Ohio Braille Literacy Week

Louis Braille (1809 – 1852) was a French educator and inventor of a system of reading and writing for use by the blind or visually impaired. His system remains known worldwide simply as braille. Braille it’s not a language, but a system of raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or who have low vision. Braille is a code by which many languages — such as English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and dozens of others — may be written and read.

Blinded in both eyes as a result of an early childhood accident, Braille mastered his disability while still a boy. He excelled in his education and received scholarship to France’s Royal Institute for Blind Youth. While still a student there, he began developing a system of tactile code that could allow blind people to read and write quickly and efficiently. Inspired by the military cryptography of Charles Barbier, Braille constructed a new method built specifically for the needs of the blind. He presented his work to his peers for the first time in 1824.

In honor of Louis Braille, World Braille Day is celebrated annually on January 4th. The inventor was born on this day in 1809.

In 1952, one hundred years after his death, Louis Braille’s body — with the exception of his hands — was moved from his home town to the Pantheon in Paris.

The first week of January in Ohio is designated as "Ohio Braille Literacy Week" in honor the inventor of the Braille system used, in modified form, for printing, writing, and musical notation for the blind.(ORC: 5.226 Ohio braille literacy week. Effective Date: 10-28-1992)

Source: ohio.gov | afb.org | wikipedia.org