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Braille blast off! How little Nico shines in school

Little Nico from Argentina shines in school with help from his Perkins-trained teachers. Discover his braille journey.

A young boy sits at a desk with his instructor at his side. He is touching brailled note cards.

When Nicolás “Nico” Cuenca started Kindergarten, school looked a little different from the rest of his classmates. Nico is a child who is blind, so he uses his other senses to explore the world. This age was a crucial time for him to develop braille literacy skills. But how does that work? 

Nico is a kindergarten aged boy in a blue shirt. He walks alongside the wall lined with red tactile markers in a school hallway. His teachers watch a few paces behind.

While sighted children at this age recite their ABCs to unlock reading, Nico learns through touch. His lessons begin with feeling and recognizing the differences between braille dots. Nico was the only kid in his Kindergarten class with a disability, which means his teacher could only help so much.

He attends a regular public school in Mendoza, Argentina in the morning. In the afternoon, he receives lessons from the Helen Keller (HK) School, a Perkins partner school

Perkins provides training and resources to staff and teachers at the HK School, like how to teach braille through playful activities and how to collaborate with a student’s team of educators. It’s this teamwork between two different schools that allowed Nico to shine in school. 

Teamwork between teachers

Learning braille has been instrumental in Nico’s development. The HK School created a dedicated space for Nico to learn braille, where he could sit and concentrate on his lessons. 

Part of braille literacy training includes learning positional concepts, like up and down. His teachers encouraged him to practice the correct finger movements for braille. 

Nico is a young boy with a blue shirt. He sits at his desk as his teacher, whose face is out of frame, assists him in placing paper into his Perkins brailler.

At the HK School, he learned to use a Perkins Brailler typewriter. With help from his Kindergarten teacher, Claudia, he learned to load paper into the brailler and glide his fingers over the keys. By the end of Kindergarten he unlocked reading braille dots 1, 2, 3, and 4, and its many combinations. 

To keep this momentum going, Nico’s regular school teacher integrated braille into daily classroom activities. She wrote the date on the chalkboard in braille, even though she didn’t read it herself! She also communicated regularly with Claudia, his HK School teacher, to find creative ways to support his braille literacy journey.

They helped him learn basic skills using hands-on activities. When taking attendance, she would give Nico the name tags of the present students. This task helped him distinguish between his classmates and practice counting. When he finished adding the name tags, he would let his teacher know and she’d thank him for his help.

Write about what you love

Fast forward to second grade. Nico now consistently uses the Perkins brailler to complete all his schoolwork. This tool has become his daily companion, helping him overcome challenges and discover the exciting world of literacy. 

Throughout his braille lessons, his teachers encouraged him to type about things he loves. From there, Nico’s documents all centered around food, particularly empanada recipes! 

Day by day, his teachers saw his reading and writing skills flourish, empowering his independence. Each letter he types is not just a step toward his education but toward a future of opportunities that will help Nico find his place in the world. We can’t wait to hear what he does next!

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