Posts
First of all, there is no such thing as unteachable. The only people who are unteachable are those who decide NOT to learn any more.
In regards to people, we all have this tremendous ability to learn, no matter where we start out. Children are given labels and everyone starts teaching DOWN to that label. We need to teach UP to the child.
"The Structure of the Brain changes with ACTIVITY!!!!" The Brain that changes itself by Norman Doidge
I have proven the brain changes itself through activity over and over: Taken children that had been written off or inundated with labels that said "unteachable." Ignoring the label I taught the child about a world they could access. Computers and different types of technology have enabled the deaf/blind to "talk" with their friends through texting. The Blind to be independent and keep up with their peers. The low cognitive to "speak" and interact with their surroundings.
Emailing opens up everyone's world and if you have a reluctant child to learn, tell them you will start with making friends on email. Add a braille display and they start reading. Everyone wants friends and it gets any child engaged.
One of my children who was put in the lowest class in the district, was thought unteachable. It appeared he had no skills. Slowly but surely through many activities of teaching color, moving and stacking objects and yes, teaching conversation skills, this child began to open up. After a year, I added a talking computer. As soon as I placed it in front of him, he placed his hands on it and said, "My computer." He got it. He knew this would help him even more. When we opened it I helped him to learn how to type words, so even when he did not want to speak, he could through his computer.
Everyone can be TEACHABLE!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Babies, beads, cupboards and Math
Counting starts with the simple things.
Inexpensive counting starts with a long sting and a set of beads...or even lots of buttons lying around. Help the child string the beads or buttons on the string and count as they string it. Then tie knots at each end and have the child count moving the beads from left to right and back again. Make strings of ten, so counting to higher numbers is easy.
Make different lengths and tie around their neck for a necklace. Make a small strand on elastic and tie around wrist for bracelets. Keep their minds active and busy so they won't be thinking about poking their eyes or rocking for entertainment. They can wear their entertainment.
Cupboards are also a great way to learn math, spatial concepts and stacking. Have your child sit on the counter after you go grocery shopping and have them place the cans of food in the cupboard. I can already tell you, they will want to do this over and over again. That is fine. It is worth the mess at first and the inconvenience for you, as this teaches so many concepts.
I used to have several drawers and the bottom cupboards of my kitchen just for small children who would enter our house. I had a large can of beans with a bowl and stacking cups. The child will get these out, open and start scooping from the can of beans and measuring into the bowl and vice versa. I did this with rice also. They have that lower cupboard full of canned goods and the child will pull them all out (you will have to help them at first to know what to do) then 1 by 1, place them back on the shelf, counting each can they place back in the cupboard. Depending on the size of your cupboard, the child should be able to stack 2 or 3 cans on top of each other. For beginners, the sides of the shelf are great to help support an off centered can, but they get good at this. Then they count the cans as they stack. They also eventually learn how many cans will fit in a certain space.
While the tiny child would be playing in the cupboards, I would be making dinner. Of course, if the child were 3 or more, the child would get up and help me. As you know their attention wane's quickly, so then they would go back down to the cupboards and continue to "play".
By building in things to do at the child's level and around what you already do, they quickly gain concepts about the world around them.
Inexpensive counting starts with a long sting and a set of beads...or even lots of buttons lying around. Help the child string the beads or buttons on the string and count as they string it. Then tie knots at each end and have the child count moving the beads from left to right and back again. Make strings of ten, so counting to higher numbers is easy.
Make different lengths and tie around their neck for a necklace. Make a small strand on elastic and tie around wrist for bracelets. Keep their minds active and busy so they won't be thinking about poking their eyes or rocking for entertainment. They can wear their entertainment.
Cupboards are also a great way to learn math, spatial concepts and stacking. Have your child sit on the counter after you go grocery shopping and have them place the cans of food in the cupboard. I can already tell you, they will want to do this over and over again. That is fine. It is worth the mess at first and the inconvenience for you, as this teaches so many concepts.
I used to have several drawers and the bottom cupboards of my kitchen just for small children who would enter our house. I had a large can of beans with a bowl and stacking cups. The child will get these out, open and start scooping from the can of beans and measuring into the bowl and vice versa. I did this with rice also. They have that lower cupboard full of canned goods and the child will pull them all out (you will have to help them at first to know what to do) then 1 by 1, place them back on the shelf, counting each can they place back in the cupboard. Depending on the size of your cupboard, the child should be able to stack 2 or 3 cans on top of each other. For beginners, the sides of the shelf are great to help support an off centered can, but they get good at this. Then they count the cans as they stack. They also eventually learn how many cans will fit in a certain space.
While the tiny child would be playing in the cupboards, I would be making dinner. Of course, if the child were 3 or more, the child would get up and help me. As you know their attention wane's quickly, so then they would go back down to the cupboards and continue to "play".
By building in things to do at the child's level and around what you already do, they quickly gain concepts about the world around them.
Perception is Not Necessarily Reality
Working with many children, but especially teenagers who feel everyone is staring at them and judging them for every little thing is only in your mind: Ache on the face, their clothes; for beginner blind students, it is carrying a cane, or reading braille in front of their peers.
As adults, we judge ourselves from everything from what we wear, the job we have or the house we live in; to waking up at night thinking, we may have said something to hurt someone's feelings (OK, that last one might just be more of a woman thing).
Here is what we must realize.
Our children who are self-conscious about what is growing on their face, well everyone else has something there too.
Our children who "don't want to be different" by reading braille or carrying a cane, sighted kids think it is cool and you fight something that everyone else is REALLY impressed by seeing, but even after the initial seeing of it, it is out of their minds.
People in general who are beating themselves up about every little detail because they THINK someone perceives them in a certain way, is not necessarily reality.
In general, everyone is so involved with their own lives that after the 3 initial seconds of talking with you or seeing you, you are pretty much out of their mind.
In general, your perception of yourself is not reality for the way others are thinking about you. Everyone is too caught up in his or her own lives.
Even if you trip and fall (OK, the exception is a President, where the media decides to play the same video over and over for the world) so even if you trip and fall and we all do it, after 3 seconds, you are pretty much out of everyone's mind.
We need to get over ourselves, so we can go on uninhibited and do greater things. As long as you are self-absorbed, you cannot see the bigger picture of what can be accomplished. You are wrapped up in the fears in your world that are not true reality and then you cannot improve yourself, because all you see are your faults. Figure out your faults and correct them.
You will make your fears and faults your REALITY if you don't change.
As adults, we judge ourselves from everything from what we wear, the job we have or the house we live in; to waking up at night thinking, we may have said something to hurt someone's feelings (OK, that last one might just be more of a woman thing).
Here is what we must realize.
Our children who are self-conscious about what is growing on their face, well everyone else has something there too.
Our children who "don't want to be different" by reading braille or carrying a cane, sighted kids think it is cool and you fight something that everyone else is REALLY impressed by seeing, but even after the initial seeing of it, it is out of their minds.
People in general who are beating themselves up about every little detail because they THINK someone perceives them in a certain way, is not necessarily reality.
In general, everyone is so involved with their own lives that after the 3 initial seconds of talking with you or seeing you, you are pretty much out of their mind.
In general, your perception of yourself is not reality for the way others are thinking about you. Everyone is too caught up in his or her own lives.
Even if you trip and fall (OK, the exception is a President, where the media decides to play the same video over and over for the world) so even if you trip and fall and we all do it, after 3 seconds, you are pretty much out of everyone's mind.
We need to get over ourselves, so we can go on uninhibited and do greater things. As long as you are self-absorbed, you cannot see the bigger picture of what can be accomplished. You are wrapped up in the fears in your world that are not true reality and then you cannot improve yourself, because all you see are your faults. Figure out your faults and correct them.
You will make your fears and faults your REALITY if you don't change.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
m.facebook.com is FASTER
All you who are using talking software and are trying to use FACEBOOK.com, it is time to switch to m.facebook.com
m.facebook.com is an HTML version of Facebook. All the information is lined up vertically so you can easily move through the text. You will save tons of time reading the Wall and responding to people
So save time and frustration...go to m.facebook.com and TAB through the pages. You will start smiling about your Facebook experience.
m.facebook.com is an HTML version of Facebook. All the information is lined up vertically so you can easily move through the text. You will save tons of time reading the Wall and responding to people
So save time and frustration...go to m.facebook.com and TAB through the pages. You will start smiling about your Facebook experience.
Survey for Teachers-Win a Blind Tool
TVIs Needed for AT Study! It's not too late to help the field and have the chance to win fabulous prizes!
Researchers from Texas Tech University and Missouri State University are surveying TVIs to determine what assistive technology competencies they possess. If you are a certified TVI in the United States, please consider completing the online survey at survey monkey by October 31st!
All participants who complete the survey will be entered into a drawing to win one of many wonderful AT prizes such as: a Book Sense Audio Book Player, Audio Graphic Calculator, talking alarm clocks, Victor Reader Stratus, Book Port Plus, Keyboarding Key Guard, Big Eye Magnifying Lamp, or one free single-user copy of Window-Eyes!
Already we had four lucky winners who completed our online survey so far, and who have received a New Generation Perkins Brailler, a ReproTronics Thermo Pen, and two Talking Alarm Clocks. Congratulations to:
Ms. Pam Duda in Illinois,
Ms. Sallie Case in Alabama,
Ms. Jamie Baggett, in Washington, and
Ms. Lori Pulliam in Washington.
It is still not too late to participate in sharing your perspectives and win! See the survey for more information.
Researchers from Texas Tech University and Missouri State University are surveying TVIs to determine what assistive technology competencies they possess. If you are a certified TVI in the United States, please consider completing the online survey at survey monkey by October 31st!
All participants who complete the survey will be entered into a drawing to win one of many wonderful AT prizes such as: a Book Sense Audio Book Player, Audio Graphic Calculator, talking alarm clocks, Victor Reader Stratus, Book Port Plus, Keyboarding Key Guard, Big Eye Magnifying Lamp, or one free single-user copy of Window-Eyes!
Already we had four lucky winners who completed our online survey so far, and who have received a New Generation Perkins Brailler, a ReproTronics Thermo Pen, and two Talking Alarm Clocks. Congratulations to:
Ms. Pam Duda in Illinois,
Ms. Sallie Case in Alabama,
Ms. Jamie Baggett, in Washington, and
Ms. Lori Pulliam in Washington.
It is still not too late to participate in sharing your perspectives and win! See the survey for more information.
Best IPAD APPS for kids
If you are looking for a few IPAD apps for kids check out the link.
Baby Finger is an IPAD app that has been touted as a great tool for children with cortical visual impairment or low vision children learning their colors and shapes.
With large bright objects and verbal feedback giving directions on objects to touch, children are absorb in this interaction. It is also free, which makes it something great to try out to see if this would be right for your child.
Interesting article to read about how to use the IPAD with low vision children
Another free app iFarkle which is a dice game for iphone or the IPAD--and a completely blind person can utilize this game..fun for adults too.
Click on link for extensive list
An extensive list at: Apple Apps
Watch Video: Just out of the box learning with IPad and refreshabraille
Baby Finger is an IPAD app that has been touted as a great tool for children with cortical visual impairment or low vision children learning their colors and shapes.
With large bright objects and verbal feedback giving directions on objects to touch, children are absorb in this interaction. It is also free, which makes it something great to try out to see if this would be right for your child.
Interesting article to read about how to use the IPAD with low vision children
Another free app iFarkle which is a dice game for iphone or the IPAD--and a completely blind person can utilize this game..fun for adults too.
Click on link for extensive list
An extensive list at: Apple Apps
Watch Video: Just out of the box learning with IPad and refreshabraille
Hot Stoves- Blind or Sighted--Teaching Tricks
I always think about the tricks I use for teaching the blind and realize almost all the same techniques work great for sighted people too. How many sighted people have placed their hand on a burning stove? Yep, me too! LOL! We are a funny bunch of human beings.
As I take my students into the kitchen, the first thing we do is feel EVERYTHING with it off. They feel every burner, or flat cooking surface, all dials, open oven and pretty much do everything but climb inside. They need to feel every corner, all the racks and pull them out and in, feel what they will need to clean on the bottom when something spills over. This exercise relieves their fears immediately. Yes, food will spill over and YOU will have to clean it. They practice using oven-mitts while pulling the racks in and out of the oven. Then they practice with heavier dishes so they can get the idea of how much harder the rack is to pull out with weight on it. All with the stove off! Same thing for the burners, they lift different sizes of pans of water onto and off the burners.
They turn on the burners one at a time, so they can see which dial goes with which burner. They hover their hand above the burner. If I have a scared and reluctant child, I have them put that oven-mitt on their least dominant hand, touch the burner and hover with non-mittted hand to get the idea of distance between the heat and their hand. We do this with each burner and this takes some practice. Once again, I relieve their fear of being burned and tell them, "You most likely will get burned if you are cooking."
What does not kill us does make us stronger. How can we pass knowledge along, good and bad, without experience? If you are going to experience life, you will be injured along the way. Oh yes, I teach first aide too--smile
After they prepare an item to bake, and need to place it in the hot oven, I have them place their least dominant hand on the side of the opening into the oven, then slide it down onto the rack, so they know where the pot is going to be placed. Then their dominant hand places the pot on the rack and slides it in. When done, using the same method of placing their hand on the side of the opening of the oven, down by the rack so they can get their bearing and support themselves, then with the dominant hand joining the least dominant hand, they slide the rack out with the dish of food. The other hand reaches for the dish and they easily lift the dish of food out and place it on the stove. Bend over, push rack in, lift door up and they have just baked their first food item in an oven. The oven-mitt is essential at first because they will touch hot surfaces and if the mitt covers their whole hand, then they will not be burned and the fear level goes down tremendously. If the child is afraid, they will tentatively do something and are more likely to make errors, such as dropping the dish because they fear getting burned or other silly things we humans do when afraid.
By using the method of them touching everything when it is cold and getting the idea of place, position and heat, the fear starts to wane and cooking begins to be more of a part of their life.
I even had one student who became a great cookie baker. When her sisters would come over, they always would ask, "How did you get these cookies so perfectly round and baked?" She told me this story and of course, after mixing the batter, she used her hands to form the perfect round ball, flattened it with her hands and placed it on the baking sheet. She knew her oven (oh yes, side note, 350 degrees is not the same on every oven, so get to know yours) and knew the exact time to cook them, because of experience and lots of practice her cookies were delicious.
Good articles to read on this subject:
Cooking Without Looking"….for Kids
COOKING MADNESS
A huge list of other cooking ideas
As I take my students into the kitchen, the first thing we do is feel EVERYTHING with it off. They feel every burner, or flat cooking surface, all dials, open oven and pretty much do everything but climb inside. They need to feel every corner, all the racks and pull them out and in, feel what they will need to clean on the bottom when something spills over. This exercise relieves their fears immediately. Yes, food will spill over and YOU will have to clean it. They practice using oven-mitts while pulling the racks in and out of the oven. Then they practice with heavier dishes so they can get the idea of how much harder the rack is to pull out with weight on it. All with the stove off! Same thing for the burners, they lift different sizes of pans of water onto and off the burners.
They turn on the burners one at a time, so they can see which dial goes with which burner. They hover their hand above the burner. If I have a scared and reluctant child, I have them put that oven-mitt on their least dominant hand, touch the burner and hover with non-mittted hand to get the idea of distance between the heat and their hand. We do this with each burner and this takes some practice. Once again, I relieve their fear of being burned and tell them, "You most likely will get burned if you are cooking."
What does not kill us does make us stronger. How can we pass knowledge along, good and bad, without experience? If you are going to experience life, you will be injured along the way. Oh yes, I teach first aide too--smile
After they prepare an item to bake, and need to place it in the hot oven, I have them place their least dominant hand on the side of the opening into the oven, then slide it down onto the rack, so they know where the pot is going to be placed. Then their dominant hand places the pot on the rack and slides it in. When done, using the same method of placing their hand on the side of the opening of the oven, down by the rack so they can get their bearing and support themselves, then with the dominant hand joining the least dominant hand, they slide the rack out with the dish of food. The other hand reaches for the dish and they easily lift the dish of food out and place it on the stove. Bend over, push rack in, lift door up and they have just baked their first food item in an oven. The oven-mitt is essential at first because they will touch hot surfaces and if the mitt covers their whole hand, then they will not be burned and the fear level goes down tremendously. If the child is afraid, they will tentatively do something and are more likely to make errors, such as dropping the dish because they fear getting burned or other silly things we humans do when afraid.
By using the method of them touching everything when it is cold and getting the idea of place, position and heat, the fear starts to wane and cooking begins to be more of a part of their life.
I even had one student who became a great cookie baker. When her sisters would come over, they always would ask, "How did you get these cookies so perfectly round and baked?" She told me this story and of course, after mixing the batter, she used her hands to form the perfect round ball, flattened it with her hands and placed it on the baking sheet. She knew her oven (oh yes, side note, 350 degrees is not the same on every oven, so get to know yours) and knew the exact time to cook them, because of experience and lots of practice her cookies were delicious.
Good articles to read on this subject:
Cooking Without Looking"….for Kids
COOKING MADNESS
A huge list of other cooking ideas
Be that Rare Person and ADD
Be that person who stands up and takes responsibility for your actions. If you do not have knowledge you need, you go out and find it and learn. If you fail at something, you look inside yourself and ask the question, "What more do I need to know to achieve this goal?"
Don't point your fingers at others and say, "You are not doing enough for me?" or "You are the reason I am failing!"
Look at others and see how you can help them. What can you do to improve someone's life? In turn, you make yours better. If you are always looking for ways to add, you will not subtract.
The only way to grow is to continually add. Life is math!! If you are always taking, little by little, you become less. Don't subtract from life itself.
So, add: If everyone keeps adding to the good and to knowledge, then everything grows.
AND, if you feel offended by this, maybe you are taking too much away from life....Something to think about!
Don't point your fingers at others and say, "You are not doing enough for me?" or "You are the reason I am failing!"
Look at others and see how you can help them. What can you do to improve someone's life? In turn, you make yours better. If you are always looking for ways to add, you will not subtract.
The only way to grow is to continually add. Life is math!! If you are always taking, little by little, you become less. Don't subtract from life itself.
So, add: If everyone keeps adding to the good and to knowledge, then everything grows.
AND, if you feel offended by this, maybe you are taking too much away from life....Something to think about!
Digital Handwriting and Voice Recorder
One-step further than just digital handwriting into text: The Digital Ink Pad with Voice Recording. Compare this to the previous Digimemo on the Blog, which did not allow voice recording, or to be used as a functional PC Tablet when hooked to a computer.
This notebook sized pad allows you to hand write information (or a sighted person to do take notes in class, then hand back to someone who cannot see the board) But also add verbal notes, that when you upload it to your computer, the voice recording will be linked to the page. The product comes with Handwriting Recognition Software; Using MyScript Notes, OCR handwriting recognition software & you can transfer your handwriting to text.
In addition, In PC Tablet Mode; once connected to computer through USB port, Digital Ink Pad + could be used as fully functional PC tablet. If you already have a computer, this is a great addition to computing capabilities. The handwriting recognition software is also already included in the package when you buy it. After you upload your work, you can edit it on the computer.
The feedback on this product has been very positive: "What makes it better than the DigiMemo (my second option) tablet is that it has voice recording capabilities, a headphone slot for playing music (via a SD card), and if you connect it to your computer via USB, it becomes a fully functional tablet with the pen as a mouse"
Some tricks you will need to keep in mind if you buy this. Have several sheets of paper on the pad, use your best penmanship or tell the person who is taking notes for you to use good penmanship. Hold the tip of the pen up and don't rub your hand on the pad as you write. This is true for the digimemo also.
This notebook sized pad allows you to hand write information (or a sighted person to do take notes in class, then hand back to someone who cannot see the board) But also add verbal notes, that when you upload it to your computer, the voice recording will be linked to the page. The product comes with Handwriting Recognition Software; Using MyScript Notes, OCR handwriting recognition software & you can transfer your handwriting to text.
In addition, In PC Tablet Mode; once connected to computer through USB port, Digital Ink Pad + could be used as fully functional PC tablet. If you already have a computer, this is a great addition to computing capabilities. The handwriting recognition software is also already included in the package when you buy it. After you upload your work, you can edit it on the computer.
The feedback on this product has been very positive: "What makes it better than the DigiMemo (my second option) tablet is that it has voice recording capabilities, a headphone slot for playing music (via a SD card), and if you connect it to your computer via USB, it becomes a fully functional tablet with the pen as a mouse"
Some tricks you will need to keep in mind if you buy this. Have several sheets of paper on the pad, use your best penmanship or tell the person who is taking notes for you to use good penmanship. Hold the tip of the pen up and don't rub your hand on the pad as you write. This is true for the digimemo also.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
How Blind & Sighted can Fold Their Clothes Perfectly
Are you wasting a lot of time ironing...or worse walking around with wrinkled clothes? Here are some great tricks to keep you looking good.
You can buy a board that helps you fold those clothes perfectly, with the perfect creases and lines, so it looks like you just picked them up from the dry cleaners without the dry cleaning bill attached.
For about $10-$20 you can buy many types of folding boards. Here are a couple links for you to choose from and you can explorer wider for more of a selection.
Bed, Bath and Beyond
Flip Fold I prefer this, due to the holes in the board that allow air to pass through for an easier fold.
You lay your article of clothing down on the folding board -- just flip, flip, flip and fold. It's that simple. A bit of practice and you will be a pro. The flipfold board even has a video you can watch or listen to to understand the perfect folding method. Some come with magnets, so you can just stick it to the dryer to keep it out of the way. It is light and easy to use. You will get to the point where you may not need the board any more, but just may keep using it because it gives you such perfect looking clothes
Today, with permanent press clothes or just cotton and other blends, the first trick is to get your clothes out of the dryer IMMEDIATELY, so you have less wrinkles. I use this trick and rarely have to iron anything. However, collars on shirts are usually wrinkled so I re-wet them in the sink, press the collar the way it needs to look and hang up...When dry, it looks like someone ironed it. I have my stack of hangers and hang all our good shirts and pants up in the closet for the perfect crease in the slacks and shirts. Match the sewed seams first and feel for the crease that was ironed in on those slacks when you bought them, Then use hangers with 2 clips, one clip goes at each corner of your pants. If I try to fold dress pants, many times I cannot match the crease of the pants all the way down the leg, then you have 2 tiny ugly creases that run the length of the pant. By hanging them up on pant hangers click on link to see the type, you will have the perfect pant.
To match the colors of your clothes, you can use braille clothing labels and if you are a seamstress, you can easily braille in dots for the colors, but that takes a lot of time.
When you are done wearing socks, pin them together to drop in the dirty clothes, so when you are done washing and drying, you have the matched set of socks right there. No hunting for them. You can do this with anything that has a pair. Before placing anything in the dryer, shake your clothes out so you are not throwing a tight ball of waded up clothes in. You will just press wrinkles in that way. Then when the dryer cycle is done, you take them out immediately, hang up the good stuff, fold the daily wear stuff and you will always look pressed and put together.
Here are a few great articles on clothes preparation and grooming.
This is the Way We Wash Our Clothes
Ironing Things Out
Clothing, Grooming, and Social Acceptability: Part 1
Clothing, Grooming, and Social Acceptability: Part 2
You can buy a board that helps you fold those clothes perfectly, with the perfect creases and lines, so it looks like you just picked them up from the dry cleaners without the dry cleaning bill attached.
For about $10-$20 you can buy many types of folding boards. Here are a couple links for you to choose from and you can explorer wider for more of a selection.
Bed, Bath and Beyond
Flip Fold I prefer this, due to the holes in the board that allow air to pass through for an easier fold.
You lay your article of clothing down on the folding board -- just flip, flip, flip and fold. It's that simple. A bit of practice and you will be a pro. The flipfold board even has a video you can watch or listen to to understand the perfect folding method. Some come with magnets, so you can just stick it to the dryer to keep it out of the way. It is light and easy to use. You will get to the point where you may not need the board any more, but just may keep using it because it gives you such perfect looking clothes
Today, with permanent press clothes or just cotton and other blends, the first trick is to get your clothes out of the dryer IMMEDIATELY, so you have less wrinkles. I use this trick and rarely have to iron anything. However, collars on shirts are usually wrinkled so I re-wet them in the sink, press the collar the way it needs to look and hang up...When dry, it looks like someone ironed it. I have my stack of hangers and hang all our good shirts and pants up in the closet for the perfect crease in the slacks and shirts. Match the sewed seams first and feel for the crease that was ironed in on those slacks when you bought them, Then use hangers with 2 clips, one clip goes at each corner of your pants. If I try to fold dress pants, many times I cannot match the crease of the pants all the way down the leg, then you have 2 tiny ugly creases that run the length of the pant. By hanging them up on pant hangers click on link to see the type, you will have the perfect pant.
To match the colors of your clothes, you can use braille clothing labels and if you are a seamstress, you can easily braille in dots for the colors, but that takes a lot of time.
When you are done wearing socks, pin them together to drop in the dirty clothes, so when you are done washing and drying, you have the matched set of socks right there. No hunting for them. You can do this with anything that has a pair. Before placing anything in the dryer, shake your clothes out so you are not throwing a tight ball of waded up clothes in. You will just press wrinkles in that way. Then when the dryer cycle is done, you take them out immediately, hang up the good stuff, fold the daily wear stuff and you will always look pressed and put together.
Here are a few great articles on clothes preparation and grooming.
This is the Way We Wash Our Clothes
Ironing Things Out
Clothing, Grooming, and Social Acceptability: Part 1
Clothing, Grooming, and Social Acceptability: Part 2
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Low Vision-XP-Using HIGH CONTRAST to see better
Low vision-XP using HIGH CONTRAST options to see better
1. Turn on Computer
2. Hit your start key then C until you get to CONTROL PANEL and ENTER to open
3. Accessibility options is your first option, so enter to open
4. CTRL+TAB to display
5. ALT+U to select the option of high contrast
6. ALT+S to go to settings options
7. TAB to select—use shortcut-hit space bar to select
8. TAB to High Contrast appearance scheme
9. Keep hitting H until you jump to High contrast black #2 (extra large)
10. And enter to select and you will go back to the display option
11. Hit ALT+A to apply these choices and your screen will change
12. TAB to OK and close box
13. ALT+F4 to close control panel
14. The hot key to switch back and forth between regular screen and this option is: left ALT+LEFT-SHIFT + PRINT SCREEN –the print screen is all the way to the top right hand corner of your keyboard—on a laptop you will usually need to use the function or FN key and F11 to make this change—this varies depending on laptop layouts
15. Try another option-go back to accessibility
16. CTRL+TAB to display
17. ALT+S for setting and TAB to high contrast schemes and hit H until you jump to, High contrast #1 (extra large)
18. TAB to Ok, then hit ALT+A to apply
19. Open Word
20. ALT+V then hit z for zoom
21. Hit ALT+E for percent and type in 300% and enter
22. Begin typing—change the zoom size according to what you see best
23. Try other options
1. Turn on Computer
2. Hit your start key then C until you get to CONTROL PANEL and ENTER to open
3. Accessibility options is your first option, so enter to open
4. CTRL+TAB to display
5. ALT+U to select the option of high contrast
6. ALT+S to go to settings options
7. TAB to select—use shortcut-hit space bar to select
8. TAB to High Contrast appearance scheme
9. Keep hitting H until you jump to High contrast black #2 (extra large)
10. And enter to select and you will go back to the display option
11. Hit ALT+A to apply these choices and your screen will change
12. TAB to OK and close box
13. ALT+F4 to close control panel
14. The hot key to switch back and forth between regular screen and this option is: left ALT+LEFT-SHIFT + PRINT SCREEN –the print screen is all the way to the top right hand corner of your keyboard—on a laptop you will usually need to use the function or FN key and F11 to make this change—this varies depending on laptop layouts
15. Try another option-go back to accessibility
16. CTRL+TAB to display
17. ALT+S for setting and TAB to high contrast schemes and hit H until you jump to, High contrast #1 (extra large)
18. TAB to Ok, then hit ALT+A to apply
19. Open Word
20. ALT+V then hit z for zoom
21. Hit ALT+E for percent and type in 300% and enter
22. Begin typing—change the zoom size according to what you see best
23. Try other options
Get The Fastest Braille Reading Speed
My fastest Braille readers are 2-handed readers, with butterfly motion.
So picture this: Both hands begin the braille line, and as they pass about the 3rd or 4th word on the line, the left hand goes back and down to the next line ready to begin reading as the right hand finishes the line. Smooth and seamless, floating down the page.
All fingers are down on the line, so the pinky fingers can tell when they are getting close to the end of a line, whether it ends in the middle of the page or at the end. If the child reads with the book on her lap, all those fingers support the book so it does not fall to the floor, giving the student the ability to easily read. This technique is especially helpful when they go into the elementary grades and read to younger students, impressing them with the beautiful flow and movement across those delightful dots. The sighted students come up on their knees to watch closer when they sit on the floor surrounding the braille reader, OH’s and AWES as they watch this wonderful braille butterfly movement. They truly believe it is magic to read those dots.
The students who read 300-400 words per minute, do their homework and pleasure read everyday and are always looking for their next novel.
The students who read 200-300 wpm, do their homework and pleasure read several times a week
The students who read 100-200 wpm, do their homework and maybe will pleasure read a couple times a week
The students who read 40-100 wpm, do their homework and rarely pleasure read during the week
To gain in speed, you need to use hard copy braille and the butterfly motion: Getting the flow and movement down on the page. On adapted laptops, you can use the book-reader and speed up the braille display to increase reading speed also. But the most important part of gaining speed...is to just READ!! And read a LOT.
Lessons to help you learn more
Fastest Braille Reading Speed
So picture this: Both hands begin the braille line, and as they pass about the 3rd or 4th word on the line, the left hand goes back and down to the next line ready to begin reading as the right hand finishes the line. Smooth and seamless, floating down the page.
All fingers are down on the line, so the pinky fingers can tell when they are getting close to the end of a line, whether it ends in the middle of the page or at the end. If the child reads with the book on her lap, all those fingers support the book so it does not fall to the floor, giving the student the ability to easily read. This technique is especially helpful when they go into the elementary grades and read to younger students, impressing them with the beautiful flow and movement across those delightful dots. The sighted students come up on their knees to watch closer when they sit on the floor surrounding the braille reader, OH’s and AWES as they watch this wonderful braille butterfly movement. They truly believe it is magic to read those dots.
The students who read 300-400 words per minute, do their homework and pleasure read everyday and are always looking for their next novel.
The students who read 200-300 wpm, do their homework and pleasure read several times a week
The students who read 100-200 wpm, do their homework and maybe will pleasure read a couple times a week
The students who read 40-100 wpm, do their homework and rarely pleasure read during the week
To gain in speed, you need to use hard copy braille and the butterfly motion: Getting the flow and movement down on the page. On adapted laptops, you can use the book-reader and speed up the braille display to increase reading speed also. But the most important part of gaining speed...is to just READ!! And read a LOT.
Lessons to help you learn more
Fastest Braille Reading Speed
Math, Cooking and Pumpkins
It is that time of the year, where pumpkins abound and are ready to be picked, cleaned, cut, and eaten.
This is a great opportunity for blind children or any child for that matter, to help eat and decorate but also learn about math through counting pumpkin seeds and baking pumpkin pie, bread or cookies. But first, you need to go to a pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkin. Really, all the way to a field. Blind children will not understand how things are grown, if they only get food from a store, so head to a pumpkin farm.
After you pick the perfect pumpkin, it is actually best for you to have your child help you bake the "good" pumpkin pie, cookies or bread first, so they taste the end result, before diving their hands into all the goo of string, mush and seeds. They eat and enjoy, then onto the pumpkin. They will be more likely to dive in if they know they get more "good" at the end.
As you help them cut open the top and scrape out the insides, have them separate the seeds from the goo. Then they will count out the seeds into parts of 10, 20, etc., depending on age. Then have them place the seeds in a baking dish and bake the seeds, having them count as they place the seeds on the baking dish. They will find out how many seeds will fit flat on the dish. Have them spray the seeds with some cooking spray, salt the seeds and put in the oven to bake.
While the seeds bake, cut the pumpkin up, put in another baking dish, and bake that until soft and ready for pie, bread or cookies...whatever is the favorite of the child.
The other pumpkins, you get to help your child decorate for Halloween. They will start gaining incredibly fond memories of this time of season if you do this every year.
This is a great opportunity for blind children or any child for that matter, to help eat and decorate but also learn about math through counting pumpkin seeds and baking pumpkin pie, bread or cookies. But first, you need to go to a pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkin. Really, all the way to a field. Blind children will not understand how things are grown, if they only get food from a store, so head to a pumpkin farm.
After you pick the perfect pumpkin, it is actually best for you to have your child help you bake the "good" pumpkin pie, cookies or bread first, so they taste the end result, before diving their hands into all the goo of string, mush and seeds. They eat and enjoy, then onto the pumpkin. They will be more likely to dive in if they know they get more "good" at the end.
As you help them cut open the top and scrape out the insides, have them separate the seeds from the goo. Then they will count out the seeds into parts of 10, 20, etc., depending on age. Then have them place the seeds in a baking dish and bake the seeds, having them count as they place the seeds on the baking dish. They will find out how many seeds will fit flat on the dish. Have them spray the seeds with some cooking spray, salt the seeds and put in the oven to bake.
While the seeds bake, cut the pumpkin up, put in another baking dish, and bake that until soft and ready for pie, bread or cookies...whatever is the favorite of the child.
The other pumpkins, you get to help your child decorate for Halloween. They will start gaining incredibly fond memories of this time of season if you do this every year.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Skiing for the Blind
I have taught blind children downhill skiing for many years.
The thing that served me the best, though I get great ribbing for it, is my tangerine snowsuit. Some call it bright pink. I suppose it does change colors depending on the light.
The reason it has served me so well is my low vision students, even almost totally blind students could pick me out on the hill. Picture that bright pink or tangerine color glistening against the white of the snow. It was like a ball of sun pointing the direction to the students.
For beginners, I would ski behind giving directions. Right turn, left turn and so on down the hill. When they became more advanced, I could ski in front of them if they had some vision and they would follow my bright suit down the hill.
I have had this ski suit for over 20 years...hmm; wonder what it is made out of? Anyway, I hope I have it until I die. I have incredible fond memories wrapped up in this suit.
So for all you parents, as winter approaches, get your kids out on the hills. If they can walk, then they are ready. Just Google skiing for the blind in your area and you will be able to pull up a group that puts on these activities now and all year around. Some groups cater to just the blind, others to all different abilities. This is a great way for your children to make friends and work on their strength, along with orientation and mobility. The cost is also very negligible.
Fun for the whole family but more than anything you will see your child blossom like never before.
The thing that served me the best, though I get great ribbing for it, is my tangerine snowsuit. Some call it bright pink. I suppose it does change colors depending on the light.
The reason it has served me so well is my low vision students, even almost totally blind students could pick me out on the hill. Picture that bright pink or tangerine color glistening against the white of the snow. It was like a ball of sun pointing the direction to the students.
For beginners, I would ski behind giving directions. Right turn, left turn and so on down the hill. When they became more advanced, I could ski in front of them if they had some vision and they would follow my bright suit down the hill.
I have had this ski suit for over 20 years...hmm; wonder what it is made out of? Anyway, I hope I have it until I die. I have incredible fond memories wrapped up in this suit.
So for all you parents, as winter approaches, get your kids out on the hills. If they can walk, then they are ready. Just Google skiing for the blind in your area and you will be able to pull up a group that puts on these activities now and all year around. Some groups cater to just the blind, others to all different abilities. This is a great way for your children to make friends and work on their strength, along with orientation and mobility. The cost is also very negligible.
Fun for the whole family but more than anything you will see your child blossom like never before.
Braille Cheat Sheets
For a Great Braille Cheat Sheet click on link
Just remember, as you look at the cheat sheet, to do Nemeth code, you will drop the numbers into the lower cells of the six dots
Duxbury puts out this cheat sheet. They are a leader in the braille to print, print to braille translation software
Here is a more extensive list of Braille Cheat Sheets
Click on link for Lessons on how to get the fastest braille reading speed
Just remember, as you look at the cheat sheet, to do Nemeth code, you will drop the numbers into the lower cells of the six dots
Duxbury puts out this cheat sheet. They are a leader in the braille to print, print to braille translation software
Here is a more extensive list of Braille Cheat Sheets
Click on link for Lessons on how to get the fastest braille reading speed
What does legally blind look like
I use these images as examples in my presentations.
Open this link: getting close to legally blind
20/20
20/40
20/70
20/100 definition
There is only 1 letter of difference on the vision chart between 20/100 and 20/200...they are that close in visual acuity
Open this link: legally blind
and you will see
20/20
20/200, which is legally blind
20/400
Now, you can get an idea of what a visual impairment actually looks like
Open this link: getting close to legally blind
20/20
20/40
20/70
20/100 definition
There is only 1 letter of difference on the vision chart between 20/100 and 20/200...they are that close in visual acuity
Open this link: legally blind
and you will see
20/20
20/200, which is legally blind
20/400
Now, you can get an idea of what a visual impairment actually looks like
Contest for a Free Computerized Brailler
Winning a Mountbatten brailler could be one of the greatest gifts for your child.
HumanWare 2011 Braille Literacy Scholarship Program
HumanWare
2011 Braille Literacy Scholarship Program
5128 Oak Point Way, Fair Oaks, CA 95628
Contact: Sharon Spiker
sharon.spiker@humanware.com
Deadline for Entries: Dec 31, 2011
Contact Sharon for details: Any child between the ages of 3-8 years old can apply for this scholarship to win a complete Mountbatten Learning System and all associated software and accessories.
Where any of my students who had difficulties with little or weak fingers, the Mountbatten was the machine the enabled them to learn braille with ease. This could be the solution for your child also.
HumanWare 2011 Braille Literacy Scholarship Program
HumanWare
2011 Braille Literacy Scholarship Program
5128 Oak Point Way, Fair Oaks, CA 95628
Contact: Sharon Spiker
sharon.spiker@humanware.com
Deadline for Entries: Dec 31, 2011
Contact Sharon for details: Any child between the ages of 3-8 years old can apply for this scholarship to win a complete Mountbatten Learning System and all associated software and accessories.
Where any of my students who had difficulties with little or weak fingers, the Mountbatten was the machine the enabled them to learn braille with ease. This could be the solution for your child also.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Mac and Voice Over
I have had several students graduate and have someone talked them into going Mac instead of PC with JAWS-- RIGHT before a major life change. Then they start emailing me with their issues of not being able to access what they need on their new Mac. This really is more a matter of a lack of knowledge than an inability of the Mac. The most difficult part about the major switch of technology is they did it going into college or before a major event in their lives. They go from knowing how to operate a PC with JAWS with confidence to a brand new piece of hardware and software. If you are daring and can learn fast, that is fine. But if you have a learning curve, changing to a brand new product right before going to college, or in the middle of college or just getting a job, might not be the best move. There is always going to be a lull in your life, when this approach may fit better. However, nothing wrong with a bit of a challenge.
For all of those who took the step into a Mac with voice over, but would like a bit more help, here are a few basics to get you going or moving faster.
Voice over is built into the Mac OS X Lion
Command+F5 will turn on voice over quickly
Turn on voice over before attaching a supported Braille display. When you plug in a braille display, Voice over will detect it
This information is taken from the Mac manual: You enter VoiceOver commands by holding down the Control and Option keys together, along with one or more other keys. The Control and Option keys are called the “VoiceOver keys,” or “VO keys” for short. They are shown in commands as VO—for example, to use the command VO-F1, you press Control, Option, and F1. You can assign VoiceOver commands to numeric keypad keys, keyboard keys, braille display input keys, and trackpad gestures, so you can use the commands with fewer keystrokes.
The first time you start VoiceOver, I highly suggest you take the Quick Start tutorial, an interactive tour of VoiceOver navigation and interaction basics. When VoiceOver is on, you can start the tutorial at any time by pressing VO-Command-F8.--Remember, the VO key command is: control+option+F8 for the tutorial
Let's practice reading a document.
Open a document
To read an entire document from the top (called “Read All”) without interacting with the document, press VO-A.
When you’re interacting with a document, to read from the VoiceOver cursor to the bottom of the text area, press VO-A.
To read a line, press VO-L. To move to the next or previous line, press VO-Down Arrow or VO-Up Arrow.
To read a paragraph, press VO-P. To move to the next or previous paragraph, press VO-Shift-Page Down or VO-Shift-Page Up.
To read a sentence, press VO-S. To move to the next or previous sentence, press VO-Command-Page Down or VO-Command-Page Up.
To read a word, press VO-W. To hear the word spelled, press VO-W again. To hear it spelled phonetically, press VO-W again. To move to the next or previous word, press VO-Right Arrow or VO-Left Arrow.
To read a character, press VO-C. To hear the character spoken phonetically, press VO-C again. To move to the next or previous character, press VO-Shift-Right Arrow or VO-Shift-Left Arrow.
If you selected the “Use phonetics” checkbox in the Announcements pane of VoiceOver Utility, characters are automatically read phonetically. For example, VoiceOver reads “a alpha n november t tango.” (If you do not want this feature, go back to your Utilities and turn it off)
Practice these techniques and more lessons will be added
For all of those who took the step into a Mac with voice over, but would like a bit more help, here are a few basics to get you going or moving faster.
Voice over is built into the Mac OS X Lion
Command+F5 will turn on voice over quickly
Turn on voice over before attaching a supported Braille display. When you plug in a braille display, Voice over will detect it
This information is taken from the Mac manual: You enter VoiceOver commands by holding down the Control and Option keys together, along with one or more other keys. The Control and Option keys are called the “VoiceOver keys,” or “VO keys” for short. They are shown in commands as VO—for example, to use the command VO-F1, you press Control, Option, and F1. You can assign VoiceOver commands to numeric keypad keys, keyboard keys, braille display input keys, and trackpad gestures, so you can use the commands with fewer keystrokes.
The first time you start VoiceOver, I highly suggest you take the Quick Start tutorial, an interactive tour of VoiceOver navigation and interaction basics. When VoiceOver is on, you can start the tutorial at any time by pressing VO-Command-F8.--Remember, the VO key command is: control+option+F8 for the tutorial
Let's practice reading a document.
Open a document
To read an entire document from the top (called “Read All”) without interacting with the document, press VO-A.
When you’re interacting with a document, to read from the VoiceOver cursor to the bottom of the text area, press VO-A.
To read a line, press VO-L. To move to the next or previous line, press VO-Down Arrow or VO-Up Arrow.
To read a paragraph, press VO-P. To move to the next or previous paragraph, press VO-Shift-Page Down or VO-Shift-Page Up.
To read a sentence, press VO-S. To move to the next or previous sentence, press VO-Command-Page Down or VO-Command-Page Up.
To read a word, press VO-W. To hear the word spelled, press VO-W again. To hear it spelled phonetically, press VO-W again. To move to the next or previous word, press VO-Right Arrow or VO-Left Arrow.
To read a character, press VO-C. To hear the character spoken phonetically, press VO-C again. To move to the next or previous character, press VO-Shift-Right Arrow or VO-Shift-Left Arrow.
If you selected the “Use phonetics” checkbox in the Announcements pane of VoiceOver Utility, characters are automatically read phonetically. For example, VoiceOver reads “a alpha n november t tango.” (If you do not want this feature, go back to your Utilities and turn it off)
Practice these techniques and more lessons will be added
FIND command- Access Information in Books FAST
The way blind people can find information in books has changed dramatically.
Years ago, a blind child would sit in class with the multiple volumes of braille books in front of them, which is great if they actually got them. But if a teacher asks the class to open up to page 243 in the novel, "Of Mice and Men" it takes the blind students many minutes to thumb through the correct volume, then to find the correct page.
Today, that is no longer true. Students download electronic textbooks from the Internet and load them onto their note takers or laptop. When the teacher asks everyone to turn to page 243, or any page in any book, our students can do a Find command and jump to the passage faster than the sighted students jump in their print books. There is a trick to doing this flawlessly. Page numbers can vary in books depending on versions, so this is how you get around that. The blind student asks the teacher for the first 3 words of the paragraph she wants everyone to turn to. Then the blind student types those 3 words in the find command and enters, and immediately jumps to the text and is ready to read from their braille display along with the rest of the class.
Another advantage of this method is the teacher hands out questions to the story that is being read. The student can read the question, do a Find command within the book and jump to the major headings dealing with the question. They can copy and paste that information out of the book, jump back to the document where they will be typing the answers and paste in the content and answer the question quickly.
The FIND command is powerful. In WORD, it is CTRL+F, on many note takers, it is SPACE+F. Always search using more than one word, and you can find your information faster.
Lessons to help you more, click on link below
Technology skills
Years ago, a blind child would sit in class with the multiple volumes of braille books in front of them, which is great if they actually got them. But if a teacher asks the class to open up to page 243 in the novel, "Of Mice and Men" it takes the blind students many minutes to thumb through the correct volume, then to find the correct page.
Today, that is no longer true. Students download electronic textbooks from the Internet and load them onto their note takers or laptop. When the teacher asks everyone to turn to page 243, or any page in any book, our students can do a Find command and jump to the passage faster than the sighted students jump in their print books. There is a trick to doing this flawlessly. Page numbers can vary in books depending on versions, so this is how you get around that. The blind student asks the teacher for the first 3 words of the paragraph she wants everyone to turn to. Then the blind student types those 3 words in the find command and enters, and immediately jumps to the text and is ready to read from their braille display along with the rest of the class.
Another advantage of this method is the teacher hands out questions to the story that is being read. The student can read the question, do a Find command within the book and jump to the major headings dealing with the question. They can copy and paste that information out of the book, jump back to the document where they will be typing the answers and paste in the content and answer the question quickly.
The FIND command is powerful. In WORD, it is CTRL+F, on many note takers, it is SPACE+F. Always search using more than one word, and you can find your information faster.
Lessons to help you more, click on link below
Technology skills
Saturday, October 1, 2011
College made for children with Learning Disabilities
This is brand new and I do not know anything about it, but intrigues me on the possibilities it may bring. You may also want to check it out.
The Sage Colleges is launching a new program for college students with special needs, called the Achieve Degree. This online bachelor's degree was developed by Sage in collaboration with Excelsior College specifically for people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders or other learning disabilities.
The first cohort of students will begin the program in January 2012; application deadline is October 15. To raise awareness of this program, Sage and Excelsior are presenting a series of free webinars. Our first webinar was held on September 20th and webinar # 2 is scheduled for this evening, September 27th at 7:00 p.m. We encourage you to log on and learn more about the program, and spread the word to those you think may be interested in the program.
Click here to register for the first webinar, or visit the program page www.sage.edu/achieve or the Achieve Degree community blog, Achieve Ideas.
WEBINAR #1
Achieve Degree Program Overview
Tuesday, Sept. 20
7:00 - 7:35 p.m.
WEBINAR #2
Meet the Achieve Degree Dean & Faculty
Tuesday, Sept. 27
7:00 - 7:35 p.m.
WEBINAR #3
A Detailed Look at the Achieve Degree
Tuesday, Oct. 4
7:00 - 7:35 p.m.
WEBINAR #4
How to Access the Achieve Degree
Tuesday, Oct. 11
7:00 - 7:35 p.m.
To register, go to www.sage.edu/sca/academics/achieve/webinars/
(We suggest registering in advance to check your system and ensure your computer is set up to access the webinar.
--
Mike Jones
Assistant Director
Graduate and Adult Admission
The Sage Colleges
(518) 292-8636
The Sage Colleges is launching a new program for college students with special needs, called the Achieve Degree. This online bachelor's degree was developed by Sage in collaboration with Excelsior College specifically for people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders or other learning disabilities.
The first cohort of students will begin the program in January 2012; application deadline is October 15. To raise awareness of this program, Sage and Excelsior are presenting a series of free webinars. Our first webinar was held on September 20th and webinar # 2 is scheduled for this evening, September 27th at 7:00 p.m. We encourage you to log on and learn more about the program, and spread the word to those you think may be interested in the program.
Click here to register for the first webinar, or visit the program page www.sage.edu/achieve or the Achieve Degree community blog, Achieve Ideas.
WEBINAR #1
Achieve Degree Program Overview
Tuesday, Sept. 20
7:00 - 7:35 p.m.
WEBINAR #2
Meet the Achieve Degree Dean & Faculty
Tuesday, Sept. 27
7:00 - 7:35 p.m.
WEBINAR #3
A Detailed Look at the Achieve Degree
Tuesday, Oct. 4
7:00 - 7:35 p.m.
WEBINAR #4
How to Access the Achieve Degree
Tuesday, Oct. 11
7:00 - 7:35 p.m.
To register, go to www.sage.edu/sca/academics/achieve/webinars/
(We suggest registering in advance to check your system and ensure your computer is set up to access the webinar.
--
Mike Jones
Assistant Director
Graduate and Adult Admission
The Sage Colleges
(518) 292-8636
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