Assistive Device Gives a Confident Voice to a Young Influencer: The Fairy Tale of Sadaya Paige

Sadaya Paige is only 11 years old and already a star on social media with close to 100K followers. At first glance, you might see a sweet girl with a big smile and a cute outfit, playing the piano with the voice of an angel.  As you get to know Sadaya better and better, you’ll realize just how special she is – and how many obstacles she has had to overcome to achieve her goals. 

Discovering an Eye Disease & Accepting the Inevitable

Sadaya was born with Septo-optic dysplasia, a rare disorder characterized by abnormal development of the optic disk. As a result of this illness, Sadaya is blind. The revelation, hours after her birth, shattered her mother, Dora. As a single mother, it wasn’t easy for Dora to deal with Sadaya’s condition and hospitalizations.  

After years of despair, Dora reached out for the support she deserved and needed. 

From Means of Connection to Inspiration 

When Sadaya was five, Dora started Sadaya’s Instagram account in the hopes of connecting with families who could understand her. Unfortunately, Dora experienced a lot of negative comments about Sadaya’s eyes and criticism about how she raised Sadaya. 

Nevertheless, Sadaya and Dora love sharing their journey on social media because they know there are people out there who find their story motivating and inspiring, and that makes her feel happy. 

On her Instagram, Sadaya shares her successes and the challenges of being visually impaired in order to raise awareness. She says doing things around the house on her own without her mom’s help, like washing dishes or doing her hair, and navigating around unfamiliar places is a struggle. Thankfully, Sadaya now uses  OrCam MyEye in her daily life to help her read print on almost everything. Yet, the ignorance of others can hurt as much as physical pain. Sadaya deals with people thinking her white cane is a toy because it is covered in pink, or thinking she can’t hear them because she is blind. 

@sadayapaigeofficial

@orcam.tech #ad #paidpartnership #BigInkEnergy #blind #blindkid

♬ original sound – Sadaya Paige

“OrCam MyEye Has Given Me the Confidence I Need”

Accepting the diagnosis and Sadaya’s eye condition opened up a whole new world of possibilities, including OrCam MyEye, a smart tech device for the blind or visually impaired. Now Sadaya can read digital and printed text with confidence, know when her mother enters the room with the facial recognition feature, and tell the time and get the date with a hand gesture. 

Today, Sadaya loves to play the piano, sings, and travel – and has even started to get voice lessons from the legendary Cheryl Porter. Sadaya is empowered by the support her mother, followers, and assistive device have given her. She believes we are capable of independence and says it is okay to feel proud of our diagnosis. The more we discuss our concerns, talk about the obstacles we’ve overcome, and share insights about the different resources that have helped us, the more we will create a more accessible world for everyone. 

The Gift of Independence

OrCam MyEye is a voice-activated assistive device, designed for the blind or visually impaired. This assistive technology will help you or your loved ones read street signs, documents (printed or digital), identify barcodes, money notes and products and will even recognize people! It’s small and compact so you can take it with you anywhere you go (no internet connection is needed) and use it wherever and whenever you need!