[Blindmath] Data on braille vs. speech use

[Ken Perry]

I agree with this in fact I wish my braille skills would have grown quickly
but truth is when I lost my sight I found that I sucked at braille.  Maybe
if I took a couple years to really work at it I would have been better long
ago.  I didn't want to take time learning braille though I wanted to get
back out in the work world which meant I used what I had and got through
college as quick as I could.  Even though that turned out not to happen
because I started working at the college which slowed down my classes.

Ken

-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Steve
Jacobson via Blindmath
Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2016 7:38 PM
To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'
<blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Steve Jacobson <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Data on braille vs. speech use

Hi,

There are so many variables that I think it would be difficult to provide an
answer that is of value.  If one had the ability that Ken describes, it is
going to make doing math with speech easier.  If one is going to pursue math
seriously, I think one needs to at least get enough exposure to braill to be
able to fairly assess their own capabilities.  Having said that, I would
certainly not tell someone who could not learn braille that they should give
up on math.  There are people on this list who have shown that would be
wrong.  

However, if one is looking for a way to know for sure that learning braille
would not be worth it, I just don't think it is possible to say with
certainty.  If one has the option, it makes sense to have as many tools in
one's box as one can get, and being able to take advantage of braille and
speech and figuring out where they fit in best in one's processes makes the
most sense to me.  In the case of math, I don't think one's reading speed
with braille is all that important.  In fact, since much of my use of
braille as an adult has been examining computer code and to a lesser degree
math, my reading speed has fallen because I tend to read for detail.If one
is considering in this discussion using a one line braille display, I think
braille's advantages are definitely smaller.  Being able to have multiple
lines available by embossing on paper is a big plus.  I hope we see that
multi-line braille display at some point.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson



On 3/19/16, Aqil Sajjad via Blindmath <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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