tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post8587608121595919472..comments2024-03-25T09:56:16.164+00:00Comments on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure: Reading In The Dark- YA Books in Braille by Shirley-Anne McMillanUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-4666819997276770362018-05-19T23:27:11.219+01:002018-05-19T23:27:11.219+01:00Thank you for replyy.
My comments about robbing m...Thank you for replyy.<br /><br />My comments about robbing may have seemed slightly frivolous. Both of the people mentioned were guys that I met when I used a night refuge for homeless people. I lost count of the number of people who died of, for example, heroin overdoses. Some were hardly out of their teens. I also witnessed and wrote about various incidents of police violence against homeless people. At the time, in those circumstances, the string vest robbery was almost light relief, daftness and sad, and rather hilarious. <br /><br />My understanding is that the prison system is creaking, jails are full, and there have been massive funding cuts. And when unrest breaks out, as it very obviously has in recent times, it seems that there now seems to be special squads of what appear to be almost militia that are sent in. And I consider it quite important to ask questions. So I did. <br /><br />Glad to hear that the prisoners enjoy the braille work, and again, thank you for posting the reply.<br /><br />Andrew Prestonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14063661979113168003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-80273930520276693742018-05-08T09:52:48.050+01:002018-05-08T09:52:48.050+01:00HI all! I can confirm that the prisoners are indee...HI all! I can confirm that the prisoners are indeed volunteers. Before they can work in the braille unit they undergo many weeks of training. Not all prisoners get the opportunity to work in the unit and those who do say that they enjoy the work. There are efforts being made to enable them to continue the work when they leave prison (funding is an issue!) Certainly the prisoners who signed my book seemed proud (rightly so) of their work. It would be nice if people could be positive and encouraging about it because I imagine they don't get a lot of positive encouragement. Thanks for your comments.Shirley-Anne McMillanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09209528308526287926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-14245877681757155882018-05-08T09:46:42.945+01:002018-05-08T09:46:42.945+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Shirley-Anne McMillanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09209528308526287926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-21552393663594604672018-04-28T16:58:40.556+01:002018-04-28T16:58:40.556+01:00catdownunder
Well, quite. An acquaintance of mine...catdownunder<br /><br />Well, quite. An acquaintance of mine went to rob a Chichester convenience store. He managed to obtain quite an amount. The police soon caught him, though, on account of the string vest he'd worn over his head. An as he only lived 200 yards up the road, it didn't take long to find him. <br /><br />That convenience store was quite popular. Kieran, another acquaintance, also did some business there. 7 years worth, as I recall. I don't think the axe helped his case. <br /><br />I do appreciate that many people in prison might not have a great education. I still do wonder just how voluntary voluntary actually is. Andrew Prestonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14063661979113168003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-33284040572006408312018-04-27T09:58:05.388+01:002018-04-27T09:58:05.388+01:00Thanks, Shirley-Anne. It must be very satisfying t...Thanks, Shirley-Anne. It must be very satisfying to know that your book now exists in a Braille-readable form. <br /><br />Thanks too, Catdowunder, for explaining more about how Braille "works" and the skills and learning process behind those indentations on the pages.Penny Dolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-27129923325259252852018-04-27T08:49:47.097+01:002018-04-27T08:49:47.097+01:00Writing Braille is a very skilled craft, even with...Writing Braille is a very skilled craft, even with the modern techniques available for doing it. (It used to be written "backwards" one dot at a time and that required intense concentration.) It isn't a simple matter of copying the words in English because there are "contractions" to be used (to save space - Braille is bulky) and other rules to be followed. <br />The people who are doing this would have volunteered because, unless you wanted to do it, the skills and time it takes to learn to do the job properly simply wouldn't be acquired. Some may have an ulterior motive (a shorter time inside perhaps)but it isn't something many prisoners could do because of the generally poor levels of literacy among the prison population. <br />It's lovely seeing something you have written transcribed though!catdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08189081688973141295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-86978061703184543172018-04-26T12:33:06.467+01:002018-04-26T12:33:06.467+01:00Or to be exact, more difficult.Or to be exact, more difficult.Andrew Prestonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14063661979113168003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-22675120910098696602018-04-26T12:29:47.215+01:002018-04-26T12:29:47.215+01:00Given that visitors to the prison are forced to ha...Given that visitors to the prison are forced to have their photographs taken, and also their fingerprints, I do wonder if the work that the prisoners do is actually voluntary. <br />Or whether it's a case of volunteer, or your life will be difficult.Andrew Prestonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14063661979113168003noreply@blogger.com