The year must have been 1997. I was an undergraduate student at Illinois State University taking the Introduction to Braille class. I can easily recall the intensity and demand of all the information that had to be learned, as well as the pain of being forced to accept the fact that the class was only worth 2 college credits rather than the standard 3. (Perhaps the bitterness still lingers.)
It was some time during that semester when I first heard the acronym UEB. My response… “It’ll never happen! It better not happen…”
It’s important to insert my humanness at this juncture and openly admit that my UEB response was rooted solely in selfish motives. You see, the above quote actually ended with the words “…not after all this work of learning the English Braille American Edition (EBAE).” (Seriously, can you even say English Braille American Edition ten times super-fast?) I digress.
In all honesty the Lord pricked my heart and showed me my obvious contempt of selfishness, and out of it bloomed a sincere love for teaching braille reading and caring deeply for my students to become successful braille readers. May this be a testimony that out of rags a beautiful quilt can be made.
By the time 2008 rolled around I was a Braille Reading Specialist working at a residential school and the once UEB chatter had turned into a fierce national debate. UEB was closely becoming a reality and I was shaking in my boots… I mean high heels. But this time the motives were quite different. I was thinking of the students. I envisioned individual faces handling this monumental change. I contemplated how a change would impact the production and dissemination of braille media. I wondered if I could learn something new.
And then it happened and I found myself in the exciting world of UEB transition planning. As if getting to do this with Dr. Diane Wormsely as a North Carolina team member wasn’t enough, I also got to be a fly on the wall at a national UEB Transition Forum. I was learning from the best of the best, which kept the excitement growing and propelled me to embrace the change as a true benefit to the visual impairment community.
Now that it’s post January 4, 2016 I get to continue moving forward by hopefully impacting student attitudes. But descriptive words such as “stressed” and “unaccomplished” came from the mouths of students whom recently participated in a Braille Challenge competition. And if that wasn’t difficult enough to hear, another student voiced the opinion that UEB made him feel as though he had to “relearn” braille. At this point I might as well have been a quarterback of a winning team being sacked. As VI professionals we’ve got our hands full, but thank goodness we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There are some great resources tailored to help lessen the anxiety our students are facing.
After recovering from the above described blow, I got back up and decided to face off again. This time armed with a fully inflated football and well-adjusted shoulder pads. Three activities were presented to reluctant students:
- The song entitled “UEB Ain’t Hard to Do”was played for students. Much to my surprise students smiled as they happily listened. http://azueb.coe.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/UEB_Ain%27t_Hard_to_Do_MBrady.wav
- Nine individual flashcards were made, each representing a retired contraction. On the front side of the card was a word or phrase written in EBAE and on the back the same word or phrase written in UEB. Amazingly, all the students were able to read the UEB words… and again, with smiles on their faces.
- Finally, the students listened to the animated story called “The Braille Apocalypse” being read aloud. And echoes of laughter were heard. http://azueb.coe.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/Resources/Braillepocalypse_4-27-15.pdf
If I could go back and relive this moment in time again, I’d be sure to ask the students if their feelings and attitudes were revised in light of the uplifting UEB activities. This time I would hope to hear the following descriptive words: “Not a problem”, “Easy”, “Successful”.
Before signing off, I’d be remiss if I didn’t take one last opportunity to reflect on my own attitude. Do I enter the instructional setting with students wearing the attitude of “Not a problem” and “successful”? Be sure and tie a string around your finger and always remember that “A bad attitude is like a flat tire. You can’t get very far in life until you change it.” (author unknown)
So my advice is to Keep Calm and UEB On (and buying a cute new pair of heels never hurts)!
High Heeled TVI 