Wear dots … raise lots

RNIB We're the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and we are a charity who help people who can’t see, or can only see a little bit. You could ask pupils: What is a charity? Why do we need/have charities? What different kinds of charities can they think of?

What does RNIB do for blind and partially sighted people? We help people to keep their eyes safe. We help people to do things for themselves. We help so that being blind doesn’t stop you joining in. This photo shows a hand-held video magnifier which can help people to read books by greatly enlarging the text

Blind Partially sighted Definitions Can you match the correct definition to the term? Blind When a person has problems with seeing that cannot be made better by using glasses or contact lenses. When a person has no vision, or very little vision, so that they mostly use their other senses, like touch and hearing, for everyday tasks. Partially sighted You could ask pupils to come up with a definition before showing them any. Blind = Where the level of sight loss is so severe that activities that rely on eyesight become impossible. Partially sighted = When a person has moderate sight loss that cannot be corrected using glasses or contact lenses. You might want to introduce here some of the statistics about sight loss found on the RNIB website.

Blind Partially sighted Definitions Can you match the correct definition to the term? Blind When a person has problems with seeing that cannot be made better by using glasses or contact lenses. When a person has no vision, or very little vision, so that they mostly use their other senses, like touch or hearing, for everyday tasks. Partially sighted You could ask pupils to come up with a definition before showing them any. Blind = Where the level of sight loss is so severe that activities that rely on eyesight become impossible. Partially sighted = When a person has moderate sight loss that cannot be corrected using glasses or contact lenses. You might want to introduce here some of the statistics about sight loss found on the RNIB website.

Wear dots … raise lots Watch our film at rnib.org.uk/weardots/schools If the video doesn’t play directly from the presentation you can find the clip on the RNIB website – http://www.rnib.org.uk/getinvolved/readforrnibday/schoolsfundraising/Pages/schools-fundraising.aspx Two children talk about their experience of reading with site loss and the support they have received from RNIB. You may want to ask pupils to discuss their experience of reading, do they have anything in common with the children in the film?

The importance of reading What connects these pictures? Could we use symbols like the danger sign eg road crossing etc instead? Pill bottle photo used with permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/auntiep/3186108732/ Ingredients photo used with permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/8155091/ Danger sign photo used with permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/5232001282/ Instructions photo used with permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superamit/2838702582/ You need to be able to read in all of those situations in order to avoid coming to harm or making a mistake that could harm others.

The importance of reading What connects these pictures? You need to be able to read in all of these situations in order to avoid getting hurt or making a mistake that could hurt others. Pill bottle photo used with permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/auntiep/3186108732/ Ingredients photo used with permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/8155091/ Danger sign photo used with permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/5232001282/ Instructions photo used with permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superamit/2838702582/ You need to be able to read in all of those situations in order to avoid coming to harm or making a mistake that could harm others.

Louis Braille Do you know what this man is famous for? His invention has helped millions of people around the world. http://www.rnib.org.uk/aboutus/aboutsightloss/famous/Pages/louisbraille.aspx You could read the story of Louis Braille, included with the resources on Braille available on our website.

Braille Braille is letters and numbers, designed to be read by fingers rather than eyes. Braille is a system of raised dots that blind people can read. Braille is read by touch, using your fingers to feel the letters and symbols. http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/reading/how/braille/braille/Pages/what_is_braille.aspx Each letter of the alphabet, punctuation mark or number has its own special symbol or symbols. Each symbol is made by arranging raised dots within a six-dot braille cell.

The braille alphabet You could use this slide if pupils are ‘translating’ words or sentences into braille in the classroom.

Reflection Do you know anyone who has problems with seeing? What do you think their life is like? How can you help a person who can’t see? What else would you like to know about seeing, eyes and RNIB? Pupils could think about these individually or discuss them in pairs.

Wear dots… raise lots Help us be there for blind and partially sighted people. This year, join in wear dots… raising lots! Visit rnib.org.uk/weardots If you are planning on fundraising for RNIB you can find ideas for a “Read for RNIB Day” event in the pdf that accompanies this presentation and more information on our website.