A young child leaning on a table, carefully observing and interacting with colorful LEGO blocks, as an adult's hand points to the blocks.

What is Pre-Braille?

Pre-braille aims to stimulate the interest of very young children in reading. It develops the skills necessary to learn to read and write in braille.

We live in a visual world. Written signs are everywhere and for sighted children, learning happens largely by accident or imitation. For the visually impaired, it is essential to develop an appetite for reading. It is through early exposure to reading that very young blind children will develop their imagination and creativity, but there are too few early braille or tactile books.

In schools there is almost no teaching material and teachers are not trained in pre-braille. Most develop their own tools and methods because they understand the importance of stimulating children as early as possible. The LEGO Braille Bricks concept helps to fill this gap in materials and methods.

“From the very beginning, early education makes not just a difference, but all the difference.”
Karen Borg, Director Parent Infant Program Blind and Visually Impaired
Utah USDB (Utah School for the Deaf and the Blibd)

A young child with light blonde hair and blue glasses playing with colorful LEGO blocks and an orange ball on a table, while another hand is visible nearby.

A multi-sensory approach

What does it mean to read and write for a child with visual impairment? Braille is a tactile system wherein someone reads with their fingers.
Many assume that a person with visual impairment has an over-developed sense of touch and hearing to compensate for vision. This is not the case and these senses need to be stimulated and developed as early as possible during a child’s development.
A child with visual impairment needs special care and support to develop the necessary skills to navigate the world.

Pre-braille is a multi-sensory teaching approach aimed at promoting skills development, including:

tactile, fine motor and coordination skill
auditory skills
spatial concepts
ability to distinguish rhythm and pattern
body awareness
ability to identify objects
time awareness

Yes. Tap tap tap.
Braille should be natural.
But if you want a child to read
and to love it, you start early
with loving experiences
with hands on experiences.
“Some more! Keep moving!”
From the very beginning,
early education makes not
just a difference, but all the difference.
Babies who are blind
give different kinds of cues,
or need different kinds of strategies
than other children might.
The parents become frightened.
It disturbs attachment and bonding.
We work with them on embedding our vision
strategies into everyday routines.
When they’re changing diapers,
when they’re feeding the children,
when they’re sitting together as a family,
reading or telling stories.
The very first thing we worry about
is attachment.
Even a baby, when they are blind,
if they hear a mother coming down
the hall, they will become very still
so that they can listen more carefully.
But the mother, she thinks:
“My baby doesn’t like me.”
And this is devastating.
And so instead, we teach the mother.
Oh, look, they’re becoming very still
so they can hear you better.
So they know that it’s you who’s coming.
We often advise parents
to have many tactile explorations
for their children, and we begin again very young.
We counsel parents that
having the baby on your hip
or in a carrier, so that they can feel
and hear you, opening the fridge,
bringing out the milk, opening the cereals,
shaking it into the bowl.
They become part
of the process of everything.

Half of the LEGO Braille Bricks activities are dedicated to pre-braille. By providing adapted sensory experiences, these activities build confidence and allow for the development of all the vicarious senses. All activities are designed to encourage, support and develop a love of reading and learning.

These activities are primarily for pre-braille teaching of young children but can also be used for older children whose learning has been delayed due to multiple impairments.

Older children can also benefit from pre-braille to understand complex concepts through manipulation.