Having a disability is not easy, but I am inspired by the fact that Amanda Gene does not allow her disability to define her. Instead, she is working to redefine the way the world sees disability. Amanda Gene is a freelance writer from Florida with a BA in Print Journalism and a minor in professional education. Amanda Gene uses her gift for words to raise awareness about disabilities. Amanda and I are both passionate about showing the world that people with disabilities can do anything able bodied people can do - we just do it a little differently.

Thriving Blind by TEDx speaker and rare disease mom, Kristin Smedley, is changing the way the world sees blindness. When both of Smedley's sons were born with a rare disease that caused them to lose their sight, she and her family chose thriving over merely surviving. Krstin's new book shows parents of children with sight loss raise their children to thrive.