Textbooks for Your Child

Textbooks for Your Child

Future Reflections July 1982, Vol. 1 No. 4
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TEXTBOOKS FOR YOUR CHILD
By Doris M. Willoughby
If a blind or visually impaired child is to learn in school, he or she must have textbooks and papers in an
accessible form -- in Braille, large print, or recorded form, or read aloud "live." Each item should be
appropriate for both the student and the subject -- e.g. oral reading is usually not appropriate for
arithmetic problems.
We hope that you and your child's teacher are fortunate enough to have a centralized textbook service
for your state. Much duplication of effort is saved if book requests from around the state can be sent to a
single location where the staff will:
-- Maintain a library of textbooks already produced.
-- Send orders to other agencies around the country.
-- Produce books as needed.
-- Maintain a library of books and periodicals which may not be called "textbooks" but which are
important for the total educational process.
-- Assist in locating materials for research, term papers, etc.
-- Provide or locate specialized materials such as Braille music.
It is important that all modes (Braille, large type, and recordings) be available -- again, preferably all
from the same source -- with a relatively simple, organized system for placing orders.
When the texbook service provides "large print," it is of a size approximately the same as that used in
regular first-grade textbooks -- that is, between 16 and 18 point type. A materials center for the blind
should not be expected to provide print which is larger than this, for a combination of economic and
educational reasons. Economically, it becomes inefficient to enlarge materials much more than this -- the
size of type, number of pages, required, etc., would make a book very large indeed. Even more important is
the educational consideration: if a person really cannot read 14-18 point type, he will read only very slowly
and laboriously in a type that is larger, and therefore would read far more efficiently by using Braille and
recorded modes.
You as a parent can help a great deal in seeing that your child has good textbook service. If service is
poor, join with other parents and the National Federation of the Blind in urging the school, the state
education department, other relevant agencies, and your legislators to provide adequate funding and
staffing. Since time lags are inevitable, encourage ordering well ahead of time, as by selecting courses
several months ahead of the new semester. Help your youngster to realize that often a book can be
appropriately provided in either of two modes (such as a social studies text in either Braille or recorded
form) and help him/her to be flexible. Encourage your older youngster to help assemble the book order,
both to help the busy teacher and to prepare the youngster for independence after high school.
More than one young adult has told me that when he attended public school, his large print or Braille
books were often a different edition from that used by all the other students. This caused confusion,
inconvenience, and embarrassment. With modern methods and resources, your child should not need to
face this problem. Speak up firmly against this if necessary. At the same time, realize that there are
situations when more than one edition, or even more than one title, may be equally appropriate. Examples
of such situations include: where all students have a choice (as in book reports for literature class); where
the student is being tutored individually anyway; or where the difference between editions is so slight as to
be truly negligible.
Even the best textbook service will have a considerable time lag in filling orders. Also, many teacher
produced materials are very short. Therefore, it is usually necessary for someone to supplement the
textbook service -- sometimes several people. A teacher aide, secretary, student, or volunteer might be
available to copy tests and handouts into large type or Braille. Someone should also be available to read
material aloud "live."
For the young blind child just learning to read, it is important that most classroom worksheets be
transcribed into Braille. However, for the older child it is often more efficient to have such papers read
aloud; and it is very important for the student to become flexible enough to use this method some of the
time. If an older student relies on having every item in Braille (or large print), he will have a rude
awakening in college or on the job, where he will not have a transcriber available for his every need.
In a future issue of this newsletter we will include a detailed article about the use of readers. Also, the
general subject of textooks and materials (including reader service) is discussed in detail in my book, Your
School Includes a Blind Student, see Literature and Book review in this issue.
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