[nobe-l] A question.

Sat Jul 24 15:18:36 UTC 2010

James, very well said.  Verbal information worked for me once I was older 
and had a solid understanding of my environment.  Yes, people's brains lay 
things out differently.  I have been very severely visually impaired since 
birth but I tell people I am a "visual" learner because I remember things by 
where they are on a page, how they relate to other items and other 
information like that.  I struggle with listening because I need to tie 
information to something concrete.  I would love to be a better auditory 
learner because you can do other things while you are listening.  I listen 
to information for pleasure but I have to have information in braille if I 
really need to learn.

Marianne Denning
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James Fetter" <jfetter at nd.edu>
To: "National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List" 
<nobe-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2010 10:46 AM
Subject: Re: [nobe-l] A question.

>I pretty much agree with all of the advice given so far; hands-on learning 
>is extremely important, as is Braille instruction and mobility/independence 
>training. I would add, though, that any parent of a blind child needs to 
>recognize that all blind children, and adults for that matter, have their 
>own learning style, just as all sighted children do. Some blind children 
>are very adept at spatial orientation, and some are going to struggle with 
>it. Some will learn to read more quickly and at a higher level than others, 
>and some will favor Braille over auditory reading and vice versa. In other 
>words, there are certain basic skills that a blind child is going to need, 
>as there are with all children, but there is no cookie-cutter approach that 
>will work for every blind child. In my case, for instance, I learned to 
>read Braille at a very young age, but now, I do most of my reading with a 
>speech synthesizer. I didn't get a lot of mobility training beyond the 
>basics as a child, but I lucked out in having a relatively good internal 
>sense of orientation. However, some very successful blind professionals I 
>know still struggle with remembering how their environment is laid out, 
>just as some very successful sighted people do. Some are handy around the 
>house; others, myself included, have no business with anything more 
>complicated than a screwdriver. Some blind children may need to be shown 
>how to do certain things--I'm thinking especially of daily living skills, 
>sports, and other physical activities--in a very hands-on fashion, whereas 
>some can get a lot out of precise verbal descriptions. In other words, the 
>biggest mistake, beyond not ensuring that Braille instruction and mobility 
>training are available, is assuming that all blind children should learn in 
>exactly the same way. All that blind children have in common with one 
>another is their blindness, and it is worth keeping that in mind.
> I hope this helps!
> James
>
>
> On 7/24/2010 10:20 AM, Marianne Denning wrote:
>> Melissa, sighted children learn by observation.  Children who are 
>> visually impaired do not have the same opportunity so it is important for 
>> parents and others to use hands-on teaching instructions.  When I was a 
>> child my mother would yell at me all of the time because I had my hands 
>> on everything when we went into a store.  In most cases she did an 
>> excellent job teaching me but I don't think she understood that I was 
>> using the information from my fingers to educate me about the store, the 
>> department we were in and what different products felt like.  She would 
>> tell me we were going into an area with breakable items so I absolutely 
>> had to keep my hands to myself.  I did follow directions then.  I am also 
>> speaking of when I was pretty young.  As I grew up she worried less about 
>> me breaking things and would just warn me to be careful.  I think it is 
>> important to experience all of these things and people need to give 
>> visually impaired children the same opportunity.  I also believe 
>> orientation skills and appropriate selection of media for reading are 
>> very important.
>>
>> Marianne Denning
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Melissa Green" <graduate56 at juno.com>
>> To: "National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List" 
>> <nobe-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, July 23, 2010 2:36 AM
>> Subject: [nobe-l] A question.
>>
>>
>>> What advice would you give to parens with a blind child?
>>> If you are a parent, what advice or information do you wish people had 
>>> given you?
>>> I was asked this question as a blind adult.  So thought I would put this 
>>> out there and see if I am on the right track or not.
>>> Your anser can be two word, or two sentences, or even a paragraph.
>>> I am just curious.  I thought that it would be a good topic for 
>>> discussion.
>>> Melissa Green
>>> Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to 
>>> feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.
>>> Blog: http://readergirl5674.blogspot.com
>>> Facebook: melissa green northern colorado
>>> twitter: melissa5674
>>> msn: graduate1531 at msn.com
>>> Linked in
>>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/melissagreen5674
>>> Skype: lissa5674
>>> Friend feed Melissa green
>>> melissa's corner
>>> liss.wordpress.com
>>>
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>>
>>
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>
> -- 
> James Fetter
> University of Notre Dame
> Department of Political Science
> 217 O'Shaughnessy
> Notre Dame, IN 46556
> 574-323-4891
> jfetter at nd.edu
>
>
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