Here is a suggestion that I thought that I had read on TIPS sometime back. One way that graphs can be made available to a blind individual is to construct them in a three dimensional medium. Some kind of background, perhaps a bulletin board, could serve as a supporting medium. Then some object like string or clay rolled into long "strings" can serve as axes. Other objects made of clay or some other material (blocks?) could be used to construct the interior of the graph. The blind student would still likely need some verbal orientation to the figure (i.e. the maximum value on the y-axis is 9) but they might be able to imagine the spatial orientation of information that is presented in a graph this way.
Good luck! Dennis Dennis M. Goff Professor of Psychology Randolph-Macon Woman's College 2500 Rivermont Ave Lynchburg VA, 24503 -----Original Message----- From: Kirsten Rewey [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 12:45 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: Re: Blind student >I will be teaching a completely blind student next semester in my >general psychology course. The text and readings will be available >on audio tape, but I am looking for TIPS, which is the point of this >list. The major difficulty is that I make extensive use of graphics >in the lectures (graphs, pictures, diagrams, etc) and routinely use >video clips to make points. I have been in touch with all of the >obvious offices and agencies.� > >Comments, suggestions, advice, etc. are welcome.� > >Tom Hershberger > I concur with Stacy Anderson's earlier e-mail: whether or not the student has been blind since birth makes all the difference in the world! Last year I had a completely blind student in a stats & methods course. Because the student became blind gradually she could rely on some memories to facilitate learning some of the more complex equations (e.g., a capital sigma is like a "W" on it's side). The only real accomodation she needed in lecture was that we (faculty and I) had to spend a little more time explaining graphs, figures, and equations. Tom, one other thing you might consider is having the student work with a TA (if you have one). The blind student in my class found it immensely helpful to meet with her section leader (grad TA) every week during his office hours so that she could get clarification on the more visual components of the material. I must also say that working with a blind student has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences I've had because it forced me to find ways to explain things without using equations, graphs, etc. as a visual 'crutch.' Have fun and good luck! Kirsten -- Kirsten Rewey, Ph.D. | Coordinator of Introduction to | Research Methods and Statistics | "We must become the change we want to see in the world." Department of Psychology |�� University of Minnesota | Mahatma Gandhi N218 Elliott Hall | 75 East River Road | Minneapolis, MN 55455 | (612) 625-0501 | ______________________________________________________________________________ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
