Sadly we share that Alden did not win the Smart Brailler L

We are elated at the amount of support we received during the competition!  Our family cannot thank all of you enough for the time and energy that you put forth on our behalf.  My sister asked me a few days ago to consider a fundraiser in the event that Alden did not win.  Last night, before the votes were tallied, she informed me that the decision was no longer my own to make.  It seems that there are several strong willed and loving women (and men) in our corner!  IF you are interested in donating please visit the link below.

http://www.razoo.com/br/causes/A-Glimpse-Beyond-Sight-Alden-Porter-1

 

Thanks from the bottom of our hearts for the love and support!

Campaigning for Alden!

Our family was so lucky to have been selected to participate in this wonderful

program.  “Marty” the Smart Brailler by Perkins was a part of our family (just

on loan) for two weeks.  We had a fabulous time learning about the various

components and applications. 

 

Since then we’ve decided that we absolutely can’t live without a Smart Brailler

and are rallying votes to bring Marty back to Florida to stay! 

 

Please follow the link and vote for The Porter Family!

http://www.wonderbaby.org/backpacking-smart-brailler-vote

 

Vote for Alden!

HELLO SUMMER!

......................................................................................................................................................................

Our little family is a blur during the summer.

It’s easy to find fun here in this amazing city. St. Augustine Florida was a vacation spot, a home away from home, for years. Now I’m thrilled to finally have a little time off to enjoy the easy breezy ambiance of summer in what finally feels like MY city.

 

a view from the top of the hill at

Castillo de San Marcos

http://www.nps.gov/casa/index.htm

 

 

Here's another one.  The best part about trudging up to the top of the hill...........

........... is rolling down!

 

 

Recent Data Report
 (via Alden)
There are currently 21 Cannons on the top level of the fort, including the ones that they put chemicals in and fire!

 

Trent's favorite part was the musket firing demonstration.

 

 

 

 

“To boldly go where everyone else has gone before”

I read this on a bumper sticker one time and have adopted it as our slogan. 

Having a blind kid in our family doesn’t mean that we are limited in the adventures we can have together. It does mean that a little more pre-planning and patience are needed to make sure everyone has a good time.

With all that said the Fort was an amazing place to explore.   This was not our first but it was the first time, in a long time, that we weren’t in a hurry, it wasn’t blazing hot or freezing cold, and no one was starving to death. These things paired with Alden’s increased level of independent ability with his cane made for one of the best trips yet!

 

 

The staff at the Fort was more than kind.  They were amazing.   They answered the 1.5 million questions that were burning a hole in Alden’s very existence, handed Trent some pirate treasure, and even looked sad to see us leave.

 

 

 

 

 

ONE MORE PICTURE:

This was from our trip to the Fort in March!   Freezing!

 

(funny how much changes in just 3 months)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camp Blanding

Days Gone By……………….

(becausethis blog was started 10 years too late

I’ve decided that it’s perfectly acceptable to back track,)

Camp Blanding 2013 (Pack #249)

 Trent

  Alden

 

 

We had a great time!

 

 

Marty the Smart Brailler has been packed up and shipped out. 

 He’s on his way to visit the Corman family in New Jersey. 

I asked Alden what his favorite thing about having Marty here was.  His response was that he liked going all the way back and reading about Abby!  (even though the paper and tactile braille is long gone, Marty remembers everything and will read it aloud if you continue to push the up button)    I’m sure that JP and Camille (Corman) will have lots of fun reading all the silly things that Alden and the FSDB kiddo’s typed.

There’s still time to submit an application for Marty to come visit your home.  http://www.wonderbaby.org/articles/backpacking-smart-brailler-event

Learn more about the smart brailler by visiting

http://www.wonderbaby.org/news/perkins-unveils-smart-brailler

 

Happy Traveling Marty!

The results are in from the "Touch and See" braille event........................

      Take a quick trip over to FSDB's Parent Blog

to find out which brailler won the most votes!

http://www.fsdb.k12.fl.us/?cat=28

 

 

 

 

WHO DO YOU THINK THE WINNER WILL BE?

 

 

 

 

 

                        

                                                      

Introducing....................Our sweet friend Ry

 

Yep.  She's adorable!








 

Alden's best friend in the whole wide world is Ms. Ryleigh Elizabeth Blades. She’s six now. When we first met her I think she looked something like this

 

Pretty Stinkin Cute Huh?!




 


 

 

 

 

 

 

Cuteness Overload Right!  

 

 

 

So of course he was super excited to let her have a turn with Marty! 

She loved it.

 



 





                           According to Ryleigh.  "The best thing about him his that he talks" 

 

                 They make such a great team!

 

 

Alden and Marty

Showing off their skills
 

Marty is having a great time visiting the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB).  Alden invited all the students in the blind elementary school to come "Touch and See". The children were asked to use each of the braillers and then vote on their favorite.  

The kids had a great time learning about the different braillers. There was the original Perkins brailler, a Perkins soft touch brailler, a Mount Batten brailler, and Marty!

 

                                           Alden demonstrating how it’s done

 

I found another feature that I love, love, love!  See the buttons on the right hand side? Yep the blue one's that encircle the green button.  If you push the up button then you can scroll through and read what has been brailled.   Pretty awesome right!   The teachers and I had a great time reading through the kids work.

 

Well the glare is just awful but it says

 "chocalate it is fun"

 

 

 

 

I think the best part of the day was this..............................Hands on the brailler!

..........Hands on the BRAILLE!

 

 

This was a great learning experience for both students and teachers!

 

 

 



 



Interviewing Alden

An Interview with Alden. 

 

 

We've been very busy these past two days sharing Marty with Alden's friends and classmates at FSDB.  Can't wait to tell you more about it.

 

Now I know my A,B,Cs Next Time Won't You Braille With Me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magnificiant Marty

Mr. Marty the Smart Brailler has arrived.  Alden (and the rest of us) just couldn't wait to pull him out of the box and get started.

 

Alden brailling his name

 

 

 

Some of the features that I love: 

 

*When a letter is keyed is shows up in both print and visual braille on the screen.  The letter is also spoken out loud, brailled by the braille head on the paper, AND saved electronically!  Super Cool Crazy Awesome Stuff!   (I think this is probably the feature with the most impact because it allows sighted parents/caregivers/teachers to know what is being brailled and also promotes them learning braille by sight)

 

*There are 3 different voices to choose from.

 

*You have the option to turn off the audio component.  You can choose to have have only letters, words, or the entire sentence read aloud OR you can choose to have everything read aloud.  Options are nice!

 

Check out this video

 

 

*Pretty cool right?   That's a Kindergarten App that was uploaded.  There are several lessons to choose from.  I'm currently trying to figure out how to upload the 1st grade App. 

 

 I love the applause at the end!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See for yourself how excited we are......or listen (whatever suits your needs)

Marty Sends a Gift!

 

 

 

You know what my favorite thing is?

 

 

 

 

WooHoo! We're super excited!

Our sweet little family has been selected to host Marty the Smart Brailler for TWO WEEKS.

Though this blog is new I've decided to go ahead and assume that most of you know some of the basics about our family. Otherwise we'd have to do a lot of back tracking to catch up.  I did mention that the boys are 6 and 10, right!  
Anyway I'll just go on assuming that you know our family lives in St. Augustine Florida and we moved here about 4 years ago to be closer to Florida's School for the Deaf and the Blind.  Alden is at the end of his kindergarten year. He's a fabulous little dude.  He's very curious.  He loves being independent, loves technology, and loves braille. 

 

Which is why we're so super excited about Marty coming to visit.

"Marty" is the name that has been given to the traveling smart brailler by Perkins. He's really an amazing new piece of technology. He has a computer screen right up front that shows print letters and visual braille. There's also a speaker so Marty can read aloud.

Check us out!   We're celebrities.
http://www.wonderbaby.org/articles/backpacking-smart-brailler-event

.......no really follow the link and see what it's all about!

 

Visit here to learn more about the smart brailler
 http://www.wonderbaby.org/news/perkins-unveils-smart-brailler
 I am a huge advocate for literacy and I'm really excited to learn more about this brailler.  I have high hopes that Marty is going to be just the tool needed to support parents and educators of blind children as they are learning read.

Saying that creating a blog is long overdue is a bit of an understatement. Quite laughable in fact. I mean these boys are 6 and 10 now. Where does the time go?

There is a blog somewhere that documents our journey to where we are now. Unfortunately I never actually wrote it down. I created each little post in my head. Speculating I suppose on how I would put it all down on paper if I only had the time.
So anyway. This is us!

Well this was us last Christmas Christmas 2011!

A little Bio: For those who don't know

My name is Misty. Mother of two, wife of Robert, and friend to all(most everyone I meet). My family and I live in sunny St. Augustine. We're quite a busy little tribe. We've always got something going on: birthday parties, camp outs, get togethers, out of town trips, and more of course. Even when we're not busy we're busy!

I've got no real plan or format for this blog but I'm assuming that since it's about me and by me that we are going to have lots of fun talking about the various things that take up my time.