Event also celebrates 200th anniversary of Braille code

Celebrate Access! is a new event that explores the unique ways people with visual impairment access the world, and it also celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Braille code. 

The Braille Challenge and Expanded Core on the Road are merging to create the new event for 2024 – Expanded Core on the Road: Celebrate Access! The event is designed to bring students of all ages together to celebrate access while providing instruction in the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC). 

ECC provides a framework for instruction in a specialized set of vision-related skills for students who are blind or visually impaired. ECC helps prepare students for academic success and independent living and is built around nine core components that build the life skills needed for success after graduation. The nine core components of ECC are assistive technology, career education, compensatory skills, independent living skills, orientation and mobility, recreation and leisure, self-determination, sensory efficiency and social interaction skills. 

Two events will be held in Kansas. The first Celebrate Access! event will be 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Jan. 25, 2024, at the Kansas State School for the Blind, 1100 State Ave., in Kansas City, Kansas. The second event will be from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Northridge Friends Church, 2655 N. Bullinger St. in Wichita. 

The event is for students ages 3-21 with any level of visual impairment. Students will spend the day creating their own custom book in their primary reading medium as they participate in activities based on the Expanded Core Curriculum domains of independent living (cooking); recreation and leisure (fitness and music); compensatory skills (Braille exploration and book creation); and assistive technology (STEM). 

Register here by noon Jan. 8, 2024. 

For questions, contact Anna Cyr by email at acyr@kssdb.org or by phone at (913) 645-5324 or Aundrayah Shermer by email at ashermer@kssdb.org or by phone at (913) 335-5596.