Using a Group Approach to Motivate Adults to Learn Braille

Teaching braille is one of the most time-consuming tasks for a vision rehabilitation therapist. Complicating this process, adults who might be considered to be good candidates for learning braille are often resistant to the idea (Ponchillia & Ponchillia, 1996). In an attempt to address these challenges, a combination of correspondence braille classes supplemented with face-to-face group activities was implemented. Perseverance in learning braille was assessed for the six participants of this intervention. The vision rehabilitation therapist is typically the instructor of braille for adult learners (Giesen, Cavenaugh, & Johnson 1998). However, due to recent title changes in the profession, braille instructors may now have various job titles, including rehabilitation teacher, daily living skills instructor, and braille teacher. In 1995, center-based instructors were found to be instructing about 20% of their clients in braille (Ponchillia & Durant, 1995). Although no research has been completed about the rate of instruction among itinerant teachers, it could be even lower now, as hours of potential instruction are greatly curtailed by the nature of the itinerant model. For individuals with adventitious vision loss, common areas for instruction include daily tasks (such as cooking) that they were familiar with prior to losing their vision. These skills can be quickly relearned with the use of adaptations. In the case of braille, however, individuals whose vision has deteriorated need to learn a completely new skill. The time-consuming nature of learning braille is a major drawback for those considering a commitment to this goal. The number of lessons required to complete a course in contracted braille is often large. For example, the Illinois Series curriculum has 50 lessons (American Printing House for the Blind, 1992). Ponchillia and Ponchillia (1996) suggest that up to 100 hours of instruction may be required in order to master braille. According to the American Foundation for the Blind (2013), it could take a year or more of weekly lessons to learn braille. For some people who are visually impaired, braille carries a stigma. In the learning of braille, a person may come to accept the label of blindness and confront some of the negative stereotypes about blindness and braille. Once a person masters braille and it becomes an integral part of the person's daily life, the attitude of the individual toward braille can have a new connotation: one of competence (Schroeder, 1996). By learning braille, people with vision loss identify themselves as blind, which could be a significant step toward improving their self-esteem and building new confidence in their abilities. Knowledge of braille has been linked to improved self-esteem, feelings of independence, and competence (Schroeder, 1996). METHOD Prior to the intervention described in this report, my experiences of teaching braille under the itinerant model could only be characterized as tedious, and it took me up to one year just to teach the letters of the alphabet. I was aware of the self-paced correspondence braille courses offered by the Hadley School for the Blind (2014), and I informed my clients about this option, but had no success in getting them to enroll. Seeking to improve my effectiveness by increasing the number of individuals who received braille instruction, I decided to try a new approach. The braille class I used for the intervention was structured around the Hadley course entitled "Tactile Readiness for Braille," which has six lessons. One-hour group meetings for braille learners occurred once a week for a period of six weeks. Hadley offers correspondence courses on a wide variety of topics to individuals with vision loss, their family members, and the professionals who work with them. Courses are free for people who are visually impaired. Using the Hadley course allowed my students the opportunity to try out the Hadley system and instilled in them the idea that braille training could be completed by taking additional courses. …