National Braille Literacy Month

Did you know that January is National Braille Literacy Month?  Me neither, but I happened upon this information just in time.  Because my family is friends with Dane, who has been completely blind from birth, and his family, I thought this would be a good way to raise our awareness about how Dane may perceive the world around him.

We talked about his blindness and how it might be for him.  Then we took turns wearing a blindfold and trying to accomplish at least one of our regular house chores that way (i.e., emptying the dryer and taking the basket to the bedroom, emptying the recyclables into the garage container, taking the kitchen scraps out to the compost).  The kids quickly realized touch was a super important sense if they didn't want to ram themselves into walls.  Also, they had to use their hearing to locate mom's voice as she directed them out of danger and toward their goal (e.g., "The compost is over here by me.").  Sophie really took this to heart and tried it several times throughout one or two days. 

Over dinner, I shared the story of Louis Braille (who's birthday is near the beginning of the month) and how he became blind at three, his education, his refinement of a embossed reading system, his strengths as a teacher and musician, and his death.  I left out the part about his body being reburied in the Pantheon in Paris (reserved for French superstars) minus his hands which remain in a box on his tomb in Coupvray, France, where he was born.  This is the compromise that the French government and the people of the village came to. Um...Weird.

We had a playdate with Dane.  We have played Cooties, and marble mazes, other adapted games such as Go Fish with him in the past during our playdates, but this time Cherri had adapted Quirkle so we got to try out that.  Sophie briefly used her blindfold to play but found she is quite dependent on her sight, despite raised textures and shapes having been added. 

While there, we learned that you really need to give a visually impaired or blind person some verbal heads-up if you are going to give them a high five so they are not surprised.  Dane is a good sport as we begin to consider his side of things.

Also, while there, we were able to touch braille and have his mother, Cherri, read a funny story from one.  She also showed us the archaic brailler loaned to her by the school district to help him along in his reading and spelling. 

With Cherri's help, we were able to have Sophie and Rhys' names brailled and braille a note to send to Dane in the mail, inviting him over to our house for the next playdate.  When he comes, he will show the kids how he uses his cane and they can try it out too.

I really love how some little known observances help us to learn something new and gain understanding about how others experience the world.  Thanks to Cherri and Dane for helping us explore the topic in a hands-on way.