[blindkid] slate & stylus

[Richard Holloway]

I love the idea of this product. I just watched a little youtube video about it. The question that jumps out at me is if the braille is as readable and durable as when produced from behind.

I want to be super-clear about this-- I'm just curious and the ONLY thing that supports my curiosity is a TINY glimpse from the youtube video, but the sample I saw (only shown for a moment) seemed to sort of "pucker" around the braille. Maybe I saw that incorrectly, or maybe it is not an issue when read by touch? The paper in the kit looks more like typing paper than the card-stock paper we generally use-- that could be it as well. Apparently the unit will let you emboss DYMO tape, which would seem to suggest that heavy paper should work without issue.

Does anyone who has used these have any more direct info to share on the quality of the braille produced? I would suspect even if the quality is reduced it would still have some great uses but it would be nice to have a bit of an idea as to what quality might be expected.

The video I found is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gOr2GsI5C4

Thanks,

Richard

On May 14, 2011, at 8:29 PM, Leslie Ligon wrote:

> Eric, thanks for letting us know your family's situation. You are right in your thinking - it's because you pushed to give the boys all they could get because we don't know the future - none of us does. I'm happy to hear the transition has been smoother than you'd expected. Ethan, much like Petras, is pretty independent, and an academically strong student. He will say he's lucky for the same reasons, and that he's just fine being blind; he doesn't feel like anything needs to be 'fixed.'
> 
> As for the slate and stylus, I ordered about 20 from RNIB that are a new style called a Braille King. The good thing about them is they don't have to be used backwards (right to left) because the styus is made with a hole in the tip so the paper is actually pushed down around a circle, instead of being pushed down in a full dome. Think about the way a plastic syringe looks without the needle in it. If you press it onto your skin, it makes a circle on your arm, not an indention.
> 
> It was a man who's blind, named Mr. King, who came up with the idea. The idea is great, and I think a lot more people would use that as a tool if they used one like this, so that when you want to make a dot 1, you do, in fact, press the paper in the dot 1 place on the slate, not the opposite.
> 
> The only problem I have with the one I've been carrying since I got them is that it's not metal, and therefore would probably not hold up as long.
> 
> I'll have them listed on the site, but until then, if you're interested, you can contact me off list. They're $25.00. (The only other US site that has them is Independent Living Aids, and they sell them for $32.00.) Ethan's braille teacher enjoys having hers, too!
> 
> Best,
> Leslie
> 
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