[blindkid] Resistence

[Marie]

That's kind of what I'm thinking and hoping too--the more exposure, the less foreign it seems. I have been brailling up a storm and have gotten quite fast with a slate and stylus. I'm still quite slow with the Perkins but everything takes time, right? Anyway, his teacher and I thought of lots of "environmental print" for the classroom (hehehe all those pre-k kids are at least going to recognize the word 'chair' by year's end!). I printed the labels in fairly large print (as close to 2 inches as possible) and then I added the braille after having the labels laminated. These labels can be cleaned and still remain intact. I brailled a "book of colors" for Jack to be hung near the teachers' display of color posters. I brailled the numbers for the board calendar and made Jack his own personal braille/print calendar board that he will use during calendar time. She is giving me each of their "letter of the week" as well as color and number books ahead of time. I originally thought I would add braille labels to the books but the teacher holds the book up for all the kids to see. So I just took the words from the book and printed them in fairly large print on card stock paper and then added braille so Jack will have his own lg print/braille reference when she gets the books out and sing (it's the Frog Street Press Sing & Read series). I'm re-doing all of our labels here at home too because many of them are fairly worn. I am adding new ones too. As I mentioned in another thread, I have added braille labels to the keyboards at home & school. Jack loves the braille rap song so we listen to & sing it a lot at home AND his music teacher is going over it with him each week too. His teacher is still doing the letter of week cookies for dots too (he places his cookies in the correct dots to form the letter of the week and then he gets to eat them). I made a larger than normal size print poster with the classroom rules and added braille. The teacher will hang that one in the classroom so I then also took card stock and printed one rule in as large size print as would fit on each page and added braille so Jack will have a set of rules more easily accessible. I'm all ears for anywhere else anyone can think of for adding braille in our home & the classroom. The school year has officially begun so we no longer receive services from our LEA so it's all up to Ms. Sunny & me (and hubby too of course) to create the optimal environment for Jack's learning.
Suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Marie (mother of Jack born May 2005)
See glimpses of life with my determined son who is developing in his own way at his own time at http://allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com 
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org>
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:24:18 
To: <empwrn at bellsouth.net>; NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, \(for parents of blind children\)<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Resistence

His fingers could be sensitive to the braille in particular, that's  
true, but some kids are "tactually defensive" (I never cared for the  
term) or otherwise opposed to touching various textures. I think in  
many cases, it is a matter of getting accustomed to the particular  
textures and sensations. Does he always react to braille like that on  
only in particular locations or situations?

If you can see something before you touch it, there's a better chance  
you'll properly anticipate the sensation you're about to have. Without  
some cue, some things must be really surprising to encounter,  
especially for a young child with limited environmental experiences to  
draw upon. A chief example for us was toys (or anything) that  
vibrated. You're holding smooth plastic or soft fabric, then all at  
once, it is giving you totally different sensations from a moment  
earlier. Later on, some of the exact same vibrating toys were funny.

I would guess there's a pretty good chance that encountering braille  
in many places over time may improve his reaction to it.


On Aug 19, 2010, at 8:57 PM, Marie wrote:

> Wondering if any of your kids had a resistance to touching braille  
> when they were first introduced? Jack's fingers were fused at birth  
> so his ten digits were surgically seperated at 10 and 13 months. I'm  
> wondering if that makes his fingers extra sensitive (still at 5) or  
> if it's something that all children are rather sensitive about when  
> being introduced to braille.
>
> Marie (mother of Jack born May 2005)
> See glimpses of life with my determined son who is developing in his  
> own way at his own time at http://allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
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