[blindkid] Technology and Little Kid

Heather craney07 at rochester.rr.com
Fri Feb 19 12:56:04 UTC 2010


I'm merely stating that there is a higherarchy in which all things mentioned 
have varying degrees of importance and rellivance, depending on the child in 
question and their situation.  A vs B does not mean A should be thrown out 
the window in favor of B, it can just as easily mean A is better than B, or 
A is more appropriate than B in cases C through G but B is preferable to A 
in cases H through P.  Ok, enough letters this early in the morning.  I can 
tell I've been doing far too much algebra homework lately.  *laughs*
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 10:51 PM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Technology and Little Kid


> Well Heather,  part of my point is that it shouldn't have to be an either 
> or situation.  You talk about slate versus brailler, or slate versus cane 
> or toilet training.  Life isn't that way, everything is a balance and we 
> need some of it all.
>
> Dave
>
> At 05:35 PM 2/18/2010, you wrote:
>>I am not jumping into the brailler vs slate thing any more than I already 
>>have, but I have to say that cane to get around safely and knowing how to 
>>dial 911 sort of trumps slate use.  Just as eating, drinking and toiliting 
>>skills for young children trump things like working a piece of technology. 
>>Someone earlier on in the thread made a very good point, that we are 
>>debating methods of braille, and not really talkking about methods of 
>>play, navigation and social learning, which are equally important.
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
>>To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" 
>><blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>>Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 1:13 PM
>>Subject: Re: [blindkid] Technology and Little Kid
>>
>>
>>>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
>
>
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