Carol Begay Green

Carol Begay Green developed the Navajo Braille System in 2015. She developed Navajo Braille with the help of a researcher from Rice University in 2015. The Navajo Braille Code was approved in 2015 by the Navajo Nation Department of Diné Education.

Early life

Green was born into the Tó’Aheedlí-Íníí clan. Her grandmother taught her the Navajo language and culture. Green lost sight in her left eye at age 13. She had cataract surgery in her right eye which led to a further decrease in her vision in 2000. Green graduated from Northern Arizona University in 1991. She studied Navajo language at Northern Arizona University. She taught Navajo until she went to New Mexico State University. She received a Master’s degree in Special Education from New Mexico State University. Green found out from the Braille Authority of North America that there was no existing Navajo Braille Code in 2013.

Career

Green joined the Farmington Municipal School District as a teacher for the visually impaired in 2010. She taught at Red Mesa Elementary School and Nataani Nez Elementary School before 2010.

In 2013, Begay Green went to the Getting in Touch with Literacy conference in Providence, Rhode Island. She asked the Braille Authority of North America if there was a braille code for Navajo. There was not any Navajo version of Braille. She worked with a researcher to develop Navajo Braille. The Navajo Nation Department of Diné Education approved the Navajo Braille Code in 2015.

Green teaches the Navajo Braille Code and culture to people aged 3-21. Green was a semifinalist for the 2018 Holman Prize for Blind Ambition.