[blindkid] Appology in order

Sun Aug 22 02:35:06 UTC 2010

Thanks Bonnie,

As you know me personally and from off this list as well, you already  
know that you are always welcome to contact me directly. I did not  
intend to turn this into a major situation and I was not trying to  
make anyone feel bad for comments offered with no doubt the best of  
intentions, so I offer my apologies to anyone whom I may have  
offended. I was also not fishing for an apology and I regret that my  
message apparently came across sounding as if I was.

I remain anxious and curious to hear back from that one company which  
said on their web site to "ask" if you were interested in a USB  
keyboard with the moulded braille key caps (from Laura's link). I did  
ask, but they have yet to answer. I hate to pay $120 for a PS2 model  
keyboard which would have to be adapted to work in some applications  
and probably be less reliable than USB as well, but I don't have any  
idea why they'd just say to "ask" about a USB model, as if they  
thought they "might" be able to supply one. (I wouldn't think they  
would suddeny produce a single unit on demand.) This seems like a  
thing you'd either have available or you wouldn't.

Ironically, this may all become a moot discussion. Yesterday, I walked  
up to Kendra's computer to find several lines of text nicely typed on  
the screen. Except for perhaps a single incorrect character, the  
typing was perfect. I know my 4-year-old didn't do it, and none of the  
"big people" in the house typed it (Stephanie, myself or our  
teenager), and Kendra had been exploring the computer just before that.

Kendra denies typing this paragraph which began with the phrase "My  
name is Kendra". (Some would call that a "clue".) I think she  
suggested some manor of fairy was the author (the fairy pretending to  
be her-- you know how those fairies can be.)  While my son would  
doubtless tell us that a mischievous leprechaun was the probable  
culprit, I'm pretty certain it was neither a leprechaun OR a fairy.

As I mentioned before, Kendra doesn't want to admit to being able to  
do anything when she feels she has less than complete mastery of the  
skill. I'd really like to know if this took only moments (as if she  
had typed it on her Braillenote) or if she just "hunted and pecked"  
slowly until she heard (by way of JAWS) that she had the right keys.  
Whatever the case, she's still refusing to type with an audience. I  
suppose sooner or later I will "catch her typing" or overhear another  
attempt and maybe I can get a better grasp of where she really is with  
all of this.

Still, if someone runs across the keyboard I mentioned somewhere, I'd  
like to see about having one to explore.

Again, I appreciate the efforts and intentions of all who responded to  
my initial post.

Sincerely,

Richard

On Aug 21, 2010, at 6:54 PM, Bonnie Lucas wrote:

> I'm afraid that I was one of those who made comments on Richard's  
> post based
> on my personal experience. Of course, I have never heard of anyone  
> putting
> Braille on keys so I based my comments on that. I would like to be a  
> big
> girl and say that I'm sorry for offending. I do want this list to be  
> one
> where people can ask questions and get the answers to the questions  
> they
> ask. I considered just writing Richard personally so as not to call
> attention to myself;  however, perhaps all of us could be willing to  
> stick
> our necks out a bit and offer apologies when we have hurt someone's  
> feelings
> or offended them. So, Richard, I hope you will share with us the  
> outcome of
> your search and how it works for Kendra. Who knows, she might even  
> start a
> new thing for teaching blind kids to type. Best of luck and warm  
> regards.
> Bonnie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Holloway [mailto:rholloway at gopbc.org]
> Sent: Friday, August 20, 2010 4:35 PM
> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
> Subject: [blindkid] braille keyboards and such
>
> 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
>
>
>
>
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