[blindkid] braille learning as fun!

Wed Jun 9 12:58:00 UTC 2010

Encourage him to look with his fingers too.  Try to make it a game.
labeling things and using Braille print.  I use a counting frame to count
beads and later will use it to add and subtract.  Use things like string
beads to make necklaces, sorting colored macaroni, anything that gets him
using his fingers.  Put things in a bag and have him figure out what it is
using his hands.  He should learn print and Braille.  At age five almost
anything you do with him is fun.  They just like to explore stuff.  Sounds
like you have a good handle on it.
Brandy you might be able to add more, as you have more experience with this.
Blessings,
Sue H.

On Tue, Jun 8, 2010 at 3:21 PM, Marie <empwrn at bellsouth.net> wrote:

> Hey Richard, can you give me some ideas of things that you did to make
> learning Braille fun for Kendra. Jack needs letters 2 to 3 inches high for
> near vision so I am definitely thinking he needs to learn Braille and have
> put Braille in his environment with labels and such and we have
> Braille-Print books. However he is VERY attracted to print but Braille does
> not seem to mean anything to him yet. It may have to do with (lack of)
> fingertip sensitivity (have no idea how sensitive they are since he is
> still
> learning to talk and this would be a difficult concept to discuss with any
> 5
> yr old). He wants signs read to him and he tries to spell ALL the time.
> Ideas?
>
> Marie (mother of Jack, born May 2005)
> Check out our blog at http://www.allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com for
> glimpses into our busy life with a boy who is busy growing and developing
> in
> his own way in his own time
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Richard Holloway
> Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2010 11:48 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
> Subject: [blindkid] Wii Thoughts
>
> I'm wondering if any of us has actually had "hands on" this device,
> and who among us has actually seen that video or had it described to
> us...
>
>  From what I can discern, this "electronic cane" is basically a fairly
> conventional cane with a chunk in the middle that has been replaced by
> a pair of shafts with what appears to be some sort of a motion-sensing
> device that hangs between the the shafts. I suspect it would feel like
> a slightly awkward and heavier-than-usual cane. This is not some crazy
> alternative-to a-cane contraption. It is also (from what I can tell)
> FAR closer to a typical cane than the Wii Guitar is to an actual
> guitar, for whatever that may be worth. Despite it's similarity with a
> "proper" cane, it also does not appear to be offered as a replacement
> to a cane in any way.
>
> My guess is that (much like with the knfb reader) among so many other
> pieces of technology, over time the device would shrink and could
> ultimately feel (and in fact be) a typical cane that happens to offer
> the features of a Wii input device as well. (Perhaps you could even
> attach a small device around a personal cane for this at some point.)
>
> I keep hearing so much apprehension and resistance to what this device
> claims to offer but no evidence that it really won't work or certainly
> anything that shows this to be detrimental to cane travelers' skills.
> What I did hear however, is that it apparently has inspired and
> pleased a number of the kids who have been trying it out. Again, I'm
> not picking up an anything bad there. I hear that some people
> apparently think learning to use a cane should NOT be fun. Well, let
> me tell you-- if my daughter thinks something is fun, she's going to
> do it a lot more often and a lot better than something she dislikes
> and I'm suspecting this is not unique to Kendra. In my experience,
> Kendra really enjoys reading and writing braille. She has fun doing it
> now, because she actually had fun learning to read braille and it has
> nearly always been associated with positive experiences for her. Many
> of the ways she learned to read were very much game-like, Now she
> reads several years ABOVE grade level and she's only just finished
> first grade. Does anyone want to suggest to me that while it is okay
> if she enjoys reading NOW, she should NOT have enjoyed LEARNING to
> read? Does that make sense to anyone?
>
> I was recently looking at a braille compass in a store. Then I saw an
> electronic compass. I don't know how well it works, but the concept is
> interesting. So consider this-- put the electronic compass into a cane
> which tells you which way you're pointing at will. Or why not a GPS in
> a cane? Does that sound excessive or overly complicated? Well it may
> be, but what is much more likely is that things like this Wii cane
> could develop into something like a conventional cane (or cane
> attachment) with a bluetooth interface that could send whatever data
> the sensors in the cane are made to pickup, then you could interface
> that with whatever you wanted-- a compass system, a GPS, or probably
> any number of other devices.
>
> There was a time when telephones were not mobile, then some people had
> the "crazy" idea of putting them in cars and then briefcases. Those
> became "bag phones" that became the "brick" cell phones which became
> pocket sized phones like many of us have now. Ultimately, a pocket
> phone can encompass everything from a PDA to a GPS system to a knfb
> reader and who knows what else?
>
> It looks to me like the Wii system, in many ways is actually at least
> part of something somewhat like a simulator for cane travel. You can
> actually travel with it (at least a bit) but not in a "real world"
> environment. Well, the simulator concept is a proven one. People learn
> to do all sorts of things in them all over the world. Often it keeps
> them safe, makes learning faster, and saves time and money. Again, I
> have trouble seeing the down side. Every time I get on a airplane, I'm
> delighted to know the pilot may have spent a lot of time in a
> simulator AS WELL AS actually flying. All of that is hopefully keeping
> me safer in the air!
>
> The NFB really is working towards cars that would be reasonable for
> blind people to drive on their own. Not just an autonomous vehicle a
> blind person could own and ride in, but one that my child might be
> able to get in and drive on her own one day. It troubles me to observe
> other bashing ideas that may not only be useful and helpful right now,
> but which may very well lead to all sorts of additional helpful
> technologies for all of our kids in the future. I hope we can all keep
> this in mind when we're exploring and discussing new developments in
> technology.
>
> Once upon a time someone came up with a strange and awkward concept
> for sending messages that could be read in the dark in combat areas.
> It didn't work very well at all and it needed a lot of refining. I
> expect many people thought it was a ridiculous concept, and a waste of
> time, but today I don't think so many of us would announce that
> Braille is a foolish or useless invention.
>
> Just my thoughts on the matter.
>
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