News

Aira sponsors USABA Marathon National Championships

Aira technology brings enriched experience to USABA Marathon National Championships with sponsorship. By: Stephanie Ross, USABA Contributor For years, technology has made the world more accessible. From accessible technology and access tools like screen readers, cell phone apps, and scanners, we’ve seen technology that have forever changed the day-to-day tasks for the blind and visually impaired. One of the most recently developed technologies is Aira. Aira, a service that connects blind and visually impaired people to highly-trained, remote agents, is available through a smartphone app or through an optional pair of Horizon Smart Glasses. Visually impaired runner Erich Manser ran… Read More

Day in the Life: Cody Carmicle – Goalball

Cody Carmicle (Lafayette, Ind.) is a resident athlete at the Goalball Center of Excellence at Turnstone in Fort Wayne. Carmicle first learned about the sport of goalball from a teacher in high school. He was introduced to the U.S. Men’s Goalball Team when Coach Boyle and some of the players visited his school to do a demonstration. Since discovering the sport, he’s represented Team USA at three international tournaments on the U.S. Men’s Goalball Team in 2018 – Malmo Intercup in Sweden, the International Trakai Goalball Tournament in Lithuania and the International Goalball Challenge in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Carmicle aspires… Read More

Maintaining Independence and Finding Confidence through Sports

By: Stephanie Ross, USABA Contributor Caroline and Cole Carper were born with Leber’s congenial amaurosis (LCA) RPE 65, a disease that eventually leads to total blindness. “It was hard because we really didn’t know what their abilities were going to be,” Caroline and Cole’s mother, Ashley Carper, said. “We had never been around other individuals who are visually impaired or blind, and it felt very scary as we worked our way out of that grief and mindset.” With limited exposure to the blind and visually impaired community in Little Rock, the Carpers had to figure out ways to empower their… Read More

Hundreds Celebrate Inaugural Blind Sports Day Across U.S.

Hundreds of people across the U.S. celebrated the inaugural National Blind Sports Day October 1-7. Though the actual day was Saturday, October 6, celebrations happened in cities across the country throughout the week. Nearly 900 people across the U.S. participated in a locally hosted event or engaged in a sport or fitness activity on their own. More than 45 agencies, organizations, teams or schools hosted events in numerous sports including golf, rowing, tandem cycling, goalball, basketball, archery and soccer- just to name (more than) a few! In Columbus, Ohio, participants played soccer with the Ohio Blind Soccer program. Katie Atkinson, who… Read More

Rediscovering Your Stride: A Rio 2016 Paralympian’s Journey with LHON

By: Stephanie Ross, USABA Contributor Charles “Chaz” Davis, 24, was pursuing his collegiate running career at the University of Hartford when he began to unexpectedly lose his eyesight. At the age of 19, the Grafton, Mass.-native was diagnosed with Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), a rare mitochondrial disorder. “Every stage of grief was experienced by my whole family,” Chaz’s mother, Audrey Davis, said. “It’s hard to imagine the joys and heartaches of being a parent until you actually are one. My heart broke, but inside me I knew he was strong in spirit and I had faith he would overcome… Read More