Future Reflections Fall 1991
USING MAPS
Reprinted from:
Handbook for Itinerant and Resource Teachers of Blind and Visually Impaired
Students by Doris M. Willoughby and Sharon L. M. Duffy.
Editor's Note: The book from which this article is taken is absolutely
top-notch. It is, in my opinion, one of the best investments any parent or
teacher of a blind student can make. If you doubt it, just read this segment on
maps.
The book is available in print ($23.00), Braille ($33.00), and cassette ($33.00)
from the National Federation of the Blind (price includes shipping and
handling). To order send request (please be sure to say which format you want:
print, Braille, or cassette) and check or money order to: National Federation of
the Blind, Materials Center, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230. You
may also charge it to your Discover, MasterCard, or Visa provided you send in
the name of your card, card number, expiration date, and signature. Payment must
accompany order. For more information, or to request a publications order form,
write to the address above or call (301) 659-9314.
Partially Sighted Students
The student with some useful sight will probably make maximum use of it in
map work. Use large, clear maps and keep them as uncluttered as possible.
Experiment with magnifiers and various kinds of markers. If a closed circuit
television is available (see Other Modes of Reading"), this may be one of its
best uses. The student may be able to use sight profitably for map work even
though he/she does not ordinarily read inkprint.
At the same time, students who ordinarily use regular print may have
trouble reading detailed maps, and find magnification helpful.
The Beginner
The young student who is forming concepts of geography must have maps and
globes he/she can use. If print is not appropriate, Braille maps and globes
should be provided. Some are available from the American Printing House for the
Blind (APH) and other sources.
APH has recently developed a number of helpful kits and booklets for
teaching map reading. However, as of this writing, APH seems actually to be
decreasing its production of regular Braille maps of actual places-despite the
importance of these materials and despite the fact that few are available
elsewhere. This is a most unfortunate trend, to which consumers should object
strongly.
Do not assume that when a geography book is transcribed, the maps will be
included in usable form. Tapes generally omit maps altogether. A large print
book will have the maps, but they will be black and white and often of very poor
quality. A book ordered in Braille (even one actually entitled "Map Study") may
or may not contain real, usable maps. Often only the text will have been
transcribed. Until better technology and/or greater attention to the importance
of maps solves this problem, you will often need to compensate for this problem.
An ordinary relief map may be satisfactory for some purposes.
Among the many advantages of the Patterns Braille reading series is its
beginning map work. Map-skills workbooks for the sighted can also be transcribed
into Braille.
The regular reading-readiness activities may be helpful to the student with
poor skills in using his/her hands. After all, if the student cannot easily tell
a triangle from a square, or determine which symbol is smaller, then he will not
do well with a regular Braille map. Even good Braille readers may do poorly in
these skills, and these ideas may be used at any age level.
Consider using selections from Braille reading-readiness books. These
usually have many pages of simple raised shapes of various sizes-circles,
squares, triangles, etc. There may be several on a page, in various positions.
Often these can be used for elementary map practice. Using simple pages of this
type, devise basic map skills lessons, designating symbols as you see fit:
1. (Several circles in a row horizontally): "These are cities. Show me the
city that is farthest east; west."
2. (Circle, triangle, and square): "This is a map of a park. The circle is
a fountain, the triangle an evergreen tree, and the square a flower garden. look
them over and then show me how to walk from the tree to the flower bed without
getting wet."
3. (Three triangles of graduated sizes): "The larger the symbol, the larger
the city. Show me the largest city; the smallest city.
4. Attach letter labels to certain shapes, and explain, "A is Apple City,"
etc. Make a Braille key.
Two readiness books I have found especially suitable for this kind of thing
are:
* A Tactual Road to Reading, Skill Books, Kurzhals and Caton, APH (Some volumes
are better than others for this purpose).
* Modern Methods of Teaching Braille, Book 1 (Kansas Braille Reading Readiness
Book), Stocker, APH
The Value of Map Skills
Map work sometimes prompts the question, "What will she get out of it,
anyway?"
Explain that maps teach important concepts which are part of a basic
education. Give practical examples. Many jobs require a basic grasp of distances
and geographical relationships a travel agency or an airline; a traveling sales
job; a supervisor over a wide area. As a close-to-home example, consider the
blind itinerant teacher: he/she must hire and instruct a driver, who may have
limited education and be inept at reading a map and using the scale of miles.
Appropriate Maps
Keeping the map uncluttered is very important. It may be necessary to
provide two maps, each with some of the information, instead of one cluttered
one. Another useful technique is to provide a very basic Braille or large print
map (for instance, just the state boundaries, abbreviated state names, and marks
for the capitals), and give other information in a key.
It is often helpful to explain orally while moving the student's hand over
a simple political map. ("Look here at the western states. Now, the Rocky
Mountains extend all along here. Actually they start `way up north in Alaska and
Canada, which are clear off the map here, they extend through Idaho, Montana,
Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado and on into Arizona and New Mexico, here. This is
the southern border of the United States. The mountains don't cover all of each
of those states, and there are valleys in between mountains, but this is the
area where the Rockies are. Now, I' Il show you that once more, and then I'd
like you to take your hands clear off the map for a moment and then you show me
the general area where we find the Rockies.")
This same general approach can be used with a very simple large print map
if the student cannot see much detail. Because of frequent need for various
explanations, some individual attention is usually needed for map work.
Creative Ideas
For the older student who has already acquired basic geographical concepts,
oral discussion alone may be sufficient. ("As you know, the Rocky Mountains
appear in the western part of the United States. This chapter expects you to
know rather precisely where they are. I will describe the map on Page 35. They
begin in Alaska and extend through western Canada, and on through Idaho,
Montana....")
What if the assignment is to mark up a map-say, insert the state names and
draw rivers? Just as the sighted student will essentially copy the information
from a ready-made map, the blind student can examine a Braille map and dictate
to a sighted assistant. He might indicate position on a simple, unlabeled raised
outline map, `marking off' each state as he names it by placing a pin or a bit
of tape. (After all sighted students can easily tell which answers have been
given.) An adult might "check off' each answer as it is given, with or without
actual transcription onto a printed map. ("I will name several states, and you
show me where they are on this raised outline map. Then show me where the
Mississippi River runs. You may refer to the Braille atlas.")
More ideas for making and using maps include:
1. Make a floor plan of the school and a simple map of the student's
immediate home neighborhood.
2. Try to provide a selection of map-skills sheets, plus maps of
continents and regions. With a little adaptation and explanation, a basic
political map of France can be used for almost any map work about France.
3. For a general map-skills unit consider using a ready-made package
which is equivalent but not exactly the same. Custom-producing Braille maps for
one student is so time-consuming as to warrant the strongest consideration of
other alternatives.
4. For the partially sighted, laminate bold-line outline maps of
countries and regions. These can be written or drawn on with china marker or
crayon, then wiped off and used again.
5. Temporary labels can be attached in many ways. Form a short segment of
masking tape into a loop, or buy double-stick tape, and apply to the back of a
label. Or, attach small "flags" to pins, and tack the map to a soft board. For
practice or testing purposes remove one or more labels and have the student put
them back. Or, replace keyed labels with simple numbered labels, and ask the
student to tell what each represents.
6. Braille maps are usually not as precise or uniform as print maps.
Often it is unfair to practice with one map and then give a test with a
different one. Changing or removing labels as above, is one way to give a test
fairly.
7. Maps and globes can be obtained from APH or libraries for the blind.
They can also be constructed with Plaster of Paris, clay, or papier mache.
8. Certain maps are so detailed that it is hardly ever worthwhile to
custom-produce them in Braille. An example would be topographical maps showing
altitude delineations within a small area. If the student does not understand
the concept of such a map, try to get a previously-made one of a small area, to
demonstrate the general idea. Then verbally discuss the maps the class is using.
Include whatever specific concepts are being taught by the classroom teacher.
9. Sometimes a complex map is more meaningful if broken down into two or
more simpler maps. For example, a state map with a great deal of information
might be reproduced as three Braille maps: counties; major cities and highways;
and rivers.
10. Ways to make various kinds of dots include:
* The Perkins Brailler or the slate
* Pushing with either end of a pen or pencil, or with the stylus from a Braille
slate, into paper that is on a soft surface
* Gluing on seeds, beads, or other objects
* The Swail Dot Inverter from APH (makes a large dot)
11. Tactually different lines must be used to show different things (e.g.,
county lines, roads, rivers). Otherwise, when lines cross on a tactile map, it
will be hard to know which line goes where. Various ways to make lines include:
* Any of the above dots in series
* A tracing wheel or wheels - steady or interrupted
* Gluing on string or yarn, cutting the ends with a razor blade for precision
12. There is a common method of making lines which I have not found very
satisfactory: trailing "Elmer's Glue," or a similar product, on a line and
allowing it to dry. This is difficult to follow by touch, and not very durable.
It is far better, and not much more work to trail the glue into a line and then
apply string or yarn.
13. The Tactile Graphics Kit from APH has special symbols such as a print
v-shape in raised form. These are applied like Notary seals.
14. A very durable map, especially suitable for Thermoform, may be made
from the special heavy aluminum foil from APH. Any of the above methods,
including gluing objects on, can be used with this. Some things are much easier
to do with this medium, especially making a "flat" line (comparable to a pencil
line, with no interruptions).
15. Except on the very simplest and most uncluttered maps, labels should
be abbreviated and keyed. Try to make the abbreviations logical. For example, sw
for swimming pool and gf for golf course would be much more easily remembered
than an arbitrary a and b. Save space by using no capital dots.
16. Graph paper (available from APH With raised lines or bold lines) can
be used for practice with latitude and longitude.
17. Ink for easy ways to enlarge a map. A photocopier with enlarging
capabilities may produce a suitable map for a large print user. The enlarged
copy may also be traced with felt pen or a tracing wheel (using carbon paper to
compensate for reversal with the latter). Alternatively, tape a large piece of
paper onto the wall, and use an Opaque Projector to create a very large image.
Trace over the image with pencil. Then the paper can be taken down and used to
make a bold-line map or a Braille map.
18. Use reference books such as the Tactile Graphics Guidebook from APH.
This book gives practical suggestions and shows good and poor examples of
Braille maps and tables.
19. Especially for the beginner, it is helpful for the student actually to
face north while studying a map.