Hi Carlton,<br>Has Anna Catherine had a chance to have some hands on with
Braille <br>notetakers?<br>The decision depends on many factors.<br><br>My first
comment is the one I feel strongest about.<br>I hear your strong keyboard
preference, but let me offer a different <br>perspective.<br>I type on my
computer every day. My 12 year old has a BrailleNote with a Brl
<br>keyboard.<br>His typing speed & importantly accuracy is leagues better
than mine.<br>My sighted wife brailles a lot both on the Perkins, but also on
her laptop. <br>When using the laptop, she prefers to use Duxbury & the
braille key entry <br>because her speed & accuracy makes this more
efficient. I am envious of the <br>speed & accuracy they have.<br>We don't
have a easy printing set up at home, so I print up Vejas's English <br>&
Lithuanian homework regularly, & quite honestly though his fingers fly,
<br>his accuracy is nearly 100% on the Brl keyboard - almost every mistake is
<br>not due to finger positioning, but rather him not knowing the spelling.<br>I
on the other hand, am much much slower using the QWERTY keyboard & have
<br>lots of spelling errors that I need to correct, because I don't have the
<br>accuracy in hitting the keys - I am a frequent user of the backspace key
& <br>am eternally thankful for spell-check & the auto-correct feature
to correct <br>my typing errors.<br>Brl entry also enforces Brl concepts &
grade II Brl contraction <br>familiarity - its one thing to read it - the brain
also imprints when one <br>types things out. I think grade I entry also helps
improve speed & <br>accuracy - imagine if we had such print
shortcuts.<br><br>Who will be teaching her? Is she already familiar with a
device?<br>If the TVI will be teaching Anna Catherine how to use it, then it
might be <br>best to go with what she is familiar with.<br>Our TVIs didn't know
the BrailleNote & when we started there was no PacMate.<br>The California
School for the Blind came down & did a Tech assessment. They <br>use
BrailleNotes. They do a phenomenal job teaching the BrailleNote.<br>They gave
Vejas & now Petras initial teaching & periodic refreshers to take
<br>them to the next level on features they don't know.<br>When we have run into
stumbling blocks on how to do something, I contact <br>them.<br>The learning
curve would have been harder with a different device, because <br>the teaching
would not have been anywhere near as good.<br>Then there is GPS. If you plan on
using that, get a unit that has that <br>ability.<br><br>The last thing I have
strong feelings about is get as many brl cells as <br>possible for reading. In
my opinion & that of my fluent braille reading 12 <br>year old, the more
cells the better for speed & fluency.<br><br>If you have a chance go to an
exhibit hall during a conference. I don't know <br>how feasible it is, but the
best exhibit hall I have seen is the one at the <br>CTEVH conference in
California.<br>For hands on & kid-focused resources, it is in my opinion the
best I have <br>seen. There are hands on opportunities there & you can
probably get some <br>in-servicing. On top of that, it is a great &
informative conference with <br>lots of pertinent topics to chose from - We've
only missed one year, & that <br>was because of a surgery. The website is <a href="http://www.ctevh.org/conference.htm">www.ctevh.org/conference.htm</a>.<br>Good
luck,<br>Eric<br>(Now I'm going to spell check to correct all my typos before
hitting the <br>send button... :-) )<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Dec 21, 2008 at 5:22 AM, Carlton Anne Cook Walker <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:attorneywalker@gmail.com">attorneywalker@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Hi all,<br>
<br>
DH and I are going to soon approach the school regarding a notetaker<br>
for Anna Catherine. I have two major questions:<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
First, which notetaker should we request?<br>
We have already decided that a QWERTY keyboard would be better. (Anna<br>
Catherine has some vision and uses a laptop with a QWERTY keyboard<br>
anyway.)<br>
>From what I understand from the teens to whom I've spoken, Braillenote<br>
is highly preferred over PacMate. I understand that this is because<br>
it is easier to use and the keystrokes more directly correspond with<br>
computer-based commands. Am I correct? Are there other reasons to<br>
choose the BrailleNote over the PacMate?<br>
Are there any other brands I should be looking at -- that have QWERTY<br>
entry? I have not been able to find any.<br>
Also, can the notetaker be connected with a computer and serve as a<br>
refreshable braille display? (If yes, it might make it easier to<br>
speed up the process of getting notetaker for Anna Catherine. We're<br>
realy hoping to have one by the end of the school year -- yes, our<br>
District IS that slow -- so that she may explore it and become<br>
comfortable with its use over the summer.)<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Second, I am also interested in the Victor Reader Stream for Anna Catherine.<br>
Can a notetaker be used as a Digital Reader?<br>
Can Bookshare files be easily uploaded onto the Victor?<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Thank you so very much for your help on these matters.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Wishing everyone a safe, joyful, and blessed holiday season,<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Carlton<br>
<br>
--<br>
Carlton Anne Cook Walker<br>
Anna's Mom<br>
213 North First Street<br>
McConnellsburg, PA 17233<br>
Voice: 717-485-3383<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Pibe-division mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Pibe-division@nfbnet.org">Pibe-division@nfbnet.org</a><br>
<a href="http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/pibe-division_nfbnet.org" target="_blank">http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/pibe-division_nfbnet.org</a><br>
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Pibe-division:<br>
<a href="http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/pibe-division_nfbnet.org/pumpkinracer%40gmail.com" target="_blank">http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/pibe-division_nfbnet.org/pumpkinracer%40gmail.com</a><br>
</blockquote></div><br>