Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille

“His early walks were hesitant, stumbling affairs, but Louis persisted.”

Braille’s determination and perseverance, even in the face of significant setbacks, is a hallmark character trait. This perseverance enables Braille to adapt to life being newly blind, and inspires Braille to not rest until he has developed an accessible system for reading and writing.

“[…] it was unheard of for a blind child to attend a village school.”

Unfortunately, in 19th-century France, institutions for education and work are not inclusive and accessible. Braille dedicates his life to correcting this.

“In subjects requiring only a good memory, he outshone his classmates.”

The young Braille is exceptionally capable and bright. His intelligence as a young child foreshadows his invention of a system of raised-dots for reading and writing.

“[…] when the other pupils took out their primers and writing slates, he would sit quietly alone, listening to the scratching of chalk and the rustle of pages being turned.”

Braille’s exclusion in school is depicted as isolating and frustrating. His frustration makes him determined to develop an accessible system for reading and writing.

“Because they could not see, people believed that they were mentally retarded.”

Significant stigma surrounds the blind community in 19th-century France. The way others perceive people who are blind results from exclusionary systems, such as the absence of an accessible method for reading and writing. Braille’s life is testament to the intelligence, capability, and adaptability of people who are blind.

“The worst problem was that embossed letters were difficult to ‘read.’”

Valentin Hauy developed a system of reading and writing called embossing. Books were created with raised letters, which could be felt using fingers and interpreted. However, it was clear that using the sighted alphabet was an inefficient way for people who are blind to read, and it was not possible to write using this method.

“Many dots were needed to represent a single word, making reading slow and awkward.”

Sonography, developed by Captain Barbier, was a promising development for blind communication; however, it was ultimately too onerous and inefficient. Sonography inspired Braille to create his system, which instead used dots to represent letters of the alphabet (rather than sounds).

“And here was a mere schoolboy who dared to challenge his invention—and a blind boy who was supposed to benefit from it!”

Freedman characterizes Barbier as arrogant. He is reluctant to receive feedback from the young Braille. It is ironic that Barbier resists hearing notes on his method from a blind student, as a blind student has firsthand knowledge and expertise about what works best for them.

“He felt that Hauy, with a touch of his hands, had personally passed along a torch.”

When Captain Barbier is reluctant to discuss improvements to sonography, Braille is discouraged. Meeting Hauy, a blind advocate and the founder of the Institute, reinspires Braille to continue experimenting.

“He wanted to simplify Captain Barber’s system so that each dotted symbol could be “read” with a quick touch of a finger.”

Braille prioritizes simplicity and accessibility as he develops his reading system. This results in a highly accessible system, and enables people who are blind around the world to access the world of literature, as well as produce their own written pieces.

“Louis’s mother worried about him when he came home for vacation.”

Braille falls ill, developing a hacking and persistent cough. His sickness as a boy foreshadows his early death from tuberculosis, which he contracts as a student at the Institute.

“Instead of sounds, supposed the dot-and-dash symbols represented letters of the alphabet?”

Braille’s innovation is to represent letters, rather than sounds. The discouraging complexity of Barbier’s sonography system was a result of reliance on representing sounds; there are hundreds of sounds in the French language.

“Without hesitating, he read every word he had taken down, at about the same speed as the director had read them. Pegnier couldn’t believe his ears.”

Pignier, the director of the Institute, is shocked and impressed with Braille’s system. His reaction speaks to the efficacy and efficiency of Braille’s method of reading and writing.

“The Braille system made is possible to place all of the world’s literature at the fingertips of blind readers.”

Braille believes that education and learning should be accessible to everyone. His invention makes this possible, and his contribution to the lives of people who are blind is unquantifiable.

“Dr. Pignier tried to convince government officials to adopt Braille’s alphabet, but he found that it was not easy to change established customs.”

Braille and his supporters face significant resistance in popularizing the use of braille. It takes years of dedicated campaigning for it to be recognized as the most efficient system for reading and writing for the blind.

“He is so clever for a blind man.”

In spite of his clear intelligence and ingenuity, others continue to treat Braille in a condescending manner. This speaks to how the 19th-century public falsely equates blindness with lack of intelligence.

“When he climbed the stairs at school, he had to stop and gasp for breath. There were days when he felt feverish and dizzy.”

Braille’s death, at the age of 43 from tuberculosis (known at the time as ‘consumption’), is foreshadowed by his rapidly deteriorating health. Despite being unwell, Braille continues to champion his system’s use.

“Dufau confiscated all textbooks and pamphlets that had been transcribed into the raised-dot alphabet.”

Braille faces considerable opposition in instituting his alphabet system, even at his own school where he works as a teacher.

“A government official in the audience objected that the demonstration could have been staged.”

Significant stigma exists in 19th-century France around blindness, with many believing that it’s synonymous with intellectual disabilities. The government official’s skepticism reveals his prejudice against the blind girl, as he is shocked that she is capable of the reading experiment.

“Often he paid them to copy books in braille, then gave the copies to others.”

Braille is unfailingly generous. Rather than profiting from his system, he spends some of his meager income to generate braille resources for others.

“It was filled with slips of paper, each one a record of a gift or loan made to needy students and friends out of Louis’s earnings as a teacher and organist.”

Braille gives loans to students and friends, illustrating his generosity. He wants proof of his gift-giving to be burned, suggesting that his acts are altruistic, rather than motivated by a desire for fame or recognition.

“Networks of braille libraries offer blind people a vast range of reading material from specialized technical works to popular magazines.”

Braille’s system has had immeasurable impacts on the lives of people who are blind, allowing them to access a vast range of literature.

“It has been adapted to African dialects and to the complexities of the Chinese ideogram.”

Braille’s system has been adapted for an even wider number of people. His perseverance has benefited a global audience of blind readers and writers.