Braille Tales Grows Readers Both in and Outside of the Classroom

At APH, our Braille Tales books help introduce braille to young readers. By giving blind or low vision students books with braille in them at a young age, we are hoping to encourage them on their lifelong braille journey! However, there are other unique ways parents of children who are blind or low vision can use Braille Tales books as aids for their child’s education and development. Jenn Bruce shared with us about how her daughter’s experience using Braille Tales grew her in and outside of the classroom. 

Jenn’s daughter, Cora, was born with CVI.  When she was around ten months old, she started working with a vision specialist at Visually Impaired Preschool Services (VIPS). She had no response to any visual stimuli in the beginning, so her VIPS vision therapist suggested Braille Tales since there was a possibility Cora would be a braille reader. 

Before they started using Braille Tales books, Cora had a hard time with sensory overload. She had a few aversions to different textures and had very little interest in being read to. However, when the family started using Braille Tales, Cora’s attitude towards books and reading started to shift. Braille Tales books were high contrast, had print, braille, and tactile elements, and an engaging storyline. These elements all came together to create an experience that made reading more enjoyable for Cora. The braille and tactile elements gave her something to feel that went along with the storyline, and the high contrast nature of the books gave her something to practice looking at with her CVI. 

As Cora continued her CVI journey, it became clear that she would most likely not be a braille reader, but Jenn says she is still grateful for what Braille Tales was able to do for her daughter. The books gave Cora a way to learn to enjoy stories through inclusive elements that allowed Cora to approach reading and being read to in a different way. Jenn is also grateful her daughter got to learn what braille was through Braille Tales as Cora is still in the blind or low vision community. She is grateful her daughter will have a better understanding of how some of her friends read. 

Even though Cora has aged out of Braille Tales, Jenn is still able to use the books. She takes the books into preschool classrooms as a way to introduce conversations about disabilities, blindness, braille, and how some people are able to read in different ways. The preschoolers are able to feel the braille and interact with the stories tactilely while also getting a chance to engage in a great story! 

While braille won’t be Cora’s primary method of reading in the future, Jenn attributes a lot of Cora’s growth to the Braille Tales books. She is grateful the books were able to help her own daughter, and how useful they are in a classroom. Jenn says the icing on the cake with Braille Tales is that the books came directly to them in the mail. Having such a helpful resource come to them so easily took some of the pressure off Jenn as she and her family navigated Cora’s earlier years. Jenn explains, “We were so happy that the resource came to us. Special Education is challenging, and it was nice to have something that was easy.” 

Braille Tales are a great resource for those who are going to be reading braille full time, but it is also a wonderful tool for those who are looking for engaging stories for their child who is blind or low vision. Want to learn more? Check out Braille Tales on APH’s website!