[nobe-l] Accessibility questions for teaching math to thesighted

[Ashley Bramlett]

Hi David,

Good luck in these endeavors.
I would think showing sighted people graphs would be challenging as you 
cannot draw them on a board as a sighted person does.
I would think the best accessible way to do calculations is in excel.
Unless you can afford to pay for the text to be brailled which is the best 
way to read the text, I think your best bet is audio. scanning produces too 
many errors.

I'm a young adult looking for work and have an interest in working with kids 
being a tutor or paraprofessional.
I'm just trying to figure out what I want to do. I finished undergrad with 
my liberal studies degree and have not ruled out grad school to study 
special ed with teaching blind students or learning disabled students. but 
I'd like to  work first before committing the time and money for grad 
school.

So I'm on list to learn how others teach, tutor or do similar tasks.
I'm open to many jobs that will use my skills.

I cannot offer much help, but I also wanted to write in and echo your 
sentaments.
Your rehab case in Ohio sounds similar to my situation! Its refreshing to 
hear someone's struggles too.
You said,
"The way Rehab works in Ohio, is that you have to get the
job first before Rehab will buy any technology. How can I start a job
without the technology to start the job with? "

Absolutely, valid questions and concerns.
I, too, am in that boat. I requested technology to learn it and use so I can 
bring it to work when I get a job. I'm looking for office entry level jobs 
in communication, outreach, or program assistance.
I'm actually a part time tutor at the community college where I'm taking 
class electives now.
But rehab will not buy or eeven lend me technology now.
I need that technology to learn and familiarize myself with it so I can hit 
the road when working, not trying to learn technology and the ropes of my 
new job. How can I get the job and honestly say to the employer I can do the 
job without having the technology in my hand and knowing it when I start the 
job?


Like your state, they want you to have a job offer before buying tech.
But how can I start a job without the technology
to perform the job? In my case, I need a braille display so I can see my 
writing and more effectively edit it.

Unfortunately, I do not think translation software and a romeo from 2005 
will do the job.
If you need to emboss graphics, the tiger embosser is a good fit. Also, I 
heard later translation software from duxbury systems
will convert math better. You could try to convert the text, but it may not 
work well.
You might see if a lighthouse for the blind will emboss the text for you and 
they might charge less than other companies.

I hope you get access to the text and it works out for you.
Its unfortunate many rehab agencies do not support our employment goals and 
shove people into call centers or try to shove them to do that work.
There is nothing wrong with call center work,  IMO, but if your talents and 
dreams lie elsewhere, then rehab should support that and help you find the 
resources to make that a reality.

Glad you are searching for ways to fulfill your dreams. That is what NFB is 
about.

Ashley
-----Original Message----- 
From: David Moore via nobe-l
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2015 5:15 PM
To: National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List
Cc: David Moore
Subject: Re: [nobe-l] Accessibility questions for teaching math to 
thesighted

Hi Chase and all on this list,
Thank you so much, Chase, for the info about the TI-84 graphing
calculator. That will definitely let me present graphs and tell the
sighted what to do on their calculators. That is a huge part of what I
would need to do. If anyone can discuss editors that would allow me to
edit and manipulate math equations so I could present them to the
class, I would be so grateful. I have heard about Lean Editor, and
heard that the new Beta is coming out for trying soon. To read math
texts the class would be using, are getting a audio recording of the
text or doing OCR with Infty reader the only choices? I have a Braille
translator from 2005, and an old Romio Braile embosser. Would that
work for obtaining Braille formats of the math materials? How
expensive is Infty reader if I would need that. I hear it is quite
expensive. The way Rehab works in Ohio, is that you have to get the
job first before Rehab will buy any technology. How can I start a job
without the technology to start the job with? I appreciate any help
you have no matter how small. I do have a case open with Rehab, but
all they are doing for me is helping me to find a call center job. I
have a real God-given talent for explaining math in a way that will
allow many kinds of students with different learning needs to
understand the concepts. The sighted people I have helped orally with
math, tell me they never understood the concepts the way I explain
them in their entire lives. If I can present the material like a
sighted teacher, my dream would be fulfilled. I love teaching math
much more than using math to do applied problems like being an
engineer. I love math just for math itself. I am very outgoing though
and love working with and helping people with my math talents. I am
not the kind of person who just wants to sit in a lab and do math
computations all day to solve every-day life problems. I am definitely
a research-academic person. Take care and have a good day.

On 7/21/15, Chase Crispin via nobe-l <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi David,
> Orbit Research has adapted the TI-84 graphing calculator, which is the 
> most
> common graphing calculator used in high school and college classrooms.  It
> is sold by the American Printing House for the blind as the Orion TI-84
> Plus
> Talking Graphing Calculator.  This calculator allows a blind student or
> teacher to use all functions of the calculator with speech or by 
> connecting
> a braille display.  When you generate a graph, the graph is played with
> tones.  The higher the pitch, the higher the coordinates on the graph. 
> You
> can wear headphones to hear the audio move from left to right as it traces
> the graph, which can allow you to visualize the shape of the graph.  The
> unit vibrates when in the negative region, and the unit makes various 
> beeps
> to indicate maximums, minimums, intersections, etc.  Since this unit is 
> the
> standard calculator with a speech unit on top, it is operated the same way
> sighted students would use the calculator, so you could tell them exactly
> which buttons to press and let them look at the output on your screen. 
> You
> could also print graphs from the calculator and display them on the
> classroom wall or board.  If you want to learn more about the calculator,
> search for it on:
> http://shop.aph.org/
>
> At the NABS meeting at Convention, someone demonstrated a math editor that
> was fully accessible that would allow you to enter, manipulate, and 
> display
> math equations, but I do not have the name of that product written down.
> Hopefully someone else here knows about this software and can provide you
> with more detailed information.  I hope this helps.
>
>
> Chase Crispin
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nobe-l [mailto:nobe-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David Moore
> via
> nobe-l
> Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2015 4:07 PM
> To: nobe-l at nfbnet.org
> Cc: David Moore
> Subject: [nobe-l] Accessibility questions for teaching math to the sighted
>
> Hi All.
> My name is David Moore from Columbus, Ohio.  I received my masters degree
> at
> Ohio State in mathematics education  I also received a BS in mathematics.
> Now, I do some tutoring.  I tutor sighted college students one on one in
> Calculus and other higher concepts.  With one on one tutoring, I have the
> student read the problem to me and I tell him or her exactly what to right
> down as I do the problem in my head.
> I learned math by listening to tapes and by reading my texts with the
> Optacon.  I know what all the symbols look like in print, because of the
> Optacon.  This leads into the help I would grately appreciate from all of
> you.
> I want to teach a classroom full of sighted students at the small 
> community
> college level.  This has always been my dream.  First of all, How do I 
> type
> out my math lectures so the content will look to the students as though I
> wrote it on a board?  I use JAWS and Openbook.  That technology, however,
> can't help me write or read math texts.  Next, How do I get JAWS to read
> the
> math content that I am typing into an editor so I can edit what I am 
> typing
> just like in a word document?  Next, How do I read math texts that the
> college or high school would use so I can prepare my lessons from the
> texts?
> I want to be able to read the math material, write out a lecture that I
> would present to the students, and have a way to grade there work that 
> they
> input.  I really need help from an experienced blind mathematics teacher
> who
> teaches the sighted.  I am a very slow Braille reader and know little
> Nemoth
> code.  I do all computations in my head and picture all graphs in my head
> by
> feeling with the optacon.  The problem is, I have no more optacon.  Rehab
> took it back years ago, and I have never looked into getting another one 
> in
> years.  I have just done a little bit of this one on one tutoring where I
> just tell the student what to right down.  I didn't know how this 
> technique
> would work in front of an entire class with nothing for the sighted
> students
> to look at.  In an Interview, I don't know how it would go if I said that 
> I
> would just stand in front of the class and tell them what to write down
> with
> no representation for them to look at.  Also, I heard that much math is
> done
> on graphing calculators compared to when I was in school in the 1980s. 
> How
> would I access graphing calculators that students would use to do their
> homework on?  With my few one on one students, I just show them how the
> graphs look with my finger while they play around with their calculators 
> to
> get something that looks like what I am drawing with my finger.  When I 
> try
> writing print on paper or board, it goes all over the place.  I can 
> picture
> the print in my head, but I have trouble writing it in any kind of 
> straight
> line.  I would so much appreciate any help or suggestions you have for me
> to
> obtain that teaching job at a high school or small community college and
> how
> I could do all that is needed with assistive technology.  Thank you so 
> much
> in advance.
>
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