How does braille reading work? First follow the lines.
Braille is read tactilely with the 2 index fingers, supported by the other fingers. The most sensitive part of the finger is the pad, not the tip as you might think.
What is Braille?
Braille’s raised dots can be read tactilely by blind and partially sighted people. It was invented in France around 1800 by Louis Braille, who was blind himself. You probably know this, but do you know how to decipher the code?
An alphabetical code
Braille is not a language but an alphabetical code. That’s why it can be used in every language in the world. You will write PLAY in English, JOUER in French and JUGAR in Spanish.
The braille cell
A braille character is written in a cell. A standard braille cell has 6 dots. Each braille letter or symbol is a combination of 1 to 6 dots arranged in 2 columns of 3 dots. There is one dot configuration for each letter of the alphabet.
The dots in the left column are numbered 1 to 3 from top to bottom and the right column is numbered 4 to 6.
Teachers usually refer to these numbers to teach students the letters.
“Letter D? Dots 1, 4, 5!”
The different combinations of the 6 dots make it possible to write 64 different characters: all the letters of the alphabet, accented letters, punctuation marks, mathematical symbols and musical notation.
The term “black” is used to describe the print used by sighted people. Unlike black print, braille does not have different types of letters. However, special characters allow letters to be displayed in italics, bold and capital letters. For example, a dot 6 is added in front of another letter configuration to capitalize a letter. Dots 3,4,5,6 is the number sign. It shifts letters to numbers.
Uncontracted and contracted braille
When words are written letter by letter, this is known as Grade 1, uncontracted or alphabetical braille. Children usually start with Grade 1 braille. LEGO Braille Bricks have Grade 1 braille.
Grade 2 or contracted braille uses short forms to write words. It is mainly used in English-speaking countries. There is no contracted braille in the LEGO Braille Bricks concept.
Reading braille
Braille is read from left to right with the tips of the index fingers. The two index fingers move along the line. When they reach the middle of the line, the right hand continues reading while the left hand moves in the opposite direction to the beginning of the next line. This is called two-handed reading.
This speeds up reading. However, even for a good braille reader, reading braille is slower than for a sighted person and requires a great deal of concentration. It’s also impossible for a braille reader to read quickly diagonally.
Good finger sensitivity is important for reading braille. Children should start practicing early to become efficient braille readers.
To read in braille, you will need to use
all your fingers except the thumbs.
The two index fingers
will be the one reading the characters,
but all the others will help to follow
and track the line.
You will read, decipher the characters
with the pulp of your fingers,
and this part is really great
and you need to have a very light touch,
very light, not to stick your fingers.
First technique:
You will have all your fingers aligned.
The two index start at the beginning
and then you will slide to the right.
The picky right finger will tell you
that the line is finished.
There is no more characters,
so you slow down
and then when you will go back
to the beginning of the line,
the left picking fingers will
tell you where the beginning is
so you can slow down a little bit.
There are several techniques
to read in braille.
One of them is when you place
all your fingers,
index at the beginning, then you track
the line left to right.
When you are at the end, you go back
to the beginning
and then down to the second line.
You track to the right.
All fingers go back down to the next line.
Another technique is when you start
still the same, the two index fingers
at the beginning of the line. You track
and read from left to right.
When you are at the end,
the right hand stands
and the left hand goes back
down to the second line, and this right
hand goes to the second line too.
Then the two hands slide to the right.
The right hand stops.
The left goes back down
and the right comes again.
Another technique is
when you start the same two index fingers,
you slide, you track the line,
and when you reach the middle,
the right hand goes right and the left
hand goes left until the beginning.
So you have your right hand
at the end of the line, your left
hand at the beginning, and then the left
hand goes down the second line.
The right hand go and join the first one.
So you start again.
The two fingers
goes till the middle of the line,
then the right hand to the right, left
hand to the left,
left hand down to the next line
and the right comes, and so on.
