vb960319.htm

Report on a Review of Textbooks to Teach Braille to Blind Adults

E.J. Rex, C. Richesin

Nineteen programs to teach adults to read braille (a few of which also provide instruction in writing braille) were reviewed by the authors in Rehabilitation Teaching: A Braille Textbook Resource Manual. The texts were identified and most of them were reviewed by Cheryl Richesin as part of her master's degree program at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. . At approximately the same time, a new project was taking shape to assist rehabilitation teachers of blind adults. The Adult Braille Literacy Empowerment Project (Project ABLE) was funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) and implemented by the American Foundation for the Blind. The first stage of Project ABLE was identification of components of a model strategy for literacy instruction. Textbooks were identified as a major component of successful instruction and learning in braille literacy. Project ABLE staff prepared to review instructional materials but learned of Ms. Richesin's project and employed her as a consultant. Evelyn Rex, Project ABLE's coordinator, reviewed two remaining textbooks and worked with Ms. Richesin. Dr. Rex also analyzed and summarized several of the textbook attributes reported in this review.

Ms. Richesin determined the parameters and subcomponents for the review and submitted them to a panel of 10 experts. Based on comments of the panel and one major addition made by the staff of Project ABLE, a format was developed for the review of each program/text. Review began with identification of three positive aspects of the program, followed by a review of the four major parameters: general information, text organization, the braille code, and instructional characteristics.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Several of the programs were targeted for a particular population of adult learners. (The two texts not designed for blind adults were reviewed because they are widely used by blind adults.) The following is a list of the programs for special populations:

- Just Enough to Know Better: sighted parents;
- ABCs of Braille: children ages 9 to 12;
- Manual for Spanish Braille: Spanish speaking adults;
- ABLK Method of Teaching Braille: deaf-blind adults;
- World at My Fingertips: persons with poor tactile sensitivity;
- Reading with Feeling: adults with lower levels of previous print literacy;
- Braille in Brief: adults with higher levels of previous print literacy;
- Brushing Up on Braille: persons who need a braille reader refresher;
- Beginning Braille: independent learners-,
- Beginning Braille for Adults: independent learners;
- Step by Step: independent learners;
- Read Again: independent learners;
- Teaching Braille Reading to Adventiously Blinded Individuals: adventitiously blind persons;
- Getting in Touch with Reading: adventitiously blind persons;
- Modern Methods of Teaching Braille: adventitiously blind persons;
- McDuffy Reader: learners in rehabilitation centers.

The following texts are not targeted for any special population of adult blind learners:

- Braille: A Different Approach
- Braille Series 1992
- English Braille in 40 Lessons.

Most texts were published or revised between 1982 and 1992. One was published in 1978 and one in 1979. Several publishing houses are represented. Two are Canadian publications, and one is from the United Kingdom. Nine are single publications by an individual or agency, and seven are produced by the American Printing House for the Blind.

Costs ranged from as low as $4 to as much as $106. Fifty percent were in the $25 to $50 range, with comparable percentages below and above that range. Cost was dependent on the number of pieces of material in the set. The more expensive programs contained more reading materials and/or a teacher's manual. Print and/or taped materials also added to the cost. Six programs included print manuals, and five included print copies of the text. The taped materials were directions for students using a program independently.

TEXT ORGANIZATION

The review of text organization focused on page numbering, table of contents, and charts or figures. The inclusion of charts depicting the order of presentation of signs and rules was the primary focus, and no consistent format emerged.

BRAILLE CODE

Few of the programs mentioned using a research base. Three texts by the same author utilized a common research base. Read Again was based on a large body of research. Modern Methods of Teaching Braille followed a group for six years, and McDuffy Reader field-tested its text. The texts did not identify a research base or a rationale for their presentation of braille signs and rules, although the programs were similar in the order in which signs were presented. Most adhered to the hierarchy of difficulty of signs as established in research by Ashcroft (1960).

Most programs began with the alphabet and presented Grades 1 and 2 braille. Usually the alphabet was not identified as Grade 1 braille. The programs that did address Grade 1 braille also introduced punctuation and composition signs in concert with the alphabet during the early units of instruction. Instruction in Grade 2 was not included in three texts. Brushing Up on Braille provided a refresher of Grade 2 with the text presented in Grade 1. Only Braille Series 1992 was up to date regarding rule changes, which is not surprising because there was a rule change in 1991.

INSTRUCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

The components of braille reading readiness and a procedure for student assessment at any point of instruction was noticeably absent from most programs. Fewer than one-third included a readiness component, and slightly fewer than one-fourth included an assessment procedure. Two programs, Read Again and Teaching Braille Reading to Adventitiously Blinded Individuals, did address both of these dimensions.

The various texts tended to introduce the same amount of new information with each lesson. The comprehensive texts moved the learner through the program more slowly and provided the most supplementary or practice exercises. They were also the most expensive programs.

A review of the programs' content addressed several factors. The ABLE project conducted a comprehensive comparison of the 19 texts on this component. For the most part, content was age appropriate, although interest and relevance were questionable. Most texts were viewed as lacking in cultural sensitivity and diversity, practical rehabilitation application, and information about skills of daily living.

The reviewers used the Fry Readability Formula (Fry, 1968) to determine the readability of those programs that did not identify a level. Many of the textbooks did identify a reading level. It is not clear whether that level was determined scientifically or arbitrarily. Reading levels were spread over a broad continuum. Four texts were noted simply as adult level, and five others each ranged from middle or junior high school grades to adult level. At the lower end of the continuum, three texts had a reading level at first to second grade. The remaining texts ranged in difficulty from middle grade to junior high school level. The multivolume programs tended to have a broad range of progressively more difficult reading levels. Single-volume texts tended to cover a more narrow range of reading levels.

Most programs focused only on the mechanics of tactile reading. The teaching of cognitive reading skills was emphasized in the comprehensive programs mentioned earlier. Although cassette tapes were utilized in several programs, other access technology, such as computers, was not linked to the programs.

COMMENTS

The reviewers recommended that instructors and agencies acquire as many of the braille programs as possible so that appropriate programs are available for individual learners. Because the order of introduction of braille signs and rules is so similar, materials and exercises from other programs may be used to supplement the primary text that an instructor selects.

DISSEMINATION OF MATERIALS

Project ABLE has prepared a four-page summary of general information related to the textbooks reviewed. Its title is Braille Curriculum Materials Review and it includes: title, author, publisher, cost, target population, readability level, and braille code level. The summary is available to participants in the Braille Literacy Mentors in Training workshops conducted by the American Foundation for the Blind. The final product of Project ABLE, a set of guidelines for a model strategy of braille literacy instruction, called ABLE-G, includes the summary. ABLE-G has been disseminated to state rehabilitation directors and university programs that prepare teachers and counselors to work with blind adults. Copies may be requested from persons in those settings. The Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) hopes to make Rehabilitation Teaching: A Braille Textbook Resource Manual available for sale. Notice of this dissemination will appear in the AER Division 11 newsletter.

REFERENCES

Ashcroft, S.C. (1960). Errors in oral reading of braille at elementary grade level. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Illinois.

Fry, E. (1968). A readability formula that saves time. Journal of Reading, 513-516, 575-578.

Evelyn J. Rex, Ph.D., professor emeritae, Illinois State University, and coordinator, Adult Braille Literacy Empowerment Project, American Foundation for the Blind, mailing address: 703B Golfcrest Road, North, Normal, IL 61761-1100. Cheryl Richesin, M.Ed., professor, Rehabilitation Teaching and Orientation and Mobility, Mohawk College; mailing address: Mohawk College, Brantford Campus, 411 Elgin Street, Brantford, ON, Canada, N3T 5V2.