Marla Runyan: The Blind Olympian
Marla Runyan is a very talented runner who made it to the olympics, and she is blind. Marla is also an ambassador for the Perkins School for the Blind, the first school specifically dedicated for the blind in the United States. (Horsfield) She has also used her achievements to give back to the community by being a teacher, mentor, motivator, and educator to other people with physical disabilities (Horsfield). Marla Runyan became blind when she was only a child, but she persisted and went on to become the first blind woman to compete in the Olympic Games.
Marla grew up in Camarillo, California. Marla once said that she didn’t have a Barbie-and-Ken childhood, meaning …show more content…
Then, a disease attacked Marla’s retinas when she was just about to go into fourth grade. Marla lost most of her vision from this disease (Runyan 4). They figured out that Marla had a disease called Stargardt’s. Stargardt’s disease usually affects kids between the ages of 7 and 12. It causes the victim to have near total blindness, and the effects are irreversible. The disease is rare, and it strikes only one of about 15,000 people (Runyan 42). Marla sees a permanent blot in front of her eyes. It is a scar tissue in her retina (Runyan 6). Stargardt’s causes Marla to see artificial light ten times brighter than normal (Runyan 31). Marla’s mother, Valerie, was doing everything she could do help Marla with her blindness. She bought many visual aids to try and fix the problems (Runyan 47). Valerie was so dedicated on fixing Marla’s disease. As Marla said, her mom went into Supermom mode (Runyan 48). As a young child, Marla used running as a way to cope with her blindness. She felt like to fastest kid in the world when she was outside (Runyan 56). However, Marla was starting to get angry at the world for making her blind. As a child, she hated the world for this reason. Marla thought that her eyes were only bad because the environment caused her to not see anything, and it wasn’t her vision’s fault. She said,“To me, my vision wasn’t impaired. My environment was”(Runyan …show more content…
Marla was incredibly smart. She had a 3.98 grade point average. That is an amazing grade point average, and it shows that Marla didn’t excuse herself from working just because she had a disability (Runyan 103). Marla went to San Diego State University. Marla had many problems in college, and she didn’t get a lot of help with her disability (Runyan 108). Marla tried everything she could to help her problems, but it wouldn’t work. In every class, she had to do something to adapt. She would hire readers to help her, and they would lose her books or not show up (Runyan 108). During college, no matter how hard Marla tried to compensate, she was always behind (Runyan 108). Marla was going through a very hard time in her life. She was blind, and she couldn’t keep up with her work in college. She tried everything she could to get help, but nothing was working. By running, Marla escaped all of that and she felt free. Running track saved Marla (Runyan
Marla Runyan is a very talented runner who made it to the olympics, and she is blind. Marla is also an ambassador for the Perkins School for the Blind, the first school specifically dedicated for the blind in the United States. (Horsfield) She has also used her achievements to give back to the community by being a teacher, mentor, motivator, and educator to other people with physical disabilities (Horsfield). Marla Runyan became blind when she was only a child, but she persisted and went on to become the first blind woman to compete in the Olympic Games.
Marla grew up in Camarillo, California. Marla once said that she didn’t have a Barbie-and-Ken childhood, meaning …show more content…
Then, a disease attacked Marla’s retinas when she was just about to go into fourth grade. Marla lost most of her vision from this disease (Runyan 4). They figured out that Marla had a disease called Stargardt’s. Stargardt’s disease usually affects kids between the ages of 7 and 12. It causes the victim to have near total blindness, and the effects are irreversible. The disease is rare, and it strikes only one of about 15,000 people (Runyan 42). Marla sees a permanent blot in front of her eyes. It is a scar tissue in her retina (Runyan 6). Stargardt’s causes Marla to see artificial light ten times brighter than normal (Runyan 31). Marla’s mother, Valerie, was doing everything she could do help Marla with her blindness. She bought many visual aids to try and fix the problems (Runyan 47). Valerie was so dedicated on fixing Marla’s disease. As Marla said, her mom went into Supermom mode (Runyan 48). As a young child, Marla used running as a way to cope with her blindness. She felt like to fastest kid in the world when she was outside (Runyan 56). However, Marla was starting to get angry at the world for making her blind. As a child, she hated the world for this reason. Marla thought that her eyes were only bad because the environment caused her to not see anything, and it wasn’t her vision’s fault. She said,“To me, my vision wasn’t impaired. My environment was”(Runyan …show more content…
Marla was incredibly smart. She had a 3.98 grade point average. That is an amazing grade point average, and it shows that Marla didn’t excuse herself from working just because she had a disability (Runyan 103). Marla went to San Diego State University. Marla had many problems in college, and she didn’t get a lot of help with her disability (Runyan 108). Marla tried everything she could to help her problems, but it wouldn’t work. In every class, she had to do something to adapt. She would hire readers to help her, and they would lose her books or not show up (Runyan 108). During college, no matter how hard Marla tried to compensate, she was always behind (Runyan 108). Marla was going through a very hard time in her life. She was blind, and she couldn’t keep up with her work in college. She tried everything she could to get help, but nothing was working. By running, Marla escaped all of that and she felt free. Running track saved Marla (Runyan