Neva Fairchild and the Motorola Q

I am the National Aging & Vision Loss Specialist for the American Foundation for the Blind, where I have worked since 2008. I oversaw Esther’s Place at the AFB Center on Vision Loss until that program was moved to Envision Dallas, in 2019. My work for the next year focused on the issues of aging and vision loss, with an emphasis on transportation. In July, 2020, I began coordinating the AFB Blind Leaders Development Program. I oversee the planning & execution of leadership development training for each cohort of the program.

Prior to working for AFB, I was employed for over 15 years by the state of Texas as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor at Texas Commission for the Blind and as an Employment Assistance Specialist for the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services. I began my career in vision rehabilitation at the Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc., as a Vocational Evaluator in 1991.

I went directly from high school to Texas A&M University, at age 18 as a student with extremely low vision and no blindness skills. My vision loss at that time was thought to be due to Retinopathy of Prematurity. I left school three years later to be a stay-at-home mom after my husband completed his master’s degree. After nine years at home, when both of my children were in school, and with the help of the Texas Commission for the Blind, I returned to college and completed my Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Science in 1988 and my Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling Psychology in 1992 at The University of Texas Southwestern Med… Read More