As a kid, Laurie Lower loved to read. She still does. Sometimes, she thinks about what it would be like to want to read a book but not be able to. "I would be heartbroken, "she says. Laurie is a braille transcriber (盲文眷写员), . She makes books that can be read by blind people.
Most kids can walk into a library or bookstore and find hundreds of books they're able to read. But it's not that simple for kids who are blind. They read in a different way. Laurie and other braille transcribers take the printed words of a story or textbook and change them into a code (代码)of raised dots(凸点). People who are unable to see can read these dots with their fingers.
The Braille Alphabet
When Laurie first saw the dots of the braille alphabet, she wondered if she'd ever be able to read and write them easily. She took a class for about six months. First, she learned to form letters in braille. Then she began forming words. "Practice, practice, and more practice were the keys to learning, "Laurie says. All of her practice paid off. Laurie passed the class after completing her final exam: she had to transcribe 35 pages of a book into braille.
Today, Lauric works for National Braille Press (NBP, 国家盲人出版社). One of her jobs is to transcribe children's books into braille. To do this, Laurie first types the story into a computer. Then she uses a computer program to translate those words into the braille code. She needs to look over the translation three to five times to make sure there's no mistake. After that, a copy of the braille story is printed by a special printer. Then the copy is given to Laurie and other proofreaders (校对员)to check again. When a book is ready, many copies of it are printed on a large printing machine. Then those books become available to the public. People can either buy the books through the NBP website or borrow them from the National Library Service. More than 12, 000 of the borrowers are children. "I love this job!"Laurie says. "Through my brain power and my fingers, I am putting the dots into some kid's hands. "
