[blindkid] learning braille & print?

[David Andrews]

This is good advice, while a young kid may be able to keep up, with 
print, as he gets older, and the demands increase, many kids just 
can't keep up with print.

It is best to learn Braille early, much easier.

Dave

At 02:25 PM 6/30/2012, you wrote:
>My son is a dual media learner.  He has albinism, and a corrected vision of
>around 20/400.  He started learning braille in kindergarten, and is now
>entering 4th grade.  One of the more challenging things with being a dual
>media learner is that there's a lot to learn with Braille... it takes time
>to learn all of the contractions, so for a while, your child may find print
>reading easier, faster, and perhaps more appealing.  I know that for my
>son, there was a long period of time where he could read more advanced
>material in print than in braille, so he gravitated toward print books.  I
>had to require that he read braille books.  We found the Braille Readers
>are Leaders contest to be very motivational for him.  But this year (3rd
>grade), his braille skills finally have (far) surpassed his print skills.
>  He can read books like Harry Potter, Charlie Bone, etc. in braille, and he
>can only read early readers and (sometimes) easy chapter books.  Eye
>fatigue is a huge issue for him, and he really cannot sustain the print
>reading for long.  I am a big supporter of the dual media approach.
>
>In terms of overloading your child, I wouldn't worry about it.  Kids are
>like sponges and your son is at the ideal age to learn braille.  For my
>son, he learned braille using the Patterns series, and also followed the
>normal reading/language arts curriculum in large print.  Other people use
>different approaches.
>
>Karen Leinart
>
>From: Nicole Cannon <nicole at cannonig.com>
> > To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
> > Cc:
> > Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:56:30 -0400
> > Subject: [blindkid] learning braille & print?
> > My son is almost 5 with visual acuity about 20/200.  He can see large
> > print, but I've noticed he seems to be a tactile learner.  I've been
> > reading about learning to be a dual reader to give him the most tools, but
> > I'm somewhat concerned about overloading him with too many things to learn
> > at once.  Does anyone have any input on the best way to go about teaching
> > him Braille and print?  I'm going to talk to his IU teacher also, but so
> > far, the IU has been focusing on using the vision he has.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Nicole