Valley foundation for blind children receives 'Braille Brick' Legos

The Foundation for Blind Children, which serves the blind and visually impaired from birth to 102-year-olds, is an agency in Arizona that is enjoying a unique opportunity to educate its students.

Some lessons, even ones that appear simple, can be very complex and challenging.

"As print readers, we are able to look at things and kind of get it, you know," said Garrett Pendergast, an elementary teacher for students with visual impairment. "A lot of the kids with visual impairments...they have to use tactical discrimination or be able to increase their sense of touch."

Pendergast is one of a select group of educators chosen to test the new "Braille Brick" Legos.

"I was excited because teaching Braille is not always as easy to teach as you might think," said Pendergast. "It's very rare and difficult to find different educational tools and accessories that help our teachers work with students."

Schools nationwide were asked to test the new learning tool.

"So they're taking the original Braille Lego design, and they were able to put the Braille dots corresponding to the letters and numbers on them," said Pendergast.

The Braille Brick Legos include a lesson plan, with the makers eager to make a difference.

The foundation had to send the Legos back to the maker - the toys will be fine-tuned according to the feedback received and should be released commercially at the start of the new year.