Learning Braille
As for most blind people, Braille has played an important role in Michaels life enabling him to read write and even compose and transcribe music. Michael can read in excess of 100 words in Braile per minute.
Developed by the blind Frenchman Louis Braille in 1821, each Braille character or cell is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two columns of three dots each similar to those on dominos. Each pattern corresponds to a letter of the alphabet, and it’s read by running the fingertip over the dots to know the letter or number or punctuation mark. (Grade 1 Braille)
There’s also another system known as Grade 2 Braille. This works a little differently, as the dots correspond to groups of letters which facilitates quicker reading. There is also Braille for maths and music.
The chart below shows the Braille Alphabet. The letter "w" is an exception to the pattern because French did not make use of the letter "w" at the time Louis Braille devised his alphabet. Braille can be made using a "slate" and a "stylus" in which each dot is created from the back of the page, writing in mirror image, by hand, or it may be produced on a braille typewriter or "Perkins Brailler", or produced by a braille embosser attached to a computer.
The Braille Alphabet