[blindkid] Technology and Little Kid

[David Andrews]

Richard:

Thanks for the ideas.  Not to be argumentative but I don't 
necessarily agree with your placement of slate.  Most kids today are 
not good slate and stylus users because it is downplayed by 
professionals, and they get the Braille Writer first.  I started with 
slate first, at six and didn't get a Braille Writer until 2nd or 3rd 
grade, so I am very good with slate.  To do it the other way around 
guarantees that the slate will always be a second class citizen.

Dave

At 11:42 PM 2/17/2010, you wrote:
>Certainly the slate and stylus (as someone else mentioned) is not a
>bad idea, but a child in this age range is probably not going to have
>the fine motor control to master the tool's use easily or likely be
>ready for the whole mirror image concept.
>
>A child of nearly any age can begin using a Perkins Braillewriter-- I
>know we were using one by at least age three. At the very least a
>braille novice can "scribble" on a braillewriter, just like my sighted
>almost-4-year-old scribbles on paper with a crayon all the time.
>Braillewriting skill with a young child emerges at least somewhat like
>writing emerges with a sighted child-- not all letters at once and at
>first, just like penmanship is typically pretty poor-- this after the
>child has first just pressed the keys at random-- indeed "scribbling"
>just like sighted kids. Getting the feel of the tools to use is an
>important first step. It is hard for small hands to properly press and
>form braille mechanically with a Perkins, but you are building hand
>and finger strength and forming braille concepts all along the way.
>Many schools can provide a second braillewriter for the student to use
>at home for free once the child is in school.
>
>I think that often the way to go is to immerse the child within all
>the options that can be gotten as the child appears ready to take to
>them-- at least that was our theory when our daughter was born, and in
>fact, it continues to be the same way to this day, then we focus on
>what she seems ready to take to-- she'll ultimately use most all of
>these things. There is also an entire range of tactile graphics
>solutions and manipulatives. You can produce these with pipe cleaners,
>and a bottle of glue, or you can use a multi-thousand dollar
>thermoform; quite a range of options exists.
>
>Now at age 7, Kendra uses a BrailleNote and PAC Mate daily but still
>uses a Perkins often, as well as an abacus for her math, JAWS on her
>computer and so forth. She also works well with refreshable braille
>and that can be a really handy option. The next big challenge I see
>for her is needing to learn a qwerty keyboard, so there can be a lot
>of technology in use by an early age.
>
>It is also really important to expose the child to braille as much as
>possible. A sighted child sees print everywhere. Make certain this
>child runs across braille often. Now in first grade and a proficient
>braille reader, our first grade daughter still runs across the braille
>stickers on things all over the house-- refrigerator, dishwasher,
>table, drawer, oven, door, bed-- you name it. This will cause the
>child to ask questions-- just like a sighted child-- "what is this"
>and later "what do these letters say?-- what do they mean?" Also, use
>twin vision books-- sighted kids look at letters while parents read
>most every time. Blind kids can do the same-- that's why it is best
>when adding braille to a print book to always put the braille below
>the print-- a sighted reader can still read while small hands are
>exploring the braille.
>
>Screen readers can be used at that age as well as a victor reader.
>Things like Mt Battens are expensive but potentially useful, but be
>careful that an electronic (and expensive) solution like a Mt. Batten
>or a PAC Mate is not learned at the expense of being able to use a
>mechanical braillewriter as that need will almost certainly come up
>all of this child's life, at least from time to time.
>
>I'd like to rework this link, and our site is about to get a facelift
>overall too but here are some technology ideas that you might direct
>her towards. Let her see a range of options and then she can decide
>which way she wants to proceed.
>
>http://www.gopbc.org/gopbc_technology.htm
>
>
>Richard
>
>
>
>
>On Feb 17, 2010, at 10:01 PM, David Andrews wrote:
>
>>I got asked a question, the other day, and since most of my
>>experience is with blind adults -- I didn't know quite what to say.
>>A woman said she had a four year old totally blind daughter, and she
>>wanted her to keep up with her peers in technology, so what
>>assistive technology/technology is there  -- should she start using
>>with her child?
>>
>>Dave