Blind Sask. boy heading to international braille competition hopes to increase accessibility for visually impaired

A Saskatchewan boy who qualified for an international braille competition in Los Angeles next month hopes he can inspire change in his home province.

A Saskatchewan boy who qualified for an international braille competition in Los Angeles next month hopes he can inspire change in his home province.

Isaiah Gauthier, 10, was born with a visual impairment. He punched his ticket to Braille Challenge finals after cracking the top 10 in the world for his age category during a regional braille contest earlier this year. He’s the first student in Saskatchewan to ever qualify for the event.

"To be the first, maybe other people can realize how important braille is," Gauthier said.

More than 1,100 blind and visually impaired students from Grades 1 to 12 competed across Canada, the United States and the U.K.

The Braille Challenge tests them on speed and accuracy with their reading, spelling, proof reading and graphs. Gauthier is the only student in his school who competed.

"It just kind of feels weird being one of the only people in the school who actually knows what it (braille) means," he said.

Gauthier started learning braille in kindergarten with the help of his teacher Christina Jean. He uses two types of machines that allow him to read and write in braille.