Deafblind Harvard Law Student Encourages Perkins Student on MLK Day

The following release was sent out by Perkins School for the Blind:

Haben Girma, a Harvard Law student who is deafblind, encouraged students at Perkins School for the Blind to become advocates for the rights of people with disabilities.

Speaking to more than 200 students and staff at the school’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day assembly on Monday, Girma said, “We need more disability rights advocates. We need more Helen Kellers. When you assert your dreams, your needs, and your rights, opportunities will become limitless.”

Girma, who expects to graduate from Harvard Law School in 2013, is an example of what a person with disabilities can accomplish. She did volunteer work in Africa, graduated magna cum laude from college, and lobbied members of Congress in Washington, D.C., for passage of legislation to expand opportunities for people who are deafblind.