Teaching children with sight about Braille.

By teaching Braille to sighted children, teachers can propagate a more positive view of blind-children who learn about Braille realize its importance as a means of communication in the blind community. As Kevin, a sighted 3rd-grader who had learned about Braille, said, "I have been making dots on the paper in the correct form of the Braille dots and have been sending secret messages to my friends. Blind people are capable just like us."

Classroom teachers can also benefit from learning about Braille. If they do so, they will be better prepared when a youngster with a visual impairment is included in their classroom. Although classroom teachers are not expected to teach Braille to visually impaired children, they should be able to support the work of those who do.

Disability Awareness

Teachers should sensitize their students to the special needs of children with disabilities, who are increasingly part of inclusive classrooms. Henderson (1993) points out that bias is a major barrier to the successful education and integration of children with disabilities. Disability awareness programs are a major strategy in combating such discrimination (Watson, 1984). The authors present a disability awareness approach that sensitizes sighted children to the special abilities of children without sight.

What is Braille?

In 1824 Louis Braille, a 15-year-old blind French student, developed a new system of printing and writing for the blind. He modified night writing, a dot code intended for use on ships. Braille discovered that reading dots was much faster than the old system of reading raised print letters. Despite this discovery, the Braille system was not accepted as a way for the blind to read and write for more than a century (Jernigan, 1992).

Braille is a system for making letters, numbers and punctuation marks from arrangements of dots. Visually impaired individuals can read the dots with their fingertips. The basic unit, the Braille cell, consists of 6 dots arranged in a rectangle, 3 dots high and 3 dots across. The 6 dots are referred to by number according to their position in the cell [ILLUSTRATION FOR ILLUSTRATION 1 OMITTED].

Capital letters are created by placing a cell with a dot in position 6 just before the letter to be capitalized. The first 10 letters of the alphabet represent numbers when they are preceded by a number sign, which is a cell with dots in positions 3, 4, 5 and 6. For example, number 1 is the number sign plus the letter "a," number 23 would be the number sign plus the letters "b" and "c" and number 734 would be the number sign plus the letters "g, c and d" [ILLUSTRATION FOR ILLUSTRATION 2 OMITTED].

Braille can be written mechanically and by hand. One mechanical method, the Braille writing machine, can be compared to a typewriter, although its keyboard has only 6 keys and a space bar. Pushing various combinations of keys on the Braille writer produces the dots in the Braille cell. Ordinary personal computers can convert print text to Braille with the help of Braille embossing devices and a special computer program.

Braille also can be written by hand with a slate and stylus. A writer uses the stylus to push dots down through the paper while the slate serves as a guide. Because the dots are made from the underside of the paper, writers begin at the right side of the page and end the line on the left. The slate and stylus method can be compared to using pencil and paper (Willoughby & Duffy, 1989).

Braille gives visually impaired persons access to the information and entertainment contained in books. Also, Braille provides a medium for jotting down phone numbers, writing shopping lists, keeping a calendar and doing all the things sighted individuals do with pencil and paper.

Special training is needed to teach Braille to children with visual limitations (Garcia & Harley, 1991; Gates & Kappan, 1986; Harley, 1990). Educators have developed special techniques for teaching children to read and write in Braille. These specialized techniques include using "twin vision" books, composed of both print and Braille; using a large Braille cell with removable dots and using a Braille basal reading series (Harrison, 1987; Heikkila, 1990; Holbrook & Koenig, 1992; Koenig, 1990; Swenson, 1988; Swenson, 1991; Willoughby & Duffy, 1989; Wurzbach, 1988).

Teaching Braille to Children with Sight

The authors, one sighted and one blind, spoke to a group of 3rd-grade public school students about Braille. The sighted author, Frieman, began by reading a book about a blind child. In the middle of the story, the lights were turned off, and the room was left in darkness. After Frieman complained that he could not continue reading, Maneki, his blind colleague, finished reading the book from her Braille copy. Thus, the authors dramatically demonstrated that one does not have to "see" print in order to read a book.

Maneki talked about the basic structure of Braille and, with the aid of a Braille alphabet card, helped the children to learn the Braille letters. All of the children were given their own alphabet card and enjoyed deciphering the "secret message" written in Braille on the card.

Maneki then demonstrated how to write messages and notes. She also explained how a person who is blind can label items in Braille. As a follow-up activity, the teacher provided the children with Braille books and writing devices. The children wrote messages and labeled items in the classroom.

"Blind people are the same (as us) in many ways but they cannot see," wrote Carolyn, a 3rd-grader, after participating in the activity. Many other students in the class wrote similar comments. Obviously, children who learned about Braille came to understand that blindness is a characteristic and not a handicap.

Classroom teachers can receive Braille materials from several sources, including vision teachers in their local districts. The local chapters of national organizations, such as the National Federation of the Blind, can also provide speakers and materials. Other resources are noted in the Appendix.

Start by inviting a person who is blind to teach your students the basics of Braille. Give all the children a copy of the Braille alphabet and encourage them to write messages using a Braille writer or slate and stylus. (Copies of the Braille alphabet are available from the National Federation of the Blind.)

Put Braille labels on familiar classroom items, such as desks, chalkboards and doors. Encourage children to explore their neighborhoods and note where Braille signs would be helpful. Initiate a class project wherein your children offer to place Braille labels on restaurant menus or throughout a local museum.

Finally, you could set up a letter exchange (in Braille, of course) between your class and other children or adults who are blind. Your local chapter of the National Federation of the Blind can help find appropriate Braille pen pals.

Conclusion

Blind students benefit when teachers expose all children to their unique attributes. Being identified by their classmates as having special skills helps blind children to be accepted as "normal."

Teaching sighted students about Braille can encourage a more positive view of blindness and reveal the many capabilities of blind people. Students who have been introduced to Braille are a step closer to recognizing blindness as a simple characteristic, like hair color. Placing blindness in its proper perspective makes people more tolerant of, and less biased against, people who are blind.

References

Garcia, M., & Harley, R. K. (1991). A rural program to train teachers of visually impaired children. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 85(5), 229-230.

Gates, C., & Kappan, D. I. (1986). Teacher preparation in the education of visually impaired children: A multi-competency approach. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 7(2), 24-26.

Harley, R. K. (1990). Future directions in training teachers of visually impaired. Peabody Journal of Education, 67(2), 135-143.

Harrison, F. (1987). Teaching Braille to latecomers in the 12-16 age range. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 5(2), 47-49.

Heikkila, M. (1990). Adult Braille instruction in Finland. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 84(6), 274-275.

Henderson, W. (1993). Handicapism: A barrier to the successful education of children of all abilities. Equity and Choice, 9(2), 59-60.

Holbrook, M. C., & Koenig, A. J. (1992). Teaching Braille reading to students with low vision. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 86(1), 44-48.

Jernigan, K. (Ed.). (1992). What you should know about blindness, services for the blind, and the organized blind movement. Baltimore, MD: National Federation of the Blind.

Koenig, A. J. (1990). Exploring decision-making processes for selection of appropriate reading media for individuals with visual impairments. Peabody Journal of Education, 67(2), 74-88.

Swenson, A. M. (1988). Using an integrated literacy curriculum with beginning Braille readers. Journal of Visual Impairment, 82(8), 336-338.

Swenson, A. M. (1991). A process approach to teaching Braille writing at the primary level. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 85(5), 217-221.

Watson, E. S. (1984). A model disability awareness day. Interracial Books for Children Bulletin, 15(3), 13-22.

Willoughby, D. M., & Duffy, S. L. M. (1989). Handbook for itinerant and resource teachers of blind and visually impaired students. Baltimore, MD: National Federation of the Blind.

Wurzbach, L. (1988). Teaching reading to Braille, print and aural readers. Education of the Visually Handicapped, 19(4),167-182.

Author's Note: The authors would like to thank the children of Guilford Elementary School for their help.

Barry B. Frieman is Professor, Early Childhood Education, Towson State University, Towson, Maryland. Sharon Maneki is President, National Federation of the Blind of Maryland, Baltimore.