Visionary Solutions Newsletter #7

Visually Impaired Cricket Team Feels Like Home (BBC, June 17th 2026)

Willow Carr is a rising star in the world of Visually-Impaired Cricket (or simply ‘VI Cricket’). The 23-year-old is from Surrey, England in the village of Worplesdon, growing up with optic atrophy: a condition that caused her optic nerve to deteriorate. She began playing the sport as part of the Pirbright Cricket Club back in May, and has since been representing her county.

In order to make cricket more accessible for the players, bowlers shout to the batters and wicket keepers before a ball is thrown, and the ball itself is covered with bearings to make it easier to grab and feel. Carr describes how welcome she feels in the training sessions alone, saying quote; “It feels like a little family, and I think that’s so nice.” Coach Chris Smith, who runs the Pirbright Cricket Club, says that “We want everyone to have access to cricket…if we can grow this, maybe we can have three or four teams, so people don’t have to travel so far.”

Read full story here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8rje5kr70o

Vermont is not educating students with disabilities up to federal standards (VITDigger, July 22nd 2026)

According to the U.S Department of Education, the state of Vermont is not complying with the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (or IDEA), which helps guarantee public education opportunities to disabled children. The assessment itself is based off data on math and reading proficiency as well as records of disabled students graduating or dropping out from the 2023-2024 school year. It was recorded that Vermont's public schools were meeting less than sixty-percent of accountability measures that are required by federal law, meaning that the schools could potentially lose much federal funding if things are not corrected within two years.

It has been 8 years since Vermont passed their IDEA assessment, rating the state as "needing assistance" since then. The situation has been especially messy due to the pandemic, and even more so with the Vermont Agency of Education's having no Special Education Director since January of this year. This leads to many school districts with no proper capacity and resources to help disabled students, despite the increased percentage of said disabled students. Executive Director of the Vermont Family Network Karen Price spoke out stating quote, "It is a weakness for us not to have that expertise at the state level when it is needed."

Read full story here: https://vtdigger.org/2026/07/22/vermont-is-not-educating-students-with-disabilities-up-to-federal-standards/