From: Claudia (for Teacher2Teacher Service)
Date: Sep 22, 1998 at 20:44:36
Subject: Re: Blind student in algebra

I have worked with students who were, legally blind. One very helpful thing
would be to have access to video-tapes, for the sound. Once I had to teach a
tele-learning class, where the only thing the students could have was my
voice. I learned to describe things in a way I never thought possible. If you
were able to do this as part of your instruction, this would be very
beneficial to the student. Or, if you could get a student to "buddy up" with
the blind student, to do some verbal explanations.

This was the easiest thing we could do for the students I had in my classes,
since brail versions of texts, etc. were not an expense any of us could
afford. Since mathematics is an experience of the mind anyway, it should be
doable for the student. The student probably has a way of creating "pictures"
in his/her mind already. You just have to figure out which descriptors to use
to promote understanding in pre-algebra and algebra.

Good luck! I had a blind mathematics professor. He was pretty amazing in all
that he could do.

 -Claudia, for the Teacher2Teacher service

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