Braille Specialist

St. Leo Centre

6220 Lakeview Drive SW, Calgary

Overall Accountability

The Braille Specialist assists and supports the educational programming for students with visual impairments, including preparing specialized and individualized materials and resources, providing onsite training and support for adaptive equipment and specialized technologies to students and Education Assistants.

Specific Accountabilities
- Participates in ongoing professional development and training to maintain proficiency in Braille transcription/translation software as well as assistive technologies and software for students with visual impairments
- Transcribes learning materials into Braille, electronic text and tactile diagrams as required
- Provides additional adaptations and modifications to classroom resources for students with visual impairment and students who are deaf/blind including simplifying text, adding textures and creating manipulative
- Consults with the Consultant, Learning Services, Blind and Visually Impaired to determine the most suitable materials format to match individual student learning needs and assigned adaptive equipment
- Provides Braille support for students who are blind or visually impaired and the Education Assistants, Braille in Kindergarten through grade 12
- Facilitates and assists with the ordering and monitoring of materials and equipment from the Alberta Education Specialized Services Branch

**Qualifications**:

- Post-secondary Diploma/certificate in the training of special education teacher assistants with a specialization in visual impairment from a recognized institution
- Certificate in Unified English Braille
- A minimum accuracy rate of eighty percent (80%) in Braille transcription
- Knowledge of optical recognition software (Duxbury, OpenBook, Jaws and ZoomText)
- Demonstrated expertise with adaptive equipment and assistive technology
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office