South Dakota Braillist Association Newsletter
South Dakota State Library
Braille and Talking Book Library
Summer/Fall 2003, Volume 6, Issue 6
Connie Sullivan, Newsletter Editor
Shaping Tomorrow Today!
A child is young only once,
and for such a short time.
So much depends on the guidance you provide.
This poem expresses it well.

The Sculptor
Author unknown
I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it, one day,
And as my fingers pressed it, still
It moved and yielded to my will.

I came again, when days were passed,
That bit of clay was hard at last,
The form I gave it, still it bore,
And I could change that form no more.

Then I took a piece of living clay
And gently formed it, day by day,
And molded with my power and art,
A young child's soft and yielding heart.

I came again when years were gone,
It was a man I looked upon,
He still that early impress bore,
And I could change it, nevermore.


Seedings Braille Books for Children
DOES YOUR CHILD NEED SOME INFORMATION IN BRAILLE FOR A PROJECT OR REPORT?

SEEDLINGS. ROSE PROJECT. CAN HELP!

FREE ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLES IN BRAILLE

This service is offered free of charge for blind students in grades 1-12!

TO ORDER AN ARTICLE, CONTACT SEEDLINGS BRAILLE BOOKS at 1-800-777-8552 or seedlink@aol.com or online at www.seedlings.org (& click on .Special Projects.)

Please include student's name, address, phone, grade, & article needed (being as specific as possible!) The article will be produced in print and in braille, and will be shipped within 5 working days!


Students and Backpacks
Walk through the aisles of any local store, and all the classic signs of autumn are there: notebooks piled high, the smell of colored markers and the sound of children's voices as they shop for new supplies. Drive by a bus stop a few days after school starts, and you might see some of these same children struggling to carry their new backpacks that are already full - and too heavy.

When buying a backpack, look for one with wide straps and a waist belt. Be sure your child uses both straps over both shoulders and tightens the waist belt for even weight distribution. Encourage your student to make frequent locker stops if possible, leaving behind items that aren't necessary to carry. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons recommends that a backpack be no heavier than 15 percent of the student's body weight. Listen to your child for complaints about back pain or headaches.

Registered nurses at Ask Mayo Clinic are available to answer your back to-school health questions on back care, immunizations and childhood illnesses. Call toll-free 1-877-284-7339 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for reliable health information.


CHOICES FOR CHILDREN
Campaigning for Change--Advocating Quality Specialized Education for Students with Visual Impairments

*Major IDEA/IMAA Victory in US Senate!***

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

(HELP) took up S. 1248, the Senate's version of legislation to reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The Committee's work, known as a mark-up, is the formal committee-level process used to clarify/amend legislation and prepare it for eventual floor action. The Senate IDEA bill is significantly different from the House-passed version, meaning that considerable time and attention will need to be spent working with a conference committee charged with reconciling the two measures once the full Senate passes its IDEA bill. Today, the HELP Committee approved S. 1248 for Senate floor action by a vote of 21-0, and the bill contains major changes of significance to students who are blind or visually impaired. The most significant provisions include--
  • all critical components of the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act, especially the creation of a national electronic file repository (a provision notably absent from the House version). Additional informative on IMAA available at www.afb.org
  • inclusion of the Expanded Core Curriculum among the central services to be considered in IEPs for children who are blind or visually impaired.
  • language ensuring the distinction of orientation and mobility services from travel training (current federal regulations confuse O&M and travel training and the populations of kids they serve).
Keep watch, this is not a done deal yet. It still must go through the house and probably more committees before final approval and delivery to the President for his signature.

If you have the opportunity to visit or write to Senator Dashale, Johnston, or Congressman Janklow remind them of this important legislation and how important the IMAA section is for students using alternative format textbooks.


The Hellen Keller Museum
on line at: www.afb.org/braillebug/hkmuseum.asp

American Foundation for the Blind has paid tribute to Helen Keller with a unique virtual exhibit, the Helen Keller Kids Museum Online.

Working on a school report about Helen Keller?

Read the Helen Keller Biography and then check out the Recommended Reading.

Want to learn some fun facts on Helen Keller or read some of her famous quotes? Check out Fun Facts & Quotes.

Teachers, don't forget to check out . . .
The Helen Keller Archives, which contain The Helen Keller Papers, The Helen Keller Artifacts and Memorabilia Collection, The Helen Keller Photograph Collection, and Books from Helen Keller's Library.

"The most beautiful world is always entered through imagination."
- Helen Keller, 1908


Council for Exceptional Children
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted. CEC advocates for appropriate governmental policies, sets professional standards, provides continual professional development, advocates for newly and historically underserved individuals with exceptionalities, and helps professionals obtain conditions and resources necessary for effective professional practice.

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), 1110 North Glebe Road, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22201
Voice phone: (703) 620-3660 TTY: (703) 264-9446 FAX: (703) 264-9494
Check out the web-site at:www.cec.sped.org


The Burp
by Anonymous

Pardon me for being rude.
It was not me, it was my food.
It got so lonely down below,
it just popped up to say hello.

National Braille Press Book of the Club August 2003 Book Selection

The Itsy Bitsy Spider
by Iza Trapani
Print-braille edition, $6.95
Ages 3-9

Up the waterspout - and beyond!

The spirited and irresistible itsy bitsy spider has captured the hearts of generations of children by climbing up that waterspout. Now she's back-on a new journey! Author and illustrator Iza Trapani takes the favorite familiar rhyming song, and goes on to add more adventures - all in rhyme! - for the determined little spider.

After climbing the waterspout, this all-new itsy bitsy spider has exciting encounters with a fan, a mouse, a rocking chair, a cat and a big maple tree. Finally, the itsy bitsy spider finds a lovely spot to rest and spin a new silky web. Iza Trapani's fresh retelling of a childhood favorite follows its persistent heroine through a day of adventure.

This print/braille book includes the sheet music - both in print and in the Braille Music Code - for the song The Itsy Bitsy Spider, so you can play and sing along to all the verses!
  • "You think you know this song, but there's more! This is my daughter's favorite song and just when I thought I couldn't sing it one more time, Iza Trapani gave me 5 new verses! The words are so cute and the pictures so pleasant, I could sing it all day long now! We have three of Trapani's books and this is our very favorite."

An "American Bookseller Pick of the Lists"
For those who want to learn more about the braille music code, we also carry Bettye Krolick's How to Read Braille Music. Published by Opus Technologies, this book explains the music braille symbols most frequently found in elementary through intermediate-level music. It's written at a fifth grade reading level, so it's suitable for both children and adults.

Available in print ($12.95) and braille ($19.95).

To order any of these books, send payment to:

National Braille Press, 88 St. Stephen Street, Boston, MA 02115
Toll-free: (800) 548-7323, FAX (617) 437-0456, orders@nbp.org


Tuesday's Tip with Dr. Zimmerman
Taken from Tuesday's Tip with Dr. Zimmerman #33 newsletter. Reprinted with permission from 'Dr. Zimmerman's Tuesday Tip,' a weekly internet newsletter.

Thought: Lots of people have learned how to achieve in life. Only a few have learned how to enjoy life.

Comment: Have you ever looked back at a time in your life and thought, "I was really happy then. It's too bad I didn't realize it so I could have enjoyed it more?" Probably. Too many people miss the "good times" because they live in the future or let stress get the best of them.

Don't do that! If you spend too much time worrying about the future, planning for the future, or dreaming about the future, you'll ruin your present. In fact, you won't even have a life, you'll just have an existence.

Don't be like one woman I knew. She wrote: "First I was dying to finish high school and start college. And then I was dying to marry and have children. And then I was dying for my children to grow old enough for school so I could return to work. And then I was dying to retire. And now, I am dying...and suddenly I realize that I forgot to live."

So live in the present, but don't let stress get the best of you. Just learn how to C-A-L-M your stress so you can enjoy life.

C stands for CONFESSION. If, for example, you owe someone an apology, do it. If you've been rationalizing some dysfunctional behavior of yours, stop it. Confess it and get past it. You've got to have a clear conscience if you want a stress-free life.

Then go on to A.

A stands for ACCEPTANCE. You've got to accept what you cannot change. If you don't, you'll drive yourself crazy.

Be like four-year old Rebecca. She was visiting her grandparents in Hilton Head, South Carolina. One day an oar washed up on the beach. During her next visit a year later, another oar washed up. Later that week, Rebecca was swimming in the neighborhood pool when another girl swam up and asked in a superior tone of voice, "So you have a boat?" Rebecca replied, "No, but we have two oars and we're waiting for a boat." That's acceptance.

L stands for LISTENING. Listen to your body. It's the first place stress will show up, and your body will let you know that it's stressed. Pay attention, and then do something to reduce the stress.

Lastly, M stands for MEANING. When the psychiatrist Victor Frankl observed our affluent society, he said we "have enough to live by, but not enough to live for." He said we seemed to have "the means, but no meaning." On the other hand, if you have faith, family, work, whatever gives you meaning, you'll find yourself enjoying life no matter what the circumstances.

Action:
Ask yourself, are you doing a better job of making a living or making a life? If it's the former, choose one part of the C-A-L-M formula and do it this week. You'll enjoy life just a little bit more as a result.
Have a fantastic week!
Dr. Alan Zimmerman


How To Be Somebody
Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
Talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
Make all your friends feel there is something special in them.
Look at the sunny side of everything.
Think only of the best, work only for the best and expect only the best.
Be an enthusiastic about the success of others, as you are about your own.
Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
Give everyone a smile.
Spend so much time improving yourself, that you have no time left to criticize others.
Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.


Mary Had Some Bubble Gum
by Anonymous
Mary had some bubble gum,
she chewed it long and slow,
and everywhere that Mary went
her gum was sure to go.
She chewed the gum in school one day,
which was against the rule.
The teacher took her pack away
and chewed it after school.

Kid Quotes
Sometimes kids say things in innocence that are simply hilarious. Here's an assortment of selected quotations from kids.

Quick Quotations:
  • "I'm being hayve!" -- 2 year old son, when his mother told him told to behave.
  • "I'm not an oxymoron!" -- 7 year old
  • "TNT." -- Given as an answer for a written spelling bee, when the teacher called the word "dynamite".
  • "Mommy, you said it would be a shot; instead it was a needle!" -- Boy, overheard at the hospital
  • "I have a rock in my nose." -- 2 year old son, greeting his mother after preschool, a full hour after recess was over.
  • "Daddy picked them up and looked underneath. I think it's printed on the bottom." -- 3 year old son, when his mother asked how his father knew the genders of four new baby kittens.
  • "How will that help?" -- Kindergarten student, when the class was instructed to hold up two fingers if any of them had to go to the bathroom.
  • "The box says you can't eat them if the seal is broken. I'm looking for the seal." -- A young son, examining the contents of a box of Animal Crackers.
  • "Don't kid me, Mom, I know they're my feet." -- 3 year old son, when his mother told him his shoes were on the wrong feet.
  • "Why don't you get some expensive money?" -- 3 year old daughter, when told by her mother that she could get a small toy but that the ones asked for were too expensive.
What Is the National Agenda for the Education of Children and Youths with Visual Impairments
DID YOU KNOW THAT:
Sometimes months, even years, go by between a child's diagnosis of visual impairment and a referral to educational services?

Blind and visually impaired children often receive an inferior education because there are not enough specialized teachers?

The core curriculum needed by visually impaired students is not available to most of them?

Often visually impaired students are placed in existing and easily available educational settings without regard for the setting that would best meet their needs?

These and other serious issues are about to change, because:
Parents and professionals have committed themselves to a National Agenda that will revolutionize educational services for blind and visually impaired students by the year 2000.
THE NATIONAL AGENDA for the Education of Children and Youths with Visual Impairments Including Those with Multiple Disabilities is a national project aimed at achieving eight priority goals for improving the quality of educational services for children and youths with visual impairments. The National Agenda project has benefited from an unprecedented grassroots effort by parents, professionals, and consumers since the fall of 1993. At the heart of the project are eight priority goal areas. Through the leadership of National Goal Leader Organizations, which represent specialized schools, agencies, and membership organizations, educational strategies will be refined further and necessary policy steps defined at the community level to ensure implementation of the eight goals.

NATIONAL AGENDA 8 GOAL STATEMENTS
  1. Students and their families will be referred to an appropriate education program within 30 days of identification of a suspected visual impairment.
  2. Policies and procedures will be implemented to ensure the right of all parents to full; participation and equal partnership in the education process.
  3. Universities, with a minimum of one full-time faculty member in the area of visual impairment, will prepare a sufficient number of educators of students with visual impairments to meet personnel needs throughout the country.
  4. Service providers will determine caseloads based on the needs of students and will require ongoing professional development for all teachers and orientation and mobility instructors.
  5. Local education programs will ensure that all students have access to a full array of placement options.
  6. Assessment of students will be conducted, in collaboration with parents, by personnel having expertise in the education of students with visual impairments.
  7. Access to developmental and educational services will include an assurance that instructional materials are available to students in the appropriate media and at the same time as their sighted peers.
  8. Educational and developmental goals, including instruction, will reflect the assessed needs of each student in all areas of academic and disability-specific core curricula.
Additional information on the National Agenda may be found at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Website, www.tsbvi.edu/agenda.


Web-Braille
What is Web-Braille?

Web-Braille is an Internet, web-based service that provides, in an electronic format, many braille books, some music scores, and all braille magazines produced by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). The service also includes a growing collection of titles transcribed locally for cooperating network libraries. The Web-Braille site is password-protected, and all files are in an electronic form of contracted braille, requiring the use of special equipment for access.

What does Web-Braille contain?

Web-Braille contains the full text of thousands of NLS-produced braille books, hundreds of items from the NLS Music Section, and every braille magazine currently produced by NLS. Several cooperating net work libraries are now placing books transcribed under their auspices on Web-Braille.
  • Books. The books currently available through Web-Braille include press-braille books produced by NLS since 1992. More than a thousand older titles are also available. Titles not included are uncontracted, foreign-language, and print/braille books. NLS adds new books to Web-Braille when the hardcopy braille books are approved for shipment.
  • Music Scores. About five hundred braille music scores are available through Web-Braille, and more are being added every month. They provide music for a range of instruments, from voice to violin, with levels of difficulty from beginning methods to advanced works, especially for the piano. The styles of music span a range from popular songs to the standard repertoires for each instrument, with particular focus on the eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and early-twentieth-century masters.
  • Magazines. Beginning May 2001, all NLS-produced braille magazines became available on Web-Braille. Magazine files are normally available on the Web-Braille site within one working day from the time the hardcopy magazine is shipped to readers. Issues of a few magazines are available back to early 2000, and every issue of the music publication Popular Music Lead Sheets can be accessed beginning with the first issue in 1978.
Who is eligible to use Web-Braille?

Copyright laws require that access to Web-Braille be limited to NLS patrons and eligible institutions. Access outside the United States, except to eligible American citizens, is not permitted.

Eligible institutions include:
  • Schools for the blind; Public or private schools providing braille to blind children, whether the school is set up as a special-format deposit collection or as an institutional patron; and
  • Nonprofit organizations whose primary purpose is to produce raille books for the use of eligible readers in the U.S. Some examples are instructional materials resource centers and nonprofit transcribing agencies.
Agencies may use Web-Braille files only to produce braille copies. Under current copyright law, agencies may not make large-print or unencrypted e-text versions of books without the permission of the copyright holder.

How do eligible individuals or institutions sign up for Web-Braille service?

To register for Web-Braille, eligible program users must first contact the Braille & Talking Book Library and provide the library with an e-mail address and a six-to-eight-character password. When the subscription is activated, the new subscriber will receive access instructions by e-mail.

How can a specific Web-Braille book be located?

Web-Braille books may be located in two ways:
  • Online Catalog. Links to Web-Braille books are included in the NLS online catalog. This catalog is located at www.loc.gov/nls/textcatalog. To retrieve Web-Braille titles using the quick search page, put the words "web braille" (as two words with no hyphen) in the "keyword" field. The results list will contain a link to each volume of a Web-Braille title. When a Web-Braille volume is selected, the user will be prompted for a Web-Braille user ID and password.
  • Braille Book Review. The Web version of each issue of Braille Book Review published since July-August 1999 contains links to all new braille books available on Web-Braille. The online version of Braille Book Review can be accessed from the main Web-Braille page or from www.loc.gov/nls/bbr.
In what format are the Web-Braille files?

Web-Braille files are in contracted braille ASCII format. Each file represents one volume of a braille book or magazine. Each volume of an NLS-produced book is named with the book's BR number and volume number and has a ".brf" file extension. For example, volume 2 of BR 12345 will have the filename "12345v02.brf". Items from the NLS Music Section are named with their BRM number but have the letter "m" preceding their volume number to distinguish them from national collection braille titles. Items produced for cooperating network libraries have a two-letter state abbreviation followed by a three-digit book number. Magazine files have a two-letter magazine code, followed by the month, day (if applicable), year, and letter indicating part. All files on Web-Braille have a .brf file extension.

What equipment is needed to access Web-Braille?

Web-Braille files may be read online or downloaded for viewing offline or embossing with a braille display, braille-aware notetaker, or braille embosser.

Is technical support available for Web-Braille?

Web-Braille technical support is provided through a series of "frequently asked questions." These FAQs are accessible from the main Web-Braille page.


"What would life be like if we had no courage to attempt anything?""
- Vincent van Gogh


"The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible."
- Arthus C. Clarke


Mother Goose Popcorn
  • 4 C powdered sugar
  • 3/4 C water
  • A pinch of salt
  • 4 T Butter
  • Couple of drops of red food coloring
  • 7 qts of popped popcorn
Combine the first three ingredients and cook to a soft ball stage. Pour over the popcorn and mix well.