Clear Vision ~ Act of Kindness #22

A teacher friend of mine recounted this:

Just before her exams, Joanne developed an eye infection that kept her from school for several days. Already nervous about having missed lessons so close to her impending exams, Joanne was understandably further upset when her vision remained blurry right up to the day of her first paper.

Her mother called the form teacher to explain Joanne’s situation. She would have preferred Joanne to skip the exams but Joanne refused. She wanted to try.

What the school did was this: every one of Joanne’s papers was reprinted in extra large font and every diagram was magnified. She was given extra time, and teachers were on hand to read aloud or record her responses if she needed them to.

Joanne sailed through her exams. And the school deserves an A.

Joanne’s situation reminds me of a briefing session I attended. One of the participants was partially visually impaired and had requested a seat near the front so he could see the screen better. He was ushered to the first row of the auditorium.

After the opening remarks, and before the first item was presented, one of the organisers approached this gentleman with a folder containing every slide and the corresponding notes in large font.

Thank you, organisers, and teachers at Joanne’s school. I am humbled by what you all did to make someone else’s experience a better one.