January 31, 2015
Actress and children's author Bernadette Peters, who along with Mary Tyler Moore heads up a 17-years-running animal adoption event called Broadway Barks, paired up with Charlene Sloan and Bill Smith of Mainline Animal Rescue in Chester County.
After Mainline Animal Rescue made visits to the Royers-Greaves School for the Blind in Paoli, the idea to write a story for Broadway Barks about the experience prompted Sloan to realize that there were no braille versions of Peters' books 'Broadway Barks' and 'Stella is a Star' to donate to Royers-Greaves.
While at the school, Sloan thought it would be a nice idea to donate Peters' books as a thank-you gift. But she discovered that 'Broadway Barks' and 'Stella Is a Star' were not in braille, and went about finding out how to translate them.
About 90% of blind children cannot read braille, partly because advocates of technology development in the educational community believe other tools can replace braille.
For young children, however, the experience of reading and improving tactile recognition may still be of great value.
Braille Tales, operated out of Sloan's basement, was formed to provide braille translations and book deliveries to schools and libraries around the country. Thus far, 23 titles have been translated and 2,165 books have been delivered by Braille Tales, which contracts with an Oregon company and two prisons for the labor of publication.
Read the full story here.
