UNEMPLOYMENT
Combat Boredom and Isolation: Inexpensive Tactile Games for People of All Ages Who Are Deaf-Blind and/or Have Hearing Problems with Low Vision
Written By: Heather Schoenwald, M.S and Stephanie Brumbaugh
June 29, 2010 Over time, we have heard the expression: “I am so bored” from various people who are Deaf-Blind or Deaf/ Hard-of-Hearing with Low Vision. Many are unable to play games with others because of their vision problems. Our solution was to establish “Deaf-Blind Game Night” at Chestnut Lane; an assisted living facility located in Gresham, Oregon; that focuses on those who are Deaf, Deaf and Blind. In order to provide games for the “Deaf-Blind Game Night” we took existing games and made them into Low Vision and Tactile versions at a lower cost. Games we had seen in Low Vision catalogs seemed too expensive and did not meet some of the visual/ tactile needs that we were concerned about. Many people have asked me, how do Deaf-Blind and/or people with Low Vision play games? Anyone, young or old, sighted, Blind, or with Low Vision can play these games. The purpose of using tactile materials is so that the person can feel the game without having to depend on whatever vision they have left. All you need is a creative mind to develop ways to make existing games tactile. At the first event, we pulled out Braille “Uno” cards, but we were surprised to discover that the Deaf-Blind and Low-Vision residents did not know Braille. Now the question is: How can we make accessible games for people who are Deaf-Blind and/or with Low Vision without using Braille? We came prepared with other tactile games that we had created: Tactile Connect 4 and Tactile Checkers. The residents really enjoyed playing the tactile games. After that first event, we began to brainstorm and came up with four other tactile games: Jenga, Mancala, Large Print Yahtzee and Tactile Bingo (The Tactile Bingo game was created by four Western Oregon University students as a class project.) All six of
Written By: Heather Schoenwald, M.S and Stephanie Brumbaugh
June 29, 2010 Over time, we have heard the expression: “I am so bored” from various people who are Deaf-Blind or Deaf/ Hard-of-Hearing with Low Vision. Many are unable to play games with others because of their vision problems. Our solution was to establish “Deaf-Blind Game Night” at Chestnut Lane; an assisted living facility located in Gresham, Oregon; that focuses on those who are Deaf, Deaf and Blind. In order to provide games for the “Deaf-Blind Game Night” we took existing games and made them into Low Vision and Tactile versions at a lower cost. Games we had seen in Low Vision catalogs seemed too expensive and did not meet some of the visual/ tactile needs that we were concerned about. Many people have asked me, how do Deaf-Blind and/or people with Low Vision play games? Anyone, young or old, sighted, Blind, or with Low Vision can play these games. The purpose of using tactile materials is so that the person can feel the game without having to depend on whatever vision they have left. All you need is a creative mind to develop ways to make existing games tactile. At the first event, we pulled out Braille “Uno” cards, but we were surprised to discover that the Deaf-Blind and Low-Vision residents did not know Braille. Now the question is: How can we make accessible games for people who are Deaf-Blind and/or with Low Vision without using Braille? We came prepared with other tactile games that we had created: Tactile Connect 4 and Tactile Checkers. The residents really enjoyed playing the tactile games. After that first event, we began to brainstorm and came up with four other tactile games: Jenga, Mancala, Large Print Yahtzee and Tactile Bingo (The Tactile Bingo game was created by four Western Oregon University students as a class project.) All six of