California Department of Education

In 2005, the Legislature required the State Board to adopt both Braille Reading and Braille
Mathematics Standards for pupils who are blind or visually impaired by June 2006.
Standards are aligned with content standards for Language Arts and Mathematics for students
who use print.
California is the first state in the nation to address the unique needs of students who use braille
for learning their state-adopted reading and mathematics content standards. This is evidence of
our (the task force) commitment to providing equal opportunity for our students.
Many daily tasks sighted persons take for granted such as using recipes to cook, measuring
wood to cut, and reading aloud to their children.
For persons who are blind, braille represents independence and equality as well as literacy-in
the workplace, in the home and in the community.
Why?
In the modern information age, questions about the continued importance of braille code as
technology has increased accessibility to information for blind individuals: text-to-talk, talk-totext, magnifying print, etc.
VOTE:
How many students in this room feel from whatever knowledge you have about visually
impaired individuals and with the use of technology, that Braille is necessarily becoming
obsolete?
The Paradox of Technology
It is often said that technology obviates the need for Braille. But literacy is the ability to read
and write. Using speech outputs and recorded books is a way for students to gain information,
but it does not teach them reading and writing skill.
Students who rely solely on listening as a means of learning find themselves deficient in areas
such as spelling and composition.
Most teachers of blind students agree that technology should be used as a supplement to
Braille rather than a replacement.
Teaching only technology to visually-impaired students is equivalent to sighted children
learning from television and radio as an alternative to learning to read; the same should be true
for learning Braille.
An impassioned Report to the Nation by the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute
on March 26, 2009 is descriptive in its title:

The Braille Literacy Crisis in America

Facing the Truth, Reversing the Trend, Empowering the Blin
The Truth about Braille
There is a crisis in Braille literacy.
There is high unemployment rate (over 70 percent) among blind adults, the high dropout rate
(40-50 percent) of blind high school students, and the lives of dependence and minimal
subsistence that blind people lead show the effects of this crisis.

In contrast:
Blind people who know the Braille code and use it regularly find success, independence and
productivity.
Braille was correlated with a higher educational level, a higher likelihood of employment and a
higher income level.
Consider this:
A good education is the key to success, and every American deserves an equal opportunity to
receive a good education. Inherent to being educated is being literate. The ability to read and
write means access to information that in turn, leads to understanding and knowledge. And
knowledge is power-the power to achieve, function in the family, thrive in the community,
succeed in a job, and contribute to society.(National Federation of the Blind)
Sound familiar?
But
Nearly 90 percent of Americas blind children are not learning to read and write because they
are not being taught Braille or given access to it.

In the writings of people who are blind: the literacy braille code has been called
The means of emancipation, the greatest gift to the blind. (Eldridge, 1979, p.331)
A viable equivalent of the print mediahighly flexible and adaptable. (Stephens, 1989,
p.288)
This marvelous vehicle..holds the key to genuine literacy and independence. (Napier,
1988, p.14)

Regarding employment among individuals who are blind reveals that braille use has a high
correlation with employment (Ryles)
Most disciplines accept that the primary indicators of socioeconomic status in the society are
employment and education leading to self-sufficiency. (NFB)
In a study by Dr. Ruby Ryles of Braille readers verses print readers, she revealed that those who
were taught Braille from the beginning had higher employment rates, were better educated
and more financially self-sufficient and spent more time reading than the print users.
The Braille-reading group had significantly stronger reading habits than the print group,
including more hours in a week spent on reading activities, reading more books and subscribing
to more magazines.
Thirty percent of the Braille group had an advanced degree compared to only 13 percent of the
print group, with only the Braille group having many individuals with doctoral degrees.

Dr. Ryless research on the education and employment outcomes for Braille readers, combined
with the differences in confidence, self-efficacy, and reported independence of Braille reader,
suggests that Braille is extremely valuable for those blind people who learn and use Braille in
their lives. The results of this study suggest that teaching Braille as an original primary reading
medium to children with low vision may encourage them to develop the positive lifelong habit
of reading as adults, enhance their later employment opportunities and increase the possibility
of financial independence. (1)

Society would never accept a 10 percent literacy rate among sighted children: it should not accept
such and outrageously low literacy rate among the blind. (NFB)
Schools not doing a good job of teaching children to read and write are correctly seen as failing
schools. Yet, for thousands of children across the United States, it is considered acceptable to fail
to teach them to read and write, these children are blind, and they are not learning to read and
write because they are not being taught Braille.

What does this mean for teachers?

Back to the problem. The rise in new technology has put into question the need for visually
impaired students to learn Braille. The decrease in Braille literacy also goes hand in hand with
the movement for inclusion of individuals with disabilities into public school classrooms.
It is easier for regular education teachers to use recorded materials.

In this age of technology, it is not surprising that we forget about Braille as an option for visually
impaired students.
We forget being literate without the aid of machines for magnifying, listening or translating has
great value into the future of the visually impaired.
Other factors:
The teacher crisis: There is a shortage of teachers who are qualified to teach Braille and Braille
methods.
Misconception: Braille isolates and stigmatizes students from peers who read print. Braille is
always slower than reading print and difficult to learn. Low expectations of blind students.
Low vision children: parents battling with school administrators to get Braille instruction for
children with low vision because they cannot read efficiently even with magnification.
Population: a rise in the number of blind children with additional disabilities who are
nonreaders.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act mandates that the teams who help to write
educational plans for student with disabilities presume that all blind children should be taught
Braille unless it is determined to be inappropriate.
But there is controversy about Braille being only one tool among many that allows blind people
to operate at a high degree of proficiency, when performing multiple tasks. Yet, some
educators argue that a choice has to be made between teaching print or Braille to low vision
readers leaving parents confused about the best course of action.

Advances in technology have made Braille more available than it ever was in the past. Here is a
video that will show how important and accessible the social and literate world is for the blind
person who knows Braille.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd10syL5RLY

Teaching students who are visually impaired

Issues of Concern Obstacles to the implementation of the standards.
Time for instruction: Children learning the braille code have at least as much direct instructional
time in this literacy medium as children learning print have. Many times there is not sufficient
access to a teacher knowledgeable in braille code and how to teach it.

Attitudes: Some believe braille is a second-class medium unable to provide the same access as
print provides and can lead to decisions to substitutes less efficient reading media and devices.
Service delivery: Children who are blind are served by itinerant teachers who travel from school
to school serving children in their home schools. This means the children have fewer
opportunities in their daily lives to interact with the braille code, unlike sighted children who
are frequently immersed in a print-friendly environment.
Teacher training: Teachers of children who are blind need access to ongoing in-service training
to enhance and refresh their university preparation activities.
Technology: Some people incorrectly believe that talking computers and audiotape can replace
braille.
Age of onset of blindness: Children become blind at different times in their lives and may need
beginning braille literacy at any age or grade level. This provides added challenges for students
and teachers.
Inconsistency of methodologies: There is a debate regarding the best way to teach braille and
when and how to introduce contracted braille to students.
Braille productions standards: The quality of braille materials vary widely. Children who are
blind deserve the same quality of materials as do print-reading children.

Teaching children who are visually impairedwhat to expect

Eighty percent of information that most children take in is through vision. (Hill & Blasch, 1980)
For visually impaired children, they must be exposed to the world around them in ways that will
enable them to learn about the world through senses other than vision; ears, fingers, skin,
noses, mouths and movements.
Because of this difference in their learning, children who are visually impaired will develop
concepts of the world that are not the same as their peers.
Care must be taken that visually impaired children learn to integrate their world so that
confusion and misunderstandings do not arise that would lead to later difficulties in all areas of
learning.
Other differences in Learning for Visually Impaired Students

Learning without sight takes more time-children need time to explore objects physically that
sighted children can take in at a glance.
Need help integrating what they experience tactually with what they hear, smell and taste.

One-on-one time with an adult to learn names of objects, understand terms of movements, and
acquire names for everything significant in their world.
(For reasons not wholly understood, many blind and visually impaired children have tactual
defensiveness an unwillingness to use their hands for exploration which must be overcome
through patience.)
Children may learn to tune out much of the language they hear because it is based on what the
speakers have seen.
Learning Environment for Visually Impaired Students
*Organized, structured and predictable
*Emphasizes hands-on experiences, activities that promote explorations and interactions
that
nurture independence and relationships with peers.
*Calm and uncluttered-teacher can inform student upon changes ahead of time if possible,
fire drill, etc.
*Braille labels on object where incidental print is found, braille books on shelves, and braille
labels on personal items.
*Seating: preferred seating in front and maybe to the side depending on vision, glare.
*A place for equipment-special computers, cane, books with large print or braille.
*Daily Schedule in braille or enlarged print for student to know when and where he will be
throughout the day.
*Orientation and mobility: show student around classroom (keep isles clear and drawers
closed), to personal equipment, to bathroom, to playground.
Dos

Use words: look, see, watch

Use students name when calling on him
Read out loud what you write on the board
Encourage independence
Avoid saying here or there because that might not be enough information
Provide extra time for reading (braille) or tactile exploration
Provide extra storage for equipment
Encourage devices

Donts

Be afraid to touch but tell child first-respect students personal preference

Over protect

Worry about awkwardness- child is a child

Be afraid to require students best work
Be afraid to require good behavior
Hesitate to ask what something looks like to the child
Tolerate bad behavior

Teachers assess students with a system called the Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) which
includes more time for Braille and the Nemeth Code for Math.
Accommodations

Tests in Braille, magnified print, or large print

Response accommodations-use of brailler
Tests reviewed in braille-potential bias

Educational placement

Residential school-prevalent for children 1-4 years old so students can learn O & M. Also
school helps to train student to be independent. Local schools teach only academics.
Special class
Resource room
General education with
Itinerant teacher help

Four methods of Orientation and Mobility

Long cane-need to be trained

Guide dogs-not a popular as you think (allergies, better for an adult)
Tactile maps-raised maps
Human guides-more freedom and safety (dependent on others)