[NFB-Muslims] Introduction

[Ronza Othman]

Salam Brother Idrees,

Nice to meet you.  Thanks for sharing your story.  Where do you live now?  

 

Regards,

Ronza

 

 

 

Ronza Othman, President

National Federation of the Blind of Maryland

443-426-4110

Pronouns: she, her, hers

 

From: NFB-Muslims <nfb-muslims-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Kristopher
Idrees Crawley via NFB-Muslims
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2021 11:05 AM
To: nfb-muslims at nfbnet.org
Cc: kristophericrawley at gmail.com
Subject: [NFB-Muslims] Introduction

 

As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

My name is Kristopher Idrees Crawley, Idrees to my brothers and sisters in
Islam. I recently joined the group and wanted to give a quick introduction.

I was diagnosed with Macular Dystrophy and Rod-Cone Dystrophy at the age of
3, mostly because they did not understand my condition. I began learning
Braille in 2nd grade and was a speed reader by the end of the year. I was
not allowed to use my Braille skills in class because the teachers wanted me
to look as "normal" as possible. I was forced to strain my eyes to read
large print and miss days of school each month due to the headaches
associated with the eye strain. 

I never had great vision and would get very sick if I tried to use my eyes
for anything. Almost 10 years ago I began losing the rest of my vision as
expected. I decided to attend a training center for the blind and I had the
opportunity to train under one of the top O&M instructors in the country
while attending an immersion program. Obviously, it changed my life for the
better. 

I have been involved in blindness rehabilitation agencies in 3 states as
either a consumer or employee. Unfortunately, I decided to step away from
state-run rehabilitation agencies due to the lack of knowledge, limitations,
and negative views of blindness, and blind individuals held by staff at the
highest levels of the agencies I worked with.

I eventually started my own business that focuses on Assistive Technology
training, entrepreneurship, professional development, and independent living
skills. Rehabilitation (and specifically teaching) is a passion of mine. I
feel that Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) blessed me with the skills and
experiences to give back to the blind community, and that is what I plan to
do, however I can.

I was guided to Islam (AlHamdulillah!) only a few months after completing my
program. I wanted to find other blind Muslims and figure out a way to not
only network, but to also bring the message of Islam to the blind and vision
impaired community.

I am happy to find this group, and I look forward to networking and working
with you all to enhance and empower the blind community, inshaAllah.

Please reach out to me and consider me for any projects in the future,
inshaAllah.

I look forward to meeting you all at the next meeting, inshaAllah.

 

 

Kristopher Idrees Crawley

 <https://certification.nvaccess.org/>
<http://www.freedomscientific.com/Certification>
<https://www.zoomtext.com/learning/certification> 

 

 

 

 

 

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