[blindkid] Why JAWS?

[Sally Thomas]

My son is 16 and blind.  We have been around the block several times with
these issues.  The biggest problem is that there is not one piece of
technology that will do everything a blind person needs.  Notetakers are
great because they are portable, versatile and provide braille feedback.  A
Mac is nice because Voiceover is free but MS Office for Mac is not
accessible with Voiceover.    JAWS is still the most sophisticated screen
reader program in common use.  My son has found that at the high school
level his teachers require work to be formatted in a specific manner.  He
is only able to do this with JAWS and Windows.   He loves his iPhone but he
is now using a Windows laptop.  He is fortunate that he is getting some
really good JAWS training from a blind instructor who knows is stuff.

One cautionary tale--we had to get our son a very nice backpack with a
padded hip belt and an internal frame.  He developed some serious (ended up
in the hospital) health issues related to the way he was using and carrying
all his technology around during the school day.  Make sure your child is
not made to sit against a wall and turn in her seat to face the teacher.
 Schools don't consider ergonomics but even young kids need to sit up
straight and not be pack mules.

Sally Thomas

On Thu, Mar 7, 2013 at 6:28 AM, Brandon and Sarah <lanesims at gmail.com>wrote:

> I'm trying to make sense of a recent conversation with our daughter's
> TVI, who I realize is not up speed on technology - to be fair, neither
> am I. We were discussing a braille notetaker vs. braille display +
> computer. The TVI thinks she can justify the cost of a notetaker to
> the district by not having to get JAWS. Her impression is that JAWS is
> only for screenreading of internet material, which a notetaker can
> theoretically do. Here is my question for those who are ahead of us on
> this issue: If you have a notetaker at the elementary level and home
> computer access with Voiceover, is there a strong reason to have/learn
> JAWS? We have the MS Office for Mac on the home computer, so I'm less
> concerned about Emilia missing out on the Windows experience than I am
> about her getting more acquainted with accessing school curriculum,
> doing school work, etc. by electronic means. Thanks. Brandon
>
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