'Once Upon a Challenge: Hearing is Believing': One Woman's Triumph Over Blindness

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Nov 02, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Nancy Burns was an average 11-year-old sixth grader with 11-year-old concerns, navigating the waters of middle school in Missouri. Everything about her life was ordinary -- that is, until Nancy suddenly and traumatically lost her sight. Now a wife and mother, Burns tells the story of her abrupt loss of vision and subsequent fight to live a normal life in, "Once Upon a Challenge: Hearing is Believing." While losing her site literally overnight due to a freak accident was troubling enough, the reaction of Burns's family only compounded the problem. In denial and not wanting to face the reality of raising a daughter with vision impairment, Burns's mother and grandparents refused to accept the truth.

"When a teacher came to our home to teach me Braille," says Burns, "my grandma told her that it would not be necessary, as she was praying for me and the doctor was going to fix my eyes." After nearly a year of living with her blindness and a family that couldn't accept it, Burns was finally sent to a school for blind students. It was there that she felt hopeful about her future for the first time since she lost her sight; she finally felt as if she was in a place that could give her the life skills she needed to lead an independent, adult life.

She went on to excel in school, earning her bachelors from San Francisco State and receiving her masters in psychology, working for years as a counselor. She advocates strongly on behalf of the visually impaired, knowing the pain, isolation and frustration felt by the blind all too well.

Says Burns, "The real tragedy in my life has never been my lack of vision. The tragedy has been society's attitude toward my blindness." "Once Upon a Challenge: Hearing is Believing" can be purchased at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

About the Author Nancy Burns, a retired counselor, lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with her husband. In her free time she enjoys baking, photography, home decorating and spending time with her two adult sons.

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