[blindkid] compose and edit without electronics

[DrV]

Hi Joy,
As much as possible, I avoided typing, typewriters, computers, & any & all 
electronic or mechanical writing gadgets until about 4 years after 
graduating from medical school.
Like Carol, I organized my thoughts using the index card method. I would 
write down whatever came to mind on an card; 1 or 2 similar thoughts per 
card or strip of paper.
Then I arranged them in an order that made sense to me & from there I would 
write my first draft. I would then cut up my rough draft in sections & 
retape them together like it sounds you did, so that ultimately I only had 
to type or handwrite out a final version of the paper out once.

My youngest son Petras is in second grade now.
He recently had to write an essay on a subject and is in the process of 
putting together an oral report.
In each case I had him write down his initial thoughts using a Perkins, in a 
bullet-point fashion. This could also be done with a Perkins or Slate & 
Stylus using index cards.
He then wrote an initial double-spaced rough draft on the Perkins referring 
to his notes.
We discussed how the initial draft could be tweaked to flow & sound better.
He was able to then "erase" words he wanted to get rid of & just like with 
math or worksheets, there was room for him to make notes to himself in the 
space above the lines he had Brailled.
He wrote his final version on his BrailleNote, but could just as easily have 
written it on a Perkins
The process seemed to make sense, he enjoyed the new concept, & it worked 
out well.
For his famous person speech, he chose to read a Louis Braille biography.
He put together a nice little speech & has been practicing hard all week.
Wednesday he gets to dress up like young Louis & hopefully all goes well.
It's actually been a lot of fun.
Good luck to Ahbee!
Best wishes,
Eric


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carol Castellano" <blindchildren at verizon.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 13:08
Subject: Re: [blindkid] compose and edit without electronics


> there's a method I still use when I'm writing a speech or an article.  I 
> put each idea down on a separate index card or post-it note.  Then I can 
> arrange and rearrange to my heart's content.  This will work in braille. 
> It is not so easy to edit a paper this way, but it should work for an 
> outline.
>
> Carol
>
> At 10:40 AM 3/22/2010, you wrote:
>>Hi friends,
>>I would like to hear how some of you or your children compose and edit
>>essays, stories, letters, and so on, without high-tech gadgets. I am old
>>enough to remember typing, cutting and pasting (literally), and re-typing 
>>my
>>papers. Has anyone out there done this in braille?
>>Related question: How do you mark corrections on the draft to change in 
>>the
>>final copy? We are trying to produce an outline and speech for a school
>>project, and an essay for a contest. Ahbee has written great first drafts 
>>of
>>them. Now how do we mark our corrections, change around sentences, add
>>ideas, etc.?
>>We have not learned to do this on the PacMate, and it is at school. So I
>>really want a low-tech method. I'm sure there was a way to edit with a 
>>slate
>>and stylus--at least we have a Perkins braillewriter. (smile)
>>
>>Joy Orton
>>_______________________________________________
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>>blindkid at nfbnet.org
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>
> Carol Castellano, President
> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
> 973-377-0976
> carol_castellano at verizon.net
> www.nfb.org/nopbc
>
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