Helen Adams Keller was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when she was 19 months old. She then communicated primarily using home signs until the age of seven, when she met her first teacher and life-long companion Anne Sullivan. Sullivan taught Keller language, including reading and writing. After an education at both specialist and mainstream schools, Keller attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University and became the first deafblind person in the United States to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is an American non-profit organization for people with vision loss. AFB's objectives include conducting research to advance change, promoting knowledge and understanding, and shaping policies and practices.
Sabriye Tenberken is a German tibetologist and co-founder of the organisation Braille Without Borders.
Alampur Saibaba Goud is an Indian ophthalmologist and founder-chairman of the Devnar Foundation for the Blind. He is also a social entrepreneur, and active in the voluntary organization at Secunderabad in Telangana, a state of India. He works in the field of providing aid to visually challenged and visually disabled children in India.
The All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB) is the governing body for the game of Chess among visually impaired in India. It was formed in 1997 with a view to promoting the game of chess among the visually impaired all over the country. It is registered under Society Registration Act, 1860; Public Trust Act, 1951 and Income Tax Act, 1961 – Section 12A.
Mitra Jyothi established in 1990, is a charitable trust registered under Indian Trust Act based in Bangalore. Its aims to support the visually impaired through various programs it offers. These programs include Talking Book Library, Computer Training Center, Independent Living Skills, Braille Transcription Center and Job Placement. It received State Award in 2010 from the Directorate of Disabled Welfare and Senior Citizens, Government of Karnataka for its exemplary service for persons with disabilities. Mitra Jyothi is also a member of the DAISY Forum of India (DFI). DFI is a forum of Not for profit organizations from India who are involved in production of books and reading materials in accessible formats for persons who cannot read normal print.
Chandrika Balan is an Indian writer who has published books in English and Malayalam, under the pen name Chandramathi, ചന്ദ്രമതി in Malayalam. She is a writer of fiction, a translator, and critic in English and Malayalam. Chandramathi has published four books in English and 20 in Malayalam, including 12 collections of short stories, an anthology of medieval Malayalam poetry, two collections of essays, two memoirs, and five books translated from English. The Malayalam film Njandukalude Nattil Oridavela was based on her book.
Chakshumathi is a nongovernmental, not for profit organization based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, working for developing resources for the use of visually impaired people. It is an "Empowerment and Assistive Technology Centre for Blind". The organization, which was inaugurated in June 2011, is a member of DAISY Forum of India. The organization is currently headed by V.K. Damodaran, a former President of Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad.
Darpan Inani is a prolific blind Indian chess player and a Chartered Accountant from Vadodara. He won 2 gold medals - individual as well as team gold medal - at Para Asian Games held in China in October, 2023. He had a career peak FIDE elo rating of 2135, the highest ever elo rating to have been attained by any visually impaired player from India as of January, 2024. He won a bronze medal on his respective board in the 16th World Chess Olympiad for visually impaired held in Greece in 2021. He was also a bronze medalist at the 2013 World Junior Championship in Belgrade. He is the youngest player to have ever won the National blind chess championships. He is the only Indian visually impaired chess player to have ever won international first prize at the Creon Open chess tournament in France in August 2018. This was a historic moment for Indian chess when a visually impaired player won first prize in international open sighted tournament in his rating category. He is honoured with the Yuva Ratna award by All India Marwari Yuva Manch in April 2018 in Siliguri, West Bengal. He is the recipient of the Navratna Award - 2018 awarded by Yuma Television. He has featured in a commercial for HDFC Life.
Jawahar Lal Kaul is an Indian social worker and the founder of the All India Conference of the Blind, an NGO working towards the rehabilitation of the blind. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2014, which bestowed on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his services to the field of Social Work.
Bertha Gyndykes Dkhar is a visually impaired Indian educationist, best known as the inventor of the braille code in Khasi. In 2010, the Government of India awarded her with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award.
Richa Maheshwari is a fashion photographer based in Delhi, India. She started practicing fashion photography and short film making commercially after college, and later became the CEO of Richa Maheshwari Film & Photography.
Khda Reh Ke Dalvaunga, popularly known as Jagdishbhai, is an Indian visually impaired social worker and one of the 3 founders of the Blind People's Association of India, along with his wife and Kanubhai Ambalal Thaker an Ahmedabad based non governmental organization promoting the interests of the people with physical disabilities. He is a recipient of the Indian civilian honour of the Padma Shri.
Madhu Singhal is a social activist who works on projects for people with disabilities. The social activities taken upon by her focuses on promoting education and generating job opportunities for people with disabilities. She has won National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities in 2008. She is the founder of Mitra Jyothi which serves people with disabilities.
Jyothirgamaya Foundation is a nonprofit organization, based in Thiruvananthapuram Kerala which is actively involved in the empowerment of persons with visual impairment founded in 2015 by Tiffany Brar. The project started as a mobile blind school in 2012. Tiffany Brar herself, traveled through rural areas in public transport in search of blind people of all ages in rural areas in India, with the aim of bringing out of the four walls of their house, to which they are confined, and brings a new light to their eyes, which has nothing to do with their eyesight. Jyothirgamaya Foundation holds Special consultative status with United Nations.
Geraldine Jerrie Lawhorn was a figure of the American deafblind community, a performer, actress, pianist, then instructor at the Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired. At 67 years old, she became the first deafblind African American to earn a college degree in the United States of America.
Gargi Gupta is the founder and secretary of Voice Of World (NGO), a multi-unit non-profit organization for visually impaired, disabled, and orphaned children in Eastern India, headquartered in Kolkata, India.
Pushpa Preeya also known as either Pushpa NM or Pushpa N. M. is an Indian scribe, IT professional and volunteer. She is well known for her voluntary service of writing exams for visually impaired people.
Ashwini Angadi is a global ambassador and advocate of disability rights. She is known for making education accessible to the underprivileged and disabled in India.
Adaeze Ifeoma Atuegwu is a Nigerian-American novelist and writer whose works include novels, children's stories, medical non-fiction, and drama. She is considered one of Nigeria's youngest most prolific authors with 17 books published by the age of seventeen.
