[CapChapOhio] [Ohio-Talk] Miami University Article featuring Makenzie Love!

Thu May 7 11:52:15 UTC 2026

This is great! Congratulations McKenzie. Thanks for sharing.
Annette Lutz
President
Capital Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
614-288-4323
President.capital.nfboh at gmail.com

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Everyday we raise the expectations of blind people because we know that low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want, blindness is not what holds you back. 

On May 6, 2026, at 10:43 PM, Eric Duffy via CapChapOhio <capchapohio at nfbnet.org> wrote:

This article is well worth reading. I have pasted it into the body of this message to make it easier to read.Miami University student honored for winning national Braille Challenge
The Inclusive Education major uses braille every day in her studies
by Margo Rutledge Kissell • Published 5/06/26
SHARE:
First-year student MaKenzie Love, a member of the Honors College, stands beneath
Upham Arch (photo courtesy of MaKenzie Love).
MaKenzie Love was honored by the Ohio legislature recently for being the first Ohioan to
win the national Braille Challenge in 2025 as a high school senior.
Now a first-year student at Miami University, Love told lawmakers about the importance of
Braille, a system of writing that uses characters made up of raised dots. She uses braille
every day at Miami and has even read the “Harry Potter” series in Braille.
“Braille literacy is absolutely crucial to the lives of blind and visually impaired students.
Over 90 percent of students that read braille are employed, but the startling statistic is that
only 10 percent of blind people in the United States read Braille,” Love, of Commercial
Point, told lawmakers on the floor of the Ohio House of Representatives in late March.
“We need to get out there as a nation and as a community, and as Ohioans especially, to
encourage Braille literacy throughout the state and the nation.”
Love, who was born blind, is in Miami’s new Inclusive Education program. She wants to
teach PK-5 students with visual impairments.
Ashley Cartell Johnson, clinical professor of Educational Psychology and coordinator of
the Inclusive Education program, said, “The Inclusive Education major prepares teacher
candidates to teach all learners, including students with disabilities and multilingual
learners, in today's increasingly diverse classrooms. It is the first and only program in Ohio
to offer a comprehensive and integrated major that leads to blended licensure in primary
general education and K-12 special education (both mild/moderate and
moderate/intensive licenses) and to an endorsement in TESOL (Teaching English to
Speakers of Other Languages).”
Cartell Johnson described Love as a “dedicated and passionate inclusive education
teacher candidate. We are confident that MaKenzie will shape, lead, and define the
movement toward inclusive and accessible classrooms that support and honor all
learners."
Love said she plans to attend graduate school after earning her bachelor’s degree.
‘I absolutely love it here’
Love, who made President’s List her first semester, said she’s having a great experience at
Miami. “I absolutely love it here. I love the friends that I’ve made, and I have met so many
wonderful people.”
She chose Miami because of the education program in the College of Education, Health,
and Society.
“It really stuck out to me. I loved campus when I first came to visit,” she said, noting that
she enjoys being in the Honors College and living in an honors residence hall on Western
Campus.
Zeb Baker, dean of the Honors College, said Love is the embodiment of the ‘citizen
scholars’ the Honors College has taken as its mission to produce — those who use their
education to advance the common good.
“MaKenzie is the kind of student who reminds all of us who are fortunate to work with her
why we entered this profession in the first place,” he said. “Her inexhaustible love of
learning and bottomless energy to do as much good as she possibly can through that
learning are an inspiration.”
Love appreciates having the Center for Student Disability Services and the AccessMU
Center on campus for assistance when students need them. For her, that ranges from
getting materials in Braille and tactile graphics, using assistive technology, to meeting with
her professors in advance “so they know how best to serve me in class.”
She demonstrated how she uses the BrailleNote device (watch video below). She also uses
Job Access with Speech (JAWS), a screen reader designed for blind and visually impaired
users to navigate computers via text-to-speech or refreshable braille displays. It provides
full access to applications, websites, and documents.
Love is able to get around campus without the aid of a guide dog. She walked from a class
in Shideler Hall to the Armstrong Student Center’s Shade Room for this interview.
“I think the use of the white cane is absolutely crucial to mobility and to being able to get
around,” she said. “It's so important to have those cane skills before you could
contemplate getting a guide dog.”

Charla
she, her
Visual Interpreter

1-800-835-1934
Sent from my iPhone

> On May 6, 2026, at 9:12 PM, Kinshuk Tella via Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi all, please check out the below link to an article featuring our very own, MaKenzie. As many of you know, Makenzie is an International Braille Challenge winner, and is now working hard to promote and teach braille literacy through her bachelors of education program at Miami University. This article is written by the flagship university newspaper. Let’s all additionally congratulate her for being selected for the Blind Industries and Services of Maryland Internship program this summer!
> 
> https://miamioh.edu/news/2026/05/miami-university-student-honored-for-winning-national-braille-challenge.html
> 
> 
> Kinshuk Tella
> He/Him/His
> 937-708-9930
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