Braille: What is it like to read without sight? – BBC REEL

The 53-year-old Londoner Red Szell lost his sight several years ago due to the degenerative eye condition Retinitis pigmentosa – and has used audiobooks ever since.

But earlier this year, Szell decided to learn Braille, with unexpected results. In this video Red explores what effect learning to read Braille can have on your brain, and interviews a neuroscientist whose studies have revealed surprising findings.

Script & narration by Red Szell
Filmed & edited by Chris Griffiths
Animation by Archie Crofton

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#bbc #bbcreel #bbcnews #science #disability

[kieranwaugh]

Imagine reading 'do not touch' 😭🤣

[ruthdepew]

I recently attended a memorial service for my sister-in-law. My brother read his eulogy off a standard typed piece of paper. His blind son read his eulogy off a piece of paper covered in braille. I think my nephew read his more fluidly than my bother. Fascinating...

[backtoschool]

I had this cool thing happen in Braille music:

I was looking at a minute (as I had just learned about the music code in college) and as I was putting the hands together as I was playing the pitches on the piano, I could see the Braille note shapes in my mind!!

It was awesome!!

[DAlilbigman]

Awesome explanation of this! Thanks for sharing!

[crylove]

Braille has advantage over regular letters - if you can read braille with touch you can also read it with eyes, so I imagine in the future we might have other different reading ideas come together and make up a better self letters that can be recognizable by the one who knows braille and don't. Just imagine having a book that you can read using eyesight or your touch without learning a new alphabet

[b.a.erlebacher]

It's fascinating that an area for reading symbols has evolved in the visual area of the brain, when reading is such a recent invention (a few thousand years) and until very recently, very few people learned to read. I wonder why this area was so valuable to pre-literate people who might only need to learn to identify a few symbols in their entire lives, and yet how easy it is for most people to read fluently, recognising characters, assembling them into words and phrases that translate into an inner voice speaking rapidly in the mind without being consciously aware of the process.

I wonder if this area developed to interpret sign languages. There's a theory that sign languages developed before or in conjunction with spoken languages. It would be interesting to know if this area is active when people are conversing in sign.

[danielroy]

It's wild that there's a part of our brain specialized for a human invention.

[AshutoshMishra-wxjr]

"they must have a great sense of touch", I thought that just after reading the title. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[stsart]

Really interesting subject! Can just somebody explain me why a doctor giving an interview in BBC is wearing a football jersey from Apollon Limassol FC? Is he a real doctor or a taxi driver from Cyprus? Ok, I am just joking Dr. Amedi, just next time you are giving an interview or a lecture let us send you jersey from AEK Athens FC, so we take you a bit more seriously! :) :)

[komabu]

0:31 ⠗⠑⠁⠙⠊⠝⠛⠀⠊⠞⠓⠕⠥⠞⠀⠎⠊⠛⠓⠞

Why is the ⠺ (w) missing at the beginning of ⠊⠞⠓⠕⠥⠞ (ithout)? Is that because it's some kind of a short-form? Or did you leave it away as part of a stylistic device (because there will always be something missing if you're blind)?