ICEB General Assemblies and Mid-Terms International Council on English Braille

Includes the resolutions, introduction of incoming executive, looking ahead, closing comments, thanks and farewells.

Featuring the unicorn, red heads, the shortest commercial flight, islands, international association football, UFO Capital of the World; Game Of Thrones, Snow Patrol, Irish Whisky, RMS Titanic, George Best and Jordanstown School.

Braille Bonus by Pat Farrell, coin collector, Republic of Ireland

https://dApdots.ridbc.org.au | The results of the research into Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) of children around Australia and New Zealand who read braille will be shared. There were 73 students in total. These results were compared to Australian sighted normative data. Results were similar to findings in the United States where their rates were predicted to be lower than their sighted peers. | As well as students, 23 Itinerant Teachers gave feedback regarding braille specific resources and teaching strategies they found to be useful. These will be outlined in the presentation. | As well as the teachers' feedback, resources have been specifically produced to try and reduce the fluency gap. These are available for perusing.

There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis | More than at any other time, when I hold a beloved book in my hand my limitations fall from me, my spirit is free. Helen Keller | In social gatherings it is not unusual to hear someone say “I love to read,” and a discussion inevitably ensues that includes shared reading experiences and requests for book recommendations. These discussions often involve people from very diverse backgrounds with no limitations related to how the reader accesses the books (print, braille, hard copy book, electronic version). The declaration “I love to read” in these discussions reflects a love for story, curiosity about different life experiences, exploration of far-off lands, and playfulness within written language. | Somewhat related, but quite different, is a sentiment that is heard frequently from people who know braille, and that sentiment is often expressed as “I love braille,” which refers to a love for the usefulness, elegance, logic, and history of the six-dot cell. Love of braille is a reflection of respect for the way that braille represents English (and other languages). Love of braille also results in discussions among like-minded people about rules and characteristics of braille (favorite contractions could be discussed) and how braille was learned. | The difference between “I love to read” and “I love braille” is subtle but important when considering literacy instruction for young braille readers. Parents and teachers want children to develop foundational skills that support the acts of reading and writing braille and are also concerned with inspiring a love of reading. | The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of an approach to teaching braille reading and writing that provides a balance across complex instructional goals resulting in highly skilled readers and writers and also individuals who love, enjoy, and participate in literacy activities. While reading and writing skills provide a critical foundation for literacy, the way that these skills are fashioned into an individual love of reading and writing builds richness and power into the role literacy plays in the social, emotional, and employment aspects of students with visual impairments as they become adults. This paper will address the instructional needs and some strategies for developing reading and writing skills and a love of literacy. In order to be as specific as possible, an existing literacy program, Building on Patterns, will provide an example of a resource that assists educational teams address the instructional needs of young children to help them grow into mature readers and writers.

https://thesis.medinago.msu.domains/ | This project was designed to improve the inclusive nature of courses on language learning and teaching through the creation of Adaptive English Phonetic tools (ADEPT) to provide better access to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols and the sounds they represent for blind and low vision learners and teachers of American English as a second or foreign language. This approach involved the integration of auditory and tactual information to facilitate the development of phonological literacy based on the effectiveness of multisensory training protocols. | ADEPT consists of sets of tactile IPA symbol cards, and a companion website based on the Universal Design for Learning framework. Each IPA symbol card includes the symbol, its typographical description, and a reference number associated with the website (all with corresponding Braille notations). The website includes printed and audio-recorded information on the articulation of American English consonants and vowels with recordings of each sound in isolation and in sample words. | The pedagogical efficacy of these tools was tested with 21 adult learners of English in Colombia with a focus on vowel production. A pretest-posttest design involving the delayed repetition technique was used. Learners' productions of short sentences with multiple exemplars of American English vowels were audio-recorded. Native-speaker ratings revealed a significant improvement in learners' pronunciation after 10 weeks of instruction. Qualitative data included pre- and post-study interviews and the researcher's instructional notes. Learners described the auditory-tactual approach as “invaluable”. Field testing of the symbol cards indicated that they should be 3D printed for sustainability. In sum, ADEPT can facilitate a collaborative learning environment for sighted and non-sighted individuals.