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Navajo Teacher Develops Braille System To Help Visually Impaired Read Tribal Language

A teacher on the Navajo Nation has developed a braille system for the tribe’s language. The code is based on the English system with a few additions to help visually impaired readers know when to use Navajo pronunciations.

The main difference in the Navajo braille system that Farmington teacher Carol Begay Green developed is that it does not include the letters F, R, P, V and Q.

As the Farmington Daily Times reports, instead, she included prefix codes for certain vowels that help the reader know which Navajo pronunciation to use, like plain nasal, high tone and eight plain.

Green said she developed the Navajo braille code so that visually impaired readers would have the same opportunity for language-based scholarships as other students.

Carrie Jung was a senior field correspondent from 2014 to 2018.