On January 4th we celebrate World Braille Day. Braille is a system of touch that’s helped many people with vision and hearing loss read, write, and communicate.
#BetterTogether is brought to you by the Tuscarawas County Board of Developmental Disabilities
Louis Braille, at the age of 15, created a system nearly 200 years ago to help people with impaired vision and hearing communicate. He died two years before France’s Royal Institute for the Blind Youth adopted a braille curriculum. In the United States, schools were teaching braille to their students by 1916. Today, about 36 million people have extreme vision impairment.
Braille is a system that can be translated into many languages. It is not a language itself, but nearly every country uses braille. Braille is a 6-dot system and there is even a braille typewriter that has six keys, a space key, an enter button, and a backspace.
Braille is useful for those with vision impairments, but it is also beneficial for people with other disabilities and dual sensory loss. Many toys and toy companies have products available in braille, including LEGO, the Rubik’s cube, and UNO.
The Tuscarawas County Board of Developmental Disabilities (TuscBDD) has resources for children and adults with developmental disabilities. TuscBDD provides Early Intervention for children birth to three years old, Service and Support Administration for people of all ages, family support services, family mentorship, and more! To learn more about these services and others, visit TuscBDD online at www.tuscbdd.org or call (330) 308-7173.
Audrey Mattevi, reporting
