[Pibe-division] A bit of Wisdom and Experience asked for...

[Kristen J Sims]

Carrie, 
We have students with fine motor issue as well that are currently learning braille. Depending on the age I usually wont fool with a lot of "pre-braille activities" If the child has problems with fine motor he may not use a traditional perkins or slate to write with. For instance, we use a note taker with one student who has CP and another does use a perkins but has to position his fingers with his good hand first (he is a really fast writer though).  For reading, I may start with braille blocks and tac-tiles to build letter recognition for some students but go right into the alphabet using an age appropriate program with others. Even for little PK students we braille everything that is in print using braillables: on the walls, the desks, learning centers, and toys. For our babies we start brailing everything in the home that they play with favorite toys, books, bowls, etc. Remember people can read braille in many ways some people can read with their palms and at least one person with his tongue. By the way if he is 3 and reading 2-3 inch letters... he wont keep up in school, he just wont be able to read fast enough to be successful and reading will most likely be a chore. Building an early love for reading using braille will help him to compete with his peers. 
Kristen J. Sims, MEd NCLB
Teacher of Blind Students


----- Original Message -----
From: Carrie Gilmer <carrie.gilmer at gmail.com>
To: 'Professionals in Blindness Education Division List' <pibe-division at nfbnet.org>
Cc:
Date: Sunday, March 8 2009 09:09 PM
Subject: [Pibe-division] A bit of Wisdom and Experience asked for...

Greetings Fine educators,

I try not to come to you for individual help for a parent-especially on this
list-often, but this is a bit of an unusual one. Asking if anyone has
experience with Apert's or more importantly lack of fine motor function as
the mother relates below. What do you recommend? And/or if you think it will
affect the writing more than the reading...The child is three years old.

I should add current teaching staff has not recommended Braille, parent is
pushing, and the IEP team only vaguely responded to that push with vague
talk of possible pre-Braille activities needed first, and that they GUESS he
will be a large print reader. The TVI stated she did not know for sure how
to get him early Braille books for home! This was at the last IEP progress
meeting this past week. PT was curtailed as he "was doing so well" was the
main reason for the meeting. 


Carrie Gilmer, President
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
A Division of the National Federation of the Blind
NFB National Center: 410-659-9314
Home Phone: 763-784-8590
carrie.gilmer at gmail.com
www.nfb.org/nopbc

To the blindkid list:
Thank you everyone! There is a ton of info out there. I'm a bit anxious. 
I have ordered Carol C's book. I also ordered one of those tactile
workbooks. I have signed up for every braille book club I found. All this
stuff is and will continue to add up and I'll take all the free help we can
get. 
My son is fine motor delayed and does not have a lot of manual dexterity. He
does not have a lot of range of motion where his fingers meet his palm. He
does not have most of his finger joints. How does this impact his learning
braille. It seems like a lot of pre-braille activities have to do with
grasping and manipulating objects. 
Also I should clarify that Dr. DeCarlo said that 2-3 inch high print would
be sufficient for near work (as in held in his lap or sitting on a desk). He
can see smaller print by holding it in his hands close to his face. We plan
on him being a dual media learner. 


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