[blindkid] teacher gifts?

Colleen Davis bldhnds52 at yahoo.com
Mon Dec 14 23:22:00 UTC 2009


Dear Carly,
First of all, how nice of you to think of your child's teacher! Those teachers/therapists outside of the classroom often are overlooked. Amazon.com gift certificates are good--you can buy music, books, just about anything from them.

One of my students made a desk name plate for me in "Braille". The dots were made with puff paint and were not true to size but I love it and people always ask about it when they see it. I think that almost any homemade gift would be treasured, just as you treasure those that your child made for you. It has been front and center of my desk for 12 years now.

I have seen plastic molds for chocolate or homemade soap on ebay that have messages in Braille. They aren't very expensive and can be used over and over.

There is a type of candy that you may have seen that are colored dots stuck to a roll of paper. The dots are just like a Braille cell. You can carefully remove the dots to make a message. One year, my kids removed the dots to spell "For You" and gave them to classmates (clean hands, please!).

Make bookmarks brailled with inspirational quotes, especially by people with visual impairments. I used old calendars (the APH calendars are great) because the paper is stiff enough to braille and to be an efficient bookmark.

Another year we made "eye pillows", used to relieve stress, headaches, etc.. I sewed the satin material almost all the way around, just leaving enough room for a funnel to be inserted. The kids mixed dry rice (cheapest brand) with lavender and camomile essential oils (I got gloves from the nurse for them to wear), then filled the pillows using the funnel. I stitched up the rest of the opening. The dimensions were about 9" X 4". The pillows can be microwaved or put in the freezer, depending on what kind of compress the recipient needs. :-) That year, all the ladies in my family got one and everyone liked them. I still have mine 5 years later and put it to regular use!

I hope that helps give you some ideas. I like to make things a shands-on as possible, even if takes a little longer. Multisensory activities are good, too. Anything that comes from the child's heart is by far the best.

Good luck with your gifts. I would love to get some more ideas from other TVIs and parents.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Colleen
TVI in TX

--- On Mon, 12/14/09, Carly B <barnesraiser at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Carly B <barnesraiser at gmail.com>
Subject: [blindkid] teacher gifts?
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Date: Monday, December 14, 2009, 1:05 PM

>There are a couple of books that may be helpful, too--Guidelines and
>Games for Efficient Braille Reading (an oldie but goodie) and
>Beginning with Braille (both AFB Press) and the Bridge to Braille (NFB).

This got me thinking: would any of these make good gifts for my son's
Braille teacher? Or does anyone have any other ideas? I always like to give
a smallish gift to my sons' teachers about this time. Sometimes it's just a
gift card to the local teacher store, sometimes it's to a local nursery
(though that makes a nicer gift at the end of school). Any suggestions
greatly appreciated! :)

And thanks, Carol, for the book ideas above. I have the last two but had not
heard of the first and am ordering it for myself for Christmas! :) (I found
it for about $29 at Amazon and $25 directly from AFB... just a word to the
wise! :)

Merry Christmas all!

:) Carolynn Barnes
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