Education • Blind students who learn Braille stand a greater chance of landing a career.
By carol lindsay
Special to The Tribune
Published: March 22, 2012 10:49AM
Question: What did the finger say to the Braille dot?
Answer: You tickle me pink.
It was a fitting ice-breaker for Tony Jepson, executive director of the Utah Foundation for the Blind, in kicking off the Utah Regional Braille Challenge.
Blind and visually impaired students from across the state gathered in Salt Lake City this month to participate in a challenge that tested students’ speed and comprehension in Braille.
The competitors — ranging in age from 6 to 18 — used a Perkins Braille Writer to transcribe type and read Braille. The goal: To measure students’ reading comprehension, spelling, graph-reading ability and other academic skills.
The winners now will advance to a national competition in Las Vegas in June.
Nearly two centuries have passed since Louis Braille created the dot-based alphabet in 1824. Although it has been the primary written language for the blind for generations, not all blind students have chosen to learn the technique. That, teachers say, is unfortunate.
Studies show that only 30 percent of blind adults gain full-time employment. Ninety percent of those who beat the odds are Braille readers.
“Students need to have a way to read and imagine and take in information that is not just read to them,” said Brandon Watts, a teacher of the blind. “They need to create the images and ideas for themselves. Braille is more imaginative. It’s the difference between reading a book and listening to a book. They make up the voices and have a frame of reference. So it’s a lot more enjoyable.”
Watts works with parents who are hesitant to have their students take a Braille class because of concerns that the child will miss the opportunity to take another class such as a foreign language or Advanced Placement class.
“Some parents are intimidated by Braille, “ he said. “They feel like it will interfere with other educational experiences. So we try to fit in what they want, and the Braille.”
Braille is not so much a language as it is a code, according to Jepson.
“The most difficult part is developing tactile stimulation,” he said. “It is much harder for adults to develop that tactile discrimination than children. The younger we start, the better chance that they will become efficient.”
Although technology has additional options for the visually impaired, Jepson doubts that Braille will become obsolete.
“We have kids with low vision who read print, but struggle,” he said. “Braille is a good option. It would make them faster and more efficient. Some want to learn Braille. Some don’t. To learn anything, you have to have motivation. It takes instruction and practice, and that’s part of what the Braille competition is. We want to make it fun.”
Kyerra Limb, a ninth-grader at North Davis Junior High, suffered vision loss at 17 months after having a retinoblastoma in her eye. Kyerra began learning Braille when she was 3. She now works constantly on improving her Braille in case she loses all of her vision.
“The other day she was sitting in the dark reading Harry Potter,” her mother, Kim Limb, recalled. “I told her to flip on the light and she said, ‘Mom, I’m reading Braille.’ ”
One of the younger students at the competition was 8-year-old Sam Williams. Sam, a second-grader at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, was born blind. He knows how to use Braille.
“I know the alphabet,” he said.
Jepson hopes the challenge will help kids enjoy practicing their Braille.
“We just try to have fun” he said.
closeup@sltrib.com
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© 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune
Connecting the dots: Students gather for Braille challenge
By carol lindsay
Special to The Tribune
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