[Nfb-krafters-korner] Half way done!

Sun Nov 7 13:41:15 UTC 2010

Dick,

You are doing just fine.  I would not worry about pushing him to use more
then his finger tip today.  Let him get used to this and at some other point
move to multiple fingers or even the entire hand if the project calls for
it.  Maybe making the home made dough holiday ornaments might be a great way
to get his entire hands into it.  Let him help make the dough so that he can
experience the ingredients changing from one state to another.  

I think it was great that you were willing to drive back to your nephew's
house and get his cane.  I do not advocate that you get a second cane to
keep at your house.  This will be teaching him to rely on you instead of
becoming independent.  When you pick him up, just go down the checklist of
things that he needs to bring with him that day when he walks out the door.
Eventually you ask him to tell you what he needs to remember to bring with
him.  If you see that he does not have the cane in his hand, ask him if he
is forgetting something.  If he can't remember, give him a clue such as "it
is long", it is white", "it has a black handle", "it has a red tip", etc.
Don't be afraid to describe it by its colors.  There is a good chance that
his teachers and other children around him will describe it in that way.  By
the way, making him learn what color his things are (coat, hat, shoes,
boots, backpack, class binder, etc.) is very important for the same reasons.
Knowing what color clothes he is wearing is important.  Too often someone
will say "you in the blue shirt...".

Now as far as folding versus straight canes.  The cane is not only a way for
a person who is blind to navigate safely through their environment, but it
is also  for letting others know that those of us using the white cane will
not see them.  So if your cane is folded up in your backpack, purse or under
your chair while you are sitting in a restaurant, the waitress and food
servers have no idea that you can't see them waiting to take your order ,
filling up your water glass or putting your food down.  When a blind person
learns how to keep their cane standing up against them while they are
carrying on their activity, they have an identifier that hopefully others
will recognize.  Now there are times when it is just not possible to keep
that cane up and visible and it needs to be laid down or set aside.
Unfortunately, there are situations when it is just not possible to keep the
cane right where the user can touch it and find it themselves when they need
it.  Often sighted people think they are helpful and say "I'm just putting
it over here".  I'm sure you can figure out why this phrase is not helpful
to someone who can't see.  So, my personal preference is to use a folding
cane that I can leave unfolded when needed, and fold it up and keep it in my
possession when needed.  There is nothing wrong with a person who is blind
owning both a straight and a folding cane.  However with that said, it might
get a bit expensive keeping a growing boy in the appropriate sized canes.  I
no longer have a straight cane, but I do have 3 folding canes and a dog
guide.  It is all about having the right tools for the job.

I hope that I have given you some food for thought so that you can figure
out what is the best plan of action for your nephew.

Annette

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Dick Carlson
Sent: Sunday, November 07, 2010 1:33 AM
To: List for blind crafters and artists
Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Half way done!

Oh boy!  What a day.
I had my nephew here for a good bit of the day and we had us a time.
Trust me...there were times when I'm sure he thought his uncle Dick was nuts
and at one point probably even mean.  That's OK though.  He knows I care
about him and want the best.

First of all, I know what Willy's getting as one of his Christmas presents.
He's going to get a straight cane that doesn't fold...maybe even two, one
for my house.
He conveniently forgot to bring his cane today.  He has one of those little
folding canes and I thought it was in his backpack.  
He learned that sometimes, there are few obstacles that get in the way of
him walking freely.  He wanted to go to the park today and swing.  However,
when I found out he didn't have his cane, we talked about how he was ALWAYS
going to use it when he was with me and anywhere else.
So, we actually drove back to his house and got his cane.
We came back and then went for our walk.

I'm very tempted to try making him use it on his own now when we walk
together.  

Then came the arts and crafts.  You guys are going to need to keep on
inspiring me to keep these ideas happening!

Willy wanted to work on the picture.  He knew where the materials were and
went straight for the table3 and began handing me different things.  I
stopped him and asked where and how he was going to put them on.  He had a
puzzled look on his face because he's generally been handing them to me and
telling me where they can go and then I end up using that glue stick and
putting them on for him because he found it hard to use it.  He asked for
the stick that pastes and I told him we didn't have it any more.  I then
said that he was going to begin putting the stuff on himself and that we'd
do some together.
He wanted to know how, and I showed him the bottle of Elmer's glue.  He
wasn't sure what he was going to do with the bottle, wso we discussed how we
were going to try something new2.  I then said the feared word..."Messy!"
He's been taught not to be at all messy at home.  

I began trying what you guys suggested and squirted some glue on a piece of
paper so that he can use his fingers.  I decided not to just put a little
bit that would dry quickly.  I put a good mound there.  I then told him to
just put his finger in it and put it on the first scrap of paper we'd paste
on the collage.
He wasn't sure about it but did it though.  You should have seen him simply
barely use his finger tip...almost his nail.  He found it wasn't working so
well and asked why not.
I then suggested he use more of his finger and more glue.  In a gentle but
nudging way, I took his finger and dragged it and pushed it around in it.
He wasn't sure if he liked it or not but then I showed him what to do.

I think when we work on it tomorrow some more, he'll get more of the hang of
it, don't you?  We did get some stuff put on the collage and talked about
the various things we were putting on.  We also just cut some strips of
paper out because he wanted to put them around the collage as well.  OK.
Sure.

So, now that I've begun getting him exposed to this stuff, am I doing OK so
far?  What do I do to proceed with this and do more of it tomorrow?  He was
not reluctant to doing it but was uncertain about getting that one finger
dirty.  In fact, he made3 sure it was that one finger, for the most part.
In fact, I'm kind of tempted that when we work on it tomorrow to also join
him and show him that I can do it too and get my "hands dirty" so to speak.
Hmmm, getting his hand dirty or at least involved more than just one finger
might not be such a bad idea.  I don't know.

We finished art time for a while and actually did some singing.  He loves
music!  Neither of us play instruments and we found it was a bit hard to
sometimes sing songs without an instrument or something with which to keep
time.  Hey, music is also art, right?  We had a little lesson in rhythm.
Willy had a bit of a clapping lesson!  I didn't really know he hadn't been
taught to clap right, so we worked on singing and clapping for a little bit.

We then went for a hamburger before taking him home.

Dick
PS. More collage work tomorrow!
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