The statistics on the literacy rate in the vision impaired(VI) and blind community are not great. In 1960, around 50% of the blind in the US were literate in braille. This number steadily declined as children were put into mainstream schools where most teachers didn’t have the same resources or knowledge as those specifically instructed in it(TVIs – teacher of the visually impaired). Directly from the National Federation of the Blind:
- Fewer than 10 percent of the 1.3 million people who are legally blind in the United States are Braille readers. Further, a mere 10 percent of blind children are learning it.
- Each year as many as 75,000 people lose all or part of their vision. As the baby-boom generation moves into retirement age and as diabetes (the nation’s leading cause of blindness) approaches epidemic proportions, the NFB expects this number to increase dramatically and, if nothing is done, the Braille illiteracy rate as well.
- The current effects of this crisis are dire. Over 70 percent of blind adults are unemployed, and as many as 50 percent of blind high school students drop out of high school.
“Research shows that braille literacy directly correlates with academic achievement and employment. The majority of working-age blind people are unemployed (74 percent) and depend on support such as disability income benefits. It is estimated that the lost productivity due to blindness and eye diseases is $8.0 billion per year in the United States. Of the 26 percent of blind people who are employed, the majority of them are braille readers. The correlation is clear – braille is an extremely important tool for blind people to become literate, and it is a critical component that supports educational advancement and increases employment prospects.”
Just these small snippets scream and beg us to make sure our children are given this skill. We started with braille board books when my son was just 3 months old. As I read to him and his twin, I would run his hand along the braille. Our, at the time, eye doctor thought I was crazy. He was just a baby and obviously “wasn’t old enough” to be using braille. He is now 15 months. He will grab his books off the shelf, open them and run his hands along the braille on each page. How behind would our children – typical needs or special – be if we only introduced them to the idea of something at the age society deemed was “the right time”. Kids are given play kitchens, baby dolls, ride on vehicles, etc but they aren’t going to start preparing dinner, having families, or driving cars for years to come. Why should we hold our kids back and not expose them to the amazing tools they can learn to use in the future?
Sources and links:
https://hadley.edu/
https://nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/pdf/braille_literacy_report_web.pdf
https://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/about/aboutbraille/needforbraille.html