Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille

Freedman presents the need for accessible education as a human right. He celebrates Braille for bringing reading and writing to people who are blind. Freedman draws attention to Braille’s exclusion as a young child in a provincial French school which has no resources for teaching blind children: “[W]hen the other pupils took out their primers and writing slates, he would sit quietly alone, listening to the scratching of chalk and the rustle of pages being turned” (17). Braille’s frustration and isolation is palpable, especially given that in other subjects which rely only on memorization and verbalization, Braille eclipses his peers.

Braille is determined that people who are blind access the world of print information. Without it, and without the ability to write down their thoughts and ideas, Braille recognizes that people who are blind are excluded from the world. This exclusion is unjust. Braille’s desire to access the world of literature is clear in his excitement to attend the Royal Institute for Blind Youth, especially to learn how to read and write. Braille is discouraged by the system of embossed letters; the boys “read slowly and hesitantly” (28). Furthermore, Captain Barbier’s system of