Blind Sask. student puts his reading skills to the test at international competition

Despite Saskatchewan falling behind other provinces in reading, math and science scores, one Martensville student is bucking the trend.

Since the moment school finished last June, Isaiah Gauthier has been busy playing sports, going to hockey camps, fishing, camping and all the other things kids do in the summer.

“I went on a fishing trip and I caught four fish,” said 11-year-old Gauthier. “But we only got to keep one of them because the other ones were tiny.”

But between all the activities, he was also named a finalist in the 2024 Braille Challenge. It’s an international braille reading, spelling, proofreading and graphs competition held by the Braille Institute, hosted on the University of Southern California campus.

Being named one of the top 50 competitors out of more than a thousand entries, Gauthier was going up against the best braille readers and writers from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

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Despite the pressure, Gauthier says he had a lot of fun, made new friends, and finished second in the freshmen category.

“It was cool to do, but we didn’t feel like we were competing,” he said. “It felt like we were on the same team.”

Gauthier’s teacher says he reads at a Grade 8 level despite starting Grade 5 next week. She says he works hard, but he also has a gift.

“Like any student, when they practice their reading, they excel,” said Christina Jean, braille interpreter at École Holy Mary Catholic School. “So if students are struggling, you get them to do more take-home reading or more sight words for more practice.”

She says his development has been accelerated from the various technology aids he uses, but she also credits his passion for sports for fuelling his reading skills.

“If you have somewhere where you’ve got interest, then you feed that,” she said.

Now, he’s got a year of school to look forward to, and he’s also working on qualifying for next year’s Braille Challenge.

But in his spare time this summer, Gauthier has also been advocating for the visually impaired.

“I went to Wakaw Lake, and I love their mini-golf course,” he said. “It’s really fun, and I wrote a letter to them about putting braille on all of their signs. They’re starting to put braille on them, so that’s pretty good.”

The Braille Institute says Gauthier’s participation alone made him a Saskatchewan first, meaning his second place result is the highest of any Saskatchewan competitor in 24 years of the Braille Challenge.