Inspiring Local Blind and Visually Impaired Youth Participate in the Atlantic Provinces Regional Braille Challenge, a Braille Literacy Competition
What is Braille Challenge?
- Contestants compete in five categories: reading comprehension, spelling, charts & graphs, proofreading, and speed & accuracy. Practicing for each category enables them to refine their braille skills.
- Any grade school student who is blind or visually impaired and can read and write braille is eligible to participate in the first stage of the contest at one of the 53 Braille Challenge regionals across the United States and Canada, giving even beginner braille readers a chance to reach their personal best.
- Watch this video from a previous Finals, it provides an excellent visual overview of the event.
Why the Braille Challenge is Important to our Community
- The Braille Challenge, now in its 20th year, is the only academic competition of its kind in North America for students who are blind or visually impaired.
- Braille Institute developed the Braille Challenge to encourage blind and visually impaired children of all ages to hone their braille skills, which are essential to academic and employment success.
This year, APSEA hosted the Atlantic Provinces Regional Braille Challenge. Students from across the region participated in the competition, completing the work locally in their individual communities, with collaborative support from parents, school-based teams, APSEA staff, and itinerant teachers.
To commemorate the event, the APSEA team organized a virtual closing ceremony where participating students, family members, and teachers were invited to come together online to meet each other, celebrate their accomplishments, play games, and win prizes.
A special thanks goes out to the APSEA team of coordinators who helped make this event happen in our region. We also want to thank the parents, school-based teachers, and itinerant teachers for their ongoing support of this exciting initiative. And a big congratulations to the students for taking on the challenge!