Abstract
In this commentary, we share our personal and professional journeys related to literacy for people who are blind or have low vision. We end the commentary by sharing eight key beliefs we both hold related to promoting literacy for students who are visually impaired. The adage, “It takes a village to raise a child,” is applicable when one considers that families, teachers of students with visual impairments, and other members of the educational team must support a student with visual impairments in reaching their full potential, including literacy skills.
Penny's Literacy Toolbox as a Person With Low Vision
I was a child with low vision in the 1970s, and my mother was a very strong advocate who ensured my access to and participation in primary and secondary (i.e., K-12) education. She arranged for my first-grade teacher to tutor me in reading and writing. In first grade, my mother was notified that I was having a great deal of difficulty with phonics. When she met with the teacher, she learned that the students received purple Dittos (a precursor to the modern photocopy) with a series of small pictures on them. The students were asked to write down the beginning sound of the item in each picture. Some pictures had arrows pointing to a specific part of the picture, for example, the handle on a cup. When my mother realized that visual access was the issue, not my lack of phonetic awareness, she asked the teacher to take me around the classroom, let me touch items, and tell her their beginning and ending sounds. I aced the test!
When my mother realized that we would learn cursive in third grade, she looked at my abysmal printing and concluded that my ability to master cursive would be difficult, if not impossible. She requested that the teacher of students with visual impairments teach me touch typing. I do not have fond memories of sitting at a manual typewriter with green tape on the keys and hearing the teacher saying, “F, f, f, space. Penny use your thumbs.” However, I am grateful to her for teaching touch typing to me, a skill I believe every person should have in their literacy toolbox.
As I progressed through the elementary grades, I learned to manipulate teachers by telling them I could not see things when I found assignments to be visually challenging. Hence, anytime we had an assignment with a map, I would say I could not see it and was excused from the work. As an adult, at times I must read and interpret simple maps, drawings, and the like; I find these tasks challenging, so I prefer a written or audio explanation whenever possible.
Today my literacy toolbox includes a laptop, tablet, and micro telescope glasses along with a handheld 5 × magnifier and 6 × monocular. I find print on the tablet is more comfortable for me to read than printing on a printed page, which is in part due to the ease of adjusting font size, but also the backlighting that is available on such a device. When interacting with websites, there are some color combinations that challenge me, and I often struggle to find information such as login buttons or menu bars. I continually remind myself to use the strategy of systematically scanning the screen knowing that with my limited visual field and weaker right eye, I often miss information on the right side of the screen.
Tina's Own Childhood Literacy Experiences Influence Her Work
Reading a good book brings me joy! One of my earliest memories is sitting on the couch with my mother and twin sister, Dina, happily sharing books for hours. I also vividly remember jumping up and down for joy when it was time to go to the library to select new books or attend Miss Jeanell's weekly story time. Through the years as a teacher of students with visual impairments and parent, I have worked diligently to share my love of reading with children. From reading board books about farm animals, creating an experience book about an adventure to the local grocery store, to finding and transcribing an article about the history of Vans shoes, I love creating meaningful and engaging literacy experiences for children and youths!
Several years ago, Penny and I helped with a short-term program that brought youths together for a long weekend during which they were immersed in braille literacy activities. About a week after the program ended, the mother of a sixth-grade dual-media learner who participated in the program emailed the members of her child's educational team and me. She shared, “There is a small miracle going on in my house right now.” The mother went on to explain that her son was voluntarily reading a braille cookbook of recipes he and his peers prepared over the weekend. She ended by saying, “Sam is about to learn the benefits of reading braille. I think he will be making Rice Krispy Treats soon.”
Before Sam had this weekend experience, he was reluctant to engage with braille at home and school. This email reinforced my belief that literacy instruction needs to be meaningful, individualized, and purposeful for students with visual impairments. I recently talked with Sam's mom and learned that he now reads books in braille for fun and maintains a bulletin board of inspirational quotes in braille.
I have been tutoring two middle school students with visual impairments over the last year and have really enjoyed getting to know them and their families. I quickly noticed how motivated the students were when playing games, creating art with their braillewriters, and collaborating with one another. Both students really enjoy reading, writing, and solving problems they create for each other. Although my primary goal is teaching them the Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science Notation (hereafter, Nemeth Code) within Unified English Braille (UEB) Contexts, the students have learned other expanded core curriculum (ECC) skills such as how to use low-tech methods for creating tactile graphics, measuring lengths of line segments with braille rulers, organizing materials for future reference, playing games, and increasing the tactile skills that allow them to be more efficient braille readers. Recently we have started to use refreshable braille displays, with which a blind adult mentor helped us get started. The students are now emailing braille files to each other and to me.
Our Personal Experiences and Professional Collaboration Shape Our Beliefs About Literacy for Our Students
As we have collaborated on multiple projects related to students with visual impairments over the last 15 years, we have always been focused on students with visual impairments and their teachers, often addressing topics related to literacy acquisition. In Rosenblum et al. (2021), for example, we explored what instruments and materials are used in the learning media assessment process. Since 2020, Project INSPIRE (Increasing the Braille Potential of Individuals Who Read Braille) has offered professional development related to Nemeth Code within UEB contexts (Herzberg et al., submitted), brought students together to develop and practice their Nemeth Code skills in a fun environment (Herzberg et al., 2023), and hosted an event similar to a science fair, in which braille readers aged 11–16 years built rockets, developed a hypothesis, tested their rockets, and presented their data to judges (Rosenblum et al., submitted; Wild et al., 2023).
Teachers of students with visual impairments may or may not be a student's primary literacy teacher, however, as the member of the educational team who has knowledge about the unique learning needs of students who are blind or have low vision, they play a critical role in supporting other professionals in providing literacy instruction. Teachers of students with visual impairments are instrumental in empowering families to support their children's literacy journey. Through our work, and Penny's personal experiences as an individual with low vision, we have eight key beliefs about literacy for students with visual impairments that we would like to share.
Our Eight Key Beliefs About Literacy for Students With Visual Impairments
Family Engagement Is Vital
Literacy begins the day the child is born. It is essential that family members immerse their child in reading, writing, listening, and talking in infancy, regardless of the child's level of vision and cognitive abilities. Family members of babies and toddlers with visual impairments need support from early intervention providers, including teachers of students with visual impairments, to understand how their child learns and what tools and strategies will support their child's literacy development.
Qualified Professionals Are Essential
Students with visual impairments need to have knowledgeable educational team members, including those who are responsible for preparing braille instructional materials and tactile graphics. These professionals must be committed to ensuring students have full access to the educational curriculum at the same time as their sighted classmates. The materials they prepare need to be accurate and high quality so that students can make meaningful progress in their education.
Assessment Guides Instruction
High-quality, thorough, and ongoing assessment must guide literacy instruction. Teachers of students with visual impairments conduct functional vision and learning media assessments. They must share their findings with the educational team, so that literacy instruction can be accessible and tailored for the student. Functional use of vision, knowledge of the braille codes, and other specialized skills (e.g., creating tactile graphics and using access technology) cannot be separated from instruction in reading, writing, and other academic areas of the school curriculum.
Technology Skills Are Crucial
To be successful in today's world, all individuals must have strong technology skills. Students with visual impairments need skills in both mainstream and access technologies that enable them to fully participate in all aspects of their lives. Technology must be introduced early in the child's life, and instruction should result in the student having access to the same learning opportunities as their sighted peers.
Literacy Instruction Touches All Areas of the Expanded Core Curriculum
Instruction in the ECC has been central in the education of students with visual impairments since the 1990s (Hatlen, 1996). Whether working with a student on academic learning, social skills, orientation, and mobility, or career education, teachers of students with visual impairments and other educational team members must infuse literacy opportunities throughout the student's education.
Students Must Be Helped to Recognize That Literacy Skills Are Used Beyond the School Building
Students with visual impairments must have a wide range of strategies and learning tools that allow them to engage in literacy-based meaningful activities both within the school setting and beyond. From an early age, educational team members need to find meaningful activities that encourage children and youths to practice with and expand the strategies and tools they use to engage in learning. Examples of meaningful activities include creating braille labels for belongings; changing the size of the font on a tablet to read a blog post; using a screen reader to send texts and social media posts to friends; playing board games with braille labels; following a favorite recipe written in braille or large print; or, if the student plays an instrument, using embossed braille music or an application (app) that enlarges printed music.
Resources Are Valuable to Share
Teachers of students with visual impairments often seek out resources such as the Paths to Literacy website, American Printing House for the Blind, Learning Ally, Bookshare, and National Library Services for the Blind, and Print Disabled/Talking Book Services. Families, other educators, and students may not be aware of the wealth of resources available to support literacy. Teachers of students with visual impairments should share information about resources with families and support them in accessing information, equipment, and other tools.
Collaboration to Plan for the Future Is Fundamental
It is important that everyone, especially every student, has short-term, mid-term, and long-term literacy goals in mind. Working together, the team must generate a plan that will enable the student to achieve their goals. The plan should include steps that are necessary for achieving goals. In illustration, steps may include typing a certain number of words per minute, editing files on a refreshable braille display, or using screen enlargement software to access websites.
By sharing eight of our key beliefs, we hope that we have provided readers with the opportunity to reflect on their own ideas related to literacy for students who are blind or have low vision.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.