Happy Birthday, Louis B

My uncle rides an electric scooter because of a chronic progressive disease that is slowly paralyzing him. I saw him one day while a chronic eye condition was causing me to lose my sight. My uncle was interested in how I used large print to do my work; I was interested in how he got around. After comparing notes, Uncle Charles said, “Facing the challenges of life requires adaptation.”

We all have challenges that require adaptation and reorientation. These challenges may be as simple as road construction on the way to work or as complex as a sudden disability that may result in reorienting your entire dreams and expectations in life. For some reason or other the old ways will no longer work. If the bridge is out, you have to find a new way to get to work. In the case of disability, you may have to find a new way to do your job; you may even have to find a new job.

When these life challenges arise, for indeed they will, do not panic and freeze. The old ways may have been good, but those old ways are not going to help you in the moment. Trying to live in the old ways will only leave you in the pits of despair and rage. If you can’t walk any more, then physical therapy and strenuous exercise is not likely to be of much use. Mental exercises of willing yourself to do what can’t be done will not be of much help either, but finding the most maneuverable electric vehicle may just be the ticket.

For a while, large print (30 point) worked for me. Eventually I moved to 48 point print and then even 64 point print. Eventually that was not enough. It was time to learn new tricks; adaptation was going to be necessary. Today I use a computer with a screen reader that reads what I write. I write and read Braille for many of the other tasks I need to do.

I am grateful that there are so many devices through technology today. Much of the innovation and adaptation I use and live in was begun by another person who understood the value of challenges we face in our lives. January 4 is World Braille day. It is the day when many blind people give thanks for Louis Braille’s organization and refinement of Captain Barbier ‘s creation of night message writing for Napoleon’s army. In 1824, Louis Braille tested how many dots could comfortably fit under the fingertip, and discovered that 6 dots, 2 dots wide and 3 dots high, was the most efficient. Braille developed a way of writing for blind people that has become the standard around the world.

This form of writing revolutionized educational and vocational opportunities for the blind. It meant that with some time and patience, blind people could have the world of writing and literature opened to them. With some adaptation, blind people could accomplish most of what their sighted counterparts could. It gave blind people rich opportunities for living in a world that is different, not worse, and gave them a way to know words in a way that even sighted people can’t. To quote Jim Fiebig, “There is a wonder in reading Braille that the sighted will never know: to touch words and have them touch you back.” Adaptation may even give us more than what he had before.