Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children

Photo of Child Reading Braille Most people assume that every blind person reads and writes braille. In reality, only a small percentage do. Nevertheless, braille is a tremendous resource to some who are visually disabled, especially those who are blind in early life.

Braille was developed by Louis Braille, born in a small town outside of Paris, France, in 1809. Braille was blinded at age three and was educated at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris. Later, Braille became a teacher at the Institute.

While at the Institute, Braille was exposed to the work of a French Army officer, Charles Barbier, who had devised a written communication system for use during battle. Barbier's system used dots pressed into paper, and these dots could be read by touch. Braille recognized that Barbier's system could be used by visually impaired people for reading and writing. Braille perfected the code for literary use.

By 1932, American schools for the blind had adopted the braille system, but they wanted something that would enable them to write braille faster than the original slate and stylus method. A school administrator named Frank Hall altered a typewriter to write braille. Its popularity spread quickly. Today the Perkins Brailler, a 1950 version of Hall's machine, is the writing instrument of choice for those who are blind. The advent of the computer age has had a tremendous impact on braille. Today several devices produce computer generated braille.

Instruction in braille is provided to some students at the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children. While legal blindness is a criterion for enrollment at the School, many students have additional mild or severe handicaps. These youngsters follow specialized programs geared to their needs and abilities.

The Braille Alphabet
The Braille System is composed of signs formed by the use of all possible combinations of 6 dots numbered and arranged thus:

Image Depicting Braille System

A
A-braille B
B-braille C
C-braille D
D-braille E
E-braille F
F-braille G
G-braille H
H-braille I
I-braille J
J-braille

K
K-braille L
L-braille M
M-braille N
N-braille O
O-braille P
P-braille Q
Q-braille R
R-braille S
S-braille T
T-braille

U
U-braille V
V-braille X
X-braille Y
Y-braille Z
Z-braille W*
W-braille

* The "W" is not a naturally occurring character in the French alphabet. It is only used in foreign translations, thus it appears as an additional character at the end.

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