If You Braille It, They Will Come:
Calling Top Braille Readers to Test Skills

MUSKOGEE, Okla. — All blind or visually impaired students in the state are invited to take part in the Oklahoma Braille Challenge from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 5, 2011. Participating students will meet at the Oklahoma School for the Blind, 3300 Gibson Street, Muskogee, to test their braille skills in an academic competition.

During the competition, participants, grades 1 through 12, will compete in five challenging categories requiring them to transcribe, type and read braille using a device called a Perkins Brailler. Each category is designed to test their braille skills in several areas—reading comprehension, braille spelling, chart and graph reading, proofreading and braille speed and accuracy.

The Oklahoma Regional Braille Challenge is the first step on the road to the national competition in June at the Braille Institute’s headquarters in Los Angeles. Students from across the nation are competing in the regional challenges to qualify for the 60 spots available in the national competition. The national winner from each contest level will receive a PACMATE Personal PDA from Freedom Scientific.

Of all the literacy issues in America, braille literacy is the most underrated and overlooked. Advances in technology do not replace the need for blind children to learn to read using braille. Studies show that only 30 percent of blind adults gain full-time employment, but 90 percent of those who beat the odds are braille readers.

OSB will provide housing Friday, March 4, for each student and one accompanying parent or guardian. OSB will also provide Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast and lunch. Transportation will not be provided. If you would like additional information on the event or to register, please contact Faye Miller, Oklahoma School for the Blind (918) 781-8200 or fmiller@osb.k12.ok.us. To download the registration form visit the webpage at www.okdrs.gov/OK_Braille_Challenge.html or OSB’s website at www.osb.k12.ok.us

The Braille Challenge® is the only national academic competition for blind students in the United States and is a national program of the Braille Institute of America. It serves to encourage blind children of all ages to fine-tune their braille skills, which are essential to their academic and employment success in the sighted world.

Founded in 1897 at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, OSB is a school for children who are blind or visually impaired. Over the past 100 years, the school has provided education programs at no charge for thousands of students with visual disabilities, from students who attend school on campus to those served through outreach programs for families, public school teachers and communities statewide.

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