[blparent] Accessible apps

[Jo Elizabeth Pinto]

I'm not one who believes in having a kid watch TV endlessly just because 
it's there.  Especially a baby, who has a lot of sensory and experiential 
learning to do.  But there are some good programs out there, particularly 
ones made for kids, that can expose them to all kinds of concepts, animals, 
etc, that they wouldn't necessarily otherwise see and learn about.

Jo Elizabeth

Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may 
kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at 
evening.--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
-----Original Message----- 
From: Star Gazer
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 8:17 AM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blparent] Accessible apps

My views are a bit different.
My daughter would scream when the tv was on when she was a baby. I have no
idea why. We stopped watching tv for the most part due to that.
There were still things we cared about, so we'd watch them on Netflix when
she was in bed.
Those of you who know me know that I am very passionate about the space
program. I'd follow the shuttle missions and I'd tell my daughter what was
going on, because it's just plain cool.
She had just turned two when STS 119 launched.  That mission is special to
me for a couple of reasons. First, I noticed my daughter paying attention to
me in a different way. She seemed to listen to me very seriously when I'd
talk about the mission. Second, my sister who never really cared about the
space program was very excited about one of the teachers that was on that
mission. He had done something with marine biology and then became an
astronaut. When my sister saw that, she called me to say "That'd be like
what would happen if I woke up one morning and turned into you". It was the
first and probably only space shuttle mission my sister ever got excited
about:)
Anyway, that mission was due to land right in the middle of naptime.  I
tried to get my daughter to sleep, and she made it clear that a nap wasn't
happening that day. So I told her she could stay up but that we were going
to watch the landing.  This is what we did. I explained to her what was
happening.  We watched on the NASA channel and there are periods of silence
when people aren't talking. I remember she would get very excited when she'd
hear the com loop and take my hand to place it on the tv.
She doesn't remember the landing at all.  What she does have is my same
passion for things that fly.

I had no clue if my daughter would learn anything from watching that
landing.  I do know that it mattered to me, and I wanted to share it with
her.
We watch other things now too, sports is a fun way to bond. She has a few
shows she likes, and I have a couple I like.
I don't have any hard and fast rules about anything.  Kids are part of a
family and that involves exposure and sharing of the members' interests.  If
there is nothing on tv that lights your fire, that's fine.  Your kid will be
fine either way.