"If blind people were without braille they would need to have someone available at all times to read everything... College students would probably not be able to write research papers because they wouldn't be able to find encyclopedias and other reference books to check their facts. A blind person would never be able to write down their thoughts or make a rough draft of the paper. They would find it hard to take notes in class. Recorders would give them some help but what about spelling of words specific to the area they are studying? Music students would have a terrible time if there were no braille. You have to write out your assignments for music theory class and if braille didn't exist you would have no way of organizing your sample compositions. We use braille for countless tasks that we could never do by ourselves if braille didn't exist." 
Chris Coulter [3]
Picture
“Blind children in a schoolroom reading braille”
<http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/miscpics/gid/slv-pic-aab23090/1/mp011937>
(Dec 7, 2009) 
"It has been a long hard struggle by the blind to obtain an education. It has been filled with pit falls and stumbling blocks, often placed there by well meaning sighted persons whom did not fully understand the needs of the blind. Yet we will show that there were and continues to a growing number who did and do have the insight to change history."

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Ken Stuckey [4]
      Before braille was invented, education of the blind was limited, because of how expensive and scarce education was [1]. There were very few schools specifically for the blind, and public schools were not able to give blind students much of an education [1]. Many blind people ended up as beggars because their families couldn’t support them and they didn’t have enough education to get a job [2]. Braille improved education in many ways. It was more compacted than any other system, which made it easy to read and simple to understand [5]. Quickly following the invention of braille, the stylus and slate were invented which made it much easier to write in braille [1]. Braille was very flexible and was easily adapted into different languages [5]. Also, it could be used in math and music, unlike many previous systems [1]. The invention of braille gave blind people a universally accepted system which helped make education for the blind more organized and successful.

 

1. Carolyn Meyer "A New Method: The Story of Louis Braille" <http://louisbrailleschool.org/resources/louis-  braille/> (Dec 8, 2009)
2. Berthold Lowenfeld, The Changing Status of the Blind, (Springfield, Il: Thomas, 1975)
3. 
Chris Coulter (blind since birth) interview by Rose Hinson and Sayaka Yamamoto (Dec 9, 2009)
4. Ken Stuckey,
“History of the Education of the Blind” <http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:XpC3kfkmZZ0J:www.icevieurope.org/cracow2000/proceedings/chapter11/1107.doc+History+of+the+Education+of+the+Blind&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a> ( Dec 1, 2009)
5.
"Education of the Blind."  <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05306a.htm> (Jan 3, 2010)