[Applause]
good girl we’ve all heard that phrase
before maybe it was said – its hablar
who just mastered a new skill or a dog
who just learned a new trick
or if you’re like me maybe it was said
to you during a job interview I had
picked out my best outfit the cutest
shoes Google socks my potential employer
for all the prep work I’ve done you
think I was going on a blind date but no
I hadn’t just swiped right on tinder
instead I was going on a blind job
interview where the only blinds party
was me when I arrived the interviewer
showed me to a chair and when I found it
and sat down she said good girl
right then I wished I was on a blind
date
ah check please I didn’t get a callback
according to the National Federation for
the blind only 28% of blind Americans
are employed full time but let’s remove
the word blind what if I stood up here
and told you that only 28% of Americans
or employed full time alarm bells would
be ringing
there would be protests the stock market
would crash politicians would be falling
all over themselves to fix it most
people dream of becoming a member of the
1% and me I’m just lucky to be a member
of the 28% of employed blind Americans
when you’re job hunting blind you have
two options either disclosure blindness
up front and not get the interview or
the interviewer figure it out when you
and then never get a callback
not much of a choice is it what a shame
the employer might say sound lines
blinds people live in a world that is
not designed with us in mind but does
that make us bad employees we are
creative problem solvers
if blinds people have to think outside
the box to accomplish normal tasks like
buying groceries matching outfits or
crossing the street without looking both
ways imagine what we can do as employees
as Liz Jackson a disability design
advocate said people with disabilities
are the original life hackers ever
pinned your socks together so you
wouldn’t lose one hmm
blind tack use cruise control blind tack
yeah that’s right a blind guy invented
Ralph Petera blinds mechanical engineer
invented cruise control because
according to family lore his friend
patent attorney and frequent driver had
a jerky accelerator foot when thinking
outside the box becomes ordinary
something extraordinary is born
now I’m no CEO but I throw the kind of
employees you should want working for
your company unfortunately not everyone
sees it that way when employers realize
I’m blind I go from potential assets to
potential liability can she even do this
job they see blind and they see
incompetent they don’t see me and it’s
not just employers either blindness
makes people uncomfortable I am willing
to bet that most of you won’t even say
the B word out loud I can’t tell you how
many times when traveling with a sighted
companion I’ve had them ask someone is
she you know by the way I can hear that
just for the record here sir confused
in one fell swoop they take away my
autonomy they can’t deal with my
blindness so they don’t deal with me at
all but what if I could cure my
blindness
most days I am content with who I am
being blind has made me creative and
inclusive it has taught me the value of
perseverance and given me opportunities
friendships and relationships I may
never have had otherwise
oh and I can read and do my makeup in
the dark so if we ever suffer a global
blackout I’m your girl
most days I don’t want to be cured I
don’t want to be fixed because I am not
broken but sometimes I do when my
computer freezes and I can’t read the
screen to fix it when I spend two hours
on public transportation getting home
from work a 20 minute drive by car when
a guy I like tells me I’m cute for a
blind girl when I’m tired of struggling
tired of explaining how I do the
simplest things over and over and over
again tired of being your inspiration
horn or the objects of your pity party
but it’s always been just a thought the
life spent dwelling on what you can’t
have isn’t much of a life and gaining
sight was never within the realm of
possibility for me until one day it was
scrolling through my facebook feed I
came across a CBS news article about
looks turnip
it’s an FDA approved gene therapy
designs to give usable sites to people
with retinal diseases for the low low
price of four hundred and fifty thousand
dollars per eye but one of the diseases
on the list Leber’s congenital amaurosis
also known as the reason I’m blind that
had never happens before
none of the groundbreaking blindness
research had ever applied to me one line
from the article from misty Lovelace
sterno recipient caught my attention she
said one of the best things I’ve ever
seen is since the surgery are the stars
now I’ve lived my entire life without
seeing the stars and been completely
fine but suddenly for one second I
wanted to see them wanted it with an
ache so powerful it stole the breath
from my lungs a second last time then it
takes a notification to scroll across
your phone screen but that one second
threatens to change everything when I
started telling people about this
potential cure a funny thing happens
they all instantly said the same thing
get it if you have the opportunity they
said you do it it was black and white
for them in fact maybe that’s what
you’re thinking right now to being
sighted would certainly make my life
easier so why wouldn’t I do it but me I
had questions questions I’d never asked
myself because I never had to
I’ve always been this loud and proud
blind girl so what did it mean that even
just for a second I seriously considered
trading that in blindness is not my
identity but I’d be lying if I said it
wasn’t a major part of who I am if you
eliminated that then who would I be
would I change completely weed pulling
that one thread be enough to make the
whole sweater
the tapestry of my life unravel not to
mention the more practical questions
like how would I learn to read again
would I have to learn to recognize
objects by sight the same way a baby
does wait wait wait wait okay I thought
this is supposed to be easier we have
training for people who lose their sight
but what training do we have for those
who suddenly gain it and what if I hate
being sighted imagine living your whole
life in black and white and then
suddenly one day BAM HD full-color what
if I get overwhelmed it’s not like I can
exactly turn it off once I get sight I
could imagine that customer service
phone call hi yes I just recently
purchased site from your company for
about nine hundred thousand dollars
uh-huh yeah I was actually wondering if
the warranty was still valid I’ve
decided I’m not satisfied with the
product after all and I’d like to return
it for a full refund please hello
finally what about the big picture
what does eliminating blindness mean for
the world well it means a whole lot more
of you sighted people running around
obviously but would we never have
another Homer Stevie Wonder Helen Keller
if Homer had been able to see when he
have found it necessary to describe
mythological creatures in such vivid
detail if those three accomplished
individuals hadn’t dealt with the
challenges of blindness would they have
become the creators and innovators they
turned out to be
if blindness were eliminated before I
was born would there even be on me I was
hired by my current employer during a
hiring freeze through
program designed to employ more blind
people within the organization and
everyone I worked with knew it most of
them didn’t care but I did I worried
that if I screwed up even just one thing
people would realize that I didn’t
belong and that they were right about
blind people after all I mean I was
literally hired because I’m blind and
for a long time I was ashamed of that
ashamed of the fact that I had to resort
to it behind this program to get a job
me who had done everything the way your
quote supposed to worked hard got good
grades finished college before I
graduated I thought that if I could just
be smart enough or witty enough or
likable enough I wouldn’t have to face
the struggles that other blinds people
were facing I thought I was the
exception to the rule I wasn’t because
as I quickly realized it wasn’t about
how smart or funny or likable I am it
was about other people’s perceptions of
me about the tendency to confuse
difference with wrong and blinds with
incompetent now I tell everyone who will
listen that my employer hired me because
I’m blind not despite it because you
know what I’m starting to think they
have the right idea the truth is every
struggles but no one’s house short
people who can’t reach the top shelf
that they need to stretch themselves
taller instead they get stepladders no
one tells women that to make our lives
easier we should you know probably just
I’ll go ahead and become men instead we
continue to fight for equality every day
so why then is it acceptable to tell
blind people that if the opportunity
arises we should all just become sighted
why isn’t blindness embraced
accommodated for as just one of the many
things that makes us unique
I’m not saying staying blind is the
answer for everyone nor that we should
stop looking for cures I’m well aware of
my blinds privilege if you will that
growing up in the United States has
afforded me chances that some blind
people will never have but despite
living in a world where my blindness
makes me less them I don’t want to
change it maybe being sighted would make
my life easier but easier isn’t always
better
I shouldn’t have to remove myself to fit
someone else’s definition of success I
don’t want to change for the world I
want the world to change for me for all
blind people so that we in turn can
continue leaving our mark on the world
because vision doesn’t require sight
thank you [Applause]
good girl we’ve all heard that phrase
before maybe it was said – its hablar
who just mastered a new skill or a dog
who just learned a new trick
or if you’re like me maybe it was said
to you during a job interview I had
picked out my best outfit the cutest
shoes Google socks my potential employer
for all the prep work I’ve done you
think I was going on a blind date but no
I hadn’t just swiped right on tinder
instead I was going on a blind job
interview where the only blinds party
was me when I arrived the interviewer
showed me to a chair and when I found it
and sat down she said good girl
right then I wished I was on a blind
date
ah check please I didn’t get a callback
according to the National Federation for
the blind only 28% of blind Americans
are employed full time but let’s remove
the word blind what if I stood up here
and told you that only 28% of Americans
or employed full time alarm bells would
be ringing
there would be protests the stock market
would crash politicians would be falling
all over themselves to fix it most
people dream of becoming a member of the
1% and me I’m just lucky to be a member
of the 28% of employed blind Americans
when you’re job hunting blind you have
two options either disclosure blindness
up front and not get the interview or
the interviewer figure it out when you
and then never get a callback
not much of a choice is it what a shame
the employer might say sound lines
blinds people live in a world that is
not designed with us in mind but does
that make us bad employees we are
creative problem solvers
if blinds people have to think outside
the box to accomplish normal tasks like
buying groceries matching outfits or
crossing the street without looking both
ways imagine what we can do as employees
as Liz Jackson a disability design
advocate said people with disabilities
are the original life hackers ever
pinned your socks together so you
wouldn’t lose one hmm
blind tack use cruise control blind tack
yeah that’s right a blind guy invented
Ralph Petera blinds mechanical engineer
invented cruise control because
according to family lore his friend
patent attorney and frequent driver had
a jerky accelerator foot when thinking
outside the box becomes ordinary
something extraordinary is born
now I’m no CEO but I throw the kind of
employees you should want working for
your company unfortunately not everyone
sees it that way when employers realize
I’m blind I go from potential assets to
potential liability can she even do this
job they see blind and they see
incompetent they don’t see me and it’s
not just employers either blindness
makes people uncomfortable I am willing
to bet that most of you won’t even say
the B word out loud I can’t tell you how
many times when traveling with a sighted
companion I’ve had them ask someone is
she you know by the way I can hear that
just for the record here sir confused
in one fell swoop they take away my
autonomy they can’t deal with my
blindness so they don’t deal with me at
all but what if I could cure my
blindness
most days I am content with who I am
being blind has made me creative and
inclusive it has taught me the value of
perseverance and given me opportunities
friendships and relationships I may
never have had otherwise
oh and I can read and do my makeup in
the dark so if we ever suffer a global
blackout I’m your girl
most days I don’t want to be cured I
don’t want to be fixed because I am not
broken but sometimes I do when my
computer freezes and I can’t read the
screen to fix it when I spend two hours
on public transportation getting home
from work a 20 minute drive by car when
a guy I like tells me I’m cute for a
blind girl when I’m tired of struggling
tired of explaining how I do the
simplest things over and over and over
again tired of being your inspiration
horn or the objects of your pity party
but it’s always been just a thought the
life spent dwelling on what you can’t
have isn’t much of a life and gaining
sight was never within the realm of
possibility for me until one day it was
scrolling through my facebook feed I
came across a CBS news article about
looks turnip
it’s an FDA approved gene therapy
designs to give usable sites to people
with retinal diseases for the low low
price of four hundred and fifty thousand
dollars per eye but one of the diseases
on the list Leber’s congenital amaurosis
also known as the reason I’m blind that
had never happens before
none of the groundbreaking blindness
research had ever applied to me one line
from the article from misty Lovelace
sterno recipient caught my attention she
said one of the best things I’ve ever
seen is since the surgery are the stars
now I’ve lived my entire life without
seeing the stars and been completely
fine but suddenly for one second I
wanted to see them wanted it with an
ache so powerful it stole the breath
from my lungs a second last time then it
takes a notification to scroll across
your phone screen but that one second
threatens to change everything when I
started telling people about this
potential cure a funny thing happens
they all instantly said the same thing
get it if you have the opportunity they
said you do it it was black and white
for them in fact maybe that’s what
you’re thinking right now to being
sighted would certainly make my life
easier so why wouldn’t I do it but me I
had questions questions I’d never asked
myself because I never had to
I’ve always been this loud and proud
blind girl so what did it mean that even
just for a second I seriously considered
trading that in blindness is not my
identity but I’d be lying if I said it
wasn’t a major part of who I am if you
eliminated that then who would I be
would I change completely weed pulling
that one thread be enough to make the
whole sweater
the tapestry of my life unravel not to
mention the more practical questions
like how would I learn to read again
would I have to learn to recognize
objects by sight the same way a baby
does wait wait wait wait okay I thought
this is supposed to be easier we have
training for people who lose their sight
but what training do we have for those
who suddenly gain it and what if I hate
being sighted imagine living your whole
life in black and white and then
suddenly one day BAM HD full-color what
if I get overwhelmed it’s not like I can
exactly turn it off once I get sight I
could imagine that customer service
phone call hi yes I just recently
purchased site from your company for
about nine hundred thousand dollars
uh-huh yeah I was actually wondering if
the warranty was still valid I’ve
decided I’m not satisfied with the
product after all and I’d like to return
it for a full refund please hello
finally what about the big picture
what does eliminating blindness mean for
the world well it means a whole lot more
of you sighted people running around
obviously but would we never have
another Homer Stevie Wonder Helen Keller
if Homer had been able to see when he
have found it necessary to describe
mythological creatures in such vivid
detail if those three accomplished
individuals hadn’t dealt with the
challenges of blindness would they have
become the creators and innovators they
turned out to be
if blindness were eliminated before I
was born would there even be on me I was
hired by my current employer during a
hiring freeze through
program designed to employ more blind
people within the organization and
everyone I worked with knew it most of
them didn’t care but I did I worried
that if I screwed up even just one thing
people would realize that I didn’t
belong and that they were right about
blind people after all I mean I was
literally hired because I’m blind and
for a long time I was ashamed of that
ashamed of the fact that I had to resort
to it behind this program to get a job
me who had done everything the way your
quote supposed to worked hard got good
grades finished college before I
graduated I thought that if I could just
be smart enough or witty enough or
likable enough I wouldn’t have to face
the struggles that other blinds people
were facing I thought I was the
exception to the rule I wasn’t because
as I quickly realized it wasn’t about
how smart or funny or likable I am it
was about other people’s perceptions of
me about the tendency to confuse
difference with wrong and blinds with
incompetent now I tell everyone who will
listen that my employer hired me because
I’m blind not despite it because you
know what I’m starting to think they
have the right idea the truth is every
struggles but no one’s house short
people who can’t reach the top shelf
that they need to stretch themselves
taller instead they get stepladders no
one tells women that to make our lives
easier we should you know probably just
I’ll go ahead and become men instead we
continue to fight for equality every day
so why then is it acceptable to tell
blind people that if the opportunity
arises we should all just become sighted
why isn’t blindness embraced
accommodated for as just one of the many
things that makes us unique
I’m not saying staying blind is the
answer for everyone nor that we should
stop looking for cures I’m well aware of
my blinds privilege if you will that
growing up in the United States has
afforded me chances that some blind
people will never have but despite
living in a world where my blindness
makes me less them I don’t want to
change it maybe being sighted would make
my life easier but easier isn’t always
better
I shouldn’t have to remove myself to fit
someone else’s definition of success I
don’t want to change for the world I
want the world to change for me for all
blind people so that we in turn can
continue leaving our mark on the world
because vision doesn’t require sight
thank you [Applause]
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