[blindkid] reply blindkid Digest, Vol 81, Issue 11

Margie & Deryck Smith deryck at mweb.co.za
Fri Jan 14 06:41:20 UTC 2011


TV watching for Low Vision kids

We have a grandson with low vision - he's almost 3.

You know the small dvd screens that the kids watch in cars?  We have
connected one of these to our TV.  Cam can now hold his own TV as close to
his face as is best for his sight, and also can see the 'whole' picture, and
the rest of the family can watch on the big screen.  

This might help?


-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of blindkid-request at nfbnet.org
Sent: 13 January 2011 08:00 PM
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Subject: blindkid Digest, Vol 81, Issue 11

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Today's Topics:

   1. LED backlit TV -- is it a good choice for low vision kid?
      (amydarlington at comcast.net)
   2. Re: LED backlit TV -- is it a good choice for low vision	kid?
      (Kim Cunningham)
   3. Re: LED backlit TV -- is it a good choice for low vision	kid?
      (Rene Harrell)
   4. Re: labeling diagrams (Joy Orton)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 01:16:29 +0000 (UTC)
From: amydarlington at comcast.net
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindkid] LED backlit TV -- is it a good choice for low
	vision kid?
Message-ID:
	
<201897273.955793.1294881389772.JavaMail.root at sz0012a.westchester.pa.mail.co
mcast.net>
	
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8



Hi, hope it's okay to cross-post this. We have two kids -- one of which has
albinism. She's sensitive to light and sees better if objects are high
contrast. She also needs to be pretty close to see images well. We're not
big TV watchers and rarely watch, but she is 3 now and a great age for
videos and things like Leapfrog (they have great Letter Factory CDs). We'd
like to set up an area where she can actually get close enough to the screen
to see. We have a place now for the TV where it will be at about her eye
level and she can get close. (Our other TV now is up in an armoire, so she
really can't see the picture.) 
We're looking at different models and trying to weigh what will be best. I
was wondering if anyone has thoughts about the LED- backlit LCD televisions.
They are just a little more but advertise a brighter display with better
contrast (and less power consumption). Does anyone have a child with low
vision who sees better with high contrast, and have they noticed a
difference with these? We really want to keep the cost down but if the LED
backlighting is really helpful, we might go with it. 

Thank you for any comments/suggestions! 

Amy 

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 06:35:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Kim Cunningham <kim at gulfimagesphoto.com>
To: " \(for parents of blind children\)NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List"
	<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] LED backlit TV -- is it a good choice for low
	vision	kid?
Message-ID: <188018.23736.qm at web601.biz.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Amy,
I can't reply to whether a back-lit LED TV is an option, however I would
like to suggest watching descriptive movies as an alternative. You can
download movies for free at 
http://www.blindmicemart.com/assets/product_images/movies2.html. You can
also purchase many videos in stores which contain descriptive videos. These
videos have both a picture for the sighted to view, and description of the
movie for the blind and low vision.?Doing this?would allow the entire family
to watch TV together and would not single the child out, being left alone.
My daughter is now 19 yrs. old and has "some" vision. I understand that, for
the most part, many educators and therapists, grasp on to the fact that our
children have "some" vision and want to treat them more sighted than blind.
How can a child with permanent vision loss ever have the ability to function
as fully sighted? How can a low vision child ever compete on equal grounds
with sighted children without the proper tools? I can tell you by
experiencing this personally, you must teach your child with low vision the
same techniques totally blind children learn such a braille, and great
mobility skills. My daughter was told to use her vision throughout her life.
Her reading speed was at best, half of her sighted peers. This is not an
equal playing field. She will NEVER visually read or accomplish a task the
same as sighted children. It is a misconception to believe learning visually
will give the child confidence and the ability to compete equally,
 eventually leading to competing equally in the workforce. In the end, we
all want our children to be successful throughout their educational careers,
thus leading into a successful employment career.
Braille and cane travel shoud be taught to low vision children the same way
a totally blind child learns. By knowing these techniques, our children can
participate in activities when it is dark, too bright, and?in unknown
environments, all the while creating self-confidence in their abilities.
I look forward to meeting you and hope you will plan to join the NFB family
during our National Convention in Orlando this summer. 
Regards,
Kim Cunningham
President, Texas Parents of Blind Children
www.tpobc.org

--- On Wed, 1/12/11, amydarlington at comcast.net <amydarlington at comcast.net>
wrote:


From: amydarlington at comcast.net <amydarlington at comcast.net>
Subject: [blindkid] LED backlit TV -- is it a good choice for low vision
kid?
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Date: Wednesday, January 12, 2011, 7:16 PM




Hi, hope it's okay to cross-post this. We have two kids -- one of which has
albinism. She's sensitive to light and sees better if objects are high
contrast. She also needs to be pretty close to see images well. We're not
big TV watchers and rarely watch, but she is 3 now and a great age for
videos and things like Leapfrog (they have great Letter Factory CDs). We'd
like to set up an area where she can actually get close enough to the screen
to see. We have a place now for the TV where it will be at about her eye
level and she can get close. (Our other TV now is up in an armoire, so she
really can't see the picture.) 
We're looking at different models and trying to weigh what will be best. I
was wondering if anyone has thoughts about the LED- backlit LCD televisions.
They are just a little more but advertise a brighter display with better
contrast (and less power consumption). Does anyone have a child with low
vision who sees better with high contrast, and have they noticed a
difference with these? We really want to keep the cost down but if the LED
backlighting is really helpful, we might go with it. 

Thank you for any comments/suggestions! 

Amy 
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oto.com


------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 08:18:41 -0700
From: Rene Harrell <rjharrell at gmail.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,	(for parents of blind children)"
	<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] LED backlit TV -- is it a good choice for low
	vision	kid?
Message-ID:
	<AANLkTikeuVDA3eboCKEFyuVNbRpXmJyRCQ6eQiOGAZ8Q at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hi Amy,

My name is Rene. My daughter Clare is 9 and also has some remaining vision.
It's not much, but due to some of her eye condition (her pupil is adhered to
her iris and cannot expand with light), she is *very* light seeking, and can
use her remaining vision best in bright light.

We do have a small LCD television set up next to our main television, so
that Clare can stand right up close and watch. I agree with the principles
that Kim espouses and we also use audio descriptive service (I was thrilled
that the new Toy Story 3 came out in stores with ADS!), but this was a case
that for enjoyment sake, I saw no reason not to allow Clare visual access to
the television. She was constantly wanting to go up and see the screen,
which meant that she was standing six inches away from the television, and
all my other children were constantly screaming "CLARE! I CAN'T SEE!
MOOOOOOVE!" We had a situation where I wasn't about to tell one set of
children over the other who was allowed to "watch" television that day or
not.

For us, television is a rare treat. We turn it on one day a week to allow
the kids to each pick a movie. It's entertainment. Clare can listen to the
audio description, but in this case she is highly entertained by catching
whatever bits of color go flashing by on the television screen at the same
time. She will call out once in a while "There's Buzz!" or other commentary
on what she sees visually.

Her vision will never be enough for her to be able to use to compete with
her sighted peers. Clare also has additional disabilities, but we fully
believe that she needs the skills of alternative techniques of blindness in
order to be able to acheive success and full integration on par with other
children/adults who share her other disabilities. However, T.V. in our house
is fun entertainment. She enjoys being able to use her limited vision to
visually "watch" a movie while listening to audio description. She was
constantly gravitating to our television to do just that, and I saw no
reason to tell her she shouldn't be able to take enjoyment out of that
activity. It doesn't hinder her ability to learn alternative blindness
techniques, we don't expect it to be visually educational, and she loves it.
For us, it was an easy decision.

The only thing I have found is that it can get tiring to stand there for as
long as a movie takes to watch. We have actually lowered the height of the
television now so that she can sit in a chair and watch, just like the other
kids sit on the couch. Because I have a rambunctious toddler now, I put the
T.V. up out of reach as soon as "Movie Monday" is over, so that Nathan can't
destroy the T.V. during the rest of the week. When it's movie time, I bring
it down and position it.

We've done this now for about three years, and it's worked well.

Rene in Colorado Springs--- mom of five wonderkids, including Miss Clare,
age 9, ROP

On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 6:16 PM, <amydarlington at comcast.net> wrote:

>
>
> Hi, hope it's okay to cross-post this. We have two kids -- one of which
has
> albinism. She's sensitive to light and sees better if objects are high
> contrast. She also needs to be pretty close to see images well. We're not
> big TV watchers and rarely watch, but she is 3 now and a great age for
> videos and things like Leapfrog (they have great Letter Factory CDs). We'd
> like to set up an area where she can actually get close enough to the
screen
> to see. We have a place now for the TV where it will be at about her eye
> level and she can get close. (Our other TV now is up in an armoire, so she
> really can't see the picture.)
> We're looking at different models and trying to weigh what will be best. I
> was wondering if anyone has thoughts about the LED- backlit LCD
televisions.
> They are just a little more but advertise a brighter display with better
> contrast (and less power consumption). Does anyone have a child with low
> vision who sees better with high contrast, and have they noticed a
> difference with these? We really want to keep the cost down but if the LED
> backlighting is really helpful, we might go with it.
>
> Thank you for any comments/suggestions!
>
> Amy
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
>
>
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/rjharrell%40gmail.
com
>



-- 
" I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up
where I needed to be."
-- Douglas Adams


------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 11:11:50 -0600
From: Joy Orton <ortonsmom at gmail.com>
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [blindkid] labeling diagrams
Message-ID:
	<AANLkTiknEibLNGSfd884chWFdiNM3HEWBhJawE5HXrwX at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hi Rosina,
You need to look at two aspects of the learning situation: learning the
information and demonstrating that you have learned it. For learning you can
get creative, but for demonstrating, if it is a test, you want to be careful
of the format.

There is special paper that goes into the copier and raises everything black
on the page. That might work for an enlarged, raised diagram.It gets all of
the lines, including from the label to the diagram. It also raises every
smudge or dot on the page.

Another possiblilty is to make your own tactile cell using craft materials
such as felt, cork, velcro, rickrack, wikki sticks (or bendaroos), chenille
sticks, pom-poms, and more. How do you get all this stuff?
1. Spend a bunch of money at the craft store
2. Raid garage sales for boxes of unfinished crafts
3. Check with aunts, cousins, grandmas, and friends who sew or craft for
scraps from projects.

This is a lot of work, and it may feel awkward if you are not a crafter, but
you can make a really cool diagram of a cell or flower or whatever you are
studying. If the student works with you, it will help him learn the
concepts, and show that he knows them.

You also have to keep in mind that if he has to label a diagram for a test,
he needs to study the same kind of diagram that will be on the test. That
is, if the test has the glue-raised lines, he needs to study the glue-raised
line diagram. Otherwise it's not really a fair test. If it is following the
lines from the label to the item that is the problem, maybe he can point and
answer orally on that part of the test.

Hope this helps.

>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:13:04 -0800 (PST)
> From: Rosina Solano <colemangirly at yahoo.com>
> To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [blindkid] labeling diagrams?
> Message-ID: <86553.28649.qm at web111722.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
>
> I have a question about labeling diagrams.? How do the kids do these?
> ?
> Right now the school super enlarges one like a picture of a plant cell.?
> Then they go over parts of the diagram with glue to make raised parts for
> the chromosomes, nucleous, etc.? Roman has braille labels to glue onto
these
> areas.? Problem, even though Roman has some vision this is totally
> inadequate in my line of thinking.? The pictures are diverse, but the glue
> spots are not, how is he to tell the difference?? Also, the lines that
point
> to the "raised" areas do not have glue on them, so he can't even follow
them
> to the line to put the label on.
> Even if this was all raised, I feel there has got to be a better way to
> label diagrams.? How have any of you done this?? Please really spell
things
> out as I am visually dependant, with no imagination.
> ?
> Thank you so much!!!
> ?
> Rosina
> ?
>
>


------------------------------

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