Name- Brandon Hulcoop. Age- 14. Gender- Male. Country of entry- UK. Number of words- 1000.
EBU company name- RNIB.
Life with Braille By Brandon Hulcoop (with interview contributions from Mum - Roxanne, Dad - Kevin, Sister- Rhea, Great Grandad GG and brother, Bailey.)
Life with Braille is different for everyone, whether they use it, support someone using it or are learning Braille. In the Hulcoop family, Braille is just an ordinary part of our everyday life. For me, Brandon, Braille is everything. Without it, my life would be empty, but because of Braille I have learnt to love books, pictures and produce written work. But, Braille isn't just about me as I'm only a small part of my family. I bet you'd all like to know what Braille is like for the sighted people in my family, wouldn't you? So, I've interviewed my family, so that you can get the whole picture of what life is like with Braille for everyone else!
When my Mum, Roxanne, found out that I was blind (as soon as I was born), she knew straight away that I wouldn't be able to use print and although she'd heard of Braille she only knew that it comprised of dots that resembled the alphabet. However, dad didn't straight away think about my learning Braille and didn't know what Braille was. It's been a steep learning curve for everyone!
I know many people find Braille a challenge -- and for most people, they don't have to even try. But, for my family, Braille is something that challenges all of us every day. Mum worried that I wouldn't ever be able to learn Braille as it's so different from the print that she herself had learnt as a child. Also, Mum didn't know how other people would be able to help me (we'd never heard of QTVIs back then!) and Mum's main concern, was that she wouldn't be able to help me with my homework. Dad shared this concern and worried that I wouldn't easily adapt to a tactile method of learning to read. However, I had some amazing teachers and Mum tells me that from playing with lentils, with my QTVI and teaching assistants, I soon learnt how to use Braille.
From what I'm told, it's not all that long ago that people, like me, who read and write in Braille would have been sent away from their families to go to special school (in a different part of the country). This is something that troubled Mum for a while because she was thinking about what mainstream schools were like, when she went to school, and she didn't know how they could be made accessible for me. Dad was convinced I'd have to go away. But, schools have changed and nowadays families have the choice about where their children, even ones who need to learn in Braille, can go. Mum's sure that it helped schools' accept me as she says I'm "stupidly clever'. (That's my Mum, for you!)
Braille has challenged Mum, Dad, Rhea and Bailey in all sorts of ways over the fourteen years of my life. Mum always sends me birthday and Christmas cards in Braille and wants to help me with my homework -- and this is much trickier for her than it is when she sends cards to my younger sister and brother or helps them with their homework. I'm so grateful Mum perseveres! Like Dad says, it's a relief that I can read and write so well and the technology that I use enables us to overcome any difficulties my family have in reading what I've written or writing to me in a way that I can then access. One thing about Braille that everyone in my family notices, is that it's big and noisy. My books take up lots of space and my Perkins (which I don't use much was so annoying for everyone. On a bad day, even my BrailleNote's tap-tap-tapping is quite irritating! I just have to remind everyone of the noise the Perkins made . . . . .
There are 2 Braille students in my family - GG and my sister Rhea. When Rhea started learning Braille, like every sighted person, she tried to use her sight to recognise the dots. For Rhea, this technique didn't work very well so I taught her which combinations formed each letter and she wrote them down in print to memorise. Consequently, she was soon writing her name with no difficulty. Rhea now thinks Braille is amazing and that she's proud that she knows some of it but, she doesn't want to do a Braille course.
GG started learning when I was 11. As he became more confident with both the Perkins and the Code, he started writing to me in Braille - Birthday and Christmas cards, anything! He agrees with Rhea that he doesn't want to study Braille but it's useful. The most challenging part for him was remembering short forms. Like everyone, he had to remember combinations and the more he practised the easier it became. The reality of Braille for sighted people, is like GG says, his lack of use means it never becomes automatic to him. GG says it's very clever how 6 dots can make up the alphabet.
Braille has sometimes meant that I've had to check with my TAs about words in books.
When I was younger, I read to Dad nightly. Once, I read a book that I'd been given and I came across an unfamiliar word, something like "Ouxpajababa." Dad read me the passage in his book and I tried. Dad didn't believe me but the next day, my TA confirmed my reading!
My brother, Bailey, has yet to develop an interest in Braille -- he's more than happy with talking to me. Maybe that'll change in time, but if not it won't matter, we'll cope! Braille's not for everyone -- but hopefully you'll have seen that life with Braille isn't as impossible as it may first seem and that everyone learns in their own way -- and if you can't or you don't use it (and you forget it) that's not a problem either. I hope this encourages you in your life with Braille!