As many as 50% of blind high school students drop out of high school and COVID only exacerbated this problem. As I began working on the UCLA Health Equity Challenge proposal, I had the opportunity to interact with members of the visually impaired community in Los Angeles. What I heard from them broke my heart.
Time after time, parents shared stories of their children’s struggles and dreams being shattered because they could not access the tools needed to continue their education. Without access to affordable refreshable braille displays to convey texts and materials, many visually impaired students are forced to drop out of school after just a few years.
I met a young girl named Sophia who loved learning but had to leave school after 3rd grade. Her family couldn’t afford the expensive electronic braille displays required for her to keep up with her sighted peers. Holding back tears, Sophia’s mother told me, “She has such a bright mind, but the world has gone dark for her dreams of becoming a teacher.”
“If we can make braille instantly accessible on portable devices for even 1% of the visually impaired students currently falling through the cracks, it will keep the light of learning alive for so many bright young minds.”
Another father, Jose, expressed his anguish at having to pull his son Miguel out of high school. “Reading and writing in braille was already so difficult with just the plastic sheets. But when his materials moved online, we couldn’t get the technology he needed to continue. It crushed him to give up on his goal of being an engineer.”
Hearing these heartbreaking stories of students forced to abandon their educational pursuits due to lack of access lit a fire in me. I felt compelled to find an affordable solution to equip every student like Sophia and Miguel with the refreshable braille display tools they require.
This flexible display Professor Qibing Pei is developing could be truly life-changing for families in Los Angeles and beyond. If we can make braille instantly accessible on portable devices for even 1% of the visually impaired students currently falling through the cracks, it will keep the light of learning alive for so many bright young minds.
I’m motivated to work on a proposal with the UCLA Health Equity Challenge because every student deserves an equal opportunity to pursue their dreams, uninhibited by disability or financial hardship. If you have time, do volunteer with the Braille Institute in Los Angeles.
By Apurv Sibal
2024 Health Equity Challenge Finalist
Apurv Sibal is a graduate student at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and has been passionate about health care equity since a very young age.
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