Category: Daily Living
In the interest of being an efficient homemaker I've begun reading up on how to create a home management binder. They seem like they work if your sighted but like it would take a bit more effort to make one that's efficient and useful in hardcopy braille. Does anyone here use one and if so how did you set yours up? Can you read through plastic page protectors? What about labeled tabs,oh yeah, have they invented the interpoint brailler yet? Thoughts ideas solutions? Thanks guys. Tiffany
Lots of good questions here. Personally, I keep most of my home management stuff electronically. If it isn't on my pc, its on my notetaker. I have manuals, quick notes on how to use certain devices, and other stuff I can't think of right now. You can't put these in a "binder" per say, but you can use the plastic that comes in bacon or saussage to write braille on for kitchen-related stuff like recipes, or any other applications where the paper might get messy. You can throw them in the sink or dishwasher to clean them, and they're good as new. Great topic. Look forward to seeing how others have solved it.
Lou
This is helpful. Personally, I store everything electronically as well.
I store lots of stuff electronically too. If you don't want to do this, and you have a brailler or a slate and stylus, here's what I'd suggest. Get yourself a couple of those expanding file folder holders. Prefferably in plastic. Then, just braille different labels such as "bills, receipts, manuals, taxes ETc. Then just put it in a safe place. If you want to make a recipe book, just look up recipes on the web, then braille them out and stick them in a 3-ring binder. Or just look them up on the web and keep them open while you're cooking. This works well too. If you have a scanner at home, you could scan your mail, and barring lots of graphics, you should be able to read printed copies of bills and letters fine. HTH.
If you come across a piece of mail that looks important, put it in the appropriate folder. if nec, you could even braille a very small mote like the date on it, so it'll be easier to find, or you could just get plastic report covers, braille each month on them, and stick them in your file folder. If you have lots of paperwork, you could get a plastic file box. These are relatively inexpensive. HTH.
I've had to put together a file box for my independent living class that I'm taking at my high school. And while some of the things that are needed for the folders will be valuable in print, other things I will need in braille or electronically such as bills, which I don't have to worry about right now, but I'll have to sooner than later. While this assignment is meant to help everyone that takes this class, most of the things I'll have to put in the folders would be more accessible to me if they were in electronic files.
If you want me to go into further detail about the file box, just ask.
Recipes don't have to be brailled, but if that's what you prefer, then go for it. You could totally have your computer or notetaker in the kitchen with you; there's nothing wrong with that. I do it, and it works just fine.
I'm living on my own now, and though my family is in the main house downstairs, they're teaching me how to completely take care of myself, including paying bills etc. I also pretty much do everything online. But you guys did bring up a very good point about certain letters, receipts etc. I suppose those will have to be in print and must be labeled or put away. As for having the computer in the kitchen while I'm cooking, I've always tried to avoid that whenever possible for fear of messing up the machine. usually, I'll either use my Braillewriter to make a hard copy of a recipe or either type it up or open the file with it and emboss it with the Braille Blazer. I also braille all my food labels and put them on the appropriate boxes, cans etc. Hope that helps a bit.
Ann Morris Enterprises, which sold out to Independent Living Aids, used to sell plastic sheets of paper that you could Braille on of all different sizes from index cards to large 8-1/2" X 11 shets. I think you could even by the plastic paper already punched for notebooks. This would be great paper for recipes because you could wipe it off if you get stuff on it while in the kitchen. Not sure if ILA still sells it, but you could check it out."
A couple emergency braille things you can do: I've heard it said you can write braille on Scotch Tape with the Slate. I never tried it. I use post-it notes. They are sticky at the top, and are made to be removed. When I have a consumer and I know I'm going to be giving him/her paperwork, I put a braille label on it so I know what I'm handing him/her. You could do this with paper mail or paperwork of any kind. Let your needs, immagination, and creativity act as your guides.
Lou
I use a braille writer quite a bit but always wondered about sticky notes. Wouldn't the note stick to the braille writer and then be ruined when you tried to pull it off? For tax stuff, I keep everything together in a manilla folder. When I get bank statements, I write in braille on the envelope the words bank statement. I keep track of when I pay bills electronically on the computer and have a file called sent documents. That's great about parents letting the person who posted here live nearby and have that person take complete care of him or herself.
just some suggestions for general use of braille for filing, recipes, etc.
you can buy plastic sheets called PermaBraille from American Printing House. they're great for recipes and things you might get dirty and the braille dots are very crisp and easy to read on them. I use them for my students that can't feel braille on regular paper.
you can also buy plastic index cards of the same material that work very well for long lasting notes.
as for scratch paper, I use old magazines and junk mail that is glossy. braille holds up well with it and its easy to slate on.
I use lots of 3 ring binders and file folders to organize paperwork of all kinds.
I also slate notes on important papers so I'll know what they are later.
I'm sure you've heard of Dymo tape, but if not its clear adhesive labeling tape you can use for labeling almost anything.
well, write with more questions. hope this gives you some ideas.
I never tried a sticky note in teh brailler, so I can't answer that. I use the slate.
Lou
this is a great topic i have a few additions to the excellent suggestions that have already been provided.
for the record you can also braille the use by date and contents on freezer bags. unless it gets covered up by frost, the dots hold up pretty good. ditto for storage bags. just not the baggies. they aren't stiff enough.
scotch tape works great in a slate. use it all the time and much cheaper then dymo.
you can also get those note book deviders like they have in school and braille on the sticking out part. does that make sense?
i don't like to store recipes electronically although i do. usually i am afraid i'll spill something on the pc. however, i'll take something good to cook in any format i can get it.
this is a great topic i have a few additions to the excellent suggestions that have already been provided.
for the record you can also braille the use by date and contents on freezer bags. unless it gets covered up by frost, the dots hold up pretty good. ditto for storage bags. just not the baggies. they aren't stiff enough.
scotch tape works great in a slate. use it all the time and much cheaper then dymo.
you can also get those note book deviders like they have in school and braille on the sticking out part. does that make sense?
i don't like to store recipes electronically although i do. usually i am afraid i'll spill something on the pc. however, i'll take something good to cook in any format i can get it.