15 year old Tejas (name changed) has been undergoing eye treatment at the Low Vision Enhancement Centre of Shroff Charity Eye Hospital, Daryaganj, Delhi. He began losing his eyesight in February 2016 when he adversely reacted to an injection while being treated for another condition. Ms. Sonia at the Low Vision Enhancement Centre suggested visiting Score Foundation in order to understand how to proceed further. And so Tejas and his parents arrived at the Score Foundation office, hopeless and anxious. They poured their heart out to our Helpdesk team. Our team, familiar with the attitudes that ignorance fosters, reassured his parents that blindness is in no way an impediment to personal growth and success. They shared with him many examples of persons who were visually impaired and continuing to live normal, independent lives.
Tejas, a confident young boy, was keen to hear what our counselors had to say. Our team told him about the various rehabilitation courses that were available for visually impaired persons. They contacted All India Confederation of the Blind (AICB) on behalf of Tejas and inquired about admission. They also helped procure audio books for 9th standard from National Association for Blind, R.K Puram to ensure that Tejas does not miss out on his studies. We will be keeping in touch with Tejas and his family to ensure that he enrolls in AICB for the coming session. Our team will not rest till Tejas is finally back in school.
Tag: education
Getting back on track
Being diagnosed with vision impairment early on in life is a challenging affair. This challenge is compounded when students, unaware of the plethora of opportunities available, drop out of school. The belief that life stops after blindness continues to persist despite so many visually impaired persons excelling in a variety of fields.
23 year old Piyush (name changed) a resident of Motihari Bihar, discontinued schooling after Class 8 due to his vision impairment. For many years he sat at home, engrossing himself playing the Tabla and Harmonium.
However, he desired to get his life back on track by finishing school and securing a job. Desperate for guidance, he called the Eyeway Helpdesk. Our counselors informed him about the vocational and mobility training programmes for the blind run at various institutions. The Helpdesk put him in touch with the Blind Relief Association, Delhi as well as the National Institute for Visually Handicapped (NIVH), Dehradun. They also suggested that he enroll in an open school.
Piyush not only enrolled himself in a vocational training program at the Blind Relief Association, Delhi but also completed his class 10th Board Exams though CBSE (correspondence) this June. Having expressed an interest in pursuing music, our Helpdesk has been working hard to find him a good teacher.
Piyush aspires to teach music at the University level some day. We are certain that if he continues to doggedly chase his dream with grit and determination he will surely succeed. Our counselors have assured him that they are there to guide and assist him whenever he is in need of any kind of information from the world of vision impairment.
Changing destinies
Rajesh (name changed) works as an advocacy coordinator at the Shalom-Care Centre for HIV patients. Through the course of his field work around slums of Delhi he met Meera (name changed).
Meera is a 19 year old visually impaired girl who comes from an economically marginalized background. She lives with her mother who is in no position to provide her with the specialized care and support she needs. Rajesh very much wished that Meera too, like other girls her age, could have access to a good education and healthy living conditions. He got in touch with Eyeway wanting to know what her options were. Our counselors immediately suggested that the best way forward was to get in touch with NAB-CBW (National Association for the Blind Centre for Blind Women). NAB-CBW caters to equipping visually impaired girls and women with the education, vocation and life skills they require to operate independently. Rajesh, on behalf of Meera, contacted NAB CBW. Meera has since successfully enrolled with NAB-CBW. Rajesh and Meera were extremely grateful to the Eyeway counselors for their timely support and information that will make a lasting impact in Meera’s life.
Catching up
In 2010 when Madan (name changed) completed his 12th standard, unlike his classmates, he did not apply for higher studies as he lost his eyesight. Unaware of the plethora of avenues that are available to visually impaired students, he was confined to his home. In April he got to know of Eyeway and decided to get in touch. He shared with the counselor his desire to learn Braille. He was keen to find a way to get his life back on track, blindness had held him back for too long. Our counselors advised him to begin by getting a Disability Certificate made in order to avail the various public sector schemes and programmes for persons with disabilities. They also shared with him the contact details of Lucknow based NGO Jayanti Bhartam, that provides education and rehabilitation to adult persons with disabilities, and told him that they would be in a position to guide him and provide him with the necessary skills and knowledge for him to get his life back on track and be able to study and work in the future.
Making Science Accessible to India’s Visually Impaired Students, One Innovation at a Time
Extending the boundaries of science beyond traditional modes of teaching that rely heavily on sight will go a long way to ensuring the dream of inclusive education is realized meaningfully. Anoushka Mathews explores further.
World Disability Day Musings
By George Abraham
Every blind Indian is potentially a part of the Human Resource of the country. They must be invested in and not merely provided for. The nation needs to realize this as much as the government, the society, the families and the blind person himself or herself needs to realize this. There is a huge potential which we need to recognize, nurture and tap into. Read more