Page 51 - The Exceptional Harley Fetterman

THE EXCEPTIONAL HARLEY FETTERMAN

subtraction, multiplication, and division. He made straight A's on
several report cards.

Through 4 and 5 grade, Harley refined his Braille skills using
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every available technology at his disposal. He did strive to improve
his skill in using the BrailleNote calculator. Although, truth be told,
Harley preferred to proficiently mentally calculate most of his math in
his head. His literary Braille skills were well developed for reading
and writing using the contracted Braille code. He read Nemeth code
for math and each year his VI coordinator would introduce whatever
new symbols would be involved in his curriculum. He began using a
computer with text-to-speech access for word processing.

Harley felt very capable with his Braille skills. However, when
Carolyn Mason observed Harley in a science class and noticed that he
was struggling to keep up with his Braille science book, she correctly
interpreted that this might have something to do with how the
headings and text boxes were laid out throughout the textbook. She
guessed that the format didn't seem consistent to Harley.

“I know how to use the Braille textbook! I don't need help,” Harley
responded to her observation. When Carolyn pointed out that she
wanted to clue him in on the layout—not the braille, he seemed to be
more willing to explore her advice. She planned a lesson to take a
close look at how the headings were laid out, spacing before and after,
and how the textbook denoted all the little text boxes scattered
throughout the book. She showed him how to find these items in
consistent places from one chapter or unit to the next.
Carolyn followed up with another science class observation noting
that Harley no longer had trouble keeping up in the textbook. When
she praised him for his improvement in class, Harley remarked with a
very chagrined look, “I admit it. Your lesson really did help me better
understand how things were laid out in my science book.”

Harley was very independent and knowledgeable in his classes.
His VI coordinator would spend some time during language arts and
math classes. Time in class was spent on how to integrate Braille
technology into his classwork which Harley had no difficulty
understanding. By fifth grade, he was very successful with Braille and
about five hours per week was spent mostly on technology.

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