Braille Slate Pals
Submitted by Charlotte Cushman on Apr 10, 2020
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) offers a braille pen pal program for children who are blind or visually impaired. Slate Pals is a program for children in grades K-12 that matches students who want braille pen pals. The program is sponsored by the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC) of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), and is available, free of charge, to children around the world.
Slate Pals enables children who are blind to correspond with one another in braille. It also finds blind pen pals for sighted children who are interested in learning the braille code.
Slate Pal requests have come from all fifty states and most of the Canadian provinces. They have also received requests for Slate Pals from many nations overseas, including Taiwan, South Africa, Denmark, Hungary, Uganda, El Salvador, Germany, Australia, and Great Britain. In matching Slate Pals the primary considerations are age range, gender, and interests. They also try to match each prospective Slate Pal with someone who lives in a distinctly different geographic locale.
If you have a child or student who would like one or more Slate Pals, please complete the enclosed form. Send the form in print or braille or via e-mail to:
Debbie Kent Stein
5817 North Nina Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60631
Phone: 773-631-1093 * Fax: 773-792-8245 * E-mail: dkent5817@att.net
BRAILLE SLATE PALS
A Pen Pal Program for Braille Readers and Students Who Want to Learn Braille
Name:______________________________________________ Age:________ Grade: ____
Male Female (Circle one)
Address: _________________________________________________City_______________
State______ Zip __________ If not the USA, Country ____________________________
E-mail: ________________________________________ Phone: ______________________
Parent(s) name and address if other than above:________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Interests/hobbies: ____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
I would like (fill in number) _____Slate Pals.
I would like my Slate Pals to be (fill in age range) ______________
I would like my Slate Pals to be (circle one): male female both no preference
Check one of the following:
[ ] I am blind/visually impaired. I use Braille regularly at school and at home.
[ ] I am blind/visually impaired. I read some print but am shifting to Braille.
[ ] I am sighted and would like to exchange letters in Braille with a blind Slate Pal.
(Please Print) Name of the person filling out this application, signature, and relationship to the child/student:______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Mail to:
Debbie Kent Stein
5817 North Nina Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60631
Phone: 773-631-1093 * Fax: 773-792-8245 * E-mail: dkent5817@att.net
