Wafa Rougab has limited vision, but that didn’t stop her from achieving a PhD at UL. She writes about the immensely positive impact Disability Services at UL had on her student journey.
Although I was a child with limited vision, I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do in the future. I did not accept surrendering to my circumstances. All I remember is how my mother would look into my eyes, her eyes and smile were filled with love, pride and courage. Little did I know that I would be writing about those days one day.
My school day was tiring, filled with attempts to catch up with what was on the blackboard. Pupils would all sit on their chairs copying what was on the board, except for one little girl, me, who had to go back and forth between her chair and the board and try to remember the word to copy it in her copybook. At times, I would forget the word and have to go again. This was my day at school, and it got harder over the years as the sentences on the board turned into paragraphs and equations. But this did not stop me.
As I grew, so did my dreams, but the number of barriers also increased. I relied mainly on the kindness of some teachers who were unable, most of the time, to understand my difficulties or provide solutions to make the process easier. It wasn't until I reached the PhD that I became aware of something called ‘Disability Services,’ which didn’t exist in my previous educational environments. I believe this service is one of the most important services in any educational system. For me, I feel like it saves lives, supports dreams and facilitates a brighter future for so many students.
Indeed, I was lucky enough to have been provided with all of the necessary technologies to undertake my PhD. Although it seemed like a hard journey at first, I remember feeling less stressed than my primary school years, which should have been easier than a PhD. The support offered to me made it possible for me to obtain a PhD within my scholarship timeframe. It is incredible how such a simple step of ‘I will email Thomas about this and see if he can help me get something that reads for me’ can do. It was a turning point in my life, and now that I have graduated, it has become difficult to return to an environment where this type of support is not provided.
It has never been easy to study, but based on my experience at UL, it is reassuring that it can be. It was not about being treated differently, but rather about being provided with the most appropriate tools to succeed. In fact, being an international student with a visual disability was not a barrier in my PhD, but rather an asset that allowed me to explore what inclusivity could make and add to my experience. It afforded me an experience that encompassed wider perspectives, more hopes, and fewer barriers.
Wafa’s PhD thesis was entitled - 'Learning Spaces for International EFL Students: A Multi-Perspectival Study' – she was based in the AHSS faculty in UL.
This article was written as part of Global Accessibility Awareness Week at UL