Power at Your Fingertips: An Introduction to Learning Braille

The tenth entry in a series designed to help parents, caretakers, and educators of blind or visually impaired children, Power at Your Fingertips--which combines onscreen video instruction and hands-on practice--offers a basic primer in learning the Braille language. Devised by Louis Braille, at the age of 15 (blind himself since he was three), the Braille system converts letters and numbers into a series of raised dots. Using a classroom setting, the program shows viewers the Braille "cell"--two vertical rows of three positions--which is the fundamental unit of the language, each of the letters of the alphabet, how to count, a sampling of the contractions used in Braille, and how to write Braille, both manually and with a Braille typewriter. A print guide, slate and stylus are included with the video, though the "guide" is not a fill-in-the-blank workbook and viewers would need to supply their own paper. A very good choice for those who want to learn the Braille language, either for their own interest, or to teach others. Recommended. Other titles in the Can Do! series include: Seeing Things in a New Way: What Happens When You Have a Blind Baby, Through Their Eyes: An Introduction to Low Vision and Successfully Adapting the Preschool Environment. Aud: J, H, C, P. (R. Pitman)