In the 1950s, Ralph Shelman's public school didn't have the tools to help him. Shelman, who's blind, was ridiculed and taunted by his peers in Richmond. "I and my family knew I had the intellect to be able to learn, but I just wasn't in a setting where I could get it," he said. Shelman soon transferred to the School for the Deaf and...

Francis Howell School District teacher Terri Bales has been instructing blind and visually impaired students for nearly 25 years. The Dallas native said it has always been difficult to find instructors in her field. After a three-month search, the Francis Howell district was able to add another teacher for the blind and visually impaired to...

AT THE age of 14, Renee was pursuing her dream of becoming a ballet dancer when her world was turned upside down. She contracted hydrocephalus, a condition in which excessive fluid accumulates in the brain. Her optic nerve was damaged and she became severely vision-impaired. Renee, who now has only 5 per cent vision, was crushed. "My...

Melissa Kochuga arrives about 30 minutes before other teachers in Greensburg Salem High School, Greensburg, PA, at the start of the school day. She jokes that the extra time enables her to get a better "feel" for her classroom. So long before the first student arrives, Kochuga, 27, a substitute teacher, gingerly steps through the room,...

A blind teacher, with his guide dog at his side, began teaching Tuesday at a middle school in Nagatoromachi, Saitama Prefecture. Yoshinori Arai, 46, has become the first completely blind teacher at any of the prefecture's regular public primary and middle schools, and one of less than 10 across Japan. After giving his first class at the...

Vicky Berg of Watertown, a teacher at Perkins School for the Blind, has been named an Unsung Heroine for 2008 by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. Unsung Heroines were selected from nearly 600 nominations to be honored for selflessly making a difference in the lives of others. Beyond her excellence as a teacher, said Bina, “...

A Denver area woman has overcome incredible odds to become a motivational speaker who inspires people across the United States. Buna Dahal is an immigrant from Nepal and was born blind. When Dahal came to the U.S. at age 18, she didn't speak English and had never been away from home. Dahal graduated from Columbia College in Chicago and...