Coping with Blindness: Scholarships

Coping with Blindness: Scholarships

There are many disability scholarships for people with disabilities who wants to attend college. In the past, it was difficult for a person with a visual impairment to attend college—there were not any technological advances to help with reading texts and college entrance exams were a burden on students with a visual impairment.

With the new technology allowing people with a visual impairment the ease of reading text, more people are able to attend college. Many places offer scholarships for the visually impaired. These scholarships generally have very little in the way of requirements.

The National Federation of the Blind offers many scholarships for the visually impaired, ranging from a few thousand dollars to up to $12,000. The Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship is given once a year by the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults and is a $12,000 scholarship. This scholarship is for students who wish to work in the area of changing perceptions regarding the capabilities of the blind in the United States and throughout the world. No additional restrictions are placed on this scholarship.

The Charles and Melva T. Owen Memorial Scholarship is a $10,000 scholarship awarded in honor of Charles Owen in loving memory of his blind wife. There is no limitation on the field of study, except that “it shall be directed towards attaining financial independence and shall exclude religion and those seeking only to further general or cultural education.”

The National Federation of the Blind offers two $7,000 scholarships with no restrictions (other than having a visual impairment).

The Hank LeBonne Scholarship is offered to people with a visual impairment. There are four scholarships available, each for $5,000. There are no other restrictions. These scholarships are offered by Mr. LeBonne because he loved life and loved the National Federation of the Blind. His last wish was that his remaining assets were to be used to help people with a visual impairment have the same opportunities in life that he enjoyed.