People sometimes ask if it would be easier to use raised print alphabet letters, rather than dots. The fact is that raised print letters were tried in the early 1800s before braille was invented. However, these letters were very difficult to read by touch, and writing them was even more of a problem.

If you ever see an experienced reader's fingers gliding across a page of braille, you will appreciate the genius of the simple six-dot system. Braille can be read and written with ease by both children and adults. It is truly an invention that is here to stay.

Louis Braille (1809-1852), a blind French man, whose work changed the world of reading and writing forever.

Louis was from a small town called Coupvray, near Paris. Louis became blind by accident, when he was 3 years old. Deep in his Dad's harness workshop, Louis tried to be like his Dad, but it went very wrong; he grabbed an awl, a sharp tool for making holes, and the tool slid and hurt his eye. The wound got infected, and the infection spread, and soon, Louis was blind in both eyes.

All of a sudden, Louis needed a new way to learn. He stayed at his old school for two more years, but he couldn't learn everything just by listening. Things were looking up when Louis got a scholarship to the Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris, when he was 10. But even there, most of the teachers just talked at the students. The library had 14 huge books with raised letters that were very hard to read. Louis was impatient.

Then in 1821, a former soldier named Charles Barbier visited the school. Barbier shared his invention called "night writing," a code of 12 raised dots that let soldiers share top-secret information on the battlefield without even having to speak. Unfortunately, the code was too hard for the soldiers, but not for 12-year-old Louis.

Louis trimmed Barbier's 12 dots into 6, ironed out the system by the time he was 15, then published the first-ever braille book in 1829. In 1837, he added symbols for math and music. But since the public was skeptical, blind students had to study braille on their own. Even at the Royal Institution, where Louis taught after he graduated, braille wasn't taught until after his death. Braille began to spread worldwide in 1868, when a group of British men, now known as the Royal National Institute for the Blind, took up the cause.

Now practically every country in the world uses braille. Braille books have double-sided pages, which saves a lot of space. Braille signs help blind people get around in public spaces. And, most important, blind people can communicate independently, without needing print. Louis proved that if you have the motivation, you can do incredible things.

Also, Louis Braille's code for reading wasn't adopted by the school where he taught until eight years before he died. France didn't officially adopt Braille's system until two years after he died. It wasn't until 1890 that the countries started to adopt it worldwide. Louis Braille really became more famous after his death.

1. Slate and Stylus
   The slate and stylus are inexpensive, portable tools used to write braille - just the way paper and pencil are used for writing print. Slates are made of two flat pieces of metal or plastic held together by a hinge at one end. The slate opens up to hold paper. The top part has rows of openings that are the same shape and size as a braille cell. The back part has rows of indentations in the size and shape of braille cells. The stylus is a pointed piece of metal with a plastic or wooden handle. The stylus is used to punch or emboss the braille dots onto the paper held in the slate. The indentations in the slate prevent the stylus from punching a hole in the paper when the dots are embossed. Slates and styluses come in many shapes and sizes.
2. Braille Displays
   A braille display is a device that has a row of special "soft" cells made of plastic or metal pins. The pins are controlled by a computer and move up or down to display, in braille, the characters that appear on the computer screen. This type of braille is said to be "refreshable," because it changes as the user moves around on the screen. The braille display usually sits under the computer keyboard.
3. Electronic Braille Notetakers
   Electronic braille notetakers are portable devices with braille keyboards that braille readers can use to enter information. The text stored in these devices can be read with a built-in braille display or the device can read aloud with a synthesized voice. These devices are handy for taking notes in class, and often have built-in address books, calculators, and calendars.
4. Braille Printers (Embossers)
   Braille printers are devices connected to a computer that do the actual embossing of braille onto thick (heavyweight) paper. They work like a regular computer printer does, in that the user can print out letters, reports, and other files from the computer.
5. Braillewriters
   The mechanical braillewriter works a little bit like a typewriter. It has six keys—one for each dot in a braille cell—a space bar, a backspace key, a carriage return, and a line feed key. The braillewriter uses heavyweight paper (just like the braille printer) but it doesn't need any electricity to work.

Teaching braille to young blind students is more than just teaching them the meanings of the braille symbols. Young blind children learn to read using braille just as young sighted children learn to read using print. Both blind and sighted children are learning the meanings of symbolic representations (print and braille characters) and how those representations form words, sentences, paragraphs, etc., which when put together communicate a unique message.

 

Many teaching methods which work for sighted children can also work for blind children, possibly with some modifications. Choosing the method or combination of methods which best suits the student's needs is critical to the student's success in learning to read. It is intended to serve as a starting point for beginning teachers or for parents who wish to teach their blind children how to read using braille.

There are twelve thinking processes involved in reading:

1. to discover the main theme with supportive ideas
2. to recognize a sequence of events or developments
3. to predict Outcomes and anticipate reactions
4. to retain details from material of high concept density
5. to recognize stated or implied cause and effect
6. to recognize pivotal words that are cues to sequence, contrast, cause, and effect
7. to distinguish between fact and Opinion
8. to appreciate shades of meaning expressed by various words
9. to assess values and exercise judgment
10. to evaluate the source of information
11. to adjust the pattern of listening and thinking to the type of material and to the listening purpose
12. to select and summarize material pertinent to the listening purpose
    These processes are essential to building an understanding of what is being read. Reading activities should help the child develop skills in using these processes.

During recent years, methods of reading instruction have become more student-centered, fostering not only knowledge and ability but also independence. It is vital for students to have a strong knowledge base when they begin to learn to read. Children who do not have a strong knowledge of the environment and concepts about print will experience reading problems which may endure. These include comprehension problems, decoding problems, and problems with vocabulary. Blind children may have deficits in concept development because of their inability to observe the same things naturally that their sighted peers observe. Addressing these areas during the emergent literacy or during remediation is crucial.

Several factors influence the teaching of reading in Braille. Some things to remember when planning instructional strategies include:

1. The individual cell, rather than the whole word, is usually considered to be the perceptual unit.
2. The shape or arrangement of dots, not the number of dots, is critical to recognition of the Braille character.
3. Braille readers use a synthetic approach--that is, they must recognize individual characters in a series, remember them, and then integrate them to read the whole word.
4. Context and syntax clues are helpful for familiar material. Phonetic and structural analysis are better for difficult material.
5. Reading rates may or may not be slower than those of print readers.
   It is also important to take into account any emotional factors or aspects of the environment which may be influencing the child's ability or willingness to read. Children who are depressed may use reading as an escape; on the other hand, they may experience difficulty because of low self-esteem. Children whose families have positive attitudes and realistically high expectations will be more likely to thrive and enjoy reading.

1. The Basal Reader
   The basal reader has traditionally been the most popular teaching method, and many visually impaired students have grown up using the same basal readers as their classmates. The advantage of the basal reader is its sequential presentation of skills. The disadvantages for the blind student are its heavy reliance on pictures and its lack of consideration of difficulty of braille contractions.
2. Patterns
   The Primary Braille Program was developed by the American Printing House for the Blind to present the elements of the Braille code and reading skills in a sequential manner which is focused on the experience and needs of blind students. It is designed to function alone as a method of teaching reading in braille to blind children; however, parts of it may be used in combination with other approaches.
   Patterns clearly have the advantage of being appropriate for the blind student. It has several disadvantages if used as the only approach to teaching reading. It requires the teacher of visually impaired students to be available on a daily basis. It may require that the blind student be separated from his/her classmates for reading instruction. In addition, access to recreational reading material is limited during the learning process because of the gradual introduction of contractions. Some children who are highly motivated might do better with an immersion approach to Grade II Braille.
3. Whole Language
   The whole language method is becoming more popular. It involves less use of the basal reader and more use of real literature. It takes advantage of naturally occurring learning experiences. Students are encouraged to read independently and respond to their reading in various ways, including writing and speaking. The teacher may use materials spontaneously to teach new words. Students are encouraged to share their writing with each other for evaluation. When a teacher of the visually impaired or classroom aide who is familiar with braille and the needs of the blind student is available throughout the day, the blind child can be integrated into a regular whole language classroom. The disadvantages of the whole language approach involve the use of pictures and the inaccessibility of materials. Technology can be used to make materials accessible more quickly if it is available.
   The whole language approach requires a considerable amount of time on the part of the teacher of visually impaired students to prepare materials and spend time in the classroom with the student, but teachers who use this approach feel very comfortable with their knowledge of their students' reading and writing abilities.
4. Language Experience
   The language experience approach is an approach in which the student's own language and experiences are used to create meaningful reading material. This approach allows the student to observe how writing is produced and to read words with which he/she is familiar.
   The steps involved in producing a language experience story are:
   1. Give the child an experience that provides the content for the story.
   2. Have the children describe the experience orally.
   3. Transcribe the student's oral language.
   4. Help the student read what was transcribed.
      The advantage of this approach is that it helps children to understand that print is "talk written down". It is often used with younger students before they begin to use Patterns or one of the other approaches or in combination with another approach.

Braille is becoming an increasingly accepted option for students with low vision, especially those who rely on extremely large print. Many of these students are learning to use both media and to make choices about which is best for a given situation. Teaching Braille to students with low vision successfully depends a great deal on the teacher, parents, and student having a positive attitude about Braille. It is important that Braille not be viewed as a symbol of weakness or as "just for blind people" but that as a tool which can empower people in situations when the use of large print is cumbersome or impractical.

It is important to use methods and materials which motivate students with low vision to learn Braille. These methods and materials may include Braille menus and schedules, reading material which is relevant and of interest to the child, and correspondence with a pen pal.

It is important to encourage students with low vision not to "peek" at the dots. Many will try to read the Braille visually. This contributes to much slower reading. It is recommended to use sleepshades to discourage peeking.

Psychological factors may also affect the progress of students with low vision in learning to read braille. Exposure to blind people who use braille efficiently may help to alleviate some of the fears and negative attitudes associated with braille.

Students with low vision may or may not need instruction in the reading process, depending on their prior success with visual reading. Students who have been successful in visual reading may need only to learn the braille code as a means of reading.

Encouraging family members to learn Braille is another way of reinforcing students' motivation to learn. The ability to read and write Braille provides family members the opportunity to assist students with their schoolwork as well as to correspond when they are away from home. It also demonstrates to the student that Braille is important enough for family members to learn it and is therefore worth using.

Mentoring is another way of encouraging students during the process of learning to read in Braille. Exposure to a blind adult who uses Braille regularly shows the student that Braille is normal and a respectable and efficient method of reading.