Tad attended Perkins on an experimental basis for the first year. He was so successful they opened the Deaf-Blind program the next year. Perkins continues to serve the Deaf-Blind community. Most of the letters my grandfather wrote and extensive material about how Tad was taught Tadoma while at Sioux Falls School for the Deaf have been sent to the Perkins Archivist. I am providing a link to their website if you would like to find out more: Perkins Institute
Tad continued to learn all his life. He certainly kept the mail service busy delivering large braille books all his life and was named Student of the Year by Hadley School for the Blind (more later about this). They also have a braille service and will transcribe material into braille.
Braille is an essential communication tool for people who are deaf and blind and I have learned that fewer and fewer people use Braille due to the popularity and availability of audiobooks. To find out more click on Braille.
There are now TDD phone devices that have a Braille display so it is possible to telephone someone who is deaf and blind. Tad helped test such a device for AT&T before it became available to the public. I had a visual TDD in my apartment and once in a while (usually at dinner), I'd get a call from Tad. There was a vibrating "pager" that Tad could carry in his pocket that would go off if someone tried calling Tad. After a lifetime of never having to respond to telephones or doorbells, Tad never did quite understand that when the pager vibrated he should go to the Tele-brailler because someone was calling him. The device did give Tad a way of letting me know what his needs were. It was also useful for those times when Tad was having difficulty understanding me since we could sit across from each other and I would type at the visual TDD and he would type at the Tele-brailler.
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