A member interest story – from Matthew Cioffi
In late December, through an untimely fall, I found myself untethered from my usual place in front of a computer screen and instead listening to many new podcasts. Due to this serendipitous event, I stumbled happily upon a podcast “Blind Guy Travels – Brick by Brick” on Radiotopia. What caught my ear was that it was about Legos; and I’m a sucker for anything Legos! Legos inspired me when growing up – enticing my imagination to create unbounded worlds of play. And when we had kids, Legos were the go-to toy, bringing hours upon hours of fun.
If you’ve ever had the joy of receiving a Lego kit, you know that the directions are all in pictures. There are no words or text. No matter what language you speak, kids (and parents) around the word could build it. But if you were blind, the pictures could not help. 🙁
This is where you need to listen to Matthew Shifrin (from Newton, MA) as he tells his stories in the “Blind Guy Travels” podcast on Radiotopia Presents. Episode 2 is the story about the Lego innovation. Through Matthew’s gift of composition, sound, and story telling, you will hear how this and other barriers have been broken.
So, grab those headphones or earbuds, close your eyes, and be ready to be amazed!
TED Talk
Matthew Shifrin also did a TED talk at TEDxNatick at Suffolk University in January 2020 on the Power of Language and its effects on movies, Legos, comics and more. (Click here to view the video)
About Matthew Shifrin
Matthew Shifrin grew up in Newton, MA and is a graduate from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston Massachusetts where he studied voice and composition. His LinkedIn profile states he “creates solutions to make blind peoples’ lives more interesting.”
Bio excerpt from Radiotopia Presents:
“He is the founder of Lego for the Blind, a system that allows blind and visually impaired people to build Lego sets independently. He is a first place winner of MIT’s Creative Arts Competition to support his work on virtual reality technology that enables blind people to enjoy movies. An avid rock climber, Matthew also enjoys playing the accordion, listening to podcasts, reading comic books, and is fluent in English and Russian.”
