Louis Braille - An Inventor in Darkness

There are some adaptive systems that are so well-known to the modern world that we cannot imagine a time without them. Braille, the raised-dot system of writing used primarily by those with visual impairments, could be classified as such. It is so ubiquitous that we forget the man it is named for, the creative and intelligent man who shared his gifts to improve his world. Though it took almost a century for it to be globally adopted, Braille has opened paths of knowledge and communication to untold numbers.

Portrait of Louis as an adult

Anne de Gaulle - A Father's Love

This first story is the one that motivated me to create this blog. I have a mental list of "historical figures you didn't know had disabilities/had children with disabilities" that has accumulated over the years. It gets added to with modern celebrities that, no matter how their popularity ebbs and flows, will always be impacted by the disability in their own life or their family's. I learned about this young woman on Reddit just last night and, since then, my research wheels have been whirring.

Anne and her father on a beach in Brittany, 1933