VIDBE-Q Volume 67 Issue 3
me. Occasionally as we were working, she would say "it's not working" as she was
reading and I looked at her braille thinking, "ha, you think I have a clue what it
says?" I was honest from day one and told her, I can't read braille, but I want to
learn! I worked with her current TSVI and COMS instructors as they came in each
week. They taught me more and more and my fascination grew. At one point the
COMS told me she also used to be an Intervention Specialist in a self-contained
classroom and I thought, how cool that you changed jobs, but it's not for me. I like
my job and going back to school after working to earn my bachelors and masters
wasn't for me. They frequently asked if I'd be interested and I gave them the
generic "it sounds neat but I'm not sure it's for me" answer. We kept chatting each
week and I continued to become more intrigued with the concept of braille. I
would look at Brooklynn's work trying to understand it. I eventually figured out
where the word and sentence breaks were and continued to enjoy watching her
read and write her own sentences. Each day I found myself working more and
more with her and I began to think, maybe I am ready for a change in my career. I
told myself that I would consider it over the summer, talk with my family and look
into the registration process next year. But a couple weeks later, the TSVI
approached me and asked if I was still interested. "Yes, I think so." And I'll never
forget our next exchange of words as she said "would you possibly want to sign up
now?" "NOW?!" I said with a shocked face. She explained that they were
