The Hungry Fingers way to tactile graphics
BOGUSLAW: Boguslaw 'Bob' Marek. The Hungry Fingers way to tactile graphics. The Hungry Fingers way to tactile graphics, is a one-day workshop, which helps teachers introduce learners with congenital blindness to tactile graphics, one of the most difficult and often neglected areas of education of children with a visual impairment. As one Polish teacher put it, "Drawings are like a language. "But for blind persons, it is a foreign language." As a language teacher, I know that any language can be taught and learned, but one must start with the basics. The basics in tactile graphics means, lines and simple geometric shapes. Next comes the challenge of explaining the relations between 3D objects and there are 2D representations as drawings. Objects can be observed, and therefore also drawn from different perspectives, explaining which, is another task for the teacher and a challenge for students. Representing graphically spatial relation between objects, for example, a breakfast set and relation between people and objects makes another component of the workshop. Preparing children for floor plans of buildings and maps. Drawings of 3D geometric shapes e.g. cubes or cylinders are another problem. The workshop faces this, and other challenges, with the help of a set of Hungry Fingers resources, each coming with tactile diagrams or books with tactile illustrations. Their Shape Detective series, makes a good introduction to basic geometry concepts. The Space organiser, Symetrograph, Rotograph, and Cubeograph help understand more complex concepts and drawings. The Hungry Fingers Transfograph, helps to explain the relation between 3D objects and two-dimensional drawings. The teddy bear set and Fleximan, introduce children to drawings of people. Magic quiz board offers a stress-free and fun way to check any area of knowledge including understanding of tactile graphics. The workshop is designed as a one-day event, with a possible additional day for giving teachers a chance to try out the resources with children under supervision of the workshop provider. Apart from several European countries, the Hungry Fingers workshops were organised in India, Nepal, Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Palau, Samoa, United Arab Emirates and USA, receiving very positive feedback both from teachers and children. To learn more about the workshop, please visit www.hungryfingers.com.