Awesome Disabilities

The New Yorker made this dramatic profile of Daniel Kish, who lost his sight at age 13. Daniel adopted echolocation to regain a sense of his surroundings. He has since taught thousands of thousands of people about his techniques. Check out his interview with Smithsonian Magazine if you want to learn more about his “flash sonar”.

This documentary short film by Scott Krahn and Robb Fischer introduces us to three women who participate in a bowling league. While that may sound mundane, what makes their story compelling is that all of them live with visual impairments. It’s a charming tale of friendship and positivity in the face of obstacles.

The Eone Switch is a wristwatch that doesn’t require vision to check the time. It uses two rotating ball bearings to indicate the current hour and minute, enabling those with visual impairments to tell the time with touch. This new model features interchangeable tactile faceplates and includes two in the package.

Usually, if you need to get a wheelchair upstairs, you have to take the elevator or a ramp. But at Seattle’s Space Needle they have a special set of stairs that transform into an ADA-compliant wheelchair lift with the push of a button. The retractable lift was engineered by UK outfit Sesame.

Brazilian musician Johnatha Bastos was born with partially-formed arms. But he doesn’t let that get in his way. As he proves in this awesome guitar cover of Sweet Child O’ Mine, talent and tenacity can help overcome any physical challenge. Oh, and he plays keyboards too.

You may or may not know that Mythbuster and all-around smart guy Adam Savage suffers from hearing loss. In this great clip from his “Ask Adam” segment on Tested, he talks about destigmatizing the disability, and how wearing hearing aids has improved his life dramatically. Now, they just need to make them less expensive.