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Father invents way to read along with his blind son

Shared by Ana Duarte on 2017-05-04 17:08

About the solution

The professor invented a design which combines the book’s original text with Braille, allowing both sighted and blind people to read the same book at the same time.

Eric and his wife Leslie were frustrated because they wanted to able to read stories with their son. But traditional Braille books are printed in a way that doesn’t make it easy for a sighted person to read along. As the Braille reader’s fingers scan the Braille, the printed words are often covered up. Also some books were Braille-only books with no corresponding words in print, while others had Braille printed on plastic pages that either adhered to the original pages, sometimes covering the text and illustrations, or were bound in separately where the Braille didn’t align with the printed words.

“For Ethan to share books with siblings and friends (like his brother, Spencer), the original illustrations and text needed to remain intact. I basically took the list of problems, and thought, ‘How am I going to solve these?”, the father recalled.

Eric redesigned well-known children’s books so that print and Braille readers could enjoy the same book. This design includes the original text and illustration at the top of each page, and Braille at the bottom with the corresponding print also directly above.

This presents a solution by preventing the Braille reader’s hands from blocking what the sighted reader needs to see, and it enabled a sighted reader to learn Braille basics.

Each book also has a Braille glossary in the back for the alphabet, numbers and punctuation.

Eric presented his idea in a conference, and founded BrailleInk, a non profit organization to design and sell the books with his partner Bruce Curtis.

Adapted from: http://americanprofile.com/articles/brailleink/

More info: http://www.brailleink.org

This solution shall not include mention to the use of drugs, chemicals or biologicals (including food); invasive devices; offensive, commercial or inherently dangerous content. This solution was not medically validated. Proceed with caution! If you have any doubts, please consult with a health professional.

DISCLAIMER: This story was written by someone who is not the author of the solution, therefore please be advised that, although it was written with the utmost respect for the innovation and the innovator, there can be some incorrect statements. If you find any errors please contact the patient Innovation team via info@patient-innovation.com

About the author

Eric Ligon, born in 1960, in USA, is a professor of communication design whose son Ethan is blind. He came up with a way to be able to read books with his son, and founded BrailleInk, in 2004, a non profit organization, to diffuse and commercialize his idea.

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