Meet 25-year-old lady who becomes the first-ever blind and deaf person to graduate from US university

Haben Girma, 25, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, became the first blind and deaf person to get a law degree from Harvard Law School.

Despite being both blind and deaf, Haben Girma, who has become a global celebrity for her extraordinary achievement, graduated with a Juris Doctor degree (J.D.) from Harvard Law School in 2013.

As a result of an unidentified degenerative disease that started in early childhood, Girma lost both her hearing and vision, keeping only 1% of her vision.

She benefited from civil rights laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, in her early years in the country.

She also had accessible technology, such as a digital Braille device to aid her to read. She graduated from Skyline High School in the United States at the age of 17.

According to Habren autobiography where she detailed how she had to learn how to navigate in a world designed for people who see and hear, she defines disability as an opportunity for innovation.

She explained that she learned non-visual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw.

She explained that her hearing translator, Arianne, types what people say and do into a special computer that wirelessly feeds the information to a Braille computer Girma holds.

She runs her fingers over the dots to read, and she responds through speech. “My parents came to the United States seeking opportunities, and they found it’s not geography that creates freedom; it’s people and communities that create freedom,” Girma said.

Speaking about her accomplishments at Harvard Law School, Girma explained she hadn’t planned to apply to Harvard Law, which she thought would be “snobbish,” but an advisor warned her that “a lot of non-disabled law graduates are struggling to get a job” so she should apply to top schools.

She continued by saying that, at the time, neither Harvard nor she knew how a deafblind person might graduate from the university.

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However, Girma broke the curse and earned a degree with honors. She has also taken part in a number of cases on behalf of those who are disabled, and she currently concentrates on advocacy work.

President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and President Obama have all recognized Girma for her achievements and named her a White House Champion of Change in 2015.

She also made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and was given the Helen Keller Achievement Award.