[Blindmath] Tactile Diagram Production

[Sean Tikkun]

As a former Geometry teacher and current Vision teacher.  This may be my cup of tea!  As a geometry specialist I could discus conceptual elements easily with teachers.  But I've been blessed with great teachers.   I tend to put my foot down with this sort of thing and have a parent complain to the school, and then look for an administrator to intervene to inform the teacher they are not allowed to hand out materials that are not ready in an accessible format.  Once a teacher knows they are being watched and has to stall their curriculum, they become far more helpful in getting materials to you ahead of time.  It's a dangerous game though, as you are going to get some animosity... that's where the parent as the advocate calling the admin helps dull some of the impact on your professional working relationships.  

I don't know of any book that does this sort of evaluation, but if there is a need... this would be the second book this list serve has inspired me to write!  Feel free to contact me directly as I know most of the texts used and could give you a Geom. teacher perspective on the necessity... or at least my opinion.


On Nov 2, 2010, at 9:43 PM, Roni Mathew wrote:

> Hello all, and thank you everyone who provided input on my question about
> producing tactile geometric diagrams.
> 
> Essentially, one of my totally blind students has an in-class support
> teacher, who believes it is her role to ensure that the student has every
> last diagram on hand that will be used on every given class session. The
> class goes through approximately fifteen diagrams in a 45-minute period,
> which come from supplemental resource book and other handout material that
> was not given to us with sufficient time to have it all produced and ready
> for her. Therefore, this teacher has been laboriously consumed much of her
> own time/life before/after school with wicki sticks, glue and puffy-paint in
> creating every diagram for this student. I have, on numerous occasions,
> explained that with the extensive number of diagrams to be used, it is more
> beneficial to take a concept-centered approach and present a fair fraction
> of diagrams to illustrate each addressed concept; however, the teacher
> insists every single diagram illustrates a different concept, without which,
> the student would not be adequately learning her material. O yes, this is a
> 10th grade Geometry course.
> 
> 
> 
> I am interested, as well, in one of the aforementioned ideas: methods for
> instructing students in reading/understanding tactile diagrams. I don't know
> how far off-topic this inquiry is for the list, however, I ask, is anyone
> aware of methods/guidebook resources on effective approaches to reading and
> interpreting tactile diagrams, as well as assessment kits to gauge a
> students skill level in this area?
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you very much again,
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Roni Mathew
> 
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