Knowbility is excited to welcome Tommy Edison as keynote speaker at AccessU 2015 this May.
“Being blind since birth, one of the greatest challenges I faced was accepting that I'm visually impaired.” Tommy told us. “As I became an adult, I was forced to face my own reality and needed to make a choice - either embrace my blindness and live a happier life or do something I might regret. Eventually I chose the former which led me to a long career in radio, living my dream of reviewing movies, and sharing my experiences as a blind person to a worldwide audience. In my talk, I explain how I faced my greatest obstacle - myself.”
Popularly known as The Blind Film Critic, Tommy’s YouTube channel, TommyEdisonXP (https://www.youtube.com/user/TommyEdisonXP) has 195,000 subscribers and garners a million views per video. By addressing the barriers he faced, Tommy will illuminate the AccessU theme of “Put People First.”
In my talk, I explain how I faced my greatest obstacle - myself.
“I watch movies and pay attention to them in a different way than sighted people do”, says Tommy, who offers a unique take on movies, audio and daily life through his signature sense of humor.
In addition to being the Blind Film Critic and a YouTube celebrity, Tommy has been a radio professional for nearly 25 years, having spent the last 19 at STAR 99.9 FM in Connecticut as a traffic reporter.
Tommy Edison was endorsed by film critic and journalist Roger Ebert and his reviews were posted on the Chicago Sun-Times blog and on Tosh.0, Comedy Central’s blog. Tommy has also been featured on various TV and news channels including CNN and Headline News. Visit his website http://blindfilmcritic.com/ for more information.
“I’m not distracted by all the beautiful shots and attractive people. I watch a movie for the writing and acting.”
Tommy will also host a special event “Film & Audio Description with the Blind Film Critic” at Alamo Draft house as part of the conference.
AccessU participants are invited to events organized as part of the conference including a Film & Audio Description with Tommy Edison at Alamo Draft house, a bicycle pub crawl in Austin and networking luncheons.