Talents & Gifts

Written by Ariana Carlone & Jessica Schlachter

The Little Clay Studio is fortunate to be a part of the ReFocus Community Center.  Being a part of the Center provides us with a wonderful array of gifted individuals.  It is through these personalities that TLC Studio finds its heart and soul.

A very important part of the studio is Jennifer G., our braille typist.  Jennifer comes to TLC Studio thorough her participation in the ReFocus E-Zone.  She combines her talents in braille and her desire to educate the public on the language used by individuals with visual impairments.  The result is the application of braille to our TLC Studio postcard.  This provides a creative connection between the visually able and visually impaired.  Jennifer states that, she “enjoys working on the braille. It’s good to show visually able folks how I can communicate as a person who is completely blind.”
Braille is a language used by those individuals who are blind or visually impaired.  Each braille letter is made up of two columns, each column can contain up to three dots.  Each letter is composed of a combination of 1-6 dots.

Braille is organized in grades. The two grades that The Little Clay Studio employs are grade 1 and grade 2. Grade 1 braille is used for individuals who are just learning braille for the first time. Grade 1 braille means that each letter, punctuation mark, and number, corresponds to a specific arrangement within the cell.

In Grade 2 braille, a cell can represent a word.  Grade 2 braille reduces the length of words and, in turn, the length of a sentence.
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The following examples show the difference between Grade 1 braille and Grade 2 braille.

the little clay studio
Grade 1 braille

The Little Clay Studio
Grade 2 braille
For additional education on braille, please view http://braillebug.afb.org/braille_deciphering.asp