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Melissa,<br>
<br>
I would like to see research done on blind children and adaptive
technology, something that ultimately concludes that getting a
Mountbatten for preschoolers to use at home is a best practice.<br>
Or that issuing a BrailleNote to kindergarten-aged kids learning to
read and write is appropriate. Perhaps do a five-year study of the
literacy levels of kids who got technology to use at home when they
were two and those that didn't? What is the different in their reading
rates by fifth grade, for example?<br>
<br>
Getting AT in the hands of blind kids ASAP supports literacy
initiatives and helps a family support their child with concrete,
tangible steps. AT should be in the home by preschool when (sighted)
three and four year olds are scribbling their first letters. But most
of us live in a world where we (parents) are the lone advocates for AT
for our kids and the administrators only obsess about the cost. Then
when you ask they buy "one for home and one for school" it gets really
hilarious. <br>
<br>
That's my suggestion. Questions? Please write me off list. I'm a
technology professional in California's Silicon Valley, mother of a
blind second grader, and this is my hot button....can you tell? :-)<br>
<p class="MsoNormal">Graciela Tiscareño-Sato<br>
Author of <i><span style="color: blue;">"Letting Your Child's Wild
Side Out:
Raising the Wild and Confident Blind Baby, Toddler and Preschooler”</span></i><span
style="color: blue;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue;"><a
href="http://www.babymilagro.org/dvd">www.babymilagro.org/dvd</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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