Braille in school: Wallaceburg, Ont., students learn from a blind peer

Wallaceburg school club teaching braille and sign language to anyone who wants to learn. CTV Windsor’s Michelle Maluske reports.

A.A. Wright Elementary in Wallaceburg, Ont., has a popular braille club, started for and led by a student who is legally blind.

“(It’s) just kind of raising awareness about the diverse ways that people learn,” Julie Vandernaalt told CTV News.

She is the teacher for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing/Blind and Low Vision for the Lambton Kent District School Board.

“When I started work with Legacie, I thought, what a great way to work on her social interaction skills and building an inclusive school community type feeling,” Vandernaalt added.

Although the club was launched three years ago to help 10-year-old student Legacie Shipman-Rogers, she now leads the group on Thursdays.

“Everybody just comes here, sits at one of these tables,” Shipman-Rogers told CTV News.

“We’re a little crazy some of the time.”

Around 20 students spend their lunch recess learning the braille alphabet and then typing out the words on ‘braillers.’

They were attracted to the concept after seeing Shipman-Rogers work on her own brailler in class.

“As you can see, the braillers look like old typewriters. So, a lot of kids had a lot of questions about it,” Vandernaalt said.

It’s not just a career for Vandernaalt. She also brings lived experience to the club, as her child has low vision and both of her parents are deaf.

Vandernaalt now teaches the students sign language, which interests grade four student Nathan MacAdam.

“My sister’s deaf, my cat’s deaf, and my dad’s deaf,” MacAdam told CTV News.

“And my cousin’s deaf.”

MacAdam likes to lead the group lesson on sign language.

In addition to sign, braille, and English, students at this school can learn French of Ojibway.

“I just like learning new things,” Braille Club member River Dionne told CTV News, who has been a member since the very first meeting.

“I like learning new languages.”