Louis Braille’s Bicentennial Birthday Party

Louis Braille was one of the movers and shakers of the blind community, a man who was far ahead of his time. He revolutionized the way blind people had access to written information, as well as giving us an alphabet of our own.

Louis Braille was born in 1809 in Calgary, France.  When he was four years old, he accidentally stabbed himself in one eye with his father’s awl. After he went blind in that eye, he lost the vision in his other eye, as a result of sympathetic ophthalmia, a condition in which the eye which is unaffected by accident or disease goes blind almost in sympathy for the affected one.

By the age of ten, he had earned a scholarship to the Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris, France. One of the hardships he faced at the school was the limited access to the written word. At that time, in order to produce books for the blind, raised print letters were employed. Unfortunately, these letters were quite large, meaning they took up far more space than did ordinary print. In fact, when the rare book for the blind was produced, several stories were compiled within one book to save time and money. This made the books extremely heavy, with some weighing up to 100 pounds. By the age of fourteen, he had already read everything in the school’s limited library.

While he was still a student, the school was visited by a captain of the army who had developed a system called the Night Code. Consisting of 12 dots as well as dashes, it was a way for the army to pass messages back and forth without the enemy knowing what they were about. This gave Braille an idea for a similar system for the blind. Thus he invented the first form of Braille, which has changed very little in all this time.

The Braille code consists of six dots, with different patterns of these dots forming different letters. It is possible to discern letters using only one finger, which eliminated the displacement that often occurred when students were reading the larger raised print letters. Later, he also added notations for math and science.

Braille became an instructor in the school until his death in 1852. Unfortunately, his method of reading as well as writing for the blind was not taught until after his death of tuberculosis.

Braille has changed somewhat over the years.  We have found ways to abbreviate words which led to a higher level of Braille, called grade 2, in which all these abbreviations are taught.  For example, instead of writing out the entire word go, we simply write G. And due to the contributions of Dr. Abraham Nemith, Braille’s notations for math and science have been significantly altered.

However it was Louis Braille who first gave the blind an alphabet, as well as a way to have access to far more information. In honor of this feat, the National Braille Press is holding a bicentennial birthday party for Louis Braille, which for the most part will be active throughout 2009. In honor of Louis Braille, a wonderful lapel pin has been designed and will be sold at http://www.LouisBrailleBicentennial.com. This Website also has more information about Louis Braille and other items that you can purchase if you’d like to honor him or be a supporter.

Louis is also getting recognition from the mainstream community. Congress passed, and President Bush signed into law, an act that will allow a Louis Braille bicentennial coin to be minted in 2009, which will also have Braille engraved upon its face. It is truly wonderful to see Louis Braille finally getting the recognition he deserves.