[NFBWATlk] Looking for some Input on Teaching Braille to a Low Vision Student

Thu Feb 15 23:26:05 UTC 2024

It is on youtube. There are a lot of examples of people playing this game:
walking out in the middle of a busy street, falling over objects. The one I
saw was the one I mentioned about a person walking in the mall and splash in
the fountain.

Becky 

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBWATlk <nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Humberto Avila via
NFBWATlk
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2024 2:03 PM
To: Becky Frankeberger via NFBWATlk <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Humberto Avila <humberto_avila.it104 at outlook.com>
Subject: Re: [NFBWATlk] Looking for some Input on Teaching Braille to a Low
Vision Student

Becky,

Where can I find this video you mentioned? It sounds like a great example
that maybe me or our O&M instructor that she works with can show to her!

On 2/15/2024 1:51 PM, Becky Frankeberger via NFBWATlk wrote:
> The video of the person playing Pokemon walking in a mall and falling 
> in a fountain. Now this is a fully sighted person, but distracted and 
> not seeing the low wall of the fountain. If that can happen to someone 
> fully sighted? I would say using a long white cane would be way less
embarrassing.
>
> Becky
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFBWATlk <nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Humberto 
> Avila via NFBWATlk
> Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2024 1:32 PM
> To: Corey Grandstaff via NFBWATlk <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Humberto Avila <humberto_avila.it104 at outlook.com>; Mike Jolls via 
> NFB-Braille-Discussion <nfb-braille-discussion at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [NFBWATlk] Looking for some Input on Teaching Braille to a 
> Low Vision Student
>
>
>      Hello All,
>
>
> I hope all is well for you. Happy Thursday.
>
>
> I am reaching out to see if anyone can offer some input and assistance.
>
>
> I am recently teaching a student in my local school where I work at. 
> She is learning uncontradicted Braille. In fact, she has mastered the 
> whole uncontradicted Braille and we're moving on to contracted. She 
> has low vision and is very new to blindness and vision loss.
>
> She does enjoy learning about the Braille code, however, more 
> recently, she has been becoming more and more resistant to learning. I 
> work closely with another TVI and we've determined that this 
> resistance may be stemming from her struggles with losing her vision, 
> which is quite apparent when she says things like not wanting to learn 
> to navigate with a cane or other blindness skills because she thinks 
> she will not use them ever. I knew she was struggling, but I also know 
> she really likes her class period where she is with me learning 
> Braille. She in particularly likes Braille art, and I have tried to 
> incorporate this type of art / concept as much as possible in my 
> lessons. She also likes watching motivational videos about successful
blind people.
>
> It is more recently that she has begun doubting the skills that we 
> have bee teaching her, and going out of her way to boldly and 
> unapologetically say so. We have tried referring her to a counselor or 
> therapy, but the student's belief system does not encourage her to go 
> that rout. I, as a successful Blind person myself, have tried 
> countless and numerous times to model the high expectation for her, 
> with my use of my Braille display, and embossing the Braille lesson to 
> read along with her, as well as traveling through the school proudly with
my white cane.
> I even labeled the classroom number(s) and stuck the labels on 
> classroom doors, because the school I currently work at was built 
> pre-ADA and sadly, has no Braille.
>
> It is her recent struggles with mounting resisting to learn the 
> alternative skills of blindness and the Braille that perplexes me and 
> I am new to this, perhaps due to the lack of relativity with me being 
> legally blind since birth and never experiencing sightedness, and her 
> being fully sighted for the 14 bright years of her life and losing her 
> vision. And, while she does enjoy inspiration videos of all sorts, I 
> can not simply just flash out and shove NFB philosophy and blind 
> culture in general without overwhelming her even more.
>
>
> I am therefore looking for suggestions. In what ways can I ground her 
> interests and create expectations without making her say she utterly 
> dislikes Braille? What other strategies have proved useful to you, 
> specifically for those who are either totally blind or legally blind 
> since birth, and encountering this situation? How can I further relate 
> to and understand her perspective of this person losing their vision 
> and struggling in this way, while I have not had such an experience as 
> a blind person? I'm not sure if i"m making sense here. But, anyways, 
> your input is valuable and immeasurably appreciated. I think my 
> student has a lot going for her and a lot she still has to live 
> through. And I need to be able to supplant her with the seeds she 
> needs to be a blind person because even though it sounds kind of hard 
> and sad, this will now be her new life. So any way that I can say 
> these things without really saying them in a realist, tough, or in a more
positive and optimistic fashion will be appreciated as well.
>
>
> Thank you! Have a blessed day!
>
> - Humberto
>
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