[blindkid] The Relationship Between a Visually Impaired Childand the iPad 2

Tue Nov 8 18:18:24 UTC 2011

Agreed.  I feel some apprehension that schools and many families will opt 
for the iPad for low-vision kids in lieu of Braille.  Because it's a print 
medium it will be much easier for classroom teachers, and kids may like it 
because it's cool to have an iPad in class; but it remains to be seen 
whether kids using the iPad will be as efficient as good Braille readers. 
Perhaps the iPad will prove to be the best option for a lot of kids.  The 
verdict isn't in, and I hope there will be good research to help us get 
answers.

Debbie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bonnie Lucas" <lucas.bonnie at gmail.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)'" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 7:20 PM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] The Relationship Between a Visually Impaired 
Childand the iPad 2

>I truly think it is wonderful that the iPad works so well for Zoe. I hope
> that as she reads with it, that she is reading at the same speed as do her
> peers. As long as her vision does not continue to deteriorate, perhaps,
> using this equipment will be just what she needs. However, if the time 
> comes
> that her vision gets worse, not knowing Braille is likely to void the 
> gains
> made by using this technology. I'm sure that the staff and parents will 
> take
> all of this into consideration. Of course, as I'm sure that others have
> mentioned that as children grow into adults, it become so much harder to
> learn Braille. I know from personal experience with members of my family.
> Very best of luck!
>
> Bonnie Lucas.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hai Nguyen Ly [mailto:gymnastdave at sbcglobal.net]
> Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 8:38 AM
> To: (for parents of blind children) NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List
> Subject: [blindkid] The Relationship Between a Visually Impaired Child and
> the iPad 2
>
>
> http://liaison.com/blog/blank-blog-page/liaison-blog/2011/10/13/the-relation
> ship-between-a-visually-impaired-child-and-the-ipad-2
>
> The Relationship Between a Visually Impaired Child and the iPad 2
>
> Zoey's right eye works some. The left eye not at all. She walks with a 
> cane
> at school. Her teachers enlarge worksheets so the text is 16-point font, 
> and
> she has large print editions of some other books. She uses the iPad 2 for
> everything else at school.
>
> At the start of the school year, there was very little information 
> available
> about how a child like Zoey can succeed with the iPad 2 as her primary
> adaptive technology at school. This note attempts to fill that gap.
>
> Zoey's Condition: She is legally blind. She was a "24-week micro preemie",
> meaning she was born too early and too small. She has never seen well. Her
> one working eye has a blind spot, its acuity varies so her glasses cannot
> keep up, and her eye has other problems as well. For what she cannot see,
> she wants to hear and touch.
>
> She also has perfect pitch. She says that without her piano, she would 
> die.
>
> Other Adaptive Technology: Zoey has several magnifying lenses of different
> strengths and weights. To read a book, she often put a wedge into her lap,
> held the magnifier close to her eye and slowly read. To read music, until
> she got her iPad, she would put music on the piano, put the magnifier 
> close
> to her face and lean towards the music until she could see it. This 
> approach
> let her read most notes, but she was unable to tell the difference between 
> a
> natural and a sharp, read dynamics markings, etc.
>
> She also used a 3.2 megapixel AVerVision document camera attached to a
> 32-inch HDTV on her desk at home. The two together work as a CCTV. They
> allow her to read print books, maps, worksheets, etc. It allows her to see
> bugs and other small items. In first grade she carried the document camera
> to school each day and had a monitor on her desk. Starting in second 
> grade,
> she found other approaches worked better because the technology was too
> cumbersome.
>
> Her iPad arrived the week before school started. She glommed on almost
> instantly, wanting to learn everything about using it. Her first use was
> taking pictures of everything in sight - every stuffed animal in the 
> house,
> her sisters dressed in costumes, all her friends, everything which 
> mattered
> to her. This is the first time that the screen of a camera was large 
> enough
> for her to use (as others have noted in numerous blogs and articles). I 
> also
> suspect that she also could see things for the first time - they stood 
> still
> enough, and were large enough, for her to study them.
>
> A Typical Day with the iPad 2: Each morning before school, Zoey unplugs 
> her
> iPad from the charger and puts it into the carrying case she chose. The
> carrying case is colorful, and its bright colors contrast with the school
> dress code, allowing her to easily locate the case. She also carries a
> hand-held telescope in the case.
>
> In english, science and other subjects, her textbooks are in different 
> apps
> on the iPad. She uses a DAISY reader (DAISY is an audio book format which
> can also display words in large font sizes), iBooks and Kindle. Her 
> teachers
> email information sheets and other materials directly from the school's
> photocopier or from a computer, and the iPad receives the documents via 
> the
> 3G connection, so that Zoey has the materials in class.
>
> She has difficulty keeping up while taking handwritten notes in class. 
> Thus,
> she now practices typing most days. She has a fold-up bluetooth keyboard. 
> I
> use (and am writing this note using) the Apple wireless keyboard. However,
> that keyboard was not designed to be carried along with the iPad (for
> instance, if the keys are pressed, the iPad turns on if the iPad has
> bluetooth enabled). She has a smaller keyboard which folds in half. The 
> key
> spacing is not standard, and the keys have to be pressed harder. Once her
> typing speed is good enough, we will try keyboards until we have a 
> workable
> situation.
>
> For piano music, I use a notebook application (Notebooks, but others would
> probably work too) to take pictures of the music two lines at a time. We
> make a book for each piece of music, and number the pictures by measure
> number. She sets the iPad sideways on the piano, flips between photos like
> with a swipe similar to how other pianists turn a page of music. She, of
> necessity, memorizes all her music. She is far more physically comfortable
> learning music this way than with hand-held lenses, and she is able to
> expand the image enough that she can even read the fingering hints.
>
> Also, when watching piano instructional materials in the web, or working 
> on
> lab exercises over the web, Zoey is able to expand the screen size and
> navigate the sites. When she plays music samples, the iPad speaker is
> sufficient for simple lab exercises, but she uses an Apple AirPort wired 
> to
> a stereo system when she needs to hear the music more clearly (the iPad 
> lets
> you send audio to the AirPort instead of to its own speaker).
>
> Collaborating with the School: The school staff at Archway Veritas, a
> charter school in Phoenix, AZ, has been fantastic. The school located
> electronic copies or large print copies of most books used in the 
> classroom,
> and has either acquired or made large print copies of most workbooks. 
> Zoey's
> email address has been entered into the school photocopier so teachers can
> easily scan materials during the day if needed so she can have them in the
> classroom. There is much more we could say.
>
> How It's Working: Parents want to see their children succeed. Zoey has
> options and flexibility we never thought she would have. The teachers and
> staff at Archway Veritas, with some support from the Phoenix-based
> Foundation for Blind Children, have given Zoey the chance to succeed 
> there.
> Zoey's piano teacher, at Music Works Academy in Phoenix, has adapted to
> Zoey's needs and capabilities. We are deeply grateful.
>
> When asked about the iPad, she said "It is much better than it was before,
> that's for sure."
>
> Other parents have warned us that the iPad is a superb source of
> entertainment. It can be addictive. Thus Zoey has no games on her iPad.
>
> As Marc Andreessen recently wrote, software is taking over the world. A
> single general-purpose software-controlled tool has now become the primary
> adaptive technology for a blind child, providing her options that no
> previously existing set of tools could provide.
>
> That is amazing.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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