Braille Instruction: Why So Elusive?
Authors: Emily Coleman, Superintendent, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, TSBVI
When I was training to become a teacher of students with visual impairments, there was a heavy focus on learning braille and adapting materials for students. I had the impression that every student who would be on my caseload would definitely have access to braille as needed. Why did I think that? I don’t know…maybe because it’s the LAW!
Yet, within my entire career, I haven’t found access to braille easy for most of my students and definitely not access to the time required for instruction. Although braille is the literacy default for all students who qualify with a visual impairment, it often isn’t treated as such. Due to difficulty acquiring materials, the extensive time it takes to provide instruction, and the uniqueness of this literacy mode, braille instruction for students actually takes a lot of justification and advocacy.
Only 832 of the 10,907 students who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision in the 2025 Annual Registration of Students in Texas with Visual Impairment received any braille instruction. Less than half of those had braille listed as their primary literacy medium.
So, while the legal default is braille instruction, only 7.6% receive it. The math isn’t mathing.
I understand there are many reasons why a student may not receive braille and instead utilize large print, auditory, or alternative tactile literacy instruction. As we know, this is determined by a learning media assessment (LMA), as required. Yet, I can’t help but wonder why the default mode of instruction, braille, does not apply to 92.4% of the students in Texas who have been evaluated with an LMA.
As expected, I’m not the only educator in Texas wondering why braille is elusive. In May 2023, during the Texas Action Committee for the Education of Students with Visual Impairments, a task force was created specifically to promote braille. The committee hoped to increase the number of qualified students in Texas receiving braille instruction. In 2024, the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities started a K-12 Braille Literacy Subcommittee to address the same concerns. They are finalizing a report to be published in 2026 with over 20 recommendations.
Learning to read and write utilizing braille increases employment and educational opportunities for those who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision (Braille Literacy in Today’s World, 2025). Consumer groups like the National Federation of the Blind and American Council of the Blind (including the Braille Revival League) continue to advocate for increased braille opportunities. These organizations are composed of individuals who are blind themselves, and they are adamant that braille instruction be prioritized within K-12 educational programs. It seems that no one would know more about the necessity of learning braille than they do.
Those of us wondering why braille instruction is hard to find are not going anywhere. We’re going to double down our efforts in 2026 in partnership with the groups mentioned above to put braille into the hands of more students. Families, educators, and students interested in learning more about braille and promoting its use in meaningful ways can reach out to TSBVI anytime. We [dot 5, k] you want more [brl], too!
Reference
New England College of Optometry. (2025, January 1). Braille literacy in today’s world. NECO. https://www.neco.edu/news/braille-literacy-in-todays-world/