Anchorage School District

BRAILLE

BVI students that do not have enough vision to read print efficiently are taught to read braille. Some students may use both large print and braille. Braille is a tactile system of reading made by a combination of six raised dots. The arrangement of these dots make up the braille alphabet. In addition to the alphabet and punctuation signs, there are 189 special signs that are abbreviations, called contractions, for words or letters. The blind student reads braille by feeling the dots with the pad of her fingers. Teachers should be aware that standard braille does not have a one-to-one correlation with printed words. Since braille is a complicated code to learn, braille readers may initially lag behind their peers. There are special braille codes for math, science, foreign languages, and music.

The American Foundation for the Blind has an excellent web site for learning about Braille. This site explains how the Braille code works in a simple manner that both kids and adults will understand. There is information about how the code was created and other unique bites of history. Best of all there interactive Braille games your students will love. Click on the link above to give it a try!

The BVI Program offers classes for teachers, teacher assistants, parents, and others interested in learning to read and write Braille through My Learning Plan.

Go to afb to learn more about braille

Click on the dots above to learn about the Braille Bug!