A man working at a school for the deaf was walking by a computer lab. He saw a deaf student sitting alone and signing vigorously into thin air. He could see her moving her hands and arms with great force, but there seemed to be no one with whom she was communicating. It turns out that she was cursing her computer. (1) Some of you who work with computers can relate to that. I want to focus for a few moments today on people who have what we sometimes call, handicapping conditions--those who cannot see, cannot hear, the disabled, whatever their situation may be.

Henry Fawcett was a bright, ambitious young Englishman. He was looking forward to a successful future. But tragedy struck in September of 1858. Henry was blinded in both eyes when his father's shotgun misfired while they were on a hu…