Importance of Braille Literacy
I can't over emphasize the critical importance of Braille literacy for blind children. There is too much research on how important early Braille education is for students who are blind. There is an idea among recently graduated teachers of the visually impaired that using screen readers on computers can replace the need for transcription of printed materials in to Braille. This is not too surprising when you consider how much time is involved in converting work from Braille to print for example. There are many software products that can convert printed materials to Braille but the opposite is not true. Teachers of the visually impaired still must manually transcribe the student's Braille work in to print to provide to the classroom teacher for grading. Teachers of the visually impaired in the public school districts typically are responsible for many students sometimes at different schools. This sounds nice on the surface, if the student uses the computer or iPad with a screen reader that they can produce the same work and eliminate the complicated process of transcribing which frees the teacher of the visually impaired to use their time for other instructional tasks. The problem is that lacking Braille instruction does not provide the student the ability to develop critical concepts such as spelling, punctuation and document formatting. The mastery of these skills are good indicators of how well students will perform on standard state assessment exams that measure reading, vocabulary, comprehension and writing. If you want your student or your sons or daughters to achieve their potential in an academic and later a professional setting, ensure they are receiving Braille instruction as much as possible. Some technologies exist that can help bridge the gap between Braille reading and writing and producing print work for a classroom teacher. Tools like the BrailleNote from HumanWare or the Perkins SmartBrailler can provide the student the opportunity to learn Braille using a more modern process. Still not convinced? Below find some statistics and some good research studies that demonstrate the value of Braille literacy for students who are blind.
- AFB conducted a study in 1960 of school-aged blind children.
- 50% were Braille readers.
- In 1973 congress passed the rehabilitation act.
- This moved the majority of school-aged blind children out of schools for the blind and in to the mainstream classroom.
- Most districts do not have the funding to provide continuing Braille training for the teachers of the visually impaired who are tasked with teaching Braille "reading and writing "to the blind student.
- Because of this, Braille literacy has declined sharply.
- 27 states passed legislation mandating that children who are legally blind be given the opportunity to learn Braille equally to the non-disabled sighted student's right to be given instruction in reading and writing print and handwriting.
- In 1999, APH conducted a survey that asked for the number of Braille literate K-12 students across the United States.
- The survey results showed a Braille literacy rate of 10% for K-12 students.
- Early Braille education is crucial to literacy for a visually impaired child. A study conducted in the state of Washington found that people who learned
- Braille at an early age did just as well, if not better than their sighted peers in several areas, including vocabulary spelling and comprehension.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille_literacy
