{"id":377043,"date":"2026-06-27T08:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T08:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/377043\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T08:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T08:26:12","slug":"blind-berkeley-teen-is-1-of-50-competing-in-national-braille-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/377043\/","title":{"rendered":"Blind Berkeley teen is 1 of 50 competing in National Braille Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"boyKai Wang demonstrates how to use his Perkins Brailler in the basement of his Central Berkeley home on Tuesday. He uses glasses for sun and eye protection. Credit: Hope Mu\u00f1oz\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

Kai Wang, age 13, lives with his parents, his 8-year-old kid brother and his pet rabbit Snowball in a two-bedroom house in Central Berkeley. He loves chess and science and has memorized Pi up to 225 digits, winning a Longfellow Middle School contest. He co-designed a tactile nature lab<\/a> at the California Academy of Sciences. He plays viola, violin and drums and has competed nationally in paraclimbing, goalball and long-distance running. And he\u2019s blind, the first Braille-only student to enroll in the Berkeley school district in decades, according to his parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his basement, which his family jokingly calls \u201cKai\u2019s office,\u201d is a keyboard, a giant stuffed giraffe and a large desk against the wall.\u00a0 Atop the desk sits a dark green mechanical Braille typewriter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kai compares the Brailler to ancient technology; the writing system was developed by French teacher Louis Braille in the 1800s and the device Kai uses has yet to be truly upgraded since 1951<\/a>. He sits down at his desk and begins typing. Raised dots poke into the thick paper that emerges from the top.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"DarkKai\u2019s Brailler sits on a desk in a part of his home that his family refers to jokingly as \u201cKai\u2019s office.\u201d Credit: Hope Mu\u00f1oz\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

Kai is taking a practice test to prepare for the National Braille Challenge finals \u2014 the only competition<\/a> of its kind, put on by the Braille Institute of America. Students are challenged in various categories, including comprehension, proofreading, speed and accuracy.<\/p>\n

This Friday and Saturday, Kai will be in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California \u2014 one of 50 blind and visually impaired students from across the country and around the globe to qualify for the competition. He is the only California student to make it to the finals this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited to compete,\u201d Kai says. \u201cI think it\u2019s a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its 26th year, the competition is not only an opportunity for students to hone their skills but also to connect with peers and promote Braille literacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Braille has been in decline since the 1970s, when school districts started de-emphasizing it in favor of audio learning and other teaching methods. New technology \u2014 such as smartphones and computer software that reads aloud emails and other digital documents \u2014 has allowed people with visual impairments to live more independently than ever, but at the same time it plays a role in eroding Braille\u2019s prominence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supporters say it\u2019s a misconception that Braille is hard to learn and inefficient to use, and that it is crucial for the mastery of reading and writing skills. Only about 13% of U.S. blind students could read Braille, according to a 2016 survey. Another study<\/a>, from 2018, found that 90% of people who are literate in Braille are employed, compared with 33% for those who don\u2019t know Braille.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Kai was younger, he often wasn\u2019t provided with Braille material and was told that he could just listen to the words.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not the same, Sun says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She got the help of the National Federation of the Blind in negotiating a landmark settlement with the Berkeley school district<\/a> in 2022 to make online learning tools more accessible. The settlement established a process for reviewing the technology BUSD uses and created a system for responding to accessibility complaints.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of my big objective is to protect his Braille literacy,\u201d said Sun, founder of the nonprofit Paths to Accessibility and president of the company Sun Access, involved in developing accessibility-driven products. \u201cI had to reason and then prove to others, saying, \u2018Look, listening to a word is different than reading a word.\u2019 You wouldn\u2019t make the sighted kid just listen to the word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kai has been embraced by Berkeley\u2019s blind community<\/p>\n

Kai\u2019s daily quality of education has been a toss-up, he said. Some teachers are always prepared, like his science teacher, who uploads lesson plans three weeks out. But often he doesn\u2019t know if he will be provided with accessible materials and be able to complete the same assignment as everyone else.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a term in the blind education field called \u2018accessible material insecurity,\u2019\u2019\u2019 Sun said. \u201cIt\u2019s like food insecurity, and you don\u2019t know tomorrow if you\u2019re going to have food.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Sun acknowledges the school system is trying to support his education, she says it often misses the mark.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"KaiKai shows his 3D-printed model of San Francisco, a gift from a friend. Hope Mu\u00f1oz\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very open to trying new things,\u201d Sun said. \u201cThe only thing he craves for is access. And after you grant him access, he thrives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kai and his family have leaned on Berkeley\u2019s community of blind adults. The city was central in the Disability Rights Movement <\/a>of the 1960s and 1970s, and today the East Bay Center for the Blind, based <\/a>in Berkeley, offers events, support groups and Braille resources.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kai cites Josh Miele \u2014 a Berkeley-based author and scientist who won a MacArthur \u201cgenius\u201d prize for his work on blind adaptive technology<\/a> \u2014 as a role model.<\/p>\n

Miele describes Kai as a very smart and capable kid who has struggled to get the resources needed to reach his potential.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe blindness is not the amazing part,\u201d Miele said. \u201cThe amazing part is really that he has enough energy to not only be a really cool, really smart kid, but to do all of this extra stuff just to do the things he wants to do, and should be allowed to do, without question.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJosh is a really good mentor for Kai,\u201d Sun said. \u201cWhen we have struggles we don\u2019t know, we call him up.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a sighted person, Sun says there are some things she cannot teach her son. For example, blind people often use a technique of arching one\u2019s hand over the knife and guiding the blade from above, to cut bread. Rather than trying to teach him, Sun connected him with a blind cook who showed him how. The community has welcomed Kai with open arms. He plays sports with local groups and is the only player under 18 on his goalball team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of people I played blind sports with who I look up to because they\u2019ve been playing from a very young age and they\u2019re very independent,\u201d Kai said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Advocating for Braille literacy<\/p>\n

In the past, Kai struggled with getting a good teacher for visually impaired students (TVI), but he has formed a close bond with Dustin St. John, whom his mother persuaded BUSD to contract with last school year.<\/p>\n

St. John previously had another student<\/a> from Napa who competed in the National Braille Challenge finals, and he encouraged Kai to try it as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just a competition,\u201d St. John said. \u201cIt\u2019s also a place where they can socialize and get to know their line of peers, which they don\u2019t always get to do because they\u2019re kind of isolated in their own cities and districts that don\u2019t necessarily have people that live the same life they do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"whiteKai\u2019s bunny, Snowball. Credit: Hope Mu\u00f1oz\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

St. John has been helping Kai prepare for the competition by getting study materials from the Braille Institute\u2019s website and doing practice tests together. They also spend a lot of time going over the rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cKai is very motivated to learn, and he\u2019s very competitive in his education,\u201d St. John said. \u201cHe\u2019s just had a great community to help support him the whole way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kai was surprised he made it to the Braille competition finals<\/p>\n

As Kai gears up for the competition, he\u2019s feeling a bit excited, but also nervous. A lot of his competitors have done the challenge multiple times before, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the person who got first place last year has been going since they were in, like, first grade,\u201d Kai said. \u201cSo I\u2019m a bit overwhelmed because I don\u2019t really know what to expect.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kai and Sun were surprised he made it to this year\u2019s finals simply because of his age. The challenge is broken up into age divisions and his group includes seventh, eighth and ninth graders. Kai is in seventh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Kai and his mother, Mina Sun, in their backyard. Credit: Hope Mu\u00f1oz\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019ll do really well. It is definitely very competitive,\u201d St. John, said. \u201cThere are some extremely bright students who are blind, and I definitely think he\u2019s one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Kai\u2019s age group, students are tested in four categories: reading comprehension, chart and graph reading, proofreading, and speed and accuracy. Younger students also have a spelling category.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kai has been focusing on the speed and accuracy category, where he says students listen to an audio recording and write it out in Braille in real time. They have 25 minutes to get as far as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that one, if you Braille things incorrectly, you can get negative points. So, it sets people apart,\u201d Kai said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Kai\u2019s side of his upstairs bedroom, which he shares with his younger brother, Skyler, countless ribbons and trophies are on display. They prove Kai is a winner, jumping through hoop after hoop.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sun says she is confident he will be successful in life, no matter what he chooses to do. Kai, sitting next to her, jokes, \u201cIf I\u2019m in front of you, are you going to say that I\u2019m going to fail in life? Probably not.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

His mother doubles down. She cites the high standard Kai holds himself to, and says he is very self-driven and motivated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he will accomplish great things,\u201d Sun says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ally Markovich and The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.<\/p>\n

We know that most readers don’t get to the end of the article. But you did! To support our in-depth, rock-solid reporting, please consider making a donation to our nonprofit newsroom today. We rely on our readers \u2014 particularly the ones who read the whole story!<\/p>\n

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