British blind woman with Asperger's finds success with languages, thanks her school for support

From The Evening Times in Glasgow, Scotland:

Blind Amy McGrandles (pictured left in photo) battled against the odds to gain Highers in French, Spanish and German.

The 24-year-old, who also has Asperger’s syndrome – a form of autism – was given help by a specialist team at Cardonald College in Glasgow.

And she returned to the campus to thank the team after their efforts helped the college win an award.

In recognition for the Supported Learning Department’s work with Amy, the college won the top Student Learning Award at the Scotland’s Colleges Annual Awards ceremony.

The honour was for Cardonald’s ‘Amy Experience’ and she and her mother Hazel, 56, joined the team to celebrate its success.

Hazel said: “I am so proud of what Amy has achieved and much of this has been down to the college team’s support.”

Amy, of Balloch, near Loch Lomond, left the college in the summer. She said: “I really enjoyed my time at Cardonald and making friends. The tutors were a great help and I can’t thank them enough for how they helped me through.”

Kate Sangster, head of student support at the college, and her team helped Amy reach her dream.

When Amy was still at nursery school, Hazel was told her daughter may not be able to be educated because of her condition, but the youngster has proved her doubters wrong.

She has been blind from birth, but it was not until she was 15 she was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a lifelong disability that affects how a person makes sense of the world, processes information and relates to other people.

Her mother said: “It has been down to strength of character and sheer determination on Amy’s part that she has been able to overcome her Asperger’s to study languages, which have been the love of her life.

“As well as her Highers she is teaching herself Greek, Italian, Chinese and Japanese, all from CDs.

“From being a young person whose life was controlled by Asperger’s, with help from the Cardonald team, Amy has been able to rein in her condition to concentrate on her studies and she has triumphed.”

Ms Sangster said the college was delighted to receive the award and to welcome Amy back.

She said: “Amy is a fantastic girl. The challenges for the college in supporting Amy were evident at the initial interview stage, but it was agreed Amy’s motivation to study with appropriate support strategies could lead to a positive outcome.”

After an initial settling in period, Amy was provided with a facilitator in each of her classes and every lesson handout was provided in Braille so she could study at home.

The college also has equipment to help learning for anyone with a sensory impairment. It includes a Brailling unit, which can produce all lesson notes in Braille and a sign language interpreter for the deaf.

Ms Sangster added: “Our ethos at Cardonald is that there should not be any barriers to entry for anyone with a condition or disability who wishes to learn.

“No matter the impairment, we believe everyone is entitled to the same education.”