Latest news with #visualImpairment
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Muhlenberg High School graduate doesn't let sight impairment slow her down
Quinn Wagner remembers trying to answer the questions as an elementary school student, but not really knowing how. 'It was quite confusing growing up legally blind,' she said. 'People are curious about it. Other kids would ask me, 'How do you see?' — which is so hard for a 5-year-old to answer. 'My classmates would ask me why my eyes were closed, why I wasn't looking at them, and I didn't know how to explain it.' That's still a bit of a challenge for Wagner, even as an 18-year-old high school graduate. But she's dedicated to doing the best she can to help people understand. Wagner was born with cone-rod dystrophy, a genetic disorder that effects about one in every 30,000 people. The condition renders her color blind — she sees in only black, white and gray — makes her eyes sensitive to light and makes her struggle with depth perception. Without her glasses, she has 20/400 eyesight. 'That means what you should be able to see at 400 feet I can only see at 20 feet,' she explained. It would be reasonable to think the disorder would be an impediment for Wagner, a hurdle slowing her from achieving her dreams. But that's never been the case. 'My parents raised me to believe that if I want something to not let anything stand in my way,' she said. Wagner took that lesson to heart. Instead of struggling, she has thrived. She became an academic dynamo and recently graduated from Muhlenberg High School as valedictorian of her class. 'It's a big accomplishment because it showed all the work I put in was worth it,' she said of earning the honor. 'But it's not a defining moment. There's still so much to do.' That kind of mindset is what led Wagner to excel during her time at Muhlenberg. So did being creative and willing to adapt. She found ways to lessen the impact of her blindness, like using digital textbooks, a closed circuit television system, Braille, a special computer and large-print text books. 'My text books were absolutely giant,' she said with a laugh. In high school, she was able to use her cellphone in class, taking photos of what her teachers wrote on the board and blowing it up to a larger size that she could see. Wagner was drawn to math, science and engineering, saying she was always good with her hands and enjoyed solving problems. That led her to pursue a research project — one she would end up presenting at science fairs — aimed at finding viable alternatives for fossil fuels. Wagner said she was often overlooked when she shared her projects at science fairs, with some people questioning her abilities because of her blindness and being a woman in the traditionally male-dominated world of science and engineering. 'There are always negative people,' she said. 'There's always going to be people who don't think you can do something or don't believe in you, it comes from a lack of understanding.' Wagner said she is dedicated to overcoming that naivety and showing everyone that a visual impairment doesn't have to be a constraint. 'When you're born visually impaired you have to be very creative, you have to learn to adapt to your surroundings to be able to do everything that everyone else is doing,' she said. 'No one knows you better than yourself, no one knows your limits but yourself. I don't like to set limits at all because then there's a threshold for success.' Wagner will continue seeking success this fall at Cornell University. She has received a $10,000 scholarship from Lighthouse Guild in New York City to help cover the costs. She will study environmental engineering and perhaps minor in chemical engineering at Cornell. She said she plans to eventually seek a PhD in sustainable energy, work in research and teach. 'My goal is to pave a path in the STEM fields for anybody with a disability, and women as well,' she said. 'I've not always felt the field is inclusive, and I don't want other people to feel that way. 'I want people to know that they can do it. Just be creative and keep trying and eventually you'll prove people wrong.'
CBS News
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Pennsylvania mother continues to go to bat for her visually impaired children with screenplay, "Curveball"
Pennsylvania mother continues to go to bat for her visually impaired children with new screenplay Pennsylvania mother continues to go to bat for her visually impaired children with new screenplay Pennsylvania mother continues to go to bat for her visually impaired children with new screenplay Fighting for inclusion and ways to overcome adversity – that's the theme of a new movie in the works from a mother in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. This is a family with two sons who have very limited vision, but that hasn't stopped them from belonging to sports teams. Accomplishments that came after their mom went to bat for them. Kristin Smedley is back in her field of dreams in Richboro, the setting for a screenplay she wrote about convincing a Little League to allow her partially blind 10-year-old son to play on a team. "It's the story of the power of inclusion, of fighting for inclusion," she said. CBS Philadelphia Her son, Michael, who's 25 now, said the team eventually rallied around him. "We were able to talk with them and make some accommodations like hitting off a tee and playing the outfield with another guy on the team," he said. CBS Philadelphia The team went on to win a championship. Now, the screenplay called "Curveball" is a finalist in the Authentic Global Film Awards. "Blindness is not a curveball," Kristin Smedley said. "Things that we maybe perceive as barriers and challenges can actually end up being strengths when you look at it and reframe it from a different perspective," Michael Smedley said. CBS Philadelphia "Blindness is not a curveball." CBS News Philadelphia first introduced you to the Smedley family in 2017. Michael has a younger brother, Mitchell, who's also visually impaired. "Having two blind kids initially, that was the most devastating news," Kristin Smedley told us in 2017. But the Smedley boys, who played air hockey by listening for sounds, quickly learned how to turn adversity into opportunity. "It's more difficult, but it's just daily living. People live with all kinds of challenges," Mitchell Smedley, 21, said. "Blindness is a version of that." Mitchell and Michael Smedley, who played air hockey by listening for sounds, quickly learned how to turn adversity into opportunity (2017). CBS Philadelphia Mitchell Smedley also played baseball. His mother was determined that her sons would get every opportunity possible. "Youth sports done right build incredible human beings, and that's what happened on this field," she said. The boys' mother hopes production on the movie can start soon; she's still working on fundraising. Michael and Mitchell Smedley have both gone on to graduate from college and are working on their careers.
BBC News
11-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Highland Council to trial aid to assist visually impaired voters
A system to help blind and partially sighted people to vote is to be trialled in two Highland Council involves cardboard templates with cut-out areas that match up with each voting box when placed on top of a ballot templates have Braille and embossed areas next to each Council said it was trialling the system after a recent survey suggested people with visual impairments felt they could not vote in secret. The ballot paper overlay is expected to be made available during the Scottish Parliament elections next year. Derek Brown, Highland Council's returning officer, said: "When everyone can cast their vote freely and confidently, we all move closer to a fairer, more representative society. "Accessible voting isn't just a right - it's a powerful reminder that every person matters, and every vote shapes the future we share."Other aids will also be available during voting, including magnifiers and large print ballot paper will also be available to provide will take to the polls to elect new councillors for the Cromarty Firth and Eilean a' Cheò (Skye and Raasay) wards on 19 June.A full list of candidates standing in the two by-elections can be found on Highland Council's website.
BBC News
28-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Disabled student films England bus pass trips to show challenges
A disabled photography student has travelled more than 850 miles on buses across England to highlight the challenges faced by disabled bus pass Bowhay, who is visually impaired, travelled for up to 10 hours a day, catching 26 buses over 10 days from Land's End to final-year student at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) has made a 10-hour film documentary about his says Between These Times is a "slow cinema" style film which aims to show "how agonisingly slow it is to travel by bus". The 22-year-old, from Bishops Waltham, Hampshire, began his challenge on 26 January and completed it on 6 on his bus pass meant he could only travel after 09:00 on weekdays and could not enter Scotland or Bowhay, who developed cataracts in both eyes at the age of four, has limited vision in just one says moving out of home after university feels "unviable" due to a lack of public said: "I attend a lot of hospital appointments at Southampton, and getting there independently is pretty impossible." During his trip, he said only three of the 26 buses had audio announcements, and one had visual said: "I had to spend a fair amount of time sort of looking out the window and trying to work out, actually, where I am, where I need to get off."Mr Bowhay said he experienced delays of up to 40 minutes, had difficulties scanning his pass, and sometimes waited several hours for is calling for more investment in bus services and for more understanding of the challenges faced by disabled people using public film will be shown at AUB's summer show from 10 to 21 July and at Aberrations Collective's Show in Copeland Gallery, London, from 31 July to 3 August. You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Peterborough rowing club empowers blind and partially sighted
A group of visually impaired rowers say a piece of simple technology is empowering more people to take up the Lindgren was the first blind rower to join Peterborough City Rowing Cub eight years helped set up the Row the Rhythm project last year to support blind or partially sighted participants, and there are now 15 at the club from across Cambridgeshire.A coach involved in the project said a Bluetooth headset used by the rowers to communicate was "life-changing". Put simply, using the Bluetooth kit is like having a phone rower and the coach each have their own headset and can communicate across the water this kit has meant rowers have the independence to go out on their own on a single boat, something they could not do before. Ms Lindgren said being on the boat on her own gave her a feeling of freedom and "power"."I have been trying to make people aware that rowing is accessible for people with visual impairment," she explained."These Bluetooth headsets feel like a nice, quiet way to enjoy rowing. Just an amazing feeling."Alex Thorogood, one of the rowers at the club, said the headset meant she was in "complete control" while out on the water. Coach Peter Forrest said the headsets offer a more "one-to-one conversation"."In the olden days, the only way to communicate with a rower from the bank was with a megaphone," he said."When you have 10 visually impaired people - then you have got 10 megaphones making a lot of noise - and you can't really communicate."It gets totally confusing." Rowing clubs from elsewhere in England have taken inspiration from Peterborough's venture, and are trying to set up similar groups for sight impaired group in Peterborough even runs a minibus service to make the weekly activity more accessible to others coming from out of the city - including some in Lincolnshire and Forrest said the use of the technology and the efforts of the Row the Rhythm project had helped introduce "lots more" people to the sport. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
