[blindkid] computers as school credit
Arielle Silverman
arielle71 at gmail.com
Sun Sep 16 04:32:48 UTC 2012
Hi all,
I believe that school officials share responsibility with parents in
ensuring that any child gets a good, sound and appropriate education.
That goes for both sighted and blind kids. I absolutely think that a
TVI should actively work toward technology goals on an IEP. What I am
arguing for is allowing a blind child to be exposed to technology and
engage in self-discovery and exploration in addition to any formal
instruction provided by the school. This means that if the school
fails to fulfill its part, for whatever reason, the child is not lost.
They have an alternative way of learning these skills.
In my past emails on this topic I always used the word
"self-teaching". I have never stated that a parent should provide
direct instruction nor that they need to be proficient in technology
themselves. I do believe that parents have the power to facilitate
blind children's technology education by providing access to computers
at home, giving the child very basic instructions on how to turn the
screen reader on and how to read or listen to the instruction manuals,
and telling the child about fun new ways to use the computer. The rest
can be directed by the child him or herself. It is much like reading;
the school should provide reading and writing instruction to all
students, sighted and blind, but the parents can facilitate this
process by providing books in Braille or print, encouraging kids to
read, reading to them, etc. I am saying all this to try and empower
all of you as parents and to let you know that you needn't depend
entirely on the school, not to place blame or imply that anyone is not
doing what they should.
I am also very aware that JAWS is cost-prohibitive for many families.
That is why, in all my posts, I stress the availability of free screen
readers, including VoiceOver, System Access, and NVDA. The reason I
was specifically mentioning JAWS in reply to Rosina's original post is
that rosina said she purchased JAWS and a laptop for her son, and I
wanted to give her some information about how I learned JAWS and what
resources are out there so Roman can begin to get familiar with JAWS
on his own. Again, I don't think Rosina herself needs to be
proficient in JAWS or computers in order for this to happen. And there
is absolutely no harm in having him play with the technology on his
own. The worst that happens is that he gets frustrated and gives up,
and then you're back to square one. But as a bright student, it is
likely he will quickly get the hang of it if he has the opportunity to
do so.
I just called my parents up to verify the accuracy of the things I
have said about my own learning. I received JAWS as a gift for my
seventh birthday, and my dad, who is very tech-savvy but knows little
about JAWS, set it up for me and gave me the instruction manual, and
then walked out. I spent many hours thereafter playing with the
keyboard and commands, and would ask questions if I ran into trouble,
but my parents did not know JAWS well, so I usually had to bail myself
out. I don't recall my parents even being in the room with me
throughout most of the process. When I was older, I learned Word,
Excel and PowerPoint completely on my own. Because I was self-taught,
there are a few little tricks with these programs that I don't know
yet, and my blind friends are teaching me new things all the time.
But, I know enough to get my work done.
I think there is a good reason why the NFB centers stress structured
discovery in all their classes, not just travel. In my own case, my
parents encouraged me to learn Braille and computers through
structured discovery--by being repeatedly exposed to them and
exploring them on my own until I was competent with them. However,
with cane travel and daily living skills, my parents were much more
reticent and mostly relied on the "professionals" to teach me in a
very formal way, and I had little opportunity to practice these skills
in between lessons. As an adult, you can guess which skills I am
naturally comfortable with and which skills I am not. There is
something about knowledge that is gained through repeated experience
and self-directed exploration, which is stronger than knowledge
gained through formal lessons alone. It probably goes all the way down
to the neurological level. And though some of the techniques we use
are a little different than those the sighted use, we can, and should,
learn them in much the same manner as sighted people do. As parents
you have the power to set the stage so these kinds of discovery
experiences can happen for your children.
I wrote this to try to start some dialogue about how we can support
self-teaching and discovery-based learning for blind kids. I am sure
there are issues and barriers I am not aware of yet, and I welcome
your feedback and discussion of this subject. I am on this list and
writing these emails because as a former blind child, I care deeply
about the educational welfare of the current generation of blind
students not only in terms of the education they are getting now, but
in terms of the independence and self-reliance they are getting that
will stay with them for the rest of their lives. I want to work with
all of you to try to figure out how we can stop more kids from failing
classes, and I am aware that twisting the arms of uncooperative or
incompetent school personnel is only part of the solution. I am
sharing my experience in the hope of helping us think of creative ways
we can help blind kids learn and use technology.
Best,
Arielle
On 9/15/12, Penny Duffy <pennyduffy at gmail.com> wrote:
> Traci
>
> Please don't lose heart the NFB offers so much to kids. One of the best
> thing I have done since my daughter became blind is join the NFB and find
> my family in the NOPBC. The members really care about all our kids. Do
> they all understand what's its like to be a parent of a blind child no but
> they do care. I wanted to follow up that none of us are super parents but
> you want to know someone who is pretty close .. Rosina. All we can do is
> go day by day and learn what we can and like all parents maybe we mess up a
> little but I know am I am doing a pretty good job when I see what my
> daughter is growing into. She is going to be ok even if it takes me a
> little while to wrap my head around JAWS
>
> -Penny
> On Sep 15, 2012 10:22 PM, "Traci Wilkerson" <traci.renee27 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> It's hard to put them in front of a computer when they are very active.
>> They play outside, all day, every day if they can. I feel like I'm
>> making
>> them a couch potato when we do any tech time. They are not interested in
>> tv, etc, but mostly love music. They do enjoy their ipads, but they can
>> go
>> weeks without touching it. Like I said, I want my kids to enjoy being
>> kids
>> too.
>>
>> I also agree that parents do seem to come under a lot of fire here. I
>> don't care for some of the nfb attitudes, but I appreciate some of the
>> wisdom of those who hbdt. All parents don't operate the same, just as
>> all
>> our children are different, we all shouldn't be placed in the same box.
>> We
>> have different school systems, education and income levels, etc and we
>> all
>> do the best we can. We aren't all super-parents, but we try our best.
>>
>> Traci
>> On Sep 15, 2012 7:08 PM, "Arielle Silverman" <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Yes, I totally think they should have the chance to explore software
>> > on their own during computer lab. In fact, rather than being guided
>> > step-by-step through every exercise, it might be good to have someone
>> > teach themthe basics, but then allow them to figure out more advanced
>> > problems on their own. It will teach them how to do this independently
>> > when software changes, or when they no longer have access to a TVI.
>> > Also, I know I'm a nerd to be saying this, but I really think that
>> > computer use can be a component of fun time or free time on the
>> > weekends and such. It shouldn't be the only leisure activity kids do,
>> > but playing games online or watching videos on YouTube can be one of
>> > many leisure activities for them to enjoy that also happens to be
>> > educational.
>> > Arielle
>> >
>> > On 9/15/12, Traci Wilkerson <traci.renee27 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > > Or yes, allow them to explore the sw on their own during computer
>> > > lab,
>> if
>> > > someone isn't competent to show them.
>> > >
>> > > Traci
>> > > On Sep 15, 2012 5:37 PM, "Traci Wilkerson" <traci.renee27 at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> > >
>> > >> I understand your question Arielle, but I know my kids are young and
>> we
>> > >> already experience time crunch now at 5 and 7 after school, by the
>> time
>> > >> we
>> > >> get home, let the kids chill and play for a bit, do homework (which
>> can
>> > >> take sometimes an hour if its a battle), make dinner and its then
>> > >> bedtime.
>> > >> I'm sure older kids may have some more time but I'm sure homework
>> > >> also
>> > >> takes longer. I would love to do more tech with my kids but I also
>> want
>> > >> them to enjoy being kids. They have computer lab time at school, so
>> in
>> > >> my
>> > >> eyes the school needs to be teaching them the skills they need at
>> > >> that
>> > >> time. They shouldn't be sitting there letting someone click through
>> > >> screens "pretending" my child is doing something on their own. Yes,
>> we
>> > >> have already had this. So if they are in the class, yes! the school
>> > >> should
>> > >> be teaching it in a way relevant to what they need. No excuses for
>> them
>> > >> not too.
>> > >>
>> > >> Traci
>> > >> On Sep 15, 2012 5:26 PM, "Arielle Silverman" <arielle71 at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> > >>
>> > >>> Hi all,
>> > >>> Forgive me for beating a dead horse, but I just don't understand
>> > >>> why
>> > >>> we are waiting on school personnel who aren't very tech-savvy to
>> teach
>> > >>> blind kids JAWS when the JAWS program has excellent user
>> > >>> documentation, enabling any blind student to learn JAWS on their
>> > >>> own?
>> > >>> Why are blind kids having to do a boring tech tutorial at school
>> > >>> when
>> > >>> they could be playing online games, using Facebook or looking up
>> > >>> cool
>> > >>> things on the Internet at home, like their sighted peers are?
>> > >>> I believe that the way a sighted child first learns to use the
>> > >>> computer is by sitting down in front of it and looking around the
>> > >>> screen, eventually learning to identify the different icons, the
>> start
>> > >>> menu, programs on the desktop, etc. A blind child can learn the
>> > >>> exact
>> > >>> same way. Turn on JAWS, have them sit down and press the tab key,
>> > >>> or
>> > >>> arrow around the desktop, so they can hear all the different
>> > >>> programs
>> > >>> that are available to them. Have them open up a program like Word,
>> > >>> tell them to press the Alt key and they will be able to hear all
>> > >>> the
>> > >>> different options located in the menus or ribbons.
>> > >>> JAWS is not much more complicated than using Windows as a sighted
>> > >>> person. If a sighted person wants to move around the screen, they
>> > >>> use
>> > >>> the mouse; the JAWS user presses Tab or the arrow keys. If the
>> sighted
>> > >>> person wants to click something, they click the mouse; the blind
>> > >>> person presses the Enter key. There are more advanced keyboard
>> > >>> commands that a blind computer user can eventually memorize so they
>> > >>> don't have to go looking all around the screen, but these more
>> > >>> advanced commands aren't necessary for basic computer use. A blind
>> > >>> student who has basic computer knowledge, gained from exploration,
>> > >>> should be able to learn the more advanced commands independently
>> > >>> from
>> > >>> a tutorial.
>> > >>> I learned JAWS twenty years ago when computers still used command
>> > >>> prompts and were much less user-friendly than they are today. Plus,
>> > >>> there wasn't much funn stuff to be done on the computer then, like
>> > >>> there is today. With all the free screen reader options out
>> nowadays,
>> > >>> I just don't understand why any blind child is not
>> > >>> technology-literate. Why wait for a student to fail a computer
>> > >>> course
>> > >>> when so many self-teaching opportunities exist at home?
>> > >>> Perhaps there are some kids who don't have the motivation or
>> attention
>> > >>> span to self-teach technology, but I suspect that will be a
>> > >>> minority
>> > >>> of students. Why not have them start on their own, and then ask the
>> > >>> school to help if they get stuck?
>> > >>> If there is something I am missing please let me know. I do not
>> intend
>> > >>> to offend anyone, but I really just want to better understand what
>> the
>> > >>> issue is and why parents aren't able to address it on their own.
>> > >>> Best,
>> > >>> Arielle
>> > >>>
>> > >>> On 9/15/12, Pat Renfranz <dblair2525 at msn.com> wrote:
>> > >>> > Hi Rosina,
>> > >>> > My daughter was in a similar boat: sluggish tech training,
>> > >>> > required
>> > >>> > computer
>> > >>> > tech class, etc. One thing we did to force the issue was to use
>> > >>> > the
>> > >>> course
>> > >>> > requirements to lay out what had to be done by the TVI during the
>> > >>> > year,
>> > >>> and
>> > >>> > put those as goals in the IEP. The goals were very specific. The
>> tech
>> > >>> > teacher was great at making sure the TVI knew the material and
>> > >>> > knew
>> > >>> > what
>> > >>> > needed to be taught. The district, knowing the TVI did not have
>> > >>> > the
>> > >>> skills,
>> > >>> > purchased training materials to lead the TVI step by step; the
>> > >>> > materials
>> > >>> > were from a company called DeWitt and Associates. I have no idea
>> > >>> > if
>> > >>> this is
>> > >>> > the best stuff out there (probably not!) and it was boring as
>> > >>> > heck
>> > for
>> > >>> my
>> > >>> > daughter, but it got her through the class. Because working
>> > >>> > through
>> > >>> > this
>> > >>> > took some time (why should anything be worked out before the
>> > >>> > school
>> > >>> > year
>> > >>> > start?), the teacher allowed my daughter to work on the class
>> > >>> > into
>> > the
>> > >>> next
>> > >>> > semester.
>> > >>> > pat
>> > >>> >
>> > >>> >
>> > >>> > On 9/13/12 3:56 PM, "Rosina Solano" <colemangirly at yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>> > >>> >
>> > >>> >>
>> > >>> >> Okay, so I just got a notice that my 9th grader is failing
>> computer
>> > >>> >> applications and it is a required course. WOW, possibly because
>> > they
>> > >>> >> haven't
>> > >>> >> taught him ANY computer or tech skills at all. And here is the
>> > >>> clincher,
>> > >>> >> if
>> > >>> >> he does fail it, he has to repeat it next year. Gee, if they
>> don't
>> > >>> give
>> > >>> >> him
>> > >>> >> the education to use JAWS and such I don't think it will matter
>> how
>> > >>> many
>> > >>> >> times
>> > >>> >> he repeats it.
>> > >>> >>
>> > >>> >> Maybe this will be the sign that I am not the only one who knows
>> > that
>> > >>> >> they
>> > >>> >> should be teaching him technology. Sigh
>> > >>> >>
>> > >>> >> Rosina Foster
>> > >>> >>
>> > >>> >>
>> > >>> >>
>> > >>> >>
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>> > >>> >
>> > >>> >
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