Ashutosh Singhal, a 16-year-old teenager from a middle-class family in East Delhi had a normal childhood till he was hit by a sudden loss of vision while pursuing his 10th standard. Ashutosh and his five-member family were taken by surprise at this abrupt turn of events. It was a crucial time in his life because in Class 10 a student’s plate is full with several tests and projects to be submitted.. His parents took him to Shroff Eye Hospital, Delhi where he was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and forewarned of a gradual loss of vision.
The doctor also rightly guided Ashutosh and his family about the various challenges of a life with blindness. Some basic information including available assistive devices was shared with them. This helped in relieving the family of a huge amount of pressure. They were informed of Saksham Trust, Delhi, which happens to be an Eyeway partner. At this point, pursuing education in a mainstream school with deteriorating vision was the main challenge for Ashutosh. He was directed to National Association for Blind (NAB), another Eyeway partner, where he underwent one month computer training. His trainer at NAB asked Ashutosh to contact the Eyeway Helpdesk for any issues related to visual impairment.
When Ashutosh spoke to our counselor in August 2018, he explained the difficulty he faced in studying. The counselor realized that Ashutosh needed proper guidance in accessing accessible resources and devices. He was apprised of available study material on online libraries like Sugamya Pustakalaya and Bookshare. The counselor also suggested Ashutosh to contact Blind Relief Association, NAB and All India Confederation for the Blind in case he needed up to date NCERT study material. In addition, Eyeway counselor also guided Ashutosh to make use of Android applications like Envision AI, Smart Lens, Hindi OCR and so on.
On follow up, a confident Ashutosh informed our counselor that he was making good use of the various suggestions on technology for his reading, writing and learning.