Background
Sebastian Demanop was born in Bangkok, Thailand in 1928.
Sebastian Demanop was born in Bangkok, Thailand in 1928.
During high school, he learned English and Braille and graduated in 1953.
As a child, he became infected with tracoma which resulted in total blindness. He earned a Bachelor"s in Secondary Education at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned a Master"s in Psychology at the University of Delaware.
Throughout his lifetime, Demanop worked to advocate for and bring independence to people with disabilities.
He worked as a rehabilitator at Delaware Commission for the Blind, where he established the first blind bowling league in Delaware. He also worked as a career counselor at the Pennsylvania Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services in Philadelphia.
There, he helped to establish a network of volunteers to assist blind individuals with shopping and reading. He served on the advisory board for the public transit organization, South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, and pushed for the installation of "talking" Global Positioning System devices on each business
Later in life, he lobbied in Thailand to push for voting rights for blind citizens in Thailand.
Demanop is one of the few blind members of the The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania.