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In 2006 Declan (18) secured
a place on the BEd (Hons) Secondary Education degree in
Religious Studies at St. Mary’s University College Belfast.
Declan attended St. Paul’s
High School in Bessbrook where he completed ‘A’ levels
in Religious Studies, English and History. Declan worked hard
and achieved A grades in all three subjects!
What makes Declan’s
achievements more outstanding is that he experiences a hereditary
sight condition and is registered blind. He has recessively inherited
optic atrophy with visual acuity of 6/60 in each eye. He can read
text minimum font size 14. At school he received extra time
for essays as it took longer to read, write and complete tasks.
Declan describes his disability as
a motivating factor in his current studies. He is determined to
succeed in everything he does and this is reflected in his focus
and commitment to his studies and to his hectic social life at
St. Mary’s university!
Declan had always been interested in a teaching career although
he had considered both bricklaying and journalism. He opted for the
BEd (Hons) Secondary Education in Religious Studies [ with history
as his subsidiary subject ] as he enjoyed studying both subjects
at school and felt they would give him flexibility in his chosen
career.
He arranged a pre entry visit to
St. Mary’s so that he could familiarise himself with the
environment. Declan says
“I remember hearing all
about St. Mary’s close knit community, I
believed it was a marketing gimmick however when I started studying
at the College I knew exactly what it meant to be part of that
community, socially it’s great!”
Surprisingly Declan
did not apply for Disabled Student Allowances (DSA) until November
2006. Upon reflection he would encourage students with additional
support needs to disclose their disability at the outset and to
apply for support earlier (August/September) as the DSA assessment
and application process can be time consuming.
Declan only sought
support when his workload started to pile up. He approached the
Student Affairs Staff at St. Mary’s, presented medical evidence
from his G.P. and applied for Disabled Students Allowances.
He received the support
he needed; this included a laptop, software training using Dragon
Dictate voice recognition software, printer and dictaphone. He
was provided with extended library loans, flexible assignment
deadlines, reading lists and lecture notes (in large font) in
advance of lectures. In addition he was allocated extra time,
rest breaks and the use of a computer or a scribe (if preferred) during exams.
Declan was reassured to know he could avail of this support.
Declan says “St.
Mary’s is a great place to be and this is where I chose
to be. For a long time I wanted to be a bricklayer and then changed
my mind, I don’t know why! The point is, everyone is different
and the decision is yours. I think if you have the potential to
succeed in Higher Education, you can at least try it rather than
regret your choice later in life”
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