[Blindmath] entering college student who wants to major inphysics

Mon Jul 9 18:10:37 UTC 2012

Dr. Thomas Benham was probably the first blind person to get a degree in physics in the U.S.  He taught at Haverford College for many years, starting, I think, in the 1950s.  He founded Science for the Blind, then Science Products, which is now known as CapTek and can be found at scienceproducts.org or captek.net .  I don't know whether Dr. Benham is still alive or not, but he was one of the pioneers in our field.

Lloyd Rasmussen, Senior Project Engineer
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Library of Congress   202-707-0535
http://www.loc.gov/nls
The preceding opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Library of Congress, NLS.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bente Casile
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2012 12:14 PM
To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] entering college student who wants to major inphysics

Daniel,

Several thoughts.  There is a teacher in Texas who has been helping a computer science major down there with physics and making her material accessible.  His name is Dick Baldwin and he has a program called svg draw that can help you when you do vectors.  He also has a free access site with physics material that is totally accessible. Here is the link to his stuff.
http://cnx.org/content/m37432/latest/?collection=col11294/latest
I think you will find this super helpful.  Also, if you can get Math Type ...do it!  Great program.  Stay on the list.  There are a lot of people who are very knowledgeable and will answer questions and help with glitches.  I am a math learning specialist and that is how I got on the list.  Also, good communication with your instructors is a must.  Contact them as far in advance as possible and meet with them.  For some instructors, this may be the first time they have a blind student and it can be very intimidating for them.  It helps to be able to articulate to them some pointers for what will work best during lecture and out of class.  Once instructors see a motivated, hard working, student, most of them will go out of their way to help.  Best of luck and it makes me so happy to hear of a blind student that has chosen math and science in spite of accessibility woes.  Go get em !!

Bente J. Casile
Math Learning Specialist
Wake Technical Community College
Raleigh NC

-----Original Message-----
From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Daniel
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 10:46 AM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] entering college student who wants to major inphysics

Thank you, Lauren.  I have heard about Scientific Notebook, but my main goal is for me to be able to receive a math worksheet written in a mainstream format (such as Microsoft Word) and bring it into Duxbury without sighted assistance.  I know, since I will be taking at least one class with math material in it (a calculus class and a physics class most likely in the same semester), I will have to process these sheets in an efficient manner.  My vision teacher has said that Scientific Notebook is easier to use in providing worksheets to a student rather than the student processing the worksheet for himself/herself.

In the meantime, though, I am still learning more about MathType as it is the program which I requested from the New York State Commission for the Blind for use in college.

Thanks again,
Daniel

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Opra, Lauren" <opral at aaps.k12.mi.us
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org Date sent: Mon, 2 Jul 2012 08:12:43 -0400
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] entering college student who wants to major inphysics

Hi Daniel,

Part of my job is Brailling math worksheets for a middle school student.  We use a program called scientific notebook.  You can scan in or enter text and math and then import it into Duxbury and translate it as a LaTex file.  It is a bit of a picky program, as you have to specify what parts of a document should be in Nemeth and which parts should not (for example the "1" for question number 1 would be in Nemeth but the period following it would not) before translating it in Duxbury.  I hope this is helpful.  Please let me know if you have any questions about Scientific Notebook.

Lauren Opra

On 7/1/12, Daniel <danielgillen at rcn.com> wrote:
 Hello,

 I am Daniel Gillen, a totally blind student who has just  graduated from high school in New York City.  As I prepare to  attend Haverford College in the Philadelphia area as a possible  physics major, I have always wondered the best way of making math  materials accessible.  When I was in high school, my Teacher of  the Visually-Impaired (TVI) would always prepare math worksheets  through a process that involves converting a Microsoft Word (or similar format) file with math in it into a Braille file through  Duxbury, with all the math text rendered in Nemeth Code.  I have  asked a blind friend of mine who attends Swarthmore College  nearby, and he gave me a few suggestions about how to manage  these types of situations (he does not use Braille primarily).
 He was mentioning a program that converts Nemeth into LaTex so  that math text which I Braille can then go to an ink printer and  be handed in standard format to a professor.  However, what I am  looking for is the reverse-programs like MathType which works  with Microsoft Word and an importation of the file into Duxbury.
 Are any of you on this list familiar with these programs? I would  greatly appreciate it if you could give me any suggestions on  this.  I am seeing the disability services office at Haverford on  Tuesday, and then preparing for a two-and-a-half-week trip to  Ireland and won't be back to e-mails until the 26th of the month.

 Thank you,
 Daniel

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