[blindkid] Question: Braille Displays or Paper Braille for Increased Reading Speed?

[Arielle Silverman]

OK now I understand the problem. I suppose he could count paragraphs,
starting at the first paragraph of the document and pressing dots
5-6-chord to move forward one paragraph at a time until he reached the
desired paragraph number. But of course that doesn't work if the
paragraph breaks were absent or inconsistent in the Word doc.

Arielle

On 7/17/13, Sarah Thomas <seacknit at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Arielle,
>
> The problem is formatting.  A lot is possible if things are done properly,
> however in my son's case, the text was dumped in a file without formatting
> and the questions referred to paragraphs that were numbered on the print
> page but not in the file downloaded to the braillenote.
>
> So many of these issues--including use of tactile graphics--comes down to
> having the people producing the materials for kids think about what makes
> sense for the blind kid.  Just converting all the print material to tactile
> material doesn't work, as you know.  My problem is that I've found
> schools/teachers often don't think when creating materials for blind kids.
> They think the technology will take care of it.  People can create as much
> fancy technology as they want but without thinking teachers, it won't be
> used effectively for most kids.  I'm really excited about the advancements
> in haptic technology but it can't do everything.
>
> Sally Thomas
> On Jul 17, 2013, at 8:34 AM, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Sally,
>>
>> It surprises me that your son couldn't efficiently navigate back to
>> specific parts of the text on the BrailleNote. Although there is the
>> disadvantage of not being able to locate section headings, the
>> BrailleNote does have the find command, which allows one to search for
>> a specific word or phrase anywhere in the text. Did he try using the
>> Find command (space + F)? It may also be possible to replace section
>> headings with double paragraph breaks.
>> I agree with you, though, that hard-copy Braille allows us to see how
>> documents are formatted.
>>
>> Arielle
>>
>> On 7/16/13, Sarah Thomas <seacknit at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Although I think a braille display could be a faster way to absorb
>>> braille
>>> if one is an efficient user, I worry about the thought that the display
>>> could be thought of as a replacement for paper braille.  One important
>>> difference in my mind, is learning how a page is formatted.  Also,
>>> formatting is a means of conveying information.
>>>
>>> When the school district my son attended learned that print could be
>>> converted to braille with a .doc file on the braillenote, they tried to
>>> give
>>> him 40 (print) page reading assignments with questions at the end that
>>> referred to specific paragraphs in the text.  It was not possible for him
>>> to
>>> navigate the assignment on the braillenote with efficiency.  As
>>> unfortunate
>>> as it is, there is not one solution to the braille reading issue.
>>>
>>> Sally Thomas
>>>
>>>
>>> On Jul 17, 2013, at 3:29 AM, Allison Hilliker <AllisonH at benetech.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hi All,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I had a question that came to my mind due in part to the fascinating
>>>> Braille discussion we've had on this list lately. Do you know if
>>>> Braille
>>>> format has any impact on Braille reading speeds and fluency? In other
>>>> words, is one more likely to increase their reading speed by using
>>>> hardcopy Braille as opposed to a Braille display? Or does Braille
>>>> reading
>>>> speed simply increase with practice regardless of how one gets their
>>>> Braille? Are your kids/students increasing reading speeds through their
>>>> displays or do they still use hardcopy a lot when learning?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I ask because an NFB member who is also a Braille instructor once told
>>>> me
>>>> that It is harder to increase reading speed using a Braille display
>>>> than
>>>> it is using paper Braille. Does anyone know if this is true?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>>
>>>> Allison
>>>>
>>>>
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