So many people ask, “How fast should my child be reading?” When discussing Braille Reading Speed Standards, it’s essential to remember that blind children are just as intelligent as sighted children so standard reading speed should be used for all children. Braille Reading Fast.
The Jerry Johns Basic Reading Inventory is a widely used tool for assessing reading speeds and comprehension levels in students. It helps educators determine a student’s instructional, independent, and frustration reading levels. This is done by evaluating their speed, accuracy, and comprehension. This inventory is particularly useful for identifying students’ reading capabilities and tailoring instruction to meet their needs. By measuring reading speeds, educators can see how students process text and find areas where they need more help to improve fluency and comprehension.
Here are the national standards as presented by Jerry Johns, a leading reading specialist in the country.
| Braille Reading Speeds for Blind Student | ||||||||
| Grade | Fall Target | Winter Target | Spring Target | |||||
| 1 | 10 | 20 | 50 | |||||
| 2 | 50 | 70 | 90 | |||||
| 3 | 75 | 90 | 110 | |||||
| 4 | 95 | 110 | 125 | |||||
| 5 | 105 | 125 | 140 | |||||
| 6 | 130 | 140 | 150 | |||||
| 7 | 130 | 140 | 150 | |||||
| 8 | 130 | 140 | 150 | |||||
| Jerry Johns: Silent Reading Rates for Students in Grades K-12 who understand the material | ||||||||
| Grade | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| WPM | <81 | 82-108 | 109-130 | 131-147 | 148-161 | 162-174 | 175-185 | 186-197 |
| WPM | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||
| 198-209 | 210-224 | 225-240 | 241-255+ | 450+ | ||||
Use the SAME Braille Reading Speed Standards
For another extensive list of information on Braille standards go to California Reading Standards
The TechVision Team use these same standards for all blind and low vision students. To name just a couple, Batya reads both Hebrew and English Braille and Dani excels to the top of her class also. If you set high standards then children will meet those standards. We have taken on beginner students and told them how fast they would be reading braille in a couple months, even in middle and high school. Just remember the older you start the longer it will take for them to gain speed. At the end of the 2 months, as their fingers would fly across the page reading braille, as they were timed with a fast speed, We would ask, “So did you really think you would be able to read that fast?” They would reply, “Of course, because you told me I would be able to.”
So, tell them, they can, and they will. Our Mission and Purpose is to have students (especially with similar intelligence) at the highest levels they can be with hard work and instruction to get them there as their peers.
Get to the Highest Levels
Tricks to use
Time them every week (sometime everyday), so they see their progress
Have them reread the same material to get flow and fluency
Have them braille the material first using contractions, then read what they wrote
Make sure you add in Computer skills with Perfect touch typing to truly allow students to be at the highest levels of learning.