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#MyBlindStory

  1. What It Means to be Blind During a Pandemic

    April 1, 2020 - By The BlindNewWorld team

    People with visual impairments are navigating the Covid 19 pandemic right alongside their sighted friends and family members. At the same time, they’re also faced with some unique challenges of their own. To raise awareness of some of these issues, and to learn how communities can support their blind neighbors and loved ones during this uncertain time, we caught up with Perkins School for the Blind’s Jerry Berrier and Kate Katulak.  Answers have been lightly edited for clarity.  What are some of the challenges you’re facing in day-to-day life as…

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  2. Taking a Humorous Approach – Because Life is Blurry

    March 18, 2020 - By Marieke Davis

    For me, life is blurry. One day, while waiting on the Light Rail platform, a man came up to me and proceeded to wave his hand in front of my face. Now, I’m no stranger to men trying to get my attention in obnoxious ways, but I knew the main reason why he was doing this—to see if I am “really blind.” I had my white cane with me, but I had no service dog, and I wasn’t wearing those tell-tale, black sunglasses you often see in movies. I was…

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  3. Breaking Barriers and Feeling Through: Meet the First Deafblind Actor to Star in a Film’s Lead Role

    March 4, 2020 - By Robert Tarango

    I was born deaf, but with 20/20 vision. I’ve always wanted to be an actor. My favorite actors were John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Burt Lancaster, Jon Voight, Robert Mitchum, Doug McClure, and Kirk Douglas. When I was a kid, I played sports like football, basketball, and track. When I was at the Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind, I was a good player, but I kept thinking about wanting to act! I went to a community college for a while in Arizona. I made the honor roll one…

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  4. What It Takes: Four Ways to Become More Independent as a Visually Impaired Young Adult

    February 19, 2020 - By Jasmyn Polite

    Over the years, I have grown into an independent, successful young woman with dreams of helping other blind and visually impaired children grow into successful adults. This wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, my family, Iowa Department for the Blind, Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired, National Federation of the Blind and other blind services that have helped me. These services helped me figure out who I was as a visually impaired person, and I’m hoping that what…

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  5. Access, Audio Games and an Ally: the myTrueSound Story

    February 5, 2020 - By David Oliva

    My name is David, I’m Spanish, and 20 years ago I moved to Finland. So currently I’m a hybrid, everyday a little bit more Finnish, which is not bad actually. I worked for 15 years as a researcher in acoustics, sound propagation and sound perception, the so-called psychoacoustics. Two years ago, I wanted to do something different than what my boss was ordering me to do all the time. (I could not stand him any longer to be honest.) So I tried to create my own research project. In that…

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  6. Blind Sprinter: Setting Records and Aiming for the Paralympics

    January 22, 2020 - By Karlee Symonds

    My name is Karlee and I am a 17-year-old blind sprinter in the sport of Track & Field. I compete for my state New South Wales, and I have also represented Australia. Since starting two years ago when I was 15, I have broken many Australian records in the 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m events. I was born with Lebers Congenital Amaurosis and Macular Coloboma – two eye conditions that resulted in me being classified as legally blind. When I was younger, I could see colour, light and shadows, as…

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  7. On Me

    January 8, 2020 - By Casey Harris

    There has always music in my life, for as long as I can remember. Mom was a professional singer, and dad was an avid vinyl collector who was always making us mix tapes of his favorite songs. Between the two of them, and the piano and guitars we had at the house, I became a musician without really even being aware of it. I admit though, I never expected to play music professionally when I grew up. I’ve been visually impaired/legally blind since birth, but my parents didn’t realize until…

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  8. #MyBlindStory 2019: An Amazing Year in Review

    December 16, 2019 - By The BlindNewWorld Team

    Your stories are jhe foundation of the #BlindNewWorld community – and there is no limit to who can join us here. Our 2019 contributors came to us from all over the U.S. – and around the world. They’re stars from Hollywood and hip-hop. Champion athletes. Savvy young adults. Internationally recognized gamers. Eloquent bloggers. Published poets. Accessibility-minded inventors. Talented craftspeople. Passionate artists. Innovative businesspeople. Determined doctors! Staunch advocates and committed allies. And above all, they are change-makers. These are people who are willing to share their voices and their stories to…

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  9. Sharing My Story from the TEDx Stage

    December 4, 2019 - By Louie McGee

    At my first meeting with the TEDx Minneapolis team, I met six speaking coaches – all professional speakers. They shared what the next four months of editing, refining and training would be like. It’s a very rigorous process and I quickly understood why all of those TED Talks I’ve seen are so good. Then they launched into their first and most important piece of advice. They said there would be three monitors at my feet – one monitor with a clock, one with my notes, and the final monitor with…

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  10. Will You Say Yes to My Blindness?

    November 20, 2019 - By Emily K. Michael

    I’m excited to publish my first book of poetry this year. As I complete the circuit of local news talking about my poems, I keep coming up against the same question: “Do you think of your blindness as a superpower?” My answer is always, “No, I don’t think of my blindness as a superpower.” Instead of taking me at my word — or even asking, “Why not?” — each host invariably insists, “But it makes you special, offers you nuance, helps you overcome challenges.” These routine objections force me to…

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