Braille: One of Chris Parson's 21st Century Skills

Chris Parsons teaches technology at the Colorado Center for the Blind, so she obviously knows these essential tools and how they apply in the 21st Century workplace.

Braille is also without a doubt one of Chris Parson's 21st Century skills. The bedrock of her education is Braille. So much so that she was a three-time national winner of the Braille Challenge as a youth, and this weekend will be in Los Angeles as a guest alum for the 2017 competition.

With solid literacy skills based in Braille, Chris went on to earn an English degree from Webster University in her home state of Missouri, during which time she worked for two-and-a-half years as  a student writing tutor.  She took up playwriting while in college and says Braille was essential to the process of writing and revising.

"When you're writing dialogue, you have to hear the characters' voices in your head, and you can't do that using an external (synthesized) voice," she says.

After college she worked for over three years as an online writing coach, often relying on a Braille display to view the intricacies of spelling, grammar and sentence structure.

"early on, I would just emboss the student's paper sometimes because I needed to have that Braille hard copy," she says.

Later though, reviewing  and making comments and suggestions on as many as 20 papers a day, she relied more heavily on her tech skills, always drawing on the fundamental literacy she gained through Braille.

"No way could I have ever done that if I hadn't learned to read and write in Braille," she says now.

Like many writers, Chris loves not only the sound of language, but the shape - and in her case, the feel - of words, sentences and paragraphs. Also like many writers, she is given to conjure the written images of language in her mind.

"Oh yeah," she says, "I see the dots in my head."

You can help the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado bring the joy of literacy to blind Colorado youth. This summer, we will hold two BELL camps, the first in Grand Junction begins June 19. Another will be held in Westminster July 18 through the 28th.

The NFB Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning (BELL) Academy prepares blind and low vision children, ages four through twelve, to grow into confident and independent blind people who will live the lives they want. The program provides Braille and non-visual skills instruction through fun, hands-on learning in a day program or residential setting. In addition to Braille crafts, games, and other engaging projects, children learn vital independent living skills, interact with blind adults who serve as mentors, and enjoy field trips to sites related to the NFB BELL Academy curriculum. Through these activities and interactions, the children learn that blindness or low vision does not define them or their future. 

To support our 2017 NFBCO BELL camps, go to gofundme.com/BELL4BlindCOKids.