Profile of Norman Wilson

Norman Wilson embodies what it means to be an Australian. He is very humble and would describe himself as “just an ordinary bloke” however his life and achievements suggest otherwise.

Norman is definitely one of the unsung heroes of the blindness community, not just in Australia but around the world. He took his love of “fiddling with technology” and his knowledge of Morse Code to develop the first automated method of transcribing Braille into print.

His invention, the Braille-n-Print was conceived after he learned about a friend’s child who was blind and about to be one of the first children integrated into a regular classroom in Brisbane. In typical style, Norman reckoned it would be easy to adapt a system he had developed to translate Morse code to the Braille code, a task that he undertook in his garage in his “spare” time. Two years later, the Braille-n-Print was ready and in 1982 it started to be sold. Norman applied for, and was granted a patent in the US, UK and Australia. The Braille-n-Print went on to serve countless thousands of students in 28 countries around the world.

Giving service to others has been at the heart of Norman’s long and productive life. As a young man in the 1930’s he put his age up to be eligible to join the Citizens Military Force (CMF), a stepping stone to eligibility for the armed services. He joined the RAAF as a corporal, served Australia in many campaigns and was promoted to a sergeant in New Guinea and a Lieutenant in the Borneo arenas. Norman’s expertise in Morse code was gained in the 7th Division – Signals on duty in Syria and Lebanon.

A very full and successful business life followed the war however a love of technology remained and Norman to this day is a devoted ham radio operator.

For recognising the parallels between Morse code and the Braille code, and the development of the Braille-n-Print, Norman was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia on the 12 June 1995.

In his later years Norman has continued to work tirelessly as a volunteer and there are many individuals and organisations (especially the Queensland Braille Writing Association) who owe a debt of gratitude for his tireless support.

We are thrilled that Norman has agreed to participate in our Braille Literacy Scholarship and hope that it goes some way to recognising the extraordinary contribution he has made to promoting Braille Literacy and empowering blind children to achieve independence.