Sidney Navarro lives in a world of darkness but a team of people is there as a guiding light towards her success.

Navarro, who is blind, is a fifth grade student at Robert E. Lee Elementary School and native of Mexico. She came to the school two years ago not knowing the English language and with very few skills at Braille in Spanish.

That’s a far cry from where she is today thanks to her determination and the help of a team of professionals. With the help of Cindy Reynolds, visually impaired coordinator for Port Arthur Independent School District, paraprofessional Aracila Gonzalez, PAISD Braillist Dewana Burnham, Region 5 Education Center Orientation and Mobility Specialist Dion Potter and Peggy Arabie, Region 5 coordinator for the visually impaired, Navarro is able to excel.

“It’s a collaborative effort,” Arabie said of assisting and teaching Navarro. “She can be anything she wants to be in the future.”

Seated in a conference room at the school Navarro demonstrated some of the skills she’s learned. The team of professionals stood nearby as Navarro’s fingers slid deftly down the side and front of her iPad as she read tiny braille dots manipulating through different screens until she came across the title of a book she wanted to read.

She clicked on “Judy Moody Predicts the Future” by one of her favorite authors, Megan McDonald. Soon she was hearing the book and showing how she can flip forward and backward when needed.

The dark haired girl then explained different types of Braille.

“We have uncontracted and contracted,” Navarro said as her fingers moved across a page of the raised dots. “The difference is that contracted saves space (because of abbreviations).”

Math is Navarro’s favorite subject for which she uses Nemeth Braille.

Reynolds explained that Nemeth math is not vertical as is math for those not visually impaired, but written out horizontally.

Navarro has every chance at success as her sighted peers. One week prior to an assignment Navarro’s teachers will give Reynolds various worksheets and Burnham will translate them into Braille. Gonzalez assists her on a day to day basis and with classroom activities and has been taught some basic Braille symbols.

Technology plays a big part in Navarro’s academic success. She has access to Accessible Books for Texas that is funded by the Texas Education Agency and features Bookshare.

Bookshare offers accessible ebooks for readers with print disabilities and is free for al qualified U.S. students so Navarro will be able to bring this tool as she progresses through school and into college in the future.

Jeanie Bell, outreach coordinator with Accessible Books for Texas, said the program allows more independence for Navarro.

“Now she can access online without another person to read to her out loud,” Bell said. “She had access through the holidays and has been flying through the books since before Christmas.”

Navarro’s favorite piece of technology, she said, is a Note Taker. The personal digital assistant allows Navarro to play games, works as an organizer, word processor and more.

In addition to academics Navarro has learned cane skills with the assistance of Dion Potter. She’s use her skills when she enters middle school next school year.

Socialization is also an important part of her growth. Earlier this year she attended a camp at Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Austin.

“I went canoeing and did the Zip Line,” Navarro said.

The Zip Line wasn’t scary, she said.

She also had a chance to make pizza and found out that “pizza dough smells.”

In a few short weeks Navarro will bid farewell to elementary school and prepare for middle school where she will walk the halls with numerous other students, change classes, go up and downstairs and more — and she can’t wait to go.

Email: mary.meaux@panews.com

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