[Blindmath] Data on braille vs. speech use

[Angie Matney]

Excellent points, Ken. I was ABD in math. Certain things were easy to do without braille such as proving certain theorems. I really had difficulty doing linear algebr with speech or even with refreshable braille. I needed to see the matrices. 

Eventually, I did get fairly good at using speech for most things, but it had to be the right synthesizer, which, back in the day, was a Braille 'ñ Speak. I would turn on "most punctuation" and type things in LaTeX. 

The big thing for me, though, was that even if I could do something with speech I really really needed to type on a braille keyboard I couldn't think mathematically when using a QWERTY keyboard. My fingers needed to form the braille numbers and symbols as I typed. 

I also relied heavily on RFB&D books in college and grad school, because they were the most easily available. I remember transcribing some things from my linear algebra book into braille so I could see them, but at the time, that didn't seem like a big deal. 

Angie



Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 19, 2016, at 4:24 PM, Ken Perry via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I also went through college as a newly blinded veteran.  I did it all with speech and rfbd recorded books.  I did Math tested into Math 105 Matrixes, took Trig, and three levels of Calculus and two levels of physics all with speech only.  With that said over the last 20+ years of being blind and because of a lot of the devices I have coded for and worked on I have started to see the benefit of using braille.  I think though we are still not where we need to be because we really need a full page tactile display with braille to be able to get the same kind of information I remember as a sighted student.  
> 
> One thing that might be important though is that I was a visual learner.  I had what I call a mathematical photographic memory.  When I took tests I would flip through the exercises before the test and then I could remember how to do them.  I wonder if the speech paints good enough pages of examples in my brain.  I can actually still see the problems.  So maybe I didn't need the braille for that reason.  I could do up to a 5 page calculus problem in my head so I think that might have been an advantage.
> 
> Ken
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bill Dengler via Blindmath
> Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2016 12:23 PM
> To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Bill Dengler <codeofdusk at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Data on braille vs. speech use
> 
> Interestingly, I have the opposite problem; I can’t use Braille to do math, so rely on speech. I use tactile diagrams with accompanying description.
> I’ve been totally blind since birth, was taught Braille at a young age, but have always been quite slow (max reading speed is around 60WPM).
> Generally, though, Amanda’s situation seems to be more common in the blind community from what I’ve seen.
> I’m currently taking Pre-Calculus and am in 10th grade, if that matters.
> 
> Bill
>> On Mar 19, 2016, at 12:13 PM, Amanda Lacy via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> I don't have any such data but I'd be interested in it also. I 
>> personally have relied exclusively on Braille for this task. I can't 
>> use speech for higher math at all.
>> 
>>> On 3/19/16, Aqil Sajjad via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org <mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
>>> Is there any available data on the effectiveness with which people 
>>> use braille or speech output for doing high-level algebra? Especially 
>>> at the college or grad school level? I am genuinely curious since 
>>> there are plenty of strongly-held opinions around but was wondering 
>>> if there is any data on the subject.
>>> 
>>> For everyone's sake, I do hope that there is enough data to show that 
>>> both braille and speech can be used equally efficiently and that it 
>>> depends on the individual. But I will share my own opinions later.
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