Long active in addressing the needs of
blind readers, as well as the issues
confronting braille publishing houses
and the need for consistent standards,
Eileen plays as active a role in the external
community as she does within her own
department. She was Chair of
the Braille Authority of North America
(BANA) from 2000 to 2003; has held leadership roles in
other organizations; and frequently
delivers keynote speeches at conferences
across the country, conducts workshops,
and participates in panel discussions.
Eileen's chairmanship of BANA has taken
her around the world representing
National Braille Press. BANA's mission
is to assure literacy for braille readers
through the standardization of braille
and tactile graphics. The organization
is currently addressing best practices for
transcribing educational materials for
children with emerging literacy skills,
and is setting standards for producing
tactile graphics and transcribing foreign
languages. At the same time, BANA is
researching the needs of braille readers,
and is working with the International
Council on English Braille to develop
braille standards that will be consistent
in all English-speaking countries.
As Vice President for Education
Services, the scope of Eileen
Curran's voice has also increased
along with the reputation of
National Braille Press among
teachers, school administrators,
parents, and textbook publishers
all around the country.
Eileen is passionate about
braille and about the need for
blind students to learn braille.
A graduate of Boston
College's former teacher-training
program, Eileen has
been involved in developing
the teacher-training program
at the University of
Massachusetts Boston for
instructors of the visually
impaired. She is known by
many parents and professionals
as the author of
Just Enough to Know Better, a primer now in its 6th
edition, for every parent who wants to
know just enough to be able to help their
blind child learn to read.
Wanting to combine her three passions -- transcribing,
technology, and teaching -- Eileen came to National Braille Press as a
part-time transcriber in 1985. She was
also working at the time as an
itinerant teacher, and, being
blind, she was dependent on the
trains to get her from one session
to the next. When the trains
went on strike in 1986, she wasn't
able to get to her students, so she
became a full-time transcriber at
the Press.
In her first year, Eileen moved from
transcriber to bindery worker to
bindery supervisor to computer
technology specialist, holding the
latter position for five years.
In 1991 she became Director of
Operations, and in 1998 she
became head of a new program,
Education Services. Under her
leadership over the last five years
our services to blind school
children and to school districts all
across the country have increased
in size more than fivefold.
As Vice President for Education
Services, the scope of Eileen
Curran's voice has also increased
along with the reputation of
National Braille Press among
teachers, school administrators,
parents, and textbook publishers
all around the country. And most
recently Eileen has also been the
primary voice for her newborn
daughter Kayla, who joined older
brother Christopher in December.
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