Guest contributor Fahima is a student and a hopeful future author. She also has a visual impairment. In this blog, she outlines the struggles faced by avid readers who have to rely on Braille and audiobook formats.
From the age of ten, I received private sessions in learning to read Braille. I found each of these sessions tiresome and extremely frustrating. Because I was so unwilling to give Braille a try, the commitment just wasn’t there. I had no interest for the world of books at that age, and so thought of Braille as a pointless exercise that resulted only in giving me headaches.
It was in year 9 that my teachers were finally able to persuade me to take home talking books. I have to say that I loved listening to stories while completing homework and eating dinner.
I was still being taught all the different word signs and contractions that existed in Braille when I was fourteen. Because I had refused to learn Braille at a young age, my progress was very slow. I was continuously given books that were aimed at 5-year-olds. This was more than annoying– having to read baby-like books when I was in my teens – and all because I hadn’t yet become familiar with all the contractions used in Braille. But I never gave up on trying to wrap my head around the series of dots that were my ticket to reading books that weren’t aimed at small children.
So I kept on trying to uncover the secrets of Braille, and soon after I moved into year ten, I was able to read books that captured my interest. However, even now – at the age of seventeen – I am hardly able to access books that take my fancy on account of them not yet being put in Braille. This is more than just a little irritating. When books belong to a series or a trilogy, it is all the more difficult for me to access them because people don’t bother transferring every book in a series into Braille. This leaves me in the most painful suspense on account of me not being able to access much past the first book in certain series. And so I tend to stay away from Braille books because they are so unpredictable; talking books, on the other hand, are much more reliable.
However, it isn’t always sunshine and smiles when it comes to books on audio. Like with Braille books, talking books have their fair share of disappointments. Many books can take up to two or three years to be put on audio: and that can sometimes be only the first and second book to a series. It will be a while before I am able to listen to books that have only recently been released. All I can do is wait.
All in all my experience with books has been a pretty good one. When books are accessible, I enjoy reading them as they influence the ways in which I write. I’m more than glad that I gave Braille a second chance because the skill will become extremely useful for when I sit my exams.