♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪ Happy Birthday to you Mark> Hi, I'm Mark Quail, and today is my birthday.

And I'm seven years old (singing) Is my birthday cake pretty?

I can't see it because I'm blind.

I lost my eyesight when I was just a baby.

(applause) I'm just like you in many ways, but there's some things I have to do in a special way because I'm blind.

T>...not one...

Teacher #2> Today we're going to talk about... Mark> In my classroom, some of the girls and boys read together in this book I can't read with them, but I can read the same book.

Teacher> Let's start here.

Mark> Here are the new words.

My reading book is special.

It's the same book that the others were reading but it's in Braille.

See the dots?

That's how I read.

I can't see the words and the letters that you see.

So I feel them.

I use my fingers instead of my eyes.

And in Braille, a group of dot stands for every letter in the alphabet.

I can feel the dots and tell what the letter is, and I put the letters together to read the words.

Because I can't see, doesn't mean I can't read.

I read better, reading Braille.

I also write in Braille.

This is the Brailler and it helps me write.

I put every piece of paper in my Brailler, and I use keys to make the letters.

This is how I write the alphabet.

A...B ... C...D...E...

Teacher #2> Hey, Mark... Mark> We even do arithmetic in braille, Teacher #2> Let's start on this, okay.

Okay, Mark, I want you to take your hands over here.

Now, we're going to call out the numbers, and you give me the answers.

Okay?

Orally.

Mark> Two plus seven is nine.

Four plus two is six.

Five plus two is seven.

Six plus one Let me write that.

One day I'll be able to use a real typewriter.

So, other people that don't know Braille can read what I write.

Now I just write in Braille.

Sometimes I need a special teacher, but there's a lot of things that I can do alone.

I don't need anyone to help me here.

I go to different classes, just like all the boys and girls in my room.

In these classes.

I don't need a special teacher because I can do all the things Recording> Cross-over to the other side Mark>...other kids can do.

Recording> See if you can get out before it comes down.

♪ Teacher> Keep kneading it until you get it right.

Mark> In art, I use my sense of feeling, to see what I'm doing.

I like to make things with clay.

I can tell a lot about something just by feeling it.

Teacher> Move it all around.

Student> That's what I been doing.

Teacher>...use all the things.

Let's pass it around, Mark>...Tell me what that is.

Teacher> That's his pincher Mark> What does this do?

Teacher> They used to open.

Mark> I like science because we can feel many of the things we talk about.

There's a lot of things I can do, even though I'm blind.

I'm seven years old, and I like to do all the things other seven year olds do.

I just have to do them in my own way.

We're all alike, but we're different, too.

(silence) Kathy> Annie, wait.

You left your hearing aid at home.

I keep forgetting that Annie can't hear me.

You see, Annie's hard of hearing.

Kathy> Come on or we'll be late for school.

(foot falls) (faster foot falls) (indiscernible conversations) Annie's my younger sister.

She's in a special class at school for children.

for children who can't hear well enough to be in regular classes.

All the children in her class are like Danny.

Some can hear better than she can, and some can't hear as well.

But they all need special help.

Teacher> Good morning.

Students> Good morning.

How are you today?

Student> Yeah.

Teacher> Good.

Let's go through our names today.

Okay.

You ready?

Annie> I forgot my hearing aid.

Teacher> You did?

Do you have it on now?

Let's see.

Kathy> Some of the boys and girls in Annie's class wear headsets to help them hear the teacher better.

The headset makes the teacher's voice louder so they can hear her when she talks.

Teacher> What goes here?

Annie> My.

Teacher> Tell them.

Both> I forgot my hearing aid.

and Kathy brought it to me.

Teacher> Good.

Mark, what did you hear today?

Kathy> Since...the other boys and girls can hear well, they have other ways to tell what is being said.

When you talk, you form the words on your lips as you say them.

And me and the others can read the sounds as they are made on your lips.

They also use hand keys to tell which sounds are different.

Teacher> Oh, Now, wait a minute.

Don't tell him what he is.

Student> Can I swim?

Class> No.

Student> Okay.

Can I fly?

Yeah.

Could you see me from where you are.

Yeah.

What color am I?

Class> Blue.

orange.

Teacher> And yellow.

Can you guess what you are?

Take a guess.

Which one of these do you think it is?

Student> Oh, a woodpecker.

Teacher> Am I, a woodpecker?

Class> No Student> Oh.

Blue bird.

Teacher> Am I a Bluebird?

Class> Yeah.

Kathy> People who can't hear well often speak differently than other people do.

Annie says sounds the way she hears them, but she doesn't hear them right when she says these sounds.

They don't sound the same way they do when you say them.

I can understand any way she talks, but you may not at first.

You have to listen carefully when Annie speaks, and then you can understand her too.

Annie> Beside what...I'm.

Beside...I'm one of many... Teacher> What's this word?

No.

That's a Y.

Young Annie> Young.

Teacher> Good.

Annie> Young... Kathy> Annie needs special help with some sounds that she can't hear.

Her teacher can help her with them.

(Annie sounds out letters of words slowly) Annie> And legs... Teacher> What's that?

Annie> Legs.

Teacher> Legs.

Good.

Annie> And...learns.

Teacher> That's...leans.

Annie> Leans.

Teacher #2> Let's let Annie come up.

Kathy> Annie doesn't need the special help in all her classes.

She goes to regular classes at other times during the day.

She likes to run and play at P.E.

Annie doesn't have to here it to take part in this activity.

(drumsticks knocking with music) Kathy> Annie goes to music just like everyone else.

Annie> Thanks... Kathy> Being hard of hearing doesn't mean Annie can't talk or can't understand you or isn't smart.

It just means she can't hear well.

She's just like any other girl her age, except she does some things differently because of her hearing.

Julie> My name is Julie, and this is my friend Sarah.

We first met when we were both in the hospital.

Sarah and I are different from each other in some ways, but we are alike in one special way.

We can't walk like you do.

We have to use a wheelchair to help us get around.

Sometimes I use my crutches instead of a wheelchair, but I get tired when I use them.

It's not fun to be in a wheelchair all the time.

There's so many things you can't do.

I once tried roller skate, but that's something I'll never be able to do.

But I can ride a motorbike and I've won awards at horse shows.

Ready to ride?

Trainer> Okay.

Trainer #2> Which one you gonna ride, Julie?

Julie> That one.

Trainer> Hold these.

Sarah> I wish I could ride a horse.

Maybe one day I could ride a horse just like Julie does.

When I play cowboys and indians with my brothers and sisters, I just pretend that I can ride horses.

At least I don't have to stay in a wheelchair to do that.

Julie> Sarah and I ride to school in a special bus.

that has a ramp for our wheelchairs.

Other boys and girls ride with us.

Julie> In school, Sarah's wheelchair won't fit at a regular desk, so she has to have a special sized desk.

I use a lap desk that just fits onto my wheelchair.

If a building has steps, no ramp, there's no way to get the wheelchair up the steps by yourself.

I can use my crutches to go into the building, but Sarah can't go in at all.

There's Dee Dee.

She rides to school with us.

She doesn't have any trouble with those steps.

Dee Dee> I wear leg braces.

They may look funny to you but they help me walk.

I don't let them stop me from doing the things that I want to do.

I had to learn to walk in my braces.

That took some time, but now I can even take part in games when I wear them.

Sarah, Julie and I are all alike in that we have to have something to help us move around.

Our legs don't work like yours do.

We're just like you in most ways but we have to move around in our own special way.

♪ Skip to my loo my darling ♪ (closing music) ♪