HI again Supperman.
I used to have blind people come stay with me for holidays, and also acted as a guide for them. One friend who went blind after he contracted meningitis aged six, stayed with us all winter, I used to accompany him to Early Music Festivals in York.
When i say I taught myself braille-- I taught myself the system so that I could translate letters into print and also communicate with blind people by using braille. I did not learn to read by touch----------- It took me six months of study to learn the system which was helped by having friends to write to in braille. I had a little hand frame-- you prick the letters on the reverse side, then I invested in a sort of braille writer-- it had six keys-- It is a fascinating and clever system. Watching those who use braille frequently, they whizz along the lines so quickly. I also used to accompany visually impaired people on special literature study weeks. In the evenings they used to have dances and really let themselves go. And some of them were brilliant pianists. They really know how to enjoy themselves. David Blunkett who ran the Home Office for a few years is totally blind. He attended a specialist school as a child. Nowadays they try to integrate the visually impaired into normal schools, but whether they students get sufficient support? I do not know.
Yes the Braille numbers are the first letters of the alphabet-- up to J.
Moon is also a way of writing for those who find reading Braille by touch too difficult.
Often people who lose their sight in later life, can be taught to learn Moon although the books are very heavy.
My friend who stayed over winter-- had heavy braille books delivered on a regular basis. One day he damaged his reading finger-- and could not read with any of his other fingers------so the brain must just send messages via the one finger.
He taught me to play chess although anyone can beat me at chess. Nowadays with talking books and cassettes plus modern methods, talking books are easily available for those who do not read braille or Moon.
This makes me wonder about the system in Japanese language. what reading system is there for Japanese people who are visually impaired?
Moon type - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Braille Alphabet and Braille Code
Japanese braille - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia