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Writer's pictureAbby Brown

Perkins Brailler and EDS

The Perkins Brailler and EDS


For my followers who don't know what a Perkins Brailler is - it is about a 40 pound typewriter with only seven keys.


At the time I tried to learn #Braille, about a decade ago, I went for training at the adult blind school in my state.


Where most of the teachers were blind, some totally #Blind from birth, with no memory of vision.


What we didn't know was I have #EDS.


My Braille teacher was totally blind from birth.


She had no vision to see my fingers twisting, almost to the point of breaking, as I tried to push down the buttons on the #PerkinsBrailler. She just assumed I wasn't adjusted to using a typewriter. Although, I used a keyboard 8 hours a day, writing over 2,000 words, up to 5,000 a day.


She had no knowledge of medical conditions that could affect adults trying to learn braille. She should have at least been aware of arthritis, and suggested a medical check for that.


She assumed that my hands would get better and my fingers wold be able to push the buttons. Even putting a pen in a fist and using that often couldn't push a single button down, and you had to be able to push multiple buttons at once.


With EDS, I should never have put my bare hands on a Brailler. Or tried to lift one.


With EDS, I needed serious finger and wrist splints to even think about using a Perkins Brailler.


Because of trying for so long, it was even a long time before I could even use a computer keyboard again.


It really wasn't her fault. She was young. Had no vision, so she couldn't see what was really happening. Couldn't see that I was risking the use of hands and wrist. She assumed what she had been taught, how to teach braille to toddlers, would work with an adult with multiple chronic illnesses.


It didn't.



Picture of a braille book witha hand.

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