TACTILE GRAPHICS INSTRUCTION

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com

The ability to read tactual graphics and charts is essential as part of a braille student’s literacy program. Explicit instruction in the reading and interpretation of tactile graphics is critical for students who are tactile learners. The following activities can be used to instruct students in learning how to read tactile graphics.

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Activities to Develop Skills in Reading Tactual Graphics

​Encourage the student to recognize and interpret graphic information (2D object, solid embossed shapes, outlines of objects, raised lines, symbols/letters).

• Name an Item. ​When presented with a tactile graphic of a unit related item, the student will name the item.
• Match. Present the student with a group of tactile graphics to explore. Next, provide the student with a single tactile graphic and encourage them to scan the other graphics to locate a match.
• Mazes. Create a tactile graphic maze. Prompt the student to start at the beginning and follow the paths to locate the end.
• Sequence. Create rows of sequenced shapes in patterns. Encourage the student to identify what comes next in the sequence.
• Tactile Coloring Page. Present the student with a tactile drawing and encourage the student to color within the tactile graphic.
• Dot to Dot. Create a dot to dot activity with numbers or letters and encourage the student to connect the dots in order.
• Follow the Path. Create a tactile follow the path activity. Challenge the student to follow each path and determine on which tactile graphic or word the student would arrive on. Have the student follow other paths to determine where they would arrive.
• Spot the Difference. Present the student with two similar tactile graphics. Challenge the student to spot the differences between the two graphics.
• Object Hunt. Create a tactual graphic that includes a variety of unit related objects throughout. Encourage the student to search to locate all the items.
• ​​Tactile Puzzles. Create a tactile picture of a theme related picture. Cut the picture into several pieces (vary the complexity to make it challenging yet allows for success). Encourage the student to assemble the puzzle.

Additional Online Braille Resources...

The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) The mission of BANA is to assure literacy for tactile readers through the standardization of braille and/or tactile graphics. BANA disseminates rules, makes interpretations and renders opinions pertaining to braille codes and guidelines for the provisions of literary and technical materials and related forms and formats of embossed materials now in existence or to be developed in the future for the use of people who are blind in North America.

Their publication on Guidelines and Standards for Tactile Graphics is available in hardcopy format through the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). This 365 page manual is also available online for download. This can be found on the BANA website. The following are some key points from the guidelines.

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Tactile Graphics Web Resource
A great resource on everything pertaining to the creation of tactual graphics can be found at www.tactilegraphics.org. This site was created and maintained by Lucia Hasty, who is a consultant and has developed training materials on tactile graphics. She is also a co-author of the recent BANA Guidelins and standards for Tactile Graphics.

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 APH.SQUID Tactile Activities Magazine This activities magazines, available through APH, introduce a recreational approach to tactile literacy. SQUID Magazine is deceptively fun: while your child or student enjoys a variety of activities, he or she will acquire skills needed to become a more proficient tactile reader. These puzzles, games, and brainteasers will foster: Texture discrimination, Systematic searching, Shape identification, Tracking line paths, Pattern building and recognition, and Understanding symbols

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Good Tactile Graphic: Booklet
This booklet, available through APH, provides specific guidelines for the design of tactile graphics, expanding on those mentioned in the videos on the Good Tactile Graphic DVD. It also provides further resources and information that may be of use to creators of tactile graphics. In addition, it contains actual samples of some of the tactile graphics depicted in the videos.

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