Creative Adaptations for Learning (CAL) records

Creative Adaptations for Learning (CAL) was a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1985 by Shirley Keller, a nurse-educator with decades of experience adapting materials for use by the blind. CAL’s mission was “to make pictures in books ‘visible’ to people who are blind the way printed words have been made ‘readable’ through braille.’” After five years of research, Creatively Adapted Legible tactuals (CAL-tac) was developed. This format transformed pictures into three-dimensional textured illustrations, which could be interpreted by touch. These materials served to benefit the blind as well as those who are visually impaired or have sensory-perceptual or neurological impairments (Parkinson Syndrome, stroke, Cerebral Palsy, developmental or learning delays etc.). In their decades of operation in Great Neck, New York, CAL produced illustrated braille books, illustrated flash cards, and interactive games for blind and visually impaired children.