Disability Rights: #BlindTok E:8

In Episode 8 of #BlindTok, Murray Elbourne and Tammy Jackson sit down with Alison DeFranco, an international human rights lawyer whose journey from small-town New York to Jakarta, Mexico City, and a tiny Irish island most people have never heard of started with a question her mom asked over spring break: why are you holding that book so close? What followed was a Stargardt's diagnosis, a wildly unhelpful eye doctor with a knack for terrifying parents in the next room, and the start of a long chapter of hiding, masking, and shooting an alarming number of three-pointers along the way.This one digs into the moments that quietly forge an advocate, from a college admissions decision that went sideways for all the wrong reasons to a New Zealand bus that talked back. Alison shares the airport adventure she swears nobody should ever recreate, the Irish ambassador who insisted she write a book with an unprintable title, and the slow shift from passing as sighted to standing fully in her own story. Funny, sharp, and quietly powerful, it's a conversation about what gets built when you stop apologizing for the way you see the world.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.