Margo.Downey@f60.n382.z1.fidonet.org (Margo Downey) (06/18/91)
Index Number: 16090
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
goodness, Warren! thank you!--and I will take a closer look and determine
which studies I'd like to read at length--will send you net mail. You gave me
reading rates--and this will be helpful along with other information to
determine which to read.
My concerns are about those studies: a. The attitude of the people doing the
testing/teaching; and b. the techniques used to read Braille.
I would still like more information about the samples used--both print and
Braille readers. I do know that myself and others who are adults have been
tested and given comprehension tests and read much faster than the rates in
the studies indicate. thanks so much for all your efforts!!! You really did
your homework! (grin!)
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!382!60!Margo.Downey
Internet: Margo.Downey@f60.n382.z1.fidonet.orgMary.Otten@p0.f1055.n261.z1.fidonet.org (Mary Otten) (06/18/91)
Index Number: 16094
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
I found those studies interesting, but, being the suspicious type Iam, I
can't help but wonder under what conditions they conducted them, how
they got their saple of students etc. I, for example, and I"m not an
especially gifted reader of braille, was tested out some years back when
Ihad optacon training, at a braille reading speed of somewhere around
150 words per minute. Of course, in science, that speed would go down a
lot. Iread around 60 words per minute or so with the optacon and find it
painfully slow. Ican't immagine that the average speed wasn't that much
greater than that for braille. It boggles my mind to say the least. I
still say that the medium of choice should bethat which the older
student chooses for himself, after he has been thoroughly grounded in
the various media, tape or braille. NObody should be able to tell me
that Imay not have braille because some study said this or that. As
Ihave said before, Ican't immagine studying a foreign language without
the availability of braille, at least in the first couple of years of
study. If somebody else can do it fine, but not for me. I guess I"ll
shut up, because all the other points Icould make here, I've made before
in previous messages.
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!261!1055.0!Mary.Otten
Internet: Mary.Otten@p0.f1055.n261.z1.fidonet.orgWarren.Figueiredo@f6.n3800.z1.fidonet.org (Warren Figueiredo) (06/18/91)
Index Number: 16124
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
Yes, choice is the ticket here. And one can only make a choice by
experiencing as many techniques as possible.
When I worked with mainstreamed students, I would vary the medium they
received. Sometimes I would give them nothing but braille. At other
times I'd provide the material recorded on tape. And then there were
times I would provide a braille table of contents for a well-indexed
tape. It was difficult to wean a student from his accustomed way of
doing things but it was worth it. Usually the student learned a new
technique or came to a realization of why he perferred one medium to
another.
I had quite a bit of fun demonstrating to students that there was more
than one way to perform a task. My favorite, the one that freaked out
the totally blind kids the most was when I got them to write some
things out in longhand instead of writing a braille sheet. Some of my
students got so they could easily leave a note for others to read.
But no mattre what the technique was, I'd always to get the student to
evaluate what had happened. Why did one thing work or another seem
clumsy?
It was lots of fun and I must admit that I miss it.
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!3800!6!Warren.Figueiredo
Internet: Warren.Figueiredo@f6.n3800.z1.fidonet.orgMargo.Downey@f60.n382.z1.fidonet.org (Margo Downey) (06/22/91)
Index Number: 16347
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
Your public school experiences sound exactly like mine. Before first grade,
my mother learned Braille and taught it to me. I went to a private
Presbyterian school in kindergarten and first grade because of the birthday
rule--have to be 6 by a certain time or you can't start school)--and the
first-grade teacher learned Braille. In public school, we learned typing in
third grade, also. And this was before 93-142 and 504 and whatever. This was
just when mainstreaming was sort of beginning to happen in Texas. I am glad
when teachers recognize that Braille is important, when parents realize
Braille is importnat, and everyone imparts that to the child.
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!382!60!Margo.Downey
Internet: Margo.Downey@f60.n382.z1.fidonet.orgWarren.Figueiredo@f6.n3800.z1.fidonet.org (Warren Figueiredo) (06/22/91)
Index Number: 16352
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
Sounds like you had good teachers.
I learned braille in first grade and later was taught to read print. I
know what you mean about those short form words.
Brfaille crept into my print note taking habits. People would at my
notes and tell me they couldn't read them because there were dots in
front of letters and even lines. I would use "dot d" for "day" and I
would even draw a little vertical line for the 4-5-6 as in "|w" for
world. It worked OK for me. (grin)
When I taught classes, I would always write my keys in braille so that
I could read the key with one hand and read the student's work
visually.
A little unorthodox but it worked.
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Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!3800!6!Warren.Figueiredo
Internet: Warren.Figueiredo@f6.n3800.z1.fidonet.org