Natalie Martiniello - Past President

Dr. Natalie Martiniello is a lifelong braille user, a postdoctoral fellow at Concordia University and teaches in the Visual Impairment and Rehabilitation program at l’Université de Montreal. Her research focuses on inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility for blind individuals, including access to information and adult braille literacy. Before this, she worked as a braille specialist (Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapist) where she provided braille literacy and access technology instruction to clients with visual impairments across the age spectrum. She served as BLC secretary from 2013 – 2018 and as BLC President from 2018 – 2022, and now serves as the organization’s Past-President. She is also a director on the board of the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) and the Canadian appointed representative and Chair of the ICEB Research committee. Natalie is an avid reader and loves to travel – her most memorable trip was to Coupvray, France, where she visited the birthplace of Louis Braille, the inventor of the braille code that she uses every day.