The goal of the event is to get the students to keep up their Braille skills, as well as get together with other children who are visually impaired, said Merrilee Petersen, Bountiful. She is coordinator of the Braille Challenge and also teaches visually impaired students in Davis School District.

"It's hard when they are isolated in their own schools," Petersen said. "They may be the only child who is learning Braille."

Kurt Manwaring, 16, Orem, who attends Mountain View High School, said the competition is fun but the best part is getting to spend time with old friends. "Visually impaired students have a lot of activities like summer camps. It's just kind of cool to be able to see those people — no pun intended," he said, laughing.

Most of the students at Friday's competition attend public schools. They said while sometimes the other students treat them differently, they want to mingle with regular students.

Inclusion is good for the students, said Jalayne Engberg, who teaches visually impaired students in Alpine School District. "I believe in having the kids be around their peers and learning social skills ... It's not just about learning Braille."

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