[Trainer-Talk] Teaching adults who don't speak English

[Raul Gallegos - RGA]

Hello there. I will certainly not crucify you, but I do not fully agree with you either. Here in Texas, we have a program that we run once a year called silver bells. This program is aimed at older adults and we spend an entire weekend doing things like teaching them about travel, technology, Braille, and home skills. Regarding learning Braille, it is true that adults tend to have a more difficult time learning Braille whether they are new to blindness or whether they have been blind for many years. However, I have seen it where some adults learn Braille despite these challenges. Some only learn the basic letters a through j, which I feel is important so that they can at least use elevators independently and a few other things like identifying room numbers, but some learn even more. I agree that with most adults, the learning will take longer and it is significantly slower than when children learn it at a young age. However, based on my experience, it is certainly possible for adults who are blind to learn Braille at a later age.

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Raul Gallegos / Access Technology Trainer
RGA Tech Solutions
Voice/Text: 832.639.4477
Team Email: training at rgats.com
Direct Email: Raul.Gallegos at rgats.com

Sep 13, 2024 9:22:30 AM Brian Vogel via Trainer-Talk <trainer-talk at nfbnet.org>:

> What age range are we talking about here?
> 
> I'll probably be crucified for saying it, but focusing on Braille for
> adults, particularly early on, is just a huge waste of time.  I've said it
> before, and I'll say it again, but I know of very few individuals who can
> pick up any significant proficiency in Braille as adults, even if they've
> been blind for years.
> 
> I'm also a big believer, where possible, of doing any teaching for an ELL
> individual in their first language initially.  The hurdles involved in
> trying to learn anything, and technology in particular, in a language you
> do not speak are virtually certain to be insurmountably high.
> 
> You ask, "What if you don't have a lot of time to work with them and
> progress is slow because they have a ton of barriers?"  I don't take that
> as a rhetorical, and the answer to that question requires a careful
> analysis as to how much time you have and whether anything of functional
> value can be achieved within it.  For students like this the minimum time
> frame is months, many months, and if you're told you have, say, six weeks
> to work with them, sadly, the best course of action is not to do so.  You
> leave them, and yourself, with feelings of disappointment and failure
> because you simply cannot achieve anything functional in that short a
> timeframe if we're talking about someone who is a rank beginner.
> 
> In my years as a speech-language pathologist (now retired) and a tech tutor
> (ongoing) I've learned the hard way that most adult students can only take
> on so much information at one time, and it always requires more repetition
> than initially expected before basic proficiency is established.  Trying to
> make someone learn "too many things at once" often means they learn none of
> them at all, at least in a way that proves useful and helpful to them.  And
> this is when only a single language is involved.
> 
> If ever there were a case where "picking one's battles, stategically" for
> learning would be best, this one is it.
> 
> Brian
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