When Matthew Shifrin turned 13, he got a life-changing birthday present from his friend, Lilya Finkel.
It was an 843-piece Middle Easten1 palace. And with it were instructions that Finkel made2 for it. Finkel invented a unique name for every piece in the palace set. Then she spent countless hours typing building3 in Braille （盲文） that spelled out how to4 them all together.
His mind was 5 . As a blind person, he had never before been able to complete a Lego set on his own, Shifrin knew immediately that he had to help other blind children find the same 6 .
Shifrin says, "For blind people, Lego sets act as small 3D7 for real-life buildings instead of two-dimensional photographs. Lego bricks allow me to see things that are8 to explore by touch. "
For years after that incredible Lego experience, he created similar instructions for about 45 other Lego sets, together with Finkel, all published on a website they created, "Lego for the9 . "
Shifrin began10 to Lego several years ago to discuss his work,11 it was in 2017, when Finkel died of cancer, that he finally connected with the right person.
His years-long devotion12 when the Lego company released its first audio and Braille building instructions. The project is a high-tech version of what Shifrin and Finkel did for their13 .
It couldn't have been completed without Shifrin's 14 or without his determination.
He just wished Finkel had been here to see it. "I think she'd be very glad that we came this15 Shifrin said.
