EL PASO, Texas -- At first glance, Miguel Valdez seems like any other karate instructor.  But take a closer look, and you'll see he can't see.

"I'm unable to drive; I'm unable to read without extreme magnification, and I'm unable to see faces," Valdez said.

Valdez gave a motivational seminar to disabled El Paso kids Saturday, as a way of showing them that most obstacles, no matter how big, can be overcome.

"My message for these young people today is not to focus on their limitations, but to focus on what their abilities are and what their assets are, and the things they're good at," Valdez said.

The seminar was sponsored by the program "Training Tomorrow's Mentors Today," which aims at empowering people with disabilities.

"They may be told by key people in their lives that they can't do things. Unless we all see people that are positive in our lives, then we may not believe we can reach a certain goal," program coordinator Lucila Lozano said.

Valdez runs his own martial arts school and has a fifth-degree black belt.