DeafBlind Awareness Week 2022 | Mara
Editor’s Note:
On the final day of celebration for Helen Keller DeafBlind Awareness Week, I’m thrilled to present my very good friend Mara Hutchinson. Her story demonstrates the spectrum of blindness or deafblindness in that she was first diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa then a few years later she learned that she had Usher Syndrome (DeafBlindness). Most of the women featured during this week were born deaf or DeafBlind only to find out later on that they were also losing their eyesight which lead to their Usher Syndrome diagnosis.
I have so much respect and admiration for Mara living her life through her Instagram posts. She is one of the most authentic people I know who tells it like it is.
The first thing anyone will notice about Mara is her beauty. She’s a gorgeous and proud Filipino who is extremely fashionable. In many of her photos and videos you will see her always with her white cane and typically with a cup of coffee (one of her vices).
Her love for her familly is evident in nearly all of her content. Recently she, her husband Basil (Bas), and their son Mateo (Bronx) were featured on Canada’s AMI: Accessible Media Inc. It was such a joy seeing the three of them together sharing their story. Mara has also been featured here on Bold Blind Beauty as a Woman On The Move and a Monthly Beauty. You can check out these features at these links:
As mentioned in Monday’s post (DeafBlind Awareness Week 2022 | Sherri), every day this week we shared stories of people within the community who are living with DeafBlindness. Below is a 60-second clip that links to Mara’s AMI feature on YouTube.
We are more than any one characteristic
Mara is testimony to being more than one characteristic. She is a wife, mom, and daughter who is still grieving the loss of her momi. Being able to share this pain because it’s part of her story, on social media, not only shows her strength and courage it’s helpful to others. As an influencer, Mara shows us how we can show up even in our pain and I love her even more because she is so real.
While this week has been about DeafBlindness I really hope that one of the major takeaways is that people with DeafBlindness are people. Society has a tendency to look at people with disabilities as outliers when in fact every person on the planet is different. Differences are not bad and should be celebrated. All of us together are a masterpiece of humanity.
I hope you enjoy Mara’s story and her BBB features. I’d also like to recommend the Helen Keller National Center website as it is a very comprehensive resource.
YouTube Clip
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Image Descriptions:
- Header says “DeafBlind Awareness Week June 26 – July 2, 2022” in white text on a deep mauve background
- Mara in front of a brick building with graffiti. She’s posing with her white cane wering white pants, black sleeveless top, green shoes, black handbag and shades. Her straight dark hair is about jaw length.