Re: Lego for the Blind was Re: Scanner/Stuff...
- From: james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 13:29:09 -0400
Hi,
As the former list owner, that being worth little, I say go for it. I'm
interested.
Jim
James D Homme, , Usability Engineering, Highmark Inc.,
james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx, 412-544-1810
"it is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis." --
Margaret Bonnano
Highmark internal only: Consider Usability Engineering On Your Next Project
or release. http://highwire.highmark.com/sites/iwov/hwt093/
"Jackie McBride"
<abletec@xxxxxxxx
m> To
Sent by: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
programmingblind- cc
bounce@freelists.
org Subject
Re: Lego for the Blind was Re:
Scanner/Stuff...
05/12/2008 11:45
AM
Please respond to
programmingblind@
freelists.org
Foundation for Blind Children, Phoenix, AZ. U know, Chris, I guess
I'm gonna take the risk of being considered off topic & I hate doing
that. But...
11 years ago I contracted what they think is Meniere's disease. It's
an inner ear condition that's taken my balance & some of the hearing
in my right ear. As a consequence, I use a walker when outdoors. My
walker had a wheelchair pathfinder on it, which was a combination of
laser & sonar. It detected left, right, & forward obstacles, as well
as dropoffs. It died last August, & the manufacturer, Nurion Raycal,
also died several years ago along w/its founder, Nazier Ali. So I have
lost my mobility, & for me, it's a terrible loss. I came across a
robot, r2d2, sold by Hammacher Schlimmer, & it could tell when it was
gonna fall off a table, bump into stuff, etc. Point is, the technology
is there to make those blind individuals w/severe mobility impairments
a mobility device that could help us navigate--the truth is no1 wants
to. I guess it could also help other blind folks who don't even have
mobility impairments, but it could really help those of us for whom a
long cane or dog guide is no longer an option. I belong to a list
called blind rollers--it's for mobility-impaired blind---& we all ask
the same question--how can we travel independently--& it's like
shouting down a sewer pipe. All we hear back is the echo of our
questions. I really think that since the priorities of this country
are clearly not to help folks who need it, as demonstrated by the fact
that we can launch a missile from hundreds of miles away & blow a
house from here to the hot place & back, but won't help our blind
navigate their environment, then perhaps what we need to do is form
our own little consortium to do it--& I cannot think of a better way
than to get blind kids interested early on in programming. I'm sorry
for the rant. Jeff, I'll shut up now. But I'll say this 1
thing--programmers need to be concerned about our coding, etc. We also
need to be concerned w/the greater social schema & how our skills
might be brought to bear to make this world a better place, especially
in those areas where the big corporations have no interest in going.
Regretably, that is not an area oft discussed, amongst programmer
types, & Chris has raised some poignant issues which we as programmers
need to consider. My defense for this being on topic. I, too, am a
list owner. & if some1 on my list had given a rationale like this for
a discussion that initially appeared to me to be off topic, I would
have taken it to heart & allowed it to continue. Just my $.02, &
that's probably exactly what it's worth.
On 5/12/08, Chris Hofstader <chris.hofstader@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I actually think the Lego robotics hardware and programming environments
are
> on topic for this list as a number of us communicate frequently with
blind
> children who will turn into the blind hackers of the future. Robotics is
an
> especially good area as so much can be done with the technology that can
be
> applied directly to issues regarding people with disabilities.
>
> If I knew of someplace where a handful of blind kids congregated on a
> frequent basis, I would buy their center another set to see how they can
> work with the Lego system out-of-the-box. They might be able to conjure
> designs that their sighted counterparts and we adults (and adulteresses)
> can't fathom because our heads are stuffed with the possibilities of
today
> while the children can imagine futures well beyond what we can think up
as
> they have a lot less baggage.
>
> Does anyone know of a blind center where middle school kids congregate?
>
> Enjoy,
> cdh
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of James Panes
> Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 9:08 AM
> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Lego for the Blind was Re: Scanner/Stuff...
>
> Hi BC,
>
> Don't know if this is a programming topic, so any additional material on
> this thread will be off list.
>
> I have lost my sight over the years, but lego is still my favorite toy.
My
> sculptures don't look as pretty as they used to because I can not
determine
> what color my bricks are, but I still make more and more complicated
models
> every year.
>
> I highly recommend lego for blind as it helps to develop spacial
awareness
> and planning skills.
>
> Regards,
> Jim
> jimpanes@xxxxxxxxx
> jimpanes@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> "Everything is easy when you know how."
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris Hofstader" <chris.hofstader@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 7:36 AM
> Subject: Scanner/Stuff...
>
>
> Hi Guys,
>
> My parents are in town so I'm fairly distracted from vocational and other
> programming related tasks. I did, however, manage to find a scanner with
a
> document feeder (they used to call these sheet feeders, were consumers
> stupid enough to think they had something to do with bedding or is using
the
> more sophisticated term a way to hit me up for an additional $25 or so by
> making me think it's a device far more interesting than something that
> simply scans sheets of paper - which, in fact, is what I want it to do).
>
> I bought a new Canon from the low end of their "professional" line which
> wasn't terribly expensive and only slightly slower than the one that died
on
> us last week. It is expected to arrive by UPS mule by Thursday so Sue
can
> start the Drupal scanning project on Friday while I'm having a tattoo put
> onto my left forearm. Assuming we don't get bogged down in a lot of
paper
> jams and other scanning hell, we should have the book done by sometime on
> Saturday.
>
> This brings me to a minor conundrum - currently Bookshare.org is my most
> profitable client (the amount I earn from my different projects varies on
a
> monthly basis depending upon how much attention I can devote to a gig and
> the project's level of urgency). I want, therefore, to promote BSO
> subscriptions to help defray the cost of the work they pay me to perform
and
> to help keep the non-profit running smoothly as possible.
>
> At the same time, I don't want to exclude our friends outside the US from
> having access to this and other books on programming and technology that
we
> process. Also, any web site that posts the book without the protections
> afforded by BSO, NLS and the others runs into a possible copyright
problem
> with the publisher as, although we claim it is intended for blind people
> only, we have no way of protecting the content to ensure that proof of a
> print disability has been proffered before we share the book.
>
> I'm open to all sorts of ideas, please make suggestions.
>
> Yesterday, I spent an additional $250 on a birthday gift for my twin
niece
> and nephew. I got them the Lego robotics starter kit which includes a
ton
> of really neat features (you can read about it at lego.com), there are at
> least a half dozen books on Amazon describing projects one can make with
the
> set, loads of add on parts, the ability to write code on a PC and
download
> it to your bot and so many other very cool features that I could write
for
> hours.
>
> The kids were first introduced to these Legos as part of their charter
> school program that brought them to MIT for two hours per week, one hour
on
> robotics using the kit I got for them and the other on crypt-analysis and
> code breaking. Where were such programs when I was eleven years old?
>
> On a more topic based question, though, if I recall from my own
childhood,
> Lego bricks and other pieces were highly tactile - does anyone know of
blind
> kids using this kit to make their own robots? Does anyone know of any
> trials with children with vision impairment and such a kit? I'm curious
to
> learn if it could be fit into a middle school course for budding blind
> hackers.
>
> Enjoy,
> cdh
>
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Jackie McBride
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