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Louis Braille is born
Louis Braille was born on January 4th, 1809 in Coupvray, Paris. He grew up in a dormitory. Every so often, Louis would punch tiny holes across a page with the sharp point of his stylus. He slowly ran his fingers across the raised dots on the opposite side of the paper. -
The Accident
Louis loved to watch his father, Simon, at work. He was a harness maker and wore a shining leather apron, as he repaired straps and bridles. In Louis's eyes, his father was the center of the world, and was an inspiration to all. One morning, Louis got curious and pretended to act like his father as he brang his eye closer to the leather scrap, and stabbed hard with an awl. The sharp tool slipped off the surface of the leather. Louis shrieked, and eventually became blind in both eyes. -
The Royal Institute for Blind Youth
When Louis was only 10, he received a scholarship to the Royal Institute for Blind Youth. This was the first school for blind children in all of France which showed that the blind were capable of being taught. Students were taught with embossed books, in which were very expensive to print and not very efficient for learning. -
Nightwriting
A former solider named Charles Barbier visited the school. He shared his invention with the students called nightwriting. Barbier had invented a secret military code based on dots and dashes. This system of writing could be useful for blind people as well. Many students grew familiar with Barbier's system, although they realized it had many drawbacks. Since the symbols represented sounds only, there were no provisions for spelling, punctuation or numbers. -
The Braille Cell
Visions of dots and more dots danced in Louis's head. He wanted to simplify Captin Barbier's system so that each symbol could be read with the touch of a finger. Louis invented a simple code that allowed him to represent any letter of the alphabet within the space of a finger tip. -
The Teacher
Louis had just turned twenty when he became an apprentice teacher. He moved out of the dormitory, and was able to save up enough money to buy his own piano. Outside of the school, no one seemed to show much interest in Louis's new system of reading and writing. Dr. Pignier, Louis's previous teacher, tried his best to convince government officials to adopt Braille's alphabet, but was rejected each time. -
Public Announcement
Louis finally had a chance to demonstrate his system to the public. The Paris Expostion of Industry was held in an open square in the heart of the French capital. Louis attended, and held his audience spellbound as Louis ran his fingers over the page and read their messages back to them. The Minister of the Interior was pleased to watch his demonstration, although Louis never heard back from him again. -
The Gift
The war over Braille's raised-dot system finally ended when a man named Joseph Guadet visted Louis's school. He soon discovered that the students were defying the governments orders and were using Braille's alphabet in secret. Joseph spoke to Louis, and studied Braille's alphabet for himself. After some hesitation, he went to the director, and urged him to reconsider. -
Braille is Official
A spacious new school was completed where the institute moved to. By the time the move took place, Armand, the director, was ready to accept Braille's alphabet. Not only that, he had picked a dramatic moment to present Braille's system to the public. His system began to spread to other schools by 1849. -
The Death of Louis Braille
Louis's strength began to fail and his voice became weak. He spent his last months confined to a bed surrounded by family and friends. Louis died on January, 6th, 1852. Braille's stone house in Coupvray has been preserved as a museum. -
Why is Louis Braille important?
Louis Braille established a new system of efficient reading and writing for the blind, which is still used today. Louis was an inspiration to all and has left a big contribution in this world. -
Interesting Facts
-Braille's system extended to both math and music. Louis found time to create symbols for the blind who found in interest in math and music
-Louis was originally only blind in one eye, although the infection was very severe, so it spread to the other.
-The Royal Institute of Blind Youth was originally used to serve as a jail cell. -
Citations
-Out of The Darkness (by: Russell Freedman)
-Braille.bug.afb.org
