Tag: newsletter

Contributed by Robert Jaquiss
Editor of Independence Science Newsletter
[email protected]

Many persons who are blind or visually impaired do not know how to read and/or write braille. It is felt that large print or audio formatted books are sufficient to completing traditional schoolwork. However, the argument can be made that for persons who are blind or visually impaired who wish to pursue career paths in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, the importance of braille needs to be emphasized.

If a person possesses low vision that can be supplemented with hand magnifiers or CCTV technologies that will enable them to read at a comparable reading rate as a non-visually impaired person, these solutions may be acceptable.

However, if magnifiers or other computer software magnification applications cannot permit a person with a visual impairment to read at a competitive reading speed as to their non-visually impaired counterparts, alternatives should be seriously considered.

Although there have been some visually impaired persons who have successfully achieved employment in a STEM profession using primarily audio formatted textbooks, this occurrence is rare. The overwhelming majority of successfully employed blind STEM professionals use braille daily. Further, the Nemeth code for Mathematics and Science Notation 1972 revision is used by most of these individuals in the United States. Use of the Unified English Braille (UEB) Math system for successfully employed blind STEM professionals has not yet been documented in literature. This may be due to its newness. The UEB did not become the official braille code in the United States until 2016. and its requirement to use more braille cells to communicate the same information as the Nemeth code. This increased complexity may negatively impact a person’s ability to pursue STEM careers because of the increased level of difficulty to learn the UEB braille math code and thus making it more difficult to learn higher level math concepts.

For blind professionals who use braille, this valuable skill greatly enhances their ability when lecturing to sighted students. Having hard copy braille notes while lecturing with a Power Point presentation and/or hand writing information on a white board or chalk board is possible. Further, electronic note takers with refreshable braille technologies may also be used in lecture settings. When blind scientists work as part of research teams, hard copy braille notes discussing key findings or calculations may be very helpful in technical discussions. Further, when presenting research at professional conferences, having hard copy braille notes can help the blind presenter to maintain eye contact with his/her peers while referring to technical information being discussed.

Braille is a powerful tool for anyone with a visual impairment. Whether you wish to track a list of phone numbers, put braille labels on kitchen food items, labeling chemical vials in the laboratory or giving lectures as part of a faculty position at a higher educational institution. Braille is a powerful tool that opens doors of opportunity for persons with visual impairments in the STEM professions.

Contributed by Robert Jaquiss
Editor of Independence Science Newsletter
[email protected]

Math presents many challenges to access for students with visual impairments. One ideal solution involves the use of hardcopy Braille textbooks with proper Nemeth code and/or UEB math representations along with the appropriate raised line drawings. One modification to this approach to teach students the appropriate Nemeth or UEB math symbology that they may not already know is to use an audio form of the book. A book from Learning Ally can prove to be a good compliment to the Braille book. The audiobook can provide verbal descriptions of raised line drawings which may provide added context for the Braille reader to comprehend what is being communicated.

Further, the Braille textbook complimented with math educators using Abraham Nemeth’s, “Math Speak,” rules while they are teaching can allow for non-ambiguous verbal re0presentations of math expressions. Simply reading what is written on the board does not make it accessible as there can be numerous ways to interpret how an algebra expression can be represented. Clearly indicating specific quantities, numerators, denominators, and other key aspects of equations MUST be done to ensure better comprehension by students who cannot see what a teacher is writing on a white board in a classroom. Use of these conventions does take some training, but once practiced, better learning for all students can occur.

There are several web based and physical graphing calculators that offer graph sonification and other text-to-speech supports to assist in making math content more accessible. However, providing refreshable Braille with proper formatted Nemeth code math expressions can be a challenge. One additional innovation, that has been around for some time, but might not be as widely known is the following access solution.

 Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) screen reader can be used with a free downloadable program called, “Math Player,” from Design Science. This can be found at: www.dessci.com. Once NVDA and Math Player are successfully installed on your computer, setting Braille output in NVDA to U.S. 6 dot computer Braille will allow you to have spoken equations while receiving Nemeth code formatted refreshable Braille on your display. Other solutions are also available, but this appears to be the most common one used now. If MathML equations are imbedded into a Word document, or on a website, the Nemeth code Braille should be properly rendered. This approach does require more verification as to the accuracy of both the spoken and refreshable Braille equation representations. For now, this solution might assist some of you in making math content more accessible to your Braille reading students.

Contributed by Robert Jaquiss
Editor of Independence Science Newsletter
[email protected]

The importance of the use of Nemeth Braille when teaching math and science to students who are blind or visually impaired has proven itself to be a valuable tool in providing science access. Dr. Abraham Nemeth, a totally blind mathematician, understood the importance of having a concise way of conversing mathematical content in Braille. He experienced frustration while growing up because he knew he had a love for numbers and mathematics. Unfortunately, the Braille system in the first half of the twentieth century did not support mathematics. Thus, he developed his own personal code that later served as the foundation for the Nemeth code for Mathematics and Science Notation (1972) revision. He learned at a very young age that it was important for blind kids to have an understanding as to what print looked like, including what print mathematical symbols look like.

He adopted several conventions in the Nemeth code that communicate this information. For example, the dots 4, 5 for superscript and the dots 5, 6 for subscript can indicate a direction based on where they are placed in the Braille cell. Superscripts are written to the top right of a base number or term and subscripts are written to the lower right of a base number or term. The Braille indicator provides a sense of direction. Further, Dr. Nemeth’s use of dots 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and dots 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 for the open and close parenthesis symbols provide a sense of opening and closing parenthesis as sighted kids experience with print. The comparisons may not always be one to one, however, there is implied meaning throughout the Nemeth code.

Further, since Dr. Nemeth was familiar with LaTeX and he knew this is a mainstream form of communication for mathematicians, he could emulate rules of LaTeX into the Nemeth code. When a Nemeth code Braille reader learns LaTeX, many parallels are easily identified. It is this very valuable useful feature that can easily be overlooked by persons who are not involved in STEM education.

It is this advantage over other proposed Braille math systems that helps the Nemeth code function as a Braille math system. The Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science Notation has proven itself time and time again to be one of the most powerful access tools for students who are blind or visually impaired. Blind STEM professionals use this Braille math system every day in their professional lives. If we continue to see the value of the Nemeth code, it will be used. When we turn our heads towards the practicality of Nemeth code and consider starting with a new system, much of this practicality will likely be lost upon another new system. Dr. Nemeth was himself a genius with a vision for Braille literacy in mathematics.

Note: For those readers wishing to learn more about using LaTeX to embed equations in Word documents; see the article by Dr. John Gardner at: http://www.access2science.com/jagqn/WordLatex.html.

Contributed by Robert Jaquiss
Editor of Independence Science Newsletter
[email protected]

When to use A Lab Partner versus when to use the Talking LabQuest

One of the nice things we have today is numerous digital technologies we can use in the science laboratory classroom. We also have older more traditional tools. The older tools refer to a student with a print disability working with a non-disabled counterpart. That person serves as the eyes of the student with a disability. They are to function similar to that of a tool. The student with a disability directs that person to perform specific tasks, read information off of display screens, and record data and observations when instructed. This person is not there to simply perform the experiment for the student with a disability. This mindset can be difficult to separate from both the student and the teacher’s perspective.

One of our main concerns is that the student with a disability has a safe learning experience. What better way to achieve this than to provide them with a non-disabled counterpart to perform the experiment for them. However, in the interest of most successful more engaging results, the student with a disability needs to be as engaged in the laboratory activity both cognitively and also physically.

Now the use of the Talking LabQuest (TLQ) can be a nice compliment to this tool. There is a misconception in the world today that indicates the Talking LabQuest can make the science lab fully accessible. In some cases, yes this is true. However, much scientific observation is still dependent on visual observation. The TLQ does provide a way for a print disabled student to perform laboratory tasks and obtain quantifiable data for analysis. It can in some cases also provide indications as to what to do next in an experiment depending on the activity in question. The TLQ can be shared with laboratory partners as well as laboratory assistants. It is very important for the student with a print disability to be fully aware of the capabilities of the TLQ and to feel comfortable with its operation. They should also know when it can be used successfully and when it would be more prudent to work with a lab assistant or group partner. Further, the student with a print disability should be willing to delegate tasks that are not technologically accomplishable easily with either a TLQ or a lab assistant.

In the end, knowing when versus when not to perform a task is equally important. Also, students with print disabilities should still be responsible for their own data analysis and be expected to engage with lab group partners on such discussions. Additional complimentary products such as a raised line drawing tool and/or graphics enabled Braille embosser can help with computer generated Cartesian graphs embossed from either LoggerPro or Microsoft Excel.

All of these tools can be used in a synergistic way to make a hands-on learning experience in the science laboratory possible. As new technologies become available, this model of laboratory access will be amended as time passes. Fortunately science education is a dynamic profession always changing with technology. Therefore, the way we perform science experiments today will likely be different in the future. We at Independence Science encourage our readers to keep helping us to shift the societal paradigm in a positive direction that promotes more hands-on science learning experiences for all students. It is this approach at full inclusion that will make the STEM workforce more diverse and inclusive of all.

Contributed by Robert Jaquiss
Editor of Independence Science Newsletter
[email protected]

Now that we have entered well into the Twenty-First Century, access technologies are starting to evolve at an exponential rate. Never before have we seen such innovative new technologies providing access to books, the Internet, household appliances, and much more. To that end, we are now entering what I would consider being a golden age of access for the blind and visually impaired. In particular in the area of science access, we are reaching a period in our history that is evolving itself to be a renaissance period in science education.

The Sci-Voice Talking LabQuest products are providing more opportunities than ever before for the blind to be more fully engaged in the science laboratory in a hands-on way. To that end, we at Independence Science acknowledge that much more work is still necessary before the blind can have full access in science and other STEM related subject areas. To that end, it is important for us to recognize the value of the benefits of our access technologies while acknowledging its limitations. There is a mindset in today’s society that indicates we want everything to be accessible now. This is normally what should be done, however the reality is we are not there yet. Therefore, it is important for us to understand fully what our access technologies can do versus what they can’t. Then the responsibility then falls on us to determine how to make up for the technological gap that exists between what we are able to do versus what we need to do. These technology gaps need to be analyzed from a problem solving approach and to trouble shoot both low and high tech solutions to providing access. Some of these access solutions may involve simply using Braille and tactile marked rulers to using notched syringes to measure volumes. The nature of the task to be performed determines the scope of the solution that is needed. For example, the Sci-Voice Talking LabQuest has proven itself to be a very powerful tool in K-12 education science classes and first and second year college science courses. However, when it comes to upper level college courses and some advanced placement courses, it has never been tested in these environments. This is not to say it would not work in these environments which is certainly not the case. However, how this technology is to be applied needs to be determined by the end user. In lab activities where temperature, mass, and pH measurements are necessary, it is pretty straight forward as to what needs to be done. However, when a lab activity requires a piece of equipment to be built as part of the lab procedure, these manipulations must be made by the end user likely as part of a lab group. To that end, there will be some tasks that are easily performed by the student with the visual impairment while other tasks may not be so easily accomplished. Therefore, it is very important for the end user of the TLQ to recognize what can be done and what cannot. These tasks can then be delegated to other members of the lab group. Sometimes recognizing what the TLQ can do versus what it cannot do is equally valuable and can enhance the student with a visual impairments hands-on learning experience.

The goal of Independence Science is to empower the blind to be as engaged as is possible with today’s technologies. We acknowledge more work is necessary before more independent access can be granted to the blind. This is our commitment to you the customer to share with us successes and failures with our products and services. We encourage you to share your stories with us by e-mailing them to [email protected]. The stories that you share will be a valuable contribution to current and future customers of Independence Science. Your name will be attributed to your contribution, unless you explicitly say you would not like it disclosed. Your article will then be listed as being received from an anonymous author. We at Independence Science are looking forward to hearing from you are most valuable customers.

Independence Science would like to thank you for your support and your commitment to making science more accessible to the blind and the print disabled around the world.

Contributed by Robert Jaquiss
Editor of Independence Science Newsletter
[email protected]

The 2017 Independence Science, Learning a New Direction, Conference on Disability is coming up this fall. We are now requesting abstract submissions from possible presenters. The ISLAND conference will be held on Friday, September 15, 2017 at the Kurz Purdue Technology Center located at 1281 Win Henschel Blvd in West Lafayette, Indiana 47906. The conference will begin at 8:00 AM with continental breakfast and conclude by or before 5:00 PM. Presentations are estimated to be 30 minutes in length with time for discussion following each presentation. Please submit a title of no more than 20 words and an abstract containing no more than 150 words to Cary Supalo, conference chair at [email protected] by or before March 1, 2017. We will start the review process on March 1, 2017. Please also include all authors and their organization affiliations in the document. Presenters will be notified if their presentation was accepted by or before June 15, 2017. All presenters are expected to register for the conference. Early bird registration concludes September 1, 2017 and will be available through the Independence Science website soon. A block of rooms has been reserved at the 4-Points by Sheraton located at: 1600 Cumberland Ave, West Lafayette, Indiana 47906: phone- 765-463-5511. When booking your room reservation, please ask for the ISLAND2017 rate. Ground transportation from the Indianapolis, Indiana airport is being provided by Lafayette Limo. For reservations, please call 765-497-3828 or book on-line at www.lafayettelimo.com. Round trip reservations currently cost $50 per person. The Lafayette Limo departs from the Ground Transportation center zone 5 every 2 hours starting at 6:30 AM until 10:30 PM daily. Please check in with the Lafayette Limo booth located in the Ground Transportation area to let them know you are waiting for the next shuttle. The Lafayette Limo will drop you off at the 4-Points by Sheraton. The 4-Points offers a curtesy shuttle to Purdue University buildings. Request the evening before that you would like to go to the Kurz Purdue Technology Center or (KPTC) for the ISLAND conference. We are looking forward to your presentation submissions to the 2017 ISLAND conference. Please do not hesitate to contact Cary Supalo for any questions.

Contributed by Robert Jaquiss
Editor of Independence Science Newsletter
[email protected]

2016 Summer University

     In July 2016, the Summer University was held in conjunction with the ICCHP conference International Conference for Computers Helping People. It was held in Linz, Austria at the Johannes Kepler University Linz. At this conference attendees learned the essential skills necessary to be a blind STEM professional. Currently, the United States lacks these types of comprehensive training opportunities. Although enrichment programs are helpful in building interest, they do not provide the essential skills necessary to empower a totally blind person to become a STEM professional. More programming like Summer University is necessary to help build a community of blind STEM professionals. As part of this conference, the Sci-Voice Talking LabQuest2 was demonstrated to participants from seven different countries. These included New Zealand, Austria, Netherlands, France, India, Czech Republic, and Germany.

     Independence Science would like to thank the organizers and participants of the Summer University, and we hope this most valuable resource will continue being available into the foreseeable future.

Contributed by Robert Jaquiss
Editor of Independence Science Newsletter
[email protected]

Independence Science recognizes the 2016 NFB scholarship class for outstanding academic excellence and commitment to their studies. It is with this recognition that Independence Science provides financial support for each winner to purchase a new Sci-Voice Talking LabQuest2 scientific data logger to assist with their studies. Congratulations to the 2016 NFB scholarship class for academic excellence.

Contributed by Robert Jaquiss
Editor of Independence Science Newsletter
[email protected]

On Thursday, May 19, 2016, Dr. Cary Supalo, President of Independence Science was invited to Washington D.C. to attend the National Medal of Honor in Science and Technology Innovation at the Whitehouse. This historic event recognized scientists and technology innovators who have made significant contributions to their field. Although Dr. Supalo did not receive a medal of honor, it was still a great honor to be invited by the President to attend. This recognition was given for the work that Independence Science is engaged in for making Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subject areas more accessible to students who are blind in a hands-on way. Dr. Supalo was deeply honored to have been given this opportunity to attend and be recognized in this way.

Contributed by Robert Jaquiss
Editor of Independence Science Newsletter
[email protected]

Recently, their was discussion on the Program-l mailing list about how blind people could build electronic devices. Here is a summary of the information.

Many years ago in the #50’s and #60’s, it was possible to purchase kits to build electronic devices. Heathkit was an example of a company from which kits for building tube testers, TVs, signal Generators etc. could be purchased. Allied Electornics was another company that offered kits for learning about electronics. A twenty in one kit for example consisted of a Massonite board on which were mounted capacitors, resistors, transistors and other components. The builder used spring clips to connect these components and could build a radio receiver, radio transmitter, intercom etc. My father glued braille numbers to the board and put beads of solder on the wires so they stayed in the string clips more reliably. With brailled instructions, I could build various circuits.

Fast forward to today. Elenco offers Snap Circuits. These consist of a large plastic board with knobs protruding from it. Components are mounted on plastic pieces that snap to the board. The snaps are metal so components can be snapped to each other and or connected with jumpers. The result is a stable assembly. Snap Circuits can be used by students eight and up. In a college physics lab, they are being used to set up circuits for physics labs.

From 1980 to 1998, Smith-Kettlewell published on a quarterly basis, the Smith-Kettlewell Technical file. The Technical file contains an assortment of articles on circuits, building specialized equipment and even a seven article series explaining how a blind person can solder. For more information and to read the issues see the link: http://legacy.ski.org/Rehab/sktf/

Quorum is a relatively new programming language. Initially designed to be accessible with screen readers, Quorum is gaining acceptance as a general purpose language. For anyone wanting to try computer programming, Quorum is a good place to begin. See the link: https://quorumlanguage.com/ Quorum also can be used with the Lego® EV3 Mindstorms robot.

See the link: https://www.quorumlanguage.com/documents/tutorials/robots/started.php.

If you want to use a Raspberry Pi with your Lego robot, see the site: http://www.dexterindustries.com/BrickPi/.

For anyone interested in building with Arduino boards, see the Blind Arduino Blog site: http://blarbl.blogspot.de/.