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The Importance of Braille Literacy

A sighted child who is reading at a basic level should be able to understand common words and answer simple questions about the information presented. They should also have enough fluency to get through the material in a timely manner. Over the course of a childs education, these foundations are built upon in order to teach higher levels of math, science, and comprehension skills. Children that are blind, not only have the educational disadvantage of not being able to see, they also miss out on the very fundamental parts of early and advanced education if not provided with the necessary tools.

Braille Literacy Statistics

In 1960, 50 percent of legally blind, school-age children were able to read Braille. According to the 2007 Annual Report from the American Printing House for the Blind, there are approximately 57,696 legally blind children in the U.S. Out of those school-age children, only 10 percent use braille as their primary reading medium. There are numerous causes for the decline in Braille usage, including school budget constraints, technology advancement, and different philosophical views over how blind children should be educated. A key turning point for Braille was the passage by Congress of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which moved thousands of children from specialized schools for the blind into mainstream public schools. Because only a small percentage of public schools could afford to train and hire Braille-qualified teachers, Braille literacy has actually declined since the law took effect. Braille literacy rates have improved slightly since the bill was passed, in part because of pressure from consumers and advocacy groups that have led 27 states to pass legislation mandating that children who are legally blind be given the opportunity to learn braille.

In 1998-99 there were approximately 55,200 legally blind children, but only 5,500 of them used braille as their primary reading medium. 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 and comprehension. In the preliminary adult study, while evaluating the correlation between adult literacy skills and employment, it was found that 44 percent of the participants who had learned to read in Braille were unemployed, compared to the 77 percent unemployment rate of those who had learned to read using print. Currently, among the estimated 85,000 blind adults in the United States, 90 percent of those who are braille literate are employed. Among adults who do not know Braille, only 1 in 3 is employed. Statistically, history has proven that braille reading proficiency provides an essential skill set that allows visually impaired children not only to compete with their sighted peers in a school environment, but also later in life as they enter the workforce.

Braille Literacy Programs

NLS Braille Certification Program

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) of the Library of Congress has contracted with the National Federation of the Blind(NFB)to offer a certificate of proficiency for braille transcribers and proofreaders that are interested in working in their communities to produce Braille materials for blind people. Certified Braille volunteers transcribe material into Braille that is used by state departments of special education, NLS, and libraries that distribute books and magazines through the NLS program. These volunteers complete a detailed course of Braille transcribing and provide essential materials in the advancement of Braille literacy.

The NLS also offers a broad range of Braille literacy information and resources including braille books, software, and other material intended to assist with the production of braille. This information can be very helpful for family members, friends, and professionals who desire information about braille literacy. They also provide educational resources for instructors who teach braille as well as those who are interested in learning to read and write braille.

Dots for Tots

The Dots for Tots program aims to engage and strengthen the senses of a visually impaired child. This is important to get them prepared for reading and interested in literacy. The free program offers free books and kits that are meant to promote literacy among blind children of preschool and early elementary age. The dots in this program are very important and parallel with the literacy requirements of a sighted child learning their ABC's. It also helps grab a blind child's interest in the same way that a picture book encourages literacy for a sighted child. The program also equips schools and educators with the tools necessary to ensure that children that are blind receive the same quality of education that their sited peers do. It helps remove the educational barriers as well as easing the fears of facing school with a handicap which many children have.

This program provides visually impaired children with books that have been printed in Braille. Children are able to follow along with the the rest of their classmates when reading popular children's books in libraries, at home, or in a school environment. Dots for Tots provide an entire book kit that includes the children's book in braille, a tape with a professional descriptive narration with sound effects, and a set of three-dimensional toys that allow them to understand the importance of visualizing stories with their fingers.

Connecting the Dots

The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) offers this resource for parents to promote early Braille Literacy. The program provides a folder containing fact sheets about braille and resource lists and also includes information for parents about braille, organizations that promote braille literacy, sources of braille books and magazines, adapted materials, and other information intended to promote literacy development.

Instant Access to Braille

The Instant Access to Braille program, supported through US Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs CFDA 84.00327A, provides blind and visually impaired students with access to learning materials in braille to support braille literacy efforts in general education classrooms. This program provides portable braille note-taking devices to students in order to train students as well as assist educators, parents, and school administrators overcome the barriers of teaching special needs children and ensuring that students recieve the equivalent education opportunities that sighted children receive. The program also provides assistance with converting their printed learning materials into electronic format so that visually impaired students are not at disadvantaged in the school environment.

The Instant Access program is intended to assist students in grades 3-10 that use New York State curriculum and is focused on academics related mainly to Social Studies. There is no charge for the Braille note-taking devices, disk drives, printers or setup of the equipment. The program is a one-year school-based project and can be adjusted in order to take full advantage of features that will benefit the student and support the educational process.

Braille Challenge®

The Braille Challenge® is an annual two-stage Braille competition designed to motivate blind students to emphasize their study of Braille. The program parallels with the importance and educational purpose of a spelling bee for sighted children. Braille is a reading and writing method that breaks language into a code of raised dots. In the competition, students transcribe and read Braille using a device called a Perkins Brailler. Their speed and accuracy, comprehension, ability to decode charts and graphs in Braille, and spelling are all tested. There are three grades of braille:

• Grade 1, which consists of the 26 standard letters of the alphabet and punctuation.
  • This grade of braille is only used by people who are first starting to read Braille.
• Grade 2, which consists of the 26 standard letters of the alphabet, punctuation and contractions.
  • In this grade of braille contractions are used to save space. A normal Braille page cannot fit as much text as a standard printed page. Books, signs in public places, menus, and most other Braille materials are written in Grade 2 Braille.
• Grade 3, which is used only in personal letters, diaries, and notes.
  • This grade is a type of shorthand that shortens entire words to a few letters.

The Braille Challenge started locally in 2000 sponsored by Braille Institute to help encourage and promote students’ braille skills. In 2003 Braille Institute began partnering with other organizations and formed an advisory committee in order to make the Braille Challenge accessible to all kids across the United States and Canada. That year, 200 students from 28 states, and four Canadian provinces traveled to participate in the regional events, sending 55 finalists to Los Angeles to compete for the 2003 Braille Challenge title. Participation in the contest has doubled since 2003. By 2005 the institute received 775 requests for the preliminary contest, representing students from 40 states and six Canadian provinces.

In 2009, 31 blind service agencies and schools for the blind and visually impaired throughout the United States and Canada are hosting regional events. Over 500 students participated regionally in 2009, with the national top 12 scores in each of the five age groups scheduled to compete nationally at the final round held at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles on June 20th.

Regional Competitions

Blind service agencies, state schools for blind, and visually impaired children throughout the United States and Canada host Braille Challenge® regional events each year between January and mid-March. Regional events offer parent workshops, entertainment, speakers, and adaptive technology demonstrations. The regional contests give parents of blind children the opportunity to meet other blind students and parents, and also gives students the opportunity to experience performing in a live competition as well as receive acknowledgement for the hard work they put into preparing for the event. The process builds community awareness about the importance of braille literacy.

Student Participation

In order to participate, students must be registered by their teacher or attend a regional event. Teachers must fill out the forms[1]on the Braille Challenge website and register each individual student for the preliminary contest. Braille Challenge® recommends that students participate in a regional event, but if they cannot attend an event in their area, a teacher may also administer the preliminary exam for the Braille Challenge®. All Challenge contests must be administered by a teacher for the visually impaired. Packets for each student must be requested by the end of December for contestants who plan to take the Challenge individually. Regional events are held on various dates and have different deadlines for registration. A Regional Event list [2] is available online to find out about regional events that have been planned for the year.

All students are welcome to participate in the contest — however, only those tests given according to the guidelines [3]and certified by a VI teacher will be eligible to compete in the Braille Challenge® finals. Teachers must administer the contest exactly as specified in the guidelines, paying strict attention to the time allowed for each, and the equipment to be used. Teachers then collect all completed contests in an envelope and mail them to Braille Institute for scoring. Every student who completes a Preliminary Round Contest is acknowledged with a certificate and a prize.

Contest Categories and Sample Questions

The Braille Challenge® includes four categories, each lasting 50 minutes, that measure Braille reading speed and accuracy, proofreading, chart and graph reading, and reading comprehension. Competitors are divided into five age groups. Students with the top 12 scores nationally in each of the five age groups advance to the Final Round in June, held at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles. Following the final 2009 competition, an awards ceremony will be held at the Universal Hilton Hotel. The first through third place winners in each age group receive a savings bond, ranging in value from $500 for the youngest group, to $5,000 for the oldest. In addition to these prizes, Freedom Scientific has donated the latest adaptive equipment for the winners -- a pocket PC with a braille display called a PacMate.

Braille Speed and Accuracy

In this event, contestants listen to a tape-recorded story and must transcribe it into braille. Contestants are ranked from lowest to highest, based on the number of correct words (including punctuation) they transcribe from the page. A point is subtracted for each word that contains one or more mistakes, including missing or extra words. Students can download sample contest questions for each level formatted as MP3 files from the Braille Challenge website.

Braille Spelling

Contestants are asked to spell braille vocabulary words correctly. Points are earned for each correctly spelled word. Extra points are given for additionally brailling the contracted version of the word correctly. Sample contests are formatted as generic BRF files, which can be opened in any of the commonly used braille translation software programs and then output on the students own braille embosser. They can also download text versions of each of the sample contests in PDF format.

Chart and Graph Reading

Contestants read raised-line images called tactile graphs and earn points by correctly answering a series of multiple-choice questions about the content. Contestants are ranked based on the most points earned. Both Braille and text versions are available online at the Braille Challenge website.

Proofreading

Contestants read a series of braille sentences, some with grammar, punctuation or spelling errors. Contestant are asked to choose the multiple-choice option that is brailled correctly.

Reading Comprehension

Contestants read a story in braille to themselves and then answer 10 multiple-choice questions. Based on the content, contestants are ranked in order based on the number of questions they can answer correctly.