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Oldsmar Girl To Compete In Braille Challenge

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 25, 2008

OLDSMAR - Michelle Yongue, a 10-year-old from Oldsmar, will travel to Los Angeles to represent Florida on June 28 in the only national academic competition for blind students.

Michelle was chosen from among more than 500 of the top blind and visually impaired students from across the United States and Canada to test her Braille skills at the Eighth Annual National Braille Challenge, according to a news release from the Braille Institute of America.

The event tests students' ability to decipher the Braille code. Participants must transcribe and read Braille using special devices during a series of sessions that test their speed and accuracy, comprehension, ability to decode charts and graphs in Braille, as well as their spelling.

Michelle, an avid Braille reader and an outstanding student at Forest Lakes Elementary School, started learning to read Braille in preschool and hasn't slowed down since, the news release states, adding the following information about her:

Michelle plans to be a veterinarian when she grows up. "She's doing very well because she gets her books in Braille at the same time her sighted classmates get their books in print," said her father, James Yongue. "Braille literacy has opened up a new world for her and given her the tools she needs to succeed."

When she is not reading her favorite books in Braille, Michelle spends free time playing beep ball in a local league and swimming at a pool near her house. She also loves fast amusement park rides and riding horses
.

"She's a fearless kid," her father said. " ... I think people sometimes have a misconception that because a child is blind, they don't have fun or they don't have hobbies and interests. But they're just like any other kid."

Participants in the national competition will receive a trophy for their efforts and the top three in each age group will receive a savings bond.

Staff report

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