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INPRIMATU
They present the first method to read and write braille in Basque
  • On 10 May, the Department of Education of the Government of Navarra presented the "Punttuka" method. It is a material aimed at students of Early Childhood and Primary Education, both in ink and in Braille, developed by the Visual Group of the Centro de Recursos de EducaciĆ³n Especial de Navarra (CREENA). Its objective is to facilitate the literacy of visually impaired vasco-speakers through this method and to take an "important step" in the educational inclusion. It presents the phonemes with verses and poems.
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From 2018 to 2021, CREENA staff has worked on creating cards and auxiliary means of the method: Puri Mugiro Sorabilla, Isabel Santesteban Ezcurra, Sandra Navarro Balaguer and Manuel del Portillo Elcano. All the material is suitable for children and primary school students and for all students who must learn Braille at any time during school.

The main objective of the CREENA Visual Group is to achieve the full school and social inclusion of students with visual impairment. To carry out this work, it has a cooperation agreement with ONCE. They wanted the material to be "innovative and inclusive," allowing it to be shared with their peers and peers in order to encourage "real inclusion."

It offers multiple means of representation: insertion of two-dimensional images to improve the vision and active touch of people with visual impairment, introduction of three-dimensional objects for a better understanding of the content and introduction of sound content through QR codes.

The visually impaired video says that I used to study only with the teacher and can now share material with friends (see below): "We have a good time, we learn and it's also in Basque."

Fonemas with verses and poems

In the presentation they have highlighted the relationship between the point-by-point method and tradition. In fact, it presents the phonemes with verses, poems, etc., with the current technologies: Verses are obtained by QR codes.

The hammer consists of 34 cards, which include all phonemes, inverted syllables, capital sign, double phonemes and punctuation signs. The vocabulary used has been selected including the most common dictionaries of the Basque Country in Navarre and, in order of study, the peculiarities of Braille and the characteristics of the Basque Country, established in the first booklet prepared by the CRI of Bilbao in 1993 (Resource Center for the Educational Inclusion of Students with Visual Impairment).

The item also has complementary resources, such as a book that collects poetry that has its voice through the QR code; a document with QR codes that join videos, with verses, songs and poems; a 5-car toy train to work the syllables direct and inverse and the three-dimensional objects that complement the pamphlets.

The video they have produced by presenting the method is as follows: