Getting immersed in a written adventure

Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi Reads stand at book fair offers lessons on Braille and much more

Young Mona Hammadi stares quite puzzled at the book with blank pages. She runs her fingertips over the words, but she can't see them.

"They feel like dots," smiles the seven-year-old Emirati girl.

Mona, along with several of her classmates, came to visit the ongoing Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF), and she got instantly attracted to the Abu Dhabi Reads stand, where a couple of experts are teaching the Braille.

An initiative of Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec), the Abu Dhabi Reads campaign is now in its fourth year. Both at the school and classroom level, schools across the emirate are requested to get involved in reading and books related activities. Earlier this month, Adec presented them with a list of dozens of such activities teachers can choose from.

"Our teacher is reading us the story of Pinocchio, the boy whose nose gets big any time he lies," said Mona. At the book fair, Adec is encouraging reading of all kinds of materials, from cosmetics leaflets to novels.

A small library with short stories is set up here, where students of all ages can take a break and immerse themselves into a written adventure.

"A major emphasis this year is on special needs children. We have demonstrations on how to learn and use the Braille alphabet," said Badir Al Hosani, senior specialist in special education needs division at Adec.

"We have Braille books, like this one here, which you can read by touching it," he also told Khaleej Times.

Like with any new language, learning Braille takes time, but the system is very simple. There are blocks of six dots, arranged in two columns of three and three dots and each letter of the alphabet is represented by highlighting one or more of these dots. For example, the letter 'a' is represented by one dot on the upper left corner of the block or the letter 'g' is represented by the top four dots.

"Of course, the English alphabet is different from the Arabic one, so if you want to read in Arabic, you have to learn the Braille Arabic system," explained Al Hosani.

According to him, there are no shortages of Braille written books in Arabic for blind students.

While in previous years Adec has concentrated on overall school activities for its Abu Dhabi Reads campaigns, this year students themselves take centre stage.

To show them the benefits of reading, not just during this month's campaign, but as an everyday habit, Adec is screening a video at the book fair, a 10 minutes documentary on the impact of reading on the human brain, suitable to students from Grade 7 to 12.

"The film was done by a school psychologist, explaining the process that goes on in your mind when reading," pointed out Al Hosani.

Just as the body needs maintenance to be kept fit, the brain too needs exercise for healthy functions, and reading is a big part of it.

Furthermore, reading brings out the creative and emotional side of any person. It is not just about reading an entertaining novel; pretty much any type of reading has its benefits.

"We are running workshops here on reading all sort of different material, from cooking recipes to geography data, even the leaflets describing the products of a make-up kit for girls," mentioned Al Hosani.

Inspiring students to read is taken quite seriously by Adec, hence it asks all its school visitors at ADIBF to give their feedback and suggestions on what they need and wish for when it comes to reading.

silvia@khaleejtimes.com