[BlindMath] Helpful suggestions

Sun Sep 22 18:20:30 UTC 2019

Hello David:

Thanks for your suggestions. I have used Learning Ally before, when it was RFB&D and it was tough to use then. I will need to give it another try. I have a question regarding taking notes. You mentioned you can take notes in the Learning Ally book itself? Or did I misunderstood you? 

Thanks,

Hector

From: David <davidct1209 at gmail.com> 
Sent: Sunday, September 22, 2019 11:07 AM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: hmelias09 at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Helpful suggestions

Hi Hector,

I'm sure you'll get a variety of opinions as everyone tends to do this type of thing differently. If you look at the archives, people have presented and even argued over what's best.

>From my experience going through a full undergraduate program in math and computer science at a very large research university, here are a some tangible suggestions:
- get Learning Ally: I've found that recorded STEM books can be one of the best options starting out. The reader can convey the material with little to no ambiguity and the cost of obtaining the material is minimal to free.
In addition, you are free to take notes on the book. I actually highly recommend this exercise, as you can take notes in any form you wish (e.g. Nemeth, LaTeX, ascii math, code, etc).

Finally, you can independently write up your own problem sets. Listen to the recording, transcribe the problems into a form you can work with, and turn in the assignment in a manner your professor / TA can consume.

- get a reader. A reader, preferably another student in your class, can fill in other gaps. I had an upper division algorithms course in which the professor used his own book and distributed it to all students via a copy print shop. I hired a reader to fix up and correct a chapter at a time from an OCR'ed scan of the chapter. The student encoded the chapters in simple ascii math.

Readers can obviously do more than this including physically reading books, transcribing lectures, reading exams, etc.

- take at maximum two STEM courses each term (quarter/semester). I've found that it took me on average two to three times more out of class time to complete problem sets than my peers due to the bookkeeping, transcription, and misc tasks associated with managing people and materials.

Notice I didn't explicitly mention braille. Unlike others on this list, I didn't have the luxury of having brailled materials in college. For one, depending on where you study, large research universities teach their STEM in a highly compressed, and rapid fashion. You'll be way beyond by the time you get brailled materials. There's also the question of translation and backtranslation. You'll be put in a tricky spot to get these materials in a form anyone can read.

I know others have had braille be a core part of their college experience; their faculty might have been more adaptive or something and willing to spend the relatively high amounts to get paper braille and tactle graphics produced. So, YMMV.

Finally, I personally used the above three techniques and more to take challenging courses like real analysis, abstract algebra, and operating systems.

I also continue to use these techniques today to learn. As an example, two years ago, I refreshed my knowledge of linear algebra by reading through a popular lower division textbook and taking notes and working on problem sets. I did all of this with simple ascii math notation. Matrix notation I tended to write out vertically e.g. when working out eigenvector problems.

You're welcome to give me a call too :).

On Sun, Sep 22, 2019 at 10:11 AM Hector Elias via BlindMath <blindmath at nfbnet.org <mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org> > wrote:

Hello Everyone:

My name is Hector Elias, and I am writing to this mailing list to ask for
suggestions. I am very low partial, and that vision doesn't allow me to use
a CCTV any more. Growing up I had a hard time with getting services from my
school district, so I am a late bloomer. I do know how to read literary
braille, but never learned Nemeth. I am a STEM student, working to get my
degree in Computer Science. I have gone through most of my classes using a
screen reader and the CCTV. However, the CCTV is more of a hindrance then a
help. I have belly flopped throughout my math courses, and now find myself
struggling to proceed. I am also having issues with my math based classes
for computers such as: Discrete Structures, Boolean Algebra, and so on.

What suggestions are there for me to bring myself up to speed in Nemeth, and
are there any tools or techniques for me to aid in my journey? I saw some
post about LaTex and I was wondering what it is and how to learn it.

Sorry if I sound ignorant but I have stuck to my CCTV and now I can't use it
anymore. Any suggestions or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

Hector Elias 

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