Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
Math Adds Up to Education
Susan Osterhaus, a math teacher at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, recently sent to the office of the editor a sample math packet. This wonderful packet simply bulges with brochures, catalogues, order forms, and flyers about adapted math materials and tools for blind and visually impaired children of all ages—from pre-K to college-age. The resources range from expensive, high-tech items to inexpensive, low-tech, materials. To order the complete math packet—which is free—send your request and your mailing address to:
Susan A.
Osterhaus, M.Ed.
Secondary Mathematics
Texas School
for the Blind and Visually Impaired
1100 West 45th Street, Austin, TX 78756
Susanosterhaus@tsbvi.edu
www.tsbvi.edu/math
Listed below are some of the resources in the packet:
Videotapes:
Teaching Visually Impaired Students—two videotapes produced by the Iowa State University Media Resources Center in cooperation with Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School:
Tape 1. Preparing Tactile Adaptations for Math and Science (28 min.)
Tape 2. Using Adaptations for Math and Science (18 min.)
Tape 1 is $60, Tape 2 is $60 and together they are $100. All prices are for prepaid orders and shipping is included. Send orders to:
Instructional
Technology Center
1200 Communications
Bldg.
Iowa State University,
Ames, Iowa 50011-3243
Phone: (515) 294-8022
* Fax: (515) 294-8089
Instructions for Teachers
Strategies for Developing Mathematics Skills in Students Who Use Braille is a 245-page book that covers such topics as Teaching Nemeth Code, Tactile Displays and Graphics, Spoken Mathematics, etc.
Computerized Nemeth Code Tutor is a tutorial guide (three disks and instruction booklet) that helps sighted teachers of blind students hone their skills in Nemeth Code.
For more information, request a Publications and Resources brochure from:
Association
for Education and
Rehabilitation of the Blind and
Visually Impaired (AER)
4600 Duke Street, Suite 430
P. O. Box 22397, Alexandria, VA 22304
Phone: (877) 492-2708 or (703) 823-9690
Fax: (703) 823-9695 * aer@aerbvi.org
Math Courses
Tuition-Free Distance Education—High School and Adult Continuing Education Programs in: general, pre-algebra, applied mathematics, algebra, geometry, metric, and Nemeth Code. Contact:
The Hadley
School for the Blind
700 Elm Street
Winnetka, Illinois
60093-2554
Phone: (800) 526-9909
or (847) 446-8111
Fax: (847) 446-0855
student_services@hadley-school.org
Louis
A service
of the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), Louis, a database
of accessible materials for people who are blind or visually impaired, lists
the location information for over 145,000 books in Braille, large print, computer
file, and/or tape. For information about how to use the Louis system,
contact:
APH
Maria E. Delgado, Louis Database
Field Representative
Phone: (502) 899-2340 * Fax: (502) 899-2363
mdelgado@aph.org * www.aph.org
Computer Transcription of Math
Convert print math to Braille with Scientific Notebook (SN) and LaTeX importer. Edit, proofread, and emboss Nemeth, BAUK, UEBC, and French math Braille. Contact:
Duxbury
Systems, Inc.
270 Littleton Road, #6
Westford, MA 01886-3523
Phone: (978) 692-3000 * Fax: (978) 692-7912
info@duxsys.com
www.duxburysystems.com
Math Textbooks in Braille
Computers to Help People, Inc., is a transcription service which specializes in math books—from elementary texts to advanced calculus and logic. For more information contact:
Computers
to Help People, Inc.
825 East Johnson
Street
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: (608) 257-5917
* Fax: (608) 257-3480
director@chpi.org
Tactile Graphics
Making tactile graphics can be fast and easy. In only 10 seconds you can process a raised picture with piaf (Pictures in a Flash). Contact:
HumanWare
6245 King Road, Loomis, CA 95650
Phone: (800) 722-3393 * Fax: (916) 652-7296
info@humanware.com
www.humanware.com
Maps, Etc.
Tactile Vision, Inc. provides many inexpensive tactile maps, calendars, children’s tactile books (Alphabet Book, My Counting Book, etc.), tactile and Braille greeting cards, etc. The most expensive item in the catalog is $70; the cheapest, $0.75. To order a catalog, contact:
Tactile
Vision, Inc.
461 North Service Road, West, Unit B-11
Oakville, Ontario L6M 2V5 CANADA
Phone: (905) 465-0755
Wikki Stix for the Sight-Impaired
Wikki Stix are an easy way to create tactile graphics and assist with O&M training, map concepts, and much more. The thin, “sticky” strips are made of a special formulation of yarn and wax. They are virtually mistake-proof…press ‘em down, peel ‘em off…they are easy to change and reposition. Contact:
Wikki
Stix, Omnicor, Inc.
2432 W. Peoria, #1188
Phoenix, Arizona 85029
Phone: (602) 870-9937 * Fax: (602) 870-9877
www.wikkistix.com
Math Aids
From toys such as Twist & ShoutTM Multiplication and Dr. Talking Clock to talking calculators, Independent Living Aids, Inc. (ILA) offers a range of math educational resources for blind and visually impaired children. To request a catalog contact:
ILA
200 Robbins Lane
Jericho, NY 11753-2341
Phone: (800) 537-2118 * Fax: (516) 937-3906
www.independentliving.com
Math Materials and Tools
Tactile demonstration thermometer, Feel ’n Peel Stickers, measurement aids, Braille/print Protractor, tangible graphs, tactile graphics starter kit, Braille Transcribers’ Kit: Math, Tactile Graphics Kit, graph sheets, Graphic aid for Mathematics, Geometry Tactile Graphics Kit, APH Number Line Device, Orion TI-34 Talking Scientific Calculator, Math Flash, Nemeth Braille Code books, and many more math-related items are available from APH. Contact:
American
Printing House for the Blind, Inc.
1839 Frankfort Avenue
P. O. Box 6085
Louisville, Kentucky 40206-0085
Phone: (502) 895-2405 or (800) 223-1839
Fax: (502) 899-2274
info@aph.org * www.aph.org
Click Rule
The Click Rule is an efficient tactile and auditory measuring device that allows for accurate readings up to 1/16 of an inch, or up to one millimeter. It is especially fast and accurate for wood and tool set-ups. Contact:
Community
Advocates, Inc.
P. O. Box 83304, Lincoln, NE 68501
Fax: (402) 486-3091 * www.clickrule.com
Large Display Calculator
The VisAbleTM Scientific Calculator is a portable, battery-operated, large display calculator that allows people with low vision to perform scientific, statistical, and trigonometric calculations. Contact:
Betacom
Corporation
450 Metheson Blvd. East, Unit 67
Mississauga, Ontario L4Z 1R5 CANADA
Phone: (905) 568-9977 or (800) 353-1107
Fax: (905) 568-9925
info@betacom.com * www.betacom.com
Leo Braille Display Calculator
Named after the famous 18th century blind mathematician, Leonard Euler, this miniature, 10-ounce scientific calculator has a refreshable Braille display. It performs the standard arithmetic functions and numerous scientific functions such as square root, sine, cosine, tangent, logarithm, conversions, financial functions, and others. Contact:
Robotron
Group
Phone: +613 9568-2568
Fax: +613 9568-1377
info@sensorytools.com
www.sensorytools.com
Talking Scientific Calculator
Based on the popular TI-34 calculator from Texas Instruments, the pocket-size talking Orion TI-34 can be used for general math, trigonometry, statistics, physical sciences, etc. For more information contact Orbit Research at (888) 606-7248.