Fred's Head blog from the American Printing House for the Blind

The Fred's Head blog contains tips, techniques, tutorials, in-depth articles, and resources for and by blind or visually impaired people. Fred's Head is offered by the American Printing House for the Blind. It was voted best blindness-related blog three years in a row by BlindBargains.com.

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Fred's Head is named after the legendary Fred Gissoni of APH's Customer Relations Department, who is now retired. Check out the bottom of this page for: browsing articles by subject; Fred's Head on Twitter; receiving posts by email; subscribing to RSS feeds; APH resources; the archive of this blog; APH on YouTube; contributing articles to Fred's Head; and disclaimers.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The Unexpected Child

By Donna J. Jodhan


Yes, that's me!  The unexpected child.  I was born eight hours after my twin brother Jeffrey.  Mom did not even know that she was having twins until Jeffrey was born and then the midwife gave her and dad the news.  From thereon in, almost everything in my life became unexpected.

First, I was born with a vision impairment; very unexpected indeed.  Then I somehow managed to surpass all academic expectations; quite unexpected.  Then at university I somehow managed to keep my unexpected record in tact.  I was one of the first blind people to graduate with a bachelor's degree in Commerce from Concordia University in Montreal Canada.  My unexpected record grew to include being one of the first blind people to graduate with an MBA from McGill University of Montreal in Canada, and one of the first blind people in the world to graduate with certifications in Microsoft Systems Engineering, and Novelle network administration. 

I do my best to preserve my unexpected record; by motivating others to become as unexpected as me.  I motivate them to do the unexpected; surpass expectations.  I motivate them to think about things that are unexpected; things that leave others gasping for air.  That is, doing things that take them outside their comfort zone, things that make others sit up and take note, things that help to create positive attitudes and reactions.  It's all in the name of being the unexpected child.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day. If you'd like to learn more about me, then you can visit some of my blog spots at:

Donna Jodhan! Advocating Accessibility for All:
http://donnajodhan.blogspot.com/
Weekly Saturday postings on issues of accessibility:
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog/blog.html
Blogs on various issues and answers to consumer concerns:
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm


Posted by APH's Social Media Coordinator, Marissa Slaughter Stalvey at 11:26 AM

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