AT MODULE 1

In my Google Reader, I subscribe to a blog named Library Stuff. I thought it was very interesting that I read this post right before I started to explore The National Federation of the Blind’s website. The following article is about a school that will not invest in Kindle until it develops a way that visually impaired students can easily turn the “read aloud” function on.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TEC_KINDLE_BLIND?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

After reading the article I thought, wow, here I figured that Kindle would be the greatest new invention for the visually impaired. I never thought of how they would turn it on. I guess that goes to show how much I take my vision for granted. I would have thought that the designers of Kindle would have consulted a visually impaired person to make sure it was fully functional for them.

I found an awesome website called http://www.mathsisfun.com/braille-translation.html. It translates texts and numbers into Braille. You can then print it out. The site suggests putting little drops of glue on the dots so they can be felt. I think that I would get some of those raised dot candies. I think this is a great alternative to buying a brailler (which is like $970.00 for an electric one) because it is free. Of course, when I am a librarian, I will try and convince the powers that be that this would be a good investment. I am not a teacher; however, I would think one of the best ways to teach your students Braille would be to bring in a blind person or ask a blind student to show them how it is done.

The “link for teachers” at the National Center for Learning Disabilities had a lot of information. I didn’t see specific lesson plans the address the different issues that students with LD have. That would be nice. I am not a teacher, but I do know many people that have learning disabilities (my brother for one). My neighbors are Mexican and their youngest son has trouble with the English language (not speaking it, but learning the grammar rules). If I were a teacher, I would keep these types of learners in mind and try and modify my lessons to include and benefit them as well. As they said on the website (and this is important to remember) many people with learning disabilities are very intelligent, they just process information differently.