We go way back when she was a child, what she learned while playing softball and having her father as her coach, being an amazing teacher, to becoming a monther. After she had her first born child, 4 months in, she learned that her son was leagally blind. She shares her vulnerable, honest feelings finding that out. A few years later she had another son and he also was diagnoised legally blind and then not long after that she had a sighted daughter. She shares it all with us!
Kristin's Bio:
Kristin Smedley is the Mom of three children, two of which were born blind and are now thriving far beyond all grim expectations. Kristin is the Best Selling author of Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight and the award winning children's book, What I Can Be Is Up To Me. A recognized expert in the blindness and rare disease communities, Kristin won the highly regarded Champion of Hope Award, was named an Ambassador for the National Organization of Rare Disorders, and is a 2022 inductee into the Conwell-Egan Catholic Wall of Fame. Kristin is a popular, in demand speaker who has been invited to share her message internationally.
As CEO of a global patient organization, she coordinated legislation (H.R. #625) that became the first in US history to be submitted in Braille. Kristin spoke at the FDA to help achieve the first ever FDA approved gene therapy to treat an inherited retinal disease in the United States. Recently, the research her organization coordinated achieved a $1.25 Million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Her TEDx Talk, books and international summit change perceptions of blindness, and sparked a global movement, Thriving Blind Academy, that is solving the unemployment, literacy, and financial crisis in the blind the community.
Connect with Kristin:
Website: www.KristinSmedley.com
Instagram
LinkedIn
Twitter
Thank you to our partner this week:
Stay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!
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Shop new products here!
Places you can reach me at:
Website:
https://kateyfortun.com/
https://kateyfortun.com/podcast
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/
https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/
We go way back when she was a child, what she learned while playing softball and having her father as her coach, being an amazing teacher, to becoming a monther. After she had her first born child, 4 months in, she learned that her son was leagally blind. She shares her vulnerable, honest feelings finding that out. A few years later she had another son and he also was diagnoised legally blind and then not long after that she had a sighted daughter. She shares it all with us!
Kristin's Bio:
Kristin Smedley is the Mom of three children, two of which were born blind and are now thriving far beyond all grim expectations. Kristin is the Best Selling author of Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight and the award winning children's book, What I Can Be Is Up To Me. A recognized expert in the blindness and rare disease communities, Kristin won the highly regarded Champion of Hope Award, was named an Ambassador for the National Organization of Rare Disorders, and is a 2022 inductee into the Conwell-Egan Catholic Wall of Fame. Kristin is a popular, in demand speaker who has been invited to share her message internationally.
As CEO of a global patient organization, she coordinated legislation (H.R. #625) that became the first in US history to be submitted in Braille. Kristin spoke at the FDA to help achieve the first ever FDA approved gene therapy to treat an inherited retinal disease in the United States. Recently, the research her organization coordinated achieved a $1.25 Million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Her TEDx Talk, books and international summit change perceptions of blindness, and sparked a global movement, Thriving Blind Academy, that is solving the unemployment, literacy, and financial crisis in the blind the community.
Connect with Kristin:
Website: www.KristinSmedley.com
Instagram
LinkedIn
Twitter
Thank you to our partner this week:
Stay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!
Sign Up Here!
Shop new products here!
Places you can reach me at:
Website:
https://kateyfortun.com/
https://kateyfortun.com/podcast
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/
https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/