When Louis Braille first developed the braille code in 1824, he reconnected blind and visually impaired people with the world through reading and writing. “Braille is knowledge,” he wrote, “and knowledge is power.”
Today, however, staying connected to the world relies more and more on technology, leaving many visually challenged people feeling left out.
Braille Institute has found an answer with Connection Pointe. These state-of-the-art technology centers, one in each Braille Institute location, provide a welcoming, reassuring, and easy gateway to the sometimes intimidating world of technology. Through group sessions and one-on-one instruction, clients learn to navigate both mainstream technology like home computers, tablets such as iPads and Kindles, and iPhones; and the adaptive technology—digital audiobook players, computers that read aloud, and closed-circuit TVs—that make the electronic world more easily accessible.
It was only through the support of private donors that all five Connection Pointe centers were made possible, including the most recent one in Braille Institute’s Los Angeles Sight Center. Through a generous endowment gift, the Carl and Jeanette Goldbaum Technology Center was dedicated on April 17 and is already busy providing visually impaired clients with the confidence and skills they need to stay connected to their family, friends, and the world around them.
“Everyone is thanking me, but I want to thank Braille Institute for giving me the opportunity to support all the good you do to help so many.” said Jeanette Goldbaum
Just as braille kept visually impaired people connected to the world two hundred years ago, technology is empowering them to stay connected today.
