Volunteers
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Bill Penrose & Perkins Braillers
The use of Perkins brailler machines has survived in New Zealand because they're strong and built to last. And because an extraordinary man named Bill Penrose voluntarily repairs them in his Dunedin garage.
On retiring nearly 20 years ago from a long career in engineering, he responded to a Foundation request for volunteers and went home with a Perkins brailler machine and a manual.
"I'd never seen one before, and it took me about a year to get up to speed," says Bill. "I quickly realised that to do a good job I would have to learn braille."
Bill passed his Transcriber's Certificate and now repairs up to 90 braillers each year, which take on average four hours each.
Every machine is returned to its owner with a personal note about its condition and repairs. One member found this note when her brailler was returned.
"Your brailler arrived just as I was leaving to do some work in Wanaka, so I took it and my toolkit with me with the intention of doing the servicing if it rained and I could not work outside…So it has been a little further afield than you might have guessed, but I don't think it minded."
There's only been one machine that Bill hasn't been able to fix.
"The user got excited, threw it at a car and broke so many parts I couldn't repair it," Bill says. "But I've robbed it over the years for parts!"
Foundation Service Technician Derek Cox spent four days with Bill in his garage learning the intricacies of the machines.
"It's important that Bill's knowledge doesn't disappear," says Derek. "To repair them properly you need someone to show you the finer points and good procedures. Bill was very generous with his time. He's a great man."
Perkins braillers are ideal for producing paper braille - whether it be kitchen labels, writing birthday cards and letters, or a shopping list. You don't need to be an expert braille user to apply for one through the Foundation. The Pearson Fund offers a 75 per cent subsidy on the cost, and grants are available in certain circumstances to top up this subsidy.
Contact your local Adaptive Communications Instructor or Equipment Services on 0800 24 33 33 to find out more.
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Recipe for keeping informed
Take one touch-tone phone, one finger, one ear and an insatiable appetite for news and information and dial into the RNZFB's automated Telephone Information Service (TIS) - you won't be disappointed, especially when you hear the dulcet tones of the TIS volunteer readers.
Beatrice Smyth has been reading the weekly Countdown supermarket specials onto TIS for two years and says the system is very simple to use.
"For me the only complications arise when I'm trying to get my tongue around some of the words! I spend some time preparing by reading the Countdown specials printout beforehand, but I don't panic if I do make a mistake - I either correct and continue, or I re-record the segment."
Beatrice loves giving her time to TIS and knowing that somewhere out there, people are getting the benefit of finding out what the best Countdown deals are.
Murray Peat, TIS Administrator, agrees that the system is very simple by design.
"We've just taught it to a 90-year-old member in Matamata. He's proof that no-one should be afraid of diving in and giving it a go. It really is impossible to break TIS."
Callers phone either a local or 0800 number depending on where in the country they live (see page 29) and choose options from the main menu simply by using the keys on their phone.
"One of our regular bulletins [option 3 2 1] is a quarterly adaptive technology newsletter," says Murray. "It talks about upcoming courses, what's new and you can leave messages for adaptive technology staff. It's also easy to move between menus, or get help."
New options are being added all the time, like the synthesised speech version of the New Zealand Herald, voting independently via TIS for the RNZFB Board elections and digital talking book trialists being able to select their own books using TIS.
TIS is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and you can phone in your own time at your own place. In the past year TIS received 200,664 calls, totalling 30,157 listening hours. Try it!