[blindkid] Wii Device Teaches Visually Impaired to WalkwithCanes

Richard Holloway rholloway at gopbc.org
Tue Jun 8 03:52:57 UTC 2010


So then you would probably not be good candidates to buy and use this  
product. This doesn't mean it cannot be useful or helpful for others.

I have no agenda to convert you or Peter to wanting to use this  
product. My concern is when such effort is made to prevent others from  
looking into something that could possibly be of use to their kids (or  
other adults for that matter).

Many people have argued for YEARS that a cane is not a useful or  
helpful piece of equipment for young children-- that it is only  
appropriate for older kids who can "grasp the concept" of cane travel.  
Most on this listserv would take issue with that position, yet many  
parents of young children have in the past believed this (and in fact  
some still do). How many parents need to believe this and deny their  
kids canes, even for a short period of time to make this a tragedy?

What if this Wii game can help some-- if even only a few kids improve  
any aspect of their cane travel? Where exactly is the harm in that?

Lots of people both with and without sight walk on treadmills, ride on  
stationary bikes, and ride real bikes on sets of rollers (sort of a  
"treadmill for your bike"). They "ski" on ski machines, row on rowing  
machines-- you can even swim in a "swimming spa" and go nowhere in the  
water. I've seen where you can "surf" into a jet of water and stay in  
place as well. You can "skydive" over a huge fan. There must be  
countless similar examples. Every one of these devices offers only a  
small portion of the full experience of the "real" activity to which  
they are connected outside of the gym, amusement park, etc.

Oh, and on the Guitar Hero attack, from what I can gather, there have  
been quite a number of people who have been inspired to pick up real  
guitars and learn to play after messing around with this game. The  
strangest things can plant the little seeds of ideas which grow into  
bigger things later. How ironic might it be if even a handful of  
outstanding O&M instructors should appear years down the road because  
of questions or ideas that grew out of an encounter with this game...

Richard




On Jun 7, 2010, at 10:36 PM, Mike Freeman wrote:

> Holly:
>
> I guess Peter and I see no reason for a supplement.
>
> Mike




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