[blindkid] Technology and Little Kid

[Richard Holloway]

My main basis for that is that our daughter still struggles with the  
slate and stylus even with a good deal of exposure while she excels  
with the brailler, PacMate, Braillenote, etc., and will soon (I  
suspect) begin to master the qwerty options as well She seems to have  
trouble with precise placement of the stylus to hit the right dot. I  
do suspect if it were her only option, she's be better at it, but at  
the same time, she can pretty well braille as fast as she might  
dictate a letter. I cannot imagine a first grader (or anyone for that  
matter) who can do that with a slate.

Again, I'm working with direct history from a sample of one child.   
(Your mileage may vary!)

I can say this with some certainty though-- my pens & pencils will  
always be second class citizens to my laptop and the reality is that  
I'm, probably 10 or 20 times more productive with a laptop than a pen  
and paper so I have no problem with that. Do any of us these days work  
better without a computer? For myself, I draw the line at not having  
the pen & paper / slate & stylus option available at all; that is  
dangerous.


Richard




On Feb 18, 2010, at 1:13 PM, David Andrews wrote:

> 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