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Second-grader Awnaleesa Sanchez is rocking the braille world in Denver! And it all started when she was an infant receiving early intervention services from A Shared Vision.

Representing Lincoln Orchard Mesa Elementary in Grand Junction, Awnaleesa took first place at the apprentice level in the 2026 Denver Metro Regional Braille Challenge. She demonstrated her skills in timed reading, comprehension, spelling, and proofreading.

The Braille Challenge is the only academic competition for students who are blind or visually impaired, and it has grown into a global event with participants from around the world. These literacy skills are essential for academic success, career opportunities, and lifelong independence.

Congratulations, Awnaleesa!

Awnaleesa with her award certificate

Pack Your Bag

No matter what trip you’re going on – the grocery store, a doctor’s appointment, a friend’s house, or a vacation – you typically carry a bag, whether it’s your purse, “murse,” diaper bag, or suitcase.

Exploring a purse or bag with your child can help them develop choice-making skills about what to pack in the bag or what to take out. You can talk with your child about the color or texture of the bag and whether it’s heavy or light. You can also guess what’s inside the bag or listen to the jingle of the car keys. Try this Learning Experience with any bag, but it’s more fun when it’s your child’s favorite.

Tummy time is just as important for babies who have low vision as it is for sighted babies. It allows them the opportunity to lift their head and begin to put weight on their arms and legs. They gain strength, large motor skills, and body awareness, which prepare them to learn to crawl and eventually walk.

For some babies, tummy time feels uncomfortable at first. That's why we love sensory hula hoops.

When they are lying in the middle of a sensory hula hoop, toys, fabric, and ribbon attached to the hoop are just within their reach. They become curious and more motivated to reach out and experience the items on the hula hoop because of all the interesting colors, textures, or sounds. Learn how to make a sensory hula hoop HERE.



Explore our WEBSITE for more crafty ideas!



Children who are blind or have low vision develop meaningful concepts through experiences. While a sighted child might understand what a dog is by an illustration in a book, a child who is blind or has low vision might need to pet a dog and hear it bark. 

The experience of meeting a dog or any activity can be reinforced by making a tactile experience book where items from an event a child experiences are incorporated onto the pages of a simple, sturdy book.

There are so many experiences you can capture in a book, too, including everyday routines like bathtime, a trip to the store or a pumpkin patch, or just sitting outside enjoying nature. Learn how to make an experience book HERE.

Children who are blind or have low vision cannot rely on visual information alone to understand the world around them. Imagine a trip to the grocery store. How do you make this busy, sensory experience come alive for your child? Using verbal descriptions is a strategy that can give meaning and context to this everyday experience.

You can start narrating your grocery trip the minute your child sits in the grocery cart. Then use verbal descriptions and lots of adjectives to describe each aisle you visit and what items you are putting in your cart. A grocery store is full of sensory learning opportunities, from the colorful produce and sweet-smelling baked goods to the weights of the canned goods and the clatter of the check-out aisle as you pay for your groceries. You can adjust the amount you share with your child depending on their tolerance for this experience.



HERE is an example of how one parent used verbal descriptions and narration to make grocery shopping come alive for her daughter, Serena.

Donating to A Shared Vision is as easy as…grocery shopping! When you link your King Soopers or City Market loyalty card to A Shared Vision, the store will donate a percentage of your grocery purchases to A Shared Vision at no cost to you.

Learn how to sign up for this program HERE and support Colorado’s children who are blind or have low vision.

A Shared Vision is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the leading provider of in-home and community early intervention vision services in Colorado. We inspire and empower families to nurture the development of their very young children who are blind or have low vision so that all children may discover their brightest future.