Friday 1 July 2022 08:21 AM Nas Campanella: Incredible story of how blind news presenter landed her first ... trends now
An inspirational blind newsreader has been celebrated for making history during the ABC's 90th birthday celebrations on Thursday night.
The national broadcaster, marked its 90th birthday this year, with a special live event broadcast on Thursday.
In it, they celebrated Nas Campanella, who was the ABC's first blind cadet journalist to be hired at the network and the first to use speech software to present the news.
Campanella has worked as a newsreader on Triple J radio for over seven years and has been at the ABC for over a decade after landing her first gig in 2011.
Many of her loyal listeners are still shocked to discover the silky-toned presenter is blind after she lost he eyesight at just six months old.
Nas Campanella (pictured) was the ABC's first blind cadet journalist to be hired at the network as well as the first to use speech software to present the news
When she was a baby, blood vessels burst in the back of her eyes, causing them to detach from the retina, meaning she can only see some shadows and light.
To add to her difficulties, it was later discovered she has Charcot Marie Tooth disorder - a delayed sensitivity in the hands and feet due to the nerve endings.
It meant the keen learner had a hard time reading braille and struggled in school - until she started using computer software that turned words into sounds.
The reporter hears four streams of audio through her headphones while presenting the news and uses a laptop with speech software which reads out whatever she types and anything her mouse scans over.
The four streams include a voice telling her what to say during the bulletin, her voice throughout the microphone reading the news, the grabs that have been packaged before going to air, and a clock telling her when to start and finish.
Campanella previously told Daily Mail Australia it had taken her four years to get the technology down pat and that it still wasn't perfect.
Campanella has worked as a newsreader on Triple J radio for over seven years and has been at the ABC for over a decade after landing her first gig in 2011
The journalist hears four streams of audio through her headphones while presenting the news and uses a laptop with speech software which reads out whatever she types and anything her mouse scans over (pictured, Campanella at work)
'I've got to be careful not to lag too far behind,' she said in 2015.
'It's got
