Who Should Learn Braille? And Why?
Who should learn Braille? Have you ever thought Braille would take a long time to learn? It does take some time and dedication to fully be literate in Braille. It can also be challenging to read it with your fingertips instead of your eyes. If the person who is learning Braille has some vision left or if someone who is sighted wants to learn Braille, it can be helpful to learn visually first before feeling with your fingertips. This is not possible for everyone but it can be helpful to learn the patterns before closing your eyes and improving your sense of touch.
Braille is systematic which helps us learn it quicker. There are patterns that can be followed to help you learn faster. I will be sharing these patterns here in this post to help you learn the Braille alphabet faster.
I believe there are several groups of people who should consider learning Braille even if it is just the basics to become familiar with it. I might even suggest it would be a helpful tool for everyone to learn. I am not suggesting everyone spends hours upon hours learning it but even learning how the system works and learning Grade 1 Braille (the alphabet, punctuation, and numbers) will come in handy from time to time and give you a better understanding of those who use Braille as a daily tool. Although it may not be a tool you use it can show your support and basic understanding for those who do.
Anyway, I think the following groups of people could benefit from studying Braille.
- Parents (and other family members) of those who are blind or visually impaired who use Braille on a regular basis.
- Teachers and leaders, you may not currently have students who use Braille but that doesn’t mean you won’t in the future or encounter situations where it would be helpful to you. This can include teachers and administration at school, church, or community groups.
- Any type of organization leader or government official.
- Any type of designer who is creating products or services which will be used by the visually impaired community.
When I was in first grade I started to learn Braille because of my eye condition, the doctors were concerned I would become blind before I reached adulthood. I continued to learn Braille until the end of high school. Thankfully now as an adult, I still have enough vision that I don’t have to rely on Braille at this point and if I do get to that point in my future I will already know enough Braille to be helpful to me.
