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Compensatory Skills Reading and Writing Curricula & Resources

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Compensatory Skills Reading and Writing Curricula

• Braille Too: An Instructional Braille Reading and Writing Program for Secondary Students
• Braillewriting Dot by Dot
• Curriculum Guide for Braille Reading
• Curriculum Guide for Writing Braille
• Longhand Writing for the Blind
• The Mangold Developmental Program of Tactile Perception and Braille Letter Recognition
• On the Way to Literacy: Early Experiences for Visually Impaired Children
• Patterns Prebraille Program
• Patterns: The Primary Braille Reading Program
• Patterns: The Primary Braille Spelling and English Program
• Preparatory Reading Program for Visually Handicapped Children (PREP)
• Read Again: A Braille Program for Adventitiously Blinded Print Readers
• Specialized Skills for the Visually Handicapped: An Instructional Manual
• Teaching Braille Slate and Stylus: A Manual for Mastery
• Teaching Signature Writing to Those Who Are Visually Impaired

Compensatory Skills Reading and Writing Resources

• Assessment of Braille Literary Skills (ABLS)
• Assistive Devices for Reading
• Blind Children Learn to Read
• Braille Assessment Inventory (BAI)
• The Braille Enthusiast’s Dictionary
• The Burns Braille Transcription Dictionary
• Communication Skills for Visually Impaired Learners
• English Braille American Edition 1994
• Foundations of Braille Literacy
• Guidelines and Games for Teaching Efficient Braille Reading
• Instructional Strategies for Braille Literacy
• Learning Media Assessment for Students with Visual Impairments: A Resource Guide for Teachers
• Minnesota Braille Skills Inventory (MBSI)
• The Teaching of Braille Reading
• Tools for Selecting Appropriate Learning Media

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Braille Too: An Instructional Braille Reading and Writing Program for Secondary Students

N. L. Hepker & S. Cross-Coquillette. (1994). Grant Wood Area Education Agency, 4401 Sixth Street SW, Cedar Rapids, IA. 844 pp.

This is a comprehensive program for teaching braille reading and writing to adolescents who have been print readers in their elementary years. It is not designed to teach students to read or write. It is assumed that they already have at least minimum competency in these skills.

Subjects Covered:

• Volume I
  • Unit 1: Alphabet (review), punctuation/composition, single letter, whole-word contractions, short-form words, numbers, tests
  • Unit 2: And, for, of, with; short form words, punctuation/composition, tests
  • Unit 3: Ch, sh, th, wh, ou, st; short form words, punctuation/composition, tests
• Volume II
  • Unit 4: Dot 5 contractions, punctuation/composition, tests
  • Unit 5: Part word contractions,short form words, punctuation/composition, tests
  • Unit 6: Dot 4-5 contractions; in, en; short form words, punctuation/composition, tests
  • Unit 7: Dot 4-5-6 contractions; was, his, were, be; short form words; punctuation/composition, tests
• Volume III
  • Unit 8: Dot 6 contractions, prepositions, short form words, punctuation/composition, tests
  • Unit 9: dot 5-6 contractions; be, con, dis, com; short form words, punctuation/composition, tests
  • Unit 10: Dot 4-6 contractions; ea, bb, cc, dd, ff, gg; short form words, punctuation/composition, tests

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Braillewriting Dot by Dot

E. Pester & F. Otto (1996). American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, KY

This program is designed to provide instruction in writing braille with either a braillewriter or a slate and stylus. This kit focuses on beginning writing skills.

Components:

• Teacher's Manual with ten basic lessons in each writing method
• Exercise Cassette which allows students to do dictation exercises independently
• Alphabet, Etc. a braille reference sheet

Subjects Covered:

• Braillewriter
• Slate and stylus

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Curriculum Guide for Braille Reading

M. H. Czerwinski. (1979). New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, George Meyer Instructional Resource Center, 375 McCarta Hwy., Newark, NJ 07114. 105 pp.

This Curriculum guide was developed to be used with pre-school through high school level students who are beginning to learn to read braille. There are five different approaches presented in this guide.

Subjects Covered:

• The classroom teacher's method
• The whole word method
• The phonetic method
• The gross differences in braille method
• Special signs

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Curriculum Guide for Writing Braille

M. H. Czerwinski, M. F. Bonnici, L. A. Kelley, I. Lieberman, A. P. Rosenthal, S. M. Zebrick. (1979). New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired , George Meyer Instructional Resource Center, 375 McCarta Hwy., Newark, NJ 07114. 65 pp.

This booklet offers a complete course in how to write braille accurately using a braillewriter. It includes instructional goals and objectives, activities/methods, materials, and evaluations.

Subjects Covered:

• Braille writing and readiness skills
• Braille writing foundation skills
• Brailling the letters of the alphabet and sentences
• Brailling part-word contractions and sentences
• Brailling numbers 0-9
• Brailling composition and punctuation signs
• Specialized writing tasks

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Longhand Writing for the Blind

E. D. Freund (1970). American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, KY

Helps students learn longhand (cursive) writing. It includes an embossed workbook for practicing the cursive alphabet, a Tactile Marking Mat, a pad of embossed paper, and a detailed teaching manual in both regular type and braille.

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The Mangold Developmental Program of Tactile Perception and Braille Letter Recognition

S. Mangold. (1990). Exceptional Teaching Aids, Castro Valley, CA

The program is designed to promote good two-handed braille reading and decrease undesirable scrubbing and back-tracking behaviors, as well as errors in braille letter recognition. The first fifteen lessons develop tactile discrimination, proper hand position, and rapid tracking. The last fifteen lessons systematically introduce the letters of the alphabet. Each lesson includes criterion tests and braille worksheets.

Components:

• Teacher's Manual - 236 pp.
• Braille Student Workbook, Volume I - 121 pp.
• Braille Student Workbook, Volume II - 106 pp.

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On the Way to Literacy: Early Experiences for Visually Impaired Children

J. M. Stratton & S. Wright. (1991). American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, KY

This program contains basic information and activities to enhance the development of literacy in young blind or visually impaired children. It consists of a print handbook for parents and teachers and 13 tactile/visual storybooks to be read to young children. The storybooks are in braille and print and feature tactile and visual illustrations.

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Patterns Prebraille Program

H. Caton, E. Pester, E. J. Bradley, K. S. Coy. (1987). American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, KY.

This program is designed to help children before they begin a basic braille reading program. It helps build a child's auditory, tactual, conceptual, and language abilities in preparation for braille reading and math. Emphasis is on exposure to a variety of common childhood experiences.

Components:

• Teacher's Manual. Instructions for Making Tactual Readiness Books
• Patterns Prebraille Form Books

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Patterns: The Primary Braille Reading Program

H. Caton, E. Pester, & E. J. Bradley. (1982). American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, KY

This program is designed for beginning braille readers from the readiness level through the third reading level. Word recognition is taught through tactual memory, phonological skills, and syntactical skills. Patterns contains a variety of learning materials including a braille text and worksheets for all levels. A teacher's edition with lesson plans is also provided.

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Patterns: The Primary Braille Spelling and English Program

H. Caton, E. Pester, E.J. Bradley, E.P. Hamp. (1992). American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, KY

This program teaches complete spelling and language skills to primary grade student who use braille as their main writing medium. It is composed of textbooks, posttests, worksheets and teacher's editions. There are four levels and this program is a companion to the Patterns Braille Reading Program.

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Preparatory Reading Program for Visually Handicapped Children (PREP)

A. Hall, B. Rodabaugh, C. Smith. (1981). American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, KY

This program for students who are potentially braille readers or large type readers focuses on the ten concepts considered to be most directly related to the reading process. Instructional objectives are included for each key concept as well as multisensory lessons which teach these objectives. Each unit also includes a storybook in large print and braille.

Subjects Covered:

• Sensory Matching
• Size
• Shape
• Action
• Positions I
• Positions II
• Relationships
• Time
• Configurations
• Classification

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Read Again: A Braille Program for Adventitiously Blinded Print Readers

H. Caton, E. Pester, E. J. Bradley. (1990). American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, KY

This teaching program presents the braille code to teenagers and adults who were print readers and now need to use braille as their reading medium. Materials include worksheets with references and instructional materials, reading selections and activities, tests and review worksheets, cassette tape instructions for student use, and Teacher's Editions.

Subjects Covered:

• Developing skills in tactual discrimination
• Learning grade 1 braille
• Learning grade 2 braille

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Specialized Skills for the Visually Handicapped: An Instructional Manual

(1990). Los Angeles Unified School District, Division of Special Education, Los Angeles, CA. 176 pp.

This publication is intended to provide teachers of the visually handicapped with assessment inventories and sequences of objectives and skills for VH students, grades preschool through 12. Based on individual student needs and assessment results, teachers will select those sequenced objectives and skills that are appropriate for instruction.

Subjects Covered:

• Communication skills: Braille reading skills, specialized writing skills, aural reading
• Low vision utilization
• Orientation and mobility
• Daily living skills

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Teaching Braille Slate and Stylus: A Manual for Mastery

P. N. Mangold. (1985). Exceptional Teaching Aids, Castro Valley, CA. 34 pp.

This manual contains all the information that you will need to become, or help someone else become, a proficient slate user.

Subjects Covered:

• Teaching the slate
• Using the desk slate
• Using the pocket slate
• Using the stylus

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Teaching Signature Writing to Those Who Are Visually Impaired

S. Mangold & M.E. Pesavento. (1994). Exceptional Teaching Aids, Castro Valley, CA. 23 pp.

This program offers a creative teaching method that will help teach students as well as adults how to make an acceptable legal signature. It is composed of a 35 minute video and a supplementary booklet which is available in print, large print, and braille. The teaching strategies recommended in this program may be used with individuals of all ages and ability levels.

Subjects Covered:

• Specific guidelines for designing signatures
• Effective teaching strategies
• Practice exercises for the teacher
• A sample lesson plan
• Sample signatures
• Resources for purchasing writing equipment

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Assessment of Braille Literary Skills (ABLS)

A. J. Koenig & C. Farrenkopf. (1994-1995). Region IV Education Service Center, 7145 West Tidwell, Houston, TX. 77092-2096. 41 pp.

This assessment provides teachers of students who are blind or who read braille with a tool that promotes meaningful assessment of braille literacy skills.

Subjects Covered:

• Emergent literacy
• Academic literacy: Reading and writing
• Functional literacy

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Assistive Devices for Reading

(1993). National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Washington, DC. 75 pp.

The devices listed in this reference circular are designed to provide people with visual or physical disabilities access to print information. the circular includes devices that hold a book or turn the pages of a book, that magnify print material either manually or electronically, and that convert print into braille or synthetic speech.

Subjects Covered:

• Assistive devices
• Selective bibliography, 1989-1993
• Addresses of sources

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Blind Children Learn to Read

B. Lowenfeld, G. L. Abel, & P. H. Hatlen. (1969). Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL. 184 pp.

The core of this book explores the status of braille reading in local classes and residential schools for blind children. It discusses the characteristics of efficient braille readers and the methods of instruction which are likely to produce them.

Subjects Covered:

• Of Braille and braille
• Review of research on braille reading
• The Braille Reading Study
• Readiness for learning to read
• The teacher's role in the reading program
• Special problems in braille reading

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Braille Assessment Inventory (BAI)

M.N. Sharpe, D. McNear, & K.S. McGrew. (1996). Hawthorne Education Services, Inc. 800 Gray Oak Drive, Columbia, MO 65201. Technical Manual 28 pp.

The BAI was designed to assist educators and others in determining whether Braille instruction is an appropriate intervention for students ages 6-18 who are blind or visually impaired. It is a summary profile which measures the variables that impact the instructional process and identifies characteristics that are considered to be reflective of individuals who posses the attributes for braille.

Subjects Covered:

Technical Manual: Introduction, development and standardization, psychometric characteristics, administration and scoring

Record Form: Object recognition, visual orientation, tactual orientation, functional considerations

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The Braille Enthusiast's Dictionary

A.J. Koenig & M.C. Holbrook. (1995). SCALARS Publishing, Nashville, TN 548 pp.

This is a comprehensive, easy to use reference for those who work in any capacity with braille. The goal is to provide a definitive and authgorative source for determining which, if any, braille contractions are used in words when transcribing materials in braille.The braill enthgusiast must be thoroughly skilled in using the grade 2 braille code to make effective and efficient use of this reference. As with a conventional dictionary, this reference will be used when a specific questiona rises that needs clarification. .

Subjects Covered:

• Introduction
• Word list
• Appendices: A guide to common prefixes and suffixes; Braille alphabet, contractions, and short-forms by category; Braille symbols for foreign language letters; Examples pf braille use to fufill requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act; Helpful hints for recalling braille letters and contractions; The Braille EnthusiastÕs Response Form
• References and resources used in compiling The Braille Enthusiast's Dictionary
• common Nemeth Code symbols
• Some quick tips on using this dictionary
• Numbers, punctuation marks, and composition signs

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The Burns Braille Transcription Dictionary

M.F. Burns. (1991). American Foundation for the Blind. New York, 73 pp.

This is a quick reference guide for those who already know Grade 2 Braille. Those who know Grade 1 Braille will also find it helpful for looking up symbols.

Subjects Covered:

• At a glance: Alphabetical listing of all braille symbols and contractions
• Punctuation and braille symbols and signs: Alphabetical listing of punctuation, braille symbols, and composition signs found in English braille and a general description of the rules that pertain to them
• Braille to print: Alphabetical listing of all the braille symbols and contractions and a brief description of where they may appear in the text
• Print to braille: Alphabetical listing of all contractions and symbols used in braille and a brief description of all the commonly used rules that pertain to them

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Communication Skills for Visually Impaired Learners

R. K. Harley, M. B. Truan, & L. D. Sanford. (1987). Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL. 346 pp.

This book is designed to provide a foundation for a better understanding of the teaching of communication skills to children, youth, and adults with visual impairment. It updates the research and explains the teaching methods which are unique to communication skills.

Subjects Covered:

• Historical perspectives
• Reading readiness
• Approaches to readiness instruction
• Building word identification skills
• Assessment of reading skills: Factors to consider
• Identifying visually impaired students with learning problems
• Teaching techniques for visually impaired students with learning problems
• Developing writing skills
• The teaching of listening skills
• Braille reading for the late blinded
• Use of technology in teaching communication skills
• Instructional materials and games

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English Braille American Edition 1994

Braille Authority of North America. (1994). American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, KY. 346 pp.

This book includes the rule changes to the literary code, English Braille American Edition, which were approved by the BANA Literary Technical Committee.

Subjects Covered:

• Definition of braille
• Rules of braille
• Appendices: Special formats, Foreign languages, Other grades of braille; Special braille codes; Diacritics and phonetics
• Typical and problem words
• Index of rules

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Foundations of Braille Literacy

E. J. Rex, A. J. Koenig, D. P. Wormsley, & R. L. Baker. (1994). American Foundation for the Blind, New York. 153 pp.

This book looks at what we know about braille as a medium for literacy, the ways in which we teach and assess braille reading and writing, and the needs that should be addressed in the future.

Subjects Covered:

• Perspectives on literacy
• A history of literacy for people who are blind
• Learning processes of people who are blind
• Changing views on teaching reading and writing
• Braille reading literacy: Approaches and strategies
• Braille writing literacy: Approaches and strategies
• Assessment of braille literacy

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Guidelines and Games for Teaching Efficient Braille Reading

M. R. Olsen. (1981). American Foundation for the Blind, New York. 109 pp.

This book provides parents, vision teachers, and regular classroom teachers with ideas for adapting a general reading program to the needs of braille readers. Activities and games offered provide enrichment to the traditional teaching of braille reading skills from the pre-school level through grade three. Suggestions for working with remedial readers, regardless of their ages, are also present.

Subjects Covered:

• Background and braille reading
• Pre-school experiences important to braille reading readiness
• Activities for teaching braille more efficiently at the beginning level
• Ideas for working with problem readers
• Adding spice to braille reading program activities

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Instructional Strategies for Braille Literacy

D. P. Wormsley & F. M. DÕAndrea. (1971). American Foundation for the Blind, New York. 457 pp.

This book is a compilation of successful instructional strategies for teaching braille to blind and visually impaired students that will allow them to achieve braille literacy to the best of their abilities.

Subjects Covered:

• Braille as primary literacy medium: General guidelines and strategies
• Fostering emergent literacy
• Learning to read, reading to learn: Teaching braille reading and writing
• Making the transition from print to braille
• Teaching braille to students with special needs
• Teaching braille reading and writing to students who speak English as a second language
• Assessing the literacy skills of students who are blind or visually impaired
• Access to information: Technology and braille

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Learning Media Assessment for Students with Visual Impairments: A Resource Guide for Teachers

A. J. Koenig & M. C. Holbrook. (1993). Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Austin. 220 pp.

This book provides a conceptual framework and structured guidelines to follow in the decision-making process for selecting the appropriate literacy media for students with visual impairments. A number of checklists and forms are provided to take the assessor through the steps of this process.

Subjects Covered:

• Use of sensory channels
• Determining types of general learning media
• Selecting literacy media: Initial decision
• Selecting literacy media: Continuing assessment
• Selecting learning and literacy media for students with additional disabilities

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Minnesota Braille Skills Inventory (MBSI)

A. Goodwin, K. Grafsgaard, N. Hanson, P. Hooey, J. Martin, D. McNear, C. Rieber, E. Tillmanns, (1995). Minnesota Educational Services at Capitol View Center, 70 West Co. Rd. B2, Little Canada, MN 55117-1402. 77 pp.

The main purpose of the MBSI is to document a student's knowledge and progress in reading and writing braille and to determine a student's strengths and needs in reading and writing braille. The MBSI consists of a resource manual which is a reference for teachers and includes information on administration, inventory development, teaching strategies, forms for data collection, and resources. The student companion is a braille version of the inventory intended for use by the students in completing the reading subscales of the MBSI.

Subjects Covered:

• Literary Braille
• Basic Nemeth
• Advanced Nemeth
• Computer
• Music
• Dictionary and foreign language

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The Teaching of Braille Reading

R. K. Harley, F. Henderson, & M. B. Truan. (1979). Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL. 187 pp.

This book is designed to provide a foundation for a better understanding of the teaching of braille reading to blind children, youth, and adults by updating the research and providing a more detailed explanation of the teaching methods which are unique to the learning of braille reading.

Subjects Covered:

• Reading in perspective
• Review of research
• Reading readiness
• Approaches to reading instruction
• Building tactual perception and word identification skills
• Diagnosis and remediation of reading problems
• Reading for the late blinded
• Instructional materials and games

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Tools for Selecting Appropriate Learning Media

H. Caton, Ed. (1994). American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, KY. 177 pp.

This manual is intended for persons involved in developing educational goals and Individual Education Plans for children with visual impairments. It is designed to help select appropriate learning media to the carry out the students' goals of literacy.

Subjects Covered:

• Target populations and the Interdisciplinary Assessment Team
• Assessment procedure
• Attributes assessed: Child attributes, environmental attributes
• Glossary of eye terms
• References and other resources of information

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Last Revision: July 30, 2002