Selecting Literacy Approaches in Braille for Students with Visual Impairments

Braille literacy presents multiple challenges for teachers of students with visual impairments (TSVI), classroom teachers, educational assistants, students’ with visual impairments, and for their family members. As the braille code has evolved over the years so does the instructional braille method. The choice of instructional braille method depends on several factors, for example the degree of vision loss, learning styles, needs, and capabilities of students with visual impairments. A qualitative study, interviewing two itinerant vision teachers or teacher of students who are visually impaired (TSVI) from two different school boards, revealed some braille literacy instructional methods that are used for braille acquisition. This study further explores the role of TSVI, classroom teacher, peers in class and parents play in fostering braille literacy environment