Louis Brille's Code For The Blind

At age 11, were you equipped enough to invent a code that would be used worldwide and impact people's lives? What about being blind at the same time? Well, this is exactly what Louis Braille did 197 years ago. Louis Braille was devoted to create a way for the blind to have access to reading and writing just as everyone else would. Louis Braille is an Image of Greatness because he designed a coding system based on patterns where the blind could read through touch.

Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809 in Coupvray, France. His dad supported the family by making leather saddles and harnesses for farmers in the area. Louis was the fourth child of Simon Rene and Monique Braille. Louis had three older siblings, two sisters and a brother. His

At age 23 he officially became a teacher and started teaching geography and grammar. Louis had his own room at the school where he lived. He taught both blind and sighted kids and was very loved. When he wasn't teaching, he wrote written explanations of his raised dot reading system called, Method of Writing Words, Music and Plainsong by Means and Dots For Use by the Blind and Arranged by Them. The books were published in the institute in 1829. Dr Pignier encouraged teachers and students to use Louis’s code in classes. Pignier asked the French government to use his method as the official way to teach the blind but the answer was no. Louis wanted another opportunity. He attended a big fair called the Paris Exposition of Industry and told the king of France what he was doing but never heard back from him (“A Touch of Genius” 7). When Louis was 22, he received news that his father was very ill. This devastated Braille. Him and his father were always very close. Simon Braille sadly died on May 31, 1831. Louis wanted to send letters to his family from Paris but he had to get a scribe. He had an idea to help the blind read the letters by themselves. He figured he would raise the letters of the alphabet and change his code to 10 dots instead of 6. He used the grille of small openings that letters passed through the paper. He called this way of writing “decapoint”. By 1842, Louis and a former blind student Pierre Foucault, made the first writing machine for the blind. Louis not only wanted to make a way to communicate with his code, but also wanted to make sure it could be used with instruments and having the ability to read the notes. He had strong love of music and wanted other people to experience music for themselves (“Braille History” 2). Pigner was worried about Brailes health. He constantly spit blood and eventually found out he still had tuberculosis. Louis returned back to Coupvray to regain his strength. While louis