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LightHouse’s Rehabilitation Services and Media and Accessible Design departments are teaming up to present this free course on learning to read tactile maps.

This workshop takes place at LightHouse East Bay in the Osher Conference Room. The address is Ed Roberts Campus, 3075 Adeline Street, Berkeley, 94703. 

What will you learn?

• The value of tactile maps for route planning and awareness of environmental features.
• Systematic strategies in your approach to exploration of tactile maps.
• How symbols, line types, labels, and distance, direction, and environmental features are used in interpreting maps.
• Tactile discrimination techniques for map reading.
• Greater orientation to new environments.
• How to order more maps.
• In addition to the training, each student will take home free TMAPs of their residential area and of the LightHouse East Bay neighborhood at 3075 Adeline, as well as a tactile map of the Ashby BART Station and a tactile BART system map.

Prerequisites:

• Functional use of intermediate braille is required.
• Students must be aged 16 or up.

LightHouse Braille Instructor, Divina Carlson; Senior Accessible Media and Braille Specialist, Frank Welte; Orientation & Mobility Specialist, Sarah McIntyre and tactile map aficionado, Jerry Kuns, will be facilitating this introductory training in the practical use of TMAP, tactile maps and tactile BART maps for Bay Area travelers. It must be noted that Jerry states he isn’t happier than when he has a good cappuccino in one hand and a tactile map in the other!

Come join us in learning the language of tactile maps. To attend, please contact Briana Kusuma, at BKusuma@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7335 no later than Friday, March 17. In your email, please provide Briana your full name, phone number and your residential address, so that we can produce your home map prior to the training.

Space is limited to 15 participants. Additional registrants will be placed on a waiting list. We will consider scheduling an additional session if there is sufficient interest. Students may attend with their TVI or O&M teacher. Because this is an in-person activity, we are requesting that you provide proof of vaccination upon entry and wear a mask during the event.

This course is made possible thanks to a grant from the Federal Transportation Administration.