EP 278: Seneida Biendarra

June 9, 2025

Seneida Biendarra is the 2023 US National Champion in the women’s B2 (severely blind) category. We talked about losing her vision as a teenager, her current visual experience, creating mental maps of the world, finding freedom in risk, designing outdoor gear, the world of paraclimbing and the adaptive community, sight guiding, the empathy gun, embracing chapters in life, and much more.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!

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Show Notes:

Related Episodes:

EP 252: Justin Salas

EP 120: Lea Volpe

References:

Black Diamond Presents: Onsight

Portland Trail Blazers offer fans with vision loss a way to experience a live game

Seneida’s Links:

Instagram

Nuggets:

00:00:00 – Intro

00:02:00 – 1950s appliances

00:05:08 – A fresh start

00:07:49 – Seneida’s visual experience

00:10:00 – Losing vision

00:17:02 – The map

00:19:38 – Visual experience continued

00:23:35 – An invisible disability

00:25:56 – Daily living vs. climbing

00:29:44 – Meeting other blind climbers

00:36:08 – Crashes

00:39:34 – Risk & freedom

00:44:48 – Early climbing

00:48:32 – An onsight philosophy

00:52:19 – Visualization

00:55:09 – Lights out

01:01:49 – Accessibility tools & basketball

01:05:59 – Designing gear

01:13:06 – Parents & childhood

01:17:08 – Backpacking

01:19:21 – Daily living continued

01:28:55 – Nate

01:31:10 – Sight Guiding

01:37:40 – The world of paraclimbing

01:41:28 – 2028 Olympics

01:46:09 – Identity & community

01:49:51 – Mourning, normalizing, & sympathy

01:53:31 – How to be a supportive sighted person

01:56:25 – Empathy gun

02:01:09 – Parts of ourselves

02:04:45 – Interpersonal bonds

02:12:39 – Embracing chapters

02:18:53 – Self-driving taxis

02:21:55 – Spotlighting the adaptive community

02:26:12 – “You belong more than you think you do.”

02:29:45 – New designs

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EP 279: Something Different | Eric Edmeades

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EP 277: Something Different | Dr. Cate Shanahan