2001.211.127

Giant-Dot Pocket Frame

Interlining braille desk slate; curled piano hinge on short side; two rows of 15 jumbo braille cells; cells are 5/32 x 5/16", 11/32" between rows, and 3/16" between columns; the column dividers are indented between columns 2-3, 6-7, 10-11, and 14-15; pegs on reverse for guide holes in board (no board); rounded point on end of frames, peg in tip of lower frame fits through hole in top frame; windows of top frame indented to guide placement of stylus.

H-1.5 W-8.875 inches

n.d.

Royal National Institute for the Blind

London, England

RNIB was founded in 1868 as the British and Foreign Blind Association for Promoting the Education and Employment of the Blind. Its name changed to the National Institute for the Blind in 1914, and to Royal National Institute for the Blind in 1953. In 1920, NIB expanded its mandate to include the production and sale of "Apparatus for Use by the Blind" and produced its first catalog soon after. This item, #9023, the Interlining Giant Dot Guide, appears in all three NIB catalogs in the APH collection, 1933, 1942, and 1977. Jumbo braille, also called expanded-cell braille or large cell braille, was developed for people with less sensitivity in their fingers. People just learning braille sometimes find this larger braille a useful first step. Some beginner workbooks start students out with jumbo braille and then ease them into the standard size.

Museum Purchase, 2001.211