MILWAUKEE — Kids from around the Milwaukee area who are blind or visually impaired got a chance to improve their braille skills at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

What You Need To Know

  • Kids from around the Milwaukee area came together for the 21st annual Braille Games 

  • Offered an opportunity to learn science, braille skills 

  • Kids had a chance to interact with blind and visually impaired adults 

It was part of the 21st annual Braille Games. The event was put on by Audio and Braille Literacy Enhancement (ABLE).

Students from around Wisconsin had a chance to learn science skills while also improving their braille literacy.

Many of the class sessions were taught by adults, who are also visually impaired. Cheryl Orgas serves as ABLE’s Executive Director. Orgas said that when kids have an opportunity to work with adults who have faced many of their same challenges, it can make a big difference.

“Children get the experience of working with blind adults, many times kids don’t know that what happens is you grow up and you become independent, self sufficient as a blind person. Today is focused on using braille which is a crucial tool for independence and self-sufficiency,” said Orgas.

Jennifer Wenzel led a science activity at the Braille Games. Wenzel, who is blind, said it meant a lot getting to share her life experience with kids at the event.

“When I was young, I didn’t interact with a lot of blind kids when I was younger, like kindergarten and first grade, so it is great getting to see all these kids getting to know each other, and I just see myself in many of them as they get excited about learning,” said Wenzel.

To learn more about the work ABLE does in the community, you can visit their website.