Braille Literacy: Lessons from a Right-Handed World

Are you right-handed?  Most of us are, and – fromto struggle with print, even admonish them for not
the cashier's station at the check out line of ourapplying themselves.  The kids have no free time for
grocery store to the good pair of scissors we got foranything, because it takes them so long to do their
Christmas -- our world is designed with the right handhomework.  As they grow up, they fall further and
in mind.  We don't think twice about sitting in thosefurther behind academically and socially, and the
chairs with the arm rest/writing surface on the right orparents and professionals accept it all as inevitable
about the piano, which requires a person to play thebecause they don't really believe a blind person can
more complicated melody with the right hand while thesucceed."
left takes a supportive and usually simpler part. Another issue with the TVIs is their familiarity with
Years ago, parents and teachers forced left-handedBraille.  Even in the specialized Masters programs for
children to use their right hands in order to avoid theTVIs, they have only a few months of Braille
stigma which accompanied left-handedness – ainstruction.  Since only ten percent of blind children are
practice abandoned when it became clear that thistaught Braille, the TVI may not teach braille for years
was doing more harm than good.  Today, with a leftieat a time.  They simply don't remember Braille, and
in the White House and consumer choices that allowthey know that they will have to re-educate
the southpaws among us to do it their own way,themselves, if they recommend it.  Also, they are
left-handedness is not the obstacle to living a normalrarely familiar with the two-handed method for reading
life which it once was.Braille which results in much higher reading speeds.  In
"I'm left-handed," says Carlton Anne Cook Walkerthis method, the left hand reads the first half of the line
(McConnellsburg, PA), "I could probably learn to doand then jumps to the next line while the right hand
some things right-handed.  But, I would never functionfinishes.
as well as a right-handed person does.  Despite theWhen Braille is taught, the students rarely get more
fact that the world is set up for right-handed people, Ithan a few hours of instruction per week, and many
do better in that world as a left-handed person than Ido not get daily instruction in Braille.  Walker sees an
would if I tried to be right-handed."ironic contradiction in this.
A similar situation currently exists with vision.  It's a"It's strange," she muses, "On one hand, they don't think
sighted world, but some of us have either lost or neverblind kids have much potential, and on the other, when
had sufficient vision to read.  Nonetheless, thethey do teach them Braille, they expect the blind child
common practice is to force children with low visionto get by with far fewer hours of Braille reading
– even many who are legally blind – to struggleinstruction than they expect the sighted children to
with print.  Walker, an attorney and mother of a legallyneed in print reading.  And, the sighted kids have
blind nine-year-old, volunteers as an advocate forincidental reading instruction all over the place –
children with low or no vision and their parents, helpingsigns, labels, tee shirts and so on -- while the blind child
them determine the best approach to their children'shas none of that re-enforcement for Braille."
education.In Pennsylvania, where the Walkers live, the available
"The system is broken," says Walker, who is presidentnational certification in literary Braille is not required. 
of the Pennsylvania Organization of Parents of BlindThe Pennsylvania Parents of Blind Children (PaPoBC),
Children (PaPoBC), "I've never met one educator whowhich is part of the National Organization of Parents
has bad intentions, but there is so much fear – fearof Blind Children (NOPBC), a division of the National
of both blindness and Braille.  They are inclined toFederation of the Blind (NFB) is trying to change that:
equate blindness with cognitive loss.  Part of theThe unions, however, have fought it, saying that the
problem is that the educators are not familiar withTVIs are already certified and should not be forced to
blindness.  Since blindness is a low incidence disability,meet additional certification standards.  Walker would
they don't get much experience with real blind people."like teachers of what she calls "non-visual skills" to be
In sorting out what is happening to these kids, Walkerrecruited from can-do disciplines like the sciences and
advises that we keep two things in mind.  First, theremath.  They would be educated and certified in
are all degrees of vision loss.  Vision is used for manynon-visual skills exclusively.
varied and complicated tasks from reading and looking"My daughter, Anna," Walker continues, "can read large
at pictures, maps and graphs to recognizing faces,print for about five or ten minutes.  After that, she
walking or running on different surfaces and functioninggets painful headaches and can't do much of anything
in areas of low or changing light. Since a givenfor over an hour."
condition will affect different people differently, optimalMany children are in this situation.  They have some
strategies must take into account these subtlesight and because they are not totally blind, schools
variations.  That brings us to the second point.  Therecommend against and often refuse to teach them
law requires that school districts provide students withBraille.  The alternatives – large print, magnification
an “individualized education plan” (IEP).  Earlyand closed circuit television (CCTV) -- suffice as
grades don't test for reading speed and make theadaptations.  Reading this way rarely results in a child
comparisons that a child with a certain intellect is notbeing able to read print as quickly and with the
reading at the rate of their sighted peers, so it is easycomprehension with which their fully sighted intellectual
for a child with normal intelligence who has a severepeers read regular print.  Low vision students spend
vision loss to get stuck in an environment where theyhours doing simple elementary-level homework.  This
are either considered to be cognitively challenged orleaves them no time for reading for pleasure, no time
under-achievers.for hanging out with their friends and no time for
Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs), whoextra-curricular activities.  The lack of these things, in
generally possess degrees in special education andaddition to ongoing eye strain, cannot produce a
are assigned to low vision students, spend very littlehealthy, happy, well-adjusted person.
time with each child.  Most go from school to school"Anna Catherine is fully mainstreamed in her public
seeing over thirty and up to seventy kids.  They don'telementary school," says Walker, "and Braille is the
get to observe how the child is interacting with theirreason."
peers, changing class or dealing with maps, picturesAnna is the 2009 second/third-grade first place winner
and other things.  The people who are in a position toin the "Braille Readers are Leaders" contest.  She
observe these things are the aides, hired to stay withreceived $50, a certificate of merit and an
the child.  These people are generally low paid highall-expenses paid trip for herself and her mother to the
school graduates.  They have limited experience withNFB's national convention in Detroit in July.  The
blind people and their capabilities, and they have littlecontest is part of the NFB's "Braille Readers are
expectation of the child succeeding in life.Leaders" campaign:
This, however, is just the beginning of the problem. The campaign seeks to double the number of blind
Not only can't the aides recognize the signs that a childstudents learning Braille by 2015. 
is falling behind where they should be based on theirCongress recognized the importance of this issue in
intellect, they inhibit the very thing that mainstreaming isauthorizing the Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar,
supposed to accomplish – the integration of the childreleased in March.  The campaign will receive
into the general society.matching funds of $10 for every coin sold this year up
"Too many of them hover over the kids," says Walker,to $4 million.  Contact the US Mint, 1-800-USA-Mint
"They allow the child to depend on them instead of(872-6468) or visit:
encouraging the child to do things for himself orCarlton credits the National Federation of the Blind for
herself.  They are usually so physically close to thehelping her turn Anna's life around.  As a
student that other children in the class don't interactthree-year-old, Anna was able to compete using large
with their classmate, but talk to the aide instead,block letters.  But reading gets more complicated as a
denying the child irreplaceable opportunities to developchild progresses through school.  Walker, who had to
social skills and the feeling of belonging."battle with Anna's school to get them to take Anna
Her suggestion is that aides, or more appropriatelyand Braille seriously, learned early on that the common
paraprofessionals, be trained to read and write Braillerecommendation for kids who can no longer read
so that they can Braille classroom materials for thelarge print is recorded books. 
student and translate the student's Braille into print forAudio books, however, are no substitute for Braille. 
the teacher to grade.Walker had this message driven home to her once
"That would give them something productive to do. when she met a blind teenager who had never
They should be at least ten feet away from thelearned Braille and was using recorded books.  The
student," Walker says, "That would be enough to allowteen was shocked to learn that "Once upon a time" is
for more peer interaction.  Too often, the studentnot all one word.  Braille shows spelling, punctuation
ends up having an adult aide as a best friend."and sentence structure just as print does.
Large caseloads are not the only problem with the"If audio books were good enough for everybody,"
TVIs themselves.  According to Walker, many don'tasks Walker, "why do we spend millions of dollars
hold out much hope for blind kids to be successful,teaching sighted children to read print?"
independent adults, and there is a pervasive loathingThe fact is that listening to books is not good enough
fear of Braille.  Parents, who assume teachers arefor everybody, and it shouldn't be good enough for
the experts, are unlikely to know any blind peopleanybody with another option.  Listening to stories was
personally, so they don't realize that there are blindwhat humans, regardless of their vision, did in the days
lawyers, engineers, chemists, doctors, journalists,before writing was developed.  The definition of
teachers, and so on.  They aren't told that, althoughliteracy is the ability to read and "write" in a given
less than ten percent of blind people read Braille, of thelanguage and is inexorably connected to the mastery
mere thirty percent of working-age blind Americansof spelling and syntax.  It presupposes the existence
who are employed, ninety percent are Braille readers. of a symbolic representation of the spoken word. 
"Braille is considered failure," Walker says of the TVIs,For blind and low vision people, Braille is that
"their training is to find some way for the children torepresentation, and no other alternative exists which
read print, to remain "normal."  No one wants theirhas the power to give true literacy to non-print
child to be blind, so many parents will allow their childrenreaders.