I'm visually impaired and have Retinopathy of Prematurity, or ROP. The National Eye Institute says that ROP is the potentially blinding eye disease that, for the most part, affects premature infants.
As an infant, my retinas threatened to detach with abnormal blood vessel growth. Doctors at Stanford Hospital in California performed experimental surgery, securing my retinas with 360 degrees of cryogenic freezing.
During my freshman year in high school, the retina in my right eye detached. A special ophthalmologist, Dr. Ronald Johnson, from Kaiser Permanente in Walnut Creek, California, reattached the retina with a common cast known as a Scleral Buckle.
After the surgeries, doctors recommended to not play sports or ride roller coasters for fears that my retinas might detach. I believe that the recommendations kept me apart from making friends.
So I found a different past time of television. I liked cartoons, but some of my other favorite programs included game, talk, and news shows. The booming voices of the anchors, reporters, and hosts of the programs inspired me to record and imitate them on audio tape just for fun.
Having an interest in broadcasting continued through high school. I completed a Regional Occupational Program (ROP) class at a community access cable TV station in Pleasanton, California in 2004. I continued this career path by attending San Francisco State University and earned my Bachelor's Degree with a major in Radio and TV and a Minor in Drama.
Earning the Radio and TV degree gave me the golden ticket to premiering Speaking Out for the Blind on ACB Radio in 2012. The program originally started as a short five to ten minute filler on the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired Access to Information Services (AIS) Radio in San Francisco. Speaking Out moved to ACB Radio and gave the program a national to global focus and exposure.
I'm very fortunate to work in broadcasting and show the world that just because one has limited vision, it doesn't mean that he or she can't go for his or her dream.
Thanks for reading my profile and continuing to listen to Speaking Out for the Blind.
As an infant, my retinas threatened to detach with abnormal blood vessel growth. Doctors at Stanford Hospital in California performed experimental surgery, securing my retinas with 360 degrees of cryogenic freezing.
During my freshman year in high school, the retina in my right eye detached. A special ophthalmologist, Dr. Ronald Johnson, from Kaiser Permanente in Walnut Creek, California, reattached the retina with a common cast known as a Scleral Buckle.
After the surgeries, doctors recommended to not play sports or ride roller coasters for fears that my retinas might detach. I believe that the recommendations kept me apart from making friends.
So I found a different past time of television. I liked cartoons, but some of my other favorite programs included game, talk, and news shows. The booming voices of the anchors, reporters, and hosts of the programs inspired me to record and imitate them on audio tape just for fun.
Having an interest in broadcasting continued through high school. I completed a Regional Occupational Program (ROP) class at a community access cable TV station in Pleasanton, California in 2004. I continued this career path by attending San Francisco State University and earned my Bachelor's Degree with a major in Radio and TV and a Minor in Drama.
Earning the Radio and TV degree gave me the golden ticket to premiering Speaking Out for the Blind on ACB Radio in 2012. The program originally started as a short five to ten minute filler on the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired Access to Information Services (AIS) Radio in San Francisco. Speaking Out moved to ACB Radio and gave the program a national to global focus and exposure.
I'm very fortunate to work in broadcasting and show the world that just because one has limited vision, it doesn't mean that he or she can't go for his or her dream.
Thanks for reading my profile and continuing to listen to Speaking Out for the Blind.