My Braille computer is now at the Obama Presidential Center!
My Braille computer now lives at the Obama Presidential Center! I hope all students get the opportunity to learn that reading through our fingers is as valid as reading by sight.
Jump to heading#Descriptive Transcript
Pins rapidly rise and fall as they scroll past under Haben’s fingers. She stands by a table reading from a Braille computer while President Obama types on a keyboard. They’re in the Blue Room of the White House.
Haben (voiceover): I’m Deafblind and read President Obama’s words with my fingers.
Inside a replica of the Oval Office at the Obama Presidential Center, Haben sits in a large leather chair behind the Resolute Desk. Her Braille computer is on the desk, and in the background stand a US flag and a Presidential flag.
Haben: A lot of younger people have been wondering whether Helen Keller was real, and one of the reasons is because many schools are not teaching kids about Braille.
The video returns to the Blue Room. Haben speaks to President Obama as they shake hands. They hug and return to the table where President Obama types and Haben reads his words. She says something that sparks a big smile from the President.
Haben (voiceover): Reading Braille helped me study law at Harvard Law School, write a book, and talk with President Obama. He typed his words on a keyboard and they popped up on a Braille display. That Braille computer is now on display at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
Photo: Shelves hold a holiday decoration made by Parsons School of Design students, a Hawaiʻi-themed Christmas ornament, and commemorative Easter eggs. In the center sits the HumanWare BrailleNote Apex. It has a full QWERTY keyboard and a row of Braille cells along the bottom edge. Inside the open lid of the carrying case is a card with her photo, the text “Haben Girma, Disability Rights & Inclusion, Lawyer, Author, Speaker,” and her contact details. A placard along the bottom includes a small photo and the caption: “The president communicates with deafblind human rights lawyer Haben Girma at the Americans with Disabilities Act 25th Anniversary event, 2015.”
The video returns to Haben sitting in the Obama Presidential Center’s Oval Office.
Haben: This is reading by fingers instead of reading by sight, but it’s still reading!
A close-up of Haben’s hands reading a Braille paper book.
Haben (voiceover): So ask your schools if students are learning about Braille.