Blind students trained for university life
Print Edition
After taking a few steps, Chen Huixian stopped at the end of a zebra crossing as vehicles whizzed past and finally made up her mind to cross the road.
She continued on her steps carefully with her head up while waving her hands.
The small step that might seem familiar to ordinary people was a big leap for Chen, 23, a college-bound student who suffers vision impairment. It was the first time that she crossed the road on her own.
On August 16, Chen and 19 others completed a free one-week training course designed for visually impaired college-bound students in Shanghai.
The course, initiated by the Shanghai Youren Foundation and Shengbo FM, a social service center for the disabled, aims at helping visually impaired students grasp survival skills before entering college. Training such students to perform tasks like traveling alone, using computers and fostering social skills is expected to help them adapt better to the forthcoming college life unaided.
By the end of August, Chen will leave her hometown in east China’s Shandong Province for a university in Beijing and start a brand-new life. Prior to her departure, she attended the preparatory course and experienced many firsts: using a blind cane, crossing a road independently and visiting the mall alone.
“The first step is always difficult. After entering university, I will walk around by myself every weekend and participate in charity activities,” she said.
“Just like Chen, many blind students grow up in a relatively enclosed environment, such as special schools. They are well protected by their teachers and relatives, and thus may not use a blind cane,” said Yang Qingfeng, initiator of the course.
“However, they will face a bigger world and communicate with more people after entering university, as well as encounter many unexpected difficulties. Only by living and doing work on their own, can they live life without depending on others, and develop personalities and values independently.”
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