Lost horizon

May 30, 2012 • Posted in Beth Finke, blindness, Braille, radio, Uncategorized by

When you’re born blind, Braille isn’t the only thing you need to learn to be able to read. Children born blind have a harder time comprehending visual words than their sighted peers. So in addition to learning Braille, they also have to memorize the meaning of things they’ll never be able to see.

Take a sentence like this:

The sun peeked out on the horizon through a misty haze over the vast azure and charcoal marbled sea.

Let’s start with “peeked.” Or “horizon.” Try explaining a horizon to someone who has never seen one. Then there is “misty” and “haze” and “azure and charcoal” and even “marbled.” When a person has no point of reference, those words become white noise. The reader loses interest. The story becomes hard to follow.

That’s the handsome and gregarious young Alan Brint.

The work that goes into deciphering sentences like that is just one of many, many topics I discussed a couple of weeks ago during an interview in the studios at Chicago Public Radio with Alan Brint and his father David. Alan was born blind, but other than that he has everything in common with any other 15-year-old boy I’ve ever met: he’s a smart-aleck and a goofball, and he made me laugh. A lot. Unless WBEZ producers decide to edit it out, you’ll be hearing me snort laughing more than once during the interview.

Alan has a sweet side, too. He was tongue-tied when WBEZ project manager Aurora Aguilar told him how handsome he is. “I take that as a compliment,” he finally managed to eek out. You didn’t need to be able to see to know Alan was blushing.

Alan is about to finish his freshman year of high school, and in the interview he credits the itinerant teachers of the visually impaired (or, TVIs) who have been with him since pre-school for helping him build a visual vocabulary that now helps him pass honors physics and Shakespeare at Highland Park High. In addition to teaching spelling, writing, vocabulary and reading skills in Braille, TVIs spend oodles and oodles of time dissecting sentences for students — all in an effort to build up their visual vocabulary and their reading comprehension.

Students can’t always understand the visual concepts described for them, but the TVIs I talked to while researching this story told me they’re pleased to hear their blind students using these visual words anyway. Just like all the other kids, they want to talk about the same things as their peers. In some ways, it’s similar to learning a foreign language, using visual words, and hearing them used, helps with language retention. Family members are extremely important, too, when it comes to helping a child who is born blind build up a visual vocabulary, but God forbid a 15-year-old give his parents and siblings any credit. Especially with his dad and sister Carly sitting right there in the studio with us!

My loyal blog readers might recall a post I wrote here in March after WBEZ let me know they wouldn’t be airing pre-recorded essays like the ones I used to do for them. I met with Sally Eisele, Managing Editor of Public Affairs for WBEZ, after she sent that note, and she encouraged me to pitch story ideas for some of the topics they’d be covering in-depth. This piece about congenital blindness and literacy is the result of an idea I pitched when I heard WBEZ was going to devote a series to literacy issues. I researched the story for weeks, talked to dozens of teachers and parents, and then to both children and adults who were born blind. Two weeks ago we recorded more than an hour’s worth of conversation about all this, and my guess is the finished story will be about three minutes long. I’m eager to see (okay, hear) what makes it past the cutting room floor. WBEZ has hinted the piece will air this week, but I don’t have any more specifics than that. As we say in the biz: stay tuned!

Kim On May 30, 2012 at 10:06 am

Once again, you’ve introduced a topic I’ve never thought about. Your blog expands my awareness. I admire the way you throw your heart and soul into everything you do. I wish we lived closer and could be friends. Instead, I’ll keep “stalking” your blog and watch for a link to your latest NPR interview. Glad they didn’t “fire” you!

bethfinke On May 30, 2012 at 10:35 pm

Must admit, I’m glad they didn’t “fire” me, either – I like being on the radio! Maybe next time I oughta pitch a story that requires a trip to Nashville – we can meet face-to-face, Kim!Yeah, I’m gald they didn’t “fire” m

Kim On June 1, 2012 at 9:09 am

Do it! I’ll give you a grand tour of Nashville. Safe travels.

Lauren Bishop-Weidner On May 30, 2012 at 10:10 am

What a lovely post! But I am really disappointed that your essays now have to be “pitched” and “assigned.” They were among the best I’ve heard on the radio. I’ve heard some really crummy garbage on various NPR stations. I can’t say I’ve ever heard anything as consistently well done as your essays. NPR blew it.

bethfinke On May 30, 2012 at 10:46 pm

You know, I’m sorry they’ve eliminated those essays altogether at WBEZ, too. That said, it sure was fun to be in the studio with Alan and his dad and toss the conversation around a bit. Jury is out about this change in format, though, until I hear what the editors do with all that conversation!

Jeff Flodin On May 30, 2012 at 10:23 am

Thanks so much for this post and be sure to let us know about air time.

bethfinke On May 30, 2012 at 10:50 pm

I’m leaving tomorrow morning on a short trip to Dallas with Whitney (more on that in a future blog post!) so my guess is it will air while I am away. Murphy’s Law, Peter Principle or whatever you call it. Eyebrows up! After it airs, we can all link to it on line…

Audrey Mitchell On May 30, 2012 at 10:36 am

Even though you have to pitch your topics, I ‘m glad to know that you will still be on the radio. But I’ll keep my protest letter draft at hand. What a great topic.

bethfinke On May 30, 2012 at 10:54 pm

You know, depending on what the editors end up cutting from the conversation Alan, David and I had in the WBEZ studio, I may end up sending a letter of protest, too. Have fingers, toes, eyes crossed that it all turns out well –

Carl On May 30, 2012 at 11:05 pm

I found this post particularly interesting because I always wondered how people who are born blind develop visual vocabulary never having seen things. It’s a hard thing to comprehend how they can (or can’t) do it. Thanks for some insight into something I’ve always wondered about, and quite frankly, was embarrassed to ask a blind person for fear of offending them.

Robin On May 31, 2012 at 8:19 am

I’ve wanted to know about this but didn’t know how to ask. Thanks for the informative post!

bethfinke On May 31, 2012 at 9:04 am

Oh, thank *you* for leaving a comment here, Robin. While researching this story I discovered a lot more about this topic than I could fit into this blog post. After reading these comments from those of you who have always wondered about this but were afraid to ask, hey, maybe I’ll pitch this story idea to some other publication, too, where I can do a longer piece!

Alexis On May 31, 2012 at 11:21 am

This is a great topic. I hope they don’t edit out too much of your conversation with these individuals. Hope your trip to Dallas goes well.

bethfinke On May 31, 2012 at 9:09 pm

Good to hear from you, Alexis, and thanks for your good wishes on my trip to Dallas. I’m writing you now from my room at the Crowne Plaza– so far, so good!

Anna On May 31, 2012 at 9:16 pm

Whoa. That Alan is a hottie.

Nancy B On June 1, 2012 at 9:39 pm

I agree with alexis….hope they leave in the snorts!

Race: Out Loud « Safe & Sound blog On July 30, 2012 at 6:19 pm

[…] piece I did for Aurora hasn’t aired yet. The one that aired today is about how blindness can change the way you look, […]

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