Visually Impaired Resource Guide Assistive Technology for Students who use Braille Abacus

The Cranmer Abacus is a small, relatively inexpensive, hand held device especially designed for people who are blind

Prerequisites

• finger/hand isolation
• finger/hand strength
• good pincer grip for dominant hand
• one to one correspondence

Skills (Kindergarten to Grade 3)

The student will be able to:

• understand the following terminology
  • set
  • clear
  • separation bar
  • 5 bead
• count using one to one correspondence
• demonstrate the use of the 5 bead in setting and reading numbers
• set and read any number to 1000
• clear the abacus
• demonstrate mastery of number facts to 10
• add and subtract using the abacus

Skills (Grade 4 to 7)

The student will be able to:

• show a functional knowledge of the multiplication facts
• use the abacus for the calculation of multiplication and division problems
• use the abacus for the calculation of fraction, percent and decimal problems

Strategies

• When the student begins to use the abacus for calculation, organization of workspace becomes very important. A brailler should be readily available. An organizing stand can be useful. The textbook or worksheet can be placed on top of the stand. The brailler is placed under the stand and the abacus can be placed in front of the stand on the edge of the table. Another technique is to have the brailler above the abacus, the abacus along the bottom edge and the textbook or worksheets held on the lap. The abacus should be adhered to the desk (Lepages blue Fun-Tak) to prevent movement. Worksheets can be attached to a clipboard giving support for reading on the lap. The use of a number line on the student's desk is an excllent tool for beginning instruction in counting up and down and then leading to addition and subtraction. It is also a useful tool in learning to count by 2's, 5's, etc.
• Refer to the "Math Overview" for a further discussion on the special needs of a student who uses braille in the math environment.
• Refer to "Mathematics K - 1" for techniques dealing with math manipulatives.

Return to Part 2 - Assistive Technology for Students who use Braille...