Reaching Out Newsletter #73
January 2012
TREKS
by Paul Olson
TREKS is a new educational product that I developed 5 years ago and is now available through the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). It is a game designed specifically for students who are visually impaired, but I hope it will be enjoyed by people of all ages with or without a visual impairment. The board and game pieces are highly tactual which makes it especially meaningful for people who are blind. It also features high contrast colors for those with low vision. I designed this game to help students better understand and use compass directions. In 2007, I began using it with students who attend short-term programs at North Dakota Vision Services/School for the Blind. I approached APH with the game and they decided to develop and distribute the game to schools and students across the country. After a delay of more than a year due to a fire in a production facility that halted production of a number of APH products, the game is now available nationwide!
Due to the educational value of this product, it is provided at no cost to eligible students through what are called “Quota Funds.” I am very excited that so many students will now have the opportunity to learn with this game.
If you would like to learn more about APH, please visit www.aph.org.
TREKS: The Game of Compass Directions
TREKS is designed to be challenging, educational, and enjoyable. Like a good walk outdoors, it is full of variety. You can change the game to make the play simpler or add rules to make it more complex. And, as each game progresses, your strategy for winning can change!
The goal of the game is to be the first player to move all five of your pieces (treksters) from your home row into the opponent’s home row.
After each move, you must announce the direction and the number of spaces moved by each trekster. For example: I moved this trekster four spaces east and this trekster one to the south. If you don’t make this announcement, your opponent may undo your move!
Included with the kit are print/braille overlays and pieces to use for varying the basic game. They are:
- an overlay with the four cardinal directions labeled and another with only a north arrow.
- an overlay with numbered and named streets. With this game variation, you are required to name the starting and ending intersection for each move rather than the compass direction, as in: Moving from Third and Bay to Third and Fox or Moving from Second and Hart to Seventh and Hart.
- an overlay with the cardinal compass directions at the four corners rather than on the sides of the square. By keeping the movement rules the same, you force all moves to be in secondary compass directions with this overlay. For example, if the north arrow is placed in the upper left corner of the board (from your vantage point), moving a trekster straight ahead is a move to the northeast; moving to the left is a move northwest; and so on.
- buttons that serve as barriers to navigate around.
- two blank overlays (one that is open in the middle, one with two intersecting bands inside) to which you can add braille stickers to represent street names, street numbers, blocks, landmarks, lines of latitude/longitude, and so on.
TREKS is suitable for ages 8 and up. Along with the pieces mentioned above, the kit includes a game board, treksters that are tactually and visually contrasting, a rules and variations booklet in large print and braille, and a set of tactile dice.
Clippings from Carmen
by Carmen Grove Suminski, Superintendent, NDVS/SB & NDSD/RCDHH
Happy New Year!
I am hopeful that your holiday was filled with fun, family, and friends!
Teams at NDVS/SB are working on selfstudy in preparation for the onsite visit of the National Accreditation Council for Agencies of the Blind and Visually Impaired. The team is scheduled to be in Grand Forks on April 15-18, 2012, and our goal is to acquire reaccreditation.
The process enables us to evaluate our services and maintain accountability. As part of our preparation for the NAC reaccreditation, we updated our Strategic Plan with the facilitation of Dr. Roger Worner. Thank you, Roger, for working with us!
Congratulations to Paul Olson, NDVS/SB Director of Education, whose Treks educational and concept development game is now available with Quota Funds through APH, and was on display at the APH annual meeting in October, 2011.
A second highlight of this annual meeting was to have Dietrich Schlichtmann (student from Hillsboro) and his mother in attendance. Dietrich was the national winner in the Grades 4, 5, and 6 Division of the APH ArtInsights Program with his clay sculpture of “The Shoe.” He was honored at the “Meet the Artists” Art Show and the annual ArtInsights banquet. I was very excited to have a first time North Dakota winner and be able to introduce Dietrich and his mother to many of my colleagues. Mary Verlinde, an Outreach Teacher in Bismarck, and I are so proud of Dietrich and were happy to be able to share in the memorable event. Congratulations, Dietrich!
I continue my dual role at NDVS/SB and ND School for the Deaf/Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (NDSD/RCDHH). The School for the Deaf has a new name and is in the process of implementing a Future Services Plan. I am so thankful to be living on the campus at NDSD/RCDHH in Devils Lake and supported by such great students and committed professionals.
My thanks and New Year’s wishes to the numerous related entities who partner with NDVS/SB.
Please feel free to contact me
csuminsk@nd.gov at
701-665-4410 (NDSD/RCDHH) and
701-795-2708 (NDVS/SB)
Warmest Wishes for 2012,
Carmen Grove Suminski
NDVS/SB is Proud to Announce its first ever
Braille Music Institute
July 9th-13th, 2012
This past year, North Dakota Vision Services/School for the Blind was awarded a Discretionary Grant by the Department of Public Instruction. Proposed in the winning grant was an NDVS/SB Summer Music Institute that would serve to meet student needs for intensive exposure to the braille music code and low vision adaptations for use in their general choir and band classes. Over four days in July, eligible students will be exposed to teaching from Natasha Thomas, NDVS/SB Braille Music Instructor/Music Therapist, and Bill McCann, creator and co-founder of the braille music software Goodfeel. Classes will be targeted exclusively towards the learning of braille music, the differences between print and braille music, and the adapted resources available to music students who are visually impaired. This camp will also provide students with behind-the-scenes experience during local musical productions.
To inquire on student eligibility, please contact the NDVS/SB Music Program at (701) 795-2723 or natthom@nd.gov.
Curl up with a good large print book
Use your ND School for the Blind Library card to check out large print titles for winter reading. Qualified patrons can have library materials shipped directly to and from their home at no charge. You can see what we have to offer online using the Online Dakota Information Network at http://www.odin.nodak.edu/. Using “thorndike” as a search in “All Fields” will provide a list of large print titles available. You may also call 1-800-421-1181 and ask for the library. We will be happy to help you with your search!
NEWS ABOUT the National Consortium for Deaf-Blindness
As we move into 2012, the ND Dual Sensory Project wanted to update you on the plans for the National Consortium for Deaf-Blindness (NCDB). NCDB was awarded two additional years of funding that, while building on work done over the past five years, includes OSEP directed priorities that refocus some of what they will do.
All of the work in this next funding cycle will target activities designed to increase collaboration among state projects and with key partners at local, state and national levels. They will work to develop new infrastructures for the delivery of technical assistance that serve as models for future applications and strengthen capacities to work together, thus building the capacity of the national Deaf-Blind Project network.
NCDB 2.0
What’s in a name? As they begin new work, it’s important for all of the partners to understand what NCDB is funded to accomplish. Parts of their work will look familiar while other parts will be “new.” They are going to use the acronym NCDB 2.0 to better illustrate the point that while they are still NCDB and honored to continue as the national center on deaf-blindness, they will also be engaging in
new work that will have them operate a little differently.
Initiatives
Some of the work over the coming two years will look familiar (including the Deaf-Blind Child Count, and the NCDB website and other information services), while other parts will be “new.” The new work will initially target the technical assistance and dissemination efforts through four initiatives. Each initiative is designed to address a specific area of content and, while work in each initiative looks different, they believe that the overall effort will create great opportunities for coordinating technical assistance.
Early Identification
The Early Identification Initiative will work to strengthen the network’s efforts to identify infants and toddlers with combined vision and hearing loss. They will be working with state projects to collect, organize and make available tools and resources. They are completing a model framework that can be used in identification efforts, and plan to connect those states that share an interest in this area through collaboration and web-based dialogue.
Family Engagement
The Family Engagement initiative will use a systemic approach to build relationships and collaborative partnerships with and among family members of individuals who are deaf-blind at national, state and local levels. They will also work with states to cultivate and increase the number of parent advocates and youth leaders. Partners include the Parent Training and Information Centers (PTI’s), NFADB,
CHARGE and NAPVI.
Interveners
NCDB has been directed by OSEP to provide them with recommendations for continuing and future services related to the provision of interveners for children with deaf-blindness. The deadline for NCDB to submit the recommendations to OSEP is May 30, 2012. They have identified a two-step process to get the work off the ground. The first step is to identify and report detailed information about the current status of intervener services and practices in the U.S. Step two will be to craft recommendations for future services based on analysis of this information.
Technology Solutions
NCDB 2.0 is committed to integrating new and emerging technologies across all project activities. Within TA, technology can be used to build relationships, promote effective teaching strategies, improve team communication, and measure changes in both child and service provider behaviors. They will use one model that has shown promise (the Distance Mentorship Project) as a springboard for further replication and innovation. At the same time, they will examine and promote the following technology categories as vehicles to provide TA remotely: video capture, wikis, and web conferencing.
Info taken from the NCDB e-news, December, 2011, and submitted by Sherri Nelson, ND Dual Sensory Project Coordinator
Ken’s Top Ten
ways to label items when a person has low vision
- Select a labeling system that best meets your needs and be consistent. Remember there are many options to choose from.
- Use high contrast fabric/craft paint.
- Use wide felt-tip pens or 20/20 pens.
- Use colored electrical tape.
- Use high contrast adhesive labels.
- Write in large print on note cards and place them around an item.
- Place rubber bands around items for identification.
- Use safety pins in clothes to help identify similar colors such as brown, black and blue.
- Use Velcro for a very tactual label
- Use electronic devices such as the ID Mate, Pen Friend, color identifies, and the Touch Memo.
Have you heard about The Store?
Located inside NDVS/SB, we carry a wide variety of products to help you with the challenges of daily living. From talking clocks to tactile marking options, magnifiers and easy threading needles, it’s all only a phone call away! For more information, or to receive a catalog with the complete list of prices and products available, please contact Pamela at 795-2714 or 800-421-1181, or email her at phesse@nd.gov.
If you are a parent or guardian of a child with a visual impairment, there is a new resource available for you! Family InSights North Dakota is a Facebook group created with you in mind. This informal group was designed to help you make connections, share stories and stay in-touch.
If you are already on Facebook, simply search for the group by name and request to join. If you are not on Facebook yet, you will have to sign up and create your own profile. It’s really not difficult—give it a try!
The Music Program at NDVS/SB
By Natasha Thomas, MT-BC
Music can make a significant difference in the lives of students who have vision impairments. Studies show that students who participate in regular music instruction increase skills both in the core curriculum (math, language arts, etc.) and in the expanded core curriculum (orientation and mobility, etc.). Nonetheless, it is rare to find a school for the blind with a fully functional music program like that at NDVS/SB. Here students have had the opportunity to learn and use braille music for over 40 years, and in recent years music therapy has been added. Students, including those with multiple disabilities, improve not only their academic abilities, but general life skills as well.
Braille Music
In my first year at NDVS/SB, I focused primarily on braille music, a program that had been in existence for over 40 years and remains a proud cornerstone of NDVS/SB’s services. Through the music program at NDVS/SB, students are exposed to braille music in group classes and have additional opportunities to receive individual lessons in either the braille music code or low vision adaptations for music. Those students who opt to receive lessons in braille or enlarged print music also receive regular consultations from me and adapted materials to fit their needs for band, choir, or general music classes.
We recently received notification that NDVS/SB has been awarded a $14,000 grant from the Department of Public Instruction to add a Braille Music Summer Institute to our program in July. Students will experience an intensive period of four days with me and Bill McCann, co-creator of the Dancing Dots Goodfeel Suite, which we use at NDVS/SB to transcribe music from print to braille. It is our hope that students who register for the camp will come away with a more solid understanding of braille music and the tools used to create it or of low vision adaptations for music, so they can become stronger performers and better advocates for their musical needs. More information on this project will be mailed out to interested students and their families as we get closer to summertime, but questions about this or braille music in general may also be directed to NDVS/SB’s music office (contact information below).
Individuals familiar with braille will find that braille music uses the same combinations of the six dots first conceptualized by Louis Braille (in fact, Braille himself invented the music code around the same time he developed the literary one). This is where the difficulty with using it comes in: the signs are all familiar, and yet completely different from how the student is used to using them. Of course braille music is different from print music as well. Print music is able to lay out several ideas, like different note names, vertically as well as horizontally. Braille Music can only represent one note at a time horizontally. Thus piano pieces where the left and right hand are playing simultaneously, or choral music where lyrics are brailled above the notes, while a sighted person might see them vertically, cannot be taken in with the same immediate understanding for a student who is visually impaired. So, braille music is difficult to not only read, but to play as well.
Music Therapy
Music Therapy is the use of music by a qualified professional to achieve nonmusical goals. After my first year at NDVS/SB, I sought to add my music therapy training to the mix in order to serve students with multiple disabilities for whom literary braille has not yet become a reality, as I consider that a prerequisite to learning braille music. I now serve upwards of 20 students statewide, from birth to 21, in their homes and schools, working with their families and other professionals serving them to find ways in which music can be used to motivate non-musical behaviors like visual tracking, locating objects in space, and tolerating new sounds and textures—all areas crucial to a child’s development. Referrals for these services come through NDVS/SB’s vision teachers; if you or someone you know has a child interested in services, please contact your student’s vision teacher or the NDVS/SB music office (number and email can be found at the end of this article) for more information.
It has been my great pleasure further developing the music program at NDVS/SB, and it is exciting to think of where we are willing to go to ensure that all of our students have the opportunity to learn about and experience music in an appropriate medium. As our students grow our program will, too, and I look forward to many bright and musical futures ahead!
Natasha Thomas, MT-BC (Music Therapist, Board Certified) has a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of North Dakota in Music Therapy as well as board certification from the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT). Starting in 2012, music therapists in North Dakota will also carry a state license as a result of legislation recognizing Music Therapy as a profession under the newly created State Board of Integrative Health.
Questions about Natasha or the NDVS/SB Music Program? Call (701) 795-2723 or email natthom@nd.gov.
Apps for the Visually Impaired
For the blind or those with poor vision, iDevices are opening up a whole new world. Now, with the aid of an iPhone, the blind can virtually see color, light, paper money and much more. Here are some of the most innovative apps available to the vision impaired.
Ariadne GPS - $3.99
by Giovanni Ciaffoni
Exploring a city or taking a solo walk is no longer a challenge for the visually impaired with Ariadne GPS. Talking maps allow you to explore the world around you by moving your finger around the map. It has a favorites feature and can be used to announce stops on the bus or train. Rotating maps keep you centered, and Ariadne GPS works anywhere Google Maps are available. This is a musthave application for the visually impaired.
LookTel Money Reader - $1.99
by IPPLEX
Before the iPhone, the visually impaired would have to rely on a sighted person to tell them the denomination of each paper bill, then they would employ a special fold or other tactile technique to remember. This is no longer necessary thanks to an amazing application called LookTel Money Reader. Using just the camera on the iPhone, Look-Tel flawlessly announces the denomination of paper money. The developer is also working on other applications that will expand the technology to reading labels and more.
Color ID Free - Free
by GreenGar Studios
What color are the pants I just tried on? Does this tie match? Is the tomato ripe yet? Color ID Free is here to answer all these questions and more. Just point the iPhone camera at any item and it will announce the color for you. Brilliantly simple and easy to use, this application will open a new world to those who cannot see. It is amazingly accurate and can even find very subtle differences in color.
Light Detector - $0.99
by EveryWare Technologies
This is a very handy app that simply emits a sound which intensifies as a light source is found and approached. Light Detector will help find any lights left on or locate windows and exits. Basic but functional, this application does what is says and does it well.
Voice Brief - $3.99
by Dong Baik
Voice Brief is a great utility for anyone, but for the vision impaired it is particularly useful. With the touch of a button Voice Brief reads your email, Twitter feed, weather, stock prices, RSS and Facebook feeds. This time saving app is fully configurable and works flawlessly, and the voices are natural and clear.
Have Technology Questions or want to recommend an app? Call Tracy Wicken at 701-795-2720 or 1-800-421-1181.
Mark Your Calendars!
Plans are being made for “EMPOWERING FAMILIES”, the 6th annual Family Weekend, to be held April 20 & 21, 2012, at the LaQuinta Hotel in Bismarck. Friday night’s activities will include pizza and a family swim. Saturday’s parent sessions will cover such topics as daily living skills, a panel discussion on family dynamics and vision loss, and a presentation by Dr. Nichol Dillavou, OD from Bismarck Eyecare. Two “Parents Only” sessions will also be held on Saturday.
A free day camp for all children three and over will be provided, and free childcare for children under the age of three will be available at the hotel. Lunch and snacks will be supplied free for all children.
There is a registration fee of $10 per adult and includes lunch. If you have questions, please contact Linda Kraft at (701) 298-4428 or lkraft@nd.gov.
Hope to see you in Bismarck!
Happy New Year!
From
THE NORTH DAKOTA SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND FOUNDATION
We hope the holidays treated you well and your 2012 is off to a great start!
The Foundation has been working hard to enhance the lives of individuals with visual impairments. The student and adult grants made needed items possible, summer camps were held for school age students and support was provided to families. In order to offer these opportunities the Foundation uses donations. By sending your donation to support the Foundation’s programs and projects, you will make a difference in someone’s life.
When you write your check to NDSB Foundation, on the memo line you can designate where you would like your donation to be used. It may be for summer camps, family weekend, family travel to conferences and Ski for Light, to name a few of the opportunities available to children, adults and parents. If you do not designate, your gift will be used where the need is greatest.
The Foundation and those you support with your donation thank you in advance!
2012 Programming Schedule
| 2012 | |
| Jan 22-27 | Short Term Program |
| Feb. 5-10 | Short Term Program - Teen Week, Goal Ball |
| Feb. 26- March 2 | Short Term Program |
| March 18-23 | Adult Week |
| April 15-20 | Short Term Program |
| April 20-21 | Family Weekend |
| April 29-May 4 | Kids Week |
| May 9-11 | Preschool Program |
| June 3-8 | Teen Camp |
| June 17-29 | Adult Weeks |
| July 9-13 | Braille Music Institute |
| August 6-10 | Kids Camp |
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© Copyright 2007. North Dakota Vision Services. All rights reserved |
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