What is the book About Brave Saska about and who is it for?
The inclusive book About Brave Saska (and the Golden Toilet) is intended for children, parents, as well as teachers. It is inspired by the real-life story of Slovak Paralympic skier Alexandra Rexová, who, among many other achievements, won a gold Paralympic medal in Beijing at the age of sixteen.
Besides her sports career and studies, this inspiring young woman is also involved in important topics related to inclusion. She motivates both healthy children and children with disabilities to pursue their interests and develop positive social values.
Why is the book inclusive?
The idea of inclusion is to remove barriers between people with health, social, or other disadvantages and the rest of society, of which they are already an equal part.
This approach is very important not only in education but also in everyday life. Well-implemented inclusion helps prevent many undesirable social phenomena.
The book shows that a person with a disability can be our friend, achieve success in life, or even win a gold medal in the world’s most prestigious sporting competition.
Why is the book structured in such a segmented way?
(applies only to the Braille version of the book)
The book is also written in Braille, which is used by blind readers and is included in the book for educational purposes.
The illustrations were consulted with visually impaired people and can also be explored through touch.
The entire story is also available in an audio version, making the book accessible to a wider range of readers.
What can we do after reading the book?
We should definitely talk about it. At home, in kindergarten, at school, or during extracurricular activities.
In addition to discussion, you can try several activities aimed at understanding the experiences of visually impaired or blind people (listed below).
You can also follow and support Slovak or international para-athletes, help a friend or acquaintance who needs assistance, and treat them as an equal.
Questions children often ask during discussions
(and that adults don’t always need to know the answers to)
From discussions with preschool and school-age children, these are the most common questions:
Why do Saska’s (or other children’s) eyes get sick?
There are many reasons. Sometimes it is coincidence, sometimes an injury.
However, what matters most is not why it happened, but that people with disabilities live among us and only through shared effort can they become a fully accepted part of society.
How does Saska see?
If Saska stood in front of the class like a teacher and looked at the students, she would see that she is in a classroom, but she would not see the students’ faces clearly. They would appear blurred.
Eye diseases differ, and Saska’s condition is called Stargardt disease.
What other sports can visually impaired or disabled people do?
There are many. Some are suitable mainly for wheelchair users (for example curling or basketball). Others are suitable for several types of disabilities but not for visually impaired athletes (for example table tennis). In some sports everyone can compete, such as para swimming.
More examples can easily be found online.
How should I behave toward a visually impaired person?
The same way you would behave toward any friend or acquaintance.
There is no need to be overly cautious about using phrases like “see.” However, if necessary, it is good to offer help, such as warning them about stairs, thresholds, or other obstacles.
Does Saska go to school like other children?
Saska attended school like other children, but she needed some additional tools:
a magnifying reading device to see text in books
a computer or mobile phone to work more easily with assignments or images
Because she later pursued a professional sports career, she could not always attend school regularly. She therefore has an individual study plan, learning at home and coming to school mainly for tests or assessments.
How does the “computer friend” help Saska read?
In Saska’s case, it mainly magnifies everything, allowing her to move enlarged text and read it.
Computers can do much more for blind users — they can read text aloud, describe images, and help navigate the internet.
Does Saska get paid for skiing?
It is a bit complicated. She receives some financial support for ski training and has also received prize money for medals from the Paralympic Games and World Championships.
However, she is not yet officially employed as an athlete. Work is being done so that this may be possible in the future.
How is a guide skier chosen?
A guide is selected from among very skilled skiers who enjoy skiing but must also be responsible and able to communicate well with the visually impaired skier.
Often, the guide is a former competitive skier who finds their role in guiding.
Where can I see Saska skiing?
You might see her training on some Slovak or Austrian slopes.
You may also see her competitions at the World Championships or the Paralympics on television. During the season she competes in the World Cup, which takes place on different slopes around the world. Unfortunately, these races are not usually broadcast on television yet.
What does Saska want to become?
Saska would like to become a sports journalist one day.
Why didn’t Saska eat carrots?
This is our favorite question. Carrots are certainly healthy, but interestingly, they are not the best treatment for Saska’s eye condition.
If you have other interesting questions, feel free to contact us and we will try to answer them.
Suggested Activities with Children
Activity 1 – Guiding Through a Space
One common activity is a game in pairs. One person has their eyes covered with a scarf while the other guides them around the classroom using verbal instructions or touch.
This activity is often used in adult training to develop trust and clear communication, but it can also help children understand the daily challenges faced by visually impaired people.
Explain that being different is not a reason to exclude someone from a group. With interest and support, we can have a great friend who has the “superpower” of navigating a room using other senses.
Activity 2 – Accessibility
With older children, you can discuss accessibility after the previous activity.
Ask how many times the guide had to warn the “blind” partner about stairs, thresholds, or other obstacles.
Could an elderly person with a cane, someone with a missing limb, or someone using a wheelchair move through the same space? Discuss how spaces could be made more accessible and what can be done about barriers that already exist.
Activity 3 – The Sixth Sense
Visually impaired people often compensate for weaker vision with other senses.
Try an experiment: without seeing or asking who entered the room, try to recognize the person.
It works best in familiar environments with friends or family. Did you guess correctly? What clues helped you — footsteps, keys jingling, a shopping bag rustling, or a particular scent?
At this point we also recommend experiencing a performance by the Ukrainian theatre group Sixth Sense Theatre, which is suitable for both sighted and blind audiences because it focuses on senses other than sight.
Activity 4 – How Are You?
You will need an old picture frame and plastic wrap.
Wrap the plastic wrap around the frame several times so it forms a semi-transparent surface. Two students sit on opposite sides of the frame.
One expresses an emotion (smiling, surprise, fear) and the other tries to guess the emotion through the plastic wrap.
If the emotion is unclear, encourage students to ask the other person how they feel. This reflects the experience of visually impaired people who may not notice subtle facial expressions. It does not mean they lack empathy — they simply cannot see the facial details.
Activity 5 – I Like You!
It is important to remember how important love and friendship are.
Divide into pairs or small groups and ask each child to say why they like the other person.
This activity supports friendship and publicly demonstrates appreciation. In our experience, preschool children usually do not distinguish between friends based on differences such as skin color, nationality, or visual impairment.
However, the tendency to segregate can develop later. Preventive work in this area can be simple — telling each other what we appreciate about one another is one of the easiest steps.