I learned braille in 3 weeks several months after I went blind. Just seemed like the right thing to do and I became fluent in both Grade 1 and Grade 2 UEB. I primarily use it for labeling things around the house, modifying board and card games to be accessible, and use it every single day when writing things on my phone using braille screen input. It's what I'm using to write this very comment.

Why would any blind person not learn and use Braille? I am very new to this just went blind a few months ago but I instantly self-taught grade one Braille and I use it to type silently on my phone with Braille screen input, Read batons in an elevator so useful and I am not even an expert at it, so why would blind people not learn it?

I find it very important for blind people to know Braille, because sure one can do a lot through speech output nowadays, but when it comes to writing (especially in a professional/education context) you should be able to read what you wrote to check if it‘s correct.

I use zoom for the most part, but I‘m happy I learnt Braille as a child. I use it to label things in my home mostly.

I opted to learn it at school. I was closer to visually impaired at school rather than registered blind which I am now, but was fascinated by it and wanted to learn how it works and how competent braillists could easily outpace me and my large handwriting.

As it turns out, this was a wise choice, as my eyesight continued to degenerate and now it is my primary way of reading if the information isn't available electronically.

I'm unsure about it being a "culture" though, since it's not exactly the same as sign language, written communication doesn't feel as integral to social interaction as physical communication. It could be because I'm comfortable with technology though and have been a many year computer user.

Also, braille in certain situations is more of a pain than electronic information would be. I recently received some insurance information, including a full copy of the privacy policy / terms of use, or some such. It was many, many pages of double sided braille. Essentially a book, with much of it being redundant and useless. I'd much rather have the personal info sent in braille, but the copy+paste legal stuff that no one can understand included as a direction to go and read such and such a page. Again, though, these are just my views.

I taught myself grade 1 last summer when I was able to kick the brain fog because I can’t hear much. At the time, relying on audio wasn’t going to work well for me. Now I have hearing aids and use it less, but Braille is still easier than audio for me when typing emails and correcting spelling errors for work stuff.

I look at it this way. Braille is a font and one that I think could use some updating in modern society. I think it's interesting though that technology has outpaced the need for Braille in a lot of ways because we can just point our phone at most things and it will tell us what it is given a little bit of time. I do agree that Braille ties very closely into our culture specifically and should be taught as if nothing more than a grounding in our history and the progression of a blind person in society and tools that we use.

I’m Not But I Would Like To Learn it

Taught myself back in January, I can read grade 1 fluently, grade 2 I can manage but am not familiar with a lot of contractions I would assume. I mainly use it for typing on my phone with braille screen input.

Almost 3k views of this post with 200 votes! WOW!

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I am trying to learn. The Lighthouse of the blind said they would get back to me. This was at the start of the pandemic.

How can I self teach myself?

I learned Braille from the moment I entered school at 3 years old (while also learning how to read and write in English as my second language). It was something that I was kind of forced into until my freshman year of high school. I competed in the Braille Challenge two times. Both in which I was forced to practice heavily for for literal months beforehand. I was also forced to take 1-3 hours every day out of my summers in elementary school to keep up with my Braille reading/writing. I was still using large print, but only for math as that was the “only subject I needed it in” according to everyone else. Of course I do still remember it and had kind of a disappointment in hearing about UEB becoming a thing because of how much more space it takes up. But I’ll never forget that it took me 5-6 years to learn the entire code and I only now in early adulthood realize that it is definitely good that I have the skill though I may be slow in it due to my lack of using it often. I would probably have been more open to it if it wasn’t forced upon me by literally everyone at early childhood, but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it once I became proficient. It’s definitely a good subset skill to have if you know you’re vision is declining.

Okay, I learnt braille in 1 month, even contracted braille. But I forgot this grade 1 and 2 nomenclature. Can anyone explain what's the difference between grade 1 2 3?

Also, I have tried braille displays for a while, but don't understand what's so different about computer braille. Most of the letters and symbols are same as far as I know, and apart from the dots 7 and 8 being used as curser keys, I didn't find anything different about it.

I am only talking about English braille, no other languages.

I used to know level 1, then was trained in level 2, but now have completely forgotten any of it because I don't have access to a braille reader due to the cost.

I was formally taught braille as a child, and use it every day with my braille notetaker and braille textbooks at school. I initially learned US literary braille but picked up on grade two UEB when the change happened, so I can read both with no issue.

I know a little bit but contracted Braille sort of pushes the uncontracted Braille out of my head so I’ve not had success with grade 2 yet

I started learning Braille when I found out about my vision issues. I can now read grade 2 braille or what is now called UEB. It is a good skill to have I think. I find audio can be inconvenient when others are around. I also tire of headphones after about an hour or so. I don’t regret taking the time to learn Braille and thank the wonderful people at www.hadley.edu for their wonderful programs.

I learned braille growing up, in place of print. I know most print letters, but use them so infrequently that I sometimes forget which is which or what a letter looks like. By contrast, I'm comfortable in UEB, Nemeth, and 8-dot Spanish computer braille, the last of which I use when reading code I write. However, I find it more comfortable and efficient to type on a regular keyboard, and rely on speech to read most things. Braille is for detailed checks, or when speech is unavailable, but I won't read books or articles in braille. I do use braille screen input when typing on my phone, though, as I find it far faster and easier than hunting and pecking on the on-screen keyboard. I'm a strange mix of braille, speech, and typing, but the short answer is yes, I know braille very well and use it every day.

I use Braille on the daily.

I’m currently learning Grade 2. I’m loving learning :)

I was born blind so braille is what I used since when I could remember myself first reading/writing something. After 6 years of braille in Armenia, I had to relearn some thangs when I moved to the US 5 years ago cause things are kinda different here. Altho I only use braille for school related shit.

Holy doodle, reading through the comments had my head spinning with the different kinds of Braille. An informal poll in my peer support group for visual impairment, even the lifelong legally blind members referred to their Braille literacy as 'elevator Braille'. A number of the group members live with retinitis pigmentosak, others are older and either have diabetic retinopathy or some form of macular degeneration.

Could someone please point me to some resources for the total noob? So far I've found kids books on Amazon, a number of slates with stylus for writing manually. Also found some advice to spend a lot of time sorting long grain rice from short grain rice or something like that to get the tactile aspect fine tuned, but that did not really fill me with enthusiaasm.

I was lucky; I got the chance to learn it but was also taught in a mainstream school. I have been trying to read at least a little every day; having a display helps with that though I wish it were a little more like a book. I don't know why, but the aesthetics appeal a great deal.

I do actually typing away now. I am doing a lot of math these days and that’s all in braille. I’ve been using and working with braille since I was 5 or so.

I'm legally blind and have some vision but I do know Braille. I know a through z and only a couple of contractions of Braille 2. Definitely useful for labeling and quick notes

I can read it, but I prefer screen readers.