VIDBE-Q Volume 66 Issue 3
I have them? Now what?
Once I completed the four hour training course, I applied and received my
LEGO® Braille Bricks kit. The kit included four full sets of LEGO® Braille
Bricks. I was elated the day they arrived at my school and couldn't wait to begin
exploring and using the kits. It felt like Christmas as I opened the box to reveal the
new teaching tools included inside. Each set includes two gray baseboards and 250
LEGO® Braille Bricks. The possibilities are limitless and the potential to use the
bricks seems to only keep expanding. The LEGO® Foundation wants the bricks to
go to teachers working with children with visual impairments so that the LEGOs
can stay with the teacher and be used with as many children as possible.
I was gifted one of the most amazing students four years ago and she was the
reason I applied for the LEGO® Braille Bricks. Janessa has a diagnosis of
deaf/blindness but has never let that hold her back. Janessa is a bright and
extraordinarily intelligent young woman. She is going into the sixth grade and is
twelve years old. Janessa has a passion for learning and a determination to make
her goals into realities. Janessa has made a huge impact on me personally and
prompted me to earn my license to become a Teacher of the Visually Impaired. To
know and to teach Janessa is truly a gift. I have watched Janessa grow from
recognizing braille letters to now reading and writing full sentences in contracted
braille. I am always looking for new ways to increase her engagement while also
