[Nfb-krafters-korner] Hello everybody!

[Blindhands at aol.com]

When Willie comes out and tells you things like you do it because you can  
see and do it faster, you need to encourage him to do it himself.  Make a  
fuss over his accomplishments.  As it is easy to sit back and let others do  
it, but doing it himself will get him thinking about how to do it himself.   
Problem solving is a part of life.
 
When I first went blind my family and friends tend to do everything for  
me.  Man it made me feel so helpless.  It does take longer for me to  do some 
things, but practice makes things go faster.  We all need practice  and the 
chance to figure it out.  Sometimes I enjoy the thought process  more then 
doing the job.  It gives me the challenge of thinking out how I  can do it 
and what tools or whatever I might need to help me do it.  My  satisfaction is 
that I CAN DO IT!
 
Joyce  Kane
_www.KraftersKorner.org_ (http://www.krafterskorner.org/) 
Blindhands at AOL.com   

 
In a message dated 5/20/2011 2:31:48 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
terrencevane at gmail.com writes:

Hi there  Dick!
What about drawing your pictures on a screen of some sort? This would  
allow him to feel the lines and color in them. You could also usea   tracing 
wheel on a surface withsome give  to trace the picture. Also,  though a little 
pricy, there's a device called the Draftsman from APH  (http://www.aph.org) 
that produces raised lines on plastic film using a  stylus. I believe 
there's also a site that actually has tactile coloring  books. I could be wrong, 
butI  think it's somethinglike   http://www.brailleshop.com. 

Terrence

Twitter:  www.twitter.com/LandrasGembar
Skype: LandrasPhaelan
Words with Friends  ID: terrencevak


On May 18, 2011, at 11:42 PM, "Dick Carlson"  
<dick.carlson0428 at earthlink.net> wrote:

> 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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