What We Learned

Similarities

In order to read both written words and braille, phonological awareness is an essential skill. For instance, in braille reading, phonological awareness is required for reading pseudowords, true words, and stories (Veispak et al., 2013). In print reading, phonological awareness is required for reading pseudowords (Veispak et al., 2013). Therefore, as these researchers noted, although individuals who read braille require phonological awareness for some different tasks than print readers, phonological awareness is important for both groups when reading pseudowords. This information goes along with the fact that these researchers also believe that establishing phonological awareness is of central importance when teaching individuals to read both written words and braille.

Along with this, according to Veispak et al. (2012), there are similarities in what may affect an individual's ability to read both braille and written words. For example, these researchers stated that for children who read braille and for children who read written words, a lack of phonological awareness or understanding of "the sound structure of spoken language at the phonemic level," is directly correlated with experiencing increased difficulties/challenges while reading, such as reading below age level (Veispak et al., 2012, p. 1367).

Additionally, dyslexia also affects children who are blind and children who are sighted in similar ways. Dyslexia results in decreased visual and tactile sensitivity. Therefore, this decrease in neural functioning can limit an individual who is blind from developing tactile sensitivity, which is an essential component in decoding braille (Veispak et al., 2010). This is similar to how dyslexia affects those with typical sight from being able to decode written print (Veispak et al., 2010). In general, both blind and sighted individuals' reading is negatively impacted by dyslexia.

Differences

Various researchers have examined the differences in processes involved during braille reading, and how this compares to processes associated with reading print.

According to Veispak et al. (2013), reading braille is a sequential process. This is associated with the fact that individuals who read braille rely on the non-lexical routes when reading, since the individual's finger must acknowledge each of the characters present in a cell (Veispak et al., 2012; Veispak et al., 2013). This differs from individuals who read print, as they typically alternate between the lexical and non-lexical routes when reading (Veispak et al., 2013). Veispak et al. (2012) also indicated that because of the sequential reading process, "blended phonology" is the primary method for reading braille, meaning multiple "phonological processing skills" are needed while reading (p. 1367).

These findings may also be associated with the speed at which an individual reads both braille and print. For instance, Veispak et al. (2012) found that, reading braille is often a slower and more inaccurate process than reading print. Their findings suggested that, when increasing the length of words, individuals who read braille often read both true words and pseudowords slower, whereas reading speed is only impacted for individuals who read print, when they are reading pseudowords. These researchers stated that this may be due to what was mentioned previously, in regard to the fact that braille readers only utilize the sequential process of reading, rather than alternating between the systems as print readers do.

Another difference between reading print and braille is the way in which the visual cortex processes information. In addition to "the expansion of sensorimotor cortical representation of the reading finger," braille reading also utilizes parts of the visual cortex that are critical for tactile information processing, in order to put meaning to the tactile information that is being received (Masic et al., 2020, p. 151). Research has also shown that, instead of using the visual cortex to process visual information, children with total congenital blindness use this brain area for "higher and more complex brain functions" such as processing tactile, spatial, somatosensory, and language information (Masic et al., 2020, p. 150). Print readers, on the other hand, utilize the areas in the visual cortex that are involved in processing visual information, such as the characteristics of each written letter (Masic et al., 2020). Finally, braille reading ability, however, can be impaired when the visual cortex is injured or disrupted, despite an intact somatosensory cortex, highlighting another difference between the reading systems for braille and print (Masic et al., 2020).