The Value of Learning Braille as a Child

The Value of Learning Braille as a Child

Future Reflections Winter 1996, Vol. 15 No. 1
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The Value of Learning Braille as a Child
by Mary Hartle
Although visually impaired, I attended regular school in the
1950's and 1960's. I attended a parochial school in Minneapolis and
was the only child with a vision impairment. I was taught to read print
and progressed through the grades along with other children my age. No
effort was ever made to teach me Braille. But, in retrospect, I wish I
had been taught Braille as a small child.
Although I could read standard print, I could not read it as fast
as sighted students could. My grades ranged from a few B's to several
C's, and some D's. (My brothers and sisters got A's and B's.) I was
tracked into the lowest-ability group in junior high, although I was
promoted to the middle group halfway through both the seventh and eighth
grades. I could not read as much material as others could and thus had
to spend more time on homework. I also had to hold books much closer to
my face. Due to prolonged periods of bending over to read books at close
range, I developed posture problems which, to this day, require
chiropractic treatment.
Learning became difficult and painful rather than joyful and
exciting. As reading and learning became more difficult, I came to feel
less intelligent. I began to feel shame and thus had more difficulty
concentrating on learning. I became more anxious because of my increased
difficulty. This was manifested in my struggles with arithmetic in fifth
grade. I can still recall my extreme frustration and tears as I
attempted to do my homework with my family's tutorial help.
As a child I read fewer books than my classmates, especially
novels, although I did read magazines and a few quick-read books. I also
had, and still have, trouble spelling many words because I was not able
to see the letters within words correctly. For instance, spelling
double-consonant words has been particularly difficult because my eyes
did not focus normally when I first learned to spell these words.
Since I did not use Braille as a child, I was truly handicapped in
my educational progress, and my self-confidence was low because I was
unable to read fluently at a normal speed. I was embarrassed about both
my slow reading speed and the fact that I had to look closer in order to
read. Had I learned Braille earlier, I would have been able to read at
a speed similar to that of sighted students.
As I progressed through high school and college, the reading
requirements became much greater, and the size of the print became much
smaller. In college I avoided classes with heavy reading demands, such
as history and literature.
Over the past ten years I have lost the rest of my vision, thus
necessitating my learning Braille. I am not unique. Many legally blind
children with a little useful residual vision become blind adults with
little or no ability to read print. Although I use Braille in my
day-to-day life and on the job, I do not read with the speed I could
have if I had learned Braille in the primary grades. There is nothing
shameful about reading Braille or using any other non-visual technique.
Today's blind children deserve a better education and a better chance to
succeed in our highly competitive information age than I had. In fact,
the need to read as efficiently as possible is more crucial today than
ever before. Without Braille the chances of these children's getting
through high school, much less going beyond it, will be minimal.
When I think of how much Braille would have enhanced my education
even though I could read standard print at the time, I know how
important Braille is for children today who can barely read standard
print or who rely on large print. School does not have to be and should
not be torture. I believe visually impaired children must be given the
opportunity to learn Braille if:
1. they cannot read print at speeds comparable to that of their classmates;
2. they cannot hold reading material at a normal distance from their eyes; or
3. they cannot read print for long periods.
Braille is as effective a reading method as print is, and blind
and visually impaired children have the right to become as literate as
their sighted classmates.
That was Mary Hartle's description of growing up and being
educated without an efficient tool for reading and writing. Contrast her
experience with that of Jana Schroeder:
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