Breaking Barriers for the Visually Impaired

Happy Holidays from the IELC Children and the Ann Foundation

Our IELC team has made a tremendous progress this year and here are some highlights of our achievements.

We regrouped the students according to their different skill levels. To that end, we conducted assessment tests measuring their vocabulary and communication skills.

Ann foundation has been stepping forward toward utilizing technology for the betterment of visually challenged children.Here is how our online English classes benefitted our students.

Pavithra, an 11th grade student said, “The online classes are very interesting and informative. Our teacher encourages us to speak in English, and she shares quotations and inspiring stories.”

Following are some stories shared with us by our volunteers working with the IELC students:

Teacher Vidya’s Testimonial

One of my students said “I love English classes and I am not nervous about the exam.” This truly made me realize that, given the opportunities, students can succeed both academically and socially. After one of my classes was over, the students were not willing to leave the classroom; they wanted me to tell them a story in English!

Vidya’s testimony indicates the confidence that these students have gained and how much they want to succeed in life.

Teacher Latha’s Testimony

Latha says that she is proud of her students’ performance. She says “Students were awesome as usual. I am very excited to see their enthusiasm in taking the test. All the students are outstanding and they just need little bit more push and encouragement from all of us to reach their goal. I would definitely put more efforts toward bridging the gaps.”

Sruthi, a new member of Ann Foundation says:

“I have come across many gifted students who never had an opportunity to pursue their dreams. Giving them exposure to the wider world is really what they need. One thing I really like about the classes is that the teachers have built a good rapport with the students.”

A goal for our teachers is to maintain consistent goals and expectations to ensure academic success. Students shouldn’t use their visual impairment as an excuse for late or unfinished work. Teachers should hold the same expectations for visually impaired students as for other students. We provide visually impaired students with extra tutoring where needed.

Students with low vision are often at a disadvantage when presented with information in regular classrooms. Many technology solutions exist for accessing information via computer. Low vision students in IELC never had an opportunity to use the school computers but we were able to persuade the school administration to provide additional classes for the low vision students and access to the computers. Our students have benefitted from the resulting weekly computer classes. Now they are able to type in a Word document, saving and retrieving those documents. They are making good progress.

Our team of volunteers work hard to bring positive change in the lives of the visually challenged children so they can become lifelong learners.