BRAILLE

Braille is a form of communication that allows blind people to read, write, do math, and even compose music. It is not a language, but a system that can be used by blind people to read or write most of the world’s languages. 

Braille was developed in the 1820s by Louis Braille of France, who became blind after a childhood accident. While attending the National Institute for the Blind in Paris, he learned that French soldiers used a special code to send messages at night that could be read without a light. Raised dots and dashes formed a message on a piece of paper, which a soldier read by running a finger over them. 

Louis Braille was just 11 years old, but he used this military code to create an alphabet system that people could read with their fingertips. It took him almost nine years, but his system is still used today.

In the Braille system, each letter of the alphabet is formed from a different pattern of up to six small raised dots. The system also includes symbols for numbers, punctuation marks, and musical notes.

To read Braille, people move their index finger from left to right along a series of symbols on each line of a page. This lets them put together letters to make words or to recognize shortened
forms of whole words and things such as periods or commas.

Grade 1 Braille is the longer form of written Braille. Grade 2 Braille uses more short forms and contractions of words. Experienced readers can read Braille books as quickly as sighted readers can read regular books.

Braille can be written on paper, using either a sharp, pointed instrument called a stylus or a machine that looks like a typewriter but has only six keys. Today, computer software programs and portable electronic Braille note takers are also available.