[bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Learning braille

  • From: Jill O'Connell <jillocon@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 10:39:20 -0800

Lissi, I responded before reading this E-mail of yours. What state do you live in? Isn't there someone who can install Kurzweil 1000 for you without charging? Once installed, they have a very good tutorial on tape as well as on their web site. Believe me, I am not a natural computer user either and find Kurzweil much easier to use to validate than I do MS word. In fact, when you go to a book you have taken from the step 1 listt, Kurzweil will automatically unzip it for you.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Estelnalissi" <airadil@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2005 10:39 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Learning braille



Hi, Everyone,

I was born to read. I learned with the whole word approach because I remembered any word I saw after seeing it once. The very first day of first grade, when I saw braille for the first time in my life, I read the whole first primer about Alice and Jerry which was written with contractions. After covering a book a day for the second and third days, too, my teacher called my parents in a rage accusing them of having had me memorize the books before entering school. Well. My older brother had learned with Dick and Jane in large print , so my parents hadn't heard of Alice and Jerry nor seen a page of braille, yet. . Within a week, I was in second grade.

This is no credit to me. It's just an example of aptitude. The contractions never confused my spelling either as I knew an er sign stood for e - r and ation stood for a- t - i - o - n.

Those of you who know me know this letter isn't an ill disguised platform to brag. It's so much about what my brain is prepossessed to learn. All school subjects were easy for me, but though I tried summer after summer, and could roller and ice skate, I never learned to ride a two wheeler and have the scars to prove it. In those days the blind kids in my school system weren't expected to take gym. Good thing. It would have ruined my perfect grades. Though good at math, I disliked high level economics, liked solid geometry but would have fought not to have to get in to the innards of a car engine. I Loved being in pools, lakes, rivers and oceans, but never got good enough at swimming to save my own life or anyone else's.

And, though we can learn despite the fact we're not particularly gifted in certain types of skills, I am a miserable failure with computers. They frustrate me so much it's a testament to my love of books that I hang on, because, even with the patient help I've had, I'm not putting the pieces together, I'm still terrified to submit a book I've validated, and every day when I turn on my machine, I feel the very real possibility I'll damage it beyond repair and won't have the money to replace it. My Juliet Printer, which was new A year ago, hasn't printed a word in braille. and my scanner hasn't scanned a word of print!!! I got a notice to renew my service contract on the Juliet for over 4 hundred dollars and ignored it since I haven't done anything with it but dust it.
My 30 day trial of K 1000 sits at the bottom of the assortment of more fascinating, easily dealt with stuff on my desk because I don't trust myself to install it without risking confusing jaws, my documents and outlook express, the few applications I can use marginally. If I was a child now, I'd probably be forced to take computer year after year in summer school to keep up.


So there you have it. We're all unique and take to things with varying amounts of ease and interest. I think the key when helping others is to be observant, to respect whatever configuration their talents present themselves, and teach them the way they learn best.

Since my visually impaired students were fourth through sixth grade, I only taught beginning braille to those who had recently lost vision and tailored the teaching to the child. Some kids can learn the whole word style because they intuit phonics. Other kids put phonics factoids together to build their ability to read and spell. I was happy as a teacher that I could pick and choose from all the teaching styles that had been tested on the students in the decades and centuries in the past.

About testing, I thought it was helpful. It provided a great reality check to teachers, parents and kids and often helped point out the areas where kids needed the most attention. I feel no one thing tells the whole story of a child or adult.Tests are just one kind of tool whose results should be considered with all of the other factors, personality, lifestyle, emotional state, interests, health, etc.

Cindy, You've been nearly drowned in information about the nature and teaching of braille. I've forgotten all the names of listers who have joined in this topic, but have enjoyed hearing their accurate descriptions of braille and their sound ideas of how it can be taught.

As you see, I could ramble on and on about teaching and reading braille, but I am off to enjoy validating some great books, and I'm still desperately seeking a site for the electronically challenged.

Always With Love,

Lissi
----- Original Messag.e ----- From: "Jana Jackson" <jana@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2005 4:57 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Learning braille



Hi! When I was growing up, we had to learn both the uncontracted and contracted versions of spelling words. So when we had a spelling test, we had to spell the word twice if it was a word with contractions. I don't know how they're teaching it now.

Jana

----- Original Message ----- From: "Julie Morales" <mercy421@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2005 11:03 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] OT: Learning braille



Hi, Cindy. Actually, there is a grade 2 braille, a contracted form, maybe
what you might call shorthand, but most, if not all, people start out with
grade 1, which is everything spelled out, as it would be in print.
Sometimes, kids have problems with spelling if they're not taught to spell
things out letter by letter but with the grade 2, because they don't see all
the letters so never learn how things are really spelled out. My husband has
problems with that, so teaching kids to read can sometimes be twofold. They
need to learn how to read both grade 1 and grade 2, but when they're
learning their spelling, I think it's important that they focus on spelling
out the words and not just learning the contractions. Take care.
Julie Morales
To be in your children's memories tomorrow, you need to be in their lives
today. -- Unknown
mercy421@xxxxxxxxxxx
Windows/MSN Messenger (but not email):
mercy0421@xxxxxxxxxxx
----- Original Message ----- From: "Cindy" <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 10:22 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: heavy books



Thanks for the info, Gail.

I'm wondering--if a bright sighted child who has the
inclination and desire can be reading by age 3 (as
mine were, just from my reading to them and their
following along, and some books that had certain words
in the story that the child could read when the parent
story-teller cme to it--and Sesame Street and Electric
Company), and if young chldren who are brought up with
another language in addition to English is in the
house can be bilingual at a very young age, by
couldn't a child as bright as Kasondra's Andrew seems
to be, who seems to want to read, also learn braille
at a young age? I think Kasondra is right to start to
teach him when he's three. One can make a game of it.

Speaking of which--I remembered when I was young how I
enjoyed playing with alphabet blocks, and I bought
them when my children were very young and played with
them with them and made simple words which they read.
But I've never seen Braille blocks. I gather from
posts here that one doesn't learn Braille letter by
letter but that there is a short of short-hand. Maybe
one of you could invent and create a graduated set of
Braille blocks for kids. The first set would be the
simplest words that they need to learn, and they can
play at making sentences (Pat the dog; the dog ate his
food). A more advanced set could be whatever the next
phase is.  And I won't even take a cut of the profits
for my idea (lol).

Cindy

--- "Gail The U. S. Male" <gail1959@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Cindy, indeed, some forms of blindness are
hereditary. Most totally blind
kids start learning Braille in either Kindergarten
or first grade. The child
could be taught at a younger age, I suppose, but
most kids aren't.

-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On
Behalf Of Cindy
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 6:16 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: heavy books


That's a cute story, Kasondra. How old does a child have to be before he can start learning to read in Braille? Are you and/or your husband bind? Are some forms of blindness hereditary? Forgive me if I'm being too personal.

Cindy

--- Kasondra Payne <Kassyp36@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> Cindy,
>
> I just walked in my bedroom to answer the phone,
and
> I found my two-year-old
> son, Andrew on the floor, trying to read a Harry
> Potter book.  My husband
> always keeps one on his side of the bed, and
Andrew
> just took off the cover,
> opened the book, and started turning pages.  It
was
> so cute that I just
> thought I should share it with all you guys.
Andrew
> will read Braille
> someday because he is blind, but at least he shows
a
> healthy interest in
> books now.  Yes, that particular book is very
heavy,
> but it was already on
> the floor, so Andrew could move it easier
>
> Kasondra Payne
>
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