<<P.S. I just thought of this while
writing: when a blind person learns math, how does he/she
do the mathematical operations which heavily use a
visual layout of numbers? Is there a special blind way
to do algebra?>>
My wife showed me how
she did it once upon a time.
Basically the
work is done using a Braille typewriter (or could be
done using a slate and stylus). So the student puts
each step on a separate line and instead of looking at
her/his past work, reads it over using her/his
fingers.
Simple enough, but the bad part comes in things like
doing arithmetic that requires carrying or cancelling
out like terms. Then the student has to use the
typewriter to scroll up and down.
Also, if you make
a mistake, there's no eraser :)
Once she did
this I figured out why she doesn't like math very
much.
She is doing well for those of you who
care. We celebrated ten months of being
together.
Shawn