Braille Reference Sheet (Instructions)

The purpose of creating the Braille Reference Sheet in this format was to fit as much information on one page as possible. As a student learning braille, I frequently needed to look up a letter or contraction. After weeks of looking things up in my braille dictionary or in my textbook, I started to create little flashcards with basic, important information on it. These flash cards eventually became so crammed with little handwritten dots that they became illegible and useless. So, slowly I started to alphabetize and organize my notes in a way that would make them more accessible. Trial and error eventually led me to the current table format with rows and columns to separate each letter. I put the reference sheet to use on a regular basis and over time, with suggestions from my colleagues, I made lots of changes to it. Each change made the reference sheet easier to use, more compact, or simply more aesthetically pleasing. The current version of it seems to be the one that my colleagues and I are happiest with. Sometimes it might seem as if an entry would be better written in another way. Most likely, it was not done that way, because I came to the conclusion (along with input from many others) that it was best left as it was. The Braille Reference Sheet is quite helpful for students, teachers, and parents learning braille. People who use braille on a regular basis, might not need to look up individual letters and basic contractions – however, as a 3^rd year teacher of students who are blind and visually impaired (who has just gotten my first student who uses braille), I always keep this sheet handy.

The Braille Reference Sheet has 10 columns with the following headings: letter, whole word signs, dot 5 words, short form words, part word signs, "and, for, of, the, with", dot 4, 5 words, dot 4, 5, 6 words, lower signs, and, final letter. Down the left-hand side of the sheet there are 33 rows with letters and contractions listed alphabetically and common letter contractions such as ‘ch’, ‘sh’, and ‘st’. At the bottom of the second page, also listed alphabetically, is a list of common punctuation marks.

Starting at the left and going across the "B" row, one can see the letter b on its own (b). This is simply the way the letter b should be written in a word.

The following column is entitled "whole word sign" and has the word "but" written under letter b. This means that the letter b, used on it’s own, represents the whole word "but" - without spelling it out using the letters "b-u-t". NB: in row "E" the whole word sign for "en" is also included there alphabetically because I did not want to use up an entire row simply for the "en" contraction. Thus, the sign for "en" (demonstrated in the "lower signs" column) when written on it’s own, represents the word "enough."

Column 3 is "dot 5 words" which, in the "B" row is blank. This means that "dot 5" followed by the letter B does not represent any single word. Down below in the same column under the letter d one can see that the dot 5 followed by the letter d represents the word "day" and under letter k the dot 5 followed by that letter represents the word ‘knowledge.’