Adam Higby – Francis Tuttle Technology Center
THEN: A young man who had been diagnosed with optic nerve dystrophy at the age of 5, a disease Adam Higby inherited from his grandfather. The disease deteriorates the optic nerve because of poor blood flow. Despite Adam’s vision impairment he wanted to be a machinist, and Francis Tuttle Technology Center worked with NewView Oklahoma to make that happen. NewView Oklahoma is a nonprofit organization that helps vision-impaired individuals through rehabilitation, employment and community outreach. Their staff helped make classes in Francis Tuttle’s precision machining/computer numerical control program more accessible.
Adam was the first vision-impaired student to graduate from the three-year machining program, where he learned:
- Blueprint reading, basic metallurgy and precision measurement.
- To operate machines, including horizontal and vertical mills.
- To operate computer numerical control machine centers.
NOW: A full-time machinist for NewView Oklahoma. The nonprofit’s CEO called Adam a “trailblazer.” Adam and his wife have a 5-year-old son.
“Don’t let people tell you that you can’t do something. You’ve got no excuse.”
Adam Higby
