Latest Stories
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Sydney Opera House Tactile Tour
How does a building look like sails, shells, and boats? The Sydney Opera House recently installed a tactile model for blind guests! Descriptive Transcript Haben (Voiceover): The Sydney Opera House…
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Haben Speaks at the University of New South Wales
Will you try vegemite? ABC journalist Nas Campanella posed this question during our keynote at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. We discovered many similarities in the Australian…
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You have a Voice: Excerpt from the White House Disability Pride Month Convening
You have a Voice: Excerpt from the White House Disability Pride Month Convening
They tried to silence her. They told her to limit her voice to disability issues, but Helen Keller never stopped advocating for human rights. You, too, have a voice. Keep…
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
