Aaron’s Opinion

Here is our conversation with the executive director of, The Blind Society. To learn more, please go here:

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Hi Aaron,

As we discussed, below are some short sentences about me for the podcast. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any additional details.

I’m legally blind with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). I came to the United States from Vietnam when I was 19 years old. I did not speak any English at the time. I started high school at the age of 19 and tried to learn English at the same time. I graduated third in my high school class. I attended Stony Brook University on full scholarship where I graduated with honors with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. I have been working as a human resources specialist for 26 years.

My dad was an army officer with the South Vietnamese government and after the Vietnam war ended, my family went through hard times until we came to the U.S when we started building a new life. My story is about life before and after we came to the U.S. My story is not unique, but one of courage, perseverance, and resilience.

When I’m not working, I enjoy traveling, which is immensely enriching. I’m also involved in a few charity work which includes crocheting/knitting blankets for the Project Linus charity organization, planting organic vegetables to feed the poor, and teaching yoga for the blind.

Sent from my iPhone

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Biography – Rey Dalman Duhaylungsod,LPT
1981-09-23

I am a Licensed Professional Teacher and Senior High School educator at the Department of Education in Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines. My work focuses on inclusive education, and I teach blind students across all year levels. I use tools such as Braille, abacus instruction, NVDA screen reader training, and orientation and mobility guidance to make learning accessible and empowering.
At the age of 24, I got married, and in the years that followed I explored different jobs and business opportunities—from bookkeeping and auditing to teaching online and trying entrepreneurial ventures. At 34, I finally found my calling in education when I joined the Department of Education on May 18, 2016. This year marks my 10th year of service as an educator, a role that continues to inspire and drive me.
At 37, I became blind. Now, at 44, I see this not as a limitation but as a turning point that deepened my commitment to accessibility and innovation. This experience reshaped my perspective as both an educator and developer, motivating me to create solutions that empower others facing similar challenges.
My academic background includes a Bachelor of Commerce major in Management Accounting, units in Secondary Education major in TLE, and completion of academic requirements for both a Master of Arts in Educational Management and a Master of Arts in Special Education. I also studied at Misamis University, where I was a member of the chorale—a reflection of my lifelong passion for music.
In addition to teaching, I am a project web app developer. I am currently building a Fuel Management System and have previously created tools such as timelog, an offline digital classroom, and an offline digital quiz to support my teaching practice. My career path has been diverse, with experiences as an online teacher, bookkeeper, auditor, and entrepreneur, all of which have shaped my perspective as both an educator and innovator.
As a father of five, I find joy in music and family, often sharing piano sessions with my youngest son. My interests in web app development, accessible education and entrepreneurial projects reflect my drive to create meaningful solutions that empower communities.

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Hi Aaron,

Thank you for wanting to have us on your podcast. Even Though I’m Blind is a media outlet and nonprofit created to give blind and visually impaired people a real voice, stronger visibility, and a space where our stories can be shared with honesty, purpose, and humanity. Through media, storytelling, interviews, social platforms, and community connection, we highlight the people, experiences, talent, challenges, and victories that often go unseen. At the heart of ETIB, we want the world to understand that blind people are not just part of the conversation. We have voices, stories, leadership, creativity, and impact that deserve to be heard. We would be honored to come on your show and share that mission with your audience.

Website: https://eventhoughimblind.com
Phone: 910-853-5247
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/even...
Twitter/X: https://x.com/etibglobalvoice
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@eventhoughimblind
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@eventhoughimblind

Best,
Cazerny Bussey
Founder & CEO
Even Though I’m Blind

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Leighann Fuller is the inaugural Visually Impaired Services Coordinator at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), beginning her time in the ACCESS Office in November 2025. Prior to this role, she worked in the Student Persistence and Success department at SIUE as a Success coach. After experiencing a vision loss in 2023, blind and visually impaired students began to gravitate to Leighann for academic and personal support. Even before beginning this official role, Leighann had numerous opportunities to advocate for accessibility with campus housing as well as internship accessibility. Now officially in this role as the Visually Impaired Services Coordinator, Leighann regularly meets with blind and visually impaired students, works with faculty to create accessible classroom experiences, meets with campus partners to educate on and troubleshoot accessibility of forms and websites, communicates with Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services to refer students to services to support their educational journey, and provides a space for students to be understood and supported through their college experience.

Leighann is a two-time alum of SIUE, graduating with her MS in Kinesiology (exercise and sport psychology specialization) in December 2024, which was one year post her vision loss. In May 2026 she passed the Illinois Braille Proficiency Test after a year-long study of Unified English Braille, making her the only proficient braille reader in the ACCESS office. Additionally, Leighann is proficient in VoiceOver for MacOS and iOS as well as Jaws for Windows. Leighann has the privilege of leading ally trainings to educate staff, faculty, and students on how to be allies to blind and visually impaired individuals. At a recent training she urged participants, “Instead of asking ‘This student is blind, so what can they do?’ we need to ask ‘What does the student want to do and what accommodations and support do they need to get there?’”.

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Hi there

So, I’m demo Scotland, UK. IM 56 years old (nearly 57 yikes, where are the years disappearing to….)

I’ve been involved with music since ,y teens, since High School Bands, and Musical Theatre productions locally. Never really did anything with the bands, we wrote so,e stuff together but only played live a handful of times, and changing line-ups of the bands often caused ‘creative conflict’ as I’m quite a strong personality and if I jace my mind set on a musical direction, I won’t waver from it, a mindset that often caused conflict 🤣

So throughout my twenties and thirties music kinda went on the back burner. I was still writing and recording occasionally, but without any real drive. Fast forward to late 30s and I jad that moment when it was like ‘OMG Iim nearly 40, I’ve got all this stuff and I’m not doing anything with it” so I started writing more often. However it wasn’t until late 2015 that o decoded to step it up a gear. I jad a song ‘Discotheque’ on YouTube, and entered ot for the (now defunct) global u signed music chart, which was compiled from listeners votes, and lo and behold it hit number 1 and stayed there for 4 weeks.

My then-partner Robert persuaded me to release something ‘properly’ so I signed up with a distribution company and released my first proper single ‘Passing Thoughts’. This was released on 25th January 2026. However, tragedy struck as a Robert passed away that very day after a short illness. I was completely devastated. Then, not long after, my Dad got diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. It was all too much for me to deal with, and I reckon this is what caused my stroke later in the year which caused my sight problems. Ever since childhood, my left eye had been very weak with limited vision while my right eye was OK, sods law the stroke took out the optic nerve of my good eye,,. It took six months to actually discover I’d had a stroke as ai hadn’t suffered any of the normal side effects, and due to my Dads condition they were testing me for all sorts of things.

So I adapted fairly quickly, and even went through college to study for a HNC in a counselling, was doing great with that and only needed to do another uear to qualify then covid came along and threw a spanner in the works.

I know you said a short paragraph haha but felt I ha to get all the important bits in jere, anything else can come up in conversation, although for personal reasons I don’t really want to talk about Robert’s death.

So there it is. Hope you’re interested, I knownO certainly would be up for getting my music a wider audience! And also, I have a really positive attitude and have been told I’m inspirational, which sometimes can be quite embarrassing but quite nice at the same time.

Here’s my links

Facebook music page

https://www.facebook.com/profi...

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/neil...

X

@neil908uk

Look forward to hearing from you 😀



Sent from my iPad

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Dedicated professional with over 30 years of experience in the art business, including extensive involvement in gallery management, event organization, and community engagement. Skilled in marketing, display, promoting, and social media. Committed to fostering education and appreciation of art while ensuring customer satisfaction. Proven track record of successful leadership and collaboration in both business and advocacy roles.

Organized over 200 group and solo exhibitions, and hosted numerous events.
Represented location of l and regional artists, while providing top-quality custom framing.
Implemented successful fundraisers benefiting the National Federation of the Blind.

Selected Achievements and Engagements:
Spoke at conferences and events on topics ranging from art education to sight-loss.
Currently serving on the Operations Board of World Services for the Blind. President of the Central Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Arkansas.
Featured in media outlets such as Radio Western, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, The Braille Monitor, and Nation’s Blind podcast.

Education:
Bachelor of Arts in Humanities
Hendrix College, Conway, AR
1988

Contact Information:
Cindy Scott-Huisman
Cantrell Gallery
8202 Cantrell Road
Little Rock, AR 72227
Hours

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Dear Aaron,

Thank you so much for inviting me to be a guest on Aaron's Opinion, I'd be happy to accept.

A bit about myself: my name is Demir Ajvazi, I'm 34 (turning 35 this September), from Beočin, Serbia. I have a degree in English Language and Literature, but since I couldn't find work in that field in Serbia, I currently work repairing and selling mobile phones. I'm married and we have a 20-month-old child. My wife is a musician, and together we run a YouTube channel where she creates and publishes children's songs.

I've been fascinated by computers for as long as I can remember, and I started programming back in elementary school. After a long break, I got seriously back into it once I got married.

The project I'd most like to talk about is Ultra Creative Suite, two applications I'm currently building: Ultra Video Editor and Ultra Audio Editor. The video editor came out of pure necessity - once my wife started creating content for YouTube, we needed someone to handle editing, and we didn't want to keep relying on sighted friends for help. So I decided to build something myself that I could use completely independently. Over time it grew into a real production tool - it now covers everything needed for professional video editing, plus a good amount of AI-powered functionality (automatic lyric analysis, stock footage selection, color grading, subtitles, and more). The audio editor is still in development, so I won't say too much about it yet.

What matters most to me, and what sets these apps apart, is that they're fully accessible with screen readers on Windows (JAWS, NVDA). This isn't a stripped-down "accessible mode" - it's a full professional tool that a blind person can use completely independently, from importing media all the way to rendering the finished video in 4K.

For more details, the project is on GitHub: https://github.com/demirajvazi...

You can also find me on Facebook if you'd like to reach out or check my profile: https://www.facebook.com/demir...

Feel free to let me know what recording date works for you, and if there's anything specific you'd like me to prepare beforehand.

Thanks again for the invite, looking forward to the conversation.

Best regards,
Demir Ajvazi

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Hey Aaron,

Thank you again for reaching out to me. I really appreciate the opportunity and I’d love to come on your show and talk with you more about my podcast and everything I do. I always enjoy connecting with other podcasters and content creators, especially people who are passionate about building something unique.

My name is Meisha and I’m the creator and host of Meisha’s Music Element Podcast. My show is a mix of music, humor, real conversations, personality, chaos, motivation, and everyday life. I like to describe it as turning random thoughts and real-life moments into entertainment. One episode might be deep and emotional, the next might be hilarious and completely unfiltered. I talk about music, artists, life experiences, motherhood, relationships, trending topics, funny situations, and honestly whatever vibe I’m feeling in the moment.

My personality is very energetic, witty, outspoken, funny, emotional, creative, and sometimes dramatic in the best way possible lol. I love making people laugh, feel seen, think differently, and escape real life for a little while when they listen to my content. My platform is all about authenticity and personality.

I also interview artists from different genres and backgrounds and try to show the human side behind the music and creativity. I love giving people a space to tell their stories and express themselves freely.

Here are my social media pages and platforms:

Facebook:
Meisha’s Music Element Podcast

Instagram:
@meisha_g247

X/Twitter Personal:
@Meisha2025

X/Twitter Podcast Page:
@Element700

Location:
Raleigh, North Carolina

Thank you again for thinking of me for your show. I look forward to talking more with you and hopefully setting something up soon.

— Meisha 💜🎙🏾

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Aaron, thank you for your interest in Sideways Innovations, LLC. My name is Stephen Poirier, alias Blind Yoda. I noticed at a very young age that I could not see well but my teachers thought I was simply lazy. When I told them I could not see through the cloud on the chalkboard, they did not understand. This was confusing to me and my family since I knew I had a problem. I saw many specialists without results. Though I was able to participate in sports, my academic abilities were very limited. When I turned 14 years old, I was finally diagnosed with Juvenile Macular Degeneration which is now known as Stargardt disease. At this point I was declared legally blind. Music became my only focus, mainly drumming. At 22 years of age I finally had to accept my blindness and attended the Carroll Center for the Blind. During one of my mobility trainings, a man taking a right hand turn hit my blind mobility cane, knocking it out of my hand. He stopped and said, “I did not see you”. I replied, “If I had a light saber you would have seen me and I would have cut your car in half!” Hence, the concept of the Light Sword was born! Fast forward 40 or so years later, I created the Light Sword Blind Mobility Cane out of a modified light saber. Today, my focus is to bring vision to the sighted, enabling them to better see the blind community at night in a cool and stylish way.


Looking forward to talking with you!


Stephen

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