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3D-printed Braille magnets made for visually impaired 2nd grader

“Today, we gave her the alphabet, punctuation, and letters all 3D printed in Braille where it has the letter on top on Braille pieces, so then she can see and the teacher can see and help her."

CERES, Calif. — Leilani (Leila) Gonzales, 8, is in 2nd grade at Adkison Elementary School in Ceres. She loves all of the same things any 2nd grader would, including Moana, going to school and singing. But here's the thing. She's visually impaired and she doesn't read in the same way as her classmates do. 

"She has some type of vision. She can see shadows, but for the most part she is blind,” Vanessa Morales, Leila's mother said.

That’s why a group of students at Ceres High School came up with 3D-printed Braille magnets.

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They surprised her with them at her school on Friday.

“If you see inside, we have a bunch of letters with Braille on it," one of the students from Ceres High School said.

Students in the Manufacturing, Production and Green Technology Academy used a 3D printer at Ceres High to make the magnets over the past month and a half.

“Today, we gave her the alphabet, punctuation, and letters all 3D printed in Braille where it has the letter on top on Braille pieces, so then she can see and the teacher can see and help her," Nathan Pethyon, a sophomore at Ceres High School said.

Stefanie Alverez, an inclusion support specialist for the Ceres Unified School District, found the idea on Pinterest a few months ago and Ceres High School instantly jumped on board.

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“It just makes me really happy to see that...we are able to provide her access just like her peers," Alverez said.

The district hopes it will help support her learning. 

"It's really amazing that our district has really embraced inclusion for all," she said.

And Leila's mom couldn’t be happier.

“How often do we come around something with Braille? And actually pay attention to it and work with it? And it was amazing to see that kids actually did it for her," Morales said.

"Let's give them a round of applause!" Leila said.

Continue the conversation with Lena on Facebook. 

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