November 13 - International Day of the Blind. International Day of the Blind

Not only happy dates are celebrated by the world community. There are also such as November 13 - International Day of the Blind. It was at this time that in 1745 Valentin Gayuy was born - the founder of one of the first schools for the blind in history, a teacher and volunteer who devised a method of teaching reading long before the braille was created.

Valentin Gayuy - the world's first typhlopedagogist

The science of educating and educating visually impaired people received the first impetus in the second half of the 18th century. And she received it from Valentine Gayuy - a French teacher, philanthropist and inventor, who was one of the first telegraph educators and published the world's first books for the blind.

This man was born in 1745 near the city of Amiens, in the family of a poor French weaver. He graduated in the capital and worked as an interpreter at the Foreign Ministry. Gayuy read in several Eastern languages, he owned Latin, Greek, Hebrew.

In 1974, he takes the first step towards what later the date of his birth will become known to many: November 13 - International Day of the Blind. Being already an accomplished teacher and a professional, he opens a school for blind children, and does it at his own expense, without the help of the state or other sponsors.

The first students there were street children, for the training of which Gayuy used his own method and the font he developed - "unzial".

He invented and "introduced" a printed device, created a school for his school and published books in it. All this was accompanied by considerable financial difficulties. The situation improved somewhat only after the king recognized him - he finally received sponsorship.

His work is not limited to the creation of the school - his work is much more important: he played a significant role as one of the first typhlo-pedagogists who recognized the importance of education for the blind, giving the opportunity to study and work, which has shown an example to many and many people in France and around the world.

For his services, to preserve the memory of this eminent person, WHO has established the International Day of the Blind on November 13th.

The situation in tsarist Russia

The work of Valentine Gayuy was seen not only in France. In 1803, the Russian Emperor Alexander I invited the teacher to Russia, and in 1806 he arrived in St. Petersburg to create an educational institution for the blind or people with partial loss of sight.

However, this task was much more complicated than it seemed at first glance. Even in France, blind people who did not belong to aristocrats or well-to-do families could do little more than do their best to beg.

In Russia, this situation was even worse. The Ministry of Education informed Gayuy that "there are no blind children in Russia", and he again searched for his first students himself. The state, budget and school charter were approved by the emperor only a year after the arrival of the teacher, in 1807.

Nevertheless, there were people who were ready to learn and learn, even in such difficult conditions. By the summer of 1808, the students of the school were well-trained in writing, reading, geography, other sciences and crafts.

Persistently pursuing his goals, Gayuyi step by step approached the recognition of blind people as useful to society. Undoubtedly, he did not know that his works would be so appreciated by descendants that he would be celebrated on the day of his birth - November 13 - International Day of the Blind. Pictures of successful students convinced the inspectors who conducted the audit in the same year 1808. The work of the French teacher continued.

Having worked in this field for more than 10 years, Valentin Gayuy left Russia in 1817, having received the Vladimir Order of the 4th degree "For zealous zeal" from Emperor Alexander I. When the founder left, the school lost its importance as an educational institution.

Current situation

In 1984, WHO officially announced the date: November 13 - International Day of the Blind. Since then, quite a long time has passed - a more perfect Braille font appeared, special schools for people with limited visual abilities became common everywhere. In 2001, they celebrated the 120th anniversary of the systematic training of the blind in Russia, which began with the school of K.K. The grotto.

A lot of work has been done, and there are many talented professionals who provide not only a general education, but also help to cope with psychological and social difficulties.

Recent developments in the field of technology, such as the bionic eye, give hope for the restoration of vision and the removal of the problem of blindness in general. At the same time, the creation and improvement of accessories and devices that help blind people to act and live in the modern world continues.

White cane

In the minds of people there is a collective image of a man with impaired vision - most often someone in darkened glasses, with a cane and a guide dog. This presentation did not come from scratch. In commemoration of Valentine Gaius, we celebrate the International Day of the Blind on November 13, the symbol of which is a white cane - is so important that it has its "own" date.

For the first time this thing appeared in 1921, and this event is related to the name of the young Bristol photographer James Bigs. He found that neither pedestrians nor drivers reacted to his black cane (there was a time when such an accessory was widespread), and repainted it in white. The experiment was successful.

Attribute propagation and technical progress

The next stage of the popularization of this thing came in 1930-1931. The French aristocrat and philanthropist Gwilly J'Erbemon, together with the prefect of the Paris police, considered the white cane a good idea in order to facilitate the blind people moving around the city.

In addition, the thing served as an "alarm" to others that this particular person is blind. A large number of canes were procured and distributed, and a large-scale advertising campaign was organized. A year later, this happened in the UK - the charitable organization "Rotary Club" acquired and gave white canes to many blind Englishmen.

These events played an important role. Now celebrate and October 15 (Day of the white cane), just like November 13, the International Day of the Blind. A photo of these attributes and "assistants" is a frequent element of illustrations to materials about blind people.

Modern analogues, although they play the role of "signaling" and symbol, are much more perfect. There are samples "stuffed" with electronics, telling the owner with the help of sound and other signals about obstacles, helping to choose a route and bypass dangerous areas. In their functions they are already approaching and they are beginning to replace one more symbol of blind people - guide dogs.

A man's friend on four paws

The first systematic attempt to prepare animal assistants can be called the German schools created during the First World War. Their goal was to train guide dogs to help war veterans. In the United States, such schools have been known since 1929, in Great Britain - since 1931. However, animals have been used with such a purpose since time immemorial.

Most often, Rottweilers, Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds, Risenschnauers train for the role of guides, but almost any dog can be trained. In a number of countries, such assistants are admitted to any place - in Russia, for example, they travel in public transport for free.

International Day of the Blind

To celebrate November 13, the International Day of the Blind, the script does not necessarily make it difficult. Here's how these events took place in 2014:

• In the Chelyabinsk Regional Special Library for the visually impaired, a blitz was conducted;
• "Sport-adaptive school" Laman Az "in the Chechen Republic in table tennis among B1 (totally blind);
• In Ekaterinburg the public organization "White cane" held a round table "Inclusion - Society - Creativity", an art exhibition, a rock concert.

Children also did not ignore the 13 November, International Day of the Blind. The class hour has passed in many schools of the Republic of Tatarstan, in the Volgograd region and in other regions of the country. Similar events take place on this day all over the world.