AGRA CONVENTION 2014
Blind Stars Beyond Facebook Bridging The Gap
7th to 9th November, 2014
Day 2 (8th November 2014)
Visit to St. John’s Girls Inter College
A group of 6 visually impaired delegates paid a visit to St. John’s Girls Inter College on the morning of the second day of the Convention. The session was attended by 100 odd students from the school. Mr. Akhil Srivastava, the Managing Trustee of Antarsdrishti made the opening remarks, introducing the students to the ideology and thought behind the initiative of ‘Antardrishti’ and ‘Blind Stars’.
Mr. Sukh Sagar, a visually impaired senior government teacher, discussed with the students the concept of the Braille Script for reading and writing. Miss Mehzebeen Palana shared her experience of growing up as a visually challenged student among her sighted peers. She also talked about how sighted students could help their blind counterparts in making things accessible for them.
Miss Neelima, a visually impaired clerk in the famous Chetna College and Mr. Shailesh, a visually impaired computer instructor, introduced the students to the concept of screen reading technologies like the JAWS software. They spoke about how such revolutionary technologies have made it possible for the visually impaired to access computers and mobile phones like their sighted counterparts. The utility of simple tools like printers and scanners in making the work of a blind user easier were discussed. Innovative technologies like the ‘currency identifiers’ and ‘color identifiers’ were talked about. The challenges faced by a visually impaired student studying with sighted students were also touched upon by the delegates.
The purpose of this session with the students was to sensitize them towards people with disabilities and motivate them by introducing them to such people who are achievers in their life despite their disabilities. The purpose was well served as the students listened with utmost attention and displayed their curiosity in the form of questions which were well answered by the delegates.
Read the report – Agra Convention 2014 – Report – HTML with Audio/Video
