Joshua Pearson

Joshua Pearson is a disability rights and inclusion advocate and accessibility evangelist. Acquiring blindness due to prematurity, Josh has always approached life with a desire to challenge people’s perceptions of blindness. He is determined to remove disability stigma through education and awareness. He obtained a B.A. in Communications from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he then worked as director of Assistive Technology/ Accessibility.

Envision Success Project (ESP) begins 5th season with in-person activities

This year marks the Polus Center’s 5th season of the Envision Success Project (ESP), a “Pre- Employment Transition Service” supported by the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB) that provides career exploration, work readiness training, internships, post-high school planning and advocacy skills for teens who are blind or visually impaired.

Using a Person-centered Approach to Build Jordan’s National Rehabilitation Capacity

Eman Al-Shayyab smiling while standing on one leg with her arms raised in front of Polus' and ADT's rehabilitation center in Amman, Jordan. Her raised leg is a prosthetic provided to her by Polus and ADT.
Person-centered services are the opposite of one-size-fits-all services that focus on delivering a single service to a maximum number of people. For Akram Ramini, ADT’s Executive Director, “it is important to take the long view by helping people not only recover from their wounds but to lead meaningful and productive lives, and to become future leaders who will advocate for victims of conflict throughout the world.”
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Jordan
Amman
Prosthetic Services
Training Programs

Bryce Weiler

Bryce Weiler is a sports commentator, co-founder of the Beautiful Lives Project, and an accessibility consultant for the Baltimore Orioles. He earned a Bachelor's in communications and sports management from the University of Evansville and a Master's degree in sports administration. Born four months premature, he developed retinopathy and lost his sight as his retinas detached a few days after birth.

Andrew Leland

Andrew Leland has retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative condition causing tunnel vision. He has written a number of pieces on the experiences of blind and low-vision people while occasionally teaching courses in journalism at UMass Amherst. He started his career as a writer for The Believer, an art and culture magazine. There he began collaborating with KCRW, an LA public radio station, to produce his podcast, The Organist, which ran for 5 years.

Matthew Shifrin

Matthew Shifrin is a musician and inventor with a passion for providing accessible entertainment to blind audiences. Blind since birth, Matthew has been building LEGO sets since his 13th birthday when a family friend gifted him a book of instructions printed in braille. Later, he launched LEGO for the Blind, which provides detailed instructions for various LEGO model sets. These instructions are provided for free on his website, found below, including sets as large at 2,766 pieces. He's now collaborating with LEGO to provide detailed instructions using artificial intelligence.

ESP Work-Based Learning Project: Making Commercials for Way Around

A couple of summers ago, sisters Victoria and Olivia were participating in the Polus Center’s Envision Success Project (ESP). Given Victoria’s interest in filmmaking, and Olivia’s career interests in business, ESP Coordinator Karen Gostenhofer helpled them secure a summer paid work experience with WayAround, a business that was launching WayAround, an app for smart devices that provides on-demand details about everyday things, “The Smart Assistant for People Who are Blind.” The simple tag-and-scan approach lets you quickly and easily identify things around you.

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