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TheReview

Wednesday, October 10,1990 — BI
SS SS

Braille still source of literature with high equipment cosi

by Moreblessing Munjoma
The Review

2% Blind people who want to be
&, literate must rely on library mate-
Tial written in brailie because
availability of periodicals and
other current material is restricted
by the high cost of electronic
equipment.

“There are no Canadian maga-
zines written in braille and little or
s 209 access to braille materials

ough public library systems,”
the Canadian Institute for the

Blind says.

The CNIB’s national office, in
conjunction with Intemational Lit-
eracy Day, is asking the public and
private sector to help promote
literacy by increasing the variety of
materials available to blind people
through the use of electronic
equipment.

A Sidney resident and former
CNIB head librarian believes there
is enough braille material available
for blind people in CNIB libraries
but agrees that expensive electron-
ic equipment is not available to

e New Dimensions in Home Enterlainment-

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average blind people.

Although, Edward Brown, 70 of
Sidney, is blind, his ability to read
and write through braille — a
tactile reading and writing system
invented almost 200 years ago —
has proved that disability does not
mean inability.

At the age of five, Brown lost his
eyesight after a car accident. In
1930 at the age of 10, he was sent
by his parents to Jericho Hill
school of the blind in Vancouver.
There he learned braille — a
system of reading and writing

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using raised dots.

Using braille, Brown ventured
into a Bachelor of Arts program in
1939 and completed his degree in
1945.

The following year, Brown went
to Toronto for a 10-year stay,
working as a social worker for the
CNIB.

After being transferred to the
CNIB library, where he used
braille and a talking machine,
Brown decided to further his stud-
ies. He studied for a degree in

Continued on Page B2

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ED BROWN