[Pibe-division] Learning Nemeth First

[Dr. Denise M. Robinson]

Learning Nemeth First 
A student came to me when she was 16 years old. She had spent years 
trying to keep a brain tumor at bay, until one day, she woke and the 
majority of her sight was gone. She could no longer do the world 
visually. She was very depressed at first because she really wanted to 
graduate with her class and it was only a couple years away. But her 
hopelessness quickly transitioned into hope as she learned her blind 
skills. 

She flew on the technology but  resisted braille. She loved math though 
and was clearly unsure how to do it blind. We started with Nemeth code, 
NOT braille. She learned Nemeth very quickly and sailed through her math
 classes. Little did she know, she was learning the Braille code along 
with her Nemeth. When I finally got her to try a Braille book, she was a
 bit surprised how well she read the book. 

Yes, I taught her braille going through the back door of ease versus the
 front door of resistance. Once a child gets something in their head of 
whether they will or will not do something, it is not worth the fight. 
As teachers, we need to bring them along on the journey by showing them 
how they can do their favorite things. Then the child discovers that 
they inadvertently learned what you wanted them to learn in the first 
place.
 
       Denise 
 
Denise M. Robinson, TVI, Ph.D. 
Teacher of the Blind & Visually Impaired
TechVision-Independent Contractor
Specialist in blind programming/teaching/training
509-674-1853     deniserob at gmail.com
 
http://blindgeteducated.blogspot.com/
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