Page 47 - The Exceptional Harley Fetterman

THE EXCEPTIONAL HARLEY FETTERMAN

school and in the community. As Harley grew older, with the help of
Loni Girdler, another O&M teacher, this even included becoming
familiar with bus and plane travel. Lori often remarked to Harley's
parents about how well he was able to understand his surroundings.

He was assigned a Teaching Assistant (TA) to help read and
transcribe materials into braille. Harley actually seemed eager to learn
how to read in braille. His VI Coordinator, Carolyn Mason, began
teaching Harley the Braille alphabet and tactual skills of tracing lines
and reading letters using the Mangold system which consists of two
training levels. The first level trains tactual perception and recognition
of symbols, surfaces, and geometric shapes. The second level of the
Program is focused on teaching the use of the Braille Alphabet.

Figure 12: Perkins Brailler

Harley was soon working on fluency in identification of letters. He
began writing letters using a Perkins Brailler which looks like a
clunky manual typewriter with a key corresponding to each of the six
dots of the Braille code, along with a space key, a backspace key, and
a line space key, two knobs to advance paper, and a carriage return
lever above the keys. First produced in 1951, it can emboss 25 lines
with 42 cells on an 11” x 8 ½ “ sheet of paper. Harley also mastered
(abbreviated) contracted Braille and Nemeth Braille code for math.
Harley's teachers would provide class materials which were produced
in braille. Carolyn then printed letters above the Braille symbols so
Harley's teachers could grade his work and his parents could see what
he was writing.

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