The Six Magic Dots of Braille
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Posted by Fotopoulou Sophia in Books section |
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Braille is a tactile system of raised dots representing letters of the alphabet. To read braille, the fingers gently glide over paper that has been embossed with the braille code. For notetaking, a pointed instrument is used to punch out the dots on paper held in a metal slate. The readable raised dots appear on the other side of the paper.
History
Braille has been an effective means of communication for blind persons since 1829 when Louis Braille invented it in Paris, France. Louis Braille lost his sight at the age of three as a result of an eye injury. As a young boy at school, he became frustrated with the large and bulky raised letter alphabet used to learn reading and writing skills. Later in his life, a French artillery officer, Charles Barbier de la Serre, gave him the idea of reading by a tactile code. After many years of experimenting, Louis Braille developed a successful reading and writing system that today is used around the world.
The Braille System
The basis of the braille system is known as a braille cell. The cell is comprised of six dots numbered in a specific order. Each dot or combination of dots represents a letter of the alphabet. For example, by checking in the braille alphabet, you will see that dot 1 is the letter “a” and dots 1 and 2 the letter “b”.
Braille Alphabet
Numbers and punctuation signs are also represented in braille. By looking at the chart below, you will see that a sign using dots 3, 4, 5, and 6 announces braille numbers. The use of dot 6 just before a letter indicates a capital.
Try and read the following phrase adapted from the novel The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
The phrase you just read is in Grade 1 elementary braille. Just as sighted people invented shorthand, blind persons use a contracted version of braille, which is, space saving and allows for more rapid reading and writing. The next sequence is the contracted version of the first half of the braille phrase you just read.
Braille is to the blind person what the printed word is to the sighted individual - access to information and contact with the outside world.
It is the building block for language skills, a means to teach spelling to blind children, and the most direct contact with the written thoughts of others.
Braille books are available in all subject areas, ranging from modern fiction to mathematics, music and law. As with print, braille is used for taking notes and labelling objects. Braille-adapted devices such as watches, games, playing cards and thermometers are examples of some of the practical and recreational uses of braille.
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