Visually impaired girl scores 486 in CBSE Class 12 exam, secures centum in Tamil
'She is a very focused and an observant girl. Even though she can't take notes, she would sit in class and listen to everything that the teacher is saying. She will ask questions promptly if she has any doubts,' said Padma Raghunathan, principal of the school. Harshitha says she relied on audiobooks to prepare for the exams. 'I don't know braille. I relied on learning the portions through audiobooks and the materials that my teachers would give me,' she said.
Harshitha suffered optic neuritis, which is the inflammation of the optic nerve, when she was six-years-old and as a result became completely blind. 'Now, the optic nerve has atrophied. By the time she completely lost vision, she had already learnt the basics in a regular school, so we decided to continue there. Moving forward, we plan to admit her in mobility and computer classes so she can gain more independence,' said her mother, Latha Maheswari.S.
The 17-year-old would download her NCERT books, convert them into a document and then learn through text to speech on her mobile phone. She would be given e-learning material such as notes regarding the lessons that are taught in class by teachers which she would use to revise.
From her twin brother to her friends, Harshitha credits her support system with being able to study and perform well. 'My parents and my brother would help me at home. I would wake up at 3 a.m. to study and then study late night when board exams got closer. Though I do know basic operations on a laptop, I'm more comfortable learning and navigating apps in a phone,' she added.
Though Harshitha did struggle a bit to learn the format for accountancy and to solve graphs, after multiple practice sessions with her teachers later, she had mastered it. With an interest in Tamil language, Harshitha said the centum was unexpected. 'I was inspired by my grandfather who is a Tamil pandit. I love reading historical fiction and also write Tamil poems,' she said.
'Seeing my marks, I feel very confident and optimistic. But above all I feel validated as it wasn't just my effort but my teachers, friends and family's too,' she said.
Padma recalls that there was never a time that Harshitha would be treated differently. 'We would ensure that she has a scribe to write a 20-mark test, give notes if she missed class and she would also insist that she take part in physical education class,' she said and added that Harshitha had developed an interest in shotput.
Harshitha wants to take up the UPSC exams and become a Collector. 'I want to make a meaningful contribution to society and help people. I plan to pursue BA economics as the next step,' she said.
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