Hi all, Adding further to June's most excellent post. I had some sight as a child but by percentage about five per cent in my left eye and none in my right eye. My parents got the same message June's family did. I began school in the mid-late sixties and there were o provisions nor did I live like I needed them. I too rejected the large print books that had to be stored on a side shelf in the classrooms and covered both my desk and my neighbour's desk but whenI got them in the fourth grade, they just were not helpful. As June pointed out it was as likely the cumbersome was a deterrent as much as being separated from peers in doing/being different.
If the student has some colour sight for example this is really ehlpful. For ease of instruction I colour code everything. I don't see now of course but if I tell a whole group to get out their math folders, they all grab their blue folder, or Science is red etc. They do't necessarily all contain the same work inside for differentiated instruction needs but for students who might miss the first instruction for a myriad of reasons, children can easily help each other out. I do visual checks asking students to check their neighbour to the left and right for having out the right book or name on book or whatever. I also do a verbal check to ensure everyone is ready, the same way sighted teachers would scan to see if everyone had books out. It is an under thirty second check and serves as a positive, not negative prompt ie. in group one, say your name if you have not found your green reading folder. If Johnny says Johnny, I can simply ask if he needs some help or it is the prompt to move from possibly spacing out to action or simply ask neighbour beside to help Johnny. That may sound like lost time but it all happens really quickly and after the first few days students know it is not a panic about the instructions and they will be supported to locate work. June's map comment is very valid. Laying the book literally off my nose I could manage this but when I was in university there was a student totally blind who was taking a New Testament course in my class. My vision, such as it was, was still stable so I did not need the strategy but the problem of maps made me think. I asked the prof for two print copies of the map and went home and took a bottle of Aylmer's white school glue the kind with a tip at the top and traced all around the map lines and let it dry. This became a traceable tactile way to feel the geographic boundaries. We used different "blobs" of glue to determine various key points. Much will depend on how tactile the student needs to have things but as June reiterated, using peers is a much preferred methodology. If the girl is using a speech synthesizer called JAWS on her computer and wants to use dragon dictation to save on having to type. Dragon Naturally speaking works best with JAWS with an additional bridge piece of software calledJ-Say. Kerzweil 1000 is the reading system for students with visual impairments. Kerzweil 3000 is for students with learning disabilities. I have recently gotten an iPhone and am getting the hang of texting and the various cool appps. If the VI teacher is familiar with products it really levels the playing field. Voice Over is the built in system of accessibility on all apple products. Dragon dictation is available as a free app for iPhone and also Ipod. It is simple and really accessible without extra software but can be used simply with face book, twitter, for making notes and though it is apparently it is good for texting, I have enjoyed the challenge of figuring out how to type. I find apps like yellow pages great for grabbing phone numbers. Many apps are surprisingly accessible with voice over. I've only had my iPhone two weeks but it is still really going to be a great learning tool. I don't have this one perfected but I get a free app called red laser. If you touch the bar code voice over will read you the name of the product. The trick is finding the bar code when you have zero sight but some are able to be found. I also bought a few months ago a new system for scanning. I have previously used Kerzweil, as mentioned but I bought a system called pearl. It is a digital cameral attached to a metal frame that sits on a table. It is similar to a reading lamp in terms of the way a reading lamp would sit with a piece coming around the top for the light. You can't use Kerzweil but have to use Freedom Scientific product open book unbound. Open book is a competitor of Kerzweil. No more scanning bed, no more waiting for the scanning/photocopy to move over the length of the document tray. now as fast as I can touch the space bar and hear the camera click a page is imaged and readable. It has been a real time saver this summer as I worked on my PhD dissertation. The folks who are in the know of the school board should be in the know of lots of cool stuff that helps. hth Sharon On 2011-08-31, at 4:24 PM, [email protected] wrote: > I would like to add to what Sharon has said. I have a severe visual > impairment. My parents were told that I never would be able to read. But I am > an > avid reader and have been for 53 years. As a young child in first and second > grade - my teachers had no idea what to do with me so they pushed big > print books. I absolutely hated them. They were huge and bulky and had no > color > pictures and often were not even the same series that the class was > using.. But most importantly - they made me different from my peers. As a > special > educator for 36+ years I have met only a very few students who wanted to > be treated differently that their peers. > > My best advice is get to know the child. Talk to her about your > expectations for your students this year. Ask her for input on how she thinks > she can > accomplish those goals and brainstorm with her to find solutions for > potential problems. One of the big challenges for me was labeling things > particularly maps with countries and capitals. I did much better with tactile > cues > on a grid with latitude and longitude etc. Once i got a mental map - I was > off and running. > > Sounds like the VI teacher is as frustrated as you are. In all probability > the majority of her training has been in using technology for academics and > orientation and mobility rather than had to successfully include this > young lady.You certainly are a valuable part of her IEP team. HAve you > talked > to her parents? What are their goals for her? > > Talk with her teachers from last year and see what worked and what > didn't. Does she have friends in your class? She could have a peer support > group > - reliable folks that can help her navigate the instructional area > independently. Does your school have any of the Dragon Naturally speaking > programs > or Kurzwell? Both of these are speech to text programs that will allow her > to speak her answers, writing etc, listen to and correct and then print it > out. It is such that other students could use it too so she wouldn't feel > singled out. > > Just some thoughts, > > June > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
