This disability history month, it’s important to highlight the many disabled individuals who have paved the way for accessibility throughout history. We have highlighted just a few below, but there are so many more fascinating individuals worth researching this month! 

Louis Braille (1809-1852)

After losing sight in one eye as a result of an accident at the age of three, and then after an infection set in spreading to both eyes, Louis Braille was totally and permanently blinded. He is famous for developing a touch-based code as a student, receiving a scholarship from the Royal Institute for Blind Youth and eventually presenting his system of code in 1824. This code became known as Braille. 

Ralph Braun (1940-2013)

Born with muscular dystrophy, Ralph Braun is responsible for the creation of a series of revolutionary mobility-assistance devices, including the world’s first battery-powered scooter and wheelchair lift. He created the first wheelchair-accessible van with hand controls in 1966. In 1991, his company, BraunAbility, went on to produce the first accessible minivan, before going on the create the Braun Corporation, one of the leading manufacturers of wheelchair-accessible vehicles. 

Stephen Farffler, (1633-1689)

Stephan Farffler broke his back as a child and remained paraplegic into adulthood. He is known for building his own mobility aid at only 22 years old. Using his mechanical expertise as a clockmaker Farffler built the first self-propelled wheelchair in 1655. Farffler’s wheelchair frame was based on a three-wheel chassis and worked by turning handles attached to a geared front wheel using a system of cranks and cogwheels. This was several hundred years before the invention of the bicycle! 

Van Phillips (1951-) 

After losing his lower leg in a water skiing accident, Van Phillips became frustrated with the limited athletic function of prosthetics in the 1970s. Enrolling as a student at Northwestern university Medical School, Phillips studied prosthetics, providing a unique perspective as a user of prosthetics himself. He was able to identify issues that had been missed, as well as functional for athletics through absorbing, storing and releasing kinetic energy when running and jumping. Philips developed a J-shaped piece of carbon fiber named the Flex-Foot, the first running blade. 

Christian Boer (1981-)

Christian Boer was diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, after struggling with reading and class work at school. During his time at HKU University of the Arts in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Boer designed his own font for people with dyslexia. The font is called Dyslexie, and it includes asymmetrical letters and ones that aren’t uniform like other fonts. In particular, two letters that can often be confused in standard fonts are “b” and d”. In Dyslexie, “b” is much narrower at the top than “d”, so is easier to tell apart. All letters in Dyslexie font are thicker at the bottom which anchors them to the page and keeps dyslexic individuals from flipping them over while reading them.