But when you do have a child who's blind or visually impaired, you have to have the services. Still, Charlson says the use of Braille may increase again with new technology that is making it easier to use. There are now instant translators available on the Internet, and electronic Braille embossers that allow blind people to print things out in Braille. Refreshable Braille displays also allow a blind person to read what's on a computer screen line by line. Martha Waites, director of the Alabama School for the Blind, says about 30 percent of the 120 students between the ages of 3 and 21 enrolled in the school use Braille.
Braille is the most widely accepted system of reading and writing for blind people.
It is a series of six raised dots representing letters of the alphabet, numbers, punctuation and symbols for groupings of letters, that is read by moving the hands from left to right along each line. There are two levels of Braille. The first level is the alphabet, with each word spelled out letter by letter. Some people stop learning at this point and use the system to label things such as medicines and other things around the house. The second level introduces a series of contractions where symbols represent words.