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Computing for Near-Blind Children?
mjpaci asks: "One of my co-workers has a son, age 12, who is visually impaired among other problems. He is smart, charismatic, and funny--an all around good kid. Due to complications during his mother's pregnancy, he is near-blind. His father is a saint and spends many hours each night helping his child with homework. The problem is that the child is now taking Social Studies in junior high and has great trouble with geography as he cannot read the maps in the book even with his 'overhead visualizer.' Can Slashdot help me help this child?"
"One of my clients has donated 21" monitors to him in the past and they have helped. The real rub is, even with the large monitors, the child cannot read maps when zoomed-in on. The father has looked to the end of the earth for good, hi-res maps that can be magnified without great pixelization. Are there any good sources out there for hi-res maps for educational purposes or a software package that could help? Questions like: Find the largest city on the Mississippi River and what is the Capitol of the South American country to the west of Surinam are hard for the child as his view of the map is very constrained."
This is part of what truly makes the Slashdot community great, and why I am proud to be a part of it. Geeks helping out others by poling a resource that has a truly flabbergasting diversity of combined knowledge. This question hits a bit close to home as my research is centered around vision and vision rescue strategies, but this is a more immediate need that I truly hope somebody here can help with.
Just to clarify: I am not sure if you are asking for screen reader software or not as part of the solution? If so, there are a number of alternatives for Windows (fairly pricey), but the next version of OS X will have a built in screen reader solution! combined with other visual aids that will help the blind and near blind use their computer systems without having to invest in another solution.
For the maps, there are a number of high resolution maps available from the USGS which can be obtained in digital form here and in atlas form here. In addition the CIA world factbook is a nice resource for kids with text and maps that can be remapped with higher resolution.
Finally, a last resort would be Adobe Photoshop. You can take any map or image and simply resize the image with a much higher resolution (say take a map from 72dpi to 600 or 1200 dpi). If there is enough information in the original image to interpret, this might be a good solution to allowing one to zoom in images and maps for ease of interpretation.
Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
I use Garmin's Mapsource quite a bit which, whilst not being the prettiest, turns detail off as you zoom out and adds it as you zoom in, which sounds like it could be helpful.
It isn't cheap, but, I am sure if you contacted their PR department and explained what you wanted to do with it, they would have a hard time coming off as anything other than heartless and moneygrabbing should you they refuse to give you a gratis/cheap copy.
The North American web demo of their maps (link near the top right) does similar and may even do the trick, and, is free to use.
As for large screen helping, a cheap projector and a dark room would be a better logical alternative than a big screen it would seem to me, but then again, I hardly know whereof I speak.
I feel for your coworker's predicament. My mother and brother have had a total of about fifteen surgeries between them to correct vision problems mostly stemming from retinas that have a tendency to detach, and complicatons thereof. The condition has many of the symptoms of a connective tissue disorder called Stichler-Sachs, but not all. In many cases, it boils down to a combination of the aforementioned, and a nearsightedness that puts a strain on the eye from its length. I got away with one surgery twenty years ago, while my mom and brother have basic vision of shapes and/or colors (with no semblance of stability in sight).
Regardless, I've been through much of this before. First off, make sure his school is accomodating with a IEP (individualized education program)/504 setup. There are many things you can do, but without help from the school, it's won't help. Many accomodations can be made "behind the scenes" and without making the child self-conscious. There are some things that the child can't totally hide, and in this case a sense of humor is particularly helpful.
Many times, the school can obtain (at the school's expense) extra-large versions of books, graphics, diagrams and the like. I know when I was a kid, we had a few raised (molded) topographical maps (? somebody help me out, I can't think of what the right description is) sitting around. I know they also have globes, but they may not be as "high-resolution" if he's studying, say, state geography. They're also not that difficult to make, which can be a family project. The point is to cover all the bases by connecting knowledge with touch and what little sight he may have: think teaching art via texture and collage and sculpture as opposed to traditional "visibles".
In this case, geography may require a rewritten or oral test for the child. Since he had to learn it differently, it may have to be tested differently. YMMV based on what the parents and educator think is best.
Many different ideas can fun or degrading, depending on how severe the disability is; that's true of many accomodations, so it's important to be sensitive to the child's attitude, especially at this age, and moreso in a few years.
Whatever your suggestion and the parents' decision, it won't be a quick fix; this is a long road. I know from experience, however, that with a lot of support, it's definitely doable. I wish you the best of luck. (I will gladly answer questions if you e-mail or reply to this post.)
Seems to me that would be the ultimate solution. If you're not familiar with the device, a braile monitor uses steel pins at different heights on a flat, horizontal field to represent colors in a computer graphic. It seems to me that would be the solution required here- but I'm not sure where to get one (as I'm not blind myself) nor have I seen one in several years. You might check out a few schools for the blind and see if this technology is still available.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
I got Microsoft streets and trips for use with my GPS device. The nice thing about these maps is that they are meant to be used down to the street level and even let you select every available address in America.
Within the US, you can view the entire nation and zoom in as much as you need. Imagine how PDF files work - the information is stored in database and is not pixelated by maginifcation. This would help for any US maps.
For international, the same suite (Streets and trips 2004) works on the city level, but only has major streets. You would have to find the speicific maps you are looking for.
... if such a thing exists, but what about a 3D topographical globe/map/what-have-you? Something with state/nationality borders included perhaps. Like I said, I don't know if such a thing exists, but I recall some globes having topographical features (raised mountains, oceans, the Great Lakes, etc.) included as features.
...Rob
The American Dream isn't an SUV and a house in the suburbs; it's Don't Tread On Me.
I don't need geography - only missile coordinates.
Most people in the US can see just fine and know jack squat about geography anyway.
True. Not to cheapen the kid's plight, but I reckon he ought to concentrate on what he can do with limited vision, and leave subjects like geography until decent prosthetic visual aids (ie implants) are developed (which should be well within his lifetime, given that they have had some success already.)
Perhaps you could contact that guy from MIT who has all of the implants and stuff. The "bionic man". I'm not trying to be silly here, but it may be possible that he or someone he could put you in touch with would be able to help the child (or even associate with him on the basis of a project) with some sort of augmentation.
I don't necessarily mean some sort of physical augmentation - but some sort of technical assistance that would help paint images onto his retina in a way that he could see the material on a computer, through an adapter, in the same way that some of the new "head monitors" do.
It's a long shot, granted - but it might be worth a shot? If there isn't a solution out there now, get the kid and father in touch with people on the foreront of technology and science and they could possibly actively pursue a solution with interested professionals.
It'll take down another avenue for learning.
How about a relief map of the world that is also a puzzle. Ocean names are in raised text, and the continents are inset into the board. Each piece of the puzzle is a country in the continent.
By feeling your way around the oceans, you can feel the 'holes' where the continents go. Then you fit the pieces into the holes, learning which countries go with which continents as well as geographical features.
Maybe breaking it up into smaller pieces will make building a larger picture in the mind easier.
That's ok, Jesus likes me anyway.
prosthetic visual aids (ie implants) are developed (which should be well within his lifetime, given that they have had some success already.)
Hopefully he'll get better implants than those prototypes: with a resolution of 25x25, the only map he'd see accurately is the map of Utah...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
It sounds like this is exactly what scaled vector graphics (the SVG format) was designed to address.
But a world map? That'll be one huMONGous SVG file!
a company called GH, LLC. The specialize in converting educational materials from traditional sources into raised print -- braille text and raised lines for diagrams. This is for totally blind individuals (obviously) but should serve your child as they would be able to feel raised maps. Note that I am not affiliated with them - just knew some people who worked there.
Another great resource is the Alliance for Technology Access. They have directories of companies that create technologies for handicapped individuals.
Good luck.
#include "humorous_pop_culture_reference.h"
the RNS marine mapping system includes a vector based mapping system that zooms to any level, can be blown up, ect. www.raytech.com I use this on my boat :).
This might be of interest to you. Not sure how visually impaired the kid is, but this is for those with no sight at all. BATS
Well said. I hate "first posters" as much as you do, they're wasting moderator points and love the attention they get by being modded down.
I've suggested many times before that slashdot should have some sort of a FPPS ("first post prevention system"). It could be dead simple: AC's are not allowed to post the first 5 minutes after an article has been published. Implement that, and all the AC FP's are gone.
Hell, make it even better: Allow subscribers to start commenting on articles before they are published ("red"). No AC's.
Unfortunately, there are just as many crazy moderators as AC FP's, so since this will be modded down (and I love my karma), I'm staying AC for this time.
About the only thing I can think of is to make a "3D" map. I don't mean a relief map. Take an existing map, and put it on carboard or something. Put something along the borders that raises it up. Tulip Paint (a really thick paint applied like Icing), Silicon Glue or wire should work for this. Essentially, think along the lines of helping out someone who is completely blind.
Also, it might be possible to take a couple of those monitor, run them through a splitter and have each one displaying 1/4 of the picture.
Fly me to the moon Let me sing among those stars Let me see what spring is like On jupiter and mars
Put those questions into google, and you can pretty quickly find an answer using only text. Using google to answer questions about maps is probably not the skill they were trying to teach, but on the other hand, it is a skill of some kind.
The Speakup Project produces a screen reader that is used in the above distro.
There is also a Knoppix based distro called Oralux, that will also support braille terminals (these are usually one line at a time vt100 emulators) connected to a serial port.
I know this does not solve the map problem, but this, along with Links, for example, will give any vision impaired person far more tools that are available in Windows, for instance.
And that is what gives those people a chance to score in the world, they can exploit things others tend to ignore. And if the kid is willing to learn, then we should provide him with the resources he needs.
You could try a Virtual Retinal Display. They've shown promise for people with macular degeneration and retinal pigmentosa. I think Microvision is the only company selling them though.
h tml
Slashdot did an article on them a while back.
http://slashdot.org/articles/99/04/15/2058223_F.s
CCTV can magnify a great deal.
c ts/tactile/piaf.htm
http://www.clarityusa.com/
Also there is something called Pictures in a flash which provides tactile representation for graphic images through the use of heat and thermo-type paper.
http://www.quantech.com.au/products/quantum_produ
Both of these things are mechanical in nature and costly but if the school has a Disability Resource Center or if a local college has a DRC then you should be able to get access to both.
The first thing I thought of when reading your question was "tactile graphics". In my experience, it's the best way to convey spatial distances when one can't see the distances. A tactile graphic is, for example, a map with details raised, effectively making it so that the individual can "feel" the distance and relation of different features. The drawback is that these graphics are expensive *and* tend to be very large (it's difficult to feel the separation of two tiny lines when they're close together). A quick google will find you plenty of information on companies that make these products. (I happen to work for a company that makes tactile gfx, in addition to other low vision/blind products, but no plug for them today)
I read this fascinating article some time ago. With the way the way things are headed the kid might have 20-20 vision soon ;-) I'm sure there are all sorts of neural type implant projects for vision impaired people, so the future looks bright.
I know some members of that team and the actual aim is FAR better resolution .The big problem seems to be finding ressources(money,graduate students, etc)
The market also seem to have a bigger interest in their research involving the bladder
I live in Soviet Canuckistan you insensitive clod!
This might be too costly. But what about using a projector. A 1024x768 will run you around $1500, an 800x600 for less than $1000. Project the maps on the wall. You an easily get a 100 in diagonal this way.
If you happen to have a large screen TV already, perhaps try getting a video card that can do TV out.
Why would you think this would cheapen the kid's plight? Telling him he can't do something with kids his age because of a disability and that he should put his life on hold until something with a time-to-market of 20 years shows up?
Yes, sarcasm. With all due respect, I understand your position, but it's a cop-out answer.
There are certain things kids with disabilities can't do, obviously. A kid with paralysis of the lower body can't run track. But the point is to show these kids what they can do, not what they can't. He may not be able to run track, but if he wants to be near the sport, there are plenty of wheelchair track clubs he can participate in. Instead of telling the kid, "wait until we develop artificial legs", let's tell him we have the best people in the room, and until then there are plenty of other opportunities and ways he can participate in life just like non-handicapped people.
A kid with vision disability can participate with his classmates in geography, but he might need some help. Help which, I should note, is required by law and for good reason. People with disabilities aren't invalids, but may require accomodation.
It's worth noting that social studies probably isn't an 'elective' for him in junior high.
Windows XP has an Accessibility menu with Magnifier and Narrator. Most map software use vector graphics, so zooming in doesn't degrade the image. Speech to text software could be nice if the keyboard is too cumbersome to use.
I would recommend installing two or more monitors which can be configured (since Win98) as one big desktop. Or maybe plugging the PC to a large TV with svideo or better. Most video cards also have custom brightness/contrast settings. XP's "built-in" ultra-plain generic drivers doesn't allow that, be sure to download new drivers.
Also, it's important to know about government and private institutions benefits for handicapped persons - especially for education and training.
A projector would be best, but a TV adapter may help too.
Hook the computer up so you use the TV as a screen. It's not as high quality as a good monitor of course, but would be easier for the kid to see.
A projector would be more expensive... but would provide even greater benefit.
Perhaps something that this child could do is use a puzzle map of the world. I don't know where you'd find something like that. I used to have a puzzle map of the U.S. when I was younger.
This probably couldn't go very far, but its a start and might make the father think of other things to try.
Yeah, yeah. Someday I'll register an account.
MVA (Most Valuable AC)
Why would you think this would cheapen the kid's plight? Telling him he can't do something with kids his age because of a disability and that he should put his life on hold until something with a time-to-market of 20 years shows up? Yes, sarcasm. With all due respect, I understand your position, but it's a cop-out answer.
But did I say he should put his life on hold? No, I simply said he should concentrate on what he can do. When technology adds map-reading to that set, he can do it.
There are certain things kids with disabilities can't do, obviously. A kid with paralysis of the lower body can't run track. But the point is to show these kids what they can do, not what they can't.He may not be able to run track, but if he wants to be near the sport, there are plenty of wheelchair track clubs he can participate in.
This sounds suspiciously like what I said. If technology can help him to some degree, then great. If the technology hasn't been developed yet, looks like he'll have to wait.
It's worth noting that social studies probably isn't an 'elective' for him in junior high.
Probably not. But are they really going to give him a hard time for doing poorly in areas of the subject that really heavily on vision he doesn't have? Is the american education system really that bad?
Indeed.
However to understand the layout of something, the world (or whatever) is surely topology, not visual skills. As a visually able person I can recall pretty well a map of most cities, neighbourhoods, countries I've ever seen a map of, which is fine for my needs (getting to a housewarming, LAN party, etc).
But remembering a map is not the only way to remember where somewhere is, or the relative and comparable attributes of a place, as geography (at least in high school) is concerned with. I can do n-dimensional matrix albegra - most with basic math can - so I can think in n dimensions, where N can be more than a 2D (or pushing it 3D) visual map. Although when I'm looking for a place I can remember the local street layout after glancing a map, I too can remember "1st left, second right, number 62). Likewise, for the story's example "Capitol of the South American country to the west of Surinam" just remember wher the Surinam is, and know relative locations of other locations, and no problem - it is the same problem for visually imparred and fully visually able, bar the tiny minority with a 'photographic memory'.
Now, if the exam if open-book, i.e. the kids don't have to remember the location of the Surinam, just open their books, find the river and the nearest town and draw a line... then (aside from that not being a test whatsoever, not a test of memory (perhaps not too important), but not a test of reasoning or judgement either, simply a monkey task) one in the school district must have suggested some ideas for alternatives??? Did you get any suggestions from them?
--
Slashdot: Racism against Indians OK. China bad, USA good. Blue pill in water supply.
Accessible sites for the vision impared in the olympics: http://slashdot.org/articles/00/08/28/1143249.shtm l
All the suggestions are decent ideas, but I wonder if the solution might be to change the problem.
If a person has such problems reading maps, that simple image enlargement techniques don't help then why try teaching geography visually? It is unlikely that that skill (Being able to find the Mississippi on a map) whill ever be a useful one to a person who is severly visually impaired. You can visually describe geography to someone and achieve the same end.
Tell the teacher to stop wasting time teaching skills that aren't ever going to be of use. Just because a standardized skill test has a question like that doesn't mean that it will be applicable to every child that takes the test...
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
I was telling your girl the same thing the other day. "If he can't make you finish with that 1/2" pin of his quit feeling sorry for him I'm sure an implant or drug will help him sooner or later and he should concentrate on school or work. Now come here and sit on my fat cock slut." If your ass was blind you might have some more compassion, but as you have 20/20 vision and the manhood of a baby kitten. You will keep telling people to just live with it or you where destined to do this or that and just leave what you are willing to bust your hump for alone and come do what is easy. Fucking communist.
Signed the blind guy with a cock like a Saturn5 missile that your girl loves.
Macs have always had good support for users with visual and physical disabilities. In OS X, go to System Preferences - Universal Access. The visual enhancements availabe there can switch the display to black-and-white, greyscale, enhance contrast, and can magnify the display greatly for people with low vision. Zoom can be set from 2x to 20x. On my powerbook, 20x zoom makes the mouse pointer almost 3" long, which should be plenty enough for anyone that's not completely blind.
These enhancements are part of the base OS, there is no additional software to buy.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Generic Mapping Tools
The data set is available on CD from The Geoware Online Store or alternatively from various ftp archives. I have not got the various the url's to hand but the data is freely available from US institutions. ( several hundred megabyte download )
Create suitable images according to the need of the moment using the GMT software and project them onto a horizontal board. Us the projected image as a guide to making plaster reliefs. Great educational fun for folks of all ages who want to learn that there is a real World out there which is more than just target co-ordinates.
This sounds to me like an opportunity for an interactive atlas organized like a text adventure. For example, let's describe a map with the starting point as America: to the west you see another ocean (the Pacific) vast and wide, to the east you see another ocean (the Atlantic)not quite as vast as the Pacific, to the North there is another county (Canada), to the south you see another country (Mexico). Would you like to zoom in (out)? zoom in You are in Ohio, there are three large cities here, and a number of smaller one, they are... to the west is... to the east is... etc. Options can be extended to request geographical details, political and economic information, and history.
I worked at the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) for some time...
A very valuable tool for youth (typically provided by the educational institution) is to create tactile maps, in which thin strips of foam are used to represent maps which can produce:
- Directions in a Neighbourhood
- Basic City Plans
- Geographical Maps
Basically, you take a piece of hard construction paper, and glue strips and curves of thin foam to it, and name each section with braille.
For further information, reply and I am willing to assist.
My geography teacher had a novel approach. He would blow up maps to poster size and outline the boundaries with puffy paint. He would use varying weight lines for different features(but never too much detail at once). He would then have us take turns at the map with a blindfold on and have us tell him which country/river/continent/whatever we had our finger on.
It was unorthodox (especially since this was a public school) but extremely effective. To this day (14 years later) I can still remember most of what he taught.
Emacspeak is a speech interface that allows blind and visually impaired users to interact independently and efficiently with the computer. Available free of cost on the Internet, Emacspeak has dramatically changed how the author and hundreds of blind and visually impaired users around the world interact with the personal computer and the Internet.
In my humble opinion Emacspeak is the most advanced voice enabled user interface currently available. If I wouldn't have seen a trained Emacspeak user reading his email faster that I ever could I never would have believed it. Did you ever see a person which is blind playing Tetris amazingly fast? It sounds incredible. Emacspeak makes it possible.
I won't tell you that you don't need some training until you are at home with Emacspeak. But if you are willing to invest some efforst, chances are good that you will be able to handle your computer faster than many sighted users.
When reading, writing, designing, or programming, the totally blind individual is inevitably restricted to a one dimensional world, be it speech or braille. This linear stream may take the form of a single-line display on a braille output device, or the words spoken by a speech synthesizer. There are brief moments when the blind user can enjoy the benefits of a 2-dimensional presentation. If he has a braille printer he might print out a chart or spread sheet and explore it with both hands. Indeed, when I studied mathematics at U.C. Berkeley I often had to write the equation, or set of related equations down in braille, and review it as a whole, before I understood it. However, one rarely has the time to construct such a two-dimensional tactile representation, similar to the screen or the printed page. As a general rule we must admit that the blind user is stuck in one dimension.
Unfortunately, almost all modern applications present information in a two-dimensional format, and most employ graphical icons that have no meaning for the blind. Since it is impractical to rewrite all these applications, the blind community has been forced to perform a rather awkward retrofit, using various adapters. We should recognize that this is not the ideal solution. Pasting a screen reader on top of Netscape makes it accessible, but the result is hardly efficient.
Over the past decade a small minority of blind users have discovered Linux, a free, text-based operating system for the home computer. Linux applications rarely employ graphics, and most of them are already linear, just like the mode (speech or braille) that is our Karma. All other things being equal, Linux is the best operating system for a blind user.
Of course things aren't always equal. If your job requires the use of a proprietary order entry system that only runs on Windows, then you'll be using Windows, with an adapter that tries to make the application somewhat accessible. But this scenario is actually quite rare. An employer may insist on a Microsoft Word document, but that doesn't force you to use Windows. You can write html code on Linux and mail it to your boss, who can then import it into Word. Conversely, your co-workers can easily export their Word documents into html for your benefit. There are very few reasons why you must use Windows. Let's assume you are considering Linux, where the applications are less graphical. That's a fair assumption, since you're already visiting this web site.
If you watch a sighted Linux user for an hour, you will notice that he spends most of his time in screen applications. He doesn't need the labyrinth of "helpful" menus and drop down boxes that Windows is famous for, and he has no patience for the "are you sure you want to do that" and "click ok if you really want to quit" dialog boxes, and he
Technology is great stuff, and all, but...
My stepdaughter is in a similar predicament as the poster. Her vision isn't as bad as "near-blind", but one eye is near-blind and the other is severely nearsighted.
My wife has always been her primary advocate in school, but we've done much of what the parent poster has done: get an IEP (even though she's at a private school which isn't required to follow an IEP, they do so), and use it to get enlarged books (they're free) and worksheets, and special consideration for homework (she's only required to do half as many math problems, for instance) and tests (her time limits are always extended).
She's tried electronic devices to enlarge her books and papers, but since she had to wheel it from classroom to classroom it was both unwieldy and very obvious -- not a good thing for a peer-conscious preteen. So yes, they have those devices and they work, but they're not as good as simply enlarging the books and papers. (I look forward to the day when all the textbooks come on an electronic tablet which can simply enlarge the font and/or invert the black and white as needed.)
Telling your child to have a sense of humor about such a situation is easier said than done; I'm sure we all remember how cruel kids of any age can be. The better thing to do is, as a parent, be understanding, comfortable, and above all be a strong advocate for his/her needs. Don't expect your child to speak up when he/she needs special assistance, because that may not be in his/her nature. But do ask him/her about any problems in the classroom and go to the teachers, or principal if necessary, yourself to correct it.
My father was a geology professor. When I was a kid, I had a plastic relief map of the U.S. He grabbed from me to use with a blind student.
u rc e=google
I googled this supplier - they have better maps than the one I had in the 60's
http://www.freshtracksmaps.com/hs-relief.htm?so
I don't know where you are located in the country (or the world), but many states have agencies designed to help solve these problems. I am visually impaired and I had a case worker from Connecticut Board of Education Services for the Blind throughout school who helped me with these issues. They have assistive technology consultants as well as people who can deal with the often public school administrators. Other states have similar agencies as well. Middle school can be absolutely hellish so it can be very helpful to have someone on your side. Even if this isn't an option make sure he has an IEP (or equivalent) so that the school has written records of his disability and a formal plan for dealing with it. If you've got all of this on file than its much easier to get individual teachers or administrators to help out, and even possibly pay for a special equipment and large print books. I actually was really good at geography as a kid, (national geography bee state finalist way back when) but I suspect that was because I really liked puzzling over maps and trying to figure them out. However, I know that geography bee national finalists have been completely blind in the past. To be honest if the tests he has to take are entirely the questions that you listed than they need to be modified, but geography is more than capitals and directions. A good question might be something like "What do Mindenao, Correigidor, and Luzon have in common" you don't need to know anything about the shape of the Philippines to answer that one, all you need to have done is maybe read a little about WWII or current events etc. I doubt that I could draw a map of the world better than a 5 year old but I can assure you I know much more geography than the average american. The truth of the matter is that this kid might not be able to give you directions from a little roadmap on the highway without a lot of help, but that doesn't mean he isn't capable of understanding the nature of the world around him. I suspect that the best thing for him to do is to read as much as possible and to try to absorb information and visualize it. That worked for me anyway.
was to get an atlas and use a CCTV+Magnification+System With a CCTV for any printed media and using the Microsoft "Magnifier" on his computer, he's able to work full time in an IT department doing phone support.
Helping people is, I think, one of the best uses of the slashdot community. That being said...
Here are some (hopefully) helpful resources:
American Printing House for the Blind:
They're a great resource of learning materials for the blind. (You should try and see if the school can (or maybe should) pay for these materials)
APH geography learning materials
Royal National Institute for the Blind (UK)
The RNIB looks like a good resource and charity in the UK for the blind as well.
This article in the 4th issue of their Curriculum Close-Up magazine dealing with learning geography for the blind might help as well.
Article
I hope this helps and I wish you and them the best of luck!
sorry but thats stupid.
worst thing you can tell someone with an impairment what they CANT do. They'll suprise you everytime (like the amputee in Survivor right now...amazing).
By creating adaptics and aids, we allow persons with disabilities to push the envelop and help them champion the value of everyone in this society by destroying the myths and stereotypes of their condition.
I say give him everything that is presented here, and he'll not only pick the best thing for himself, but improve on it I'm sure.
Never wait for a technology in the future when you can adapt now and benefit from it. Then, when the proper aid (ie. prosthetics) comes, you'll be that much more ahead when you attempt to understand what you are seeing.
It's all good..
Check out the BATS project from the assistive technology research group at UNC. It's an open source mapping program written in Python to make maps accessible to people with visual impairments using text-to-speech synthesis, audio icons, 3D sound, and tactile feedback all using cheap commodity hardware. More info is available on the BATS web page. The latest version of the software for Windows is also available for download.
I know that there are large puzzles of at least the 50 states, probably Europe and other regions exist.
The puzzles that I'm thinking of are large wooden cutouts of a state or region, and would be great for learning by touch the shapes of states/countries. If you glued them down near eache other, possibly a spatial relation between them could be formed as well.
We had one of these big floor puzzles in kindergarten. It was a riot!
What about using a VR headset?
They have been around for years and put the images right up to your eyes. Many can be plugged into the VGA port on a computer and video outputs on a TV/VCR.
DEAD DEAD DEAD DELETE ME
Some of the other projects developed by students in the Enabling Technologies class at UNC might also interest you. Many of them are aimed at kids who have nothing to do in computer classes while their sighted peers get to use all the latest and greatest multimedia software. The assistive tech research group's home page also has some projects listed.
The CIA World Factbook has some EXCELLENT reference maps, available in 100% vector PDF (meaning they can be infinitely scaled without any pixellation).
Score:0? WTF?! This is the best post so far!
note, I haven't read the thread yet, just something I've seen, maybe it's already mentioned.
They make 3 dimensional maps -I mean textured, the mountains are raised, you can trace rivers, etc, that are NEAT. He could literally feel the maps and have someone explain what he is touching, eventually he'd figure it out. No idea what they cost, but even a few of them, generic US, generic continents, etc, might be of great help.
... or something similar. He can use it to scan the map along the Mississippi River or whatever feature is given to place his search.
mefus
In Open Society, GPL Software frees YOU!
Don't know much about it beyond the URL, and that they've been collecting digital maps for many years.
http://www.alexandria.ucsb.edu/adl/
I have a friend who is blind and I set up a SUSE system for her with emacs speak. All well and good, but you know what caught my eye, literally, in her home? It was a map of the united states about 4x3 on the wall. All the states were outlined in simple yarn and glue, with some braille stickers of the state names. Her mother made it for her by hand, and I bet she can find most states more accurately than most of us (where the hell is Indiana anyways?). I realize this is labor intensive, but its a great project with the kid and you can learn as well. Plus its a gift that lasts a lifetime, just like the good globe my mom bought me when I was 11.
I thought they all got jobs as slashdot dupe checkers
its all come down to hi-res maps.... what do "you" want the maps for? :)
the best place to get hi-res maps is USA DoD, try there :)
In soviet russia the maps have trouble reading you
I can't help with your specific question. However, there was a REALLY good cover story a few weeks ago in the New York Times Magazine on a child with cerebral palsy being integrated in the classroom. It describes an effort to truly integrate children with disabilities as though they were any other student. It may very well provide some answers or ideas that your friend might have, outside of your specific request. As it happens, just today I scanned this article in (6 MB), (I have two nephews with cerebral palsy) and would be happy to email it on to you or your friend. Email me at AT yahoo dot com and I'll send it on. (It's a secondary email for me, so the reply might be slow, but I will reply.)
"My girlfriend's got sodium laureth sulfate hair."
I am a technology coordinator for a special education service agency and so have some experience with assistive technology. Step one is find a local assistive technology (AT) library in your region so you can borrow and try different devices and/or software mentioned here. Most states have these libraries located in various regions. Next, I suggest trying some free software. If you search, I am sure you can find a freeware screen magnifier (I know I have used one with students before). Another suggestion is to modify the normal.dot template in Word or create a Word Template as a shortcut on the desktop (with large icons of course) to a special use template. Use contrasting background/text colors and a large size font. The best color combination depends on the user, but a classic is blue/black background and yellow text. If you are looking at screen readers or other text to speech, I suggest first downloading ReadPlease. This is a freeware reader with a pay version and a pay IE addin available. The website is http://www.readplease.com For the free version, you can copy and paste in text and have it read aloud. Not great, but a good place to start. For a much more expensive investment, though probably worth it if reading is a probblem, is Kurzweil 3000. This program is simply amazing. You use it with a scanner: it can scan in any printed text and then parse out the text to read it aloud. You can zoom in to increase size of images and text. A trial is available on the website at http://www.kurzweil.com Again, your best bet is to work within your school system to access an AT library or find other solutions. If the child is receiving services as an exceptional child (special needs) then Medicare may cover expense of some devices.
"I hereby grant this to the Public Domain"
My suggestion would be to aquire a small LCD or DLP projector. You could use this to project an image of almost any size. It's very easy to take a map and project it onto a wall as a 9ft by 9ft image. These projectors have shrunk considerably over the years some are smaller than a shoe box.
Local Library: These projectors have dropped considerably and you could probably pick one up used for a few hundred dollars.
Most local libraries have these projectors for either guest speakers or to show movies. It is very possible that someone might actually let you borrow one for a few weeks.
Hope this helps.
Use an ordinary printed map as a pattern to cut out country shapes from different textures of material. Use grades of sandpaper vs felt vs corduroy vs velcro vs whatever. Glue textured pieces onto the map. You can use the texture idea for other things than political boundaries. I have seen globes that have embossing for geographical features.
At work we use a digital projection system to project paper documents (in fact anything which is not a transparecy/viewgraph) onto our projection screen in the conference room. With good optics you can zoom in quite a bit (we once blew up a nickel to 6 feet across on the screen) - this would work well for good paper maps or any other document you would want to enlarge and/or zoom in. The size of the wall you project onto is your limit - and your wallet, since you also need a good projector.
This is where the school district may come in. The parents may be able to get them to buy equipment like that - especially since it could be used for general classromoom instruction as well. I realize, this would not help at home ...
Another comment pointed out the child's Individualized Education Plan (IEP), where this would have to be dealt with. A word of caution: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) gives parents of disabled children a valuable tool for working towards a decent public education for their children. However, to get adequate education for your child, you need to become an advocate for that child. That means you need to know the law (including case law up to the Supreme Court, if you are unlucky) and the technical/medical possibilities and ramifications better than any representative of the school district you will face. Remember, you want the school district to provide a service for which they have to pay extra (equipment, personnel, transportation, etc.), and they will want to make it the least expensive for them. You think I exaggerate? My own child is severely hearing impaired, and I will have to sue the school district in order to get adequate service. What was offered us so far is so woefully adequate that I would call this neglect, at best. We live in a huge (read: resource-rich) district, so this could far and take long. Fortunately, your mileage *will* vary greatly. But dealing with IEP's/ ARD's and all the "fun" issues surrounding special education for your child does take a *lot* of work and energy - at a time when you want - and should - devote your time to raising, helping and educating your child.
Parents schould educate themselves well, if they have to take this journey. Start with Wrightslaw, a really excellent resource (www.wrightslaw.com).
Best of luck, I know what it's like!
Do your own thing. And overdo it!
Some URL links to braille maps: http://www.maxiaids.com/store/prodView.asp?idstore =0&idproduct=4590
http://catalog.core.nasa.gov/core.nsf/0/5dafddef0f 52d8d086256a420050cee2?OpenDocument
http://www.lib.msu.edu/coll/main/maps/braille.htm
Casehealth Administrator
As someone who was trained as a teacher (English), I say this: get help from the school. In the United States--- yes, I assumed that's where this student is from--- since public schools are run with public funds they are subject to Section 508. <boring details removed> To sum up, the staff at the school are required to accomodate this student with special instruction, equipment, etc--- bascially whatever is necessary to ensure education in the least restrictive environment.
The staff is probably more than willing to do whatever is necessary. Often, due to budget restrictions, the administration will prevent teachers from suggesting to parents that the necessary paperwork is filed. Once it's filed, they have no way out. A parent can request, and requests can be followed by demands, a 508 evaluation. In this case, it'd be a no-brainer.
Look into what resources the school is required to provide. This shouldn't fall under special education either; that's different. An IEP, as another poster suggested, won't ditract from the student's education though.
Take it however you want, its funny so many different ways...
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
And there goes our education system. Don't learn from those books, just google it, forget it and see what hornypornosite.com has to offer.
No.
"If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer
Before you mod me down, here is what I was thinking:
Get an older 640x480 or better projector with decent lumens and hook it up to your computer for a display. Before you say "His shadow will not allow him to get close to the screen" try this: Instead of the child looking at his maps from in front of the screen, he looks at them from the back-- in other words the projector is on one side of the screen, the child is on another. Use a semi-opaque screen as opposed to a standard screen so that he can see it. For example, a white sheet hung from the ceiling.
The trick is that everything is reversed for the viewer. However, I seem to recall that some projectors have the ability to reverse the image for just this scenario for home theatre buffs. There may actually be software that has this capability.
The beauty of it is that the size of the screen the child would be able to look at is based on the size of the room the projector is in. Regardless, the kid is going to get a much larger screen than 21 inches.
"Look! There! Evil, pure and simple from the Eighth Dimension!" --Buckaroo Banzai
I would mod parent up, but I don't currently have mod points. However, it is the same suggestion I would suggest.
For a family with a near-blind kid, a $1000-2000 projector should be in the budget. (Cheaper than most medical procedures.) It might allow the poor kid to even do other things like explore the Internet. Some projectors are extremely bright and have a very high contrast ratio - very useful for trying to make things easier to see.
--- We need more Ron Paul!
There are a few ways to achieve this with from digital sources including:
NC milling of shapes into plastic, wook etc.
PCB etching techniques.
The use of piezo electric material which changes size/shape when a voltage is applied.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
...not a test of reasoning or judgement either, simply a monkey task...
Speaking for myself and the rest of my fellow simulated monkeys, it is my distinct displeasure to inform you that we resent that remark, deeply. Furthermore, we advise you not to try saying that to our simulated faces, lest you find yours decorated with our simulated 'calling cards', if you discern my inference. And, by the way, the answer is Georgetown, Guyana. (A "monkey task", indeed! A "gibbon task", more like it...)
Let me guess, you're a shititarian.
Is a wonderful option for learning geography. Much better than nearly anything else!
OK, this is kinda OT and probably not PC, but anyway...
Back in my tech support days, I was working at a client's house, showing her some darn thing about Windows. While poring though the Control Panel, she noticed the wheelchair icon.
She figured it out in a couple of seconds, but not before I started busting a gut.
Too late to be known as Bush the First, he's sure to be known as Bush the Worst.
I know people here tend to dislike MS products, but MapPoint is really great. It supports a pretty large font size, and you can easily change map types (terrain, road, etc.).
It's a fairly involved application (I use it for geographic sales data analysis, for example), but with the help of an adult, maybe you might be able to make it work.
It's fairly adjustable, so hopefully you can find a high-contrast set of colors that work for your friend.
If you know someone with an MSDN subscription, have them download it for you so that you can try it out.
Good luck to you.
He is smart, charismatic, and funny--an all around good kid. His father is a saint...
Well, good thing they're such great people, otherwise we wouldn't want to help them.
have the child evaluated at the Family Hope Center
Well, why not try to find maps in Scalable Vector Graphics format? wouldn't that solve resizing problems? just in a 5 minute session on google i found some sample maps for various locales...finding them for the regions you're interested in shouldn't be too hard.
That kid does have a problem if you and/or his parents refer to his vision condition as a "problem." The only problem is a world that is slow to awaken to the understanding that the man-made world can be designed for universal access. Technology only makes it all the more easier. The possibilities open up as soon as you discard the idea that the kid is broken and begin to realize it is the world that is in fact backward. I'm sure you'll get a lot of good suggestions for stopgap measures. That's what the solutions really are. If you're buying special products and technology to substitute for tools used by sighted people, it's a stopgap product.
One day we won't have to buy "special" products or "special" software to do and access the visual world. One day manufacturers will approach the world with all of man's senses considered. Your PDA will have a speech option by default. The web sites you visit will be accessible by design. People won't see visually-impaired people as less than themselves. Teach that kid that he can do anything, and expect him to wow you.
In one way they're lucky they can't see slashdot ASCII troll artwork.
If you think
-Ian
Bookshare.org
That would really, really hurt with one of these
this is where some SVG maps would be excellent i think. or would this not work? you could essentially blow it up and never lose quality... granted there's probably a point where you zoom in so much that you just get one single color and nothing else.. i guess i don't totally understand how blind, blind is... i have no real experience with this but.. i know there is a mapping solution out there that uses something like SVG .. vector graphics instead of your typical raster drawing. i forget the name of it..
Kyle
http://www.unlogikal.net/
Find the largest city on the Mississippi River and what is the Capitol of the South American country to the west of Surinam are hard for the child as his view of the map is very constrained.
... new orleans ...). It takes longer, but you learn a lot more on the way, and learning is the point in the first place, not just answering the given question.
It's possible to help TOO much. These questions CAN be answered WITHOUT a map. For every handicap there are MANY tricks to be learned to offset/get around/compensate for the handicap. At sixth grade, he has years to go in even discovering them all.
For example: biggest city on a river? Look up a description of the river. Get a List/Table of the largest cities in the location of the river. Confirm by looking up (books or google) word descriptions of the locations of possible cities (new york, los angeles, chicago,
Use a flatbed scanner set to high resolution, Scan a good map for your purpose. This will make a huge image (i.e. 300 Meg), and may take a while to scan. Make sure your computer has a nice chunk of ram. This should solve your pixelation problems.
Keep an eye on the SVG format, it's scalable vector format. It cant pixelate, because it isnt a use raster graphics. the homepage is here http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/
Best of luck, however you manage it,
Storm
The technology exists to convert printed images to a tactile format. You print the image onto special paper and then run it through a heat machine similar to a laminator. The heat causes the paper to puff up everywhere black toner is present (Google for 'tactile image enhancer' for the geeky details of why it works).
At any rate, you end up with a map that the child can feel.
Repro-Tronics is one company that can provide you with the supplies you need. We've used this technology with low-vision clients and it works well. Contact any of the Vision Services staff at The STAR Center for more information about this technology. They may also have other suggestions for you.
Having working in the printing industry for years now, I really suggest looking for lineart vector based images such as the simple, cartoon like clip art that comes with Microsoft Office. It can be resized to any demension without pixelization and just about anyone has access to it. In combination with the expansive online catalog of free images MS has to offer, there are a plethora of maps availible. At work we have Art Explosion 750,000, a 48 cd set full of vector images, as does Kinkos. Having worked there a few years ago, I busted out my old pricing guide and can tell you that the price of three image pieces from their clipart library is $4.95, plus $1.50 each additional, and a 36x48 black and white print will cost only $6 ea. Tell the manager what they are for and most likly you'll get a generous discount.
A similar problem exists here. Colorful, highly detailed maps on the computer are no use to the blind. What the father should do is to buy a giant relief map so the child can use this sense of touch to get a feel for each countries terrain.
As for the political boundaries, the father should use some glue to trace, with thick lines of glue, the outline of each country. The glue will solidify and will have a different texture from the relief in the relief map, and the kid can simply run his fingers along the thick glue-based traces. Here, glue means "Elmer's glue". It solidifies into a somewhat translucent rubbery consistency.
As a side note, the plight of this poor child is yet another example that a loving god simply does not exist. If god does exist, then it certainly cannot be loving. What loving god would allow such a tragedy to befall an innocent child? Remember the exodus story where god murders the first born sons (including babies) of the Egyptians? Get my drift?
scaleable vector graphics offer a great opportunity to scale maps without pixellation. font sizes can also be increased. try: http://www.carto.net
I work with this type of software all the time. There are a few products out there that should fill your needs.
Since you mentioned he is not totally blind he does not need a screen reader so I will stay away from those. What you need to look at are screen magnifiers. Most will magnify the screen greatly without to much distortion of the text/graphics.
The best Magnifier (IMO) on the market right now is called Zoomtext made by Ai Squared http://www.aisquared.com/index.htm. You can download the trial version from thier website. The current version is 8.1. Win XP has a built in magnifier but its not worth the hassle.
Its not exactly a cheap program but most of the time you can get help on the cost through the school boards.
Keep
To the person asking the original question: I would try going to people who deal with maps:
- MapQuest + all other companies that provide mapping services online
- National Geographic Society
- Maybe GPS companies (e.g. Garmin) can help
Maybe you can even contact publishers of atlases, they may have some hi-res maps that would help this child.
Simpy
I agree that Google helps a lot, but IF the answer is not in Google you become helpless, unless you know how to read maps. So if they are teaching how to use maps, do you really think the Google is the answer?
The OGC has been developing ways of sharing and displaying geographic data for some time now. This allows (at its simplest) a user to request an image of a set of vector data (see demo ). If you need a bigger image change the size params. There are many useful WMS available for the US and some for the rest of the world where we don't give data away as freely. It should be well within any slashdotter's ability to write a modfied html form to grab a bigger map. There are also java clients available for free.
To answer questions about where places are check out the alexandria digital library gazeteer again there is a simple html interface or a java client is available.
Finally if you need more maps than are available its pretty easy to down load a server that can be used to publish date using the same protocols (for example the US statistical atlas files).
These ideas will obviously only help users with some sight. How to provide map data to the blind is a much harder problem which geographers are still working on.
Ian, (Computational Geographer)
Don't make efforts solely to improve the child's environment. You must also help improve his sight, which is possible in spite of what top-notch doctors already told him.
. com
:( Contact those guys directly and make yor opinion later.
I also had/have problems with sight but I managed to make significant improvements(still working). The contacts I am offering you below, are NOT advertising, but my effort to make this child happy. The contacts are here:
Norbekov Institute
113 McHenry Rd. #242
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089,
USA
1-86-NORBEKOV
1-866-672-3568
info@norbekovusa
You will try to look at the site first, but that one is very lame.
I hope this will be of help to the child.
Alex
PS: I know many of you(with mod points) will consider this post off-topic and unworthy, and will give a corresponding score. But I bet you don't have kids at home having the same problems.
You want vector maps? ARC/INFO from ESRI is a vector mapping GIS, and they have data for the whole world. You can also get data on a country-by-country basis from Penn. State University.
A company here in Christchurch, New Zealand specialises in products for people who are blind or visually impaired. They're called Pulse Data International (www.pulsedata.com) and they might be worth a look. For the aforementioned student one of their video magnifiers might be good.
The Quantum Technologies Nomad Mentor. This should be able to help you...
Basically, Quantum Technology products are touch sensitive tablets that connect to a computer and allow a person with vision problems to scan a raised map or a document with braille information, press an area and obtain information.
It is (was) very innovative, in the sense that it provided up to three levels of information, a rather good speech synthesis, and the documents could be done quickly and cheaply, using the utilities provided with the Nomad.
Disclaimer: I worked as a volunteer a long time ago (1992-1993 -- more than 10 years ago!), to translate some of the software into european languages... their software probably has changed since then.
Hope this helps!
The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
Try to print diagrams with a Solid Ink color printer Such as the Xerox Phasers You can probably get a refurbished one at a good price the 840, 850, and 860 models come with free black ink for the life of the printer (So you don't need to go on Ebay and Buy Free Black ink for $10 and think you got a good deal (Man Stupid people)). The reason is that Solid Ink printers natually print with little bumps on the printer. So say you do the map using 4 Different patterns Horizontal Stripes, Vertical Strips, Just white Paper and solid fill. That way the child can actually feel the print on the paper and get an idea where things are.
This is a Mid Level Tech solution that is not going crazy plus the family gets a good quality printer.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
I know, they're old and a wee bit commercial, but they've always been slanted towards education... If they haven't considered your particular problem yet, they should... I've already dropped 'em a line - and included a tack on the hearing impaired (my child) as well, and found their response prompt and useful.
Each student learns differently. This particular student has a visual implement. Other students have other specific learning disabilities.
Perhaps the way to resolve this problem is to talk with the teacher about an alternative form of assignment. The purpose of map finding activities isn't to study maps and memorize locations, it is to expand your view on the world by realizing the physical attributes that make different places unique.
A good teacher will be able to accommodate for many different learning disabilities and ask for help from colleagues when a new learning challenge is encountered. Perhaps the solution doesn't lye in high-res maps, but rather a different strategy in teaching and learning? However, this post is just an alternative view. I would defiantly try an LCD projector. Many companies may even donate a used one.
rejected (19) accepted (0)
Is there a psychological term related to getting your stories rejected on slashdot?
My best friend is near blind. He is light sensitive, colorblind, and glasses cannot correct his vision anywhere near completely.
This seems simple, but this is the solution he uses. He has several magnifying glasses and small one-piece binoculars. Some of them are very small and descreet and only magnify 2-4x. He has one much larger one (about the size of my hand streched out) that magnifies 4-6x, IIRC.
He doesn't really like screen readers. He has to get about an inch from the screen, but he can read it. He uses the windows inverted large cursors (the ones that are the colors of your screen inverted. Black on white, white on black.) For some reason, he can always see his mouse better than the englarged black cursors.
He's also found opera and firefox to be saints--especially opera. Its author css mode allows him to apply styles he wants to sites to make them easier to read. Firefox's webdeveloper extension allows him to edit css (he's a bit of a geek so he does this) and disable css when necessary. If you guys want a reason to make a CSS/xhtml based site (no table layouts), there is one right there. For kids that need to disable CSS so they can fucking read.
He has the large-print books from his school, but usually only has them for math/science classes because the exponents kill him.
As for chalk/whiteboards, he always requests that the teacher use blue/black pen while writing on the board. Using his one-eye binoculars (uninocular?), he can usually read the board.
When a teacher uses an overhead, he does one of several things. Because of the caliber classes he is in, most of his classes are just notes-notes-notes-study-study-study. When a teacher whips out the overhead for notes, he asks for a handwritten copy of them. Sometimes this means getting the teacher's copies. Sometimes it means photocopies of the transparencies. Sometimes it means handing him the transparency and a white piece of paper. Normally he can read transparencies in his hand without any sort of magnification device.
As for maps, I've seen him enlarge a map or two, but he usually just uses his magnification devices.
Find out what the school can do to help him.
Hi, I'm in college now, and I'm mostly blind. In high school, with maps, I either used a CCTV (the overhead visualiser?) or display sized maps, that a teacher would use at the front of the class room. Another good solution Tech wise, would be to scan a regular book size map in and use it as a PDF and be able to maginify it as much as you want. Unfortuanatly I'm not sure to the extent, but a solution for extreme situations such as being fully blind would be to print out the map, take a thing of elmers glue or puffy paint, and outline the maps, and have the text written in braille. Reading wise of just text, there are always text to speech engines for computers, the microsoft of the blind would be Freedom Scientific they make the application called JAWS currently at relese 5.1. Another good TTS would be WIndows Eyes by GW Micro currently at 4.5sp3. Magnification on a computer would be best done by Zoom Text, made by AI Squared. http://www.freedomscientific.com/ http://www.gwmicro.com/ http://www.aisquared.com/ Hope what I have said, was helpful and not to much best of luck to your son
If the student is so nearly blind that 99% of maps are useless to him, then wouldn't he get the most benefit from learning alternative methods for finding the same information?
Teahching someone who cannot physically use a map how to use a map seems like a waste of his time.
It seems to me that the child should be able to connect with other folks who have the same problem and do what they do.
Have you considered contacting Perkin's School for the Blind.
Doesn't government pretty much cover all of this for blind people?
If you want a large image from a computer, buy a projector.
If you want to teach geography, what about one of those talking globes? Or how about a jigsaw puzzle. Or, take maps of the world and cut the countrys along the edges and let the child feel the relative sizes.
Ten years ago I worked with a blind software engineer. He could only read letters that were very large. He came with his own very large monitor and special equipment.
Get a very big TV, a video camera, and point the camera at the computer and zoom in. You can get all of this on the cheep.
Sorry about the boy. Does he have a good ear for music?
-m
A teacher can not be available for a child 24/7.
As a child I had a map fixation. I learned geography by playing with maps! I think that any inquisative child would want to be able to use maps without the assistance of a teacher.
And so I think the answer to our posting is more on topic if the answer is about computing that lets the child learn/play with maps on her own.
That being the case there maybe is not a thing to tell the child's teacher.
There are machines available for prototyping for machine design that produce shapes based upon a model. The model is, of course, represented as a shape in the computer memory.
If such a device were hooked to a map program the shapes of contries could be 'printed out' for the child as 3D composite material.
The child could then construct a puzzle which would be a map of the region that he or she is studying at the time.
This device could also make other shapes for the child too.
If he's really bright, just turn on the braille terminal (or Morse key/beep language support) for Linux, and he will do as well as the rest of us. At least show him that it is possible. And that he need not be considered to be handicapped. There may be other tools, but 'empowering him to get on with stuff as well as me' would be what I'd want as a right if I had something like that. Someone who would treat it as a minor obstacle, easily overcome.
Has he tried using the maps made for color-blind students? I would think that the black and white maps would increase the contrast levels and possibly help him see it a little more clearly.
That help may be a technical device, like a magnifier, a screen reader, a braille printer, a blindman's stick, an extra large book, a tactile map or globe, or some other "gadget". But as some others have already stated, this may lead to isolation. I don't want to say anything bad about this stuff, I'm glad it exists. But there is another way to help:
TEAMWORK, especially of the students.
It means more work for the teacher: He has to develop tasks that can be solved best by a team, not by a lone warrior. He may have to fight with authorities to be allowed to go an unusual way. He may have to fight with students that want their old multiple choice tests back. But it helps the students learning to work as a team of specialists. I'm sure this helps all students more to get through their lives than to know the Capitol of the South American country to the west of Surinam.
I prefer to work as a lone warrior, but I need my team to compensate my deficits (handling clients, getting the newest rumors, handling company politics). I work this way since five years, I really like it, and I produce excellent results. I learned teamwork at university, way too late. During the last five years, there were some short experiences when the whole team worked like a single mind distributed over a few bodies to avert a huge damage, and these moments were the best. Knowing the Capitol of the South American country to the west of Surinam wouldn't have helped a little bit, but knowing how to work as a team did.
By the way: I know my (handicapped) wife from my alternative civilian service in a sheltered workshop, and I know the problems with the integration of handicapped people. It is a permanent fight and requires a lot of energy from all people involved, especially the parents.
Tux2000
Denken hilft.
(It was the fortune on the bottom of this page. Is it really random?)
As the father of an 11-yr-old totally blind boy, I'd strongly recommend having your co-worker get in touch with the NFB. There's probably a local chapter nearby. Getting to know competent blind adults should be a very enlightening and positive experience for your co-worker and his son.
I'd also say that although learning braille may seem like it is emphasizing the fact that his son is different, in the long run being unable to access information will make him more different. Being able to read what others are reading, even if it's in a different medium, may make him fit in more, not less.
FWIW, my son loves his braille edition of PC World. So now he's different because he's a geek...
Not only MUDs but also future MMORPG games from The WorldForge Project where people will be able to play with each other on-line on the same servers and in the same worlds using different clients, including 2D isometric, full-3D OpenGL and entirely text-based ones. Not to even mention that thanks to Emacspeak a blind person can play even Tetris. This is not off-topic at all.
And to demonstrate how interfaces such as Emacspeak are impressive and important not only for blind users but for the general public, I am planning to develop a fully audio-desktop based car audio system, most probably using Oralux GNU/Linux, a Knoppix customization with Emacspeak user interface, with emphasis on making as much information and entertainment (music, games, WWW, etc.) accessible to the driver with absolutely no display distracting from the road, which in my opinion is the very direction every car manufacturer should follow to make cars safer. Projects like Emacspeak, BLinux and Oralux freely available make such a system trivial to build using an old laptop hidden somewhere under the seat, some cables and a simple input system, with almost no custom software needed.
I have been thinking about it since I first saw the most stupid idea in the history of car audio systems, i.e. text display of local traffic-related messages in real time. I thought that it is utterly moronic, since such messages should be spoken and in fact even the number of CD track I change to should be spoken instead of displayed in a place I have to look instead of focusing on the road. Hence the idea of full audio car audio system.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
In another post I have mentioned The WorldForge Project: "Our vision is to foster an independent community in which many free games can develop and evolve with unique roleplaying-oriented worlds and rules, running on a wide selection of server and client implementations with a standard networking protocol tying everything together. The WorldForge project hasn't produced any complete, playable games. We have games that are under development, but we're still working on developing the underlying tools."
Future WorldForge games will be playable using many different clients, including graphical and entirely text-based ones, ideal for Emacspeak. Lots of WorldForge software is written in Python under Linux, which seems to be a perfect project for your son to learn advanced programming in the future and something interesting to know about today. I wish him the best luck.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
> Take it however you want, its funny so many different ways... Could you please enumerate at least *one* way? Thanks.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
Sorry, I hit Submit before I finished writing my post...
Could you please enumerate at least one way? Because I think it was not only not funny at all, but actually quite distasteful. I don't think that blindness is a good subject to joke about. Please think about it next time. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."