[blindkid] braille keyboards and such

[Richard Holloway]

I recently posted a question asking if anyone knew where I could buy a  
USB QWERTY keyboard with factory-made braille key caps. One person had  
a suggestion (thanks, Laura). Several others expressed concerns over  
using braille on keyboards even as a learning tool. Okay, well I  
wasn't really asking what everyone thought of my idea, I was just  
trying to see where I could buy what I wanted, but I do appreciate  
people wanting to help.

Here is my real concern though: Time and again on this list, I see  
people who I know are trying to help others respond so harshly that  
the person posting the question is likely to feel foolish at best or  
in the worst case more or less attacked. I have talked with enough  
other NOPBC members in-person at national conventions about this to  
learn that many parents (and I assume others) who subscribe and read  
posts here actually refrain from posting questions or comments  
specifically because they don't want to find themselves in a position  
of feeling embarrassed, attacked, or at times, even baited into an  
argument over matters intended to help our kids.

I've got a fairly thick skin. I know what I want to do in this case  
and I was looking for the equipment to try out my idea. Interestingly,  
I have yet to discover any evidence of how blind touch typists  
actually function on a braille capped keyboard (not one with stickers,  
real key caps) to learn if there really is much of an effect on them  
once they really can touch type, though my original intent was just to  
have this as an option to try out and see if it helps her initially  
learn the key locations-- just that simple.

This is another case where it seems really likely that a number of  
[fairly harsh] comments offered are based purely on speculation-- Yes,  
some have had bad experiences with stickers on key caps and with kids  
who are distracted by the braille. I get that, but nobody seems to  
even know where to get the keyboards I'm looking for, so how have you  
actually tried them out? And in particular, how have you tried them  
with a young child trying to learn key positions? If my child gets too  
distracted, I can plug in a different keyboard in a matter of  
seconds-- this is not a permanent  decision, it is a computer  
keyboard... Still, quite a few people seem to feel strongly that the  
actual keyboards which I think they have never seen or touched are a  
terrible idea. Curious indeed.

As to typing tutors (which were suggested by at least a couple of  
people), yes, we've tried them. We had one she loved for a short while  
about two years ago. Now she wants nothing to do with it (or any  
similar program). I suspect that part of the issue is actually all of  
the praise from the programs. Kendra does not wish to hear she did a  
good job on much of anything and is fairly likely to say or indeed  
argue that she did NOT if told that to excess, so we try to avoid any  
large amount of praise.

Thanks again for everyone's efforts & suggestions, but can we just try  
and react a bit more gently on this list when we are not in total  
agreement with ideas we run across in the future? If harsh comments  
run off even one parent who may have had a chance to benefit here or  
to share and help others with their own experiences, I think that  
would be a real tragedy.

Richard