Effects of Handedness and Blindness on Braille Reading Accuracy

Abstract

Research results with regard to handedness and braille reading performance are contradictory. The present study investigated (a) the effects of handedness on braille reading performance in people with blindness (or severe visual impairment) and (b) the potential effects of vision loss (or type) of blindness on braille reading. Forty-nine (27 males and 22 females) aged 8 to 27 years participated in three braille reading accuracy tasks with a subset of a standardized instrument, which evaluated reading accuracy in Greek language. Handedness was defined through a modified version of the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. The analysis showed that handedness was not significantly related to any task of braille reading accuracy. Level of vision loss was found to play an important role in reading accuracy, favoring the participants with blindness regardless of hand preference. The results may add to the literature by providing evidence that it is possible for braille-reading students to incorporate both hands in reading, regardless of which hand is dominant.