[Blindmath] Homework for College Class

Wed Jan 25 10:49:07 UTC 2012

No, not initially.  Your notation is probably better for the average bear.

Still, my calculus teacher had fits with trying to grade my quizzes 
and exams when they were sent in text format, regardless of my goofy 
// notation.instead of handwriting on paper.

I always got my stuff back a week later than everyone else and still 
graded in ink, rather than comments in a text format with the 
original document, requiring yet another human for translation.

This is not a criticism of my instructor - she's spent 20 years doing 
things one way without a single blind student.

I guess my point is that some degree of explanation and accommodation 
is going to be necessary in all cases with your instructor.  Most of 
mine are happy to oblige.

The other point is that Latex is going to be distracting when working 
real math problems, which is why I advocate a text-based shorthand.

Ben
At 10:06 AM 1/24/2012, you wrote:
>Ben,
>
>Do sighted professors understand 1 // 2/3 without explanation? I use 
>1/(2/3) to make sure anyone can know what I meant.
>
>Amanda
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Ben Humphreys" <brh at opticinspiration.org>
>To: "Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics" 
><blindmath at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 7:59 AM
>Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Homework for College Class
>
>
>>While I certainly can't quarrel with the presentation of Latex, I 
>>did just finish Calculus 1 and I can vouch that there is plenty to 
>>learn and challenges to overcome without the added complexity and 
>>difficulty of reading Latex compared to a shorthand, which I've 
>>discussed before.
>>
>>For example, consider a fraction divided by another fraction such 
>>as 1 divided by 2/3
>>
>>In Latex, we have:
>>
>>\frac{ 1 }{ \frac{ 2}{3} }
>>
>>Now, consider the shorthand that I used in my own homework
>>
>>1 // 2/3
>>
>>So the double slash is the "big" division line" if you will.
>>
>>Now, I'm aware of all the shortcomings of non-standards based 
>>solutions, but as a practical matter, you're working hundreds of 
>>prolems, some of them difficult enough in math, without the added 
>>complexity, syntax, and additional brainpower to translate Latek 
>>back into what your classmates are seeing natively.
>>
>>Admittedly, I'm dealing with blindness as an adult without the 
>>benefit of mastery of braille or Nemeth at a young age, so I rely 
>>on a screen reader and others mileage may very.
>>
>>Ben
>>
>>At 03:55 AM 1/24/2012, you wrote:
>>>Lanie,
>>>LateX is the standard for producing mathematical documents on many 
>>>universities. I highly recommend you learn it. Unlike some self 
>>>invented shorthand lateX allows you to express any mathematical 
>>>expression unambiguously. LateX will also benefit you when you are 
>>>writing a thesis because you'll be able to get a perfect layout 
>>>just by coding correctly rather than having to check it on the screen.
>>>
>>>You can write lateX in any text editor, and you can convert it 
>>>into PDF using the pdflatex command line program which comes with mictex.
>>>I hear TeXnic center is accessible and could make your job easier.
>>>There are many lateX tutorials which can get you started.
>>>Tim
>>>On 1/24/2012 5:51 AM, Lanie wrote:
>>>>I only tried ones specificly for math such as LaTeX and 
>>>>Scientific Notebook, but that's a good idea to use shorthand in a 
>>>>regular workprocessor.
>>>>
>>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>>From: Alex Hall <mehgcap at gmail.com
>>>>To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics 
>>>><blindmath at nfbnet.org
>>>>Date sent: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:45:09 -0500
>>>>Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Homework for College Class
>>>>
>>>>What programs have you tried for wordprocessing? I can't think of 
>>>>any that nvda won't work with.  Even Notepad should do the trick, 
>>>>even if you have to use a shorthand for some symbols, such as 
>>>>sr(x) for square root of x.
>>>>
>>>>Have a great day,
>>>>Alex (msg sent from my iPod)
>>>>mehgcap at gmail.com; //facebook.com/mehgcap
>>>>
>>>>On Jan 23, 2012, at 23:25, Lanie <readtobuild at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>Hi, all.  I was wondering if anyone can help with this.  I'm 
>>>>taking a calculus class in college, where I've just done "so 
>>>>homework and now have it in Braille.  I'm not beure how to 
>>>>transcribe it into a format my professor can read though.  Does 
>>>>anyone have any suggestions.  So far, I thought of using a 
>>>>computer program where I could type it out and email it to him, 
>>>>but I haven't found one that's accessible with NVDA, the screen 
>>>>reader I use.  My second option would be reading it all out loud 
>>>>on to a digital recorder and emailing it to him, but that's just 
>>>>really tedious.  Also, I've thought about getting a reader and 
>>>>scribe, but that will make me tied down to someone, and with my 
>>>>schedule, that won't really work.  I would really appreciate any 
>>>>help ASAP.  Thanks.
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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