Biography Category
Name :
Louis Braille
Date :
Views :
817
Category :
Birth Date :
04/01/1809
Birth Place :
the French town of Coupvray
Death Date :
January 6, 1852
Not Available
[b]BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD[/b][br /]
[br /]
Louis Braille was a Capricorn, born on January 4, 1809, in the village of Coupvray, which lies approximately 50 kilometers east of Paris. His father, Simon-Rene Braille was a saddler and his mother Monique Baron was the daughter of an agricultural laborer. Louis parents were simple rural folks. His father was very hard working and had a workshop. He used to do leather craft in the workshop.[br /]
[br /]
Louis had three older siblings, two sisters and a brother. Louis arrived 11 years after the birth of the third child and was his father’s favorite. He was loved by all in his family.[br /]
[br /]
When Louis started walking, he used to accompany his father to the workshop. His father was very alert at the workshop and never left Louis alone. Louis used to observe his father working on leather with different tools. He had a keen desire to work like his father but for his father’s alertness, he never got a chance to do so. One day Louis got a chance to fulfill his desire. His father went out of the workshop to talk to someone. Louis was in search of such an opportunity. He took advantage of his father’s absence. He tried to cut a piece of leather thong, using his father’s small pruning knife. The leather was tough and Louis’ hands were clumsy. He accidentally poked his eye with an awl (a sharp tool used for leather crafting). Louis became unconscious there and then.[br /]
[br /]
This was in 1812, when Louis was just three years old. An old woman first treated Louis’ damaged eye with lily water, which was followed by treatment by an eye doctor in a nearby town. After sometime Louis stopped crying, perhaps because the pain was diminishing. There was an air of satisfaction among his family members. But it was short lived. Some ineffective treatment followed, including a dose of calomel, a laxative. Though he had damaged only one eye, an infection from the injured eye quickly spread to the other eye. Louis started to complain of stinging sensation in his other eye. Through a process called sympathetic ophthalmia, the infection spread via the optic nerve to the other eye, which left him completely blind at the age of four. Now, the only way to find his way around was by sound and feeling.[br /]
[br /]
At the age of six or seven, when Louis realized that he was blind and would remain the same for the rest of his life, there was a sudden change in his behavior and attitude. He became lonely and confused. Since the loss of his vision occurred at a very tender age, he could not retain any memory of precise visual images.[br /]
[br /]
But Louis was a very bright boy and with help from his family, was able to receive quality education. With constant support from his family.[br /]
[br /]
[b]EDUCATION[/b][br /]
[br /]
From a very young age, Louis was self-sufficient but was always sad at heart. Fortunately, sometime around 1816, a priest Abbe Jacques Palluy came to Coupvray. He came to know Louis intimately and decided to impart religious training to him. Palluy was a very kind and a well educated person. He was very much attracted to nature and so he started teaching Louis about animals, birds and trees. Louis started identifying birds with their sound and flowers with their smell. The priest taught Louis religious music as a result of which his faith in religion too grew strong. He read the Bible to him and gave a lively description of different characters. With such religious indoctrination Louis learned to accept the fact and started living an otherwise normal life.[br /]
[br /]
He developed a firm belief in God and started taking things positively. Louis’ parents, together with the local priest, Abbe Jacques Palluy and a school master Antoine Becheret were aware of his superior learning abilities and eager to provide him with the opportunity to develop them to the fullest extent possible. Both Louis’ parents could read and write and his older brother and sisters had attended school. Louis was always enthralled by his sister Catherine’s stories of her own schoole days.[br /]
[br /]
became independent right from childhood. His belief and dedication mark his life and times.[br /]
[br /]
Around the age of eight, Louis attended a regular school in his village studying with other children who were not blind. Despite his handicap, Louis was one of the best students of his class and did well at his studies. He was both intelligent and creative and did not allow his disability to come in his way. It soon became obvious that he could not learn much at school because, he could not read and write. Without an education it was likely that he would have to beg on the streets, like other blind people. However, the two year study at the school sharpened his mind and cleared several basic concepts.[br /]
[br /]
[b]THE INDUCTION[/b][br /]
[br /]
Louis did so well in the school that when the government decreed new local schooling methods that would prevent him from continuing his education, Becheret and Palluy approached a nobleman Marquis d’Orvillers for help in securing his admission to Valentin Hally’s School for the blind in Paris (National Institute for Blind Children). Orvillers having seen Valentin Hally’s students perform at Versailles agreed to write to the then director of the school, Sebartian Guillie and secure Louis’ admission on scholarship.[br /]
[br /]
Louis’ father entered into correspondence with the Minister of the Interior regarding curriculum and whether it might be beneficial for Louis to attend the Institution Royales des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris (National Institute for Blind Children). After lengthy deliberations, the minister nominated him for attendance at the school. Louis never had second thoughts about attending the Institute. He was all set for a solid education.[br /]
[br /]
On February 15, 1819 at the tender age of ten, he and his father made the four hour stagecoach trip to Paris. Louis was now away from his family and village. He was the youngest student at the first school in the world for the blind, at Paris. Initially, it was difficult for him to adjust with the new atmosphere. He was among the unknown. At times, he even thought of running away but gradually began to adjust. The conditions at the school were very hard. It was cold and damp. It was the new world Louis had entered. In this school, he developed patience and learnt to work hard, traits which stood in good stead throughout his life.[br /]
[br /]
[b]AT THE SCHOOL[/b][br /]
[br /]
At the school, once a week Louis was taken for a walk. He was taught skills like chair canning and slipper making. He was also taught to read but not to write. When he asked his teacher if the school had any books for the blind to read, he himself found that the school did have books for the blind to read. Louis read all the books in the library. He learned about Music, History, Geography, Mathematics, French, Latin, Greek and many other subjects. He learned quickly and easily. He also received many awards. Louis was highly creative. Diligent as he was, Louis did considerably well at all the subjects and was respected by his fellow students and staff.[br /]
[br /]
For about six years, Louis studied about various subjects at the school. He was no more a child. He was now a young man and as a student then, he began teaching other students without any fee. All the teachers at the school appreciated his effort.[br /]
[br /]
[b]A CHANCE OF LIFE[/b][br /]
[br /]
One day, an incident took place that changed his life forever. In 1821, a soldier named Charles Barbier came to visit the school. He bought with him a system he had invented called ‘Night Writing’. Night Writing had been originally designed so that soldiers could pass instructions along trenches at night, without having to talk and reveal their positions. It consisted of 12 raised dots, which could be combined to represent different sounds. Unfortunately, it was too complex for the soldiers to master and was therefore, rejected by the army. Louis quickly realized how useful this system of raised dots could be, provided it was simplified. Over the next few months, he experimented with different systems. This was around 1822–24.[br /]
[br /]
Day and night, Louis thought of dots. He thought of developing some practical scheme for printing and writing in tangible form, suitable to the tactile capacity of all. In 1825, at an age of around 16, he invented the scheme. He cut Barbier’s characters into two and thus produced his well known 3 by 2. In 1826, at 17 Braille was appointed as the first blind apprentice teacher, at the school where he studied. His conscientiousness, scholarly achievements and patience fitted him perfectly for the job. He taught Algebra, Grammar, Music and Geography. Despite his busy schedule, he kept tinkering with the code. Both, as pupil and teacher, he spent most of his leisure trying to find a system by which the blind could write at ease.[br /]
[br /]
In 1827, the first book on Braille was published. He continued to work on the scheme for many years and developed separate codes for Mathematics and Music. By 1828, he found a way to copy music in his new code. In 1829, he published the method of writing words, music and plain songs by means of dots, for use by the blind and arranged by them.[br /]
[br /]
Although, Braille went on to become a loved and respected teacher, he was encouraged in his research and remained secure in his own mind as to the value of his work. Unfortunately, his system of touch reading and writing was not widely accepted in his own time.[br /]
[br /]
[b]DEATH[/b][br /]
[br /]
The damp and relatively unsanitary conditions at the school where Louis studied and taught for over 30 years, is believed to have infected him with tuberculosis. He showed the first symptoms of the disease at the age of 26. In early December 1851, he suffered hemorrhage. This was attributed to a cold, but worsened progressively. He died on January 6, 1852, at the age of 43.[br /]
[br /]
[b]SHORT LIFE[/b][br /]
[br /]
During his short life, Louis Braille has done more for the blind than what centuries of charity and alms could not do. He spent the last eight years of his life teaching occasionally and brailling books for the school library as his declining health disturbed his normal life. People started calling the dot system by his name, Braille. As the saying goes – the good die young, Braille died just two days after celebrating his 43rd birthday.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Louis Braille was a Capricorn, born on January 4, 1809, in the village of Coupvray, which lies approximately 50 kilometers east of Paris. His father, Simon-Rene Braille was a saddler and his mother Monique Baron was the daughter of an agricultural laborer. Louis parents were simple rural folks. His father was very hard working and had a workshop. He used to do leather craft in the workshop.[br /]
[br /]
Louis had three older siblings, two sisters and a brother. Louis arrived 11 years after the birth of the third child and was his father’s favorite. He was loved by all in his family.[br /]
[br /]
When Louis started walking, he used to accompany his father to the workshop. His father was very alert at the workshop and never left Louis alone. Louis used to observe his father working on leather with different tools. He had a keen desire to work like his father but for his father’s alertness, he never got a chance to do so. One day Louis got a chance to fulfill his desire. His father went out of the workshop to talk to someone. Louis was in search of such an opportunity. He took advantage of his father’s absence. He tried to cut a piece of leather thong, using his father’s small pruning knife. The leather was tough and Louis’ hands were clumsy. He accidentally poked his eye with an awl (a sharp tool used for leather crafting). Louis became unconscious there and then.[br /]
[br /]
This was in 1812, when Louis was just three years old. An old woman first treated Louis’ damaged eye with lily water, which was followed by treatment by an eye doctor in a nearby town. After sometime Louis stopped crying, perhaps because the pain was diminishing. There was an air of satisfaction among his family members. But it was short lived. Some ineffective treatment followed, including a dose of calomel, a laxative. Though he had damaged only one eye, an infection from the injured eye quickly spread to the other eye. Louis started to complain of stinging sensation in his other eye. Through a process called sympathetic ophthalmia, the infection spread via the optic nerve to the other eye, which left him completely blind at the age of four. Now, the only way to find his way around was by sound and feeling.[br /]
[br /]
At the age of six or seven, when Louis realized that he was blind and would remain the same for the rest of his life, there was a sudden change in his behavior and attitude. He became lonely and confused. Since the loss of his vision occurred at a very tender age, he could not retain any memory of precise visual images.[br /]
[br /]
But Louis was a very bright boy and with help from his family, was able to receive quality education. With constant support from his family.[br /]
[br /]
[b]EDUCATION[/b][br /]
[br /]
From a very young age, Louis was self-sufficient but was always sad at heart. Fortunately, sometime around 1816, a priest Abbe Jacques Palluy came to Coupvray. He came to know Louis intimately and decided to impart religious training to him. Palluy was a very kind and a well educated person. He was very much attracted to nature and so he started teaching Louis about animals, birds and trees. Louis started identifying birds with their sound and flowers with their smell. The priest taught Louis religious music as a result of which his faith in religion too grew strong. He read the Bible to him and gave a lively description of different characters. With such religious indoctrination Louis learned to accept the fact and started living an otherwise normal life.[br /]
[br /]
He developed a firm belief in God and started taking things positively. Louis’ parents, together with the local priest, Abbe Jacques Palluy and a school master Antoine Becheret were aware of his superior learning abilities and eager to provide him with the opportunity to develop them to the fullest extent possible. Both Louis’ parents could read and write and his older brother and sisters had attended school. Louis was always enthralled by his sister Catherine’s stories of her own schoole days.[br /]
[br /]
became independent right from childhood. His belief and dedication mark his life and times.[br /]
[br /]
Around the age of eight, Louis attended a regular school in his village studying with other children who were not blind. Despite his handicap, Louis was one of the best students of his class and did well at his studies. He was both intelligent and creative and did not allow his disability to come in his way. It soon became obvious that he could not learn much at school because, he could not read and write. Without an education it was likely that he would have to beg on the streets, like other blind people. However, the two year study at the school sharpened his mind and cleared several basic concepts.[br /]
[br /]
[b]THE INDUCTION[/b][br /]
[br /]
Louis did so well in the school that when the government decreed new local schooling methods that would prevent him from continuing his education, Becheret and Palluy approached a nobleman Marquis d’Orvillers for help in securing his admission to Valentin Hally’s School for the blind in Paris (National Institute for Blind Children). Orvillers having seen Valentin Hally’s students perform at Versailles agreed to write to the then director of the school, Sebartian Guillie and secure Louis’ admission on scholarship.[br /]
[br /]
Louis’ father entered into correspondence with the Minister of the Interior regarding curriculum and whether it might be beneficial for Louis to attend the Institution Royales des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris (National Institute for Blind Children). After lengthy deliberations, the minister nominated him for attendance at the school. Louis never had second thoughts about attending the Institute. He was all set for a solid education.[br /]
[br /]
On February 15, 1819 at the tender age of ten, he and his father made the four hour stagecoach trip to Paris. Louis was now away from his family and village. He was the youngest student at the first school in the world for the blind, at Paris. Initially, it was difficult for him to adjust with the new atmosphere. He was among the unknown. At times, he even thought of running away but gradually began to adjust. The conditions at the school were very hard. It was cold and damp. It was the new world Louis had entered. In this school, he developed patience and learnt to work hard, traits which stood in good stead throughout his life.[br /]
[br /]
[b]AT THE SCHOOL[/b][br /]
[br /]
At the school, once a week Louis was taken for a walk. He was taught skills like chair canning and slipper making. He was also taught to read but not to write. When he asked his teacher if the school had any books for the blind to read, he himself found that the school did have books for the blind to read. Louis read all the books in the library. He learned about Music, History, Geography, Mathematics, French, Latin, Greek and many other subjects. He learned quickly and easily. He also received many awards. Louis was highly creative. Diligent as he was, Louis did considerably well at all the subjects and was respected by his fellow students and staff.[br /]
[br /]
For about six years, Louis studied about various subjects at the school. He was no more a child. He was now a young man and as a student then, he began teaching other students without any fee. All the teachers at the school appreciated his effort.[br /]
[br /]
[b]A CHANCE OF LIFE[/b][br /]
[br /]
One day, an incident took place that changed his life forever. In 1821, a soldier named Charles Barbier came to visit the school. He bought with him a system he had invented called ‘Night Writing’. Night Writing had been originally designed so that soldiers could pass instructions along trenches at night, without having to talk and reveal their positions. It consisted of 12 raised dots, which could be combined to represent different sounds. Unfortunately, it was too complex for the soldiers to master and was therefore, rejected by the army. Louis quickly realized how useful this system of raised dots could be, provided it was simplified. Over the next few months, he experimented with different systems. This was around 1822–24.[br /]
[br /]
Day and night, Louis thought of dots. He thought of developing some practical scheme for printing and writing in tangible form, suitable to the tactile capacity of all. In 1825, at an age of around 16, he invented the scheme. He cut Barbier’s characters into two and thus produced his well known 3 by 2. In 1826, at 17 Braille was appointed as the first blind apprentice teacher, at the school where he studied. His conscientiousness, scholarly achievements and patience fitted him perfectly for the job. He taught Algebra, Grammar, Music and Geography. Despite his busy schedule, he kept tinkering with the code. Both, as pupil and teacher, he spent most of his leisure trying to find a system by which the blind could write at ease.[br /]
[br /]
In 1827, the first book on Braille was published. He continued to work on the scheme for many years and developed separate codes for Mathematics and Music. By 1828, he found a way to copy music in his new code. In 1829, he published the method of writing words, music and plain songs by means of dots, for use by the blind and arranged by them.[br /]
[br /]
Although, Braille went on to become a loved and respected teacher, he was encouraged in his research and remained secure in his own mind as to the value of his work. Unfortunately, his system of touch reading and writing was not widely accepted in his own time.[br /]
[br /]
[b]DEATH[/b][br /]
[br /]
The damp and relatively unsanitary conditions at the school where Louis studied and taught for over 30 years, is believed to have infected him with tuberculosis. He showed the first symptoms of the disease at the age of 26. In early December 1851, he suffered hemorrhage. This was attributed to a cold, but worsened progressively. He died on January 6, 1852, at the age of 43.[br /]
[br /]
[b]SHORT LIFE[/b][br /]
[br /]
During his short life, Louis Braille has done more for the blind than what centuries of charity and alms could not do. He spent the last eight years of his life teaching occasionally and brailling books for the school library as his declining health disturbed his normal life. People started calling the dot system by his name, Braille. As the saying goes – the good die young, Braille died just two days after celebrating his 43rd birthday.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]LOUIS BRAILLE[/b][br /]
[br /]
"If my eyes will not tell me about men and events, ideas and doctrines, I must find another way."[br /]
[br /]
Not long ago, it was said that the blind (the visually challenged) would never be able to read. People thought that it was only eyesight that could help humans see and read words. A young French boy Louis Braille, who was blinded at the age of three desperately, wanted to read and write. He realized that a vast world of thoughts, knowledge and ideas was out of bounds for him because of his disability. He hoped that there would be some way for the blind to read. He was determined to find the key to access new vistas for himself and all other blind persons of the world.[br /]
[br /]
He developed a system of printing and writing which is extensively used by the blind and that was named Braille in his honor. He developed a system, which acts as a means to teach spelling to blind children and establish direct contact with the written thoughts of others. The system enabled the blind persons to obtain, store, retrieve and communicate information. Owing to his work millions of blind people today, can read most of the literary and scientific works available. His system gradually came to be accepted throughout the world as the fundamental form of written communication for the visually impaired and it has rarely been improvised since.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"If my eyes will not tell me about men and events, ideas and doctrines, I must find another way."[br /]
[br /]
Not long ago, it was said that the blind (the visually challenged) would never be able to read. People thought that it was only eyesight that could help humans see and read words. A young French boy Louis Braille, who was blinded at the age of three desperately, wanted to read and write. He realized that a vast world of thoughts, knowledge and ideas was out of bounds for him because of his disability. He hoped that there would be some way for the blind to read. He was determined to find the key to access new vistas for himself and all other blind persons of the world.[br /]
[br /]
He developed a system of printing and writing which is extensively used by the blind and that was named Braille in his honor. He developed a system, which acts as a means to teach spelling to blind children and establish direct contact with the written thoughts of others. The system enabled the blind persons to obtain, store, retrieve and communicate information. Owing to his work millions of blind people today, can read most of the literary and scientific works available. His system gradually came to be accepted throughout the world as the fundamental form of written communication for the visually impaired and it has rarely been improvised since.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]January 4, 1809[/b]
Birth of Louis Braille in the French town of Coupvray.[br /]
[br /]
[b]January 8, 1809[/b]
Was christened at St. Pierre Church.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1812[/b]
Lost his sight in an accident at the age of 3.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1816[/b]
A priest Abbe Jacques Palluy came to Coupvray and Louis got well acquainted with him.[br /]
[br /]
[b]January 15-1819[/b]
Sent to National Institute for Blind Children, Paris.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1821[/b]
French army captain, Charles Barbier introduced the Night Writing System which made Louis realize the importance of dot system.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1825[/b]
Invented his well-known 3 ? 2 scheme of dots.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1826[/b]
Became a promising organist in churches of Paris.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1826[/b]
Became a teacher at the National Institute for Blind children.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1827[/b]
Short book giving brief information about Braille published.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1829[/b]
Published the Method of Writing Words, Music and Plain Song by Means of Dots, for Use by the Blind and Arranged by Them.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1834[/b]
Demonstrated his code at the Paris Exposition of Industry.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1837[/b]
Revised the Braille script, including all the letters of the French alphabets (W was added later), punctuation, mathematical symbols and musical notation.[br /]
[br /]
[b]December 1851[/b]
Health deteriorated due to tuberculosis and hemorrhage set in.[br /]
[br /]
[b]January 6, 1852[/b]
Died at the age of 43.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Birth of Louis Braille in the French town of Coupvray.[br /]
[br /]
[b]January 8, 1809[/b]
Was christened at St. Pierre Church.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1812[/b]
Lost his sight in an accident at the age of 3.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1816[/b]
A priest Abbe Jacques Palluy came to Coupvray and Louis got well acquainted with him.[br /]
[br /]
[b]January 15-1819[/b]
Sent to National Institute for Blind Children, Paris.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1821[/b]
French army captain, Charles Barbier introduced the Night Writing System which made Louis realize the importance of dot system.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1825[/b]
Invented his well-known 3 ? 2 scheme of dots.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1826[/b]
Became a promising organist in churches of Paris.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1826[/b]
Became a teacher at the National Institute for Blind children.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1827[/b]
Short book giving brief information about Braille published.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1829[/b]
Published the Method of Writing Words, Music and Plain Song by Means of Dots, for Use by the Blind and Arranged by Them.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1834[/b]
Demonstrated his code at the Paris Exposition of Industry.[br /]
[br /]
[b]1837[/b]
Revised the Braille script, including all the letters of the French alphabets (W was added later), punctuation, mathematical symbols and musical notation.[br /]
[br /]
[b]December 1851[/b]
Health deteriorated due to tuberculosis and hemorrhage set in.[br /]
[br /]
[b]January 6, 1852[/b]
Died at the age of 43.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]THE FIRST TOUCH[/b][br /]
[br /]
At the school for blind, Louis read books specially for the blind. He found that these books had large letters that were raised up off the pages (positively embossed). Since the letters were so big, the books themselves were large and bulky. These books were expensive to buy and the school had only 14 of them. He set about reading all 14 books. He could feel each letter, but it took him a long time to read a sentence. It took a few seconds to read each word and by the time he reached the end of a sentence, he almost forgot what the beginning of the sentence was about. He knew that there had to be a better way for the blind person to read as quickly and easily as the sighted person. He knew that there had to be a better way for a blind person to quickly feel the words on a page. He set himself with the goal of thinking up a system for blind people to read. He decided to try some alphabet code to make finger reading as quick and easy as sighted reading.[br /]
[br /]
[b]PRE- BRAILLE ERA[/b][br /]
[br /]
Before Braille different types of decipherable alphabets were used for the blind. They included letters engraved in wood, cast in lead and cut in cardboard.[br /]
[br /]
Valentin Hauy, another Frenchman, was the first person to emboss paper as a means of reading for the blind. He was a skilled linguist who spoke ten contemporary languages, in addition to ancient Greek and Hebrew. He became interested in education of the blind and took it up with visionary zeal. He taught a beggar Francis to read by using wooden letters he moved around to form words. Within six months, Francis learned to decipher even the faint impressions on the backside of printed pages. His skills stunned top French scholars and scientist. Hauy then opened the world’s first school for the blind, the Royal Institution for Blind Children.[br /]
[br /]
In the school, Hauy’s original method of embossing books had remained unchanged for three decades. By applying soaked paper to raised letter form, the tactile shape of the letters remained after the paper dried. Pages were then glued back-to-front to produce a two-sided sheet. These books were extraordinarily difficult to handle and slow to make, because the shape of each large letter had to be traced individually. At the time of Braille’s admission, the school had a total of 14 such books. At the school, the pupils were taught only to read. The letters were raised above the surface of the page so that they could be felt with fingertips. This system didn’t prove successful because it was too cumbersome to learn and produce.[br /]
[br /]
[b]THE INITIATION[/b][br /]
[br /]
It was not Braille who invented the first form of writing by means of dots. It was a French army captain, Charles Barbier de La Serre, who actually invented the basic technique of using raised dots for tactile writing and reading. He developed an interest in rapid, secret writing as it pertained to matters of war, where speed and secrecy were the order of the day. Barbier invented a method of ‘cutting out’ writing with a pen knife. This method made it possible to scribble several copies at once. The objective behind such writing was to allow soldiers to compose and read messages at night without illumination, because that would give away their positions to the enemy. The alphabet code was made up of small dots and dashes. These symbols were raised off the paper so that soldiers could read them by running their fingers over them. Unfortunately, this writing proved too complex and clumsy for the soldiers to master and was therefore, rejected by the army.[br /]
[br /]
Barbier took his own dot and dash based artillery code, called sonography, to the Institution for Blind Children, arranged a demonstration and passed around a few embossed pages of dots to the students. Louis Braille was awestruck when he first touched the dots of the sonography samples.[br /]
[br /]
Once he touched the dots, he knew he had found his medium and quickly learned to use Barbier’s ‘ruler’. Louis set about using and studying sonography with his prolific intensity. Soon, he had discovered the merits and shortcomings of the system. He discovered that the 12 dot cell used in the system was more than what a fingertip can cover and too laborious to write. There were no punctuation marks, numbers or musical signs that would make it complete.[br /]
[br /]
Louis set about experimenting on ways to make an alphabet that was easy to read with the fingertips. He found Barbier’s system promising and began to revise his system. Although he was very busy studying and working as foreman at the slipper shop at the school, at night and on his vacation, he spent all his time working out ways to improve the system of dots and dashes. He liked the idea of the raised dots, but thought he could do without raised dashes. He tried various modifications. He sat there in his father’s leather shop, picked up one of his father’s blunt awls and the idea came to him in a flash. The very tool, which had caused him to be blind, could be used to form a raised dot alphabet that would enable him to read. For the next few days, he spent time working on an alphabet made up entirely of six dots. At the age of 15, Louis unveiled his new alphabet. He had found 63 ways to use a six dot cell. The position of the different dots would represent the different letters of the alphabet. He used the blunt awl to punch out a sentence. He read it quickly from left to right. The codes were now handy for blind people.[br /]
[br /]
It was an event which made the visually impaired people read and write for themselves using a simple stylus to make the dots. After some slight modifications, the system reached its present form in 1834 and has since borne his name BRAILLE. [br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
At the school for blind, Louis read books specially for the blind. He found that these books had large letters that were raised up off the pages (positively embossed). Since the letters were so big, the books themselves were large and bulky. These books were expensive to buy and the school had only 14 of them. He set about reading all 14 books. He could feel each letter, but it took him a long time to read a sentence. It took a few seconds to read each word and by the time he reached the end of a sentence, he almost forgot what the beginning of the sentence was about. He knew that there had to be a better way for the blind person to read as quickly and easily as the sighted person. He knew that there had to be a better way for a blind person to quickly feel the words on a page. He set himself with the goal of thinking up a system for blind people to read. He decided to try some alphabet code to make finger reading as quick and easy as sighted reading.[br /]
[br /]
[b]PRE- BRAILLE ERA[/b][br /]
[br /]
Before Braille different types of decipherable alphabets were used for the blind. They included letters engraved in wood, cast in lead and cut in cardboard.[br /]
[br /]
Valentin Hauy, another Frenchman, was the first person to emboss paper as a means of reading for the blind. He was a skilled linguist who spoke ten contemporary languages, in addition to ancient Greek and Hebrew. He became interested in education of the blind and took it up with visionary zeal. He taught a beggar Francis to read by using wooden letters he moved around to form words. Within six months, Francis learned to decipher even the faint impressions on the backside of printed pages. His skills stunned top French scholars and scientist. Hauy then opened the world’s first school for the blind, the Royal Institution for Blind Children.[br /]
[br /]
In the school, Hauy’s original method of embossing books had remained unchanged for three decades. By applying soaked paper to raised letter form, the tactile shape of the letters remained after the paper dried. Pages were then glued back-to-front to produce a two-sided sheet. These books were extraordinarily difficult to handle and slow to make, because the shape of each large letter had to be traced individually. At the time of Braille’s admission, the school had a total of 14 such books. At the school, the pupils were taught only to read. The letters were raised above the surface of the page so that they could be felt with fingertips. This system didn’t prove successful because it was too cumbersome to learn and produce.[br /]
[br /]
[b]THE INITIATION[/b][br /]
[br /]
It was not Braille who invented the first form of writing by means of dots. It was a French army captain, Charles Barbier de La Serre, who actually invented the basic technique of using raised dots for tactile writing and reading. He developed an interest in rapid, secret writing as it pertained to matters of war, where speed and secrecy were the order of the day. Barbier invented a method of ‘cutting out’ writing with a pen knife. This method made it possible to scribble several copies at once. The objective behind such writing was to allow soldiers to compose and read messages at night without illumination, because that would give away their positions to the enemy. The alphabet code was made up of small dots and dashes. These symbols were raised off the paper so that soldiers could read them by running their fingers over them. Unfortunately, this writing proved too complex and clumsy for the soldiers to master and was therefore, rejected by the army.[br /]
[br /]
Barbier took his own dot and dash based artillery code, called sonography, to the Institution for Blind Children, arranged a demonstration and passed around a few embossed pages of dots to the students. Louis Braille was awestruck when he first touched the dots of the sonography samples.[br /]
[br /]
Once he touched the dots, he knew he had found his medium and quickly learned to use Barbier’s ‘ruler’. Louis set about using and studying sonography with his prolific intensity. Soon, he had discovered the merits and shortcomings of the system. He discovered that the 12 dot cell used in the system was more than what a fingertip can cover and too laborious to write. There were no punctuation marks, numbers or musical signs that would make it complete.[br /]
[br /]
Louis set about experimenting on ways to make an alphabet that was easy to read with the fingertips. He found Barbier’s system promising and began to revise his system. Although he was very busy studying and working as foreman at the slipper shop at the school, at night and on his vacation, he spent all his time working out ways to improve the system of dots and dashes. He liked the idea of the raised dots, but thought he could do without raised dashes. He tried various modifications. He sat there in his father’s leather shop, picked up one of his father’s blunt awls and the idea came to him in a flash. The very tool, which had caused him to be blind, could be used to form a raised dot alphabet that would enable him to read. For the next few days, he spent time working on an alphabet made up entirely of six dots. At the age of 15, Louis unveiled his new alphabet. He had found 63 ways to use a six dot cell. The position of the different dots would represent the different letters of the alphabet. He used the blunt awl to punch out a sentence. He read it quickly from left to right. The codes were now handy for blind people.[br /]
[br /]
It was an event which made the visually impaired people read and write for themselves using a simple stylus to make the dots. After some slight modifications, the system reached its present form in 1834 and has since borne his name BRAILLE. [br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]IN GRATITUDE[/b][br /]
There were two men who in some way or the other were Louis Braille’s forerunners. The first is Valentin Hauy. This 18th century philanthropist founded a school for the blind and invented an embossed alphabet for them. Louis Braille was able to enter the school because of the pioneering work of Valentin Hauy. The second person was Charles Barbier de La Serre, a captain in the artillery. He had found a way to communicate with his officers at night by means of a system of raised dots called sonography. The pupils at the institution for blind tried out this ‘sonography’, which was very complicated and took no account of spelling[br /]
[br /]
[b]EFFORTS RECOGNIZED[/b][br /]
After years of hard work, Louis met his goal. He became a loved and respected teacher, was encouraged in his research and remained secure in his own mind as to the value of his work. Despite the fact that Braille code was so convenient and Braille himself proved its usefulness, the first impression of the head teacher of a school was that of disbelief. Braille was not permitted to teach or endorse his form of writing in the school. However, his system was immediately accepted and secretly used by his fellow students. When he became a teacher, he continued to teach the system, but he died at the young age of 43. For a while, it seemed that his new system would die with him. This system was not officially adopted by the school until 1854, exactly two years after Braille’s death. His system of touch reading and writing was not widely accepted in his own time. The world failed to recognize the genius and his contribution of a lifetime, for centuries to come.[br /]
[br /]
[b]HONOR RESTORED![/b][br /]
After Braille’s death, it seemed as if people would forget his system. Fortunately, few people realized the importance of his invention. In 1868, a group of four blind men led by Dr. Thomas Armitage, founded the British and Foreign Society for Improving the Embossed Literature of the Blind, the largest publisher of Braille books and reading material in Europe.[br /]
[br /]
The practicality and simplicity of Braille’s system was increasingly recognized and today in every language through out the world, Braille is the standard form of reading and writing for the blind. People recognized the undeniable value of the system. By 1990, Braille was adopted in almost every country of the world and had been adapted to almost every known language from Albanian to Zulu. It has now become a universally accepted language for the blind. With the use of Braille, blind people began to be truly independent and took control of their lives. Since its acceptance, Braille has become an effective means of communication and an avenue for achieving and enhancing literary creativities of the blind.[br /]
[br /]
[b]BRAILLE IN LITERACY[/b][br /]
[br /]
Literacy involves all methods of acquiring, storing and accessing information and other methods of communicating one’s needs and ideas. For the blind persons, literacy includes the ability to use Braille. By inventing Braille, Louis Braille provided an opportunity for the blind to direct and control their own learning and awaken their intelligence. He has given the visually impaired, an opportunity to move forward in society as normal participants. Because of this, Braille literacy has become an issue of great concern to visually impaired adults, parents of ‘unsighted’ children and teachers of blind students.[br /]
[br /]
Although it has been over 150 years that Louis Braille worked out his basic 6 dot system, its specific benefits remain unmatched by any other technology. Some computers complement and contribute their mite to Braille. In fact, Braille turned out to be extraordinary well suited to computer assisted production because of its elegance and efficiency. Braille books are available on subjects ranging from modern fiction, mathematics to music and law. It is used for taking notes and labeling objects. Braille adapted devices such as watches, games, playing cards and thermometers are example of some of the practical and recreational use of Braille.[br /]
[br /]
Louis Braille was originally buried in a simple grave in a small cemetery in his hometown. His body rested there till 1952. In 1952, on the 100th anniversary of his death, public sentiments grew and his achievement was finally recognized by the State. The State decided that his remains be moved to the Pantheon in Paris, where French national heroes remain buried. The Mayor of Coupvray protested that Louis Braille was a true son of Coupvray and that some of his remains should remain in his home village too. His hands were separated from his arms and re-buried separately in Coupvray. The remains of his hands are preserved in a casket; the remains, which were the first in the world to figure and read the raised dots of the ‘Braille’.[br /]
[br /]
The rest of his body was interned in the Pantheon following a befitting public ceremony at the Sorbonne attended by dignitaries from all over the world. As the coffin was paraded through the streets of Paris towards the Pantheon, hundreds of people trouped behind. The Pantheon, the ceremonial last home is only a few blocks from the original school for the blind. It was a strange and indeed heroic procession when the blind too joined the rank of mourners.[br /]
[br /]
[b]RECOGNITION[br /]
[br /]
THE BRAILLE FAMILY HOME[/b][br /]
[br /]
A marble tablet was affixed in 1952 on the wall of Braille’s house facing the yard. The text in French and English reads:[br /]
[br /]
In this house[br /]
On January 4, 1809 was born[br /]
Louis Braille[br /]
inventor of writing in raised dots[br /]
for use of the blind.[br /]
He opened the doors of[br /]
knowledge to those[br /]
who cannot see.[br /]
[br /]
This house also has a photograph of Louis Braille – the only original photograph of the celebrated inventor.[br /]
[br /]
[b]AWARDS[/b][br /]
[br /]
1. Arithmetic prize was awarded to Louis Braille, which bore the signature of Pignier, the Principal of the Royal Institution.[br /]
[br /]
2. Won prizes in Geography, History and Mathematics.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
There were two men who in some way or the other were Louis Braille’s forerunners. The first is Valentin Hauy. This 18th century philanthropist founded a school for the blind and invented an embossed alphabet for them. Louis Braille was able to enter the school because of the pioneering work of Valentin Hauy. The second person was Charles Barbier de La Serre, a captain in the artillery. He had found a way to communicate with his officers at night by means of a system of raised dots called sonography. The pupils at the institution for blind tried out this ‘sonography’, which was very complicated and took no account of spelling[br /]
[br /]
[b]EFFORTS RECOGNIZED[/b][br /]
After years of hard work, Louis met his goal. He became a loved and respected teacher, was encouraged in his research and remained secure in his own mind as to the value of his work. Despite the fact that Braille code was so convenient and Braille himself proved its usefulness, the first impression of the head teacher of a school was that of disbelief. Braille was not permitted to teach or endorse his form of writing in the school. However, his system was immediately accepted and secretly used by his fellow students. When he became a teacher, he continued to teach the system, but he died at the young age of 43. For a while, it seemed that his new system would die with him. This system was not officially adopted by the school until 1854, exactly two years after Braille’s death. His system of touch reading and writing was not widely accepted in his own time. The world failed to recognize the genius and his contribution of a lifetime, for centuries to come.[br /]
[br /]
[b]HONOR RESTORED![/b][br /]
After Braille’s death, it seemed as if people would forget his system. Fortunately, few people realized the importance of his invention. In 1868, a group of four blind men led by Dr. Thomas Armitage, founded the British and Foreign Society for Improving the Embossed Literature of the Blind, the largest publisher of Braille books and reading material in Europe.[br /]
[br /]
The practicality and simplicity of Braille’s system was increasingly recognized and today in every language through out the world, Braille is the standard form of reading and writing for the blind. People recognized the undeniable value of the system. By 1990, Braille was adopted in almost every country of the world and had been adapted to almost every known language from Albanian to Zulu. It has now become a universally accepted language for the blind. With the use of Braille, blind people began to be truly independent and took control of their lives. Since its acceptance, Braille has become an effective means of communication and an avenue for achieving and enhancing literary creativities of the blind.[br /]
[br /]
[b]BRAILLE IN LITERACY[/b][br /]
[br /]
Literacy involves all methods of acquiring, storing and accessing information and other methods of communicating one’s needs and ideas. For the blind persons, literacy includes the ability to use Braille. By inventing Braille, Louis Braille provided an opportunity for the blind to direct and control their own learning and awaken their intelligence. He has given the visually impaired, an opportunity to move forward in society as normal participants. Because of this, Braille literacy has become an issue of great concern to visually impaired adults, parents of ‘unsighted’ children and teachers of blind students.[br /]
[br /]
Although it has been over 150 years that Louis Braille worked out his basic 6 dot system, its specific benefits remain unmatched by any other technology. Some computers complement and contribute their mite to Braille. In fact, Braille turned out to be extraordinary well suited to computer assisted production because of its elegance and efficiency. Braille books are available on subjects ranging from modern fiction, mathematics to music and law. It is used for taking notes and labeling objects. Braille adapted devices such as watches, games, playing cards and thermometers are example of some of the practical and recreational use of Braille.[br /]
[br /]
Louis Braille was originally buried in a simple grave in a small cemetery in his hometown. His body rested there till 1952. In 1952, on the 100th anniversary of his death, public sentiments grew and his achievement was finally recognized by the State. The State decided that his remains be moved to the Pantheon in Paris, where French national heroes remain buried. The Mayor of Coupvray protested that Louis Braille was a true son of Coupvray and that some of his remains should remain in his home village too. His hands were separated from his arms and re-buried separately in Coupvray. The remains of his hands are preserved in a casket; the remains, which were the first in the world to figure and read the raised dots of the ‘Braille’.[br /]
[br /]
The rest of his body was interned in the Pantheon following a befitting public ceremony at the Sorbonne attended by dignitaries from all over the world. As the coffin was paraded through the streets of Paris towards the Pantheon, hundreds of people trouped behind. The Pantheon, the ceremonial last home is only a few blocks from the original school for the blind. It was a strange and indeed heroic procession when the blind too joined the rank of mourners.[br /]
[br /]
[b]RECOGNITION[br /]
[br /]
THE BRAILLE FAMILY HOME[/b][br /]
[br /]
A marble tablet was affixed in 1952 on the wall of Braille’s house facing the yard. The text in French and English reads:[br /]
[br /]
In this house[br /]
On January 4, 1809 was born[br /]
Louis Braille[br /]
inventor of writing in raised dots[br /]
for use of the blind.[br /]
He opened the doors of[br /]
knowledge to those[br /]
who cannot see.[br /]
[br /]
This house also has a photograph of Louis Braille – the only original photograph of the celebrated inventor.[br /]
[br /]
[b]AWARDS[/b][br /]
[br /]
1. Arithmetic prize was awarded to Louis Braille, which bore the signature of Pignier, the Principal of the Royal Institution.[br /]
[br /]
2. Won prizes in Geography, History and Mathematics.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
