By Nurin Najmina Zaidi
GOMBAK, 25 November 2023: Being blind did not prevent Ahmad Danial Mohd Sani from receiving the Amru Ibn Al-Jamuh Special Achievement Award (Co-Curricular) in the first session of the 39th IIUM Convocation Ceremony, at IIUM Gombak, today.
Hailing from AbdulHamid AbuSulayman Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (AHAS KIRKHS), the 29-year-old graduate described his journey as an IIUM student with a disability.
One of the challenges that he faced in terms of academics was finding materials on the Internet for assignments since not all information was in Braille. As such, he needed help from his friends when doing assignments like asking for their help to read reference materials before saving them in Braille form and also help with editing videos.
Other than that, going to classes was also another obstacle he had to face since the venue of the class changed sometimes. Hence, he relied heavily on the buddy system where someone would lead him to his class.
Despite his disability, he entered many co-curricular activities such as joining a variety of clubs, like the Ibn Ummi Maktum Club (I-MaC) for IIUM students with disabilities where he organized programmes, talks. It was just like any other club.
He also climbed Mount Kinabalu at the height of 4,096 metres along with other students with disabilities and the IIUM Sports Unit. œThis was an achievement that I did not expect to get, he said.
He encouraged other students with disabilities to not be afraid to try new things. Ahmad Danial entered any society so that he can learn new things. œJust join any club, and do not be afraid and feel inferior, this is important for a disabled person, he advised.
He expressed his gratitude to his parents, his friends, lecturers, and volunteers of the buddy system for being supportive during his studies in the IIUM.***
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