Once upon a time... in braille

CHENNAI: Browsing books independently, reading and sharing the experiences with friends and family, fosters reading habits and early identification of pictures in children. But that’s for able-bodied children only, as their children with disabilities do not have easy access to story books in India.

For instance, the availability of ‘inclusive story books’ (with illustrations) for children with vision impairment in braille are rarely accessible. So is the case for disabled children with cerebral palsy, and other intellectual disabilities. To bridge the gap between children and youth with disabilities, and create opportunities that promote learning and development, Namitha Jacob, director, Chetana Charitable Trust, has been working relentlessly. The expert in children with multiple disabilities talks about her journey in setting up an adapted books library…

Working with disabled children and different organisations that cater to the betterment of young minds, Namitha realised the need for a system that solves problems faced by NGOs. “I began Chetana to respond to the problems of other organisations, and essentially come up with an action plan,” she explains. Now over a decade later, the Chetana Trust has been pivotal in bringing about a change. “From assistive devices, vision assessment for children and reading camps to adaptive books, we have tried to integrate a lot of things with the help of like-minded people! It’s not just the money, but also the time, effort and thought that matters,” smiles Namitha.

Adapted books library is an action project for children with varying disabilities, as they had poor literacy skills, despite having early education and rehabilitation services. “There was poor access for early reading materials in formats that promote literacy…this was across different strata of society. These children were missing out on the simple joys of going to a shop, browsing and reading a book. Amid therapies and doctors’ visits, reading story books isn’t a priority for most families with children with disabilities,” she rues.So Namitha curated informal surveys — of families with children with disability and teachers. “We found that not many possessed their favourite book at home — a book that had simple language and tactile illustrations to hold their attention and also braille labels,” she shares, narrating the birth of Accessible Reading Materials project (ARM). “We targeted young, emerging and early readers for whom there is either a lack or deficit of material in the market.”

With the help of a group of volunteers, ARM identified children’s story books that can be adapted. “We try to find books that meet the requirement of children of various stages of literacy and also make sure to stock them in both English and Tamil,” she elucidates.The library reaches out to children in the city through a partnership with Little Sparks, a mainstream library that delivers books to its members’ homes. “Children along with their parents can create a wish list of books from the list we have. From that we select two books a month, per member and deliver it.”From 10 members a year ago, the library has grown to 25 members, with over 140 titles and 200 books in multiple versions. “I cannot explain how we feel looking at these kids get when these children get excited while receiving the books. Even teachers and parents are thrilled seeing them grow as independent readers!” she explains.

For Namitha, the learning is continuous and ideas are always welcome, she says. “I look to creating a community run project. The National Tactile Book competition is an example of that. Across the country, we receive entries — an amalgamation of ideas and perspectives that influence the next books we will create,” she shares.The winners of the competition will represent India in the International Tactile Book competition held in Europe by Typhlo and Tactus. “The names of winners of this year are up on our website. I know that some of these people will continue giving us ideas, guidance and books of course!” she adds.

Books for all

The Chetana Charitable Trust Accessible Books Library is for children who have impairments that make accessing commercially available storybooks difficult. The library has books suitable for children upto 10 years. In partnership with Little Spark, a city-based online library for children, these books are home-delivered within Chennai. For details, visit http://littlespark.in/chetana.html or call, 9840910678

Link | http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2017/aug/07/once-upon-a-time-in-braille-1639800.html

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Pralhad Jadhav

Senior Manager @ Knowledge Repository

Khaitan & Co

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