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Creating Opportunities in Astronomy: Communication for People who are Blind or Visually Impaired by Noreen Grice. Tactile Astronomy Books by Noreen Grice. According to the American Foundation for the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind, there are
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Creating Opportunities in Astronomy:Communication for People who are Blind or Visually Impairedby Noreen Grice
According to the American Foundation for the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind, there are approximately 10 million blind and visually impaired people in the United States.
In the United States, only 45% of students with severe visual impairment or blindness complete high school compared with 80% of their sighted peers.
In the United States, approximately 32% of legally blind working-age Americans are employed.
Ways teachers can make topics accessible to students with visual impairments:
Ways teachers can make topics accessible to students with visual impairments: 1. Listening
Ways teachers can make topics accessible to students with visual impairments: Listening Seeing (with eyes, hands, and mind)
Ways teachers can make topics accessible to students with visual impairments: Listening Seeing (with eyes, hands, and mind) Doing
Ways teachers can make topics accessible to students with visual impairments: Listening Seeing (with eyes, hands, and mind) Doing Discussing (speaking pictorially)
Ways teachers can make topics accessible to students with visual impairments: Listening Seeing (with eyes, hands, and mind) Doing Discussing Touching (tactile graphics and models)
Here are some strategies to make educational materials accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired:
Quick Draw Paper - American Printing House for the Blind (water color markers on sponge-like paper so the paper “puffs”)
Use puff (fabric) paint to draw pictures. (inexpensive but takes 1 - 2 days to dry)
Puff paint applied to a tent to make a tactile planetarium
Combine foam and fuzzy pipe cleaners to make a 3-dimensional picture
Hula Hoop model helps explain when and why eclipses occur.
These tactile processes require special equipment:
Talking Tactile Tablet (connected to PC) is an audio haptic method (combining touch and sound) for visually impaired learners to access maps, charts and diagrams.
Rosemary Naylor in the UK has worked with the Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) to produce 20 overlays called “Unseen Universe” for the Talking Tactile Tablet with funding from the Science & Technology Facilities Council.
If you would like learn more about the “Unseen Universe” overlays for the Talking Tactile Tablet, please see Paul Haley (Director of the SHARE Initiative in the UK) and his poster paper at this conference.
With a Swell Form machine, you can make tactile graphics by hand or computer
Sample images made with a Swell Form machine and Swell Form paper.
Star party set-up: Swell Form Machine, Laptop, copier/printer
National Federation of the Blind Circle of Life Academy Star Party - 2006
National Federation of the Blind 2007 Youth Slam Astronomy Track
We all have special needs…when you make materials accessible for one group of people, you are making materials accessible for many people with different learning styles.