[accesscomp] FW: some tips on alternative techniques for jobs around the house, garden, on the car and more, Dan's tip for Tuesday September 2nd 2014
- From: "Robert Acosta" <boacosta@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "tektalk discussion" <tektalkdiscussion@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2014 21:14:33 -0700
Robert Acosta, President
Helping Hands for the Blind
(818) 998-0044
www.helpinghands4theblind.org
From: dan Thompson [mailto:dthompson5@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2014 5:54 AM
To: dan Thompson
Subject: some tips on alternative techniques for jobs around the house,
garden, on the car and more, Dan's tip for Tuesday September 2nd 2014
FOR FATHERS (AND OTHERS): SOME TIPS ON ALTERNATIVE TECHNIQUES
By John Cheadle
Home repairs, lawn work, woodworking and automobile maintenance and repair
have long been considered the domain of men. It was expected that father's
would teach their sons how to hammer a nail, fix the sink, change a tire and
mow the lawn. Mothers would teach their daughters how to cook, sew, do the
laundry, clean house and perhaps some gardening.
Those expectations have changed and I believe that is a good thing by and
large. Now, boys and girls are both encouraged to take home economics and
woodshop in high school. Mothers insist on their sons learning to cook, and
fathers are showing daughters how to use power tools.
Expectations are also changing for our blind youngsters. In the last issue
(Dec 82/Jan,Feb 83) we had an article entitled, "Mom, Let Your Blind Child
in the Kitchen." The point was made that blind children (especially boys)
are often shortchanged in culinary experiences. Parents (especially moms)
were encouraged to give their blind children more experience in the kitchen.
The same can be said of some areas typically associated with fathers, namely
home repairs, woodshop, lawn work and automobile maintenance and repair. It
is often erroneously assumed that blind persons are necessarily limited in
these areas. If we believe that, it is only natural that fathers will not
take the time to teach their blind son or daughter how to change a tire, use
a power saw, or mow the lawn. And such has too often been the case. The
purpose of this article is to 1. dispel the myth that blind people are less
safe or capable at these tasks than others and 2. provide some ideas about
alternative techniques that blind people can use to perform these tasks
safely and efficiently.
First, the myth. The best response to that is to point to the thousands of
blind men and women who routinely mow their own lawn, fix the kitchen sink
and plant a flower or vegetable garden. Jim Walker (see the article,
"Reflections of a Blind Father" page 4) is but one example of a blind
youngster, now grown up, who learned these things from his father or on his
own. There are others: a pig farmer in Nebraska who fixes the roof on his
barn; a teacher in Idaho who changes the oil in his van; a federal employee
from Virginia who fixes his kitchen sink; a housewife in Missouri who cans
vegetables and fruits from the huge garden she plants yearly and a radio
announcer who designs and makes a combination desk/bookshelf for his study.
These people are not amazing or exceptional. They are simply ordinary people
going about ordinary tasks. Most of the techniques and tools they use are
the same as sighted people use. Sometimes, alternative techniques and
adapted equipment are necessary, but there is nothing mysterious or
difficult about them.
Thomas Edison once said, "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."
Neither you nor your blind child, have to be "geniuses" or "professionals"
or even very creative to be successful in teaching and learning the common
skills associated with home, shop and auto. Belief and persistence are the
keys. Following are some specific suggestions in the areas of automobiles,
shop and home repairs and lawn work.
Automobiles:
When you are working on your auto, encourage your child to observe and help.
Show him or her what and where the different parts are. Have them learn
about the tools you use and ask them to help you by finding a particular
tool. As they become older or more experienced, begin to show them how to do
some of the tasks and then let them do it. Changing a tire, checking and
adding oil, changing the oil and changing filters are some common things you
may want to teach them.
Your youngster also needs to learn from you how much vehicles and their
parts can differ. For example, jacks are made differently and some cars will
have a certain, special kind of notch or fitting for the jack, and others
will not. Some may use a scissors jack, some may need a bumper jack and some
may use a screw jack. And there are many varieties within these three types.
In some cars, the gas tank will be in the back under the license plates, in
others it will be in the front, or on the driver's side to the back or on
the passenger's side to the front. It will help if your child becomes aware
of these kinds of differences.
For most of the basic tasks, nothing special is needed. The jobs can be done
by sound and touch with little if any modifications. Most dipsticks, for
example, have full and add markings which are easily felt. If yours is not,
just file a notch or scratch a mark where needed. I would also suggest that
you not slide your finger down the dipstick when locating the oil. It is
best to lightly tap the index finger up and down, beginning at or above the
full mark and working your way down. This way you can fell the "tug" or
adhesion of the oil as the finger pulls away from the stick. When you have
located the oil, leave the finger there and locate the full and add marks
with your thumb or thumbnail.
Sounds are helpful, too. If you are working on the engine and drop a part
down through it, stop and listen. With experience, you can tell by sound
what part or parts of the engine the item hits. Knowing that, you can track
the item to its probable location. For example, a generator makes a
dull-hollow sound and the engine block has a distinctive sound. Since no
one, sighted or blind, can see down through an engine you may find yourself
adopting this technique.
Most of us and most of our blind children will only learn enough about
automobiles to serve our own personal purposes or interests. Some of our
blind youngsters however, may become interested in related vocations. There
are blind people who are auto mechanics, engineers, machinists, small engine
repairmen and machine operators in industry.
For the more technical and sophisticated levels of work, some adapted
equipment may be necessary. Items such as Braille micrometers and Brailled
meter-readers and torque wrenches are available. Other tools, including
modern torque wrenches.are easily adapted.
*Home Repairs and Woodshop:
In this area there really isn't much that a blind person can't do. Again,
most of it can be done by touch, sound and by using the same tools and
techniques that others use. In some instances, such as electrical work,
special adaptations and techniques may need to be worked out. For example,
electrical wires these days are color-coded. Most household wiring consists
of three wires encased in an outer covering. The uninsulated wire is the
ground wire and easily distinguished by touch. The problem is to determine
which is the "hot" and "cold" wires. One simple method is to find the
embossed or impressed print on the outer covering with your finger. The
wires inside always have the same relationship to the printed side of the
covering. Using this knowledge, you need never get your "hot" and "cold"
wires mixed up or crossed.
In the shop, some tools will be used in ways other than their typical use
and an adapted or specially made measuring device will be helpful. For the
measuring device you can make notches in a yardstick or ruler, put staples
in a cloth measuring tape, or buy a roto-matic or a click rule. A rotomatic
is a threaded rod with 16 threads per inch. It has been ground flat on one
side and opposite that side, every eighth thread is left intact.
Additionally, there is an oblong shaped nut which can be turned up and down
the rod. Each quarter-turn of this nut moves it l/64th of an inch. The click
rule is a threaded rod with a "sleeve" around it. The threads make a small
clicking sound every 1/16 of an inch as the rod is pulled from the sleeve.
It is also a tactual measure with raised threads every V2 inch.
You may purchase the roto-matic, the click rule and a tactually marked tape
measure from the National Federation of the Blind.
Here is the detailed information.
1. ROTOMATIC NFB Online. ROTOMATIC. 6-inch device with three (3) extensions
(6, 12, and 18 inches) and a nut which moves on a threaded rod with threads
that are 1/16 ...
https://ecommerce.nfb.org/html/ROTOMATIC_158.htm
2. <https://ecommerce.nfb.org/html/CLICK_RULE_151.htm> CLICK RULE
NFB Online. CLICK RULE. 6-inch device with three (3) extensions (12 inches
each) with tactile markings every 1/2 inch. Tighten screw for easy and
accurate ...
https://ecommerce.nfb.org/html/CLICK_RULE_151.htm
3. tactually marked tape measure from the National Federation of the Blind.
https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr02/issue2/f020206.html
Send request and check to: National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson
Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.
The above items are also available at Maxi Aids
http://www.maxiaids.com/store/default.asp
American Printing House for the Blind
www.aph.org
and a variety of other independent living publications.
The conventional method for marking a cut is a pencil mark. A tactual mark
is easily substituted by using a sharp, pointed instrument, such as a scribe
or awl. Once you have located your measurement, place a guide (a square
works nicely) along the line to be marked, then use your pointed instrument
to make your mark. It's simple
After measuring and marking comes the cut. I have described below some
techniques you can use in making a cross-cut with a hand-saw and a
hand-power saw (such as a circular saw or a saber saw).
Hand Saw: Crosscut
After measuring and marking, put your wood in a vise or secure with clamps.
Find the mark, place your index fingernail on one side of the board where
the mark begins, and your thumbnail in the mark on the other side. Bring
your saw-blade over till it touches your thumbnail and fingernail (it should
then be right on your cutting mark). Draw the saw back once to start the
cut. Leave the saw in place, move your hand away from the blade, slide a
square up to the saw blade (this acts as a guide to keep your saw in the
proper place) and make your cut.
Hand-power saw: Crosscut
You will need an edge-guide for this cut. Protractor-style edge-guides are
available from most stores that carry a good selection of tools or you may
build your own. A template cut from hardboard would also be helpful but not
necessary (see description below for explanation of its use).
Measure, mark and secure your wood. Then, take your saw and measure the
distance between the tool's blade and the outside of the saw's guiding edge.
At that point you can either 1. measure back from your cutting mark the
sawblade/saw guiding-edge dimension and secure your edge guide at that
point, or 2. place a template that has been cut to the saw-balde/saw
guiding-edge dimension beside your cutting mark. Secure the edge-guide next
to the template on the side opposite the cutting mark, then remove the
template. Finally, bring your saw into position by lining up the
guiding-edge of the saw with the edge-guide. Place the teeth of the blade
against the piece to be cut and draw it back an inch or so. Turn the saw on
and let it come to full speed. Move the saw forward along the edge-guide
until contact with the wood is made. Make your cut.
Before ending this section let me make some comments about alternative
techniques and teaching these techniques to kids with partial vision. These
comments by the way apply to all areas, not just shop work.
We use the term "alternative" instead of "substitute" because substitute
connotes inferiority while alternative implies equality. It is accurate to
say that some blind techniques are just as good as sighted techniques, some
are superior to sighted methods and a few are inferior.
I currently employ many of the alternative techniques of blindness in my own
work. My experiences demonstrated that these techniques are often safer,
more efficient and more accurate than the "sighted" methods I had been
taught. For example, the use of templates and edge-guides provide a safer
cut, (there is less chance of binding the saw blade) are more efficient (it
takes less time to set up templates and a straight-edge than it does to
measure and mark) and more accurate (templates are consistent, pencil marks
aren't and the straight-edge reduces the chances of straying off the cutting
line).
In regards to teaching alternative techniques to partially-sighted kids, I
am a strong advocate of sleep shades (blindfolds). First of all, it makes
learning the alternative techniques faster and easier. Secondly, it builds
confidence to know that sight is not required to do the task. Finally and
most importantly, your youngster will be able to make informed decisions
about when his sight can be used
safely and efficiently and when an alternative technique is better. That
kind of decision cannot be made unless one has the appropriate alternative
skills.
*Lawn Work:
Again, most lawn and gardening work needs no special comment. Touch, sound,
memory, special markings or systems are utilized here the same as in any
other area. Each person should work out their own methods and systems
according to personal preference and specific circumstances.
In this area, as in all others, you should encourage your child to work out
some of their own techniques and approaches. The more experience they can
get in doing this, the more confident and independent they will become.
Many blind people do mow their own lawns and perhaps a comment or two would
be helpful. The technique used will vary according to personal preferences,
type of equipment used and the size and shape of the lawn. Guides or
straight edges, such as a moveable rope between poles, or a cyclone fence
rail laid out on the ground, might be helpful.
Whether your child ever mows a lawn regularly or not, it would be good for
them to know about the equipment used. They could learn where the blades
are, how to start it and how to fill it with fuel. As with the automobile,
they should be aware of the different kinds of mowers (hand-mowers,
power-mowers, rider-mowers, etc.). In fact, it is always a good practice to
let your child know and experience the variety of shapes, sizes and brands
modern-day equipment and products can come in.
John Cheadle has worked as Deputy Director of the Idaho Commission for the
Blind. He has been involved in rehabilitation work with the blind and a
member of the National Federation of the Blind for about ten years. He began
his career as a cane travel instructor with the Nebraska Services for the
Visually Impaired. Shortly thereafter, he was asked to begin a woodshop
class in the Orientation Center for the Blind. Mr. Cheadle had this to say
about that experience, "The purpose of the wood shop class, like all other
classes at the center, was to provide the opportunity for blind persons to
develop confidence in themselves. It was not important whether they would
ever use the power tools again, so long as they knew that they could. "
Prayer for Inner Peace
Lord, help me to live in Your joy and peace. Give me strength and
understanding to resist anxiety, anger, envy, depression, bitterness,
hopelessness, loneliness, fear and guilt. Rescue me when "my spirit is
overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is distressed" (Psalm 143:4). I
refuse to let my life be brought down by negative emotions such as these.
When I am tempted to give in to them, show me Your Truth. You have said in
Your Word that by our patience we can possess our souls (Luke 21:19) Give me
patience so I can do that. Help me to keep my 'heart with all diligence,"
for I know that "out of it spring the issues of life: (Proverbs 4:23).
To subscribe to Dan's tips or dedaily devotions, send an email to
dthompson5@xxxxxxxxx with either "subscribe dan's tips" or "subscribe daily
devotion" in the subject.
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