[blindkid] Technology and Little Kid

Heather craney07 at rochester.rr.com
Thu Feb 18 23:25:38 UTC 2010


How is flash accessable with JFW?  That sounds like a neat trick.  I am no 
computer expert, and flash always throws my JFW for a loop, but maybe I am 
just missing something.  I've coppied these sites down for future refference 
for Jeremy.  Thanks for sharing.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Thea Eaton" <thea at doodledoo.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)'" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 10:26 AM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Technology and Little Kid


> We make computer games and websites accessible for children, such as this
> website: http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/litterforce/
> (Unfortunately, I just noticed that the owners of this site have added new
> material, and none of the self-voicing audio is coming up right now. But
> children are supposed to be able to tab and press Enter to navigate this
> website, and the content is supposed to be self-voicing.)
>
> We are working on a series of educational self-voicing games for a
> touchscreen such as the iPad for younger children with a visual 
> impairment,
> such as memory games, whack-a-mole games and others. We are also working 
> on
> a website for children that can be used as a training ground for beginning
> screen reader users with all Flash games that are accessible to screen
> readers as well. If you have any suggestions for games or activities to be
> added to this site, let us know!
>
> We will announce on our website when these will roll out. You can also fan
> us on facebook for the latest news or subscribe to our twitter feed.
>
> Thea Eaton
> DoodleDoo
> www.doodledoo.com
> Where early birds learn.
> 1-888-42 DOODLE
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Heather
> Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 6:47 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Technology and Little Kid
>
> My phylosophy, for all children, blind or not, is to present them with the
> widest possible range of toys, games and experiencces, and foster what 
> they
> like best.  For instance, my eighteen month old has always loved buttons.
> His favorite toys are our phone, our tellivision remote, and an old
> calculator.  So, we are replacing the old calculator with an old talking
> calculator.  We have taught him to bring us the remote, so that we can 
> take
> the batteries out, then he knows he can go and play with it.  Or, he can
> come and ask for the phone and we will disconnect the hand set so that it 
> is
>
> inactive and give it to him.  We just can't have him accidentally ordering
> paper view, he once hit random buttons and ordered some adult 
> entertainment.
>
> rofl Luckily he had also hit the mute button previously, and believe it or
> not, the people who handel the adult programming are very friendly and
> understanding.  The woman who took my call and reversed the charges 
> laughed,
>
> and told me that her daughter called India once on her cell phone and it
> cost twenty two dollars.  We also can't have him doing that, which is why 
> we
>
> take the reciever off of our corded phone for him.  He asks for "Mote" and
> "Phone" when he wants to play with these things.  He also loves our 
> talking
> kitchen timer.  So, I found mainstream play cell phone, remote, 
> calculator,
> lap top and chordless looking toys that teach four languages, shapes,
> colors, letters and numbers.  He also loves my cell phone when it is dead 
> as
>
> well as one of the video game controlers, with it's battery pack taken 
> out.
> At the beginning his thing was to just make as much noise as possible. 
> Then
>
> he started to listen for particular sounds he liked, and he would fixate 
> on
> one button at a time.  Then he started exploring the buttons with his
> tungue, then his fingers and toes.  We are finally headed out of the oral
> phase.  Thank god.  *laughs*.  Although, I do know a three year old, whose
> favorite bost right now, other than the usual three year old stuff like,
> potty training, and what he found in his nose this morning, is that he can
> read braille with his tungue.  And, he actually can.  lol  He is sighted
> too, but he knows a through l reliabily, and he loves x and o.  He says 
> they
>
> look cool.  Jeremy's other favorite thing is paper.  He used to like to 
> tare
>
> up magazines we gave him.  Now, he likes to crinckle them, and in the last
> month he has started turning pages.  He especially loves print magazines,
> board books with braille and this one old text book that we let him play
> with.  It's a print psychology text and he loves the heft of it, the
> crinckily pages and even the scent and look of it, as he is always looking
> at the smooth reflective surface of the cover, enjoying the new book smell
> by sniffing it, and enjoys the sensation of feeling the edges of all of 
> the
> pages all together when the book is closed.  He isn't ready for spiral 
> bound
>
> books yet, as he will pull them apart, but, someday.  One thing that is
> important to remember is to let blind kids, low vission and even totals
> scribble with markers, crayons, pencils and paints.  The sensation of 
> finger
>
> painting is wonderful.  Crayons can be felt a bit and it is also important
> to provide tracing templates for shapes and letters, shapes and numbers, 
> as
> well as coloring book images that have either been reco fused, or adapted
> with wicky stickx.  I would have to say that a slate and styalis is not
> anywhere near the top of my list of priorities.  I will show him one, and 
> if
>
> he loves it, he can certainly play with it and I will show him how to use
> it.  But, I am more concerned that his verbal skills be top notch, that 
> his
> braille literacy be good as well as his ability to type on a brailler type
> keyboard and a quirty keyboard.  I will also make sure he can write the
> print alphabet in upper and lower case, and his name in cursive, although 
> I
> won't insist on any more than that in script, unless he expresses an
> interest.  I am also not a big fan of the school of thought that an abacus
> is a good way to teach blind kids some beginning math concepts.  That is
> bologni.  An abacus is a good way to teach all kids math concepts.  I have
> used one to help so many sighted kids that I have tutored things like
> carrying in devision and decemil place values.  I don't think that low 
> tech
> is always best.  Technology is part of our society, that is reality.  I do
> think that kids should be given pieces of wood, blocks, cardboard tubing,
> blank paper, pots and pans, jiant cardboard boxes, etc, to enspire their
> imaginations and creativity.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Richard Holloway" <rholloway at gopbc.org>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)"
> <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 12:42 AM
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Technology and Little Kid
>
>
>> Certainly the slate and stylus (as someone else mentioned) is not a  bad
>> idea, but a child in this age range is probably not going to have  the
>> fine motor control to master the tool's use easily or likely be  ready 
>> for
>
>> the whole mirror image concept.
>>
>> A child of nearly any age can begin using a Perkins Braillewriter-- I
>> know we were using one by at least age three. At the very least a 
>> braille
>
>> novice can "scribble" on a braillewriter, just like my sighted
>> almost-4-year-old scribbles on paper with a crayon all the time.
>> Braillewriting skill with a young child emerges at least somewhat like
>> writing emerges with a sighted child-- not all letters at once and at
>> first, just like penmanship is typically pretty poor-- this after the
>> child has first just pressed the keys at random-- indeed "scribbling"
>> just like sighted kids. Getting the feel of the tools to use is an
>> important first step. It is hard for small hands to properly press and
>> form braille mechanically with a Perkins, but you are building hand  and
>> finger strength and forming braille concepts all along the way.  Many
>> schools can provide a second braillewriter for the student to use  at 
>> home
>
>> for free once the child is in school.
>>
>> I think that often the way to go is to immerse the child within all  the
>> options that can be gotten as the child appears ready to take to  them--
>> at least that was our theory when our daughter was born, and in  fact, it
>> continues to be the same way to this day, then we focus on  what she 
>> seems
>
>> ready to take to-- she'll ultimately use most all of  these things. There
>> is also an entire range of tactile graphics  solutions and manipulatives.
>> You can produce these with pipe cleaners,  and a bottle of glue, or you
>> can use a multi-thousand dollar  thermoform; quite a range of options
>> exists.
>>
>> Now at age 7, Kendra uses a BrailleNote and PAC Mate daily but still 
>> uses
>
>> a Perkins often, as well as an abacus for her math, JAWS on her  computer
>> and so forth. She also works well with refreshable braille  and that can
>> be a really handy option. The next big challenge I see  for her is 
>> needing
>
>> to learn a qwerty keyboard, so there can be a lot  of technology in use 
>> by
>
>> an early age.
>>
>> It is also really important to expose the child to braille as much as
>> possible. A sighted child sees print everywhere. Make certain this  child
>> runs across braille often. Now in first grade and a proficient  braille
>> reader, our first grade daughter still runs across the braille  stickers
>> on things all over the house-- refrigerator, dishwasher,  table, drawer,
>> oven, door, bed-- you name it. This will cause the  child to ask
>> questions-- just like a sighted child-- "what is this"  and later "what 
>> do
>
>> these letters say?-- what do they mean?" Also, use  twin vision books--
>> sighted kids look at letters while parents read  most every time. Blind
>> kids can do the same-- that's why it is best  when adding braille to a
>> print book to always put the braille below  the print-- a sighted reader
>> can still read while small hands are  exploring the braille.
>>
>> Screen readers can be used at that age as well as a victor reader. 
>> Things
>
>> like Mt Battens are expensive but potentially useful, but be  careful 
>> that
>
>> an electronic (and expensive) solution like a Mt. Batten  or a PAC Mate 
>> is
>
>> not learned at the expense of being able to use a  mechanical
>> braillewriter as that need will almost certainly come up  all of this
>> child's life, at least from time to time.
>>
>> I'd like to rework this link, and our site is about to get a facelift
>> overall too but here are some technology ideas that you might direct  her
>> towards. Let her see a range of options and then she can decide  which 
>> way
>
>> she wants to proceed.
>>
>> http://www.gopbc.org/gopbc_technology.htm
>>
>>
>> Richard
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Feb 17, 2010, at 10:01 PM, David Andrews wrote:
>>
>>> 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 there  -- should she start using  with her
>>> child?
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>>
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