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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Our community college runs a program called Hope for adults with developmental delays. Most of them read at around a third grade level.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The program uses Macs and iPads with lots of online sources to help them improve reading, math, spelling and job readiness. The students also learn crafts, photography and dance. For example, they take many
videos and make simple presentations. They do Word Search puzzles and discuss current events.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The program has now gotten several blind students and I’ve been asked to provide materials for them in Braille.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">As a Braille reader myself I do know about some resources. There is for example Seedlings Braille Books for Children, but they only serve children and not adults. There is Braille On Demand from NLS and I’ve
been using my personal account to get free Braille from them, but would like to find another resource.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">There are also plenty of resources I know vaguely about for K-12 pupils, but again, they get federal funding to serve kids and not grown-ups.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The content the sighted students work with is highly visual, because it is not academic, so it’s impractical to convert and emboss it, and anyway, it is mostly online. I’ve ended up inventing word search
puzzles, but that’s about it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I really know nothing about creating curriculum for developmentally delayed blind adults, and my supervisor reminds me that in alternate media, my job is to convert what students request. However in this situation,
I only know they have determined these adults have an average of a third grade reading level and they are demanding Braille. I finally managed to get a list of subjects they were interested in, and of course I sent the folks at Hope a whole list of resources
they can purchase, such as books from National Braille press. But since the college has me, an alternate media specialist, they are reluctant to purchase anything.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I suppose I can get things from bookshare and convert them, but I have no idea what is going to work best for these students. I’d like to avoid wasting tons of paper and time on books they cannot read.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The people administering the program know nothing about Braille and I’m still trying to determine if their students can read contracted Braille or it needs to be uncontracted. Everything I’ve produced so far
is uncontracted and was apparently used and welcomed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I am far more comfortable serving print impaired students in need of academic materials and I really don’t know what to do about Hope and the three blind students requesting Braille.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Advice and resources would be appreciated.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">--Debee<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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