The 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar commemorates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille, inventor of the Braille system, which is still used by the blind to read and write.
Louis Braille was born in Coupvray, France, near Paris, on January 4, 1809. At the age of three, he lost the sight in his left eye as the result of an accident in his father’s workshop. An infection spread to his right eye and he became completely blind by the age of four. At the age of 10, Braille received a scholarship to attend the Royal Institute for Blind Children in Paris, where he became the youngest student. At the school, most instruction was oral, but Braille read books for the blind, which had large letters embossed on the pages.
In 1821, a captain in Napoleon’s army, Charles Barbier de la Serre, visited Braille’s school and introduced a system he had invented called “night writing.” This was a method for communicating on the battlefield at night without having to talk or light a match, which could alert the enemy. It consisted of 12 raised dots which could be combined to represent words by sounds rather than letters. Over the next few months, Braille experimented with different configurations until he found a simpler one using just six dots.
By the age of 15, using a blunt awl (the same type of tool that had injured his left eye 12 years earlier) to punch holes in paper to represent letters, Braille had developed the code that is essentially what we know today as modern Braille. It uses no more than six dots in a “cell” of two columns of up to three dots each to represent letters and contains a system of punctuation and “contractions” to speed reading and writing. It is read by passing the fingers over the raised dots.
Today, Braille has been adapted to almost every known language and is used everywhere from bus stops and maps to music notation and text books. In his native France, Louis Braille’s achievement was recognized in 1952 – the 100th anniversary of his death – when his body was moved to Paris and interred in the Pantheon.
Now, for the first time in history, a United States coin features readable Braille.
It is available in both proof and uncirculated versions. The obverse (heads) features a portrait of Louis Braille designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) Master Designer Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor/Engraver Phebe Hemphill. It is also inscribed with LIBERTY, IN GOD WE
TRUST, LOUIS BRAILLE, 1809 and 2009.
The reverse (tails), showing a child reading a book in Braille, was designed by United States Mint AIP Master Designer Susan Gamble and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor/Engraver Joseph Menna. The word Braille (abbreviated Brl in Braille code) is depicted in the upper field. The word INDEPENDENCE is featured on a bookshelf behind the child, in addition to the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ONE DOLLAR and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Surcharges from sales of the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar are authorized to be paid to the National Federation of the Blind to further its programs to promote Braille literacy.
To learn more about this coin please visit:
http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/commemoratives/index.cfm?flash=yes&action=2009LouisBraille
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
WHAT IS BRAILLE?
Braille is used by blind people throughout the world. Braille is a code based on an arrangement of one to six raised dots. Each dot has a number to indicate where it is. There are 64 ways to arrange the 6 dots in the rectangular box that is called a Braille cell.
The Braille characters make up the letters of the alphabet, punctuation marks, numbers, and everything else you can write in print.
For more information on Braille, you can visit this website, which has awesome explanations of the Braille Alphabet.
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/braille.htm
WHO INVENTED BRAILLE?
Louis Braille (1809-1852)
Six dots. Six bumps. Six bumps in different patterns, like constellations, spreading out over the page. What are they? Numbers, letters, words. Who made this code? None other than Louis Braille, a French 12-year-old, who was also blind. And his work changed the world of reading and writing, forever.
Louis was from a small town called Coupvray, near Paris—he was born on January 4 in 1809. Louis became blind by accident, when he was 3 years old. Deep in his Dad's harness workshop, Louis tried to be like his Dad, but it went very wrong; he grabbed an awl, a sharp tool for making holes, and the tool slid and hurt his eye. The wound got infected, and the infection spread, and soon, Louis was blind in both eyes.
All of a sudden, Louis needed a new way to learn. He stayed at his old school for two more years, but he couldn't learn everything just by listening. Things were looking up when Louis got a scholarship to the Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris, when he was 10. But even there, most of the teachers just talked at the students. The library had 14 huge books with raised letters that were very hard to read. Louis was impatient.
Then in 1821, a former soldier named Charles Barbier visited the school. Barbier shared his invention called "night writing," a code of 12 raised dots that let soldiers share top-secret information on the battlefield without even having to speak. Unfortunately, the code was too hard for the soldiers, but not for 12-year-old Louis!
Louis trimmed Barbier's 12 dots into 6, ironed out the system by the time he was 15, then published the first-ever Braille book in 1829. But did he stop there? No way! In 1837, he added symbols for math and music. But since the public was skeptical, blind students had to study Braille on their own. Even at the Royal Institution, where Louis taught after he graduated, Braille wasn't taught until after his death. Braille began to spread worldwide in 1868, when a group of British men, now known as the Royal National Institute for the Blind, took up the cause.
Now practically every country in the world uses Braille. Braille books have double-sided pages, which saves a lot of space. Braille signs help blind people get around in public spaces. And, most important, blind people can communicate independently, without needing print.
Braille Technology
Modern technology has made many useful tools for people who read and write Braille. There are some devices that produce books in Braille and others that let people read information on computers and from the Internet. Some devices are simple and inexpensive and others are very complicated. The devices below are used by many people who read Braille to complete their schoolwork, take care of personal business, and do their jobs at work.
Slate and Stylus
The slate and stylus are inexpensive, portable tools used to write Braille - just the way paper and pencil are used for writing print. Slates are made of two flat pieces of metal or plastic held together by a hinge at one end. The slate opens up to hold paper. The top part has rows of openings that are the same shape and size as a Braille cell. The back part has rows of indentations in the size and shape of Braille cells. The stylus is a pointed piece of metal with a plastic or wooden handle. The stylus is used to punch or emboss the Braille dots onto the paper held in the slate. The indentations in the slate prevent the stylus from punching a hole in the paper when the dots are embossed. Slates and styluses come in many shapes and sizes.
Braille Displays
A Braille display is a device that has a row of special "soft" cells made of plastic or metal pins. The pins are controlled by a computer and move up or down to display, in Braille, the characters that appear on the computer screen. This type of Braille is said to be "refreshable," because it changes as the user moves around on the screen. The Braille display usually sits under the computer keyboard.
Electronic Braille Notetakers
Electronic Braille notetakers are portable devices with Braille keyboards that Braille readers can use to enter information. The text stored in these devices can be read with a built-in Braille display or the device can read aloud with a synthesized voice. These devices are handy for taking notes in class, and often have built-in address books, calculators, and calendars, too!
Braille Printers (Embossers)
Braille printers are devices connected to a computer that do the actual embossing of Braille onto thick (heavyweight) paper. They work like a regular computer printer does, in that the user can print out letters, reports, and other files from the computer.
Braille writers
This student is using a Perkins braillewriter to complete his homework. The mechanical braillewriter works a little bit like a typewriter. It has six keys—one for each dot in a Braille cell—a space bar, a backspace key, a carriage return, and a line feed key. The braillewriter uses heavyweight paper (just like the Braille printer) but it doesn't need any electricity to work.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Braille services in Ft. Walton Beach
-Helen Keller
The Northwest Florida Visionnaires, Inc., is a non-profit, all-volunteer, charitable organization founded in 1976 to produce material in three forms for the visually impaired: Braille, Large Print, and Taping.
There are no charges for its services.
Our building is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m on Saturdays throughout the year at the:
John R. Hane Center
538 Bob Sikes Boulevard
Fort Walton Beach, FL
(850) 862-4495 (leave message)
Tax-deductible donations are gratefully accepted.
BRAILLE
Volunteers transcribe into Braille material that includes textbooks, pleasure reading books, menus, Christmas or birthday cards, and others.
TAPING
2-track and 4-track cassettes are used to record textbooks and/or pleasure materials.
LARGE PRINT
Large print calendars and personalized phone books are provided for the visually impaired.
Other assignments upon request.
Please call us at 850-862-4495 and leave a message. We will return your call.
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 444
Shalimar, FL 32579
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