Vision Impairment

The history and documentation of visual impairments dates back to Biblical times. There are numerous references in the scriptures specific to blindness. These passages give us an insight into how visual impairments were perceived so many years ago. Clearly during this time, people with visual impairments were seen as helpless and dependent on others. The perception was that the cause of blindness could be attributed to the sin of the Father.

It wasn't until 1260 that there is documentation that perceptions of people who were blind began to change. During this period there was no formal education available for those who were blind but some people developed their own literacy methods in clever ways. Some important historical events in the history of the field of visual impairments occurred. For example, the first school for the blind was established in Paris, France by Valentine Hauy in 1784. Forty-three years later, in 1827 James Gall publishes First Book for Teaching the Art of Reading to the Blind, which was the first English-language work in raised type. Just two years later, Louis Braille presents his wonderful dot code. However, it wasn’t until 1860 that this method began to be used in United States.

The first school for the blind, France, 1784.

First Book for Teaching the Art of Reading to the Blind by James Gall, 1827.

 In the years that followed, an increase began in the possibility that people with vision problems could develop independently. Such is the case of Helen Keller who in 1903 was the first blind and deaf student to receive a college degree. Other relevant events were happening like the creation of The American Foundation for the Blind, The Seeing Eye, which was the first dog guide school in our country and already in 2000 was established The American Foundation for the Blind National Literacy Center.

There is no doubt that the discovery of the Braille method represented a significant advance in the development of writing and reading for the blind. Its foundation emerges when Charles Barbier who served in Napoleon Bonaparte’s French army developed a unique system known as “night writing”, so soldiers could communicate safely during the night. As a military veteran, Barbier saw several soldiers killed because they used lamps after dark to read combat messages. As a result of the light shining from the lamps, enemy soldiers knew where the French soldiers were and inevitably led to the loss of many men. Barbier based his “night writing” system on a raised 12-dot cell. Each dot or combination of dots within the cell represented a letter or a phonetic sound. The problem with the military code was that the human fingertip could not feel all the dots with one touch. 

“Night writing code” created by Charles Barbier in the early 1800s.

            At eleven years old, Louis Braille found inspiration to modify Charles Barbier’s “night writing” code in an effort to create an efficient written communication system for fellow blind individuals. One year earlier he was enrolled at the National Institute of the Blind in Paris. He spent the better part of the next nine years developing and refining the system of raised dots that has come to be known by his name, Braille. Over time, braille gradually came to be accepted throughout the world as the fundamental form of written communication for blind individuals. Today it remains basically as he invented it.

Everyone faces challenges in their life… blind people face a lot more. The most valuable thing for a disabled person is gaining independence. A blind person can lead an independent life with some specifically designed adaptive things for them. Nowadays, there are lots of adaptive equipment that can enable a blind person to live their life independently. Unfortunately, blind people who lived in the past suffered a lot of discrimination and were classified as useless and dependent people.

Beatriz Rodriguez