Studies show that assistive technology tools have provided opportunities for the visually impaired in some developed countries to pursue mathematics programmes and foster inclusive education. However, their counterparts in developing countries sparingly participate in any mathematical activity due to low knowledge and use of these tools. The main…

We would describe teaching literacy through braille as one of the most rewarding and challenging aspects of the role of a Qualified Teacher for the Visually Impaired (QTVI). This article focuses on teaching literacy through braille in mainstream settings whilst promoting inclusion and meeting the social-emotional needs of children who use braille.…

Materials are suggested for facilitating braille reading readiness of blind children. Four critical areas are addressed and materials offered for each: auditory discrimination, tactual discrimination, language development, and concept development. (CL)

Discusses the Children's Braille Book-of-the-Month Club, a project of the National Braille Press, Inc., of Boston, Massachusetts. Provides membership information. (FL)

Twenty-one children ages 6 through 13 were taught to use their hands independently when reading braille to determine how this pattern of hand movements affected reading variables, excluding character recognition. The results strongly suggested that skill in tracking and use of an efficient hand movement pattern is closely tied to perceptual…

The article describes research conducted in the early 1970s on the comparative efficiency of an electronic teaching system for programed instruction (the BRAILLOPHON) and a conventional brailled book program for teaching seventh- and eighth-grade blind students to spell. (Author)

A self instructional strategy used bar code technology to teach Braille symbol recognition to three legally blind elementary school students. (DB)

Considers how blind children do not receive exposure to environmental print and do not generally learn to recognize written letters of the alphabet prior to schooling in Braille. Concludes that letter learning is a major contributor to the development of phonological awareness in blind children. Suggests key similarities in the underlying…

This article clarifies literacy issues that affect the achievement and performance of students with severe visual impairments. The article discusses the nature of the braille code and offers suggestions and strategies for helping children with limited sight overcome difficulties and for making braille and print accessible for group activities.…

Fifty-one learning disabled elementary students received reading instruction with a braille phonics approach. (CL)

Assesses fifteen 7- to 12-year-old blind children using standardized measures of intelligence, spelling and reading. Finds they performed poorer when reading than their chronological age would predict. Compares blind and age-matched children's ability to segment heard words, which are written in Braille with and without contractions. Finds words…

Discusses teaching methods and instructional aids developed to integrate blind students into a private class for elementary-school-aged piano students. Instructional aids incorporate auditory and tactile stimuli to teach music notation skills. Commercial games, like Bingo, were modified with Braille symbols to teach rhythm concepts. (AM)

Three tables present data from 22 braille-reading blind children, ages 6 to 12, including demographic data (such as years of braille use, IQ, age, hand movement type, and reading rate); highest and lowest reading rates, by years of braille instruction and IQ scores; and oral reading rates. The methodology used is suggested for teachers doing…

A 3-year study involving 15 teachers and 15 students with visual impairments (grades K-4) evaluated the impact of the Mountbatten Brailler when used in a literacy instruction project. Teachers reported students were more motivated to write when they used the Mountbatten Brailler than when using the Perkins Brailler. (Contains 3 references.) (CR)

This article offers teaching strategies for developing number sense for children who are blind and braille users. Suggestions focus on developing number meanings, exploring number relationships with manipulatives, understanding the relative magnitude of numbers, developing intuitions about the relative effect of operating on numbers, and…