My disability does not affect my academics – deaf university student

Since engineering is nowhere as easy as the alphabet, some people find themselves in class, absent minded or unable to keep up. Others get lost and still choose not to ask when they don’t understand the lesson. One can’t help but wonder how the visually impaired manage to keep up, if able-bodied people face challenges.Some people think that disabled people cannot perform at school as much as their able-bodied counterparts. Philbert Nshutiyabose, who is deaf and dumb strongly disagrees with this. According to him, someone shouldn’t get different special treatment because he is disabled. He believes that success is within our grasp, whether we’re disabled or not. Born in 1992, the humble Nshutiyabose grew up with a strong urge to achieve all his goals despite being handicapped. With education on his mind, he went to the Institute Filippo Smaldone pour Sourds-Muets in Nyamirambo, a school for the deaf, for primary school and then joined the Centre des Jeunes Gatenga for his secondary schooling. “In primary school, mathematics was my favourite subject because I found it quite easy. I loved it and scored really good grades all the time. By P6, I knew I wanted to be an engineer. That determination drove me through secondary education, each day bringing a stronger desire to deal with electronics,” he says. Nshutiyabose adds that during high school, he never sought nor indulged in self pity even for a second. He loved the challenge of competing against able bodied students nationwide. “Knowing that my hearing was non-existent, I make sure I make good use of my time outside class. A friend of mine helps explain things more clearly to me after classes,” he recounted. When results of the national exams came back, he had scored 42 points and won an engineering government scholarship. He applied to KIST. “I didn’t want any special consideration or pity so I applied with other students. I didn’t want to be admitted because I was handicapped, but because I was qualified. “I was admitted on merit and given the course I’d dreamed of pursuing since primary school, Electronics and Telecom Engineering. I was blessed to have met someone in my class familiar with sign language and this really heightened my excitement.” “I really don’t have any difficulties in class. I take time off to read by myself and also ask my friend to explain to me where I don’t understand,” he asserts.He thanks God for the gift of understanding math. He hasn’t yet figured out his life after university but hopes that all will go well.Professor Etiene Ntagwirumugara, the Head of the Electronics and Telecom Department at KIST, says the institute is more than willing to support anyone who needs its help. “In these cases, the first thing we do is talk to a student and see how much help they need as many associations join hands to render aid where it is needed,” he says.He adds that Nshutiyabose is the exceptional story of a man who doesn’t rely on the benefits availed to the disabled. He wants to do everything as a normal and able bodied student.Philmone Dusabe, Nshutiyabose’s primary teacher who has also helped disabled students, especially the deaf, for the past nine years says disabled people usually have a remarkable rate of learning from the blackboard.“Many of them give up before reaching the higher education level but this year, 15 deaf students joined institutions of higher learning and we are here to offer them as much support as possible. We always monitor their progress and make sure they are well facilitated, just like all other students,” Dusabe concludes.

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My disability does not affect my academics – deaf university student