
Fred’s Head, offered by the American Printing House for the Blind, contains tips, techniques, tutorials, in-depth articles, and resources for and by blind or visually impaired people. Our blog is named after the legendary Fred Gissoni, renowned for answering a seemingly infinite variety of questions on every aspect of blindness.
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Thursday, September 27, 2012
What happened to the recorded World Book Encyclopedia?
Physical Blindness VS Mental Blindness
My maternal grandfather became legally blind when I was young (3) years old only to become totally blind a few years later. I watched him become completely proficient over the years. He went from bumping into objects, feeling wall-to-wall to find his way around to making his own meals and going on vacations out of the country. Although he may have had feelings about never being able to see his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and all those important images in life, he never once complained. He never once gave up on himself. Up until the day he returned to the essence, he was one of the strongest members of my family. If you looked up perseverance in the dictionary, you would surely find his face next to it.
We all depend on our power senses - sight, hear, taste, touch, smell. Each one serves a particular purpose and when we end up losing one of these senses, we become forced to replace that sense in order to elevate. Case in point - my grandfather lost his vision in not only one, but both eyes. As a result, he was forced to 'focus' more on the remaining senses. Using touch to feel where utensils were in the kitchen and he would remember perfume scents to determine which female family member was near him. If you ever have the privilege of being around someone who is visually impaired you will see how perceptive they are. You could never sneak up on him, he could hear a mile away. So, although he suffered from physical blindness, he found ways to better his condition because he had the mind-set to move on. He knew within himself that he still wanted to travel and live out his dreams to the fullest. But, what happens when a person is lacking 'knowledge of self'? My grandfather clinically was diagnosed as someone with "NLP" or "no light perception", so no matter how he tried, he could not see any form of light. In regards to someone who is lacking 'knowledge of self' they also suffer from "NLP". They have not discovered how to find the light in themselves therefore it is a foreign thought to them.
"He keeps them blind to themselves"
When an individual is 'physically blind' they devise ways to adapt to their surroundings. Now when a person is 'mentally blind' they allow other people of authority around them to construct ways for them to live because they do not see the importance in self. They trust everyone else before themselves. Think of terms that deal with the word "blind". There's "blind date"and "blind spot". A blind date can and has led to a person being completely disappointed. A blind spot can be the reason why you just got into a car accident. So the term 'blind' in itself means "a lack of knowledge'. Why would someone choose to KEEP you blind? Obviously they want to hide a filthy affair of theirs. Why would they choose to KEEP you blind to YOURSELF? Well, a person that does not know their own strengths becomes the perfect pawn in another's game. People will plant fear in you. Why? Because you fear what you cannot physically SEE! "See" is the understanding degree in the Supreme Alphabet. We cannot begin to understand our value if we are busy looking at everyone else around us. We must be perceptive in terms of knowing what we want and what we need in life. We don't want someone else to be able to say they can master us because we are deaf, dumb and what? Blind. We should not be speaking anyone else's language UNLESS it is the Universal greeting of Peace.
A visually impaired man or woman understands that there are currents real cold and warm and some swift and changeable, meaning they can come up on anything. They can encounter a street curb, someone riding too fast on a bicycle and can hit them, a street light not working properly. Anything goes. I remember a waiter in a restaurant tried to cheat my grandfather out of money but unknown to the waiter, my grandfather folded certain $10 bills one way and $20 bills another and so on, so he called the waiter on it! So although he couldn't see, he developed a way to stay swift regardless to whom or what. He didn't take what they waiter said on face value. The waiter was on some "devilishment type (mental)ity", so if you ask me do I hope to see the Gods take the Devil into heel in the very near future, I say INDEED! Its already in the making.
Needless to say, lose no time searching for a way to find your true self. It goes beyond knowing what your favorite food is or favorite color, but really getting to the essence of what you are about, therefore no one else can define YOU by making you blind to yourself and more importantly no one can trick you.
Blindspace: an Accessible Social Network
Friday, September 21, 2012
Test Ready: Plus Reading Book 4 through 6
Test Ready: Plus Reading now includes books 4, 5, and 6!
Book 4: Student Book
Book 4: Teacher's Guide
Book 5: Student Book
Book 5: Teacher's Guide
Book 6: Student Book
Book 6: Teacher's Guide
This test prep series offers practice for today's standards-based assessments for grade levels 3 through 12.
Test Ready®: Plus Reading provides preparation and review, in as little as two weeks before testing day. It also provides a program of instruction and remediation.
Students practice test-taking skills for:
- Recalling information
- Constructing meaning
- Evaluating literary forms
- Interpreting fact & opinion
- Evaluating & extending meaning
In just 14 days, students can be test ready with:
- Timed pretest to diagnose skills gaps
- Standards-based skill-specific lessons
- Timed mixed-practice post-test, mirroring pretest to show growth
Accessible Formats
The APH Teacher Guides and Student Books are available in several accessible formats, so that the entire class can work on math together in a multi-media approach. The large print and braille editions include a CD with an .html file and a Digital Talking Book (DTB) file with built-in player.The large print student edition includes a specially formatted large print answer document. However, it is recommended that each student have a book in his or her preferred reading medium, and should feel free to mark answers in the test books. Used this way, the student books become consumable items.
Note: Copies of regular print Teacher Guides and Student Books are available from the publisher at: Curriculum Associates, Inc., 153 Rangeway Road, North Billerica, MA 01862-0901, 800-225-0248, Fax: 800-366-1158, www.curriculumassociates.com.
1839 Frankfort Avenue
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6085
Louisville, Kentucky 40206-0085
Toll Free: 800-223-1839
Phone: 502-895-2405
Fax: 502-899-2274
E-mail: info@aph.org
Web site: http://www.aph.org
APH Shopping Home: http://shop.aph.org
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Getting To Know You: a Curriculum for Social Skills/Ability Awareness
- Facial Recognition Cards
- Go Fish Cards
- Bingo Cards with Tokens
- Through Grandpa's Eyes in print and braille
- Three Low-Vision Simulators: 20/200, 20/400, Tunnel Vision
- Adhesive Picture Labels
- Airline-Style Sleep Mask
- Getting to Know You Guidebook
- APH Innovations Tote Bag
Friday, September 14, 2012
How Can Distance Learning Be Made More Accessible?
I'd like to answer the following frequently asked question:
How can distance learning be made more accessible to blind and visually impaired people?
Many blind students today continue to face huge barriers when it comes to being able to take advantage of distance learning classes. Many professors are often at a loss as to how to make their courses more accessible to blind and partially sighted students. Believe it or not, there is a happy medium and I'd like to offer some suggestions.
The first thing to remember is that accessibility should be viewed through the eyes and ears of the student and not through those of the professor. Each individual has a unique or specific need and no two students are alike. A good start would be as follows:
1. Make sure that your student can access web content on your website independently. That is, that the student does not have to depend on sighted assistance to navigate the website.
2. Make sure that your forms are accessible. That is, that the student can read it with their access technology; screen readers and screen magnifiers and they would need to ask for sighted assistance to do so.
3. Make sure that your student can use these forms to do such things as request and search for information, and complete tasks without having to ask for sighted assistance.
4. Your student should be able to obtain information in alternate formats; braille, large print, in MSword, HTML, RTF, and TXT versions of files.
5. Documents and files should be made available on CDs and/or flash drives.
6. Your student should be able to complete online exams without having to seek sighted assistance and they should be given additional time to do so if they require it.
7. If the student is required to write their exams at a center, the center should be equipped with the required access technology. That is, whichever hardware the student uses along with the appropriate software.
8. Videos should contain adequate audio description.
I hope that these points can help to give you a good start. It is not as daunting as you may think.
I'm Donna J. Jodhan. If you'd like to learn more about me, then you can visit some of my blog spots at:
(Donna Jodhan! Advocating accessibility for all)
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com
(Weekly Saturday postings on issues of accessibility)
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog
(Weekly features on how to increase your success with your business ventures) http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Organizing Jewelry
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Resources
Archives
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▼
2012
(175)
-
▼
September
(14)
- What happened to the recorded World Book Encyclope...
- Physical Blindness VS Mental Blindness
- Blindspace: an Accessible Social Network
- Test Ready: Plus Reading Book 4 through 6
- Getting To Know You: a Curriculum for Social Skill...
- How Can Distance Learning Be Made More Accessible?...
- Organizing Jewelry
- Listening to Astronomy
- Three Cheers for Holly!!
- The Influence of Parents
- eBookMobi app for reading and downloading ebooks
- Tactile Town: Part Two
- APH’s Tactile Town Teaching Tool for Tomorrow’s Tr...
- Announcing the Book Port DT!
-
▼
September
(14)

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