Introduction to Braille

Course ID: IBR-111

Audience
Family Education Program

Course Description
Want to read braille visually? This course gives you the tools to communicate in writing with others who read braille. Its goal is to enable you to read and write grade 1 braille. As an introductory course, it does not make you fully proficient in braille. To do so, additional study and practice are necessary.

Medium
The course is available in print or online.

Organization
The course includes eight lessons.

Prerequisites
none

Overview
Eight assignments are submitted to the instructor.

Grading
letter grades

Average Time to Complete
8 months

Supplementary Course Materials
· Supply of braille paper
· Slate and stylus
· Braille eraser
· Picture of a braillewriter
· Video, sent at the completion of Lesson 2
· The Quick Reference Guide illustrates all the braille symbols introduced in the course and their print equivalents
· Next Steps suggests additional courses to increase your braille proficiency

Objectives and Content
After completing Lesson 1, you will be able to:
a. briefly describe the history of braille
b. describe the braille system of raised dots
c. list advantages of braille literacy for a person who is blind
d. describe devices that are used to produce braille

After completing Lesson 2, you will be able to visually identify the letters of the alphabet in braille, individually and in words.

After completing Lesson 3, you will be able to:
a. correctly insert paper into the slate
b. hold the stylus properly
c. emboss with the slate and stylus

After completing Lesson 4, you will be able to:
a. identify the mechanics of the braillewriter
b. describe how to emboss on the manual braillewriter

After completing Lesson 5, you will be able to braille the letters of the alphabet, individually and in words.

After completing Lesson 6, you will be able to braille
a. the capital letter sign
b. the number sign
c. the decimal and dollar sign when indicating dollar amounts

After completing Lesson 7, you will be able to braille the period, comma, apostrophe, question mark, hyphen, and dash within phrases and sentences.

After completing Lesson 8, you will be able to braille the exclamation point, parentheses, colon, semicolon, and quotation marks within phrases and sentences.