading and

School Success for the Young Blind Child may be purchased from the National Federation of

the Blind for $12 (make checks payable to NFB). Send check and request to: National

Federation of the Blind, Materials Center, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.

This next letter is from a teacher describing her

experience with the recent Braille Readers are Leaders Contest co-sponsored by the

National Organization of Parents of Blind Children and the National Association to Promote

the Use of Braille. It is heart-warming and encouraging to hear from a teacher who is

successfully teaching Braille to a low-vision child who is switching from print to

Braille. A formal report on the results of the 1997-1998 contest will be in the fall,

1998, issue. Contest forms for the upcoming contest (1998-1999) will be available from the

National Federation of the Blind office by the first of July, 1998.

February 15, 1998

Barbara Cheadle, Editor

Future Reflections

Dear Barbara,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank

you and all of the others who make the contest "Braille Readers Are Leaders"

possible. This is a wonderful service to Braille students. I would like to describe my

experience with the contest.

I enrolled a third grade student in the 1997

contest. It was the first time I had enrolled a student and the first time he had entered

this contest. At the beginning of the contest he was still only so-so about reading

Braille versus reading print. If I asked him, he probably would have asked for print just

so he could look at the pictures.

At the beginning of the contest he was not

reading Braille books at home at all. We started with a very small book that was only nine

pages long. He reluctantly agreed. Gradually we added a book that he took home each day

until he was taking about three books home each school day. Over the weekend he would take

nine books home.

It took a little while but the improvement began

to show. During the three months that he read for this contest I feel that he advanced

through a half of a year of Braille instruction to perhaps close to a full year. By the

end of the contest, he requested to read books. He asks to have a "reading day"

where he will not be asked to write Braille but just to read stories. He even sneaks ahead

of my lesson and reads the next story in the Patterns book.

Please continue to offer this contest to other

young Braille readers. It has made a world of difference for this young reader and his

family.

Sincerely,

Susan Stokes

Lincoln, Nebraska
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