Competition for the visually impaired aims to create useful tools out of ideas

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Some of the nation’s brightest kids are tackling some of their biggest hurdles. From April 12-14, the Kansas State School for the Blind hosted the Make48 competition. Students were tasked to build a device for the school’s gymnasium.

The competition featured 18 blind or visually impaired students from across the country. The kids traveled from New Mexico, Indiana, California, Maryland, Washington and Texas.

Event coordinators said the competition is student-led and their ideas will soon be turned into something useful.

“There’s a lot of problem solving around physical activity and fitness,” Kansas State School for the Blind coordinator, Lydia Moreno said. “They are the ones that know best and can advocate for what they need.”

The winning team will advance to the national competition in November at Operation Breakthrough. Even though only one team will advance, students said it was refreshing to meet others from across the country.

“It’s really cool to meet other people with the same challenges as me,” Make48 mentor, Viviana Petelin said. “Just because you have a visual impairment doesn’t mean you can’t do the same things as everyone else.”

You can meet the teams here.

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