I found this article in the Spring/Summer, 1993 issue of Future Reflections, published by the National Federation of the Blind. You can view the entire issue by going to http://www.nfb.org/fr/fr1/93sprsum.htm.

THE VALUE OF LEARNING BRAILLE AS A CHILD
by Mary Hartle
From the Editor: My fifteen-year-old son is totally blind in one
eye, and over the years the visual acuity in the other eye has
varied from between 20/70 to 20/200. He has nystagmus, cataracts,
and glaucoma. He reads standard size print. He also reads Braille.
Braille instruction, with the goals of increasing reading speed and
notetaking speed with the slate and stylus was on his IEP this past
year and will be on his IEP again next year. Why? Because years
ago, when my husband and I joined the National Federation of the
Blind, we began to meet blind people like Mary Hartle. And if you
multiply Ms. Hartle's story (which is reprinted below) by hundreds
of others like it, the message begins to sink in: Braille makes
sense. In twenty years or so my son will also have a personal story
about Braille to tell; it might even have the same title as this
article. But it will be a different tale and it will have a
different ending. 
Mary Hartle's parents did not have the information or the blind
role models that are available to today's parents through the
National Federation of the Blind. They did the best they could,
given the circumstances. We, too, must make decisions based upon
the information available to us. What tale will your blind son or
daughter or student tell twenty years from now about Braille and
their early education? Will our children be able to say when they
grow up that, given the circumstances, their parents did the best
they could?
Here is Mary Hartle's story:
Although visually impaired, I attended regular school in the
1950's and 1960's. I attended a parochial school in Minneapolis and
was the only child with a vision impairment. I was taught to read
print and progressed through the grades along with other children
my age. No effort was ever made to teach me Braille. But, in
retrospect, I wish I had been taught Braille as a small child.
Although I could read standard-size print, I could not read it as
fast as sighted students could. My grades ranged from a few B's to 
several C's, and some D's. (My brothers and sisters got A's and
B's.) I was tracked into the lowest ability group in junior high,
although I was promoted to the middle group halfway through both
the seventh and eighth grades. I could not read as much material as
others could and thus had to spend more time on homework. I had to
hold books much closer to my face. Due to prolonged periods of
bending over to read books at close range, I developed posture
problems which, to this day, require chiropractic treatment.
Learning became difficult and painful rather than joyful and
exciting. As reading and learning became more difficult, I came to
feel less intelligent. I began to feel shame and, thus, had more
difficulty concentrating on learning. I became more anxious because
of my increased difficulty in learning. This was manifested in my
struggles with arithmetic in fifth grade. I can still recall my
extreme frustration and tears as I attempted to do my homework with
my family's tutorial help.
As a child, I read fewer books than my classmates, especially
novels. I read magazines and a few quick-read books. I also had,
and still have, trouble spelling many words because I was not able
to see the letters within words correctly. For instance, spelling
double-consonant words has been particularly difficult because my
eyes did not focus normally when I first learned to spell these
words.
Since I did not use Braille as a child I was truly handicapped in
my educational progress and my self-confidence was low because I
was unable to read fluently at a normal speed. I was embarrassed
about both my slow reading speed and the fact that I had to look
closer in order to read. Had I learned Braille earlier I would have
been able to read at a speed similar to sighted students. 
As I progressed through high school and college the reading
requirements became much greater and the size of the print became
much smaller. In college, I avoided classes with heavy reading
demands, such as history and literature.
Over the past ten years I have lost the rest of my vision, thus
necessitating my learning Braille. I am not unique. Many legally
blind children become blind adults, with little or no ability to
read print any longer. Although I use Braille in my day-to-day life
and on the job, I do not read with the kind of speed I could have
had I learned Braille in the primary grades.
There is nothing shameful about reading Braille or using any other
non-visual technique. Today's blind children deserve a better
education and a better chance to succeed in our highly competitive
information age. In fact, the need to read as efficiently as
possible is more crucial today than ever before. Without Braille,
the chances of these children going beyondþmuch less getting
throughþhigh school will be minimal.
When I think of how much Braille would have enhanced my education,
even though I could read standard print at the time, I think of how
important Braille is for children who can barely read standard
print or who rely on large print. School does not have to be such
torture! I believe visually impaired children should be given the
opportunity to learn Braille if:
They cannot read print at speeds comparable to their
classmates;
They cannot hold reading material at a normal distance
from their eyes; or
They cannot read print for long periods.
Braille is as effective a reading method as print is and blind and
visually-impaired children have the right to become as literate as
their sighted classmates.