Many of us know what it’s like to raise a son. Some of us have even had the experience of raising more than one. But Shelley Bower of Quincy, California is busy raising four. That may not seem like a big deal, since there are lots of parents with four kids in their home. So what makes Shelley different? Well, for starters she has low-vision. But what really caught our attention is that Shelley Bower is a low-vision mom who with her husband is raising four low-vision sons.

When someone loses their vision, question number one is often "How am I going to continue?" Continue to experience new things? Continue working in a job that I enjoy? Continue to work toward life goals? As we’ve heard previously from ZoomText users, perseverance is helpful in overcoming the challenges of being visually impaired.

In 1995, Aaron Beckwith was a retired businessman with a great life. Aaron and his wife Jane had moved from New Jersey to Boynton Beach, Florida where they could enjoy tennis and golf year round. Aaron also enjoyed marble sculpting and working with computers.

Born with Congenital Cataracts, Chris Millsap has been visually impaired all his life. With his vision corrected to 20/80 and his condition stable, Chris graduated from the University of West Florida with a degree in Computer Information Systems. After graduation he secured employment with the biggest name in computing - Microsoft.

At the age of 10, Jose Tamayo, who was born with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), moved with his parents from Cuba to America. Despite his young age and visual impairment, Jose adapted easily to what could have been a tough transition for any child. Jose and his family settled in Miami, where he grew up and attended public schools.

Dr. Joseph L. Fontenot has been a practicing cardiologist and vision rehabilitation specialist for over 26 years. In his early years he practiced cardiology exclusively, establishing himself in Alabama, the state he calls home. But the onset of a visual-impairment would eventually change the course of his career.

Cindi's story begins with an unusual family circumstance. She is one of three children in her family born with Stargardt's Disease, a rare form of juvenile Macular Degeneration. Cindi and her affected brother and sister have varying degrees of vision loss. For Cindi, only recently has Stargardt's begun to seriously effect her vision and her ability to perform at her job.

As a child growing up in the wilds of the Northern Canadian Rockies, Hunter Silvastorm and his family needed independence, drive and determination to prosper in a difficult environment. His father, whom Hunter refers to as simply "a free thinker", moved Hunter's family from Montreal to Alberta when Hunter was still an infant. Hunter became a free thinker and voracious reader, devouring book after book, oblivious to the rare eye disease that would eventually steal his sight.

Mark Davis relies on ZoomText to help run his ski touring business in Vail, Colorado. "Just about every aspect of Foresight Ski Guides - from grant writing and web site building to scheduling our volunteer ski guides - revolves around my being able to read my computer screen," said Davis. "ZoomText is the clearest magnification on the market and allows me to share the sport I love with people who may have thought their skiing days were over."