{"id":50723,"date":"2022-08-19T09:08:06","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T09:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/08\/19\/a-level-results-deaf-students-proud-after-covid-mask-struggles\/"},"modified":"2022-08-19T09:08:06","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T09:08:06","slug":"a-level-results-deaf-students-proud-after-covid-mask-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/08\/19\/a-level-results-deaf-students-proud-after-covid-mask-struggles\/","title":{"rendered":"A-level results: Deaf students ‘proud’ after Covid mask struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Two deaf students who struggled to continue their studies when face masks became mandatory in colleges say they are proud of their high school results.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Dinah Mandell and Holly Sanchez-Rosemurgey were also struggling with trying to understand teachers in Zoom classes when the pandemic hit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Holly says she considered quitting “because I felt like there was no point.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And Dinah says it’s a “real sense of accomplishment” to get her results.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At the height of the Covid pandemic, students had to be taught from home as schools and colleges were closed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And even if they were allowed to return, they were often required to wear face masks as part of government guidelines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Dinah, whose hearing loss started when she finished her GCSEs, says she struggled with online learning because of the automatic closed captioning, which posed particular challenges for complex words used in subjects like chemistry and biology. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In 2021, the 18-year-old campaigned for schools to better support deaf and hard-of-hearing students with her petition to provide clear masks, which garnered more than 75,000 signatures. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Dinah, who wears a hearing aid, told Radio 1 Newsbeat she “relyed heavily on seeing people’s faces and lips to figure out what someone was saying” so having a clear face mask in would have been a huge benefit to have at school.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But she says she has had “massive support” from the National Deaf Children’s Society and is now on her way to her first choice, Leicester University, to study medicine. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI sort of took an extra year of A-levels because I had a gap year between my GCSEs and A-levels,\u201d says Dinah, who lives in London.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cSo when I started, I was navigating Covid while also being a student with hearing loss, which had its challenges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“It’s been a long journey and although I didn’t take the normal route I’m really happy with the end, it’s a real sense of accomplishment.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Holly, 18, has a severe to profound hearing loss and was so affected by the introduction of masks and distance learning that she had to repeat a year in high school.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She has studied languages \u200b\u200band says she has found it “really difficult during lockdown” due to a “lack of awareness”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThere were no sign language interpreters because, of course, you would have to interpret into another sign language,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Zoom didn’t have subtitles, so I basically didn’t learn anything because I couldn’t understand it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“In terms of confidence, the pandemic has hit me really hard and that’s why my grades have plummeted.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Holly, who lives in Nottingham, is now going to university to study languages \u200b\u200band philosophy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She also has plans to pursue a masters in domestic politics or relations and says she’s proud of how far she’s come.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Getting from there to getting a good high school diploma and going to university is a journey I’m really proud of.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Additional reporting by Ellie Cleverley<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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