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Teaching graphs in math to a student with a visual impairment (self.Blind)
submitted by homedoggieo
I’m not sure if this is the right place for this question, but I figured it’d be a good place to start.
I’m a math teacher, and I have a student in precalculus who has a significant visual impairment. I don’t have all the details, but I know it involves tracking and double vision, and results in migraines.
A large portion of this class involves graphing in some way - both sketching your own graph and identifying key features on one I provide.
I’m assuming some of this is going to be a nightmare for her. I’m looking for any suggestions for how to teach her this material without overwhelming her visually. My first instinct was just to increase the font size, but some topics will have unavoidable visual clutter, like comparing the graph of sin(x) to the graph of sin(2x) on the same axis.
I’m open to any suggestions for what might be effective for her. I’m sure all my students can benefit from me learning a new way to present the material.
Thank you to anyone who takes the time to respond!
I’m a math teacher, and I have a student in precalculus who has a significant visual impairment. I don’t have all the details, but I know it involves tracking and double vision, and results in migraines.
A large portion of this class involves graphing in some way - both sketching your own graph and identifying key features on one I provide.
I’m assuming some of this is going to be a nightmare for her. I’m looking for any suggestions for how to teach her this material without overwhelming her visually. My first instinct was just to increase the font size, but some topics will have unavoidable visual clutter, like comparing the graph of sin(x) to the graph of sin(2x) on the same axis.
I’m open to any suggestions for what might be effective for her. I’m sure all my students can benefit from me learning a new way to present the material.
Thank you to anyone who takes the time to respond!
quanin 5 points 4y ago
the best advice anyone can offer you here is to ask your student. what works for one visually impaired person may not necessarily work for another. Increased font size might work. On the other hand, she may be a better tactile learner.
Insofar as drawing graphs goes, if she's any good with MS Excel I believe it has some graphing functions she can use. Alternatively some form of electronic graphing calculator that allows her to print out the results. You're quite right, though, the actual drawing of the graphs may be a no-go, depending on her challenges. Again, the only person who can answer you definitively re: that is your student.
Insofar as drawing graphs goes, if she's any good with MS Excel I believe it has some graphing functions she can use. Alternatively some form of electronic graphing calculator that allows her to print out the results. You're quite right, though, the actual drawing of the graphs may be a no-go, depending on her challenges. Again, the only person who can answer you definitively re: that is your student.
homedoggieo [OP] 1 points 4y ago
Thanks! I’m working with her already, but she’s never had a class this graph-heavy before, so she isn’t really sure what to expect.
TheBlindBookLover 3 points 4y ago
Hi. I would most often use tactile graph paper, wicky sticks, and crayons since you can feel the wax.
ArcanaNoir 2 points 4y ago
A lot of the material for curve sketching and graph characteristics can really just be described. Location of roots, end behavior, the period and amplitude of the trig graphs, etc. Definitely ask the student about what could work for them, but consider altering assignments that ask students to draw or interpret a graph by asking for or providing a description instead. The key skill is translating between a function and the features of its graph. The actual drawing is not as big of a deal (once you know the student understands the vocabulary for the features).
WhatWouldVaderDo 2 points 4y ago
When I went through this years ago, I found tactile graph paper and wikki stix pretty useful. The graphs aren’t pretty, but they get the job done, and are easy to make on the fly (for both teachers and students).
That being said, I pretty much had no usable vision, so I found that solution satisfactory. Communicate with your student to find a solution that works with both your particular teaching style and her particular learning style.
That being said, I pretty much had no usable vision, so I found that solution satisfactory. Communicate with your student to find a solution that works with both your particular teaching style and her particular learning style.
homedoggieo [OP] 1 points 4y ago
Those are great ideas! I already have some materials lying around that might come in handy - pipe cleaners to the rescue!
ENTJ351 1 points 4y ago
There is two ways at it. One is graph paper. I find that I just use graph papres folding techniques and conceptualization of shapes and lines as very important.
The other is description. If you can provide the data and points you can omit graphs. Just forget about actual graphs and focus on the math and have you give you physical points (2,3) (4, 5) ETC.... I gave about 20 points of data and had solutions on how I got to every one of them. It worked. For anyone sited they would graph it for me. Just understand the concepts and theory of the math and be able to graph them out.
The other is description. If you can provide the data and points you can omit graphs. Just forget about actual graphs and focus on the math and have you give you physical points (2,3) (4, 5) ETC.... I gave about 20 points of data and had solutions on how I got to every one of them. It worked. For anyone sited they would graph it for me. Just understand the concepts and theory of the math and be able to graph them out.
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