Phonological processing in Braille

Abstract

The relationship between phonological abilities and reading progress in blind children was investigated in two interdependent studies. The first examined the performance of a sample of 22 Braille readers aged 7:10-12:1 years. The second compared the phonological skills of two 'matched' Braille readers, one a struggling learner and the other making good progress. An adapted form of the Phonological Assessment Battery was used in the research. Results for the first study showed that, while reading scores on a standardized test were lower than for sighted children, the scores achieved by this sample for each test of phonological awareness/memory were higher than those expected from the norms of the sighted standardization sample.Results of the second study demonstrated marked differences between the two learners, not only in their phonological skills but also in their approaches to learning. The role that phonological competencies play in Braille learning is discussed in relation to the complexity of the symbol system and the tactile processing involved. The results have implications for the identification of phonological dyslexia in Braille readers and for the teaching of Braille.

The role of letter knowledge and phonological awareness in young Braille readers

“…More recently, Gillon and Young (2002) replicated the work of Dodd and Conn (2000) with a large group of blind children in New Zealand. Greaney and Reason (1999) found that the PA skills of blind children after 2-4 years of schooling were, in fact, better than expected given their reading levels. However, there has been little work on PA in blind children at younger ages, and even less on the relationship between letter knowledge and reading.…”

Cognitive capacities and composite cognitive skills in individuals with Usher syndrome type 1 and 2

“…However, there is one way in which blindness could potentially impact phonological skills, and it is via reading (Dodd & Conn, 2000;Greaney & Reason, 1999). This will be discussed further on, under the heading 'Reading skill'.…”

“…Another factor which indirectly can influence reading ability, is impairments in hearing (Dillon et al, 2012;Lyxell et al, 2009) or vision (Greaney & Reason, 1999;Pring, 1994). Learning to read requires an understanding that speech sounds are separate from words and can be structured into infinite combinations (thus forming all words), and that letters and text are representations of language (Nakeva Von Mentzer, 2014).…”

“…However, the findings by Wass (2009), Nakeva von Mentzer (2014), Dillon et al (2012), and Geers et al (2008) indicate that it is not unusual for children with CI in the initial stages of reading acquisition (i.e., in the ages between 6 -9 years) to display similar level of reading comprehension as children with NH, despite displaying poor performance on tasks of phonological processing. Greaney and Reason (1999) found that children with congenital blindness, who read using the tactile script Braille, displayed better phonological processing than a control group of sighted peers. Despite this, the participating children with blindness displayed poorer reading skill.…”

“…The results from both studies highlight that the poorer reading skills could be due to the complexity of Braille, which contains both symbols for individual speech sounds and contractions of common letter combinations (e.g., 'THE', 'AND') (Dodd & Conn, 2000;Pring, 1994). Also, the two by three matrix with its miniscule bumps has less salient cues than printed letter, it has to be perceived through a less sensitive sense than vision, and the braille symbols are thus easier to confuse with each other (Dodd & Conn, 2000;Greaney & Reason, 1999).…”