[blindkid] Technology and Little Kid

Heather craney07 at rochester.rr.com
Fri Feb 19 02:00:49 UTC 2010


Ok, my brain wheels are ticking.  I have an idea.  A friend of mine is 
taking a technology course whose aim is essentially to design one game, and 
one toy for students, one piece of software for parents and one for 
teachers, all with educational aims.  I wonder if I can get her to help me 
develop an infant and a toddler toy for early slate use.  The infant toy 
would be maybe six to twelve months of age and would consist of a book whose 
front cover has six holes for braille dots, large, maybe the size of poker 
chips, then a large styalis with a soft end, maybe the size of a bingo 
dauber.  There could be a sensor in the dots and one in the styalis and it 
could tell the child which dot is being pressed.  The numbers of each dot 
could be written in large colorful print and in braille also on each dot. 
There could be modes where you hit a few dots in a row then hit a larger 
button off to the side and it will tell you the letter or contraction the 
child has inadvertantly, at first, formed.  On each page of the book, they 
would all have the holes so that the dots on the inside of the back cover of 
the book could be accessed, would have print and braille upper case and 
lower case letters and numbers, etc.  Then for toddlers a smaller styalis, 
crayon tipped in size, that would come with an electronic board with larger 
versions of the slate cells with the impressions of the sides of the dots in 
the cell, but now no no connective boarders fully around each dot as in the 
infant interactive book..  This could say short words and work on phonix, 
and maybe they could even work in a small braille display below that would 
display the words correctly, left to right, even if the child is writing 
right to left, like on a slate, or if that would be to expensive, maybe it 
could have ports to hook to a lap top, braille display, printer, embosser or 
braille note.  This needs a lot more thought, but it could be fun to play 
with.  The slate is like the pen, but we don't give pens to babies and 
toddlers, so there should be some early slate literacy toys out there.  Any 
thoughts or suggestions, before I ask my friend Kim if she is interested?
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carrie Gilmer" <carrie.gilmer at gmail.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)'" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 3:18 PM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Technology and Little Kid


> If you look at handwriting samples of lots of sighted  kindergarteners and
> first graders you will see a variety of skill...by third grade they all 
> pull
> closer, some-a few- never get totally easily legible.  My sighted youngest
> could write her name in print at age three and a half, legibly. My oldest
> had ADD and hardly sat down until kindergarten, he hated coloring and
> writing.
>
>
>
> You can always expect to have variety in the blind population as well. I 
> am
> very glad Eric found Ramona's speech with Kim's experience and put the 
> link
> up. I think her point (Kim's) that she did it because she did not know
> better is very important to think of. Nearly all our children's 
> educational
> gaps and lacking-s come from speculated and presumed "they can't, it is 
> too
> hard". And because she thought they could and encouraged and gave them the
> opportunity and practice well, yeah they did actually do it. She did not
> have some group from another planet. It just has not been tried enough-all
> the naysayers say it from pure speculation. It is a fact that years ago
> nearly all blind children at 5 and 6 started off with slate and stylus.
> These children had no more trouble than the average sighted child in
> starting. It is a fact that practically virtually every sighted child that
> enters kindergarten has thousands of times, hundreds and hundreds of 
> hours,
> controlling and practicing with a hand held writing instrument. If they 
> had
> trouble well they often had to practice MORE not less. In school they did 
> it
> all day long.
>
>
>
> We get good at what we spend the most time at. I think the very fine skill
> of placing the stylus in the slate cell is some of the most excellent fine
> motor coordination practice kids could get, never mind the benefits of
> learning to write this way efficiently. Who needs to use their hands and 
> get
> good at identifying and manuipulating with fine skill and in detail more
> than our kids?
>
>
>
> As in early handwriting with pen, you don't expect actual letter formation
> maybe even the first YEAR or TWO. With the slate one dot obviously could
> appear to be an "A", but a child can practice and get finger strength 
> within
> the cell just trying making dots, or with no slate. The stylus can also
> scribble and press raised lines on Braille  paper with a giving under
> cardboard or strong foam like a mouse pad that has some give. The practice
> time is often not even within a galaxy that they need before parents and
> teachers claim it is hard or their child can not do it, in my experience.
>
>
>
> I think the bad wrap the slate/stylus has acquired and the dismissed
> opportunity and lack of understanding in its total benefits is ONE of the
> greatest mistakes in the education of our children in the last 50 years.
>
> Carrie
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Richard Holloway
> Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 1:39 PM
> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Technology and Little Kid
>
>
>
> My main basis for that is that our daughter still struggles with the
>
> slate and stylus even with a good deal of exposure while she excels
>
> with the brailler, PacMate, Braillenote, etc., and will soon (I
>
> suspect) begin to master the qwerty options as well She seems to have
>
> trouble with precise placement of the stylus to hit the right dot. I
>
> do suspect if it were her only option, she's be better at it, but at
>
> the same time, she can pretty well braille as fast as she might
>
> dictate a letter. I cannot imagine a first grader (or anyone for that
>
> matter) who can do that with a slate.
>
>
>
> Again, I'm working with direct history from a sample of one child.
>
> (Your mileage may vary!)
>
>
>
> I can say this with some certainty though-- my pens & pencils will
>
> always be second class citizens to my laptop and the reality is that
>
> I'm, probably 10 or 20 times more productive with a laptop than a pen
>
> and paper so I have no problem with that. Do any of us these days work
>
> better without a computer? For myself, I draw the line at not having
>
> the pen & paper / slate & stylus option available at all; that is
>
> dangerous.
>
>
>
>
>
> Richard
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 18, 2010, at 1:13 PM, David Andrews wrote:
>
>
>
>> Richard:
>
>>
>
>> Thanks for the ideas.  Not to be argumentative but I don't
>
>> necessarily agree with your placement of slate.  Most kids today are
>
>> not good slate and stylus users because it is downplayed by
>
>> professionals, and they get the Braille Writer first.  I started
>
>> with slate first, at six and didn't get a Braille Writer until 2nd
>
>> or 3rd grade, so I am very good with slate.  To do it the other way
>
>> around guarantees that the slate will always be a second class
>
>> citizen.
>
>>
>
>> Dave
>
>
>
>
>
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