An Extension of Me: #BlindTok E:13

In Episode 13 of #BlindTok, Murray Elbourn and Tammy Jackson welcome their first-ever international guest, Joe, joining from across the pond after a friendly squabble over whether a well-traveled American could fairly claim the title first. Joe takes the gang back to an inherited eye condition that showed up early and moved fast, a year-long misdiagnosis that landed harder on her family than on her, and the odd limbo of being a teenager stuck between the print world and the Braille world while fitting neatly into neither. There is real warmth and plenty of humour here, sitting right alongside a stretch so low that many listeners will recognise it from their own story.Then the turning points arrive, and Joe's energy lifts right off the page, from the guide dog harness that finally made her feel unstoppable to a career spent meeting newly diagnosed patients on their hardest day and pointing them somewhere better. Expect spirited talk about masking, self-advocacy and a recent clash over her guide dog that lit a fire she has no plans to put out, plus a gloriously free glide across an empty ice rink, a partner forever shoving a phone at full brightness into her face, and Tammy and Murray swapping notes on cruises, nervous spouses and shocking luck at the baseball. By the end, Joe's take on sight loss, that it is not the end of the road but a different way of travelling it, lands with the quiet force of someone who is only just getting started.Other ResourcesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/murrayaelbourn/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@murrayamerability?_r=1&_t=ZP-97LlF79lgCNLinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/murray-elbourn-69576543?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_appAmerability Website: https: https://www.amerability.com/Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AmerabilityAbout Amerability: Amerability was born from a simple but powerful idea: that blind and low vision individuals deserve more than support — they deserve the tools, mentorship, and real-world experiences to build lives on their own terms. Founded by CEO Murray Elbourn, a legally blind leader with more than 25 years of executive experience in disability sports and workforce development across two continents, Amerability combines lived experience with professional expertise to create programs that don't just prepare participants for the world — they prove the world is already theirs to conquer. Murray's journey from captaining Australia's national goalball team and leading Disability Sports Australia as CEO to founding Amerability in the United States gave him a firsthand understanding of what blind and low vision individuals truly need to succeed: not sympathy, but strategy, structure, and someone who has walked the path before them. That philosophy is woven into everything Amerability does, from the way programs are designed to the mentors who deliver them, ensuring that every participant is met with high expectations, practical guidance, and the unwavering belief that their goals are within reach.