Braille Contractions

First, let me apologize for not posting the Blindness Blog yesterday. It totally slipped my mind. Now, yesterday’s blog:
Hello, Everyone. Today, we will return to the topic of Braille. If you did not read the previous blog about Braille, you will want to do that before reading on.
As a brief review, Braille is a system of writing (and reading) for those of us who happen to be blind. It is composed of cells, and each cell can hold up to six dots. Remember that all cells can be empty or all cells can be full. An example of a completely empty cell is a space that is placed between words. A completely full Braille cell, containing all six dots, 1, 2, 3 on the left and 4, 5, 6 on the right is read as the word for, a contraction. We will learn about these contractions in today’s Blindness Blog. The number and varying arrangements of the dots within the Braille cell are what are used to form the letters of the alphabet, numbers, and other symbols. Remember that the placement of dots within the cell are extremely important. A single dot placed in the bottom righthand corner, or dot 6, of the Braille cell is not the letter a. The letter a is only present when the top lefthand corner, or dot 1, is filled.
Braille also contains some symbols that are not used in print simply because these symbols are specific for the Braille code. For example, capital letters are written differently than lower case letters when writing print, and so it is not necessary to create a special symbol in print to signal a letter is capitalized. However, in Braille, we must have a capital sign which is simply the dot 6 placement within the Braille cell. This capital sign is placed immediately prior to the letter to be capitalized. If all letters are to be capitalized, the capital sign appears twice immediately before the letters to be capitalized. We know this all-capitalization ends when we encounter a space or punctuation mark. Another type of sign that is used in Braille and not print is the letter sign. This is because Braille can be either grade 2, or contracted, Braille, or grade 1, or uncontracted, Braille.
Some of you may be wondering why I did not teach you the contractions in the first lesson of Braille since it is generally introduced when it is encountered when someone learns Braille. The reason for this is because this blog is for those who do not have an instructor to work with them. Therefore, a textbook is not available and a teacher is not there to help. I felt the simplest way, therefore, was to teach uncontracted Braille first, and then to discuss Braille contractions. Today’s blog is about these contractions.
Before we get to them, let’s return back to our letter sign. If we place it before a letter, this means the reader reads the letter’s name, such as a or s. However, if no letter sign is present, the letter is read as a contraction, and we will now focus on some of these contractions.
Imagine you are reading along and you encounter the letter e with no letter sign in front of it. To read this letter e as an e would be incorrect. No letter sign means this letter represents the word every, and so this is what a skilled Braille reader automatically thinks when reading the letter e without a letter sign in front of it. Think of contractions as a shorthand. They are used in Braille because Braille takes up space, and contractions help shorten the code so that more Braille can fit on a page. If you were ever in a college class, you might remember that you used shortcuts to keep up with those rapid fire teachers, such as lvl for level, etc. If so, then you can think of Braille in a similar way.
Remember practicing and memorizing Braille is essential. Start out practicing at least ten minutes per day, and gradually lengthen this time. You will not remember and automatically recognize contractions in the future if you do not apply yourself to the task of memorizing them and if you do not encounter them often. In fact, use Braille to label items in your home and to take down phone numbers. If you do not use it in a meaningful way, you will not be as motivated to study it each day. Also, don’t try to remember every contraction at the same time. Pick a couple to work with, and once you have mastered them, add a few more. Focus on small steps because if you focus on reading and writing Braille fluently and expect yourself to be doing it immediately, you will not succeed. Focus on your small accomplishments and worry only about learning a few contractions at once. You will make it to becoming a confident and competent Braille reader, but only if you work toward that goal in small chunks. It is always okay to move back to build your confidence or to work on letters or contractions that may be giving you trouble. If you are thinking how difficult it is for you to feel Braille, remember the more you feel it, the better you will be able to fill it. Ask yourself if you have given your 100 percent best effort toward this. For example, have you spent ten or more minutes per day reading Braille? Have you labeled your medicine or Microwave in Braille? Do you use Braille for obtaining phone numbers. It is okay to use other methods as well, such as audio or other tactile markings, but add Braille to this, and perhaps, in the future, you will not need the additional methods. More importantly, you will be using Braille, and doing so will enable you to feel it and recognize it much more easily.
Now, I am going to write the contractions for the letters of the alphabet.
A = a
B = but
C = can
D = do
E = every
F = from
G = go
H = have
I = I
J = just
K = knowledge
L = like
M = more
N = not
O = no word or contractions
P = people
Q = quite
R = rather
S = so
T = that
U = us
V = very
W = will
X = it
Y = you
Z = as
Now, you have learned the contractions for the letters of the alphabet. Braille contains even more contractions, and another blog will likely be posted in the future to share them with you. Remember,practice, practice, practice. Find a penpal and share your reading and/or writing experiences with them. I will check the previous blog on Braille, and if I have not yet discussed writing, I will also try to post a Braille blog on how to write Braille in the future.