Braille Dots. Prison Stripes. Making a Difference.: How a Prison Braille Program Changed Lives - Paperback

by Marie J. Amerson (Author)

Quality braille textbooks do not happen by chance; it takes a lot of work by dedicated individuals to ensure students who read braille have equal access to educational materials. Inmates in more than thirty prison braille programs in the United States help address this important concern. They study to become braille transcribers so they can use their skills to create quality accessible textbooks. Along the way to making a difference for braille readers, these men and women also find their own lives changing for the better. In this book, the author shares her experiences coordinating a prison braille program in Georgia. Amerson provides the reader basic information about how textbooks are prepared in braille, offers a glimpse into the lives of inmates committed to making a positive difference for braille readers, and asks readers to balance their perspective of inmates' past misdeeds with their efforts to change.

Author Biography

Marie J. Amerson worked with Georgia's prison braille program for more than six years. Before that, she worked at the state's school for students who are blind and learned about the critical importance of quality braille textbooks. Amerson, who long ago learned to teach braille to young students, attained her literary braille transcriber certificate after joining the prison braille program. She never studied for advanced braille certifications, leaving that challenge to the dedicated transcribers in the program. Amerson served as a member of the writing team for the National Prison Braille Network publication, Guidelines for Starting and Operating Prison Braille Programs, (c) 2009, American Printing House for the Blind. Amerson has written several books of local interest including the history of an icon in Macon, Georgia - Remembering Len Berg's Restaurant, (c) 2012, Mercer University Press.