Too few students with visual disabilities learn to use Braille

Winona Brackett, 12, reads from her Braille science school book on Wednesday, March 25, 2009, in Stuart, Fla. Fewer than 10 percent of the 1.3 million legally blind people in the United States read Braille, and just 10 percent of blind children are learning it, according to a report to be released Thursday by the National Federation of the Blind. (AP Photo/Steve Mitchell)

Only about 10% of children who cannot see learn to read Braille and an even smaller percentage of those who are legally blind have learned to do so, according to a report from the National Federation of the Blind. Many educators instead rely on audiobooks and technology, but the federation says that such approaches leave people with visual disabilities functionally illiterate. The Washington Post/The Associated Press