Staff photo by Fritz Busch Colton Reinhart, 10, of New Ulm holds Braille Challenge finals awards he received June 26-29 at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

NEW ULM — It doesn’t take long to figure out 10-year-old Colton Reinhart is a very bright boy.

When he talks, words flow from him like music.

He recently returned from the 2025 Braille Challenge Finals at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. The four-day event is the only academic competition of its kind for students in grades 1-12 who are blind or visually impaired.

Reinhart was the only contestant among all 50 to record a perfect 100% score on his 40-question, timed reading comprehension test that had 10 questions following each of four reading passages.

He also competed in spelling and proofreading tests in which he found mistakes in braille passages.

Reinhart finished in third place overall in his age group of third and fourth-graders in the national finals event.

In March, he was among 1,300 students from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland who competed in regional Braille Challenge events. The top 50 finishers earned a place in the finals in Los Angeles.

Based on their age, students competed in five different levels of reading comprehension, spelling, speed and accuracy, proofreading, tactical charts and graphs.

Born blind with a condition called Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, a rare disease that affects the retinas in babies’ eyes, Reinhart will be a New Ulm Middle School fifth-grader this fall.

“I think the competition was hard. Some of the kids had been to there (Braille Challenge Finals) several times,” said Colton’s mother Ashley. “I think connecting with other families with blind children was very cool.”

Colton said he exchanged phone numbers with a Canadian contestant who was a year older.

His studying regimen included a reading comprehension passage and 10 spelling comprehension passages each weekday.

“We spent the month of June studying to get ready. In meeting other kids, it sounded like some of them studied a whole lot more than Colton did. But he enjoys studying with audio books and on YouTube,” said Ashley Reinhart.

He also enjoys reading, swimming, burgers and playing on a trampoline.

The Braille Challenge was created to highlight the critical role of braille literacy in unlocking academic and career opportunities.

According to the National Federation of the Blind, less than 16% of adults with visual disabilities attain a bachelor’s degree or higher. Yet, 90% of employed individuals who are blind or visually impaired know braille, demonstrating how braille literacy empowers students to high education and meaningful employment.