Almost Blind — and Reading/Writing All the Time

Born with Retinoblastoma, Nicole Green has been seriously visually impaired since birth — but she’s harbored a deep love of reading and stories since childhood. Now Nicole is a 4th-year PhD candidate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she enthusiastically teaches English rhetoric and composition to undergraduates. This outstanding role model was one of several young scholars honored by Learning Ally with a National Achievement Award in Washington, DC on April 27, 2013.

Since he was blinded and wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2004, retired Marine Michael Jernigan has immersed himself in education, been featured in an HBO documentary (“Alive Day”), gotten married, graduated from college and started working a full time job. This April at The Newseum in Washington, DC, he will be honored at Learning Ally’s National Achievement Awards. We visited Mike at his workplace on the campus of Southeastern Guide Dogs, to capture a video story on his life and experiences. Semper fidelis!

Author Mary McHugh, a volunteer at Learning Ally for the last four years, has published her 22nd book, Go For It! 100 Ways to Feel Young, Vibrant, Interested and Interesting After 50 - available on Amazon.

This is the 5th in Mary’s series of humorous books on enjoying life after 50. There is the best-selling How Not to Become a Little Old Lady and How Not to Become a Crotchety Old Man, plus How Not to Act Like a Little Old Lady and Aging with Grace - Whoever She Is.

Mary McHugh worked at The New York Times and was an editor at three national women’s magazines and a contributing editor for Cosmopolitan magazine. She won an award from The Arc for her book Special Siblings: Growing up with Someone with a Disability and articles she wrote from The New York Times, Good Housekeeping and Family Circle were nominated for awards by the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the American Society of Magazine Editors.

“People who are blind can be a blessing for the rest of the world.”

Looking for insight into how valuable accessible audio textbooks can be for blind people who have academic and professional aspirations? Listen in on a far-reaching conversation with Dr. Charles Walker — counselor educator, scholar, college professor, public speaker, assistive technology trainer, tireless advocate for people with disabilities, and long time Learning Ally member. A towering figure with a warm demeanor and endless stories to share, Walker has been quietly redefining what blind people can do and be. 

Read his interview on the Learning Ally Blog.

The Only Blind Contestant on MasterChef!

“I will likely be a member for life,” says Christine Ha when describing how she relies on audiobooks from Learning Ally to access the printed word. Christine has been using accessible audiobooks while working towards a Masters in creative writing — even as she captivates food-lovers’ hearts around the world as the first blind competitor on the hit FOX television series, MasterChef.

Read more on the Learning Ally Blog.

National nonprofit Learning Ally is powered by a remarkable workforce of over 5,000 volunteers — a diverse group of young professionals and accomplished retirees who flock to the organization’s 19 audiobook recording studios across the U.S. to bring books to life for students with visual and learning disabilities. What keeps them coming back each week? In this video, a dozen Learning Ally volunteers — from Palo Alto, Chicago, and Boston — describe what inspires them to donate their voices, talents and time to Learning Ally’s mission.

“I Call them G.A.P.’s — ’God’s Amazing People’ “

South Korean-born Soonkyu Shin (better known as “SK”) came to the U.S. as a young, totally blind student — to pursue educational opportunities not available in his native country. At an early age, he became a member of Recording for the Blind (RFB, as Learning Ally was called back then), eventually succeeding through high school, an undergrad degree at Harvard, and graduate work at the Sloan Business School at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Today SK is a highly accomplished financial analyst at Brown Brothers Harriman — and a member of Learning Ally’s National Board of Directors.

On June 13, SK spoke to a gathering of Learning Ally volunteers, donors, staff and supporters — who were all there to celebrate the grand re-opening of the organization’s newly expanded accessible audiobook production studio in Princeton, New Jersey.

“Learning Ally’s audio textbooks saw me all the way through graduate school work at MIT… it’s a treat for me to come and speak to some of the volunteers who made that possible. You know, people do wonder how a blind kid from Korea, speaking very little English, could come to America and accomplish so much.

“All of you Learning Ally volunteers are part of my story. Even though you may be seeing me for the first time today, and I’ve never met many of you, chances are that I might have listened to your words and voices.  You are in my life just as much as the readers who read to me face-to-face.

“I think that people facing challenges in life can overcome those challenges in different ways — some people do that by sheer determination and hard work on their own. But many do it because others have worked hard and given up their time and talents to help them out.

“And I always have a name for such people:  I call them ‘God’s Amazing People’ or ‘G.A.P.s.’  It’s a special designation I give to them. Every one of Learning Ally’s volunteers, donors, staff, people who make such reality possible for people like myself — you are all ‘G.A.P.s’

“And I am very privileged to be associated with this organization; I’ve been on the Board of Directors since early 2011, and look forward to many more years of working with you to help more kids like myself.”

Erik Weihenmayer, blind adventurer and Learning Ally member, is an inspiration to many, and especially to Phoenix volunteer Joe Finnerty. Read about how their extraordinary friendship formed after meeting at an event when Erik spoke to Learning Ally volunteers nearly 20 years ago!