The Freedom Scientific Student of the Month Program features K-12 students living in the U.S. who are blind or visually impaired and use Freedom Scientific technology to achieve educational goals. The Student of the Month for October 2025 is Ollie, a ninth grader from Texas.
Ollie began using JAWS and a Focus 40 Braille display in the seventh grade to complete school assignments and navigate web sites. “Rather than navigating like a sighted peer can with the mouse, I had to learn keyboard commands. Over time, I was able to increase the speech rate and learned to navigate really fast.”
Ollie uses JAWS and the Focus to create and read documents in Google Docs, access files in Google Drive, and complete projects. “JAWS gives me freedom because it’s designed to work with a wide range of apps.”
Ollie is also a member of his school band where he plays the euphonium, a low brass instrument he described as “a baby tuba.” He said one of the best aspects of band is the culture. “It’s a great atmosphere. Everyone takes care of each other.”
Ollie’s favorite subject in school is science. “Right now, I’m taking biology and my favorite part about that is the hands-on labs.”
In his spare time, Ollie enjoys traveling. “Last summer we went to Portugal, which was amazing. I love experiencing new cultures. For example, in Italy, the train stations include accessibility. It was really eye-opening.”
After high school, Ollie plans to attend college and work in software development. “I’d like to do something in software, maybe development, testing, compliance, something definitely in that field. I want to make sure people who are visually impaired can get the software they need, and it is accessible.”
Ollie encourages others who are blind or visually impaired to learn JAWS. “Anything you do in life has a learning curve. Once you start learning the software, sit down with it and do one thing. Add to that and keep practicing to reinforce your skills and it will get easier over time.”
Learn more about Ollie in this video.
Nominate a Student
Complete our nomination form to self-nominate or nominate a student. Visit the Freedom Scientific Student of the Month page for details and watch our blog for the next winner and that student’s story.
Winners receive a $300 Amazon gift card and a five-year license for JAWS, ZoomText, or Fusion. Their story will be featured by Freedom Scientific on our blog and social media—X, (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Mastodon.
In partnership with Computers for the Blind, each winner can also receive a free, refurbished computer along with a free one-year Home Annual license of JAWS or ZoomText, which is already installed. Learn more about Computers for the Blind and their partnership with Freedom Scientific on their order page.
Have questions? Send an email to training@vispero.com.