Children's Resources

A young patron of ours who received braille textbooks, praying in her church before receiving her First Holy Communion One of our patrons, a young boy, receives Holy Communion for the first time as his proud parents watch on A young blind child with her sister after making their First Holy Communion

Our mission was founded in 1900 by Rev. Joseph Stadelman, SJ and Margaret Coffey, a blind teacher of blind children. Margaret wanted her students to have the same access to catechetical materials, to prepare them for the Sacraments, that their sighted classmates had. She spent her life savings of $350 (the equivalent of $11,000 today) to purchase the technology required to produce ‘raised print’ e.g. braille. Over 120 years later, we continue to make this a top priority. All of our materials continue to be provided free-of-charge worldwide. We serve many children in CCD preparing for their First Communion, Confirmation, etc. with braille textbooks. A listing of just some of these titles can be found here. If you are a parent or teacher of blind children, and you need a CCD textbook in braille, please get in touch with us ASAP by emailing info@xaviersocietyfortheblind.org.

A textbook in braille and print showing the size difference One volume of braille standing upright on the counter

In addition to textbooks, we have many great children's books and young adult books available in our library ranging from biographies of saints and other historical figures to inspirational stories and tales of a positive nature.

If your child is just starting his/her braille journey, we help coordinate the mailing of The Funny Alphabet. This great book produced by the Columbiettes teaches the braille alphabet and is available in English and Spanish. Each letter has its own tactile example (E.g. a plush Koala bear for the letter 'K', a comb for the letter 'C'). Like all of our materials, this title is provided free-of-charge worldwide. For more information on any of our offerings, please reach out to us at info@xaviersocietyfortheblind.org or call us Monday to Friday (8 a.m. ET to 4:00 p.m. ET) 212-473-7800 or 800-637-9193.