PIKETON— Emma Knipp has worked hard to overcome her physical limitations to become a creative and smart Piketon High School graduate.

Knipp has dealt with vision problems throughout her life, as well as osteomyelitis and arthritis in her right arm. With help from her family, there's nothing she can't accomplish.

She is a digital artist that will continue her education at Shawnee State in the fall to study digital animation. She grew up watching cartoons and has drawn inspiration from shows like "The Amazing World of Gumball," "Adventure Time," "The Owl House" and "Gravity Falls."

She is also an enthusiastic reader who likes to explore new worlds inside books. 

"[I use an] iPad for reading books or taking pictures of things, especially for books, because I can no longer read normal book text," Knipp said. She uses a special app to download books for free where she can zoom in and more easily read the text.

An avid reader of fantasy books, her favorite series is "Wings of Fire," a popular novel about young dragons following their destinies. Although Knipp can't easily read from traditional paper books, she still likes to own them so she can hold them and display them in her room.

With her creative mind and a go-getter attitude, many would be surprised by her early health struggles as a newborn. 

Knipp was born three months early and only weighed about a pound. Her mom, Amanda Leeth, said that during her daughter's first few days of life, her retinas detached from her eyes. The surgery to correct her retinas, Leeth knew, could threaten Emma's peripheral vision.

Painful conditions in her right arm from a faulty IV when she was a baby required more operations. She needed emergency surgery to remove a bone in her elbow and an additional operation to manage the pain.

In total, Knipp has had five surgeries: one when she was born, two for her eyes and two for her arm. After spending almost four months in the hospital, Knipp came home, weighing less than five pounds. She still needed a supply of oxygen, a feeding tube and an apnea monitor. 

She grew stronger and was able to live independently from the equipment within a few months at home. She grew up challenging and conquering her vision problems and impaired arm with help of a loving and supportive family.

Her younger brother, Isaac, drives her to and from school and helps carry her school supplies. Her parents make sure she is always enrolled in programs to help her succeed in her educational journey.

Knipp was a part of Help Me Grow, a program through the Ohio Department of Health that encourages comprehensive health and development of children. The ODH would send therapists to participating homes and help babies with developmental disabilities. 

With the help of her parents and Help Me Grow, Knipp started preschool when she was only three. She got her first IEP, or Individualized Education Program, in preschool.

An IEP is an individualized learning plan for students with special needs. Her parents and teachers made a plan that would allow her to sit in the front of the class and have more time to take tests. Words on worksheets also must be larger.

As she got older, Knipp helped her parents and teachers to outline her IEP so she could have a say in what she needed to thrive at school. "She does a really good job speaking up for herself," Leeth said.

Scioto Valley Local School District supplied her with evolving technology to improve her learning. Her first big piece of equipment was in third grade when she got a portable projector. The heavy machine was on a cart and would be wheeled around behind Knipp throughout the school day. She needed a teacher or classmate to help her tote the cart through the halls.

She used the projector until freshman year when it was no longer possible to travel the school with the cart due to the layout of the building. That's when she got an iPad, a much more portable solution.

Now that she's older, Knipp gets help from Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities. Since she is losing access to her school-sponsored technology after graduation, OOD supplied her with a new iPad to use for reading.

Knipp will be one of the first students at Shawnee State to study in the new digital animation program that begins in 2023. She is excited to start her college courses in the fall.

Piketon High School held its high school graduation ceremony on May 22.

Megan Becker is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. Call her at 740-349-1106, email her at mbecker@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @BeckerReporting