Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Now, what is having a new crop of braille transcribers really mean to the braille reader.
And I think as a braille reader as me.
What is it really mean to me?
Less than one tenth of one percent of material produced in print form today is available in braille.
Let’s put that in the perspective.
Anytime you think about reading any of the hundreds of newspapers that are out there,
a new or old book,
a sign on the street or in a building, a menu, a clothing tag,
instructional manuals,
ingredients or directions for food preparations.
Kiosks in airports or anywhere you might find them, ATM machines, bank statements, bills, money.
And I can go on and on. None of this stuff is placed in braille on a regular basis.
Providing Real Opportunities for Income through Technology, PROFITT,
is a grant collaboration establishing a model curriculum geared at positioning offenders for sustainable income upon release.
Georgia Institute of Technology’s Alternative Media Access Center (AMAC), the National Braille Press,
and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) have been collaborating on a 5-track comprehensive curriculum
whereby offenders learn integral skills they can rely on upon release.
Since braille transcription is the specialized technology skill taught in this curriculum,
PROFITT has been piloting the curriculum at TDCJ’s Mountain View Unit,
where Texas Correctional Industries (TCI) maintains a braille production center.
When PROFITT was first introduced as part of the Second Chance Act with the Department of Justice,
we all felt the name was appropriate because the Second Chance is what we desperately seek.
The skills and knowledge we acquired going through the program allows us to be more employable and marketable.
Thus we eagerly anticipate the day of release so we can go out and prove the program was a success.
An industry like braille that is sort of out of the mainstream
that is a talent it’s not just a skill but it’s a true talent, I believe.
For a lot of these female offenders they have never had a capability to do something good for society, or for someone else.
To be recognized for that and this braille program brings that.
It gives them a sense of accomplishment so it brings a true sense of change and pride to them that I think in the past they may not have had.
Braille is a system of raised dots used to represent characters, words,
and portions of words that are read by blind and visually impaired persons.
Think of braille as a reading system comparable to stenographer’s shorthand.
Certifications for braille transcribers include several advanced levels in specialized areas such as mathematics,
textbook formatting, and even music.
For fluent braille readers, reading in braille provides the same experience that print readers have when they read.
The braille facility motto is changing lives one cell at a time. I always wondered if that was a prison cell or a braille cell.
There are currently around 35 prison braille programs across the United States.
In addition to preparing offenders for an occupation upon release,
the programs provide braille textbooks and other materials mandated by federal law
for students attending K-12 schools and other organizations.
Using the training program as a resource for braille needs in the state has at least two benefits.
First, offenders can gain experience so that they are better prepared to work as transcribers when they are released,
and second, states can save thousands of dollars annually on textbooks and other braille materials required by the state.
Braille transcribers often talk about the sense of purpose that they gain from knowing that they provide this vital resource to blind and visually impaired readers.
Not only is it an outside of the mainstream type of career for them, once they are released,
but it also allows them to kind of pay it forward back to society.
They are providing the braille book for someone who couldn’t do that.
There is an unmet need for people with advanced certifications in music and math who are trained to produce braille materials,
as these codes are very time-consuming to learn.
This lends braille to be an excellent vocation for prison training programs because it requires extensive instruction,
dedicated time, and practice.
Braille transcription is also often done by independent contractors who receive and deliver their work via the Internet.
This employment structure is helpful to ex-offenders,
whose employment opportunities may otherwise be limited by their criminal records.
Anecdotal research from the National Prison Braille Network indicates that the recidivism rate
of qualified inmate braille transcribers across the country is between zero and three percent.
The PROFITT curriculum is made up of five independent tracks.
The subject matters of these tracks include basic computer skills, soft/life skills training, literary braille transcription,
advanced computer graphics, and small business management.
This curriculum has been catered directly to the unique challenges of instruction within the prison environment.
It is instructor-based, but utilizes many multimedia components, including videos, PowerPoint presentations,
and hands-on activities designed to keep the curriculum dynamic and fun.
The development of the 750 hour curriculum can best be described as eclectic,
it was thanks in part to several individuals, organizations, and associations that came together.
Everyone worked together to create a part of the whole.
The service provided to the braille community and the skills learned to be successful braille transcribers impact more people than those in this room.
Lives are truly changed.
The inaugural pilot run of the PROFITT curriculum was well received and wrapped up in July, 2012.
It provided the curriculum development team with excellent feedback from instructors and participants.
We are very fortunate to have such a program here, within our agency and then further within the Mountain View Unit.
That’s what we do. Part of our agency’s mission is to provide reintegration and help offenders try to find jobs and try to give them a skill.
We have definitely accomplished that through this program.
Braille is literacy for people who are visually impaired. People can listen to a book through a recording or screen reader,
but, if they have not seen the written word by touch or with their eyes, they are not really grasping the full notions of spelling and grammar that are the basis for language and communication.
Tactile graphics produced in braille allow a fuller understanding of the material, and this is especially important to students.
Our goal is for braille units and correctional industries across the country to take advantage of the PROFITT curriculum
to supplement and enhance existing programs,
start new programs, and provide feedback on where individual tracks may be improved.
Project staff emphasized flexibility in the curriculum design, which ensures that any correctional facility can implement the curriculum
as best suits their individual facility needs and structure.
Tracks of the curriculum may also be extracted and utilized separately in any correctional industry or vocational training area.
To learn more about how PROFITT might benefit your institution please call (404)894-8000 or visit our website www.profitt.gatech.edu.