Culture

Louis Braille's 200th birthday celebrated January 4

by Amy Judd | January 3, 2009 at 06:47 pm

645 views | 12 Recommendations | 6 comments

January 4 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille; the Frenchman who developed the series of six dots that helps thousands of blind people around the world do everyday things such as read and write.

In the United Kingdom alone, there are over 18,000 adults using Braille.

From selecting a music CD, choosing a tin of baked beans over spaghetti hoops, reading music, and being able to tell the difference between aspirin and paracetamol, to taking notes at a lecture - Braille means independence for blind and partially sighted people.

David Blunkett MP said: "Braille is a choice.

"For some it means a lifeline to independence, for others, access to literature or information.

"Braille can be hi-tech, or can be produced using old-fashioned means just about anywhere in the world.

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anoop mysore

at 07:57 on January 5th, 2009

photo of a metal cast of the cambridge city center. The index is written in braille too!

anoop mysore has contributed a photo to this story.

Zerbi Hancok

at 08:52 on January 5th, 2009

By The Blind, Nantes.

Zerbi Hancok has contributed a photo to this story.

raghuram

at 09:32 on January 5th, 2009

Braille Art

Amaresh punches a needle through a layer of cardboard,carbon paper and perforated plastic sheet. The drawing is a collection of dots. Carbon paper is an important element in this art. The impressions of the needle on the carbon paper, creates the art on the cardboard. This cardboard is then framed and used as keychain hangers etc

Amaresh feels the perforated sheet and calculates the position of the point where the sheet has to be punched.

It was a great learning curve for me to shoot at a blind school recently. How many of us can believe that this was created by a blind person? I was amazed to see they way they work and understand the world by just the sense of touch. They have algebra classes. I happened to interact with one of the young students. I was just hoping that he wouldn't ask me what a camera is. I would have definitely fallen short of words to explain in a way he would imagine. I was really glad to know that he already knew about it. I never knew how ropes were made. I learnt it there from them. I loved that particular day. I learnt something from them and thats what I was glad about.

National Association for the Blind,Bangalore

http://www.nabkarnataka.org/

Photograph by Raghuram Ashok

www.flickr.com/photos/redbull/

raghuram has contributed a photo to this story.

Ghanayem

at 03:01 on January 6th, 2009

Whatever the circumstances
Whatever the disability
Polio deaf blind
It does not matter
More important is the force of will and the challenge
Do not let disability prevent you
And remember nothing is impossible

Ghanayem has contributed a photo to this story.