[blindkid] Technology and Little Kid

Thu Feb 18 16:15:56 UTC 2010

Many blind people won't travel too far from home without bringing  
along a spare cane. I agree with their bringing a spare cane; makes  
complete sense. So why not always have a backup to write?

Imagine that you are blind and 1000 miles from home and you'll be  
speaking at a convention. Your presentation is prepared and on your  
PAC Mate, only your PAC Mate goes missing; stolen. Now what do you do?  
What would a sighted person do? Write down all you can and do the best  
you can, right? But you have no PAC Mate and you're 1000 miles from  
home. Ideally, you might grab a nearby Perkins Braillewriter and  
braille out some notes, but again, you're across the country and there  
may be no Braillewriter around; they are hard to keep in your carry on  
luggage as a backup writing solution, but a slate and stylus fit  
nicely. That is a true story-- happened to a friend of mine.

We tend to mark loose things more with a Perkins, but the slate and  
stylus would make more sense in many cases and sometimes it would be  
the only practical solution, like when the paper is bound, for  
example. We just need to get better at brailing in reverse from the  
back!

Richard

On Feb 18, 2010, at 10:46 AM, Carol Castellano wrote:

> I agree that we should not toss the slate and stylus.  Serena had at  
> least two experiences--both in high school and in college--when her  
> technology broke down during class. She pulled out the slate and  
> some paper and was able to continue taking notes.  She also uses it  
> to mark print papers, such as handouts and now, her bank  
> statements.  It may be generational, as far as extensive use of  
> slate and stylus goes, but those who did grow up using them are VERY  
> fast on them, just as kids growing up with BrailleNotes are very  
> fast on those.
> Carol
>
> Carol Castellano, President
> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
> 973-377-0976
> carol_castellano at verizon.net
> www.nfb.org/nopbc
>
> At 08:52 AM 2/18/2010, you wrote:
>> I actually know quite a number of blind people adults who carry these
>> around like a note pad. They are a fine solution to record a few  
>> words
>> or, a phone number, or even a short list.
>>
>> They are slow and inconvenient, but they never lock up and fail to
>> work, their batteries don't die and they don't require some involved
>> startup procedure to get them working or require you to get into "the
>> right document", etc. before you can use them.
>>
>> A slate and stylus are tools in the arsenal, so to speak. I don't
>> think they are often the best solution for complex needs, but I would
>> not discount their use entirely. There is nothing wrong with making
>> them available for a child. Several of our 7-year-olds sighted  
>> friends/ classmates have their own slates and styli and they  
>> actually use them
>> to write notes to Kendra when they do not have access to
>> braillewriters, so there are many uses for them indeed.
>>
>> Richard
>>
>>
>>
>> On Feb 18, 2010, at 8:05 AM, Heather wrote:
>>
>>> No disrespect, but you've got to be kidding me.  No blind people I
>>> know, children or adults, down right brilliant to mentally
>>> challenged, men or women use those anymore.  Many own them, and
>>> could use them in a pinch, but honestly, no one uses them as a main
>>> means of writing or on a regular basis. Some people in the fifty or
>>> older set still rely on them, because they were not able to keep up
>>> with the changing technology, which I can understand and sympathize
>>> with, but even my sixty year old blind mother laughed when I showed
>>> her this, or rather told her that this had come up on list.  For
>>> confidentiality reasons I never show any one who is not on the list,
>>> list emails, and never give names or any spacifics..  I could
>>> honestly say that I know over two hundred to three hundred blind
>>> people, and I asked on a list serve for guide dog users, one for
>>> blind parents and one for blind students, and the uunanomous answer
>>> was "You've got to be kidding"  I think her four year old would best
>>> be served to learn how to use a cell phone or home phone to call his
>>> mother and to dial 911.  I think he should be learning on a braille
>>> note, voice recorder or how to use a victor reader or ipod touch.
>>> Things like that, plus basic braille and print literacy.
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
>>> To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind  
>>> children)" <blindkid at nfbnet.org >
>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 10:46 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Technology and Little Kid
>>>
>>>
>>>> A slate and stylus!
>>>>
>>>> Mike
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Andrews"
>>>> <dandrews at visi.com>
>>>> To: <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 7:01 PM
>>>> Subject: [blindkid] Technology and Little Kid
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> I got asked a question, the other day, and since most of my
>>>>> experience is with blind adults -- I didn't know quite what to
>>>>> say.  A woman said she had a four year old totally blind daughter,
>>>>> and she wanted her to keep up with her peers in technology, so
>>>>> what assistive technology/technology is here  -- should she start
>>>>> using with her child?
>>>>>
>>>>> Dave
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
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>>>
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