Learning Braille in a fun way

I will be learning Braille this spring/Summer because as a future inclusive educator, it is important to learn how to read and write Braille. For some time now, I have been thinking of learning Braille and procrastinating it and when the opportunity came to blog a learning project in my EDTC 300 class I knew it must be ” learning Braille”. Braille was number 1 on my list and it seems fun and interesting.

To learn braille you need several months and even years sometimes depending on how fast you learn. For this learning project , I only have 6 weeks to learn braille so i will focusing on learning the basics like the alphabets ,numbers , punctuations ,capitalizations and later in future I will continue my learning to reading and probably writing it.

In this post, I will  delve into the intricacies of Braille, from its basic alphabetic and numerical structure to the various codes and applications that make it a versatile tool in everyday life.

Let’s start with motivation, why on earth would I want to learn Braille in a digital age? In a world where text-to-speech technology is readily available, I sometimes question the importance of Braille. Yet, there are many reasons why I think Braille truly is a vital skill:

1. Reading is not the same as listening: Textual information, when read, is easier to remember than text that is heard. Braille allows you to stop and reflect, something that is way more challenging with continuous audio playback. Whenever you get distracted the audio keeps on playing, whereas with Braille you would simply stop reading as you get distracted.
2. Maintaining your literacy: People who solely rely on spoken text, tend to lose their grammar or spelling skills.  We see this happening all the time when we receive emails and texts full of grammatical errors. This can truly hurt your professional and personal communication. Besides grammar, you will miss a lot of structure in texts. Think of headings, cursive or bold text, and capitals. This information is often vital to understanding the text properly.
3. Listening is not always possible: Imagine sitting in busy public spaces. In these situations wouldn’t you much rather be able to rely on your Braille reading skills?
4. Reading with Braille allows your imagination to run: Most Braille readers prefer reading in Braille over audio. It allows you to read with the voice in your head, not the voice from the audio player. What is better than reading a book outside in the sun whilst hearing the sound of birds chirping?
5. Reducing visual strain: Yes, even when you have rest vision, it can be difficult to read for a longer period of time. Headaches, fatigue, or neck pains are common for people with visual impairment who read for longer periods of time. With Braille, you can go for hours without it becoming a strain
6. As Educators: Its ideal to learn the basics of braille because we don’t know how it can be useful in our future classrooms.

Join me on this journey on learning Braille. Learning something new is always fun and that is why I feel learning Braille will be fun .Talking about how easy or difficult it will be, I have no idea but I know I will keep posting my challenges and new tools or technology I found during my learning process so you too can be equipped to start your journey of learning Braille.