Madison Kolb: How one College Freshman used her Ocutech bioptic to live out her musical dreams

This is the story of Madison Kolb, a freshman in college who has defied all odds to get to where she is today.

Madison may be only 18 years old, but the challenges and experiences she has faced in her life have earned her a wisdom that goes beyond her age. She has triumphed over and over against the obstacles in her way, trailblazing with poise, passion, and determination.

Her first obstacle was her diagnosis of albinism. She was four months old when doctors determined that she had reduced vision. At 18 months, she was diagnosed as legally blind. Her family had to hire a mobility specialist, vision therapist and a physical therapist to help her avoid the developmental delays she might experience due to her low vision.

At three years old, doctors further discovered that Madison, due to her albinism, had Nystagmus and Strabismus and as a result she had no depth perception. Nystagmus is the name given for eyes that flutter uncontrollably from side to side, and strabismus is the name for a turned eye. She’s had surgery twice to tighten the muscles to reduce how much they shake and turn. These surgeries were not easy to endure at age 14, and she missed many days of school during her recovery.

Moreover, Madison’s albinism meant she could easily bruise her pale skin. Having low vision, especially as a child, led to many instances of bruising and therefore uncomfortable conversations at school.

“Imagine you’re surrounded by other kids who have never seen a person like me before— going to school with them won’t ever be easy and so I was bullied constantly,” Madison explained. “I had a CCTV (a computer monitor) attached to a camera and a remote control, and I had to leave classes early to transfer my 10 pounds of equipment from one classroom to another, and I always had to sit by myself near an outlet so I could plug it in… it wasn’t an ideal situation.”

Madison was never put in a special education classroom and never had a teacher at school daily to help her navigate her low vision challenges; the most she ever had was a low vision teacher who visited once every 6 weeks to check up on her.

At a very young age Madison needed to learn how to cope with these challenges and how to become her own advocate and role model. Despite the setbacks, and maybe because of them, she became an accomplished student and on the honor roll.

Then the next obstacle arrived: dealing with teachers and companies that hindered her education.

“There were two stand-out moments for me: the first being the College Board. For state testing, I called 9 months in advance of my test asking for enlarged test packets so that I can see the words, but they wrote me a 3-page letter back saying they couldn’t provide a large print test and so I couldn’t get the AP credit others could just because they refused to accommodate me,” Madison remembered, sadly. “The second was my sign language teacher who refused to do the same; she taught a class about disability but unfortunately, she still wouldn’t accommodate my disability needs to have enlarged texts. Many tears and principal visits later, I had to drop the class.”

But there was light at the end of the tunnel: and it came in the form of Ocutech bioptics.

It all started when Madison felt the deep need to finally feel independent. She wanted to learn to drive and open a world of opportunities for herself— and so she asked her optometrist, Dr. Stephanie Fleming, what options she had.

Dr. Fleming fitted Madison for Ocutech bioptics in 2020 and her vision with the telescopic lenses increased to 20/40—good enough to see and read almost anything. The experience, she said, was life changing.

For one, ever since the fourth grade, Madison wanted to pursue music as a career. She was in orchestra classes throughout elementary and middle school, playing the viola, but had to deal with her cumbersome CCTV to view the music.

“With Ocutech, I didn’t have to sit away from any of the other students because of my equipment and I was able to use regular sheet music which meant I could keep up with the rest of the band,” Madison shared. “It also meant I could make my own dinner, drive to school, drive myself to work, earn an income as well as immerse myself better socially in regular classes by sitting with students at the desks rather than on the side all by myself!”

For Madison, getting her license was a significant milestone because of the independence she was able to acquire. She was even able to drive herself to an audition as a music therapy major at Texas Women’s University. With her bioptics in tow, she was able to nail it!

Today, Madison is a big advocate for low vision students at her school, even helping professors and her music teachers learn about the struggles she faces and how other stud

ents in their classes could benefit from certain vision accommodations like enlarging sheet music, enlarging any distributed paper, and what color markers are helpful to use.

When it comes to advice, Madison wants all individuals with reduced vision to know that they should always use their voice to advocate for themselves and to share with others in the community their challenges and experiences. She wants all those who live with low vision to know all the options available to enhance their vision, their opportunities, and their lives.

“For me, Ocutech bioptics gave me ability— it’s as simple as that!” she said, smiling. “Anything I wasn’t capable of doing before, I was suddenly able to and that is just priceless.”