Braille: A Man, A Creation, A Broken Barrier

"We who are without sight celebrate gratefully the achievement of one who poured the sweetness of tangible printed words into the bitter waters of our affliction."

~ Hellen Keller

Blindness used to be something that would ruin your life. It was common to see the blind begging on the streets. In Paris, in 1786, Valentin Haüy founded the first school with the purpose of educating blind children. Like any other school, they taught arithmetic, history, sciences...but what they couldn’t teach was reading or writing. Haüy tried using embossed books, with raised letters, but they were expensive, time-consuming to make, and cumbersome. They were slow and difficult to read, and were only found in the school. It could be done, but it wasn’t the ideal solution. However, this problematic situation would soon be changed because of one bright student. The creation and use of Braille broke a communication barrier, giving more independence to those with vision impairments, which is proven by their personal accounts, and innovations and inventions in this tactile language.​​​​​​​