Three hundred sixty-two questionnaires concerning braille reading instruction were completed by teachers in all 50 regular residential schools for the blind in the United States and in 258 local schools. Results revealed a considerable uniformity of methods. Two hundred blind students in grades 4 and 8 of local and residential schools were questioned concerning personal characteristics and reading behavior, and tested with the reading section of the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress and reading comprehension section of the Stanford Achievement Tests. Reading comprehension of the blind subjects, compared to that of seeing children, was at least equal in grade 4 and superior in grade 8. Reading rates for grade 4 were 84 words per minute in local schools and 72 in residential schools (not a statistically significant difference) and for grade 8 were 149 in local schools and 116 in residential schools (a significant difference). The book also includes a history of Louis Braille and his system, reviews basic research on braille reading, and discusses readiness for learning to read, the teacher's role in the reading program, and special problems in braille reading. Eighty-seven references are listed. (LE)