Introduction to Learning Braille

In 2009, The National Federation for the Blind reported that fewer than 10 percent of the legally blind population of the United States can read Braille. Organizations for the blind stress the importance of Braille because it empowers visually impaired people, allowing them independence and opportunity.

Function

• Braille is used by people who are blind or visually impaired to write and read words. It is a code of raised dots formed by "cells" of up to six raised dots arranged in two parallel rows of three. A cell can represent a letter of the alphabet, number, punctuation mark or entire word, and a blind person reads these raised dots by running her fingertips over them.

Louis Braille

• The braille system of communication was invented in 1824 by Louis Braille, a blind French inventor and musician. At 15 years of age, Braille developed his code system while attending school at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris, France. After his death in 1852, Braille's code development and contributions were eventually acknowledged as a key tool for the education of the blind.

Misconceptions about Braille

• According to the National Federation for the Blind, there are several misconceptions about using braille, including that it is difficult to learn, reading it is a slow process, and that it is inferior to use braille when compared to reading print. However, it takes a blind child about the same amount of time to learn braille as a child with vision would take in learning to read. It is not any more difficult that standard reading comprehension, and when mastered, Braille can be read at hundreds of words per minute. Despite the presence of audio material, Braille is still an important tool for blind children to acquire and master reading comprehension skills like punctuation, spelling and syntax. While vision-impaired individuals are sometimes encouraged to read print if they have limited sight, braille expands their options.

Braille Systems

• There are two primary systems of Braille code, called Grade One and Grade Two. Grade One, or uncontracted Braille, is used to express every letter of every word. While this system is not used in the transcription of most reading materials, blind adults learning Braille may find this system useful for labeling.

  Grade Two, or contracted braille, is more commonly taught to children learning braille in school. It is also the standard format for transcription of reading materials as it allows for contractions and cells that indicate full words.

Teaching Methods

• There are four primary methods in teaching braille. The basal reader or standard textbook reader is one of the most common forms of literacy teaching for all new readers. The Patterns method, developed by the American Printing House for the Blind, does not contain images and is designed exclusively for the blind. The whole language method moves away from textbook learning, using real literature to encourage reading comprehension. The language method uses the student's own language and experience to create reading material.