Materials For Teaching Braille

Materials For Teaching Braille

Future Reflections Winter 1987, Vol. 6 No. 1
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MATERIALS FOR TEACHING BRAILLE
by Debbie (Butler) Prost
Sharon Duffy
(Editor's Note: This article is reprinted
from the Newsletter of the National
Association to Promote the Use of
Braille (NAPUB), a Division of the NFB.
The authors are both blind Braille readers
and both are educators. Mrs. Prost
teaches blind children and Ms. Duffy,
although currently teaching cane travel,
has taught Braille to both children and
adults.)
Books for Teaching
Braille to Children
Patterns; The Primary Braille Reading
Program. American Printing House for
the Blind- (APH). This series is a basal
reading series teaching general reading
skills, comprehension, phonics, and
Grade n Braille. It begins at readiness
(which includes letters and words)
and goes through the third reader. A
series of library books is available to
accompany each reading level Price:
$495.00
Teacher's manuals for readiness and
preprimer levels are available in
Braille from Braille Services Guild,
Inc., 2140 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles,
CA, 90025. Paper must be purchased for
the manuals. Braille teacher's manuals
are not available from APH.
The Mangold Developmental Program of
Tactile Perception and Braille Letter
Recognition. Available from Exceptional
Teaching Aids, 20102 Woodbine Ave.,
Castrol Valley, CA 94546. This covers
prereading skills and the alphabet. To
go from one lesson to the next, the
student must meet specific standards of
speed and accuracy. Pages may be a bit
too long. The teacher's manual is availablfi
on cassette.
Cerwinski Braille Series. Available
from the New Jersey Commission for the
Blind and Visually Impaired, 1100 Raymond
Blvd., Newark, NJ, 07102. Price:
$90.00 bound; $70.00 unbound. Includes Work book for Beginning Readers, Work
book for Special Signs, Learning to
Read Braille Contractions, and Cracking. the Nemeth Code.
Braille for Beginners. Three volumes.
Available from the Department of Education,
Michigan School for the Blind, 705
W. Willow St., Lansing, MI, 48913. For
late kindergarten through first grade.
It teaches the alphabet, whole-word
signs, contractions and vocabulary development.
Can be used as a supplement
to a standard text Very repetitive
which can be good far beginners.
Touch and Tell Three volumes. APH.
Prereading, kindergarten. Shapes and
Braille characters, but not designed for
teaching letters or the alphabet.
Smart Fingers. One volume. APH. Pre
reading Letters and numbers in lines,
but does not include curriculum for
learning them.
A Tactful Road to Reading. APH.
Thermoformed booklets to work on specific
prereading skills. Not the best
quality Braille. Tactile Discrimination.
Worksheets. APH. Differentiating
Braille shapes and letters.
ABC's of Braille, by Bernard M. Krebs.
APH. Geared to ages 9 to 12. It teaches
the alphabet, punctuation and whole-word
contractions simultaneously. The rules
for Braille usage are taught in a story
at the end of the books, and a list of
all the contractions appears at the end
for reference. The teacher's guide is
available in Braille.
Phonics for Fun, by Lynn Flaleigh.
APH. This Hrill book teaches Braille
letters and contractions along with the
sound(s) of each letter taught. There
s a diagonostic test included to see
how well students know the Braille contractions. The teacher's manual as
available in Braille.
The Guild far the Blind, 180 N. Michigan
Ave., Chicago, IL 60601, has three
groups of books far children who can
already read Braille, which teach them
how to draw pictures using a Brailler or
slate and stylus. Some of these books
give step-by-step instructions far
drawing specific pictures, while more
advanced ones contain stories with pictures
in them. Others encourage the
children to copy the pictures without
giving instructions. Creativity is encouraged.
The three groups, each containing
several books, are: The Teddy
Bear Series, The Bunny Series, and The
Owl Series. Contact the Guild for specific
titles within each series and
prices, which are very reasonable.
There is also a manual in both Braille
and print for adults to teach drawing to
children. It is entitled Braillables; A Manual for Parents and Teachers
Books for Teaching
Braille to Adults
Beginning Braille for Adults, by Nading and Walhof, One volume. National
Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson
St., Baltimore, MD 21230. Teaches the
alphabet, alphabetic word signs, and
some short form words simultaneously.
Has the disadvantage of showing words in
several forms as signs are introduced.
Well tested and effective book when
taught by a teacher. A cassette accompanies
this book.
Braille in Brief, by Bernard M. Krebs,
APH. Teaches letters, contractions and
punctuation. It has in the back a list
of rules for contractions. Includes a
list of all contractions for reference.
This book introduces too many signs at
once, but could supplement other books.
Braille Series 1960. Three volumes.
APH. Book One is in large RraiTIp and
introduces only the alphabet, numbers,
and punctuation. Excellent for persons
with touch problems and those wishing
only self-communication skills. Volumes
Two and Three complete the teaching of
Grade II. The whole book is designed
far self teaching and is very slow
paced.
So What About Reading, Book One, by
Stephen Benson, Guild for the Blind.
One volume. Teaches Grade H Braille
rapidly, beginning with the letters
easiest to distinguish. Begins each
lesson with the new signs or letters for
easy review.
Getting In Touch with Reading by
Margaret Smith. APH. No experience with
this book.
Modem Methods of Teaching Braille, Book One, Kansas Braille Reading Series.
One volume and teacher's manual in
Braille from APH. Teaching approach
good. Programmed Instruction In
Braille, by S.C. Ashcroft and Ereda
Henderson. APH Available on cassette
from Recording for the Blind. Geared
for sighted people learning Braille to
teach it. Inappropriate far the average
Braille student, very long.
Braille Drill Book; by Lula May Wash,
APH. Introduces signs in order as they would appear on the Rra-m<a charts. Has
a complete listing of signs, contractions,
short form words and punctuation
marks at the back of the book. Excellent
for reviewing the signs, and as a
drill, not adequate reading practice to
be used as a single text.
English Braille In 40 Lessons, Thermoform,
one volume. Available from
Regional RehahLlitatiDn Center, Minneapolis, RUN 55403. Teaches Grade H
Braille at an average pace. Some irregular
English usage. Must be taught by
a teacher. Contains charts of punctuation,
special symbols (such as the letter
sign) and complete listing of the
contractions.
Note: The following comments about a
text for teachers of Braille were supplied
to us by Imogene Bradley, who has
been teaching Braille for more than 20
years at the Kentucky School for the
Blind:
Braille: A Different Approach, by
Johnette and Jeff Weiss, should certainly
lift the hearts of teachers of
Braille reading and writing. The book
was written primarily for adults, but is
also suitable for newly-blind young
people from the eighth grade onward.
The alphabet, numbers and some common
punctuation marks are presented sequentially,
and no word is introduced until
it can appear in its final contracted
form. The alphabet, numbers and some
common punctuation marks are presented
in the beginning volume. Two volumes
are devoted to contractions and additional
punctuation. There is also the
blind teacher's luxury: an instructor's
manual. Throughout the book there are
exercises to reinforce what has been
learned. A tone-indexed cassette tape
containing these exercises is also included.
The four volumes and the tape
are available at a cost of $20.00 from
the American Printing House for the
Blind.
If anyone knows of, or has had experience
with other Braille instructional
materials, please send your comments
to: Sharon Duffy, 3435 Berteau,
West Chicago, IL 60618. We are anxious
to develop a list which will significantly
benefit all those involved in the
learning or teaching of Braille.
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