For centuries, blind people did not have any kind of system available that would allow them to read . This circumstance caused the impossibility of access to culture and knowledge. This situation changed drastically when, in the 19th century, Louis Braille devised a read-write system that allowed the blind to read and write using the pulp of their fingers.
the braille alphabet
This alphabet starts from a simple but very ingenious idea: that the pulp of the fingers touch a combination of six embossed dots , as each of these possible combinations corresponds to letters, numbers, punctuation marks and mathematical symbols.
Initially, this proposal was designed for the blind to be able to read, but in a short time two new advances emerged: handwriting with the use of a reglete and a punch, plus the adaptation of the traditional typewriter to the Braille system. From the arrival of the computer at the end of the 20th century, blind people had the possibility to operate a computer using a braille keyboard. These advances were a revolution for the blind to be able to read and write independently. Thanks to Braille, blind children were integrated into the conventional education system.
Complete alphabet in Braille
historical origin
Louis Braille was born in 1809 in Coupvray, a small town near Paris
At the age of four, Louis suffered a domestic accident that left him totally blind in both eyes. Despite this limitation, the boy attended school normally. Even though he was an intelligent student, his blindness did not allow him access to all knowledge. For this reason, his parents decided to send their son to the first school for blind children founded in Paris as soon as he turned ten. In this school the young Louis lived with a hundred children who also did not have vision. Braille
One day, these students were visited by Charles Barbier, a military man who had invented an embossed writing system designed for soldiers to be able to read at night without the need to use light. Barbier’s idea was based on the relationship between reliefs and the phonetics of words. The invention of Barbier meant a motivation for the young Louis Braille who started to work on a more elaborate system adapted for the blind.
At age 16 Louis Braille structured the bases of the alphabet that bears his name
When he left school he became a teacher for blind children. However, his poor health led to his death at age 41.
