Content area
Full Text
Abstract:
Using a subset of data from the Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille Study, researchers analyzed the patterns and characteristics of hand movements as predictors of reading performance. Statistically significant differences were found between one- and two-handed readers and between patterns of hand movements and reading rates.
The method in which hands are moved while reading has been considered an important factor in braille reading (Davidson, Wiles-Kettenmann, Haber, & Apelle, 1980; Eatman, 1942; Gray & Todd, 1968; Kusajima, 1974; Mangold, 1978; Millar, 1997; Wormsley, 1979). The limited research on hand movements and success in reading braille seems to point to a correlation between certain patterns of hand movements and faster braille-reading ability, suggesting that some patterns may be more efficient than others (Bertelson, Mousty, & D'Alimonte, 1985; Davidson, Appelle, & Haber, 1992; Eatman, 1942; Gray & Todd, 1968; Kusajima, 1974; Mangold, 1978; Millar, 1997; Mousty & Bertelson, 1985). The researchers in the Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille Study (ABC Braille Study) analyzed how participants used their hands in reading to determine if there were any longitudinal changes in reading rates and other factors.
Patterns and characteristics of hand movements
Wormsley (1979), following the model derived by Kusajima (1974), divided hand movement patterns into two major categories: one-handed and two-handed reading. One-handed readers use only the right hand or the left hand; the nonreading hand sometimes touches the book but does not read. Two-handed readers fall into four general groupings: left marks, parallel, split, and scissors.
With the left marks pattern, the left hand is used as a marker, while the right reads. Generally, the right hand reads each line, while the left hand keeps its place at the beginning of the line. At some point during reading, the left hand moves down to locate the next line and stays there until the right hand returns to meet it and begins reading that line. With the parallel pattern, both hands are together or "parallel" at all times, moving across the line from right to left and back and then dropping down to find the next line.
The split pattern involves both hands reading together until almost the end of the line. At that point, they split, with the right hand continuing to finish the...