Daniel Russell
Waynesboro, GA
Online education helped him earn a high school diploma
Daniel Russell's mother discovered Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired by searching online for a schooling option for him. He was high school age but focused on non-accredited home schooling coursework.
To Daniel, earning a high school diploma represented achieving a sense of normalcy during a time when his sighted peers were learning to drive. Daniel related that he also felt a diploma was paramount in order to secure a 'decent job,' thus ensuring his future independence.
At Hadley, Daniel found that the course print was large enough to read with a magnifier, allowing him to concentrate on the content itself, rather than struggling to identify words. Daniel would not allow being legally blind to deter him from accomplishing his personal goals and credits his Hadley instructors for their encouragement. Daniel's favorite courses were World History and Typing and Keyboarding. In his typing course, Daniel learned to type by touch, which helped to solidify his resolve to find work in the computer field.
"My plans for the future are to marry the woman of my dreams this June and find a job working with computers. I won't let anything hold me back from enjoying life as an intelligent, healthy, and proud man that just so happens to be legally blind."