Braille literacy skills are essential for success in school and employment and for independence throughout life. Because of the fundamental importance of well-developed literacy skills, the braille code by which persons who are blind or have low vision attain full literacy should be one that is easy and efficient to learn, use, and produce. A…

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, per Section 162.1136 RSMo, conducts an annual study of the educational status of eligible blind/visually impaired students and reports the findings to the Missouri Legislature on December 1st each year. The information contained in this report pertains to the twelve data elements…

In this systematic review of research, the author analyzes studies of neural cortical activation, brain plasticity, and braille reading. The conclusions regarding the brain's plasticity and ability to reorganize are encouraging for individuals with degenerative eye conditions or late-onset blindness because they indicate that the brain can make…

To determine the attitudes of teachers of students who are visually impaired or blind about the use of contracted or uncontracted Braille for emergent readers, the author posted a questionnaire on three electronic listservs from October through December 2002 and received responses from 40 teachers in India, Canada, the West Indies, and the United…

Six primary school-aged braille students were taught to name 4 to 10 braille letters as phonemes and another 4 to 10 braille letters as graphemes (Study 1). They were then taught to name 10 braille words as onset-rimes and another 10 braille words as whole words (Study 2). Instruction in phonemes and onset rimes resulted in fewer trials and a…

The report describes the development and evaluation of an instructional program in tangible graph interpretation for braille readers. Because graphs frequently appear in textbooks and in other printed sources, lack of appropriate translation for blind persons can be a significant educational obstacle. Based on anlyses of typical graph reading…

This guide is the result of a survey of the world situation of the braille system undertaken with the aim of establishing world braille uniformity. Eighty-five countries are listed alphabetically, along with specific information about braille activities and braille codes. For each country, information provided includes the alphabet in braille…

The authors review their work on the role of attentional variables, such as in exploratory hand movements, selection and pickup of haptic shape information in the education of blind students. Efforts to design a technology to permit unobtrusive study of hand movements during braille reading and to link observed differences in scanning to reading…

The entire report is a listing (made from scanning 7,500,000 words of text from 125 books) of the occurrences of braille contraction sequences. Attention focuses on occurrences in which syllabification, pronunciation, and meaning determine the use or nonuse of the contraction. An introduction explains the procedure and process used. (JM)

Intended to alleviate the confusion about the Nemeth Code of Braille Mathematics (a system designed to meet the mathematical symbol and computation needs of visually impaired readers of all levels), the article presents the most frequently used symbols and rules in a simple and ordered format. (Author/DLS)

Exploring the ability of subjects to make accurate discriminations by active touch, two studies involving 20 sighted adults investigated sensitivity of the fingertip in perceiving length, using Braille cells as stimuli. Results indicated differential sensitivity of the fingertip to one parameter of active touch: cell height discrimination. (JW)

The article discusses the increased demands for braille textbooks that match print versions in quality of format and graphics. One solution is to improve the quality of transcriptions produced by computer. The author reviews current limitations of computerized braille transcriptions and points out the existing potential for improvements.…

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)

The author provides step-by-step instructions for using the Cranmer Modified Perkins Brailler, Apple Microcomputer, and Versa Braille. (CL)

Twenty-four braille readers (grades 4-12) performed a line-tracking task on tactile line graphs which differed in the type of raised line used to represent the data curves and natures of the display backgrounds. Grids impaired the trackability of every line tested, while line type and grade level had only marginal effects. (Author/CL)