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would be the ones who would use these manipulatives as a vital part of their
classroom instruction. Because he believed all students can learn, he was
able to make some of his manipulatives available for students who are blind
and all of them for students with low vision.
The first manipulative Dana wanted to try involved teaching the
standards of elapsed time. Dana gently extended her fingers and then
reached towards the 24" Braille Elapsed Time manipulative that had tactile
dots. With Barbara's interpreting in Dana's hand, Jim patiently explained how
the slides represent hourly increments and the minutes were in between the
hours on a horizontal line. He added that one tactile dot equals one minute
and all five-minute increments have five vertical dots. Dana, who was fairly
fluent in Braille at the time, initially began to read the Braille labels on the
slides. Dana quickly grasped the design concept because she used self-
discovery to learn how to use the manipulatives. The longer Dana used the
manipulative, the less Barbara had to communicate.
Dana seemed satisfied with the design concept and instructional
potential of the Elapsed Time manipulative, especially since there were
smaller versions for her students to use while she taught with the Braille
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