[Nfb-krafters-korner] Hello everybody!

[Blindhands at aol.com]

Dick,
 
I know what you have to get to draw things and for Willie to draw.  I  need 
help ladies as I do not know the name of this.  Someone here on the  list 
was selling these drawing boards.  It had a spongy kinda hard mat on  the 
board.  You could take any type of paper and as you drew it would make  the 
paper have a ridge on the back side.  I could draw a picture for my  
Granddaughters and they would color it in.  Now I am the blind one so I  could flip it 
over and feel what I was drawing.  It worked out well as I  could draw 1 
picture and the 2 girls could color it in on each side.  One  using the pencil 
lines and the other using the raised lines.
 
I think Annette had mentioned she had bought one of these drawing boards  
from a place like Independent Living or one of the blind stores.  She  called 
it by name, but I don't remember the name.
 
Maybe if the lady is still on the list she can speak up and let you know if 
 she still has them available.
 
I bought 2 of them at the time so both girls could draw me pictures and i  
could color with them.
 
You can just trace a page from a coloring book and Willie could color it in 
 by feeling it.
 
Joyce  Kane
_www.KraftersKorner.org_ (http://www.krafterskorner.org/) 
Blindhands at AOL.com   

 
In a message dated 5/19/2011 3:43:58 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
dick.carlson0428 at earthlink.net writes:

Well,  how about a bit of a longer report now that I have some time.

First of  all, as I said, Willy just turned seven years old, and it's been a
busy  three months for him.  I've been able to spend some time with him  as
he's stayed some with me while on vacation or when school's been  out.  His
mom also travels for work, so this has worked out  well.

First things first.  Willy has begun to not be so leery  about exploring or
trying new things.  This winter, we've had more  snow, and I taught him what
snow was and he actually played in the  snow.  I taught him about making a
snowball.  I actually had a  bit more fun than was necessary, as I kind of
guided Willy's hand to throw  the ball right as his mom was coming our way,
and like a true champ, he hit  her.  She was not happy, because I did the
same thing.

He was  interested in how wet the snow was, but he didn't seem to mind.   
One
thing we're working on these days again is not worrying so much  about
getting his hands dirty and into things.  If you recall, last  summer, when 
I
first came on, Willy would not get his hands dirty or into  many things.
We're working on that now.

Someone also talked about  doing crafts with nature.  Well, it's not a 
craft,
but I do have  different plants and flowers in the garden, so I had him
outside with me  and we smelled and touched plants and flowers.  He liked
some of those  smells and now that spring is here, it's great!  In fact, I
taught  Willy how to plant some seeds, and he's begun seeing them grow.   I
chose beans because they grow fast and can be planted  anywhere.

Willy had an interesting experience at school which I think  sparked his
interest in trying things.  He found that some of what the  kids did were
somewhat visual.  For instance, they were coloring some  pictures, which he
couldn't do.  Also, the teacher had them drawing  pictures as well.  Again,
he couldn't really do that.  It wasn't  the same to tell the teacher what
kind of picture he wanted to draw.   It also wasn't the same to just give 
him
a piece of blank paper and a  crayon and just tell him to scribble or color.

Willy came to me and  asked two things.  He knows that I like to draw and he
wanted to know  if there was any way that he could color one of my pictures.
It was so darn  cute.  So, I've got to find a way to see how he could do
that.  I  want him to be able to feel the picture and maybe just color 
inside
the  lines.  I don't know.

Finally, he has taken the initiative to ask  if we could do a project he did
before but in his words "better!"  He  wants to make another collage, and 
I'm
all for that.  However, I know  that I want things to go differently than
before.  For instance, I  want to use some kind of thick cardboard to put 
the
stuff on so that it's  easier to handle.  Also, I told Willy that if we were
going to do  another "picture" as he calls it, then he was going to have to
do a lot  more of the work, and that's where I'm going to want your help  
and
encouragement.  If you remember, when Willy did his first collage,  Uncle
Dick did all of the major work, and a lot of what Willy did was to  hand me
the material and tell me where he wanted them put.  Once we  found out that
using a glue stick didn't work for Willy, I ended up doing  most of the
gluing until the very end when I finally asked you for some  ideas.  This
time, I want Willy to take charge and do most of the  work.  In fact, I 
think
it would be fun for both of us to do the work  together but I might decide 
to
do it also under blindfold so that we're  both not using our eyes.  I also
want Willy to feel and know that he's  doing a lot of the work.  And, I 
don't
think it will be a good idea to  use glue sticks.  It's been at least since
November since we completed  his other one, and he was proud of it, but now
even he said that he would  do more.
What do you think of trying it this new way?  We will  definitely use nature
things along with other things like before but he  will also have a lot more
input.  It will also give him a chance to  use his hands a lot more to feel
around and really look at what he's doing  and how it's coming.  He and I
will also just have to learn to paste  things on and use and spread glue.
I'm so used to doing it visually but I'm  willing to try other ways.  Also,
maybe if I lead by example, he'll  just think it's normal to do things this
way.  

Anyway ladies,  remember that us guys can also have fun doing these 
projects!
Good or kids  doing this stuff!

Dick

We actually want to get going on this  during the weekend.   


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