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Braille and Limited Language Skills

Jeff Weiss

Abstract: Describes how blind adults with limited language skills can learn enough braille to be able to use it for self-communication.

There are several good manuals available for teaching braille to blind adults. The Illinois Braille Series uses guide lines and extra space between lines to introduce the first ten letters of the alphabet and allows the trainee to progress all the way through contracted (Grade 2) braille and the return to normal spacing. This series provides a substantial amount of reading practice which uses vocabulary at about the seventh-grade level.

Modern Methods of Teaching Braille is a two-volume series consisting of the Kansas Braille-Reading Readiness Book by Claudell Stocker and a second volume, Braille Reading Simplified, which allows the learner to study contracted braille. The second volume of this series uses double-spacing between lines over the first 15 pages. No guide lines are used in the reading exercises in this series and supplemental reading would need to be prepared by a rehabilitation teacher. These two manuals of instruction are in common use in the U.S. and meet the needs of many blind adults, but those with limited language skills often have difficulty learning braille with the manuals mentioned above.

Instructional materials developed by Dr. J.M. Tobin use reading exercises prepared in jumbo-sized braille to introduce the alphabet and punctuation signs. These reading exercises are supplemented by oral instructions contained on two C120 cassettes. Although the adult with limited language skills is considered with this approach, many such adults would not need to use jumbo-sized braille and the proper reading motion might be discouraged because of the height of the jumbo braille cell.

Relevant Braille, a course offered by the Hadley School for the Blind, uses cassette instructions to teach the braille alphabet and numbers. This course begins with writing on the slate and stylus and has only a very limited amount of reading material accompanying it.

The blind adult with limited language skills could be best served using some features from all of the above manuals. A strong reading readiness program is needed to teach the proper reading motion using both hands. Training the sense of touch to distinguish differences in tactile patterns and the ability to associate braille patterns with their appropriate alphabetic equivalents are some additional functions of a good reading readiness program.

The blind adult with language deficits should have the portion of the braille code which he is studying presented in a manner which reinforces horizontal, rapid reading motion. Using guide lines (a series of braille x's) and double spacing material both between lines and within lines leaves only a small amount to be read on each line while the proper motion is used to cover the entire line. Care must be taken to ensure that the vocabulary used is not above the educational level of each individual.

Writing braille should reinforce the braille characters studied in reading exercises. If the adult learner tends to reverse characters as they are being read or if he has difficulty remembering characters, the brailler should be taught as soon as the trainee has mastered enough letters to form simple words.

Reading Readiness

All trainees beginning to study braille at Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind Rehabilitation Center (AEB) start their instruction with a braille reading readiness program. The reading readiness program used at AEB is Braille Readiness Exercises by Billie Elder. Unlike Stocker's readiness program, these exercises begin with lines of varying braille patterns in order to teach the trainee the proper horizontal reading motion while using the twohand reading position. Stocker's reading readiness begins by having the trainee trace geometric shapes such as circles and squares.

The second component of Ms. Elder's readiness program trains the client to discriminate between similar and dissimilar tactile patterns. Fifty cards are used to teach this discrimination and to test the trainee's sense of touch. These cards contain guide lines and two letters which are either similar or dissimilar. If the trainee is correct less than 90 percent of the time, this section of the readiness exercises is repeated. Continued poor performance on this section could indicate an impaired sense of touch, and other tests could be done to verify this impairment.

The last section of Braille Readiness Exercises consists of an ordered series of cards which are first used to introduce several letters of the alphabet and second to be a very elementary test of literacy. Short-term memory involved in remembering configurations of letters studied can also be evaluated. After completing this readiness program, trainees at AEB begin using Book One of the Illinois Braille Series. If (in the opinion of the braille instructor) the vocabulary in this manual of instruction is too difficult, an instructor-made set of alphabetic exercises can be used to introduce enough braille to be useful for self-communication.

Format of the Reading Exercises

The vocabulary used in these reading exercises consists of words from the Dolch Sight Vocabulary List with a few additions. Although this vocabulary is at a lower grade level than would be needed for some, the frustrations of a student's not being able to recognize spellings or words being read can be largely avoided.

Reading material is double-spaced both between lines and within each line, through the presentation of the alphabet. In these exercises guide lines like those used in the readiness program are used. Four sets of guide lines per braille line separate the three drill letters and precede the word at the end of each line. The guide lines ensure that the trainee's fingers are in the right position to read any possible dot configuration. The combination of the guide lines and the double spacing within a line allow the new braille reader to move rapidly over lines of braille using proper horizontal motion.

The letters of the alphabet are not presented in order. Instead they are grouped with some of the more easily recognized letters in the first lesson. Some of the least used letters are in the last lesson.

After completion of the alphabet (lesson 16), normal spacing within lines is initiated with the introduction of the braille numbering system. This allows the number sign to appear in its normal position, contiguous to the digits of the number. Guide lines are retained before each whole number.

When the trainee obtains a good working knowledge of the alphabet and numbers, he is ready to proceed to some basic punctuation and composition signs.

At the beginning of the punctuation exercises the guide lines are used before each sentence-only once per line-and are then phased out completely in lesson 21.

Additional Reading Practice

When the trainee has mastered the braille alphabet and basic signs (lessons 1 through 21) he is ready to progress to additional reading exercises. These reading exercises should continue double-spacing between lines for a time. At Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind Rehabilitation Center a book entitled the Adult Reader by M.S. Robertson is used for this reading practice. A portion of this reader has been transcribed into uncontracted braille. A small sheet of paper at the beginning of each lesson contains a list of new words for the trainee to study before reading the short story which follows. The sentences in these stories are repetitive in nature and aim to build vocabulary while reviewing words introduced in past lessons. The first eleven lessons in this book are double-spaced between lines. The remainder return to normal spacing.

Writing Braille Reinforces Learning

The blind adult with limited language skills may have difficulty learning the dot configurations of braille characters. Retention of newly learned material could be a problem as could a tendency to reverse letters such as ei, df, and hj when reading. The Perkins Brailler can be used to reinforce the trainee's newly learned skill. Orientation to the Perkins Brailler is desirable after completion of the first three lessons (ten letters). The trainee could begin by writing a line of each letter studied and immediately feeling the line just written. Because many clients with limited language skills have a goal of using braille for self-communication, there is a drawback to be considered when using the brailler. Because braille would not be used in such cases as preparation for a vocation, many rehabilitation agencies will not provide a brailler for the trainee's use at home. Additional funds are needed for trainees to purchase such equipment. This lack of funds often causes trainees to have early instruction with the slate and stylus when the use of the brailler could speed up the learning process. Ideally, after the trainee has thoroughly mastered the basic braille symbols discussed above, and after mastering the use of the Perkins Brailler, instruction with the slate and stylus would be much easier for the trainee to accomplish.

Extra Instructional Aids

The Language Master, a teaching machine, has proven to be an effective tool which can assist in the learning process. Cards containing letters of the alphabet and a strip of recording tape explaining the dot configuration of each letter give the trainee immediate feedback and thereby reinforce the learning of new braille letters. Words from the Dolch Sight Vocabulary List and from the word lists in the Adult Reader can be brailled on cards to supplement reading assignments. The Language Master is manufactured by Bell and Howell.

Braille flash cards can be used to test the trainee's retention of letters and words studied. When proper sentence structure is a goal for the trainee, the trainee can be given a series of word cards and asked to form a sentence.

Early in the period of training, a peg board model of the braille cell can help to illustrate the dot configurations of letters being studied. A model of the braille cell can also be created using half of an egg carton and six Ping-Pong balls. Another braille cell model (the De Braille Instructional Device) is available from the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

Use of the Program

The techniques for instructing braille described above have been used at AEB for several years. Blind adults with limited language skills progressed to the point where braille could be used for self-communication. Some of the conditions which can limit an individual's language development are cultural deprivation, educational deprivation, mental retardation, and brain damage. Modifications of this program have also been used with foreign trainees who moved rapidly through this program. These foreign trainees then proceeded to other materials in order to continue to develop their English language skills.

Summary

Blind adults with language deficiencies often can learn enough braille to be able to use it for self-communication. Although the manuals of instruction commonly available are not adequate for everyone, individualized plans for teaching braille can be adapted to meet specific needs. Such plans should have a strong readiness program to teach proper reading habits. Reading exercises should use vocabulary suitable for the trainee and should encourage the good reading techniques taught in the readiness program. Writing with the brailler and the use of additional instructional aids can reinforce the new information learned by the blind adult with limited language skills.

Mr. Weiss is a braille instructor at the Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind Rehabilitation Center, in Little Rock.