Western NY Braille Challenge®
NYS School for the Blind
Dates |
How To Register | Contact
Information | Equipment Options |
Practice Materials |
Sponsors | Past
Braille Challenge Results |
National Winners
Braille Challenge® March 2, 2013
(Snow Date March 9, 2013)
What is the Braille Challenge®
The Braille Challenge® is is an academic competition intended to motivate blind students to improve their braille and literacy skills. Students test their skills in reading comprehension, Braille speed and accuracy, proofreading, spelling and reading tactile charts and graphs. More than 500 students from first through twelfth grades participated in the Preliminary Round last year. The top-scoring 65 came to Los Angeles in June for the Final Round of two days of competition and prizes, camaraderie and fun! Parents are encouraged to accompany their child and TVI to the Braille Challenge®.
Dates to Remember
Registration Period: October 24, 2012 – January 4, 2013
Teacher
of the Year Award Nomination: Deadline March 23, 2013
Notification of Contest Results: May 1, 2013
The Braille Challenge® Finals (in Los Angelos, California):
June 22-23, 2013
How to Register
To register to attend the 2013 Braille Challenge® please complete the
Western NY Registration
and Permission Form 
(152
KB)
Parent Letter 
(46
KB)
Upstate NY
Braille Challenge Notice (140
KB)
*DO NOT register students online if they plan to attend
the Braille Challenge in Batavia, NY.
Online registration should only be done if a student
will take the Challenge individually under the supervision of their TVI.
Michelle E. Campbell
New York State School for the Blind
2A Richmond Avenue,
Batavia, NY 14020
Phone:585-343-5384, ext. 239
Fax: 585-344-7026
mruble@mail.nysed.gov
Flexible Brailler Options
Since more students are learning to braille using different models of braillewriters, this year we are allowing students to choose their preference, and use their own equipment. Options include the classic Perkins Brailler, the APH/Perkins Next Generation Brailler and the new APH Light Touch Perkins Brailler. All contests, including Speed and Accuracy, will be formatted for the smaller 8.5 X 11 paper size to accommodate a shorter line length. Students using larger sheets will simply braille shorter lines.
IMPORTANT MESSAGE for students taking part in the Speed and Accuracy part of the contests: The talking book has been discontinued for the Speed and Accuracy part of the contest. Students may bring either a BookPort Plus by APH or a Victor Stream by Humanware
It is important that the student has practiced with these devices for familiarity, and have ensured that the devices are in good working order for the event.
Use of Digital Players for Speed and Accuracy Contest: The Braille Challenge® Speed and Accuracy Contests are distributed as MP3 files on SD cards, to be played on one of two approved audio players.
Parents and TVI's are encourage and welcome to attend the event with the student. However, registration must be completed by the child's TVI.
Practice Materials
Sample contests are available free for download.
These
may be accessed by visiting the Braille
Institute 
website.
Sponsors:
Humanware —Victor
Stream players
National
Braille Press —gift
certificates for their catalog of braille books and products
Seedlings
Braille Books for Children —gift
certificates for a book or t-shirt from their catalog
Perkins Products —gift
certificates for a braille Sudoku game
The New York State School for the Blind wishes to gratefully acknowledge the generous support of our 2013 Regional Braille Challenge sponsors:
New York State School for the Blind