Vidhya Y.

Vidhya Y. from the state Karnataka, India and she is completely blind since birth. She is 24 years old. Inspite of many struggles here are her Achievements. Received a Gold medal for being the Topper of the M.Sc (Digital Society) 2015-17 batchat IIIT Bangalore (First Disabled Student to study in the Institute and also, less than 10Visually impaired students have studied in premier Technical Institutes such as IITs and NITs etc., in the country so far). She was also the topper in the entrance exam though there were no text books/materials which were accessible for Blind Students. She was the first blind student to take a Computer Science major in Undergraduate studies in my University and study Math in higher secondary level in Karnataka. She also received a Merit Scholarship to cover my Tuition Expenses at IIITB and she was a recipient of the Dhirubhai Ambani Scholarship in 10th grade and 12th grade for scoring highest marks in the State of Karnataka among the differently abled.

She received the Title of honour “Kannadada kanda (Child of Kannada)” by “Jenu gudu sahitya mattu samskrutika vedike” for scoring 124 marks out of 125 in Kannada in 10th grade also received "Idea Student Award" in 2012 for Academic Excellence. She received Reebok Fit to fight Awards in 2017 and also selected for Tie Aspire Young Achievers Awards in 2017. She has interned with Microsoft Research, India and contributed in making their products accessible to all including people with Disabilities. Her aim is to reach all Blind Students and focus especially on Girls as they have many challenges when compared to Boys. This indicates that special efforts should be put in order to educate blind Girls and encourage them to take up STEM related subjects. She has also co-founded the company, "E Research Associates". One of the objectives of the firm is to provide home based online jobs both for disabled and non-disabled people, with special focus on disabled. Women as they are vulnerable and because most of them cannot travel on their own to work every day. She completed junior level training in Carnatic classical vocal and Scored 90% in the exam also completed the syllabus for Senior level training and I am yet to take the Exam. She is learning light music (vocal) since September 2012 and completed a Chess Course from Hadley School for the Blind (United States) earning a grade "A PLUS". She has started motivational Speaking sessions, starting with the first session with ST Stephen's college Delhi.