Humble Beginnings
In October 2024: It all started with a headache. It was one that I just couldn’t shake, aspirin didn’t seem to work, Sleeping wasn’t working; so I hopped into my car and decided to go to the VA Hospital ER. On the was there, the world disappeared except for a bit of hazy sight in my right eye and a pin prick of light in my left eye. I was on I-75 at 2:30 AM just a few miles from the turn off to the VA Hospital. I didn’t know at the time what had happened. Being in the Infantry for a long time, I knew that I had to somehow complete the mission to get to the hospital. I spent what seemed to be a long time on the side of the road trying to get my phone to talk to me and give me directions that I could hear and use. Finally, somehow I actually crept along until I found the ER. They told me that I had had a stroke. I said “Left side and Right side OK”. They informed me that there were several kinds of strokes (although they don’t actually tell anyone in the commercials).
I spent several days in the Hospital and months after I finally found out that there were places to get trained on “how to be blind” and not run into walls and such.
That is what started me on the journey to trying to figure out Braille and use it in my life. It is the reason that I started the project.
What the Project hopes to Accomplish
The very first draft of the Braille Dictionary was just for me. I wanted to try to learn Braille so that I could read again (This is still a “work in progress”). I have included some pages that contain “good to know” information: Restroom Signs, Elevator Buttons, and much more. The guide is still in its infancy (Read: Beta Testing).
I have given several Alpha Copies to the Staff of the West Palm Beach VA BRC, who were very helpful and soon I will be contacting the staff of the various BRCs around the country and the Lighthouses also. I need all the smart people to help out. The more feedback the better.
Here are the milestones of the project
- Beta Testing the Printed Copy
- Gathering Input (Changes, Corrections and Additions) – Our GitHub will coordinate this to keep things timestamped and in order
- In Version 2.0 – The first overlay for Braille will be produced.
- Grants for the cost of the Printing will be Received and a contract for the printing and Braille will be awarded
- Shipping to all VA BRCs will initially (I hope) be 150 copies per BRC (13 x 150 = 1,950 Dictionaries sent out to Veterans).
The overlays and the visual printed materials will be available on line from this site and our GitHub repository. Anyone can download them and print them.
This is an open-source project that is meant to be shared.
I appreciate your interest in this project.