January is National Braille Literacy Month

January was chosen for this celebration because it is the birth month of Louis Braille, the inventor of the system of raised dots that made it possible for people who are blind to read and write for themselves with independence and freedom.

Louis Braille, born January 4, 1809 was accidentally blinded in one eye at the age of three. Within two years, a disease in his other eye left him completely blind. When he was fifteen, he developed an ingenious system of reading and writing by means of raised dots. Today, in virtually every language throughout the world, Braille is the standard form of writing and reading used by visually impaired persons.

Pictured here is Paige Ollendorf, student at Crook County Middle School and Elaine Bridwell, Vision Assistant for High Desert ESD. Paige has been receiving services for the visually impaired for several years. Here’s what she had to say about the services she’s received:

“I really like what you guys have done over the years. It opens up so many possibilities of things for me to do in life. The Braille helps me to be able to read and write and also to be able to do my schoolwork.”