One In Five for Sunday 7 June 2009

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille's birth, and the coded system of raised dots that bears his name. We hear from two seasoned advocates of the Braille renaissance. Then we join up with Norma Norrish, one of the Blind community's senior citizens as she tackles more recent technologies, not to mention bureaucracy.

Back in April, Minister of Education Ann Tolley hosted a Parliamentary event to celebrate Braille. And while no-one was in any doubt that the Frenchman was the cause de celebre, it's his legacy that lives on. First up it's Don McKenzie an elder statesman of blind people in New Zealand by all accounts. Joining him in the accolades is Lizette Wessling. She's the Braille Awareness consultant at the Foundation of the Blind. And as this is the 200th anniversary of Braille's birth, we'll be coming back to his legacy, and other stories from the Blind community from time to time.

Norma Norrish lives in a grand old house on the side of a Wadestown hill. Coping with the 39 steps to the front door mightn't seemed to be out of place in a Wellington suburb, but Norma Norrish is eighty four, visually impaired and has arthritis. So how does she cope?