Currently a program associate at the Disability Rights Fund and a Marshall Memorial Fellow (the leadership development program of the German Marshall Fund chooses only 75 fellows each year from 35 nations), Thompson — who was born
with Usher Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes
deaf blindness — shared her personal journey and
spoke about her work advancing rights for
people with disabilities around the world.
A problem could arise
with biblical literalists, but one could address that by suggesting that some fictional stories have great value in teaching some lesson or illuminating some aspect of the «human (or other sentient being) condition», and also address actual historical events in the translation of the bible — or one could be more abbrassive and ask «do you believe
deaf people can't be saved» (see one of Paul's letters, and the history of the Catholic Church)-- oh, you don't — so when you said you were a literalist, you were
speaking figuratively?»