The blind man's world an English version of Entre aveugles : advice to people who have recently lost their sight / by Emile Javal ; translated by W. Ernest Thomson.
- Louis Émile Javal
- Date:
- 1904
Licence: In copyright
Credit: The blind man's world an English version of Entre aveugles : advice to people who have recently lost their sight / by Emile Javal ; translated by W. Ernest Thomson. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)
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![tfie pnrwmt chapter, and give actual figures to hhov/ the diminution of tactile «en«ibility in the rigtit iridex finger of tlie blind. A blind \A;Tvm, howevt:r well trained in readin/j, is not always able to dr^ciphier a letter of the liraille type by pre«»ing hi» finger on it. In order that the fx^nt* and their groujjing rnay be easily rwjf^u'vitA the finger has to Ix; rublx^l over tltern, and, for sharp perception, neither t<^x> quickly nor t^x^ slowly. One of the quite unconscious tricks of the blind reader is the attainment of the correct sfX;*^] (a sfx^id which is as great a.s Is comf^tible with the rec^^gnition of th/; jxints), and the u-se of the rninirnurn amount of prf:^ure, so as to avoid fatiguing the tactile Sf;n:y;, ThLs subject would make quite a go^xi physiological investigation, complementary to the one made by myself on the physiology of reading by sight. The blind, who have to depend upon reading by hand, frequently prefer to use the less thickened skin of the left forefinger. These observations have led me to the conclusion that, as soon as he knows the letters, the adult who wishes to train himself in Braille reading should at first read works with which he is already acquainted, or which he can have read over to him. In a single hour it is possible to read to him aloud more than he will read in Braille in a whole week. He should read fast, preferring to giaess the meaning rather than diminish the speed of the finger below that which is most favourable to tactile sensibility.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2128670x_0027.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
