young female student taking embossing paper from a braille writer.

Learning Braille

The following are resources that teach the braille code. Please contact individual organizations and companies for detailed information and/or prices.

  • Aschroft's Programmed Instruction in Braille (APIB), 4th Edition updated and revised by Holbrook, D'Andrea and Koenig to include and reflect all the changes of the most recent Braille Authority of North America (BANA) literary braille code updates. Available in print, using simulated braille (i.e., ink print pictures of the dots). Also the APIB Companion Reader in embossed braille includes supplementary reading materials in actual braille with reading exercises coordinated with Chapters 1-10 of APIB. **

    SCALARS Publishing**
    P.O. Box 382834
    Germantown, TN 38183-2834
    Telephone: (901) 727-0001
    Fax: (901) 737-2882
    Website: www.scalarspublishing.com

  • Braille Codes and Calculations, by Pesavento. Available in print, with simulated braille. Teaches literary braille and basic Nemeth code. Often used in university programs.

    Exceptional Teaching Aids
    3994 Oleander Way
    Castro Valley, CA 94546
    Telephone: (800) 549-6999
    E-Mail: info@exceptionalteaching.com
    Website: www.exceptionalteaching.com

  • The Braille Tutor, by Kapperman, et al. Computer assisted instruction and refresher course (DOS only) designed for sighted people who have access to a computer and wish to learn braille. **

    Association for Education & Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER)**
    4600 Duke Street, Suite 430
    Alexandria, VA 22304
    Telephone: (703) 823-9690

  • Just Enough to Know Better, by Eileen Curran, was designed specifically for parents of blind children who are learning braille. It is not intended to teach all the rules of the literary braille code, but it does introduce all the Grade 2 contractions and points out some common exceptions.

    National Braille Press Inc.
    88 St. Stephen Street
    Boston, MA 02115
    Telephone: (617) 266-6160 or (800) 548-7323
    Website: www,nbp.org

  • Introduction to Braille, a correspondence course offered free of charge through the Hadley School for the Blind. This introductory course presents the fundamentals of the braille code, including the letters of the alphabet, numbers, and punctuation, giving you the tools to communicate in writing with family members or clients who read braille. The goal is to enable you to read and write uncontracted braille. To become fully proficient in braille, more advanced coursework and practice is required.

    Hadley School for the Blind
    P.O. Box 299
    Winnetka, IL 60093
    Telephone: (800) 323-4238
    Website: www.hadley-school.org

Books & Videotapes for Parents

Each of these resources offers valuable information about braille literacy.

For these and other titles of interest to parents of young children who are blind or visually impaired, see the AFB Press online bookstore.

AFB Press
American Foundation for the Blind
2 Penn Plaza, Suite 1102
New York, NY 10121
Telephone: (800) 232-3044
Website: www.afb.org/store

The Bridge to Braille, by Castellano and Kosman. Gives an overview of reading and writing with braille for young children, and how parents can promote early literacy.

National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, MD 21230
Telephone: (410) 659-9314
Website: www.nfb.org

Other Sources of Information

  • The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) sells a variety of code books, and braille transcription manuals for literary braille, Nemeth code, computer braille, music braille, grade three braille, and Spanish and German braille codes. They also sell the official code book for the braille rules, English Braille American Edition, 1994. Revised in 2002.

    American Printing House for the Blind
    1839 Frankfort Avenue
    Louisville, KY 40206
    Telephone: (800) 223-1839
    Website: www.aph.org