"Reading is a basic human right. Literacy is a basic human right. And that is just as true for blind people as it is for sighted people," says Englebretson, who is now the director of undergraduate studies in linguistics at Rice University.
To read braille is powerful. Braille literacy is directly linked to higher rates of academic success and better employment outcomes for blind and low vision adults.
Every year, the Braille Challenge, a national braille literacy contest, encourages students to fine-tune their skills. But there's a problem. The U.S. is facing a national shortage of qualified braille teachers.
Each state has different requirements for braille literacy, so some students are getting less than two to three hours of instruction a week.
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