Joan Brock, a teacher of the blind who went blind herself in three weeks, has translated that tragedy into a career as author and motivational speaker. Joan relates thoughts and feelings in her amazing story about coping with life and its challenges. She moves listeners through tears and laughter with a focus on facing challenges with courage and humor.

With a degree in recreational therapy, Joan's professional career began at a correctional facility and mental hospital. She then served in several capacities at a state school for blind children, including certified braillist and public speaker to educate audiences about visual impairment.

Joan's courageous story hits home when she explains that she lost her sight in less than three weeks because of a rare disease, ironically while working at a school for blind children. Five years later she lost her spouse to cancer, leaving her a widowed, disabled parent in her thirties.

Now remarried, Joan tells how she tackles the world in a "differently abled" manner. Her presentation is entitled, "More than Meets the Eye."

Her presentation is a synopsis of her book, More Than Meets the Eye, co-written with Derek L. Gill. Brock tells about her survival through the terrible years of losing her sight and the readjustments that tragedy necessitated. She tells about the courage of her daughter and the strength her child gave her to continue.

Joan and her daughter eventually moved back to Bakersfield to be near her parents. She enrolled in classes and took a job teaching the blind again. She started using a talking computer and Visual Tek, a device that enlarges type 40 times so she can read and write. She became reacquainted with Jim Brock, a butterfly expert whom she knew briefly in high school and married in 1992.

Soon she started retelling her story, and her ability to captivate audiences landed her on stage at a meeting of the Million Dollar Round Table, an international organization of business executives.

Since then she has become a full-time motivational speaker.