Teaching Sighted Students to Read Braille Visually

Abstract

For many visually impaired children in public schools, braille instruction is not an educational priority included in the Individualized Education Program (IEP). This issue is likely the result of a lack of accessible and effective braille training for regular and special education teachers. Prior studies have assessed the efficacy of computer software to teach sighted individuals braille-to-print relations. Although the results from these studies are promising, there are several limitations that should be addressed. The purpose of this study was to extend previous research by developing and testing a computer-based program to teach visual contracted braille to sighted individuals. We assessed the effects of this training program on promoting generalization to braille-to-print and print-to-braille construction responses, braille reading, and braille-to-print transcription.