Hadley

Braille for Everyday Use

Workshop 1: Letters a through c

Opening

Hadley presents Braille for Everyday Use, Workshop 1: Letters a through c.

You will need your braille workbook to begin. If you don’t already have one, call Hadley at 847-784-2816, and we’ll mail one right out to you.

You will find three buttons for moving through your audio.

• A Pause/Play button.
• A Next button for moving to the next page.
• And a Back button if you’d like to go back a page.

Once you’ve finished a page, the Pause/Play button will turn into a Replay button, so you can listen to a page as many times as you like.

You’ve also been given some handy shortcuts if you’d rather use your keyboard.

• You’ll use your Spacebar to pause and play.
• And your right and left arrows will take you to the next and previous page.

If you use a screen reader, you can find the Pause, Next, and Back buttons by moving through the screen as you would any web page.

Feel free to pause your audio at any time if you’d like more time to think, or if you need a little break.

As always, if you have questions, or something’s not clear, contact a Hadley learning expert. We’re happy to help!

Now, turn the page in your workbook, and when you’re ready, select the Next button to continue. Or remember, you can press the Replay button if you’d like to hear this page again.

Page 1

Use your fingers to feel the braille in the top left corner of the page.

Letters are formed using a combination of six dots. When all six dots are used, it’s called a “full braille cell.”

A full braille cell consists of six raised dots arranged in two vertical rows, each having three dots.

Now, drop down and find the line in the middle of the page.

Below the line you will find a row of full braille cells.

Use your fingers to feel the row of full braille cells from left to right.

Turn the page.

Page 2

Now, feel the braille in the top left corner of this page. These are the dots on the left or first side of the braille cell.

The top dot is called, “dot 1,” the middle dot is “dot 2,” and the bottom dot is “dot 3.” Don’t worry if you cannot tell the dots apart yet.

Next find the line in the middle of the page.

Below the line you will find a row of braille dots 1-2, and 3. Use your fingers to feel them from left to right.

Turn the page.

Page 3

Feel the braille in the top left corner of the page. These are the dots on the right or second side of the braille cell.

The top dot is called “dot 4,” the middle dot is “dot 5,” and the bottom dot is “dot 6.”

Find the line in the middle of the page.

Below the line you will find a row of braille dots 4-5, and 6. Use your fingers to feel them from left to right.

Turn the page.

Page 4

Again, feel the full braille cell in the top left corner of the page. Remember the full braille cell is made up of all six dots: dots 1-2-3 on the left or first side and dots 4-5-6 on the right or second side.

Find the line in the middle of the page.

Below the line you will find three rows of full braille cells. Place your fingers on the full braille cell at the beginning of the first row.

From left to right, count the number of full braille cells in the first row.

If you counted five, that’s correct. And go ahead and pause if you want to recount.

Now, count the number of full braille cells in the second row.

If you said four, great.

And last, count the number of full braille cells in the third row.

If you found six, you found them all.

Turn the page.

Page 5

Let’s have some fun and read braille letters!

Feel the braille in the top left corner of the page. This is the letter “a,” dot 1. The letter a uses the top dot on the first side of the braille cell. To remember “a,” think of A-1: a is the first letter and 1 is the first dot.

Below the middle line you will find three rows of a’s.

When reading, some people use both index fingers to stay on track.

However, you can use the finger or fingers that work best for you.

Place your fingers on the letter a at the beginning of the first row. There’s no need to count; simply let your fingers feel the three rows of a’s from left to right.

Turn the page.

Page 6

Feel the two braille letter a’s in the top left corner of the page.

Remember, the letter a is dot 1.

Below the middle line you will find three rows of a’s.

Find the letter a at the beginning of the first row.

From left to right, count the number of a’s in the first row.

If you said five, you found them all.

Now, count the number of a’s in the second row.

If you counted seven, you are right.

And last count the number of a’s in the third row.

There are six.

Turn the page.

Page 7

Feel the full cell and the letter a in the top left corner of the page.

Let’s practice reading the full cell and the letter a.

Below the middle line you will find three rows of braille.

Place your fingers on the letter a at the beginning of the first row.

Count only the number of a’s in the first row.

There are three a’s in the first row.

Now count only the full cells in the second row.

There are two full cells.

And how many a’s are in the third row?

If you found three a’s, you found them all.

Turn the page.

Page 8

Feel the braille in the top left corner of this page. This is the letter “b,” dots 1-2.

The letter b uses the top and middle dots on the first side of the braille cell. You can remember the b by thinking of two buttons lined up on a shirt.

Below the middle line you will find three rows of b’s.

Place your fingers on the letter b at the beginning of the first row. No need to count; simply feel the three rows of b’s from left to right.

Turn the page.

Page 9

Feel the two letter b’s, dots 1-2, in the top left corner of this page.

Below the middle line you will find three rows of b’s.

Find the letter b at the beginning of the first row.

From left to right, count the number of b’s in the first row.

There are six. And if you miss some, just pause and try again, or replay the page at the end.

Now, count the number of b’s in the second row.

If you found four, you found them all.

And last, count the number of b’s in the third row.

There are seven.

Turn the page.

Page 10

Feel the full braille cell and the letter b in the top left corner of the page.

Let’s practice reading the full braille cell and the letter b.

Below the middle line you will find three rows of braille.

Place your fingers on the letter b at the beginning of the first row.

Count only the number of b’s in the first row.

There are four b’s in the first row

Now count only the full cells in the second row.

If you said three, you’re correct.

And how many b’s are there in the third row?

If you found four, you found them all.

Turn the page.

Page 11

Feel the braille in the top left corner of the page. This is the letter “c,” dots 1-4. The letter c uses the top dots on both sides of the braille cell. A hint to remember: the c is like a cap on top of your head.

Below the middle line you will find three rows of c’s.

Place your fingers on the letter c at the beginning of the first row. No need to count; simply feel the three rows of c’s from left to right.

Turn the page.

Page 12

Feel the two letter c’s, dots 1-4, in the top left corner of this page.

Below the middle line you will find three rows of c’s.

Find the letter c at the beginning of the first row.

From left to right, count the number of c’s in the first row.

There are five c’s.

Now, count the number of c’s in the second row.

If you counted seven, you found them all.

And last count the number of c’s in the third row.

There are four.

Turn the page.

Page 13

Feel the full braille cell and the letter c in the top left corner of this page.

Below the middle line you will find three rows of braille.

Place your fingers on the letter c at the beginning of the first row.

Count only the number of c’s in the first row.

There are three c’s in the first row.

Now count only the full cells in the second row.

If you said three, you’re correct.

And how many c’s are in the third row?

There is only one!

Turn the page.

Page 14

You are really getting the letters a-b, and c! Now let’s try something a little different. When braille is found in an elevator or on a room sign, it is often placed within an outlined box.

Feel the letter a in the top left corner of this page.

Below the middle line you will find three outlined boxes containing letters.

Place your whole hand flat on the page.

Move your hand from left to right, scanning to find the three boxes.

Now, find the box that contains the letter a.

The middle box contains the letter a.

Turn the page.

Page 15

Feel the letter b in the top left corner of the page.

Below the middle line you will find three outlined boxes containing letters.

Place your whole hand flat on the page.

Move your hand from left to right, scanning to find the three boxes.

Now, find the box with the letter b.

The last box has the letter b.

Turn the page.

Page 16

Feel the letter c in the top left corner of the page.

Below the middle line you will find three outlined boxes containing letters.

Place your whole hand flat on the page. Move your hand from left to right, scanning to find the three boxes.

Now, find the box with the letter c.

The first box has the letter c.

Turn the page.

Page 17

Feel the letters a-b, and c in the top left corner of the page. Remember the b is like buttons lined up on a shirt, and the c is like a cap on top of your head.

Below the middle line you’ll find three rows of braille letters.

Which row has the a’s?

If you found the second row, you’re right.

Next find the row of b’s.

It’s the first row.

Finally, find the row of c’s.

If you said the third row, you are correct.

Turn the page.

Page 18

Feel the full cell and the letters a-b, and c in the top left corner of this page.

Below the middle line you will find one row of mixed braille letters.

Place your fingers at the beginning of the row and count the number of a’s.

There are two a’s in this row.

Now, count the number of b’s.

If you counted four b’s, you are right.

And finally, how many c’s?

If you found three, you found them all.

Turn the page.

Page 19

Feel the two full cells followed by the letters a-b, and c in the top left corner of this page.

Below the middle line you will find three rows of mixed braille letters.

Place your fingers on the c at the beginning of the first row. Including this c, count the number of c’s in this row.

There are four c’s in this row.

Now place your fingers on the a at the beginning of the second row. Including this a, count the number of a’s in the row.

If you said two, you’re right.

Finally, place your fingers on the b at the beginning of the third row. How many b’s are in the third row?

There are two b’s in the third row.

Turn the page.

Page 20

Feel the braille letters a-b, and c in the top left corner of this page.

In the top right corner, you will find three print-braille stickers with the letters “a,” “b,” and “c.”

People often use stickers like these to label items around the house.

Below the middle line there are three boxes containing braille letters.

Use your scanning skills to find the box that contains the letter a.

The middle box contains the letter a. You can peel the “a” sticker and place it here, or label anything in your house that begins with the letter a, such as your “aspirin” container.

Next find the box that contains the letter b.

The b is in the last box. Again, you can place your “b” sticker here, or use it to label anything around your house that begins with the letter b.

Finally find the box containing the letter c.

That first box contains the letter c. You can place your “c” sticker here, or label anything you like that begins with the letter c.

Turn the page.

Page 21

Here are some extra stickers with the letters “a”, “b,” and “c.” Have fun labeling items around your house!

We would love to talk to you about learning braille and labeling.

Call Hadley to speak with a braille expert 847-784-2816. We want to help!

Select Next to complete this workshop.

Completion

Congratulations! You know letters a through c.