THE A-J+3+6 METHOD OF BRAILLE WRITING USING THE SLATE AND STYLUS

The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of conventional method and the a-j+3+6 method in braille writing using the slate and stylus. the authors conducted an experimental study at the cluster primary school for the blind; eighteen visually impaired students from year 2 and year 3. ten blind students and eight low vision students were selected as samples. a modified method of braille writing using slate and stylus derived from the abkl method and mangold method namely a- j+3+6 method was used in this mix-method study. the qualitative data of focus group interview and observations were used to support the quantitative findings. data analysis showed that method a-j +3+6 (m=76.11 sd=17.81)is more effective in braille writing using the slate and stylus rather than the conventional method (m=46.67, sd=24.6) is statistically significant at the 0.05 level (t=2.907, p<0.05). data also showed that students who used the conventional method tend to do more mirror errors than students who used the a-j+3+6 method (t=1.889, p<0.05). meanwhile, study also found that there is no statistically significant in braille writing using the slate and stylus with visual acuity; low vision students (m=66.88, sd=26.98) mastered the braille writing skills using the slate and stylus better than blind students (m=57.0, sd=25.29) is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level (t=- 0.799, p>0.05). data also showed that there is no statistically significant in mastering braille writing skills using the slate and stylus and the age of onset; students with congenitally blind (m=60.42, sd=27.91) and students with adventitiously blind (m=63.33, sd=23.17) is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level (t=-0.220, p>0.05).