Partners in Literacy:

Supporting Braille Instruction and Braille Readers at Home

Missy Garber and Lynne Davis Dellinger

When Madeline, age 10, goes to school each day, the primary way she accesses her fourth grade curriculum is through braille. Her textbooks are transcribed in braille, and so are her worksheets, assignments, library books, and even the school lunch menu. Sometimes she types her written work in print using a laptop with speech access software; however, most of the time she uses a braillewriter or braille notetaker to produce written work. Occasionally, she thinks about the fact that her books are larger, heavier and not full of photos and illustrations like the print books her classmates use, and she sometimes wishes that, like them, she could wow her teacher by handing in assignments in the neatest cursive handwriting possible, using what she views to be the premier tool of the sighted elementary school world, a pencil.

Because she is blind, Madeline is different in certain ways from her sighted classmates, and at school this is most apparent by her use of a special reading and writing medium. Although she differs in this very significant way from her classmates –indeed, from most of the general population –there is continuity between her use of braille at school and home, the two domains in which she spends most of her time. At school she is taught areas of the expanded core curriculum, including compensatory skills such as braille, by her teacher of the visually impaired (TVI), Lynne, and she practices and enjoys those skills at home with the support of her family, including a parent who is proficient in braille, Missy. Indeed, one of the key ways braille readers and their braille instruction at school can be supported outside of school is by ensuring someone at home knows braille.

Braille instruction at school

A fluent and avid braille reader, Madeline independently keeps up with her print-reading classmates as they read aloud excerpts from textbooks and novels. At school Lynne often notices Madeline reading ahead in an effort to reach the exciting conclusion of a story and sometimes catches her stealthily reading novels in her desk while a whole group lesson is taking place. However, Madeline’s reading skills and love of reading did not suddenly emerge when she started her formal elementary school education. From the time she was an infant her parents and TVI provided Madeline with opportunities to both incidentally and formally learn to develop literacy skills in the medium of braille.

Madeline was methodically introduced to letters (and, later, contractions) as well as correct braille-reading hand movements through direct instruction at school each day by Lynne (using both teacher-made materials and commercially available curricula and books). By the time she reached kindergarten Madeline knew all the letters of the braille alphabet and a number of contractions. Lynne then supplemented the reading curriculum in her half-day general education kindergarten with a commercially available braille reading curriculum. When she started first grade, Madeline, who is held to the same expectations regarding literacy development as her sighted peers, had solid skills in character recognition and efficient hand movements. She was well prepared to learn new braille contractions as they appeared in the general education curriculum.

Because Lynne and Missy communicated on a regular basis about Madeline’s developing braille skills, Missy was able to see what skill Madeline was currently learning as well convey back to Lynne what was observed at home when the skills were practiced. The caregiver’s insight, when shared with the TVI, strengthened the learning environment in school and the relationships between the child, parents and teachers.

Braille at home

In addition to the high-quality educational services Madeline received to teach her this special skill, another reason why braille literacy developed so naturally for her was the continuity between the formal braille instruction received at school and the reinforcement of braille conceptsat home.

Caregivers may feel intimidated by braille and avoid learning it because they think it will be too difficult and time-consuming. However, print-reading caregivers who feel this way should be reassured to know there are several resources available to help them learn braille (see below); they will not need to learn to read it tactually with their fingers, but with their vision; and they can pace their learning so they stay just one or two steps ahead of their child.Learning braille readily lends itself to the principle “a little bit each day,” a principle not impossible to squeeze into the busy schedules most families already have. Although the thought of learning braille might be daunting to a parent, the academic and emotional advantages to a child of having a braille-proficient adult as a resource outside of school make the challenge more than worthwhile.

When someone in a child’s home is familiar with braille, as was the case with Madeline, this knowledge can be used to create a home environment that is rich in the child’s reading medium, ideally from as early as infancy. Appliances, CDs, storage bins, and boxes of cereal, for example, can be labeled in braille for the child to at first notice and later to read. A child’s favorite books and games can be adapted so they are more interesting and understandable by touch, including adapting them with braille. When an adult at home is comfortable with braille, the adult might model its use as a literacy tool by creating grocery lists, recipes, and notes. Unlike school, where the use of braille might take place during lessons and for academic tasks, this braille reading and writing is carried out with a favorite adult and it happens in the course of daily life at home.

Teachers of children who are blind or visually impaired and those who educate them advocate for this practice of providing young children who are potential braille readers with a braille-rich environment (Swenson, 1999; Wormsley & D’Andrea, 1997). One reason underlying the practice is that an environment full of the child’s reading medium helps approximate the early literacy experiences of young sighted children, that is, experiences of being inundated with literacy symbols as well as incidental observations of others engaged in literacy-related activities.

The benefits to a child living in a home plentiful in braille, however, extend far beyond learning early literacy concepts and pre-literacy skills. Young future braille-readers whose homes include braille are given the opportunity to experience braille as a natural, integrated part of their lives. When this environment is created and promoted by their caregivers, it conveys the message that braille is valued by the family.

A child in a braille-rich environment created by caregivers with the support of her TVI might find at home books and magazines in her reading medium. Because there are books in the home she can access, she is able to, for example, read to a younger sibling. The child might exchange notes with a caregiver in braille, and because the notes are in a literacy medium they have in common, no sighted intermediary is needed. The child can make her own Valentines and can read private notes from the tooth fairy who is, apparently, braille-literate. She might even find that Santa is a braille-reader who happens to label every family member’s presents only in braille. Braille is not limited to school; it is something she and the people she loves share.

Homework

When children learn a new skill in school they are frequently expected to practice the skill at home for homework. Braille skills should be no different. During preschool through second grade, Lynne sent home braille homework for Madeline. Depending on her age, it might have included a tactile discrimination worksheet, a braille character recognition/tracking sheet, or a comfortable story for Madeline to read with an adult at home.

Completing small amounts of braille homework each night or several times a week benefits the child and her caregiver. A homework assignment provides another opportunity each day for the child to interact with braille and also keeps the caregiver in contact with braille. As Madeline grew older, her homework from Lynne decreased but her homework in the general education curriculum increased. By that time, however, strong braille skills were in place.

When caregivers who are proficient in braille are available to oversee braille homework assignments they can reinforce the concepts and skills their child has encountered at school. They are also in a position to enhance their child’s braille instruction by taking advantage of the many teachable moments that present themselves at home: “That does feel like an F, but notice how it is lower in the cell and very close to the next word? It means ‘to.’”

In addition to the support a caregiver may provide to a child completing homework related to developing braille skills, a caregiver proficient in braille is invaluable to a school-age child who is using braille to complete homework in any subject. When Madeline has a question about some aspect of her homework, perhaps a new symbol that snuck up on her team and has not yet been taught, she does not have to wait until the next time she sees Lynne at school to get her question answered. She can ask someone at home. When the braille reader receives immediate or near immediate feedback, she can focus on the content of the assignment without being tripped up and distracted by a symbol, rule or format unique to braille.

As the general education curriculum increases in difficulty with each new grade, perhaps one of the most important benefits to having a braille resource at home is the confidence it helps instill in a braille reader, both in her knowledge of braille and her academic ability in general, especially when she encounters a braille transcription error. For materials adapted in literary braille, Madeline is most often able to use context clues to identify and compensate for transcribing errors that occasionally occur. However, in the case of math, she has no way of knowing if an “8” for example was mistakenly transcribed as a “0” in a computation problem.When a braille reader incorrectly answers a problem, an adult at home who oversees homework and is knowledgeable about braille can determine whether the mistake is the result of a transcription error, a brailling mistake, or a problem understanding an educational concept.The braille reader’s instinct about what makes sense and what does not can be solidified. It also provides her team with a clearer picture of her strengths and needs.

Although some sighted caregivers perceive, as many people do, braille to be challenging and thus best left to the realm of school and to professional educators to teach to their child, there are so many benefits to a braille-reading child when she has the support of someone at home who knows braille: detailed communication between home and school about developing skills; a home with a natural braille presence; immediate feedback about sources of confusion when braille skills are developing; productive incidental learning opportunities that occur outside of school; and solidifying confidence in abilities by verifying and working through transcription errors.

At school Madeline is surrounded by plenty of pencil-wielding print readers, which sets her apart in a very significant way. However, she is well supported there in her acquisition of braille literacy skills. At home braille is also prominent, valued, and understood. In addition to the partnering a parent and vision professional undertake to support the development of braille skills in the child they share, the child also finds that at home she has a partner in braille.

References

Swenson, A. M. (1999). Beginning with braille: Firsthand experiences with a balanced approach to literacy. NY: AFB Press.

Wormsley, D.P., & D’Andrea, F.M. (1997). Instructional strategies for braille

literacy. NY: AFB Press.

Missy Garber is mom to Molly and braille-reader, Madeline, and Director of the Professional Preparation Program for Teachers of Children with Visual and Multiple Impairments at Pennsylvania College of Optometry. She is also Co-Director of the NationalCenter for Leadership in Visual Impairment.

Lynne Davis Dellinger is a teacher of the visually impaired (TVI) and orientation and mobility instructor with over 35 years experience. She has administered rehabilitation programs for visually impaired adults and directed a multi-disciplinary low vision clinic in Georgia. She has had the pleasure of working with Madeline and her family since Madeline was 3 years old.

A Selection of Resources for Learning Braille

HadleySchool for the Blind

College/University Braille Course

Many higher education programs preparing teachers of students who are visually impaired offer online courses in braille for their students, which non-matriculated students may audit or take for credit. See the website of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired for a list of programs.

The New Programmed Instruction in Braille by Ashcroft, Sanford, & Koenig (2001)

This book presents braille in a clear, organized manner, with plenty of practice exercises and self-tests.

Supporting Braille Literacy at Home
What a Child’s TVI Can Do / What a Child’s Caregiver Can Do
Share with the child’s family resources for learning braille as well as resources for acquiring children’s books in braille.
Demonstrate for the child’s caregiver techniques for adapting books, labeling possessions, and objects in the home with braille.
Provide for the home a braille labeler, braillewriter, and other low-tech equipment and materials needed to create age-appropriate braille materials.
Assign braille homework as the child is learning to read and write braille. Communicate with caregivers ways to handle frustrations and homework mistakes.
Send home print versions of the child’s textbooks and assignments.
Make braille reading assignments fun. Play braille games; write braille stories as the child dictates (see Swenson, 1999; Wormsley & D’Andrea, 1997). / Learn to read and write braille.
Adapt and label books, games and frequently used household materials. Draw attention to braille in the home environment. Read a book to the child that is written in print and braille. Encourage the child to follow along tactually as you read.
Create and/or order braille books for home. These can be borrowed, acquired free of charge or purchased. Ask your TVI for sources.
Assist the child as he/she does braille homework. Communicate with your TVI regarding successes, frustrations and questions.
Check print text and assignments as you help your child with homework.
Take turns as you read an exciting book. Model braille reading and writing. Let your child catch you writing a grocery list in braille, a reminder note, or the braille you use to adapt items in the home.