Braille uncovered: 15 facts you should know

Jasmine Hall shared this great article entitled 15 Facts to share during braille literacy month (January - so I'm a bit behind the 8 ball!!). The article, as you might expect has some fascinating facts about Braille. I was not aware, for example, that there are 3 different grades of Braille " with 1 being best for those just starting to learn Braille and 3 for the more familiar", and that there is "“Braille for feet” that assists the visually impaired in knowing the boundaries of dangerous areas". Alongside these facts, are the implications of not being Braille literate, which include (US stats):

Earlier studies noted that visually impaired persons who first learned to read using the Braille system hold a 44% unemployment rate. By contrast, those more accustomed to print media - or incapable of reading Braille, as it were - sat at a staggering 77%.

Braille PDA (by Humanware) (Photo credit: sinosplice)
And the other observation that struck me was "Since so many teachers know little to nothing of Braille, this results in a reduced literacy rate and more academic struggles".

I would recommend having a read through, even if you are not working directly with folk who are visually impaired or blind.