Posts In: Stories

Blind actors are rarely given the opportunity to play blind characters in movies, on TV, or on stage.

Prior to my experience as a scholarship finalist, I was only familiar with the National Federation of the Blind through communications with several friends of mine.

Today begins the seventy-ninth year for the National Federation of the Blind. During the past six weeks I have worked with blind people from at least a dozen states—having traveled to four of them—and have gained insight from visiting with blind people in two foreign countries.

There are those that have a hard time accepting a cane, and for a long time I was one of them. I was told it made me “look blind,” which was something I wanted to avoid at all costs. No kid likes feeling different, and I was no exception.

"We’ll find out..." It was a phrase said to me repeatedly by two of my greatest mentors, Fred Sanders and Jim Platt. Almost fifty years later, that phrase seems to pop out of my own mouth with increasing regularity.

My fascination with Asian culture began when I was about thirteen years old sitting in my parents’ house near Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. It started with learning everything I could about the Chinese zodiac, various anime (which is Japanese animation), and manga (which are Japanese comics or graphic novels).

If we were to ask a random sample of our sighted friends if a blind person could work at a children’s museum, the majority of those individuals might say no.

My husband Greg recently accepted the position of training center supervisor at the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Lincoln, Nebraska.

As part of our NFB summer internship program, we had the pleasure of spending two weeks working with John Paré and the rest of the Advocacy and Policy department.

The National Federation of the Blind National Convention is an experience like none other. From the informative seminars on all types of topics to the excitement of being surrounded by more than 2,000 other blind people. From hearing so many canes tapping and guide dogs working, to the energy of the room on the day of opening session.