Helping your child learn braille

March 10, 2023

Your child may need to learn braille if they:

have little or no vision
prefer to learn through touch
can’t see well enough to use large print books

Braille is a tactile code which enables blind and vision impaired people to read. It uses the alphabet and numbers but your child reads with their fingers. It’s based on 6 raised dots in 2 columns of 3.

You can support your child to prepare to learn braille by:

developing fingertip sensitivity, for example playing with lots of different textures
building strong fingers, for example popping bubble wrap, squeezing Playdough
developing independent finger movement, for example playing with a keyboard

You can help your child learn braille by labelling things around your house in braille with a braille label maker.

Find out more about braille:

Ask your child’s QTVI. They will support you and your child to learn braille. Once your child is at nursery and school, the QTVI will give advice on what the school needs to provide. This advice is free to parents.
As advised by the local QTVI, your older child may also benefit from learning to touch type.

Learn braille yourself

You may decide that you want to learn braille yourself as another way to communicate with your child.
It also means you can help them learn to read and write braille.

Your child’s QTVI can advise you on this.

Lego recently launched Braille Bricks, which can help blind or partially sighted children and their family members to learn the alphabet and numbers.

Braille equipment

If your child is learning braille, you can get equipment to help. These include:

plastic braille overlays for books
braille writers – like a typewriter with special keys to create braille

Look at the RNIB website for more on what is available

Before buying any expensive equipment, work with your child’s QTVI to understand what they will need, and what will be provided by their school.

Braille postal library service

You can borrow books from the Clearvision Project postal library which contain both the print and braille, for free, so you can read with them and support them to learn!

RSBC’s Family Support Service can help you with:

practical advice about your child’s development
support when you feel overwhelmed
understanding your child’s vision impairment better
living as a family and being supportive of each other

Call 0203 1980225 or email connections@rsbc.org.uk

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