07-03-2025
Blind and visually impaired students compete in West Virginia Braille Challenge
MORGANTOWN, (WBOY) — WVU's Children's Vision Rehabilitation Program (CVRP) hosted the West Virginia Braille Challenge in Morgantown Thursday, where blind and visually impaired children in grades 1-12 competed in a braille reading and writing contests, testing them in comprehension, speed, and accuracy.
Thirty students from 16 West Virginia counties participated in the challenge, including students from West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind in Romney.
The challenge is a part of a national competition developed by the Braille Institute. CVRP will send the tests to the Braille Institute, who will let them know if any of the students qualify for the national competition in Los Angeles.
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12 News spoke with Drew Moorman Jr., a student at Nitro High School who competed in the challenge. He said that he started using braille in his day-to-day life five years ago after a medical complication made him completely lose his eyesight. He said CVRP has helped him learn the skills he needs to navigate day to day life.
'It got competitive last year and that was my first year.' Moorman said. 'But this time, like, I didn't have any anxiety. I just knew what to expect and I just had to do my best.'
Moorman told 12 News that braille is his primary form of reading. Developing technology is also being infused with braille to create cutting-edge education tools such as the Monarch braille display, which the CVRP uses to help Moorman and other students with their homework, acting as a word processor, graphing calculator and tactile graphic display.
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