A blind teenage Bahraini student has set herself a challenging goal to translate as many novels into Braille as possible before graduating from secondary school next year.
Zainab Ali Hassan, a grade 11 student at Hidd Secondary School for Girls, came up with the initiative after noticing that a large number of popular stories were not freely available for the blind to read.
The 17-year-old has just completed translating two books in The Adventures of Captain Underpants illustrated children’s novel series by American author and illustrator David Pilkey.
“My aim is to complete as many translations into braille as possible before graduation,” she said. “I’ve started with easy books and will attempt more complex ones as I gain more experience.
“It’s a challenging goal but I’m determined my peers in the blind community, who are just as passionate about reading as I am, will be able to enjoy a greater variety of books.”
Zainab has been selected as an example of successful students under the Education Ministry’s integration plan for students with special needs in public schools.
Braille is a form of written language for blind people, in which characters are represented by patterns of raised dots that are felt with the fingertips. Louis Braille, who was blinded at the age of three, invented the system in 1824 while a student.
“I love learning languages, especially English,” said Zainab. “My dream is to become a pioneer in the world of translating novels and stories into braille. I also hope to one day become a teacher so I can inspire others.”
She thanked the Saudi-Bahraini Institute for the Blind for assisting her. “If it wasn’t for my parents and the institute I wouldn’t have been able to achieve my goals to date,” she added. “They provided me with great support and continuous follow-up, and contributed to the development of my abilities on the computer, mathematics, Arabic and English classes, until I made my way to secondary school and reached the level I am at now.”
Integrate
The GDN reported last week that more than 28,000 lessons and educational services were provided to students with special needs during the last academic year.
Education Minister Dr Majid Al Nuaimi said the ministry was pushing ahead with integrating special needs students into the regular school environment with blind and visually-impaired students receiving support from the institute.
“Those students are examples of achievement despite their special needs and we just guide them in the right path and they continue the journey,” he added.
mohammed@gdn.com.bh
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