Exploring Correlates of Braille Reading Performance in Working-Age and Older Adults with Visual Impairments
We tested forty-six blind and low vision adults aged twenty-three to eighty-eight. How often they used braille mattered far more than how old they were.
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Why does this study matter?
Our sense of touch, hand movement abilities and memory all change as we get older. Braille reading draws on all three. Some believe this means older adults cannot learn braille. We actually know very little about learning and using braille as we get older. Most braille research has looked at children instead.
What did we ask?
We wanted to know three things. First, whether touch, hand and memory skills decline with age among adult braille readers. Second, which of those skills are linked to braille reading speed. Third, whether the reading format makes a difference. We compared paper braille with braille on an electronic braille display. That is a device that raises and lowers small pins to form braille.
Who took part?
Forty-six blind and low vision adults took part. They came from British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. They were between twenty-three and eighty-eight years old. Almost a third were over sixty. Thirty-one were women and fifteen were men. They had started learning braille at ages ranging from four to sixty-three.
What did we do?
We measured touch sensitivity in four ways. Two tests pressed small shapes onto a still fingertip. Two others asked people to feel raised dots and letters actively, the way braille is really read. We also measured hand movements and tactile memory. Everyone then read four short passages of similar length. Two were on paper and two were on the braille display. In each format, one passage was read aloud and one was read silently.
What we found
Touch sensitivity was lower among older participants than among younger participants. Hand dexterity (the ability to move the hands easily and quickly) was also a little lower among older participants. Tactile memory differed very little across age groups. The age of participants had no link to braille reading speed. Three other things did. The strongest predictor of braille reading speed was the age at which a person first learned braille. The second was how often they used braille in daily life. The third was active touch sensitivity, measured while the fingers and hands are moving. Reading braille more often mattered just as much for people who learned braille late as for those who learned it young. Silent reading was about fifteen percent faster than reading aloud. Paper and electronic braille were equally fast.
What this could mean
This study suggests that getting older is not by itself a barrier to reading braille. In this study, the people who used braille more often had better braille reading skills, even in older age. Age alone should not decide who is offered braille instruction. Nor should a single touch test screen anyone out. This study supports the idea that better touch and braille reading skills are linked to practice. For learners and teachers, the message is about practice. Adult braille programs need to include motivating examples for using braille between lessons and after instruction ends. For policy makers, one big barrier facing older learners is equitable access to instruction and practice materials.
What happens next?
We measured speed rather than accuracy, because our readers made too few errors to analyse. Accuracy and comprehension deserve a closer look. This was also a snapshot in time. It shows what goes together, not what causes what. Following the same readers over several years would tell us more about how abilities change as we age, and how this connects to braille reading. We also need to explore adult braille learning experiences more, including what helped them learn braille and what made learning more difficult.