THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAILLE LITERACY

a personal journey

by

Michelle Chacon

As an individual who is blind, I have come to realize the value of having the skill of reading and writing in Braille. I feel that it has helped me tremendously in my education as well as in my teaching career. As a result, I feel that it is my responsibility to educate children, parents, and colleagues on the importance of the promotion of Braille literacy among children who are blind.

My blindness was caused by cancer in the optic nerve at the age of six. Therefore, I did have some vision and I had been exposed to the print alphabet in a public school kindergarten class. At the age of six, I was sent to the New MexicoSchool for The Blind and Visually Impaired in Alamogordo, New Mexico. I had a wonderful teacher, who immediately began to teach me Braille. I was so excited with what I thought was a new code, that I moved rather quickly through the alphabet. Braille has certainly become one of my best friends as a result.

Braille helped me to be academically competitive with my sighted peers. I was able to maintain grade level academic work, and was able to graduate with my class. I felt that Braille was the tool to help me have a fighting chance to make it in the world of peers who are sighted. I received a positive education, which in turn prepared me for college. I was able to use Braille in college by taking notes in my classes, and reading them and studying them. I obtained a bachelor’s degree from the College of Santa Fe in Social Sciences.

Although I received a Bachelor’s in Social Sciences, I began working as a teacher of adult Blind in Alamogordo at an orientation and training center that is a part of the New Mexico Commission for the Blind. The job included teaching students to cook clean, shop and do various household activities. Part of the process included reading recipes in Braille and writing shopping lists in Braille, which once again demonstrated the importance of being literate in Braille as an individual who is blind.

Braille has continued to be a vital support to me as I obtained a job with the Albuquerque Public Schools as a teacher of the visually impaired. I have pursued and completed my Master’s degree in Special Education. I am currently working on a second Master’s degree in Vision and Orientation and Mobility. Braille has allowed me to reach goals in education and in career opportunities that I may not otherwise have been able to think of doing without it.

Along the way, one of the things that I realized that I needed to do in order to be successful, was to equip myself with the necessary skills and alternative techniques of blindness. One of the most important skills is the ability to read and write Braille. Mobility, self sufficiency, organization, and determination, helps out - as well as being familiar with assistive technology. However, literacy is essential to a blind person's ability to be competitive, to be productive, to be successful, and to have an opportunity to compete, achieve and become a distinguished member of his or her community.