[blindkid] Tactile markings at school

Doug Gottschlich doug.gottschlich at gmail.com
Wed Dec 2 04:18:20 UTC 2009


Hi Everybody,

My daughter (8 yr old; 3rd grade; no vision) started at a new school this
year.  To get from the school to the lunchroom she needs to cross a large
blacktop area; there is only a narrow path (~ 5 feet wide) between the
various sports areas (volley ball, tether ball).  Due to the arrangement of
the school grounds there is no good way around the perimeter of the
blacktop, and it is too large just to try to walk a straight line across it
without some reference.

So that she does not need to depend on human guides, the school has agreed
to install a tactile path/trail/guide across the blacktop.  The path needs
to be low profile so kids don't trip over it as they play and run on the
blacktop.  We have thought of a narrow groove(s) that she can feel with her
cane, a mild hump that she can follow with her cane, sets of truncated domes
(probably harder to track with her cane).

Does anyone have experience with a tactile paths like this?  Any other ideas
for the path than I mentioned above?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Doug



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