January 9 - Reading With Dots

January is the month when many people celebrate the birthday of Louis Braille. This clever young man was the inventor of the tactile system of raised dots that enables people to read even though they might be unable to see print on a page.

In some ways I regret that I didn’t learn Braille when my sight first changed. My sight loss was sudden and at the time I was quite emotional and very busy learning other ways to cope with my life. For instance, how was I to continue working? How was I going to be able to get around without being able to drive? How was I going to be able to do my banking, to do the grocery shopping, to recognize people I knew on the street? It was a lot of initial learning to cope and I let the lessons in Braille slide by.

There are really only a few times when I have regretted not learning this tactile language. I was always sad when I couldn’t read the bedtime story to our young children. The up side of this was that they learned early to develop their own reading skills and would read to me.

Another case when I regretted not being able to read Braille was when I was presenting to groups. Fortunately I do have a reasonably good memory and was usually able to remember most of the points I wanted to convey. However, I do recall one occasion I was in the audience when a young blind girl was giving a talk. Her fingers flew over the Braille notes in front of her and she was able to look out to the audience instead of having her head down in the printed text.

I feel fortunate to have been born into the age of advanced technology. I use an audible program on my computer. I listen to recreational books on an audible device. I press a button on my watch to hear the time. I have a personal GPS or Trekker that tells me my location when I walk outside. Life is very different for me than it was for Louis Braille.

Still, along with others I celebrate Braille and his invention of the six little tactile dots. They too have been incorporated into the world of technology with Braille computer keyboards, printers, watches, signs on elevators and hotel doors, safety cards on airplanes. Yes, there are still occasions when I feel that I have missed out, but I celebrate Braille’s invention and the ability of people who continue to make use of it today.