WEBVTT 00:09.560 --> 00:12.526 Welcome back to at your fingertips Braille, then and now. 00:12.678 --> 00:17.670 Thanks so much for joining me again this month. I have a really cool topic to. 00:17.710 --> 00:18.430 Chat with you about. 00:18.470 --> 00:25.182 First, I love reminiscing about my childhood and thinking about really fun things that. 00:25.206 --> 00:39.546 I did and the gifts that my mom gave me. And one of the things she gave me was a gift that lasted all of her life and has affected mine. And that's that of feeling normal. 00:39.738 --> 00:45.858 When I was a kid, I felt a bit out of it socially because. 00:45.914 --> 01:01.670 I was very, very shy. But what she gave me was the feeling that I could do anything the other kids could do. So one Saturday afternoon, she and I brailed all the crayola, crayons in the 64 crayola box. 01:02.020 --> 01:03.092 Now, that was a bit of an. 01:03.116 --> 01:10.556 Undertaking because we didn't have labeling tape then, really. This was, oh, I'm gonna say, oh, dear, 50 years ago. 01:10.668 --> 01:13.052 Oh, my. So it. 01:13.116 --> 01:14.652 It was a bit of an undertaking. 01:14.756 --> 01:17.932 I brailed all of the crayon colors. 01:17.996 --> 01:31.246 On braille paper, and then she cut them out and taped them onto the side of the crayons. And then she bought me coloring books. Now, granted, those of you who know me know that I have no usable vision at all, and so they just. 01:31.278 --> 01:32.570 Felt like blank pages. 01:32.910 --> 01:38.294 But what she told me was that, you know, grass is green and, you know, it's usually at the bottom of. 01:38.302 --> 01:45.366 The picture and the sun is yellow or orange or whatnot. And, you know, I just learned what. 01:45.398 --> 01:57.838 Color things were, and I just had really a lot of fun just scribbling with the crayons and feeling like a normal kid. I remember one day some little sighted kid looked at my picture and said, you're not coloring in the lines. 01:58.014 --> 02:06.682 Well, that kind of was the story of my life because I really tried to break down some barriers and not color in the lines philosophically. 02:06.746 --> 02:08.738 So this was a perfect example of. 02:08.794 --> 02:11.058 Really not coloring in the lines, you. 02:11.074 --> 02:14.938 Know, but I just felt like any normal kid. I had my colors, I had my. 02:14.954 --> 02:18.230 Coloring book, and I just, I loved it. 02:18.890 --> 02:23.698 What mom would do that? I mean, some parents were like, oh, no, you know, you're blind. You can't do that. 02:23.794 --> 02:31.618 And, you know, it just didn't seem like the thing that someone would do, but she just really wanted me to. 02:31.634 --> 02:36.066 Feel like a normal kid. And so, fast forward quite a few. 02:36.138 --> 02:40.346 Years, I'm going to say about 16. 02:40.458 --> 02:58.586 Years ago, my best, best friend in the whole world got me two braille coloring books because she knew how much I enjoyed that as a kid. And now I could really color in the lines. And so what they are is just line drawings. And these were from, I believe, the braille code factory. 02:58.618 --> 03:01.430 I don't think it still exists, but. 03:01.610 --> 03:02.838 They were really cool. 03:02.974 --> 03:08.830 There might be animals like a camel or an elephant. There might be objects or things like. 03:08.870 --> 03:14.598 Bicycle and balloons and some of the things I had to ask what color are they? 03:14.694 --> 03:16.958 You know, I'm assuming a camel is. 03:16.974 --> 03:20.094 Like gray or brown or whatever, because they live in the desert and they. 03:20.102 --> 03:21.342 Kind of have to blend in. 03:21.486 --> 03:23.934 But I did need to ask those things. 03:24.102 --> 03:26.854 So I went back to, I think. 03:26.982 --> 03:28.710 She brailed on some of the crayons. 03:28.750 --> 03:32.542 And there was a little box. And so it was really, really fun. 03:32.606 --> 03:35.018 Over the Christmas time when we were snowed in. 03:35.114 --> 03:37.466 And I just sat there with my coloring book. 03:37.618 --> 03:43.010 When I showed my coloring book to someone, they said, oh, well, you have an interesting coloring pattern. 03:43.050 --> 03:53.778 It's like a swirly coloring pattern. And I guess that other people make an up and down motion with their crayons. So I had no idea that there were coloring patterns. 03:53.914 --> 03:58.322 I did learn that it's, it's cool to outline your picture, you know, around. 03:58.386 --> 04:04.840 The, you know, in the inner side of the drawing. And so that was really cool. 04:05.300 --> 04:28.906 So I hadn't thought about crayons in quite a while or colors. And then I got thinking about back to school types of things. And so I'd like to share with you some ideas. If you have young people in your lives, whether they are blind or sighted, whether you're blind or sighted, if one of you can benefit from the raised pictures in some of the coloring books that are available, we're going to talk about those in a minute. 04:29.068 --> 04:31.134 But I wanted to bring to you. 04:31.262 --> 04:39.118 A few book ideas that might be really cool sometimes. I have gotten books off of bookshare here in the US, and if you. 04:39.134 --> 04:43.982 Have access to that, that is awesome. There are probably books available at the. 04:44.006 --> 04:47.270 National Library Service or at your lending library. 04:47.390 --> 04:57.470 So there's a really cool series by Drew DeWalt and another person, last name of Jeffers, and they've written this really. 04:57.510 --> 05:01.002 Cool series about crayons and the day the crayons quit. 05:01.086 --> 05:08.002 A really cool book. It's available in Braille, and it talks about the crayons of written letters to. 05:08.026 --> 05:09.338 This little boy when he opens up. 05:09.354 --> 05:15.658 His crayon box and they are on strike, basically. You know, blue is really tired of. 05:15.834 --> 05:18.234 Always coloring the water, black is really. 05:18.282 --> 05:20.258 Tired of just outlining things. 05:20.394 --> 05:22.186 And yellow and orange are having an. 05:22.218 --> 05:24.522 Argument about, you know, which one is. 05:24.546 --> 05:25.842 The color of the sun. 05:26.026 --> 05:35.650 And so it's just a really, really cute book. You know, how it kind of resolves. And it's a really good way a lot of times for a young blind. 05:35.690 --> 05:37.314 Child who doesn't know the colors of. 05:37.362 --> 05:41.306 Things to learn those, I found that really, really valuable. 05:41.458 --> 05:45.218 As I was growing up, my mom would tell me what colors things are. 05:45.394 --> 06:00.890 And it was super important for my just knowledge base. So there is a really cute book called the Crayons Book of Feelings. And, you know, a description of this book is. 06:01.190 --> 06:07.934 Is really cool. It's the crayons are back in this board book, all about feelings. And from the creators of the number. 06:07.982 --> 06:14.330 One New York Times bestselling the day the crayons quit. The day the crayons came home. 06:14.750 --> 06:36.802 Everyone knows the crayons love to color, but did you know that crayons have feelings, too? Sometimes they are happy, and sometimes they feel downright blue. From the creative minds behind, the day the crayons quit and the day that crayons came home comes a fun board book to help young readers understand and express their feelings. How cool is that? You can have a discussion over a. 06:36.826 --> 06:38.386 Book and a box of crayons. 06:38.538 --> 06:44.310 It's just a really great way for kids to open up and chat about their feelings. 06:45.010 --> 06:47.810 And so there are some really cool. 06:47.850 --> 06:50.594 Books in that series. And when I typed in the word. 06:50.642 --> 06:59.776 Crayons and there was some, like, 1245 results, you know, granted, they're all might be, you know, very different, but it's. 06:59.808 --> 07:05.912 Really neat to get a book from one of these services in, in Braille, either on your braille display or in. 07:05.936 --> 07:12.328 Hard copy, and then have your young reader, whether they're blind or sighted, read. 07:12.344 --> 07:14.952 The book with you. I've done this before, and it's a. 07:14.976 --> 07:19.208 Really, really great way to connect. Either they're reading it on their, you. 07:19.224 --> 07:21.248 Know, Kindle device, their e reader, or. 07:21.304 --> 07:27.252 Actually an actual hard copy book. So that being said, when I went. 07:27.276 --> 07:48.492 On the hunt for braille coloring books, I found some really cool options. If you're in Canada, this would be tactile vision graphics. And if you're in the US, maxi aids, sell these. And so here are some ideas. Now, these books, unfortunately, they're not cheap, but they're options, and they're about $20. 07:48.556 --> 07:55.418 And they have ten raised lined coloring pages. And so if you think about it, all right, maybe you can take the. 07:55.434 --> 07:57.210 Page out of the book and put on your fridge. 07:57.330 --> 08:02.146 Your young person has drawn this. You know, that's an option. 08:02.338 --> 08:07.714 So there's different raised lined coloring books. They're just line drawings, for instance, from. 08:07.762 --> 08:12.026 Maxiades or the tactile vision graphics. 08:12.218 --> 08:14.882 There's a book about spring. Spring is here. 08:15.066 --> 08:18.600 There's a book called best friends. 08:19.140 --> 08:22.716 There's another one called Summer Sunshine, fun. 08:22.748 --> 08:34.804 In the water, on the farm, winter wonders, autumn leaves. And then there are some other books by a company called Sensei. 08:34.852 --> 08:41.680 So that's sensee. And there's a braille coloring book of animals. 08:42.140 --> 08:51.628 And another one is involving best friends. I think that one's tactile vision graphics, though. 08:51.724 --> 08:53.980 Oh, the braille fruit book. 08:54.100 --> 09:06.276 So different kinds of fruit. So it's a way for sighted and blind children to connect. If I had had the experience of having a raised line coloring book, the. 09:06.308 --> 09:07.772 Little friend that said, oh, you're not. 09:07.796 --> 09:10.510 Coloring the lines, it would have made me feel bad. 09:10.550 --> 09:17.050 It would have helped me connect with this child. Because you're inclusive, you're having a shared experience. 09:17.750 --> 09:20.974 And so that is a list of. 09:21.022 --> 09:25.126 Some of the books that maxi aids sells, maxyads.com. 09:25.278 --> 09:30.890 Or you can look up the organization in Canada, tactile vision graphics. 09:31.510 --> 09:38.500 There are a few other organizations that offer some possibilities. The Perkins School offers a braille alphabeth. 09:38.570 --> 09:42.900 Coloring book or set of pages, and they are definitely tactile. 09:43.480 --> 09:49.300 The National Braille Press does offer the book in Braille the day the crayons quit. 09:49.640 --> 09:55.420 And so obviously that would have illustrations as well as the braille and print text. 09:55.880 --> 10:06.520 They also have a book written by a teacher of the visually impaired. And it's called best practices in creating tactile graphics. And it's quite extensive. 10:06.600 --> 10:09.820 It has many chapters and they focus. 10:09.900 --> 10:14.380 On how to decide what pictures make the best tactile graphics. 10:14.540 --> 10:17.880 And then of course, you've got ways to make them. 10:18.380 --> 10:21.260 And some of these organizations that are. 10:21.300 --> 10:24.532 More educational, like say it's Aph or. 10:24.636 --> 10:26.796 The Perkins school, they might have free. 10:26.868 --> 10:41.170 Downloadable graphics that you can send to a braille printer that uses a swell paper which makes like a picture in relief that is raised up, and or. 10:41.290 --> 10:43.738 The embrail embossers that you could send. 10:43.754 --> 10:45.890 A tactile graphic to a line drawing. 10:46.050 --> 10:53.626 So that is a good book to check out. So those are some options. If you have young people in your. 10:53.658 --> 10:55.858 Life and you want to have a. 10:55.874 --> 11:17.878 Fun time with them, whether they're blind or sighted or you're blind or sighted, you could connect over a coloring book. Now I wanted to take this time to talk about something else that is brailled. And that is our awesome merch from unmute. If you go to our website unmute show, you will find a link. If it's not there, it will be there soon. That offers you a chance to check. 11:17.934 --> 11:24.134 Out the different merch options that we have produced by blind girl designs. 11:24.302 --> 11:32.398 I love my blind girl designs t shirts. I've got a hoodie, I have a tote bag. I am all set with the unmute. 11:32.494 --> 11:37.974 Be heard raised tactile design. It has the raised loco. 11:38.102 --> 11:40.536 It even has the braille dots, the. 11:40.568 --> 11:47.168 Unmute be heard in braille, which is super, super awesome. And then of course, while I was. 11:47.184 --> 11:48.280 There, I had to buy something else. 11:48.320 --> 12:04.640 From blind girl designs. I went to her website directly and looked at some other categories and I got a braille shirt that has the letters of the Alphabet in the outline of a heart and got it in. 12:04.680 --> 12:13.094 Pink, I believe it is. And it's very, very cool. She has some other things, t shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, dresses, cardigans, totes and aprons. 12:13.262 --> 12:16.430 Christmas year round, you know, really cute. 12:16.470 --> 12:19.422 Designs, like with snowmen, with canes and. 12:19.526 --> 12:25.014 You know, just really, really super blindness related but very fun stuff. 12:25.182 --> 12:27.694 And then she has kids clothing and. 12:27.782 --> 12:43.554 She supports in this case, you know, blind run businesses, fundraisers and that sort of thing. And so check out our merchandise. We have it on the unmute show website. And then you can also look at. 12:43.562 --> 12:56.410 The full offerings on blind girl designs. I mention this especially because they are great conversation starters. And also you are assured of getting high quality merchandise that is actually tactile. 12:56.570 --> 13:00.306 If you're buying from Amazon or some. 13:00.498 --> 13:02.466 Maybe an etsy thing, you've got to. 13:02.498 --> 13:11.512 Make sure that the actual item is tactile. A lot of times they'll just print the braille letters or dots on the. 13:11.536 --> 13:16.448 Shirt, but you cannot feel them, which is no fun at all. And so I've ordered a few things. 13:16.504 --> 13:22.808 That I know what they are because I order them. And, you know, I can ask my. 13:22.984 --> 13:24.832 Be my eyes or AI assistant of. 13:24.856 --> 13:39.840 Some kind, you know, what shirt am I wearing? But I can't feel it. And so you definitely want tactile. You know, that's what braille is, is tactile. So talking about coloring books, talking about tactile, braille related, blindness related clothing, the. 13:39.880 --> 13:42.360 Last thing I wanted to mention to. 13:42.400 --> 13:45.720 You with the next topic would be. 13:45.840 --> 13:49.616 Some podcasts that are available that would. 13:49.648 --> 13:55.040 Focus on braille and organizations who definitely do some awesome work. 13:55.200 --> 13:58.480 So there's a relative lack of braille podcasts. 13:58.520 --> 14:03.866 And of course, with my podcast through unmute, I'm wanting to change that and. 14:03.938 --> 14:18.354 Add another voice to the conversation. But if you look up braille, you're going to find a few things that are really invaluable. Some resources. Both of the consumer organizations here in the US, the NFB and the ACB. 14:18.482 --> 14:25.338 Have their newsletters, main magazines on a podcast format. 14:25.394 --> 14:31.626 So the braille monitor from NFB or the ACB forum, of course from ACBA. 14:31.808 --> 14:35.750 They are going to be coming out monthly and on their regular schedule. 14:35.790 --> 14:50.702 And so you can use your favorite podcatcher of choice and look those up. Another really great podcast that I was introduced to probably not long after it got started just in the pandemic was brailcast. 14:50.846 --> 14:58.734 This is all one word braille cast and it's from the brailists.org. 14:58.782 --> 15:01.302 So that's pluralbrailists.org. 15:01.366 --> 15:04.474 In the UK, they do a wonderful. 15:04.522 --> 15:10.274 Job of putting out these really awesome presentations. Sometimes they have live calls that people. 15:10.322 --> 15:18.730 Tune into, app or demos, reviews of products, they have interviews, and they're just. 15:18.770 --> 15:22.506 A really great organization promoting the learning. 15:22.578 --> 15:28.058 And use of braille centered in the in the UK, but certainly all kinds. 15:28.074 --> 15:29.874 Of things of interest for us. 15:30.002 --> 15:36.910 So Braillecast is a great one to check out and they usually come out, I think about once a month. 15:37.610 --> 15:40.026 Another one that would be of general. 15:40.098 --> 16:00.130 Interest for things going on to do with the rules and production and changes or such. In the braille code is the bana braille bits. So Banna, the braille authority of North America, b a n a Braille bits. 16:00.250 --> 16:06.546 So this is the newsletter podcast for them. And so that's a really interesting thing. 16:06.618 --> 16:17.162 To keep up with as the code is made uniform and the different rules and things that are being put in. 16:17.186 --> 16:25.926 Place to make sure that our braille is uniform in the english speaking countries. So these are some ideas for you walking down memory lane for me with. 16:25.958 --> 16:28.742 Crayons, feeling like a normal kid, having. 16:28.806 --> 16:31.150 Lots of great options now with raised. 16:31.230 --> 16:42.678 Line drawings in coloring and also merch that you can buy from from us, but also lots of merch from blind girl designs. 16:42.854 --> 16:53.822 And then a podcast to listen to to keep you up to date on all things braille. So if you have any suggestions for anything that you'd like me to discuss. 16:53.966 --> 16:57.178 Or like me to review, anything that. 16:57.194 --> 17:04.402 Would be of interest to you, please send an email to feedback unmute show. 17:04.586 --> 17:08.690 That's feedback Unmute show and mention the. 17:08.730 --> 17:15.122 At your fingertips podcast or the Braille podcast. And please let me know what you're enjoying, what you'd like to see more. 17:15.146 --> 17:19.670 Of and I will look forward to chatting with you next month.