Bowie student takes on national Braille Challenge

Fetterman, who just completed ninth grade at Bowie, started learning to read Braille when he was 5 and he has since participated in about seven braille challenge competitions, his mother Beth Freeborn said.

To participate in the National Braille Challenge, students use the Perkins Brailler, a device that resembles a manual typewriter and includes one key for each of the six dot combinations that are used in Braille, Freeborn explained.

Fetterman will participate at the junior varsity level in the timed competitions, which test students' speed and accuracy, reading comprehension, ability to read charts and maps, and ability to correct sentences.

Freeborn said the competition enables visually impaired children from across the country to meet each other, and the camaraderie is an invaluable part of the overall experience for the students. She said it also highlights blind students' academic prowess.

"I hope that the people in Southwest Austin and all of Austin understand that these kids who are visually impaired are actually very capable," she said. "More than 1,000 people send in their scores from the regional challenge, and only 60 get to go to the competition, so just to get to the national Braille Challenge is an incredible feat."

When he graduates, Fetterman hopes to attend college and study engineering.

More information about the Braille Challenge is available here.