Paralympian reads first braille story for CBeebies
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Paralympic cyclist Lora Fachie read the first ever braille story on CBeebies Bedtime Stories
Paralympic cyclist Lora Fachie has read the first ever braille story on CBeebies Paralympic cyclist Bedtime Stories, alongside her guide dog Tai.
Braille is a system of raised dots which allows people who are blind or who have visual impairments to read and write.
The story was read on Thursday 13 October, which was World Sight Day this year.
Lora, who has a visual impairment herself, was a gold medal winner at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
What is World Braille Day?
Lora said she was "over the moon" about reading the story, called The Secret Code, for which the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) provided a braille transcription.
It's a tale about a young boy whose classmates are fascinated by the way he reads, because he uses braille.
The story celebrates the joy of reading in all of its forms and introduces children who may not have much experience with braille to the system which is used by people worldwide.
Braille is a system of raised dots which enables a blind person or someone with a visual impairment to read and write.
They use their fingers to feel the shape of the dots, which tells them what the words are.
It is based on six dots, like the design on a domino. It consists of 63 symbols, made up of all the possible combinations of these dots.
Braille can be used for most of the world's languages.
It can be used to represent everything from basic letters and numbers to advanced mathematics and music.
It was invented nearly 200 years ago in 1824 by Frenchman Louis Braille.
The latest CBeebies Bedtime Stories episode isn't the only time braille will be read on the programme.
It's the first episode in a long-running series of stories which will be read using the system and Lora will also be reading a second story for the show.
"I have always enjoyed reading and hope this will encourage everyone to want to read whether they use their eyes, their ears, their fingers or a secret code," said Lora, who is expected her first child soon.
"Reading feeds the imagination and I will be reading to my little one from the minute they are born."
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