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Some amazing personalities


Louis-Braille (January 4, 1809 - January 6, 1852) Louis Braille, became an inventor and designed braille writing, which enables blind people to read . The concept was beneficial to all blind people from around the world and is commonly used even today.
Helen-Keller (1880 - 1968) - Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 - June 1, 1968) was an American author, activist and lecturer. She was the first deaf/blind person to graduate from college. She became blind due to "an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain", which could have possibly been scarlet fever or meningitis. Keller become a world-famous speaker and author.
Marla Runyan Marla Runyan won four gold medals at the 1992 Summer Paralympics, and at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta she took silver in the shot put and gold in the pentathlon. Her career as a world-class runner in able-bodied events began in 1999 at the Pan American Games, where she won the 1,500-meter race. The next year, she placed eighth in the 1,500-meter in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, making Runyan the first legally blind athlete to compete in the Olympics with the highest finish by an American woman in that event. By 2001 she won her first of three consecutive 5000 metre National Championships. She also released her autobiography "No Finish Line: My Life As I See It". In 2002 she added the road 5K and 10K National Championships.
Derek Rabelo Derek was born with congenital glaucoma. Relying on four out of five senses, Rabelo has overcome high tides or sideshore windd and is the protagonist of the upcoming documentary "Beyond Sight."
John Bramblitt.jpg John Bramblitt lost his vision in 2001 when he was 30 years old due to complications from epilepsy. He found an outlet: painting. Since John can't see colors, he has developed a process whereby he paints by touch. According to him, the colors feel different : white is thick and black is a little runny, so for gray, he mixes the two until the texture is right. His work has received much recognition, including the "Most Inspirational Video of 2008" from YouTube and three Presidential Service Awards for his innovative art workshops.
Mark Anthony Riccobono.jpg On January 29, 2011, Mark Anthony Riccobono ,being a blind ,took the wheel of a Ford Escape and drove solo around the Daytona International Speedway. Two technologies make it possible: DriveGrip, that consists of two gloves that send vibrations over the knuckles to tell the driver how much to turn the wheel, and SpeedStrip, a cushion down the back and legs of the driver which tell them how much to accelerate. With only 10 percent of normal vision at age 5, Riccobono continued to lose vision throughout his life.
Pete Eckert.jpg Pete Eckert was trained in sculpture and industrial design. He had always been a visual person and planned to study architecture at Yale, but then he started to lose his sight because of a condition called retinitis pigmentosa. He visualizes the image he wants to create in his mind and uses his senses of sound, touch, and memory to make a photograph.
Christopher Downey.jpg Christopher Downey is an architect, planner, and consultant who lost his sight in 2008 after a tumor wrapped around his optic nerve. He works with a blind computer scientist who has devised a way to print online maps through a tactile printer. Today, he is dedicated to creating more helpful and enriching environments for the blind and visually impaired, and he also helps in crafting design processes that are more responsive to the needs of blind clients and end-users.