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Orange County Schools renews focus on braille studies for blind students

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A national unemployment crisis has begun to impact the blind.

Those affected by blindness have seen unemployment levels reach highs around the country in part because many have stopped being taught how to read braille.

Orange County Schools are looking to change this by continuing to teach its students braille.

Twelve-year-old Bella Liborio is one of the students reaping the benefits, as she's the only student in Florida headed to the National Braille Challenge in Los Angeles this summer.

Bella is exceptional, as she's part of only 12 percent of school-age blind children across the country who can read braille. That number stood at 50 percent 40 years ago.

Officials believe the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is why braille numbers are down, as the act mainstreamed blind students into the public school system.

Orange County school officials recognized the importance of improving those numbers and is the only school district in Central Florida to cluster its blind students at Princeton Elementary, where 25 blind students learn braille with three full-time instructors.

"I think without braille, I would have failed school already because everything I do here has something to do with braille," said Bella.

Upon graduation, the school district partners with Lighthouse of Central Florida to find blind students jobs or get them into college.

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