Students in the US who are blind or visually impaired are getting an opportunity to enhance their learning experience during the COVID-19 crisis.
American Printing House (APH), a non-profit dedicated to empowering blind or visually impaired people, recently announced that it is helping the Lego Foundation distribute braille blocks to school districts across the country. Students in each school district will receive a set of braille Lego blocks free of charge.
Although some students will not be able to use the new Legos in the classroom due to the pandemic, APH recommends that teachers work them into remote learning curriculums.
The American Printing House for the Blind recently found that only 8.4 percent of visually impaired children read Braille, as opposed to 50 percent in 1960. With the advent of audio books and voice-to-text technology, reading and writing are becoming lost arts for the visually impaired, often for lack of resources or time — modern braille education methods include expensive “Braille writers” or a slate and stylus, both of which create text that is difficult for students to edit or erase. LEGO bricks are not only swappable, but children are already familiar with their mechanics!
