Louis Braille

A young French boy invented the Braille system of reading at the age of 12. This form of reading was different than any other. It changed words into raised dots in different combinations. The Braille system enabled blind people to finally read. Louis himself was blind.

Louis was born near Paris on January 4, 1809. He became blind by accident. When he was only three years old, he grabbed an awl. An awl is a tool used to make holes. The awl slipped and hurt his eye. His eye was infected, and soon the other eye became infected. Louis lost sight in both eyes. It was very difficult for Louis, but soon he learned to adjust to his blindness. He began looking for ways to continue learning. He went to a special school for the blind.

While there, he began creating an alphabet based on an old army code. It consisted of raised bumps and slashes, but it was a long process. When Louis arrived home on vacation, he began experimenting with a dull awl making bumps on paper. Each letter of the alphabet consisted of six dots arranged differently. This would make reading much faster and easier for a blind person. Louis Braille used the same tool that caused his blindness to help blind people to read! It was an amazing achievement.