Sirli Lellep, special educator-teacher at the Tartu Emajõe School

Learning Braille

Case study: Teaching Braille to a 5-year-old Estonian child

This session focus on teaching braille to children. Sirli will present a study that might be particular helpful for teachers in pre-schools who have no previous experience of teaching visually impaired children but have a blind child in their class.

Sirli have carried out a qualitative study with the aim to describe and supplement methodology to teach Estonian blind children necessary skills in written language and compose worksheets that could be used to teach Braille to blind children. Different Braille teaching methodologies in foreign countries and in Estonia were analysed and compared. The study includes a comparison between sighted and blind children as well as practical suggestions on teaching a blind Estonian child. The study was conducted in hope of helping young teachers in Estonia who haven’t previously taught blind children.