What Other Issues Impact The Education Of Blind Children?
One serious issue that affects many blind/visually impaired children is the selection of a reading medium. For a variety of reasons, the teaching of Braille to blind/visually impaired students waned over the past few decades, to the point where in 1998, less than 9.5 percent of blind students were Braille users. By way of contrast, in 1963, 57 percent of students knew Braille. This is of serious concern because partially sighted students who do not learn Braille do not reach literacy levels on a par with sighted peers. Braille-reading students, on the other hand, attain literacy levels equal to and sometimes above those of sighted students. There are far too many blind/visually impaired children who do not have a reading medium that allows them to keep up in class, handle a flow of information, read long passages without discomfort or fatigue, take their own notes, and read for pleasure. Students who are denied Braille often cannot effectively complete advanced classes like algebra and
