Comedian. Former blindness counselor. Both eyes removed.Still the funniest person in the room.

Sam Atwood has lived with low vision his entire life, workedas a Blind and Low Vision Services Counselor, survived multiple eye surgeries, and ultimately made the decision to have both eyes removed. He also happens tobe genuinely funny about all of it.

In this episode of Thriving with Vision Loss, Michelle andSam talk about what humor does for survival, what it was like to support others through vision loss while navigating his own, and what he wants anyone facing a new diagnosis to hear.

In this episode, you will learn:

- How Sam's personal journey with low vision shaped his work as a counselor

- Why humor became one of his most powerful tools for resilience

- What it felt like to lose more vision after working to restore it

- The decision to have both eyes removed and what came after

- Practical advice Sam gave his clients that he also lived himself

- What he wants anyone newly diagnosed to know

Thriving with Vision Loss is an eleVIVO original seriessharing stories, practical tools, and lived wisdom from people building meaningful lives with blindness or low vision. eleVIVO supports individuals and families navigating vision loss, and is designed to scale in partnership with agencies and nonprofit organizations that serve them.

The thumbnail has a bold, high-contrast design with a bright turquoise background framing the image and text.

At the center is a photo of a man standing on a stage doing stand-up comedy. He is holding a microphone and smiling while speaking to an audience. He has a beard, short hair, and is wearing red-tinted glasses, a dark fitted T-shirt, gray pants, and black shoes. Behind him are dark stage curtains lit by warm stage lighting.

Near his feet on the right side is a guide dog lying calmly on the stage floor, wearing a harness. The microphone cable hangs down from the microphone to the floor, emphasizing the live performance setting.

At the bottom of the thumbnail, in large bold black text, are the words:

“Blind. Funny. Still Here”

The overall tone feels confident, humorous, and resilient, suggesting the podcast episode focuses on comedy,

blindness, personal experience, and perseverance.

If you or someone you care about is navigating vision loss,eleVIVO offers a free six-month individual trial. You will find the link below.

https://elevivo.com/#/freetrial

Learn more about eleVIVO:

https://elevivo.com

If this conversation inspires you and you would like toshare your story, email michelleb@elevivo.com

Special thanks to Vann Millhouse and Scott Joffre (The BlindStriker) for technical advice and accessibility insights that helped shape this episode.

The Blind Striker YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@theblindstriker

Ending music: "Circles" by Classless Act

Used with permission.

Deep thanks to our friends in Classless Act for generouslysharing their music and supporting Thriving with Vision Loss and the blindness community. The closing lyrics reflect the heart of this series - choosing your own path, making it happen, and finding your way to happiness.

Learn more about Classless Act:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/classlessact

Live fan performances (shared with permission):

https://www.youtube.com/@classlessactarmy

This conversation reflects personal experience and is notintended as medical or legal advice.

Thumbnail Description:SUPPORT, RESOURCES, AND FREE TRIALACCESSIBILITY NOTEMUSIC CREDIT AND THANK YOU

Special education teacher. Lost his sight. Found blindhockey. Has not stopped since.

Josh Schneider is a defenseman on the United States BlindHockey Team, founder of The Dented Puck Foundation, and host of The Dented Puck Podcast. He knows what it feels like to lose your career, your identity, and your sense of what comes next - and he knows what it feels like when somethingunexpected gives it all back.

In this episode of Thriving with Vision Loss, Michelle andJosh talk about the trauma of sudden vision loss, what it took to start over, and how blind hockey became so much more than a sport.

In this episode, you will learn:

- How vision loss forced Josh out of a career he loved and what that grief felt like

- What blind hockey actually is and how it works on the ice

- Why sound, positioning, and teamwork replace sight in the game

- How adaptive sports support healing in ways that therapy alone cannot

- What community means when you are starting over after vision loss

- Why access is not charity - it is design

Thriving with Vision Loss is an eleVIVO original seriessharing stories, practical tools, and lived wisdom from people building meaningful lives with blindness or low vision. eleVIVO supports individuals and families navigating vision loss, and is designed to scale in partnership withagencies and nonprofit organizations that serve them.

If you or someone you care about is navigating vision loss,eleVIVO offers a free six-month individual trial. You will find the link below.

https://elevivo.com/#/freetrial

Learn more about eleVIVO:

https://elevivo.com

The Dented Puck Foundation on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@dentedpuckfoundation

The Dented Puck Podcast:

https://www.thedentedpuck.com/podcast

United States Blind Hockey Team:

https://unitedstatesblindhockeyteam.com/

CASA - Community Access Support Alliance:

https://wearecasa.org/

If this conversation inspires you and you would like toshare your story, email michelleb@elevivo.com

Special thanks to Scott Joffre (The Blind Striker) foraccessibility insights that helped shape this episode.

The Blind Striker YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@theblindstriker

Ending music: "Circles" by Classless Act

Used with permission.

Deep thanks to our friends in Classless Act for generouslysharing their music and supporting Thriving with Vision Loss and the blindness community. The closing lyrics reflect the heart of this series - choosing yourown path, making it happen, and finding your way to happiness.

Learn more about Classless Act:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/classlessact

Live fan performances (shared with permission):

https://www.youtube.com/@classlessactarmy

This conversation reflects personal experience and is notintended as medical or legal advice.

SUPPORT, RESOURCES, AND FREE TRIALMORE FROM JOSH SCHNEIDERACCESSIBILITY NOTEMUSIC CREDIT AND THANK YOU

Tech reviews are everywhere. Accessibility only workswhen it is shaped by lived experience.

Scott Joffre is the creator of The Blind Striker, one of themost trusted voices in blind and low-vision assistive technology. Scott grew up with low vision, adapted as his sight changed, and built a channel dedicated to testing technology the way blind and low-vision people actually use it — not the way manufacturers assume they do.

In this episode of Thriving with Vision Loss, Michelle andScott explore what makes assistive technology genuinely useful, what fails in the real world despite looking good on paper, and why blind and low-vision users must be part of designing the tools meant to serve them.

In this episode, you will learn:

- How Scott’s low-vision journey shaped his approach to technology

- What makes assistive technology actually usable in daily life

- How Ray-Ban Meta glasses and Be My Eyes work together

- Why accessibility fails without lived experience behind it

- How technology can support independence when it is designed right

Thriving with Vision Loss is an eleVIVO original seriessharing stories, practical tools, and lived wisdom from people building meaningful lives with blindness or low vision. eleVIVO supports individuals and families navigating vision loss, and is designed to scale in partnership with agencies and nonprofit organizations that serve them.

If you or someone you care about is navigating vision loss,eleVIVO offers a free six-month individual trial. You will find the link below.

https://elevivo.com/#/freetrial

Learn more about eleVIVO:

https://elevivo.com

The Blind Striker on YouTube: / @theblindstriker

If this conversation inspires you and you would like toshare your story, email michelleb@elevivo.com

Scott Joffre works with eleVIVO on every episode and withthe company itself to help ensure our content and platform reflect real accessibility needs — not assumptions.

This conversation reflects personal experience and is notintended as medical or legal advice.

Blind professional. Inside a university. Helping studentsthrough what she is living with herself.

Leighann Fuller is the Visually Impaired ServicesCoordinator at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She has lived with glaucoma since her teenage years, lost vision in one eye over a decade ago, and lost vision in her other eye in 2023. She also lives with rheumatoid arthritis.She knows what it feels like to grieve your sight, to ask for help, and to keep going — and she brings all of that into the work she does every day supporting blind and low-vision students.

In this episode of Thriving with Vision Loss, Michelle andLeighann explore what real support looks like from the inside — not just accommodations on paper, but the emotional labor, advocacy, and human connection that actually help people move forward.

In this episode, you will learn:

- What a Visually Impaired Services Coordinator actually does inside a university

- How Leighann navigated losing vision in both eyes while continuing to support others

- The emotional stages of grief that come with vision loss and how to move through them

- How acceptance shapes the choices you make and the support you give

- Where blind and low-vision students fall through the cracks

Thriving with Vision Loss is an eleVIVO original series sharing stories, practical tools, and lived wisdom from people building meaningful lives with blindness or low vision. eleVIVO supports individuals and families navigating vision loss, and is designed to scale in partnership with agencies and nonprofit organizations that serve them.

If you or someone you care about is navigating vision loss,eleVIVO offers a free six-month individual trial. You will find the link below.

https://elevivo.com/#/freetrial

Learn more about eleVIVO:

https://elevivo.com

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Visually ImpairedServices for Students:

https://www.siue.edu/access/visually-impaired-services/index.shtml

If this conversation inspires you and you would like to share your story, email michelleb@elevivo.com

This conversation reflects personal experience and is not intended as medical or legal advice

Blind for over a decade. Changed by a single morning he never saw coming.

In this episode of Thriving with Vision Loss, Michelle sits down with Clint Aiken, whose life was profoundly redirected after an unexpected and life-altering moment. Clint shares the deeply human side of vision loss — including an intense emotional crisis, the moment he lay down to rest, and waking up blind. He opens up about accountability, family, faith, and the internal reckoning that followed.

This is a real, honest conversation — sometimes serious, sometimes reflective — between two people exploring what responsibility, meaning, and redirection can look like after vision loss.

Thriving with Vision Loss is an eleVIVO original series sharing stories, practical tools, and lived wisdom from people building meaningful lives with blindness or low vision. We begin each episode with a brief visual description to ensure blind and low-vision viewers can fully share the experience. eleVIVO supports individuals and families navigating vision loss, and is designed to scale in partnership with agencies and nonprofit organizations that serve them.

In this episode, you will learn:

• How Clint's sudden vision loss became a turning point
• The role family support played after blindness
• How a faith-informed perspective reshaped meaning and values
• Why learning and service became central to his life
• What sighted people often misunderstand about blindness

What part of Clint's story resonated with you? Share your thoughts in the comments or send us a message.

If this conversation inspires you and you would like to share your story, email michelleb@elevivo.com

Support, Resources, and Free Trial

If you or someone you care about is navigating vision loss, eleVIVO offers a free six-month individual trial. You will find the link below.

https://elevivo.com/#/freetrial

Learn more about eleVIVO:https://elevivo.com

More from Clint AikenYouTube — Blindboss TV: https://www.youtube.com/@blindross

Accessibility Note

Special thanks to Scott Joffre (The Blind Striker) for accessibility insights that helped shape this episode.The Blind Striker YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@theblindstriker

Music Credit and Thank You

Ending music: "Circles" by Classless ActUsed with permission.

Deep thanks to our friends in Classless Act for generously sharing their music and supporting Thriving with Vision Loss and the blindness community. The closing lyrics reflect the heart of this series — choosing your own path, making it happen, and finding your way to happiness.

Learn more about Classless Act:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/classlessactLive fan performances (shared with permission):YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@classlessactarmy

This conversation reflects personal experience and is not intended as medical or legal advice.

Tags

blindness and faith, woke up blind, sudden vision loss, Clint Aiken, blind community, vision loss recovery, Florida blind services, blindness training center, blind independence, thriving with vision loss, vision loss podcast, eleVIVO, disability and redemption, faith and disability, family and blindness, blind advocacy, living with blindness, assistive technology, blindness support

Hashtags

#ThrivingWithVisionLoss #ClintAiken #Blindness #VisionLoss #FaithAndDisability #FamilySupport #RedemptionStory #BlindCommunity #eleVIVO

Connor Standingready is blind, Indigenous, and practicing family and Indigenous law in Saskatchewan. This is what happens when vision loss does not get the final word. In This Episode You Will Learn

• How Connor describes his vision impairment to people encountering it for the first time

• What drew him to family and Indigenous law

• What it is like to navigate the courtroom with a vision impairment

• What assistive technology and accessibility tools make his work possible

• How Connor's journey inspired his niece and what that means to him

• What he wants anyone newly experiencing vision loss to hear

Connor Standingready is a lawyer in Saskatchewan, Canada specializing in family and Indigenous law and a memberof the White Bear First Nation. He also happens to be blind.

In this episode of Thriving with Vision Loss, Michelle sits down with Connor to talk about what it means to practice law with a vision impairment, how Indigenous people with vision lossnavigate systems not built for them, and why representation in courtrooms and in communities changes everything. They also explore what individuals, agencies, and organizations need to understand about disability,identity, and the power of refusing to let vision loss define your ceiling.

Thriving with Vision Loss is an eleVIVO original series sharing stories, practical tools, and lived wisdom from people building meaningful lives with blindness or low vision. eleVIVO supports individuals and families navigating vision loss, and is designed to scale in partnership with agencies and nonprofit organizations that serve them.

If you or someone you care about is navigating vision loss, eleVIVO offers a free six-month individual trial.You will find the link below.

https://elevivo.com/#/freetrial

Learn more about eleVIVO:

https://elevivo.com

Special thanks to Scott Joffre (The Blind Striker) for accessibility insights that helped shape this episode.

The Blind Striker YouTubeChannel:

https://www.youtube.com/@theblindstriker

Ending music:"Circles" by Classless Act

Used with permission.

Deep thanks to our friends inClassless Act for generously sharing their music and supporting Thriving with Vision Loss and the blindness community. The closing lyrics reflect the heartof this series — choosing your own path, making it happen, and finding your way to happiness.

Learn more about Classless Act:

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/classlessact

Live fan performances (shared with permission):

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@classlessactarmy

This conversation reflects personal experience and is not intended as medical or legal advice.

More from Connor StandingreadySupport, Resources, and Free TrialAccessibility NoteMusic Credit and Thank You

The thumbnail shows Shawn Keen from the chest up, smiling broadly with a wide, genuine smile. He has short salt-and-pepper hair and is wearing black-framed glasses with a small white assistive device mounted on the top of the frame. He is dressed in a dark navy button-up shirt. The background is softly blurred with natural light coming through large windows. Bold yellow text in the lower portion of the image reads: This Changes Everything. The eleVIVO logo appears in the top right corner inside a teal circle.Artificial intelligence is giving blind and low-vision people new toolsfor independence, creativity, and employment — and the people leading thatchange are blind themselves.

In this episode of Thriving with Vision Loss, Michelle sits down withShawn Keen, founder of AI for the Blind — a community of more than 15,000 blindand low-vision people using AI tools to create, learn, and live with greaterfreedom. Shawn shares how AI for blind users is different from traditionalassistive technology, why learning to prompt AI may be the most important skilla blind person can develop, and why this moment may be as significant as theinvention of Braille. Together, they explore what blind individuals, agencies,and nonprofits need to understand right now.

This episode also touches on faith, recovery after stroke, the culture ofa positive creative community, and what Shawn wants people navigating visionloss — and those who serve them — to know.

In this episode:

Thriving with Vision Loss is an eleVIVO original series. We begin eachepisode with a brief visual description so blind and low-vision listeners canfully share the experience.

If this conversation resonated with you, please leave a review on ApplePodcasts or Spotify. It helps more people navigating vision loss find thisshow.

Support and Free Trial If you or someone you care about is navigatingvision loss, eleVIVO offers a free six-month individual trial for the first1000 people who sign up. elevivo.com/#/freetrial

Learn more about eleVIVO: elevivo.com

Would you like to be featured on an upcoming episode of Thriving withVision Loss? Email michelleb@elevivo.com

More from Shawn Keen AI for the Blind: aiftb.com YouTube — PrayedPrompted: youtube.com/@PrayedPrompted The HUMM Method — turning the music inyour head into a real song you can hear: thehummmethod.com

Accessibility Note Special thanks to Scott Joffre, The Blind Striker, foraccessibility insights that helped shape this episode. The Blind Striker onYouTube: youtube.com/@theblindstriker

Music Credit Ending music: Circles by Classless Act. Used withpermission. Deep thanks to our friends in Classless Act for generously sharingtheir music and supporting Thriving with Vision Loss and the blindnesscommunity. Learn more about Classless Act: Instagram:instagram.com/classlessact YouTube: youtube.com/@classlessactarmy

This conversation reflects personal experience and is not intended asmedical or legal advice.

Thumbnail description: Two photos of Gale Pollock. On the left, Gale in U.S. Army dress uniform in front of an American flag. On the right, Gale smiling in an equestrian helmet beside a black horse. Black text on a white background reads Gale Pollock, Major General (Ret) Thriving with Vision Loss. The eleVIVO logo appears in the lower right corner.

Sometimes change begins with a single question. A question asked in a congressional hearing that no one in the room was prepared to answer.

In this episode of Thriving with Vision Loss, Michelle sits down with Gale Pollock — retired Major General, former Commander of U.S. Army Medical Command, 22nd Chief of the Army Nurse Corps, and Acting Surgeon Generalof the Army. Gale does not live with vision loss herself. What she witnessed during her service is what brought her here — and what led her to found eleVIVO.

Together they explore the moment in a congressional hearing that Gale could not unhear, what the data revealed about wounded service members falling through the cracks after rehabilitation, how the gap between military and civilian vision loss support came into focus, and why she felt compelled to build something that did not yet exist.

This episode also touches on faith, the personal cost of seeing a problem clearly, and what Gale wants people navigating vision loss —and those who love them — to know.

In this episode:

- The congressional hearing moment that changed the direction of Gale's life

- What the data showed about service members succeeding medically but falling through the cracks in life

- How the military experience revealed a much larger civilian gap

- The role of faith in sustaining long-term service work

- What Gale wishes more people understood about vision loss

- What eleVIVO is and why it was built

- What she wants people early in their vision loss journey to hear

Thriving with Vision Loss is an eleVIVO original series.

If this conversation resonated with you, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps more people navigating vision loss find this show.

Support and Free Trial

If you or someone you care about is navigating vision loss,eleVIVO offers a free six-month individual trial for the first 1000 people who sign up.

elevivo.com/#/freetrial

Learn more about eleVIVO:

https://elevivo.com

Would you like to be featured on an upcoming episode ofThriving with Vision Loss? Email michelleb@elevivo.com

Accessibility Note

Special thanks to Scott Joffre, The Blind Striker, for accessibility insights that helped shape this episode.

The Blind Striker on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theblindstriker

Music Credit

Ending music: Circles by Classless Act. Used with permission.

Deep thanks to our friends in Classless Act for generously sharing their music and supporting Thriving with Vision Loss and the blindness community.

Learn more about Classless Act:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/classlessact

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@classlessactarmy

This conversation reflects personal experience and is not intended as medical or legal advice.