The recent history of the visually impaired is riddled with illiteracy and inconvenient methods of writing that put sighted students at a huge advantage over their visually impaired classmates. Take the story of Gerard Guarniero, for example – he spent eighth grade using a metal device that, while it enabled him to write in Braille, took him “three to four hours times as long to write the same paper as his sighted classmates.” However, Mr. Guarniero has not been in eighth grade for more than 40 years; since then, technology for Braille students has changed dramatically, and for the better.
Modern Braille embossers have paved a way for visually impaired students to do schoolwork, access information, and read and write with much more ease than previous generations of students with visual disabilities. Partially because of a lack of Braille reading material available for blind people and partially because of emphasis on other mediums such as computer sand tape recorders, in 1989 only 12% of visually impaired students could read Braille (Witt). Currently, there are few statistics regarding exact numbers of blind people in the United States; however, there is currently a reported 59,193 people under the age of 21 “enrolled in elementary and high school in the U.S. eligible to receive free reading matter in Braille, large print, or audio format” (“Blindness Statistics”). The question as to how to teach these individuals was answered in the 1990s following the introduction of Braille printers in classrooms. These not only allowed students to type their essays in Braille but allowed teachers with blind students to print out the same worksheets their sighted students were receiving. ''It's a different world now. I just scan the books...
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...isually Impaired." New York Times. N.p., 3 July 2002. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. .
Simon, Scott. "Boy Builds Braille Printer out of Lego." NPR. N.p., 22 Feb. 2014. Web. 2014. .
Spendlove, Tom. "Braigo - The Lego-Made Braille Printer Built by a Twelve Year Old." Engineering. N.p., 24 Feb. 2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. .
Witt, Karen, De. "How Best to Teach the Blind: A Growing Battle Over Braille." New York Times. N.p., 12 May 1991. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. .
This will benefit Billy and his peer helper. The device would be considered low tech. Since Billy wears glasses he can use a computer with a screen reading software. Which will allow him to see the text displayed and hear what is being said while looking at the word. Screen reading software would be considered high tech. Both devices can be used to assist Billy in a regular classroom. Billy can use the classroom devices at desk to have a better understanding of what’s being taught. During choice or computer time Billy can use the screen reading to review what he didn’t understand during teaching instructions. I think both devices will interest and encourage Billy to want to
Lane, Harlan; Hoffmeister, Rob and Bahan, Ben (1996). A Journey Into the DEAF-WORLD. Dawn Sign Press, San Diego, Ca.
... read aloud, dictation to scribe, assistive devices, marks in book, braille/braille writer, magnification device, computer/word processor, testing in separate room, and large print.
Imagine a life in darkness, not being able to see anything, not knowing what something as simple as a picture looks like. That’s what blind people have to go through every day. Blind people don’t know what anything around them looks like, their mom, dad, nothing. How do they read? Braille, the blind use braille daily and without it they would need someone with them 24/7 to read everything such as bathroom signs. Let’s explore braille and how it came to be how it is today by answering questions like what was the need for braille, what was life like before braille, what was the impact of braille then, and what is the impact of braille today?
Helen Keller may be the world's most famous supercrip. Very few people can claim to have "overcome" disability so thoroughly and spectacularly. A blind and deaf wild child at the age of 7, she became, by the time she published The Story of My Life at 22, one of Radcliffe's most successful and polished students, fluent in Latin, Greek, German, French and (not least) English--not to mention three versions of Braille (English, American, New York Point) and the manual alphabet in which her renowned teacher Anne Sullivan first communicated with her. But let me dispense with the scare quotes for a moment. Helen Keller is famous--and justly so--precisely because she did, in many respects, overcome the physical impairments of deafness and blindness, as well as the formidable social obstacles facing people with disabilities at the end of the nineteenth century. Her story retains its power to startle and inspire even now, just as Anne Sullivan's story remains among the most startling and inspiring tales in the history of pedagogy.
Individuals who are deaf or are hearing impaired are faced with many problems in today’s world. There are so many tasks and activities that are done today that deaf or hearing impaired people may have difficulty doing because of there handicap. There handicap used to stop them or inhibit them from doing something that they are interested in or there friends and neighbors would do. However in today there are new and different technologies, that help the deaf and hearing impaired in the activities in which they want to participate in which is hard for them to take part in because of there handicap. Technology is used to help with everyday tasks in the lives of deaf and hearing impaired individuals. With out this new technology which is being invented everyday, deaf and hearing impaired people may be considered to have a handicap which prevents them from certain activities, but this is not the case anymore, now these people just have different obstacles which through the use of technology they are learning to over come. They can do anything that regular normal range of hearing individuals can do, due to the new technology being invented everyday.
An awl both helped and hurt Louis Braille by making him go blind and also helping him create a blind alphabet. The way the awl helped Louis Braille was by helping him create an alphabet for the blind, as the text states "The very tool that caused his blindness became the instrument that brought the opportunity for reading to Louis and generations of blind people to this day." This means that the tool that made Louis Braille blind had also helped him by using it to create an
For the first six years of my life, I was a boy who savored going to school and seeing all of my friends. Then one day in first grade, during English class, that all changed thanks to a time were we had to read out loud. This day scared me for a while, and caused a fear in me that I wouldn’t let go of for about another eight years. Let me tell you first off, I was not at all the same person in first grade as I am today. For one thing, I was totally inconsiderate to any understanding of the reading system. I am writing about this event for the sole reason that it has changed the way I have live my life up to these recent years. Now that all of that is out of the way, I will continue with a story about a boy who overcame a reading and writing disability and turned it into motivation.
According to NIB study,which analyzed potential reasons why walloping 70 percents of blind people are not employed, they found that “hiring managers, most respondents (54 percent) felt there were few jobs at their company that blind employees could perform,...Forty-two percent of hiring managers believe blind employees need someone to assist them on the job;.. 34 percent said blind workers are more likely to have work-related accidents.’ These statistics shows us the the condition of being blind is associated with being incapable, clumsy, and unproductive in the workforce. Sontag teaches us when when we give meaning to a disease like blindness, we constructed it in a way that is punishing to those afflicted with the disease. The reality is blind people are capable individual who can carry out the job as well as a normal person in the workforce. This reality is often hidden from managers by negative stereotypes of the condition of being
The History of Braille When Braille was invented, it changed the lives of the blind all over the world. Before Braille, there was almost no way for blind people to be able to read by themselves. Braille’s history and how it came to be is quite the story. It all started with one boy, who wasn’t afraid to conquer hardships, and who wanted to change the world, for blind people. His name was Louis Braille.
Assistive Technology or “AT” is a term used in this context to describe an item or technique used to make the navigation of a home, school or play environment more accessible for a child with special needs (Lowenthal & Egan, 2003). This paper is written to explore some of the assistive technology (AT) options available to serve two children with special needs in separate circumstances. Low, mid and high tech options will be addressed with regards to the specific needs and intentions of the parents and teachers in each child’s life. Attached is a table offering options for assistive technology in the classroom to support the educational goals of each child.The first case study addressed in this paper is Savannah, a three-year old student who is wheelchair bound. She has a seizure disorder and has been diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy. She has limited vision but seems to be able to recognize items presented to her such as shapes and colors. Savannah participates in “social” language. She loves music and cause/effect activities. She knows all of her colors and shapes, is able to recite the alphabet by rote. In written word, Savannah recognizes both her name and those of her classmates. Savannah’s parents have expressed a desire to have her placed in a more restrictive classroom, and her teacher is interested in working more to support Savannah in the areas of writing and organizational skills. Some assistive technology suggestions for use in supporting Savannah are discussed below. Because Savannah’s teacher is working on encouraging Savannah in the area of writing, assistive technology options to support this area of development will be discussed herein. A low-tech ...
When people hear the word “deaf” many times they think of their grandparents or other elders who have lost their ability to hear due to old age. However today for every 1,000 children, at least 1 is considered to be deaf or heard of hearing (Honig, 177.) Deafness is a disability that is easily overlooked and misunderstood because it is not a disability that is easily observed. Helen Keller once said that, “Blindness cuts people off from things. Deafness cuts people off from people.” When a person is blind or need glasses society easily recognizes that in some cases special accommodati...
... CLD info sheets: assistive technology. Council for Learning Disabilities. Retrieved on April 24, 2005, from http://www.cldinternational.org/c/@CS_yKIo7l8ozY/Pages/assistive.html
Assistive technology plays an important role in the learning process for individuals with disabilities. Assistive technology is defined as "any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities." (Maushak, Kelley & Blodgett, 2001, p. 419) Assistive technology is very beneficial to individuals that have disabilities. For example, students with mental retardation benefit from extremely organized learning situations because of their limited cognitive abilities. Students who are hearing impaired, blind, or visually impaired may need differentiated pedagogical materials. More emphasis should be placed on visual materials for students with hearing impairments than for other students. Modifying instruction for all students, especially exceptional students, requires strong dependence on media, materials and technology and the right choice of these components to fit particular ends. Moreover, research has indicated that technology not only can be adapted for use with students with disabilities, but when used can enhance students' educational achievement and self-image. (Duhaney & Duhaney, 2000, p. 393) With this knowledge, there have been many new products that have been developed to help individualize programs to fit the criteria for specific disabilities. Through out this paper we will be disusing three different pieces of assistive technologies. We will be looking at Dynawrite, AlphaSmart, and Texthelp and the benefits of each program.
Bowser and Reed [1995] as cited by Bryant et al [1998] argue that as a child progresses through the Education System, their requirements change and this may necessitate a need for different devices. This is not limited to those children with a physical disability but is relevant to all children with SEN as they progress and the Education System places additional burdens upon them. For children with a visual impairment ICT can provide support in various ways; tools to support communication, to improve access to information and as a means of producing learning materials in alternative. There is a wide range of devices and software, which can