SAN DIEGO, CA -- A 27-year-old Deaf-Blind woman decided to challenge herself this weekend when she learned to surf in San Diego, California.
Haben Girma, who was born Blind and Deaf and is now a disability rights attorney, took to the waves on Saturday at Swami's Beach with help from a surf instructor.
'One of the biggest barriers facing people with disabilities are negative attitudes, people assuming that someone who's blind can't do something, or assuming that someone that uses a wheelchair can't do something, but anything's possible,' Girma, from Berkeley, told CBS 8.
So Girma, the first Blind and Deaf Harvard Law School graduate, has decided to keep challenging herself.
'I've decided to explore the question, 'Can I learn to surf?',' Girma said.
Girma was named a White House Champion of Change and has given a TEDx talk on disability advocacy and public-service lawyers.
Her surf instructor, coach Matt Allen of the Maui Surf Academy, was worried about communication, but they persevered and used physical queues to get their timing in sync.
'It's obviously going to be tough to communicate as well as we normally can,' he told CBS 8. 'There's nothing i'd rather do than help someone's dreams come true.'
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