ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
More than 200 years ago, Louis Braille invented a tactile writing system now used by millions of blind and visually impaired people around the world. There are braille systems for more than 130 languages - for music, for math. But not every kid has the opportunity to learn braille. In fact, for years now, the U.S. has faced a national shortage of qualified braille teachers. Emily Kwong, co-host of NPR's Short Wave podcast, reports on a unique team of scientists and educators who are determined to improve braille education for the next generation.
EMILY KWONG, BYLINE: Robert Englebretson is a linguist at Rice University. He's been blind since childhood and has always loved language.
ROBERT ENGLEBRETSON: I was really quite a bookworm as a kid. And one of the cool things about braille is that you could sneak a book under your covers and not need a flashlight, and you wouldn't get caught. Although, I suspect my parents probably knew.
KWONG: So Robert became a linguist, and he thinks a lot now about braille education for young readers. Braille literacy is linked to academic success and better employment outcomes. According to the most recent American Community Survey, less than half of working-age blind or visually impaired people are employed, and the great majority of those who are employed are braille readers. So a few years ago, Englebretson hatched a plan. To improve braille education, he needed more data. He needed to form something like The Avengers of braille research, so he called up a cognitive neuroscientist....
SIMON FISCHER-BAUM: My name is Simon Fischer-Baum.
KWONG: ...And a special education instructor.
CAY HOLBROOK: My name is Cay Holbrook.
KWONG: And for years now, these three have been working together to do research on how braille is a fundamentally different writing system than print and should be taught as such. Their message - braille is not a code for print.
ENGLEBRETSON: You know, I've seen articles that start out, braille allows blind people to read print. And I go, no, it doesn't. Braille allows blind people to read. Braille is literacy. Braille is a writing system equal to print, parallel to print and not dependent on print.
HOLBROOK: I was part of the problem with this because me and other people started calling it a code to differentiate it from a language. But working with Robert and Simon has really enlightened me to the problems with calling it a code.
KWONG: Holbrook and the team further argue it's problematic to compare braille readers to print readers at all. Part of their research involves analyzing how the brain may comprehend braille differently than print. Here's Fischer-Baum, the neuroscientist.
FISCHER-BAUM: The assumption that words per minute is the right way to measure how good you are at reading is a sight-centric norm.
KWONG: There's so many ways besides reading speed to measure wizardry with words. There's reading comprehension, spelling, proofreading, and that's why the focus of the braille Avengers is ultimately on education. They're offering workshops and testing out interventions for the next generation of braille teachers and readers. Emily Kwong, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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