r/MadeMeSmile • u/JudgeJudyJr • Aug 31 '26
Favorite People Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has sent over 100,000 braille books to low-vision kids
1.4k
u/lady_faust Aug 31 '26
Found out the other day that Dolly's foundation also distributes books in the UK!
576
u/darklinkuk Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
Yes it's awesome, my son loved his books from "my friend dolly".
Havn't told him given he is 5
251
u/elpis_zz Aug 31 '26
I told my five year old, and while she was sad we talked about how everyone loved her and why the flags were at half mast for her. It was a good discussion.
134
u/GeekyGamerGal_616 Aug 31 '26
I told my four year old, and the response while listening to "I Will Always Love You" was, "I hope Ms. Dolly misses me while she's gone."
10
u/lermanzo Sep 01 '26
Mine saw that I was sad and asked why. I told him Miss Dolly died. His response was that he would miss her and he loves her books.
He watched the birthday video sent via email multiple times when it came and definitely recognizes who she is and the connection, even though we stopped receiving books in Nov '25.
100
91
u/PrizeRat Aug 31 '26
Mine loved getting his in the mail from "Auntie Dolly". And the happy birthday message she sent every year was always a big hit. Our whole household has been mourning her loss.
55
Aug 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
19
u/MntnMedia Aug 31 '26
Take off! Really? I gotta look into this even though my kids are older than 5 now.
44
u/DameKumquat Aug 31 '26
It was part of the inspiration for Bookstart, which provides kids in the UK with packs of books each year up to age 5, with finger puppets and tips on how to enjoy them with your child.
My young teenager asked who Dolly Parton was last week. I said she might have heard the song Jolene, possibly Islands in the Stream.
"Jolene is one of my favourite songs!"
Then I explained about the Imagination Library and how it led to the books she'd got as a baby. And Dolly funding medical research and all sorts.
"She sounds so cool! Why did she have to die this year? And Wadsworth from Clue, and Hayden Panettiere. This year is like 2016 when David Bowie died."
9
u/Typical-Anywhere3747 Aug 31 '26
I feel that. Howie made me realize that being different and a little weird is good for the world. express it. let it out. be brave. I love him right down to his unmatched eyes....and his wit.
8
u/GenGaara25 Aug 31 '26
"She sounds so cool! Why did she have to die this year? And Wadsworth from Clue, and Hayden Panettiere. This year is like 2016 when David Bowie died."
Your young teen remembers 2016? When they would've been 5 or under?
23
u/DameKumquat Aug 31 '26
Knows of it. It's one of those pop culture things - loads of great singers and actors died in 2016. Six-seven...
She got into Bowie when she was about 7, was sad he was dead, and loved visiting the memorial mural in Brixton every time we went past (it's a couple miles away)
1
u/serenwipiti Sep 01 '26
I mean, I have memories from being a toddler (a bit before 3).
I remember potty training, recurring dreams, birthdays, trips. I remember what the world looked like from a “crawling perspective”, climbing out of my crib…
…I remember preschool & kindergarten, & feeling pissed off/impressed that my classmate (who later became one of my best friends throughout middle school and high school) arrived on the first day of kindergarten fully knowing how to read. Heh.
Totally plausible for a teenager to remember being 5.
2
u/2woCrazeeBoys Sep 01 '26
And Peter Cullen, Optimus Prime. And Tim Curry. It's been a very sad August.
Your daughter sounds like amazing young person who's looking up to the right people for inspiration.
33
22
12
27
u/PlentyBoob Aug 31 '26
This is why representation matters. A book in your hands that was made for you tells a kid you belong here
4
3
u/FroggiJoy87 Sep 01 '26
My baby nephew in Nottingham got them during covid, Dolly saved my sister's sanity!
219
u/GameStunts Aug 31 '26
Here's a video I was just served up on Youtube with Dolly on the Kelly Clarkson show talking about Braille books too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEOHMSvJyMo
51
6
69
Aug 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
33
u/smontgom0254 Aug 31 '26
Or for blind parents to be able to read to their children. Cuddling with them during the reading.
1.0k
u/overtherainbowofcrap Aug 31 '26
Dolly passing at 80 and Donald still alive at 80 proves there is no god.
259
u/LoveLoud319 Aug 31 '26
Can we put her name on everything instead? I’d vote for that.
110
u/atworkthough Aug 31 '26
we are trying can't wait to fly into the airport in Nashville once they change the name I'm saving the ticket
24
u/RoboChrist Aug 31 '26
Genuinely, renaming everything named after Trump to be Dolly Parton instead would be a political coup. She's one of the only people beloved by everyone on both sides of the aisle, and removing her name would be an incredibly tough sell.
0
u/dirtymatt Aug 31 '26
Renaming Lake Ontario to Lake Parton would have been an amazing troll move by Trump.
138
u/meumixer Aug 31 '26
So, fun fact, Dollywood has a little chapel in it, and they have a service every Sunday. Yesterday their service focused on how to cope with feeling like the world is unfair and like God has abandoned us in hard times, and how to remember to hold onto faith. They skip around in their hymns a lot due to how short the service is, but for the hymn “Farther Along” they specifically chose to include verse 2, followed by the refrain:
When death has come and taken our loved ones,
It leaves our home so lonely and drear;
Then do we wonder why others prosper,
Living so wicked year after year.Farther along we’ll know all about it,
Farther along we’ll understand why;
Cheer up, don't worry, live in the sunshine,
We’ll understand it all by and by.Whether or not you believe in God (and either option is fine), Dolly did and seemed like she and/or the pastor of Dollywood’s chapel understood that people would be feeling the way you feel. Here’s a link to their digital bulletin for yesterday for anyone interested, it’s a little sparse but includes the hymns.
61
u/OhWhatsHisName Aug 31 '26
Christians have a Dolly problem.
Dolly has proven that you can absolutely be an unashamed Christian, and people will not hate you for it. Sure, some people may have been upset at her being a Christian (just as they're upset at anyone who is a Christian, or perhaps any religion), and lately I've seen a LOT of Christians upset with her acceptance of others (and her vaccine donations, and saying black lives matter, and the way she dresses), but Dolly never backed down from her Christianity.
Half of her songs (heck, 2/3, 3/4, 9/10?!?) talk about God, her acting roles and appearances don't back down from her only behaving how she wanted to behave, she only did collabs with other artists if they changed the words for her, etc. She was very much "my religion doesn't allow me to do that" and not "my religion doesn't allow you do that".
Dolly's passing is getting so much praise from all around the world, with the only people really speaking out against her are Christians. But listen to any of her interviews, she always thanked God. She always talked about prayer. She never shied away from who she was.
43
u/TheTacoInquisition Aug 31 '26
Sounds to me like she actually followed the teachings of Christ, and didn't just use it to control others, like so many "christians" do.
Dolly was a gift to the world. It's sadder without her in it, but I very much hope her legacy lives on for generations to come.
5
u/Throwawaybdchic Aug 31 '26
And she never said I am a Christian - her actions dictated who she was… Rest in Peace Dolly. 🙏🏽❤️🙏🏽
3
-13
u/SunGreene42 Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
I don't think she was really Christian, but I don't think most Christians are, they all just ignore the worst parts of the Bible where God is commanding genocides, rapes, and slavery, because they know that would mean their God is actually evil. Most Christians seem to just create an idea in their heads of this all-loving God and completely ignore how the Bible actually describes God, and what God's actual laws and commands are in the Bible.
If you're going to downvote me, then tell me how I'm wrong, because the Bible has many examples of God doing things that most people would consider to be evil if they weren't biased.
5
u/spicegrl1 Aug 31 '26
I agree with you as someone who “survived” a Christian upbringing and escaped.
Christian branding is so strong that no matter what they do, they are associated with positivity.
13
21
u/Rambliny Aug 31 '26
Or maybe it proves there is. Couldn’t blame God if he’d had enough of our shit and made us put up with Donny boy for our sins but rescued Dolly.
20
u/tslojr Aug 31 '26
Kinda proves the opposite.
If you take The Bible as fact, He generally just murders us when He's sick of our shit.
7
u/SunGreene42 Aug 31 '26
The God described in the Bible is pretty evil, and seems to enjoy making us suffer.
12
u/SideInitial3961 Aug 31 '26
Can we have a day without his name?
28
u/CanAhJustSay Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
Let every day be Dolly Day.
Be more Dolly.
Edit: Thank you for the award :)
3
u/Sabtael Aug 31 '26
Nah it just takes longer preparing the punishment he's gonna have, whereas Dolly's perfect residence has been ready for a while
5
u/Raneynickelfire Aug 31 '26
It proves that evil lives forever.
(I'm making a joke with this line, so please forgive me if it's uncouth) My proof of the non-existence of god is the existence of kittens. No intelligent designer would make such a soft, fuzzy, adorable little creature and then put razor blades on the ends of their fingers and make them efficient killing machines.
That's why I think there is no god.
→ More replies (4)5
1
-4
u/tryingtoappearnormal Aug 31 '26
What kind of people would we be if we chose who lived and who died slowly turning the world to our version of right and wrong killing off the ones who disagree?
Would we still look in the mirror and believe we are good people?
5
u/SunGreene42 Aug 31 '26
Trump doesn't just have a different opinion, he is actively killing people. Is it not morally good to stop Fascists from killing people?
6
u/torreneastoria Aug 31 '26
Easy yes.
Wars have been fought for millenia. Kings and tyrannical governments always deciding who lives and who dies, and when.
It is a normal thought to think about causing harm to others. It is the morality, ethics and deep seating empathy that prevents most of us from acting upon it. We know that it is wrong to harm. That is what makes a good person. The best actions we can do as humans is to help others and sacrifice ourselves in service to the world. That's what makes a great person.
1
u/tryingtoappearnormal Aug 31 '26
I see your point historically but I stand by the fact that enforcing our uncompromising set of morals on the world by murdering the opposition is morally grey at best, generally a tactic used by tin pot bloodthirsty dictators rather than noble heroes remembered through rose tinted glasses
2
2
-22
u/darklinkuk Aug 31 '26
Americans have a wild way of making every single thread about trump.
18
u/k9yde Aug 31 '26
That's because we can't escape the fact he is destroying our country
→ More replies (9)-3
u/darklinkuk Aug 31 '26
Neither can I apparently, makes the website shit to use. (I get you have bigger problems)
4
9
u/ancient_mariner63 Aug 31 '26
Dolly's Imagination Library sent free books to millions of children; trump stole over a million dollars from a children's cancer fund.
-1
u/darklinkuk Aug 31 '26
You can't just celebrate dolly (a great American) without bringing trump into the mix?
Almost every single thread about her is littered with the shit of a man she had nothing to do with. I dunno, seems almost disrespectful.
→ More replies (1)1
Aug 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Aug 31 '26
Your comment in /r/MadeMeSmile was automatically removed because of new policies which are intended to no longer direct traffic to sites that are egregiously promoting inaccurate and toxic propaganda.
If the content you're trying to submit is legit, please find the original source, which is unlikely to be from the site referenced.
Our reasoning for this, and we are fully aware there's good content on these systems as well, is to try and drive traffic away from monopolistic, corporate walled gardens that have outlived their social utility, and encourage more content to be distributed and patronized on smaller sites, whose operators take greater pride in whether their content helps the community. This is the original spirit of the Internet. It was not intended as a platform for oligarchs to have massive media outlets.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
-7
u/EstelSnape Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
I'm sorry but what does he have to do with this post. Be more like Dolly and release the hate that obviously has a strangle hold on you.
-1
u/Tinnie_and_Cusie Aug 31 '26
No it doesn't, it proves nothing. Just that your logic is off.
3
u/SunGreene42 Aug 31 '26
True, but you can't prove something doesn't exist, the burden of proof is on Christians to prove he does exist, and they've failed to do that for thousands of years so far, so I'd say that's long enough that we can reasonably say there is no God.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (18)0
139
u/Mysterious-Flan-6 Aug 31 '26
Libraries really don’t have braille books?! I’m not questioning the story, but I guess I always assumed they did have those for at least some titles as an accommodation. Maybe just adult books?
225
u/lady_faust Aug 31 '26
Braille books are very expensive and are bigger format than regular book size. I used to work in a library and we had a few braille books in our catalogue because of this reason.
54
u/Mysterious-Flan-6 Aug 31 '26
That does make sense. Thank you for explaining. I wasn’t thinking about how those books would have to be larger.
99
u/JudgeJudyJr Aug 31 '26
You will be surprised by the number of prominent libraries that do not stock adequate number of children's books in braille.
21
u/Mysterious-Flan-6 Aug 31 '26
Well, I learned something new today. Wish there was some way around it (other commenter explained that those books are larger and more expensive so libraries tend not to have a ton of them). I totally get it but also wish that there was a solution, especially for the kids!
30
u/lady_faust Aug 31 '26
The library I worked in had a braille copy of a Harry Potter book which was about the size of a world atlas.. https://www.braillebookstore.com/Harry-Potter-Books
41
Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
[deleted]
13
u/lady_faust Aug 31 '26
Yes! It was an Academic library so we had access to a Jaws screen reader and other inclusive accessible technologies.. also audio copies of the books available too.
I also had the privilege of using a Braille machine (a Brailler) via one of our students who was blind and who kindly showed me how she typed up her work for college. https://shop.rnib.org.uk/collections/braillers
1
u/Significant-Yam-4990 Sep 01 '26
Wow. I didn’t know something like this existed. People are able to create some pretty cool stuff!
7
10
u/Persistent_Parkie Aug 31 '26
In my state the braille library is done by mail so those specialized materials can go where they're needed.
17
u/Inevitable-Book6339 Aug 31 '26
I had a friend in college who would have to borrow by interlibrary loan from Washington DC. I imagine that kids books would have to be borrowed that way. This was about 20 years ago though. The books were huge! They made her so happy. I love Dolly even more for this act of kindness.
13
Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
[deleted]
4
u/peregrine_mendicant Aug 31 '26
Came here to say this. I work at one of these libraries. Audio is by far the most popular option, but we do have people who prefer braille, especially people who are DeafBlind. Also, if you live in the US, definitely look into it—blindness is not the only disability that qualifies you. If you have dyslexia or cannot turn pages of a physical book you are probably eligible, and there thousands of audiobooks (and ebraille) on the BARD app, with no wait times like Libby. You do not have to be a citizen either.
Other countries have similar libraries for blind readers, but I am not as familiar with them. If you look up the Marrakech treaty, whoever signed it on behalf of your country is probably where people get braille books.
2
u/anniemdi Aug 31 '26
NLS patron here. The Accessible Book Consortium is a good starting point for global accessible books.
CELA and RNIB do accessible books for Canada and the UK respectively.
9
u/KaleeySun Aug 31 '26
It’s probably a very limited selection, and a lot of it depends on where you live. Larger cities are probably more likely to have them than rural places, too.
5
u/Mysterious-Flan-6 Aug 31 '26
I’m glad I know now because several people have been nice enough to explain it, but it does make me a little sad. Reading is so integral for kids. For everyone, really. But I especially hate to see kids miss the opportunity.
2
u/Candid-Ability-9570 Aug 31 '26
Given the physical space they occupy and their cost and the relatively few people who will benefit, and given the availability of audio books through library apps, it’s probably just not considered a good use of resources.
3
u/Difficult_Cow8886 Aug 31 '26
My brother who was blind never learned braille but loved listening to audiobooks.
3
u/furioso2000 Aug 31 '26
The National Service for the Blind and Print Disabled coordinates all 50 state libraries serving this population. The average public library will not have a braille collection due to high cost/low demand but will redirect patrons to these libraries. Most will mail books to the patron. About 10% of blind people can read braille. Most blind folks listen to audiobooks. These specialty libraries will also usually create recordings of newspapers, magazines and personal mail when requested.
2
u/bl1y Aug 31 '26
I just checked my county's public libraries, and the specifically have children's books in braille, with 70 titles.
2
u/ifeelnumb Aug 31 '26
Technology is making braille less necessary. There's a very good chance that blindness can be cured in the next hundred years if we don't screw things up too badly. Optic nerve research is a little bit mind-boggling.
Plus, storing braille books is cumbersome. Shelf space is at a premium in libraries. They're designed to serve the people in the community that use them the most. The interlibrary loan system is probably one of the best systems in the world, and the logistics are still challenging.
2
Sep 01 '26
[deleted]
1
u/ifeelnumb Sep 01 '26
There is quite a lot of discourse about the downfall of print, which I personally feel is unwarranted. Writing has too much history to disappear. Braille is just another written language. Communication in the last fifty years has changed exponentially with technology. It will continue to evolve, and it will continue to be needed. Computers are both the best and worst things to happen to print. Everything online is ephemeral. If we ever get the big solar emt storm, all of this is lost.
I'm merely optimistic about where science and research is headed, but I very much doubt we will know the true possibilities in this lifetime. The things that were thought impossible even just twenty years ago are starting to happen. Who knows what will happen in a century. Hearing and eyesight loss have always been considered irreversible, but isn't that just because we're still learning? Someone someday is going to figure out how to regrow replacement parts that work. I do not envy those ethics discussions. The implications of being able to fix nerve damage would be amazing. I expect that at the rate we are going, even surgery will become obsolete in a few hundred years. There will be other methods to get the body to fix itself.
1
1
u/emotional-cutter Aug 31 '26
They usually do not. Larger library systems usually have a library for the blind that will have lots of audiobooks and braille books. Example: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. People who lose their sight as an adult/elderly very rarely learn braille so they use audiobooks. Many braille books are also sent out via mail so people don’t have to travel to the library. Braille books can be very large and expensive.
1
u/g8briel Aug 31 '26
In the US there are national library services for the blind (https://www.loc.gov/nls/). Many other countries have a similar service.
1
u/lme614 Sep 01 '26
My neighborhood library has a whole bookshelf of board books in braille in the toddler kid section.
25
u/AnotherUsername1959 Aug 31 '26
I think we'll hear more of these stories about Dolly. She was an amazing human!!
81
Aug 31 '26
[deleted]
19
4
u/bl1y Aug 31 '26
Despite its cuts, Missouri still provides 4x the funding that New York does, but no one gets mad at the damned Democrats.
2
Aug 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/bl1y Aug 31 '26
I was reading about California's situation, and just couldn't untangle it. Sounds like the cut funding to their own program and just funneled it to Dolly's?
11
u/digitaldavegordon Aug 31 '26
You should know that unlimited free braille and audiobooks are available in the U.S. for people with print disabilities from the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled.
England has a similar service.
Dolly would want us to spread the word.
10
10
13
u/KnowledgeFinderer Aug 31 '26
Bless her heart. She shared that her father couldn't read or write. She tried to make changes in real ways.
11
u/tortiesrock Aug 31 '26
I have a friend who is legally blind and she told me that not a lot of people learn Braille nowadays. She (and many people, according to her) would rather use audiobooks.
That been said, wonderful initiative on Dolly’s part.
26
u/Persistent_Parkie Aug 31 '26
Only about 20% of blind people are braille readers. They're more likely to be taught braille the younger they become blind/ are diagnosed with a condition that will lead to blindness. Blind individuals who can read braille are much more likely to obtain higher education and be employed.
6
u/Hikikomori_Otaku Aug 31 '26
This is heartening. In the sixties about half of visually impaired Americans could read braille, present day its less than ten percent
6
u/Neither-Swordfish448 Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
Colis! Moi qui Braille en se moment! Fuck! you make me cry with that.
4
u/Fantasy-HistoryLove Aug 31 '26
That’s cool. I imagine (though correct me if I’m wrong) it’s difficult to get braille books (I imagine you have to know specifically where to get them) I’ve always loved reading and can’t imagine not being able to access them whenever I want.
Think I’ve learned more about Dolly in the last week. I’ve been to Dollywood once and might’ve heard about her book program but if I did I’d forgotten until now
3
u/Competitive-Day9586 Aug 31 '26
Most braille books for children are regular kids picture books with clear stickers added with the braille dots on them next to written words in the book itself. They aren’t special books with only braille. This also allows the sighted adult parent to read the books to their blind child or for a blind adult parent to read books to their sighted child.
1
u/Fantasy-HistoryLove Aug 31 '26
Ahh okay that’s great for both the kid and parent but I didn’t realize it was that simple but good to know
4
u/jberryman Aug 31 '26
There are some good FAQs here. They mention the importance of giving young children the opportunity to interact with braille early on, to sharpen their sense of touch and begin to connect to braille, in the same way a sighted child connects to writing visible around them or in beloved books before they can read.
6
4
u/MacaronDesperate9643 Aug 31 '26
Everyone keeps saying " what a loss" but I think the bigger picture is that she left a wonderful legacy that actually lives on even though she passed. That's beautiful ❤️❤️ she left us on a whole with a lot of love
3
u/MntnMedia Aug 31 '26
I didnt know she did so much to help literacy. Maybe I dont have access to these books cause I'm in Canada and my kids are little too old now.
But, some of those books I have seen some parents get from this foundation. I personally wanna buy some of these books for me lol. I'd let my kids read them too, but they probably won't be terrible ly challenging for them. :)
3
u/Happy-Estimate-7855 Aug 31 '26
Dolly may have contributed one of the greatest gifts to humanities future by providing literacy and lessons in love. Even when these kids have grandchildren who only vaguely recognize Dolly Partons name, the love of reading will continue because of the opportunities she provides.
3
u/20061230-SL-Born Aug 31 '26
Been almost a week yet still every day I read something new that makes me well up again. This is lovely
3
3
u/Zealousideal_Way_788 Aug 31 '26
As someone who worked in companies that developed solutions for those who were low vision or blind this made me smile. What a life force Dolly was
2
2
2
u/Phantasmalicious Aug 31 '26
I remember suggesting a coworker this and they were like: "Why didnt anyone tell us at the doctor's that this exists!?" https://www.orbitresearch.com/products/blindness-products/braille-devices/orbit-reader-20/
2
2
u/spingledoink Aug 31 '26
What an absoloute Angel Dolly is...... She is mourned here on Earth.... She is exalted in Heaven. XXX
2
Aug 31 '26
Thats cool as hell, I sometimes wonder what all she has done to make it last as long as possible now that shes gone.
2
u/bigbone1001 Aug 31 '26
If we’re not going to support this beautiful group which is dealing with funding cuts from govt, then who are we?
2
u/earthwormjimjones Aug 31 '26
While it sucks she passed it was nice seeing everyone pay tribute. I wasn't sure how people would make it political (they somehow find a way with everything) and then have to watch a bunch of the people be cruel about it I was pleasantly surprised people were being respectful, as they should be.
2
u/Momniscient Aug 31 '26
Wow - that is amazing! I did not know that. Like I needed another reason to love Dolly!
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/shenther Aug 31 '26
I got the email yesterday saying I would only get 1 more as the plan was ending. I think, and hope, that it's just my plan and not the entire thing. My daughter loooooves opening her mail because we then read it together.
2
u/clonedhuman Sep 01 '26
Dolly Parton could have been a billionaire. Easily. But, instead, she chose to do things like this.
Meanwhile, Elon is fucked up on ketamine and trying to start race riots around the world on Xitter because he has a weird dick that doesn't work anymore.
2
u/bakedNebraska Aug 31 '26
Stores in public libraries?
3
Aug 31 '26
[deleted]
2
1
1
1
u/Kyonikos Aug 31 '26
Is it too early to suggest that the pope make her a saint?
Ok, there's the small problem that she's not a Catholic but, whatever.
1
1
u/ccrush Aug 31 '26
Wait. 4 year olds can read? I thought the point was parents were reading the books to the kids.
5
1
1
1
1
1
u/Informal_Sweet_5867 Aug 31 '26
that kid is gonna find out one day that his pen pal is a national treasure and i need to be there when it happens
0
u/Uninvalidated Aug 31 '26
Is it common to learn how to read Braille before the age of 5?
Feels a bit odd he stopped receiving books by the age I started learning how to read. I can understand if one start early with Braille due to the loss of activities eyesight is needed, but I imagine it's not the easiest thing to learn either, especially as a young kid.
9
u/bl1y Aug 31 '26
Dolly's program only provides books up to age 5, that's why.
And in that age range, it's mostly going to be parents reading to children. So, it could be blind parents reading. Or it could be parents of blind children learning to read Braille so they can help their children learn.
4
u/Murky-Relation481 Aug 31 '26
Some full sight kids are definitely reading by 5. Both my GFs kids were reading at 3 to 4. I mean if your kid could only do Braille I think that could still be possible depending on the kid.
But yah as others said probably mostly for blind parents and at that age the kid even if they can read is probably usually reading with parents because vocabulary is still a massive gap.
3
u/anemptycardboardbox Aug 31 '26
It’s not like the books disappeared when Dolly stopped sending them. As the kid learns to read Braille, he will have books at home he can read on his own.
Nobody questions giving books to babies, and they can’t read either
1
u/Uninvalidated Aug 31 '26
I'm pretty sure the idea was to send books to those who has use of them pretty much right away. Not for people to store them until later on. And you are pretty sure of that too. You just wanted to argue for the sake of it...
1
u/anemptycardboardbox Aug 31 '26
Just because something is true in general, doesn’t mean there aren’t exceptions
1
1
u/ridingfurther Aug 31 '26
Pretty sure just as it's important for a sighted baby to be exposed to writing before it can read, it's helpful for a blind baby to be exposed to braille before it has learnt to read.
-2
u/NomNomGalaxy Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
Yeah this smells fishy to me. It makes zero sense to send the book in Brailles when the kid is at the age where the parents do the reading.
Not saying the foundation doesn't send Braille books but I'm highly skeptical this tweet is genuine.
Edit: u/VictoryVelvet explained below why that actually makes sense.
4
u/Particular-Extent-76 Aug 31 '26
Blind parents exist
0
u/NomNomGalaxy Aug 31 '26
I'm not a complete idiot, thank you very much. The tweet specifically mentions a blind child.
4
u/VictoryVelvet Aug 31 '26
Sighted children get to sit and look at the words on the page when their adult is reading to them. Braille books often still have printed text, with raised stickers adding the braille translation beneath. Giving braille books to kids who are too young to read yet allows them to learn the words and follow along with the adult, the same way sighted kids slowly learn to read.
2
u/NomNomGalaxy Aug 31 '26
Ok it makes more sense to me now, thanks.
1
u/VictoryVelvet Sep 08 '26 edited Sep 08 '26
Another thought (I don’t check my notifications often) is that the sighted adults can also reference between the braille and the printed text, because they need to be learning it to teach their blind kids.
Finding braille books is difficult. I could go buy dozens of kids books at the thrift store for pennies. But being given 12 braille age appropriate books x 5 years of prime language development = 60 books that helps a disabled child become literate. Very few (like 20-30% but don’t quote me) of blind people are braille literate, and they are much more likely to get higher level degrees and stable jobs. Unemployment is also a huge issue in the blind community.
So God Bless Dolly
2
u/Particular-Extent-76 Aug 31 '26
I didn’t say you were, I just have a knee-jerk pithy reaction to cynicism on r/MadeMeSmile because good news/ heartwarming stories about the goodness of people seem so rare these days.
I’m sighted but I have worked as a paraprofessional in schools for the blind, and it’s not uncommon for early intervention programs or preschools for low-vision kids to start introducing braille (like learning how to identify letters and string words together) at younger ages. The kids that aren’t at that level yet are still practicing needed fine motor skills to read Braille later, and it’s helpful to do that with actual Braille books (if they have access to them). Not everyone can live in a place where there’s funding for blind and low-vision education and the books are expensive, so it’s truly amazing the imagination library is distributing books to families for free.
3
Aug 31 '26
[deleted]
1
u/Particular-Extent-76 Aug 31 '26
I started at 3 1/2 and have been a paraprofessional in schools for the blind, it’s not uncommon for early intervention programs or preschools for low-vision kids to start introducing braille at younger ages so the kids learn the fine motor skills needed to read later
•
u/AutoModerator Aug 31 '26
Welcome to /r/MadeMeSmile. Please make sure you read our rules here.
Specifically, please don't be a jerk. This is not the place for insulting, hateful, or otherwise inappropriate comments. Remember the golden rule: treat others how you want to be treated. We're all here to smile a little - let's keep it that way! Please report inappropriate comments and/or message the moderators.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.