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Techniques For Teaching Williams People To Touch Type On The Computer
After years of being discouraged by high school teachers and professional counselors, in late January of 1997 I started to teach our 42 year-old Williams daughter, Gloria, touch typing. Over the next five months I worked with her and developed some teaching techniques which helped her improve greatly. By July, 1997, she had learned to touch type with an accuracy of 97-98% and between 14-19 words per minute. Many parents have been encouraged upon learning of Gloria's rapid progress and have asked me to describe in detail the methods I found successful. Because this is a continuing process and it may take years before Gloria will have mastered typing and word processing, I decided to describe the methods that have worked to date. First of all: (1) Yes, Williams people can become effective at touch typing (that is, typing without looking at the keys); (2) They should begin touch typing from the outset; (3) By typing school assignments they may be able to compensate for their generally poor hand writing and submit more legible papers and homework in their classes.(4) By becoming acceptable typists, they may qualify for employment that will get them out of the customary jobs that require little skill or challenge, such as custodial work or washing dishes. This resource article deals specifically with: (1) fundamentals for parents teaching touch typing to their Williams child; (2) techniques for helping your child learn to type without looking at the keys; (3) how to solve specific problems: (4) using computer programs; (5) problems which will take longer to solve: (6) benefits and incentives for your child. To receive a hard copy of this Resource Pamphlet, send $3.00 to the Williams Syndrome Association, PO Box 297, Clawson, Michigan 48017-0297.
Dr. Lenhoff, Professor of Biological and Social Sciences Emeritus, University of California, Irvine, has served on the Board of the Williams Syndrome Association, is Executive Vice President of the Williams Syndrome Foundation, and is Co-organizer of the WS Music and Arts Camp at Belvoir Terrace. |
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Please send mail to williamssyndrome@insightbb.com with questions or comments about this web site.For additional information about Williams syndrome, please send an e-mail to hlenhoff@uci.edu.For contact with other Williams syndrome families --In the USA: please send e-mail to info@williams-syndrome.orgOutside the USA:
please visit our
International Williams Syndrome Support Groups page for
contact information.
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