Latest Stories
-
International Guide Dog Day
Happy International Guide Dog Day! Gifts made to The Seeing Eye in honor of the day will be doubled! Descriptive Transcript Haben and her Seeing Eye dog Mylo walk through…
-
Disability Allyship: Milana Vayntrub & Haben Girma
Disability allyship has two crucial pillars: 1. Ask disabled people what we need, and 2. Based on those answers, take action to remove barriers. Actor, director, and comedian Milana Vayntrub…
-
How the Hand of Ableism Hijacks a Touch Tour for Blind Patrons at the British Museum
The British Museum invites blind patrons to touch ancient sculptures, but when I placed my hands on one of these treasures an angry sighted person started harassing me. Video of…
Author
The New York Times, Oprah Magazine, and TODAY Show featured her best-selling book, Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law. The story takes readers on adventures around the world, including her parents’ homes in Eritrea and Ethiopia, building a school under the scorching Saharan sun, training with a guide dog in New Jersey, climbing an iceberg in Alaska, fighting for blind readers at a courthouse in Vermont, and talking with President Obama at The White House. Warm, funny, thoughtful, and uplifting, this captivating book is a testament to Haben’s determination to resist isolation and find the keys to connection.
Speaking & Consulting
Choosing accessibility is not just about legal requirements, it’s also good business. Disabled people are the largest historically underrepresented group, numbering over one billion worldwide. Reaching a group of this scale creates value for everyone. Organizations that prioritize accessibility benefit by gaining access to a much larger audience, improving the experience for both disabled and nondisabled people, and facilitating further innovation. Haben explains in this article, originally published in the Financial Times, “People with disabilities drive innovation.”
Haben believes disability is an opportunity for innovation, and she travels the world teaching organizations the importance of choosing inclusion. She has spoken at Apple, Bottega Veneta, Disney, Gartner, Oxford University, Visa, and so many more. Her engaging presentations ignite audiences to make positive changes in their communities.
What People Say About Haben
“Thank you so much, Haben, for that amazing introduction, and for working to make sure that students with disabilities get a world-class education, just like you have. So please give Haben a big round of applause.”
President Barack Obama
“She got out of Harvard, and you know what she’s doing? She is an advocate for opportunities for people with disabilities. Because in fact they have enormous ability, and all over the world that ability is going untapped, diminishing their lives and the rest of ours as well. So let’s give her a big round!”
President Bill Clinton
“I wish to take this opportunity, as well, to recognize you for your lifelong advocacy for people with disabilities, especially for the deaf-blind community. As a teacher and Prime Minister, I am particularly grateful for your work to ensure that students with disabilities have access to the tools they need to thrive at school and beyond. When our society is inclusive, we are all better off.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau