Today is World Braille Day!
World Braille Day is held in honor of the birthday of Louis Braille, who invented Braille, the worldwide system used by blind and visually impaired individuals for reading and writing.
Louis was blinded at age four, as a result of an accident in his father’s shop. At age ten he was sent to the National Institute for Blind Children where he could be
taught basic craftsman and trade skills. They were also taught to read by feeling
raised letters. The method used at the time for creating books caused each book to
weigh over 100 pounds and as a result the children were not able to write. The school
had only three books and Louis had read all of them.
Louis experimented with codes during his time at school and in 1824, at the age of
15, he created a simplified system of six raised dots to form what we call Braille
today. He later became a teacher at the institute he attended, but was not allowed
to officially teach his system during his lifetime. Although he was unable to see
the full impact of his work, Braille is the standard form of reading and writing
for visually impaired individuals in the world today. Whether it is information in
a book, or making sure the correct button is pushed in an elevator, Louis Braille should be celebrated for his contributions that have allowed individuals who are blind or have low vision to have access to information through reading with their hands.